This is another TakeOver special that feels rushed and is coming way too soon after the previous one. That said, the next one isn't until August, so we do have a nice break after Chicago.
My thoughts on the card:
Roderick Strong Vs. Eric Young = I'll say this. The recent videos WWE did made me care more about Roderick Strong than literally anything else he's done his entire career. Very well done and gave us a more human side to him that gives us something to connect with. He isn't the flashiest personality and doesn't have the best look, so the best option is to go emotional and human and it was good. Not sure who is going to go over here. I'll pick Eric Young and put Roddy in the role Tye recently had where he struggled against Sanity until finally getting the big win.
Tyler Bate -c- Vs. Pete Dunne: WWE UK Championship = The match they had to close out the tournament earlier this year was great, but they've done so little with the UK title that I find it hard to get too excited about this. For a brief bit, I forgot the title even existed to be honest. I don't know if they'll be able to recapture the energy they had at the UK Title tourney, but it should be a good match regardless. Whoever goes over depends on who they want carrying the belt for the new UK show. I'll go with Dunne to win the title just to have a heel help carry the show.
Asuka -c- Vs. Ruby Riot Vs. Nikki Cross; NXT Women's Title = In a weird way, Ember Moon's injury was kind of fortuitous. Right now, she's the only one that's been a true threat to Asuka (Asuka had to cheat to beat her) and a rematch deserves more time to simmer. Throwing Ember into a multi-person match would have undercut that a little bit. Anyways, this might end up being one of the better Women's Matches in a while. When they moved most of the Women's roster to the main show, it left a lot of spaces to fill and they've been struggling. However, Nikki Cross and Ruby Riot have been fine additions and Nikki in particular plays her character to the max, and I expect a good fun match out of this. Asuka is retaining through. I don't doubt that at all.
Authors of Pain -c- Vs. DIY: NXT Tag Title Ladder Match = I just read that Ciampa got injured, which is unfortunate. I guess we'll find later if he'll be good to go for this match. Its a shame though because this was really the best built match on the show with DIY finally getting Authors of Pain 2 on 2 and in a match that favors their style of wrestling. Could a Ladder match be the Achilles' heel to the AoP? Don't know. The Tag Title matches have really been stealing the show at TakeOvers lately and I was kind of hoping that trend would continue even without The Revival to carry the load. I'll pick AoP to retain though if Ciampa has to be replaced, they might put the titles on the new pairing just for shock value.
Bobby Roode -c- Vs. Hideo Itami: NXT Title = Roode's been killing it lately, but this match feels a little rushed and is something they are doing just to get it over with. I expect the match to be good though. Roode will almost certainly retain.
So, that's TakeOver. It reeks of a show that was rushed together and doesn't have a whole lot of build or intrigue to it, but TakeOvers have managed to be good despite that, so we'll see.
