NXT TakeOver: Toronto is scheduled for this Saturday night, and now that the go-home episode of NXT has aired, we have a firm grasp of which superstars will be participating in the pay-per-view and which men and women are being left out in the cold.
As always, cards are subject to change and there could be any number of alterations to this lineup with surprise appearances, impromptu matches and so on, so nothing is truly set in stone. However, as far as the event is currently being advertised, the following NXT talent is not being promoted as part of the program.
It’s your call to judge whether these missing stars are being left off the card for justifiable reasons or not, so let’s take a look at the superstars missing from NXT TakeOver: Toronto.
From the NXT Men’s Division
— Angel Garza / Boa / Bronson Reed / Dexter Lumis / Isaiah “Swerve” Scott / Joaquin Wilde: These six competitors participated in the NXT Breakout Tournament, but failed to advance to the final. It’s 100% reasonable for them to not be on this card, as there is a legitimate purpose for their lack of inclusion. However, WWE could always do something like have them ringside to watch the final match, just to call attention to how there are eight new superstars to pay attention to. Update: Cameron Grimes and Jordan Myles are also not on this card, despite how WWE specifically advertised the final, multiple times, as taking place at TakeOver. They eventually changed their minds and have advertised on tonight’s episode that this will happen “next week”, meaning they will record this on the pre-TakeOver tapings, instead.
— The Brit-Am Bruisers (Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan): These two can put on some great matches, but there was no way they would get the priority tag title shot over The Undisputed ERA, who have their fingerprints all over this show.
— Cezar Bononi: Future Star my ass. This guy’s been technically on the roster for how long now and he’s done jack? They can’t even get the obvious stable of Arturo Ruas and Taynara Conti to be a real thing.
— Damian Priest / Keith Lee: New feud. Gotta do something with these guys, as they’re two of the bigger names just sort of sitting around. But they would still be lower on the totem pole than Killian Dain and Matt Riddle, so this would have only been on the card if it were an 8-match event.
— Dominik Dijakovic: The Five-Tool Superstar has yet to return from his torn meniscus injury.
— Fandango / Tyler Breeze / The Forgotten Sons (Jaxson Ryker, Steve Cutler, & Wesley Blake): If Priest/Lee would have been match #8, this would have been match #9, I’m assuming.
— Killian Dain / Matt Riddle: If TakeOver events had more matches on them, this would certainly be on the card. However, so cuts needed to be made, and with all the titles and more going on, there just wasn’t room for this.
— Kona Reeves: He’s a jobber.
— Kushida: Curiously, Kushida hasn’t been given as big of a push as I had thought he would. By now, I figured they would have set him up for a legitimate feud and he’d be fighting someone at this TakeOver. But maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe this will stop him from being pushed too hard/fast and burning out.
— Mansoor: WWE really capitalized on that Saudi Arabia battle royal victory, eh? Of course not. I don’t know why Mansoor hasn’t at least competed on NXT a few times since then.
— Raul Mendoza: For the most part, he’s a jobber.
— Riddick Moss: The Riddick Regimen hasn’t worked out yet, and I’m curious why they haven’t brought Dorian Mak into the mix yet for this tag team. Supposedly, Moss has been turning some heads at the Performance Center, but it hasn’t manifested into a push quite yet.
— Shane Thorne: Since losing Nick Miller, Shane Thorne has really struggled to find his spot on the roster. TM-61 had their own flaws and problems to begin with, so it wasn’t like he had the best foothold or foundation to start fresh from.
— Tino Sabbatelli: Sabbatelli is still inactive from his torn pectoral injury.
— Tommaso Ciampa: Ciampa is still on the road to recovery after undergoing neck surgery back in March.
From the NXT Women’s Division
— Aliyah / Vanessa Borne: It seems like they were lower on the card than they thought they were. Oooooooooh!!!! Yeah, these two have been pushed aside recently, as there just hasn’t been a lot of time to dedicate to extra storylines and they weren’t a priority in comparison to some others.
— Bianca Belair: Belair really lost a lot of steam when her undefeated streak ended, didn’t she? After putting over Mia Yim to build her up for Shayna Baszler, Belair is on the sidelines. She’ll get back on track, as she’s too talented not to, but now doesn’t seem to be her time.
— Dakota Kai: She is still out with her torn ACL injury.
— Deonna Purrazzo: Since she’s never used, it’s odd that she’s considered a member of the roster, as opposed to just a live event person at the moment.
— Jessamyn Duke / Marina Shafir: There’s always a chance we see Duke and Shafir ringside for Shayna Baszler’s NXT Women’s Championship defense.
— Kacy Catanzaro: Kacy will get her time. She’s still very, very new to this and there have been other babyfaces who were more established. Let’s see what she’s doing a few TakeOver events from now.
— Taynara Conti: I still say WWE should cut their losses with Taynara Conti, who hasn’t impressed me one bit since the beginning, and has been in NXT long enough that she should be higher on the card than she is, which is at the very bottom of the hierarchy.
— Xia Li: Xia Li continues to impress me (total opposite of Conti) but she’s still not quite a mainstay on NXT television, so she’s naturally going to fall short of making it onto a TakeOver event right now. By this time next year, I think we’ll be singing a different tune.
Male U.S. Performance Center Recruits
There isn’t much to say about these men and women. They’re not regular members of the NXT roster yet, so there’s literally no reason for them to be there on this card with limited spots.
However, if you’re a completionist and you wish to know who these people are, here is the list of current members of the Performance Center and NXT live event crew:
— Male Talent: Arturo Ruas, Babatunde, Brendan Vink, Brennan Williams, Cal Bloom, Daniel Vidot, Denzel Dejournette, Dorian Mak, Jeet Rama, Mars Wang, Mohamed Fahim, Nick Ogarelli, Omari Palmer, Rik Bugez, Rinku Singh, Robert Stone, Rocky, Saurav Gurjar, Team 3.0 (Jeffrey Parker and Matthew Menard-Lee), Tomu
— Female Talent: Chelsea Green, Jessi Kamea, Karen Q (injured), Kavita Devi, Lacey Lane, MJ Jenkins, Rachel Ellering (injured), Reina González, Tegan Nox
From NXT UK
The only representative from NXT UK on this card is Pete Dunne, who will be competing in the North American Championship match against Velveteen Dream and Roderick Strong.
Due to Dunne being the only UK person on this lineup, this means all of the following people are not factored into TakeOver: Toronto.
— Male Talent: Amir Jordan & Kenny Williams, Ashton Smith, Dave Mastiff, Eddie Dennis (injured), Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews, Gallus (Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey & Wolfgang), Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson), The Hunt (Wild Boar Mike Hitchman & Primate Jay Melrose), Ilja Dragunov, Imperium (Alexander Wolfe, Fabian Aichner, Marchel Barthel & WALTER), Jack Starz, Jordan Devlin, Joseph Conners, Kassius Ohno, Ligero, Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate), Noam Dar, Oliver Carter, Ridge Holland, Sam Gradwell, Saxon Huxley, Travis Banks, and Tyson T-Bone.
— Female Talent: Isla Dawn, Jazzy Gabert, Jinny, Kay Lee Ray, Killer Kelly, Nina Samuels, Piper Niven, Rhea Ripley, Toni Storm, Xia Brookside
Do you think these men and women or any others not on this list should have been booked on the card in some fashion? How would you have utilized them if given the opportunity? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
