10 WWE NXT TakeOver: In Your House Impulse Reactions
4. Adam Cole (c) Vs. Velveteen Dream
Was this originally intended to main event this TakeOver, before those in charge actually watched it?
That's assuming they could, considering how badly it was lit and the relentless camera cuts that made it even worse. A hard 0-2 for NXT and cinematic offerings then, as the Backlot Brawl didn't quite plummet to the exhausting depths of One Final Beat but couldn't come anywhere close to the far superior WrestleMania efforts or remotely within the same galaxy as Stadium Stampede.
A lumbering brawl around a cheap-looking film set and a few cars was the sum total of the stipulation, outside of Adam Cole's entrance in a monster truck and Velveteen Dream's Negan turn. A gag with an Uber Driver turning up bordered on Money In The Bank-bad, and though the rest of the match didn't approach that, it simply forgot to get good too.
The Undisputed Era ran in before Dexter Lumis ran them off, before a Panama Sunrise onto a billion chairs saw to Velveteen Dream's title aspirations for good. This may as well be his NXT swansong, for all the cool that remains from his peak a year ago. For Cole, his memorable reign continues, but this was a defence to forget.