I admittedly didn't watch NXT Battleground until yesterday, but damn, it was an incredible PPV/PLE and it definitely had a Takeover tone - especially the Dijak vs. Ilja Dragunov match. At least half of the matches are certifiable bangers and there were a good number of wrestlers who came from the NXT Black & Gold/NXT UK era. Also, Battleground helped fill my good wrestling quotient for the long weekend after AEW Double or Nothing left me feeling a bit disappointed.

>The three-way match between Wes Lee, Tyler Bate, and Joe Gacy was amazing and reminiscent of something we'd see in old NXT Takeovers.

>Dijak vs. Ilja is-a-must-watch. Potential MOTY candidate.

>The Heritage Cup match between Dar and Dragon Lee, as well as the Creed vs. Gallus tag team matches were entertaining.

>Tiffany Stratton and Lyra Valkyria was a good finale for the Women's Championship. I watched to learn more about Tiffany but walked away incredibly impressed by Lyra.

>Carmelo Hayes and Bron Breakker proved why they're at the top of the "rising stars" pack. It'll be really fun seeing them bloom in the coming years.

Mind you, I haven't really watched an NXT PPV/PLE event from start-to-finish since the final Takeover 36. Kudos to HBK and team for putting on an awesome show.

I'll close by saying that it feels like most of the featured NXT wrestlers have a character package and motivations to support the storyline they're in. This made the entire event very easy to watch. I love AEW but I didn't get this vibe for most of Double or Nothing.