X-Pac thought this past weekend’s NXT Takeover event delivered once again. He thinks we’re all starting to take for granted just how good these shows are on a consistent basis. He thought the show started with a bang with the Tag Team Title match, and he notes it’s pretty hard to hate The Undisputed Era even though they’re supposed to be heels.

X-Pac comments on the news that Dean Ambrose will be leaving WWE when his contract expires in April. Ambrose was reportedly offered $1 Million per year over the next 5 years but he said that the money was not important to him because he’s simply not happy with the creative.

X-Pac says he can’t really blame Ambrose because he’s been in that situation himself in years past. He also points out that a $1 Million downside guarantee means that Ambrose probably would have made $2-2.5 Million per year due to merchandise sales, etc., so Ambrose clearly isn’t concerned with money.

X-Pac doesn’t think WWE will treat Ambrose poorly over the next few months because Ambrose is a legitimate star and WWE should want him to return at some point. It wouldn’t be smart for WWE to go over the top with their burial of Ambrose, in turn hurting their relationship with him. X-Pac assumes Ambrose will either sign with AEW, or just take some time to relax and “find himself”.

X-Pac thinks Renee Young is happy and he thinks WWE is happy with her, so he doesn’t see Ambrose’s departure affecting Young’s role in WWE. However, he points out that when a married couple works for separate wrestling promotions, it can be difficult to make that work.

X-Pac comments on Hideo Itami’s request for release. He says that when Itami came back from his shoulder injury he was a shell of his former self, and his confidence seemed to be lacking. X-Pac hates that this happened to Itami, but he’s sure Itami will be busy outside of WWE regardless.

Getting back to last weekend’s Takeover event, X-Pac says he liked the Matt Riddle/Kassius Ohno match but he’s not sure it was needed on the card. Those two guys have good chemistry and had a good match, but they were in a very tough spot on the card.

He was really impressed with the Women’s Title match. He points out that the Women’s matches at Takeovers always tell amazing stories, and he’d like to know who produces those matches. He thought this match between Baszler and Belair seemed flawless at points.

X-Pac also really liked the Ciampa/Black NXT Title match, noting that they had to follow a ridiculously good match as well (the North American Title match between Gargano and Ricochet).

Moving into his thoughts on the Royal Rumble, X-Pac says one of the highlights of the show for him was the Asuka/Becky Lynch opening match. He thought they had a good match and Lynch tapping at the end caught a lot of people by surprise.

He’s sure WWE discussed the idea of having Lynch pass out instead of tapping out, but he thinks they decided against that idea because it would have been too similar to Steve Austin passing out in the Sharpshooter years ago. He doesn’t think tapping out hurt Lynch at all.

X-Pac enjoyed the Tag Team Title match between The Bar & Miz/Shane McMahon, noting that he was very impressed by McMahon’s Shooting Star Press. He thought Ronda Rousey and Sasha Banks had a good match as well. He points out that Rousey might not get the credit she deserves from some people, but she does from him. She’s matured into a great in-ring worker and although she doesn’t bat 100% on her promos, the majority of it is still great.

X-Pac says the Women’s Rumble match didn’t get off to a good start but it ended strong. He doesn’t think Lacey Evans should have been entrant #1 because a lot of people didn’t know her, and she’s unproven at that level. She proceeded to fall on her ass twice with spots that weren’t required at that time, and X-Pac felt bad for her because he can see the talent she has and she just shouldn’t have been placed in that spot.

X-Pac says he’s a big fan of Kairi Sane, adding that she has one of the best top rope elbows ever. He liked Becky Lynch’s run-in at the end, and Hornswoggle’s guest appearance as well.

He thought Daniel Bryan and A.J. Styles had a great match but the crowd was simply not into it. Even facing that adversity, these two professionals had a great match and got fans into it by the end.

X-Pac thought Brock Lesnar performed his role so well during the Universal Title match. He says Lesnar’s such a great performer who always makes his matches believable. Fans who criticize Lesnar’s in-ring performances sound stupid in X-Pac’s opinion.

X-Pac comments on the new WWE 24 episode, which showed Lesnar throwing the Universal Title at Vince McMahon after the main event of WrestleMania last year. X-Pac says he was in the Gorilla Position during that main event last year and he left because things were becoming uncomfortable there. He had no issues with WWE releasing that clip because it’s entertaining and furthers the thought that Lesnar is an uncontrollable monster.

X-Pac says he wasn’t thrilled with Johnny Gargano’s surprise entrance into the Men’s Rumble match. The people he worked with in the ring didn’t execute his moves with him well, and it was obvious that these spots weren’t rehearsed in depth before the event. He’s a huge fan of Gargano and he “…didn’t need to see that”.

He was a bit surprised to see Drew McIntyre eliminated because he thought McIntyre had a good chance to win. Regardless, he still thinks McIntyre’s on a good trajectory to be in the main event of WrestleMania within a couple of years.

X-Pac thinks it’s funny that a lot of people who screamed for inter-gender wrestling are the same people who are criticizing Jax’s appearance in the Men’s Rumble. He notes that there are some fans who legitimately felt uncomfortable with the man-on-woman violence though, and that’s a matter of opinion.

X-Pac informs that the night after WrestleMania last year he told Ronda Rousey she’d be main-eventing the next WrestleMania, and his prediction is beginning to look pretty good. He thinks the match would be a bigger deal with just Lynch and Rousey, but it appears Charlotte may become involved as well.

That sums up today’s episode of X-Pac 1, 2, 360. You can listen to the show yourself anytime here, and I’ll catch ya next week for another recap!