8 Ups And 4 Downs From NXT TakeOver: Toronto

1. What Was The Point?

Perhaps the biggest ongoing storylines in the NXT women’s division has been Shayna Baszler’s reliance on her running buddies Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke to save her NXT Women’s Championship time and time again.

So logically, when a babyface wises up and takes out the two lackeys, you would think that would mean that the heel champ who has needed those underlings would be susceptible to losing her title, right? Right?

Wrong.

Mia Yim took out Shafir and Duke in the weeks prior to TakeOver and resorted to some underhanded tactics of her own during Saturday’s title bout – pulling hair, gouging the eyes, etc. – and incapacitated Baszler’s right arm, and she still couldn’t win the title. Shayna pulled out the win with a submission via leg triangle.

What was the freakin’ point of all the build-up? Months upon months of Baszler holding onto the title because of her friends would lead you to believe that this would be the time she loses, when she’s all alone and against someone willing to bend the rules herself.

Instead, she just pulls out the win again. Storyline logic be damned. It’s a baffling thing from NXT, which usually is pretty good about this sort of thing.