5 Surprising moments from NXT TakeOver Vengeance Day 2021
NXT TakeOver Vengeance Day was an underrated show going into Sunday night. It is pretty logical that having a TakeOver on the evening of Valentine’s Day would always cause this show to fly under the radar. But from the beginning of the show to the very end, it was filled with some truly entertaining and highly technical matches.
We had two exciting Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic finals, a technical masterpiece of a North American Championship, a painfully physical World title match and a shocking heel turn that should change the course of NXT for many months to come. NXT TakeOver shows always seem to find a way to thrive time and time again. NXT TakeOver Vengeance Day will be an early contender for show of the year.
As we try to figure out why Io Shirai feels the need to jump off high things on every TakeOver, we also present the list of the top five most surprising moments of NXT TakeOver Vengeance Day 2021.
#5 Lack of title changes at NXT TakeOver Vengeance Day 2021
It is surprising to see a major NXT TakeOver without a title changing hands. It is a pretty rare event. But NXT TakeOver Vengeance Day was a show without a major title change. It seems the Black and Gold brand is building up the credibility of its reigning champions.
Johnny Gargano is a three-time NXT North American Champion but he hasn’t been able to successfully defend that title at any NXT TakeOver. He broke that curse at NXT TakeOver Vengeance Day. Meanwhile, Io Shirai has held NXT Women's Championship for an impressive 253 days. That did not change against two competitors on Sunday night. Finn Balor fought through another brutal NXT Championship match against Pete Dunne to continue his 160-day reign.
NXT is trying to establish their major titles after months of moving them around quickly. It will make the title changes all the more meaningful in the future.