10 Facts & Trivia Most Fans Missed From NXT TakeOver: In Your House
NXT TakeOver In Your House was a unique event. It was the first TakeOver special of the COVID-19 era. Rather than the empty arena setting, though, WWE ran with its recent format of glass separating Performance Centers trainees from the action while they cheered on the action in the ring.
It’s difficult to argue that this was an all-time great TakeOver, but it’s also fair to say that the show delivered was a worthy addition to the celebrated history of the event. This article takes a look at the full special in this present moment, and including some looks back through history with nods to the original In Your House specials, to narrow in on ten details that many fans may have overlooked.
Related: The 5 Best WWE In Your House Events Ever (& 5 Worst)
10 The First Three-Person Main Event In TakeOver History
A lot of the attention given to the NXT TakeOver: In Your House main event came back to it being only the second ever time women closed the show. It was, however, also the first time a set of three wrestlers—male or female—headlined a TakeOver.
Previous TakeOver main events did include a Fatal Four Way between Neville, Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze, and Tyson Kidd, as well as a Triple Threat tag team ladder match, and a three-way War Games. However, this was the first traditional Triple Threat between three singles performers to close out a TakeOver.
9 Johnny Gargano Pays Tribute
Keith Lee defended his North American Championship against Johnny Gargano at NXT TakeOver: In Your House and fans may have noticed the latter had an unusual entrance.
Related: 10 Wrestlers You Didn't Know Johnny Gargano Faced
Gargano paused "in the house" to look at a photo of Michael PS Hayes. The moment pulled double duty. On one hand, it a tip of the hat to a legend who has been a mentor to many up and coming talents. On the other, Hayes, in his Dok Hendrix persona, was a big part of the original In Your House series of events as a broadcaster.
8 A Call Back To A Pre-Pandemic Cinematic Match
The current era of COVID-19 concerns have seen WWE lean into more cinematic types of matches. Efforts to date included WrestleMania’s Boneyard and Firefly Fun House matches, as well as an offbeat take on the Money in the Bank Ladder Match. NXT had its own foray into this style in Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa’s final match.
The Backlot Brawl between Velveteen Dream and Adam Cole marked the first TakeOver match of this ilk. In a show themed to pay tribute to the old In Your House pay per view brand, it may be only fitting that NXT embraced a cinematic match type from that era. Roddy Piper and Goldust squared off in a Backlot Brawl at WrestleMania 12 which was also (mostly) pretaped and edited, with cars heavily involved.
7 Dakota Kai Shows Shades Of HBK And His Bodyguards
As WWE alluded to in the build to NXT TakeOver: In Your House, the In Your House brand was largely connected to Shawn Michaels. HBK was more often than not a top-level star for WWE from mid-1995 to early 1999, for the original run of shows.
It may be only fitting then, that TakeOver started with Dakota Kai and her partnership with Raquel Gonzalez featured prominently. Their role of a brash heel with her big heater is not so different from the relationships Michaels had with Diesel and later Sid, each of which led to rivalries. Kai and Gonzalez seemed to emulate that dynamic, both in the nature of her partnership and in the way Kai almost kicked Gonzalez early in the match, later did hit her full throttle to set up the heel team’s loss.
6 Finn Balor Remains Undefeated In TakeOver Non-Title Matches
As the broadcast team noted, NXT TakeOver: In Your House saw Finn Balor notch a record eleventh victory in TakeOver matches. Also of note: Balor continued an impressive streak of winning every TakeOver match he’s been involved in that didn’t have a title on the line.
Indeed, Balor has done well in title matches, too, winning the NXT Championship from Kevin Owens at the original TakeOver: Brooklyn show, and successfully defending it twice. He did, however, come up short in his last TakeOver title match to date opposite Samoa Joe at TakeOver: The End.
5 The First Flair To Compete At An In Your House
Charlotte Flair defended her NXT Women’s Championship in the main event of NXT TakeOver: In Your House. It wasn’t her first main event at a major show, as she continues to follow in her father’s footsteps as a bona fide headlining act.
Related: Charlotte Flair: Her 5 Best Matches On RAW (& 5 On SmackDown)
Oddly enough, though, Charlotte performing at an In Your House at all set her apart from Ric. The Nature Boy had already ended his first WWE tenure before WWE launched the recurring PPV brand, and didn’t return to the fold until over two years after the In Your House concept had been put to bed.
4 Johnny Wrestling’s Unconventional Cobra Clutch
Johnny Gargano targeted Keith Lee’s kayfabe injured eye and hand throughout their North American Championship match. Notably, that included a non-traditional application of the cobra clutch.
While Gargano’s take on the hold looked largely conventional, he placed exaggerated emphasis on working the big man’s hand, while also grinding his wrist into Lee’s eye. The hold underscored Johnny Wrestling’s technical skill, and attention to detail as he leans into his vicious heel persona.
3 Back Lot Brawls Always End In The Ring
The second-ever Backlot Brawl took place in an outdoor area, not unlike the original edition of the match from WrestleMania 12. Interestingly enough, both versions of the wild, no disqualification brawls, also came to a head in the ring.
At WrestleMania 12, the rules were ill-defined and after an outdoor fight and a car chase, it ended with Roddy Piper stripping Goldust in the ring. The TakeOver version of the match came with an announcement before the match that it had to end in the ring, and wrapped up with a pin after an impressive spot in which Adam Cole hit Velveteen Dream with a Panama Sunrise onto a pile of chairs.
2 Karrion Kross Cast As The New Brock Lesnar?
Karrion Kross put on a dominating performance at NXT TakeOver: In Your House when he crushed Tommaso Ciampa in under five minutes. The match came complete with suplexes, punishing holds, and move very similar to the F5 before Kross choked out his opponent.
The broadcast team drew attention to Kross resembling Brock Lesnar on the F5-style spot. The imposing victory resembled The Beast’s style more broadly, though. In particular, the way in which he essentially squashed one of NXT’s best established stars felt as though it echoed Lesnar’s SummerSlam 2014 destruction of John Cena.
1 Gargano Competes For Every Men’s Title More Than Once At A TakeOver
Johnny Gargano may not have emerged victorious in his match with Keith Lee on Sunday. However, he did add an interesting statistic to his TakeOver resume.
Going into Sunday’s show, Gargano stood alongside Adam Cole as the only men to have competed for every US-based men’s championship from the NXT brand: the NXT Championship, North American Championship, and NXT Tag Team Championships. Gargano took one step further at In Your House in having competed in a match for every men’s title more than once at a TakeOver, as compared to Cole only being in the tag title picture once, filling in for Bobby Fish at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, before Roderick Strong joined the Undisputed Era.
