The 2021 NXT TakeOver: In Your House was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE, held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's NXT brand division. It was simultaneously the 35th NXT TakeOver event, NXT's second annual In Your House, and WWE's 29th In Your House overall. The event took place on June 13, 2021, from the Capitol Wrestling Center, a bio-secure bubble that was hosted at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, but with nearly all COVID-19 pandemic protocols lifted and the virtual audience removed to allow an increased live audience capacity.

This was the first In Your House to livestream on Peacock in the United States, following the shutdown of the American version of the WWE Network in April, as well as the first to air on traditional PPV since St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House in February 1999; the previous TakeOver: In Your House only aired on the WWE Network worldwide. The TakeOver series was discontinued with NXT's rebranding to NXT 2.0 in September, but one further In Your House was held for NXT in June 2022. This was also the last In Your House event to air on traditional PPV, as WWE ceased broadcasting NXT's major events on PPV following WarGames in December.

Six matches were contested at the event, including one dark match. In the main event, Karrion Kross defeated Kyle O'Reilly, Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano, and Pete Dunne in a fatal five-way match by technical submission to retain the NXT Championship. In the penultimate match, Raquel González defeated Ember Moon to retain the NXT Women's Championship. Other prominent matches included LA Knight defeating Cameron Grimes in a ladder match for the vacant Million Dollar Championship and in the opening bout, NXT North American Champion Bronson Reed and NXT Tag Team Champions MSK (Nash Carter and Wes Lee) defeated Legado del Fantasma (Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde, and Raul Mendoza) in a Winner Takes All Six-man Tag Team match to retain both of their respective championships.

Production

Background TakeOver was a series of professional wrestling events that began in May 2014, as WWE's NXT brand held its second WWE Network-exclusive livestreaming event, billed as TakeOver. The "TakeOver" moniker subsequently became the branding for all of NXT's major events held periodically throughout the year. While originally exclusive to the WWE Network, TakeOver events also became available on traditional pay-per-view (PPV) beginning with TakeOver 31 in October 2020, and then also on Peacock in the United States after the American version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock in April.

In June 2020, NXT held TakeOver: In Your House, reinstating In Your House after 21 years, which was previously a series of monthly PPV events that was held by WWE from May 1995 to February 1999. On May 13, 2021, a second TakeOver: In Your House, subsequently being the 35th TakeOver event and 29th In Your House, was scheduled for June 13, 2021. This established In Your House as an annual June event for NXT and marked the first In Your House to air on traditional PPV since St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House in February 1999, as well as the first In Your House to air on Peacock—the 2020 event only aired on the WWE Network.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that began affecting the industry in mid-March 2020, WWE had to present the majority of its programming from a behind closed doors set. NXT's programming was initially held at NXT's home venue at the time, Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. In October 2020, NXT's events were moved to a bio-secure bubble called the Capitol Wrestling Center, which was hosted at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Like the WWE ThunderDome utilized for Raw and SmackDown's programming, LED boards were placed around the Performance Center so that fans could attend virtually, while additionally and unlike the ThunderDome, friends and family members of the wrestlers were in attendance along with a limited number of actual live fans divided from each other by plexiglass walls.

For TakeOver: Stand & Deliver in April 2021, the plexiglass walls were removed, and live audience capacity was increased. In Your House increased capacity further to nearly 300 spectators, being the largest attended NXT event at the Capitol Wrestling Center. Nearly all COVID-19 protocols were lifted including physical distancing requirements and the requirement to wear masks although anyone who had tested positive, within the preceding 14 days, were asked to stay home. The virtual audience was also removed with the increased live audience capacity.

Storylines The event included matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television program, NXT.

A triple threat match between Kyle O'Reilly, Pete Dunne, and Johnny Gargano was scheduled on the June 1 episode of NXT to determine who would face Karrion Kross for the NXT Championship at TakeOver: In Your House. The match ended in a no-contest after Adam Cole interfered and attacked all three competitors. Kross would confront Cole and made a request to NXT General Manager William Regal to defend the title against Cole, O'Reilly, Dunne, and Gargano. Regal agreed to Kross's request and made the bout a fatal five-way match for the title at the event.

NXT Women's Champion Raquel González viciously assaulted Shotzi Blackheart while Ember Moon was forced to watch the ordeal after being subdued by Dakota Kai, following the conclusion of the women's tag team match between the team of Blackheart and Moon and the team of Kai and González on the May 25 episode of NXT. The following week, Moon called out González and they both brawled in the ring. Later that same night, Moon announced that she would challenge González for the NXT Women's Championship at TakeOver: In Your House, which was made official.

