High Hopes, Hard Crash
If you were locked into the stream for TakeOva Battle League’s latest card expecting a classic, you weren’t alone. We all were. But what we got instead was a long night that devolved from high hopes into an absolute failure of nearly epic proportions.
Let’s keep it a buck—this was a disaster.
The Audio Nightmare
From the jump, the event was plagued by technical gremlins. We’re talking horrible microphones that made it nearly impossible to catch the bars we paid to hear. For MCs who rely on vocal projection and intricate performance—spitters like O-Red, Sheed Happens, and Jey the Nightwing—this was a death sentence. You could see them struggling to get their material off, fighting the equipment rather than their opponents.
The audio issues created a toxic feedback loop: the mics were low, so the crowd got loud and upset. The crowd got loud, so it became even harder to hear. It was a mess that infected battles like Rum Nitty vs. Loso, dragging down what should have been classic clashes.
The Rollercoaster of Momentum
The night actually started with promise. Rosenberg Raw vs. Chilla Jones kicked things off strong—a battle I think Froze took clearly—but that momentum was immediately snuffed out. Xcel, usually a reliable vet, choked away his final two rounds, leaving K-Walker to carry the dead weight of the battle alone.
The only time we truly felt alive was during Snake Eyez vs. Bill Collector. Thankfully, TBL managed to procure new microphones right before this bout. The difference was night and day—Bill and Snake brought the energy back, engagement spiked, and for a second, it felt like the ship had righted itself. If not for that battle, I fear what the vibes would have felt like in the building, leading up to the main event.
The Fatal Mistake
Here is where TBL lost me. In a baffling decision, the league decided to forgo two highly anticipated battles—Cortez vs. Reed Dollaz and Vixen The Assassin vs. Charlie Clips—to rush the main event. They threw Cassidy vs. Eazy The Block Captain on early, likely to appease a restless crowd.
It was a gamble that failed spectacularly.
The main event didn’t even make it past the top of the second round. It wasn’t just technical issues that killed the destroyed the show—it was a near fight between Cassidy and Eazy The Block Captain. This is the inherent vulnerability of the pit-style battle: with so many people packed onto the stage, there is zero room to de-escalate. The situation boiled over, the venue had to be cleared, and the stream switched to a broad view of the venue before finally cutting to black.
Because they moved the main event up, we didn’t just lose the end of Cass vs. Eazy; we lost the opportunity to see Cortez, Reed, Vixen, and Clips entirely. We missed out on two and a half battles.
The Verdict
I respect TakeOva Battle League; they are usually a staple of quality. But this has to be a learning moment. You cannot cut corners on production (we missed Avocado on the cams, plain and simple ), and you cannot gamble with big of a battle.
Score: 4/10
It hurts to rate it this low, but when you leave fans staring at a screen wondering what’s going on and if they’ll even see the rest of the card, there’s no other option. TBL, you gotta fix this.
Sound Off
I need to hear from y’all on this one. Was I too harsh, or did you feel the same level of disappointment watching the stream crumble? Did the mic issues ruin the early battles for you too? Drop a comment below and let me know how you’re feeling about the state of TBL after this event.
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