10/4/2020 – NXT Takeover 31: From the Historic Capitol Wrestling Center

“The Prince” Finn Balor retains his title; Kyle O’Reilly gives an unbelievable performance; Ridge Holland lays the foundation for his first major feud in NXT and his emergence as a major building block for the brand

Nights like these are precisely the reason Finn Balor returned to NXT about a year ago; for matches like these. He proved yet again why he has earned his spot at the top of the card in NXT. I immediately go back to his classic matches with people like Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe. I remember them like they happened yesterday.

Balor’s primary job as a champion – along with the WWE Champion Drew McIntyre and the Universal Champion Roman Reigns – is to elevate other superstars to his level, because his own dream of being champion has obviously already come true. Therefore, being a champion in WWE carries with it the responsibility of being extremely unselfish and being willing to put others over. Balor did an effective job of giving Kyle O’Reilly the most significant spotlight he has ever received in NXT over the past three years. Finn also sustained a broken jaw in two places in one of the hardest-hitting matches in NXT’s history, so the champion will be off TV for about six weeks as he heals. Fortunately, he should be able to talk at limited capacity by the time this is posted.

O’Reilly has mostly been a tag team guy as part of The Undisputed Era along with his partner Bobby Fish. However, Fish is getting a little older and therefore it might be time for Kyle O’Reilly to begin exploring his future as a single star. Also, who can forget the end of the NXT Title match in which Ridge Holland brought O’Reilly’s buddy Adam Cole out to the ringside area – presumably after attacking him – laying the foundation for Holland’s first major feud in NXT. Holland could be one of the primary focal points of NXT for the next several years – he’s a legitimately tough man who played rugby throughout Europe for years before ultimately signing with NXT in 2018. Unfortunately, Holland suffered what looks to be a very serious knee injury on NXT TV this week, so his big push will be delayed.

In other news, when Adam Cole turned babyface at Takeover: 30 in August of this year, the entire Undisputed Era underwent the same character change as their leader. This makes sense for continuity in the storyline. In general, people’s perceptions of reality are very malleable – because two months ago I would have told anyone that I could never envision this group turning face because they were such great heels just two months ago.

Candice LeRae may be onto something in her heel presentation, but Johnny Gargano is a better face; Io Shirai is right where she needs to be; Damian Priest is budding into a gem; Ember Moon may want to change her character to gain more momentum in her second run in NXT

Despite the fact that she took a loss to Io Shirai for the NXT Women’s Championship, Candice LeRae appears to have found her niche as a heel. This was a brilliant story to tell because it’s easy to forget that Shirai defeated LeRae in a number one contender’s ladder match back in April. Candice resonates more with the NXT universe as a heel than her husband Johnny Gargano. Johnny fits so much better as a phase simply because he resonated so profoundly with fans in that role first. Gargano might have more success in his career whenever WWE decides to orchestrate for him to revert back to his face incarnation – while his wife may be onto something with this heel character. Maybe there can ultimately be some sort of tension that escalates between the couple.

Johnny Gargano’s presentation right now may not necessarily be ideal (although it’s not bad by any means – just experimenting with what works), but the presentation of Damian Priest is spot on right now – this guy is a massive superstar in the not-too-distant future (considering he’s already 38 years old). In terms of look and in-ring style, he is very similar to the face of the entire company Roman Reigns, which is very fortunate for Damian. A long-term storyline between these two in the coming years could be absolute money.

Io Shirai is without a doubt one of the best workers in all of NXT, so it’s absolutely the right call to keep the title on her for an extended time. Now that Candice LeRae is out of the way, Shirai can move on to Ember Moon.

There have been advertisements for weeks about a main roster superstar possibly returning to NXT (a former champion). Ember Moon fits the criteria as she was NXT Women’s Champion from 2017 – 2018. Moon was promoted to the main roster in WWE in April 2018 and went on to spend the next year and a half in limbo without a lot of creative direction, before suffering a career-threatening Achilles injury in September 2019 which kept her out of action until this point. It is fitting that she would return to the brand where she experienced the most success – she was a little lost on the main roster, so it makes sense for WWE to orchestrate her return to prominence in NXT. Sometimes you need to go back a step to take two steps forward (it’s clearly working right now for Finn Balor).

The Time Splitter Kushida and Isaiah “Swerve” Scott both delivered breakout performances at Takeover: 31 – easily the best performance for both men since they both debuted in NXT (April 2019)

Velveteen Dream gives incredible performances at every Takeover (the crazy hair was a nice visual), but Kushida has led to the story significantly with some great storytelling. This match probably had the least buildup considering it was a non-title match and the storyline leading to the match just began a few weeks ago – but I give the men in the match credit for doing the best they could with the material they were given.

Isaiah “Swerve” Scott said all that needed to be said during the NXT Cruiserweight Championship match with his facial expressions – which were not too much or too little. Santos Escobar is budding into a very nice heel, although it does seem somewhat odd due to the fact that most luchadors are typically positioned as faces in WWE. But the company could be testing the waters to see how it works.

Another thing that is positive to see is that the Cruiserweight Championship has received much more focus since it was officially recognized as a title exclusive to NXT about a year ago. The cruiserweight superstars are incredibly talented – maybe they will no longer need to make transitions to the main roster like Murphy did to receive prominence in storylines.

Another excellent marketing idea conceived by Triple H and Shawn Michaels was to bring back Halloween Havoc. This idea was most likely generated from the fact that the In Your House events were already revitalized in 2020 with Takeover: In Your House in June. On a personal note, when I think of Halloween Havoc the match from the 1990s between Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio immediately comes to mind – phenomenal (no disrespect to AJ Styles) match, Rey and Eddie clearly had a special bond.