The much-anticipated debuts we saw at TakeOver: Dallas werent confined to the ring. During the special event, the camera occasionally cut to the crowd to show WWE personalities in attendance, including Jim Ross, Scott Hall, X-Pac and Stephanie McMahon. But it also cut away to show Japanese star Kota Ibushi in attendance. WWE didnt hesitate to fuel the speculation by asking whether he was there to join NXT, participate in the Global Cruiserweight Series, or just take in the event. Also in attendance and shown just before the main event was former TNA Champion Bobby Roode, drawing a huge reaction from the crowd. Roode recently requested and received his release from TNA after wrestling there for more than a decade. A supremely talented wrestler, Roode could be a big signing for WWE/NXT, as he could quickly make an impact at either level.
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.
