Ranking Every Match at NXT TakeOver: In Your House 2021

#1 NXT Champion Karrion Kross retains against a stacked field

Credit: WWE

In what many are calling the most starstudded main event in NXT history, NXT Champion Karrion Kross walked into NXT TakeOver: In Your House, set to defend his title against four very game opponents in: Johnny Gargano, Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly and Pete Dunne in an epic five-way title match.

The storytelling leading up to this main event was supurb, with every man who entered the contest coming into it with different things to prove.

Johnny Gargano, for example, wanted to prove without a shadow of a doubt that he is NXT's Shawn Michaels. Beyond just his Heartbreak Kid inspired ring gear, Gargano wanted to show that NXT TakeOvers are his domain, and that he could he could come up big amongst the best that NXT had to offer. Adam Cole (bay bay) was hell bent on adding onto his impressive NXT resume, hoping to be only the fifth man in NXT history to hold the championship twice.

Pete Dunne went into the match hoping to show that his dominant two-year reign as NXT UK Champion was not just a fluke, and that the Brusierweight is more than just the baddest man in NXT. Then there's Kyle O'Reilly, whose desire is to prove that he is a real main event star, and not in the shadow of his former brother in arms, Adam Cole. Finally, we have the champion himself, Karrion Kross.

While Kross is booked as one of the single most powerful forces in NXT history, he needed to prove that he was more than smoke, mirrors, and special light shows. Up to this point, the hype around Kross was (and still is) very real, but due to injury, Kross never had a real chance to defend his NXT Championship. Tonight was his opportunity to prove that the hierarchy in NXT is not up for grabs, and instead sat firmly in the hands of Kross himself.

.@AdamColePro & @KORcombat, dare we say, just 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮. ♥️ #NXTTakeOver #NXTChampionship @WWEKarrionKross pic.twitter.com/lhNeSjwkim

— WWE (@WWE) June 14, 2021

The match itself was fantastic. Everyone played their role beautifully, and at the end of the day, everyone came away looking like credible suiters for the NXT Championship.

Kross looks like the beast, Pete Dunne and Johnny Garagano are workhorses to the stars, Cole was top-notch and in TakeOver mode, and O'Reilly went from the lowest man on the totem pole, to being the closest one to taking the title off of Kross. The match ended with Kross choking out the former Undisputed Era member as he refused to unlock a submission lock on his former leader.

WHAT A MATCH! #NXTTakeOver pic.twitter.com/SrcacUQ4Uk

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) June 14, 2021

At the end of the day, the NXT Championship scene is stronger than it's ever been, all four other competitors looked like a million bucks, and Kross proved he is more than just hype; he's an absolute killer.