10 Live Observations From NXT TakeOver: Dallas

2. ...But The Lack Of Time Did

When Joe's cut had been cleaned up to the company's satisfaction, the challenger was finally allowed to take the fight to the champion. Joe used most of his signature offense, including sentons, hard kicks, and the Muscle Buster, but he was unable to put Balor away. When he locked in the Coquina Clutch, Balor ran up the turnbuckles, kicked off, rolled onto Joe, and pinned him to retain the title.

The match was good, but not great, and the problem was that it simply didn't get enough time. The bout went a little over 16 minutes, and given that so much of the first half was stilted as Joe's cut was treated, it felt a lot shorter. By the time things finally got going, they were straight into the finishing sequences. If they went 20 minutes after the cut was fixed, it could have been a classic.

Calling the main event a disappointment would be taking it a bit too far, but an epic battle it was not.