8 Ups And 2 Downs From NXT TakeOver: New Orleans

5. Baszler Impresses In Title Bout

ember moon shayna baszler
WWE.com

After being less than impressed by Shayna Baszler in her first NXT Women’s Championship match, this writer has to give credit to the Queen of Spades after her turn in Saturday’s title bout.

Baszler overcame a (storyline) possible separated shoulder to beat Ember Moon and capture the title in a fierce and full-speed match. Whereas Baszler looked somewhat limited and one-dimensional before (a former MMA fighter striking and looking for submissions), she was forced to show pain and fight from underneath a little after a hyper-aggressive Moon stomped her arm and attacked her nonstop.

In the end, the Queen of Spades managed to lock in the Kirifuda Clutch, holding it until Ember passed out. Hopefully, Baszler will continue to show different facets of her abilities going forward.

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Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.