9 Ups & 2 Downs From NXT TakeOver: In Your House

2. Io Shirai’s Big Dive

Io Shirai
WWE.com

Well, someone had to do it.

It might as well have been the 'Genius Of The Sky', Io Shirai. Her spectacular leap from atop the house set onto Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley was one of the best moments from TakeOver. It was a nice, rather sneaky nod towards her fellow Japanese star Asuka's MITB antics too.

Somehow, the commentary trio managed to avoid making a Mick Foley reference (he famously jumped off his house in a home video as a teenager before becoming a world famous star), but at least they put Shirai's daredevil behaviour over big time. Ranallo said she'd do anything to become NXT Women's Champion.

There are too many through the ropes dive spots in wrestling generally, and it was nice to see something over the top like this replace one of those tired leaps of faith. Plus, it fits Io's character to take chances, and nobody got hurt. That's a win-win.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.