Dakota Kai / Evie and Raquel Gonzalez vs. Ember Moon / Athena and Shotzi Blackheart (finals of the Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic 2021), from WWE NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day

The first excellent TakeOver in almost two years started with a match that didn’t look good on paper—Blackheart is better known for her character work and Gonzalez makes a better bodyguard than wrestler. I don’t know if something was in the water or the agents worked overtime, but what we got was a raucous affair with Moon and Kai playing team captain opposite someone unfocused but with seemingly limitless potential, making for a match with plenty of memorable highspots and a good story to boot. It didn’t build to a proper crescendo, but this was otherwise a resounding success.

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