Entrance gear shout-outs to Tye Dillinger, Andrade “Cien” Almas and Nia Jax. Sup.
1. Tye Dillinger vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas (debut)
Liked the Andrade “Cien” Almas debut against Tye Dillinger. There were a few timing issues, but Andrade’s movements are so smooth and Tye is just the best enhancement guy going. It was my first look at the former La Sombra… the wrestling’s good, and I’m excited to see where the character goes. The chilling on the ropes thing is tremendous. **3/4
2. NXT Tag Team Title: American Alpha [c] vs. The Revival
American Alpha and The Revival had another incredible match. Alpha were wrestling like they were possessed – great double teams, selling, fire. First part of this felt like Gable was auditioning for the Cruiserweight Classic. Gable’s selling was on point and Jordan’s fire on the hot tag was just all-star level. Revival was there for everything, and even though they won this felt designed to make Alpha look like the greatest team in wrestling. Love the Revival, but I’d like to see a little more goofy bumping and selling. Insane finish with the sunset flip and German suplex/dropkick near fals being great. Finish was a total shocker and perfectly executed – folks legit screaming. Great stuff. ****
Authors of Pain (or Who Are These Guys) debut attacking American Alpha was great. About time we got some storyline progression in NXT. Alpha vs. Authors and Revival vs. Gargano/Ciampa will be hot. Paul Ellering coming out was fucking incredible. I’m man enough to admit I didn’t recognize him at first either. Eat it, Internet. Fit the role perfect of mysterious guy observing his team.
3. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Austin Aries
I cannot wait until main roster crowds are just losing their shit for Nakamura. Random crowd shots of dudes doing weird ass shit with their hands. It’s going to be amazing. Nakamura vs. Aries was a good match that I didn’t care for. Aries is basically the poorest version of a Nakamura indy dream match – he’s athletic, competent, but – eh. Good drama for the finish and they did bring it together for the last five minutes, but Aries on offense was boring and not in a way that really added to the match. ***
4. NXT Women’s Title: Asuka [c] vs. Nia Jax
Asuka vs. Nia Jax as a modern day Toru Yatsu vs. Kamala is a tremendous matchup. I loved this. Nothing fancy, but it didn’t overstay its’ welcome, kept moving, and always felt like a real fight and struggle. Beating Jax twice is a strange move, but you can reset her when she’s main roster bound. That scream at the end was great. She’s no Bull Nakano, but she’s the closest thing they’ll get in Vince’s World. ***
Bobby Roode. OK.
5. Steel Cage Match – NXT Title: Samoa Joe [c] vs. Finn Balor
The Full Sail cage lowering was cool as shit. Joe vs. Balor was a 7-month feud with a couple good matches but nothing standout. I think this cage match was my favorite though. About as violent and fight-like as a Finn Balor match can be, and like the women’s match they kept it moving and it felt like a struggle. Finn keeping on Joe early was fun. Enjoyed them working the match around just throwing each other into the cage. The escape attempts weren’t gimmicky and felt like real attempts. The Coup de Grace kickout probably should’ve gotten over more if they were doing their job right. Second rope muscle buster was a nice finish. I dug this probably more than the writing lets on. Joe is a guy who I don’t think is very good working the recent NXT roster (Zayn, Finn, Crews, Corbin) but I still want to see him on the main roster working a million different guys: Styles, Reigns, Rollins, Cena, Rusev, Sheamus. ***1/2
Lots of last minute hype around “The End” that didn’t quite deliver, but this was a prety fun show. Not as high-end as far as the best TakeOver specials go, but still good. These being two hours is appreciated – no room for bullshit, just great wrestling with a fired up crowd. NXT TV might be lacking, but TakeOver specials are still top-to-bottom the best thing WWE is putting out these days. Thanks, WWE! 6/10
