8 Ups And 4 Downs From NXT TakeOver: Toronto

Downs...

4. Pointless Hype Video

adam cole johnny gargano
WWE.com

As TakeOver began, Mauro Renallo welcomed us, and the lights in the arena went out. Something big was in store… or so we thought.

The lights slowly came up as music built to a crescendo. Was this leading to another over-the-top Velveteen Dream entrance? Was a new NXT superstar debuting in a surprise moment? Then the answer came:

It was a PPV hype video playing on the big screen.

The video itself was fine, but the build-up led to the complete opposite of what you’d expect. A hype video could show on the full screen for the viewer, not from a bunch of camera angles inside the arena. (And besides that, who videos a hype video?)

It’s a minor point, but it was a misfire to start the show with an odd dodge like that.

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Contributor
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.