NXT TakeOver Toronto: Shayna Baszler Retains Women's Championship

Shayna Baszler, NXT's only two-time women's champion, walked into the Scotiabank Arena on Saturday [...]

By Ryan Droste

Shayna Baszler, NXT's only two-time women's champion, walked into the Scotiabank Arena on Saturday night for the fourth straight TakeOver in a row as champion. She left with the title in hand.

Yim received a star's entrance to start, complete with hip hop dancers (and one who looked to be Matt Riddle?).

As the match started, Yim was not at all fazed going toe to toe with the reigning champion. Early on, Yim worked over Baszler's right arm, especially on the outside with the steel steps, with an eye toward making it difficult for Baszler to apply her submission finish later in the bout.

They struggled to get the crowd into it early, with three excellent matches coming right before this and the crowd likely a bit tired. It was a tough spot coming after the triple threat North American title bout that everyone was anticipating so much coming in, which followed a fantastic women's match between Candice LeRae and Io Shirai, and the opening match of the night between the Street Profits and Undisputed Era was also excellent.

The Baszler and Yim match was slow with submission holds early, which didn't help matters when it comes to getting a fatigued crowd on their feet once more. Baszler locked in an excruciating looking armbar that the crowd popped for, but Yim broke it by tugging at Baszler's hair.

It seemed like the crowd was conflicted on who to cheer for, as Yim worked with heel tactics at times and Baszler's of course the long term heel. The match started to break down at points, with some sloppy moves and the crowd started to boo a little bit.

Yim tried to win the crowd back by amping up her energy and hitting a Tornado DDT, which worked briefly, but it just really felt like they couldn't get the momentum going.

They fought up top and Mia Yim hit an Avalanche Code Blue off the top for a near fall. It was a great looking move visually and the crowd popped for it. Yim followed with some kicks, came off the ropes, and ran into the Kirifuda Clutch from Baszler. However, Baszler's injured arm from earlier prevented her from locking it in entirely and Yim broke the hold.

Yim looked down at Baszler and yelled "this is karma" before stomping her opponent. She locked in an arm bar on Baszler's injured arm, but Baszler rolled through and locked in the Kirifuda Clutch again. Yim again fought out by using the injured arm, but Baszler locked in a triangle with her legs to get the submission victory.

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