On the May 25 episode of NXT, Mercedes Martinez defeated Zayda Ramier. Afterwards that day, the lights went out and turned back on with a red lighting, and Mei Ying of Tian Sha appeared on the LED screen. As things went back to normal Martinez was given a black symbol on the back of her wrist. The following week, Xia Li was with Boa watching a video of her first round loss against Martinez in the inaugural Mae Young Classic from 2017, saying it was a disgrace to her family and she would hurt her at TakeOver: In Your House. Later that night, Martinez said that she was aware of Li being different, after facing her in the Mae Young Classic, and that she was not afraid of Li and would defeat her at TakeOver.

On the February 10 episode of NXT, Cameron Grimes made his return from injury and claimed to have become a GameStop investor during his time away (in reference to the GameStop stock rise), thus making him the "richest man in NXT". Grimes then began a feud with WWE Hall of Famer and "The Million Dollar Man", Ted DiBiase, after encountering him in a jewelry store over their watches. Over the next few weeks, DiBiase would continue to one-up Grimes, outbidding him in various purchases. On the May 25 episode of NXT, LA Knight confronted Grimes during the Million Dollar Face-Off segment between Grimes and DiBiase, the latter of whom Knight defended and allied with. The following week, it was announced that a singles match between Grimes and Knight was scheduled for TakeOver: In Your House. DiBiase later announced that their match would instead be a ladder match for the revived Million Dollar Championship.

On the June 1 episode of NXT, MSK (Nash Carter and Wes Lee) successfully defended the NXT Tag Team Championship against Legado Del Fantasma (Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza), after an assist from NXT North American Champion Bronson Reed, who took down Santos Escobar during the match. The following week, Escobar proposed a winners take all match for the NXT North American Championship and NXT Tag Team Championships at TakeOver: In Your House, which Reed and MSK accepted.

Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:HostTodd PettengillCommentatorsVic JosephWade BarrettBeth PhoenixSpanish commentatorsCarlos CabreraMarcelo RodríguezRing announcerAlicia TaylorRefereesDarryl SharmaD.A. BrewerEddie OrengoAja SmithChris SharpeInterviewerMcKenzie MitchellPre-show panelSam RobertsJustin BarrassoArash Markazi Dark match Before the event aired live on pay-per-view and on WWE's livestreaming platforms, a dark match took place which saw Sarray and Zoey Stark take on The Robert Stone Brand (Aliyah and Jessi Kamea) (accompanied by Robert Stone). The climax came when Sarray dropkicked Aliyah into Stone. Afterwards, Stark performed a Z360 on Aliyah to win the match.

Preliminary matches The actual event opened with NXT North American Champion Bronson Reed and NXT Tag Team Champions MSK (Wes Lee and Nash Carter) facing off against Legado del Fantasma (Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde, and Raul Mendoza) in a Winner Takes All Six-man Tag Team match. During the match, Wilde and Mendoza performed a High-Low on Lee for a nearfall, before Carter broke it up. Escobar performed a Michinoku Driver on Reed for a nearfall. In the climax, after Reed tackled Escobar against one of the plexiglass walls, MSK performed their elevated corkscrew blockbuster on Mendoza, followed by Reed performing the "Tsunami" on Mendoza to retain their respective championships.

Next, Xia Li (accompanied by Boa) faced Mercedes Martinez. In the end, Li performed a roundhouse kick to Martinez's head to win the match. Following the pinfall, Martinez attacked both Li and Boa with a steel chair sending them out of the ring. As the duo retreated up the entrance ramp, Mei Ying, who watched and walked on stage, took Martinez down. As Martinez attempted to attack Ying, Ying applied a choke hold to immobilize Martinez, throwing her off the ramp into a guardrail.

In a backstage segment, Johnny Gargano and Kyle O'Reilly, two of the five participants in the main event match, were shown brawling in the arena parking lot.

After that, LA Knight faced Cameron Grimes in a ladder match for the Million Dollar Championship. Ted DiBiase watched the match at ringside — this was a back-and-forth match. During the match, Grimes retrieved the gold-plated ladder that DiBiase had used to introduce the match (which was on the stage). As Grimes ascended the ladder, Knight prevented Grimes from retrieving the Championship by tipping the ladder over. In the closing moments, Grimes attempted to ascend the ladder again, only for Knight to send Grimes off the ladder, through another ladder which was positioned outside the ring. Knight then ascended and retrieved the championship to win the match. Following the match, DiBiase awarded the championship to Knight.

In the fourth match, Raquel González (accompanied by Dakota Kai) defended the NXT Women's Championship against Ember Moon. During the match, Moon performed her "Eclipse" on González, only for Kai to place González's foot on the bottom rope to void the pin. This prompted Moon's tag team partner Shotzi Blackheart, who was not seen on NXT due to injury, to come out and brawl with Kai to the backstage area. González then performed the "Chingona Bomb" on Moon to retain the championship. Later, Kai and Blackheart were shown still brawling in the backstage area.

Main event