{"id":54543,"date":"2018-01-27T15:13:04","date_gmt":"2018-01-27T21:13:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=54543"},"modified":"2018-01-27T15:13:04","modified_gmt":"2018-01-27T21:13:04","slug":"nxt-hits-misses-1-24-evaluating-final-hype-takeover-including-gargano-vs-velveteen-dream-match-moon-baszler-face-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/01\/27\/nxt-hits-misses-1-24-evaluating-final-hype-takeover-including-gargano-vs-velveteen-dream-match-moon-baszler-face-off\/","title":{"rendered":"NXT HITS &#038; MISSES 1\/24: Evaluating the final hype for Takeover including the Gargano vs. Velveteen Dream match, and Moon-Baszler face-off"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3717054317\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>This past episode of NXT was its go home show before Takeover: Philadelphia.\u00a0 As go home shows go, this was not the most exciting, but it served its purpose in setting up for this weekend\u2019s premier event.\u00a0 We saw Johnny Gargano continue his quest in redemption as he gets closer to capturing the NXT Championship from Andrade \u201cCien\u201d Almas.\u00a0 We also saw Shayna Baszler and Ember Moon sitting down together prior to their match this weekend for one final face off.\u00a0 Other than that, it was a series of squash matches that did not exactly fit into the equation of Takeover: Philadelphia. Overall, this episode was lackluster as it did not have that many hits or misses, just fillers, but it served as a precursor for an event that is sure to have everyone talking after this weekend.<\/p>\n<h3><b>HITS<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><b>Johnny Gargano vs. Velveteen Dream (Number One Contender\u2019s Match for the NXT Championship):\u00a0<\/b>Last week we saw Johnny Gargano approached by the Velveteen Dream as the Dream claimed that Gargano is not deserving of the number one contender position as he did not truly earn it.\u00a0 So, Gargano put it all on the line this week in a match with the Dream for the top contender spot to Almas\u2019 championship.\u00a0 Once again, Johnny Wrestling can make any match look good, but it was good to see that he had major assistance from the Dream as he was truly phenomenal.\u00a0 He aided the story by playing the cocky heel that continued to convince Gargano that he did not deserve any of this as he taunted and mocked him.\u00a0 Gargano continued to play the role of the underdog fighting his way to the top, and did a very good job.\u00a0 He fought extremely hard during this match, never giving up and found a way to overcome the Dream as he won with the Gargano Escape.\u00a0 After the match, Almas and Zelina Vega made their way to the ring, continuing to play mind games with Gargano.\u00a0 They mocked him as the Dream did and Almas attacked him, sending him out the ring.\u00a0 As always, Gargano bounced back by climbing back into the ring and hitting him with a slingshot DDT.\u00a0 As he stood there while Almas lied on the canvas, he picked up the NXT title and you could see the belief in his eyes that he can do this and become the next NXT Champion.\u00a0 I believe that this is truly possible as it would cap off the ultimate comeback\/redemption story, but as we all know about NXT, a swerve or two can be in the making as well.<\/p>\n<h3><b>MISSES<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><b>The Face-Off Between Shayna Baszler and Ember Moon:\u00a0<\/b>Honestly, this was very mediocre as it&#8217;s nothing that we haven\u2019t heard before.\u00a0 Moon calls Baszler a bully, Baszler doesn\u2019t care as she plays the cocky heel.\u00a0 The whole interaction seemed scripted and what really makes it poor is that there is not enough history there, mainly on the part of Baszler.\u00a0 She already has a title shot and she just came to NXT yesterday, with no major wins or matches and she is already in the title picture.\u00a0 This could be because of a lack of competition in the Woman\u2019s Division, but I would honestly rather see Kairi Sane in this match, maybe even as a third competitor as this match just doesn\u2019t seem that exciting.\u00a0 Honestly, a rematch between Sane and Baszler would have been more exciting.\u00a0 But overall, this match can go either way as I cannot predict who would win.\u00a0 I think that this is a major representation in the lack of competition in the Woman\u2019s Division.\u00a0 Hopefully we can see more a showcase of the women in the division as there surely is not a lack of talent, but with a shift of focus, the division become lively again.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK&#8217;S COLUMN:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/01\/19\/nxt-hits-misses-1-17-zelina-vega-gargano-promos-aop-vs-street-profits-strong-vs-eichner-lacey-vs-aliyah\/\">NXT HITS &amp; MISSES 1\/17: Zelina Vega and Gargano promos, AOP vs. Street Profits, Strong vs. Eichner, Lacey vs. Aliyah<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-1746799279\"><div id=\"pwtor-177536304\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>This past episode of NXT was its go home show before Takeover: Philadelphia.\u00a0 As go home shows go, this was not the most exciting, but it served its purpose in setting up for this weekend\u2019s <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/01\/27\/nxt-hits-misses-1-24-evaluating-final-hype-takeover-including-gargano-vs-velveteen-dream-match-moon-baszler-face-off\/\" title=\"NXT HITS &#038; MISSES 1\/24: Evaluating the final hype for Takeover including the Gargano vs. Velveteen Dream match, and Moon-Baszler face-off\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,28,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-specialists_hitsandmisses","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/07\/EmberMoonAthena_3x2TG.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54543"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54544,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54543\/revisions\/54544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}