Preshow was a fun deal with all the awards and Charly Caruso really coming into her own as Alt-Renee. Corey Graves passing the baton to Nigel McGuinness was emotional, man. I will miss Corey being comfortable in his own skin. Nigel has such a pleasant voice and rocked the UK show but will probably need another few Preshow’s to get fully comfortable with the WWE machine. Can’t imagine him hard selling #FreeWrestleMania just yet. We’ve now got Nigel McGuinness commentating NXT, Sterling James Keenan commentating RAW, and Austin Aries commentating everywhere – 2004 me is shocked. What will 2030 bring us? Are Zack Sabre Jr., Andrew Everett and Adam Cole all retired and calling the action?
Love the professional wrestling awards. With the way NXT in 2016 turned out, it’s very possible that most of the Breakout Star of the Year field will probably be nominated next year. Billie and Peyton accepting the Breakout award was the best thing they’ve ever done – always nice to see a character click.
Same arena as Tuesday in Texas, huh. True story: Jack Tunney announcing the need for a Jake the Snake/Randy Savage grudge match AND a Hulk Hogan vs. The Undertaker title rematch for This Tuesday in Texas on Coliseum Home Video might have officially hooked me on wrestling.
1. . Tye Dillinger vs. Eric Young w/ SAnitY (Killian Dain and Alexander Wolfe)
Tye Dillinger vs. Eric Young was your reliably fun TakeOver opener. Dillinger being the most over man in NXT really helps the energy of his matches. It hit me on this evening that Eric Young in kayfabe appeared to have his eye on the Euro graps scene before Triple H. The start here was hot with some nice shifts of momentum and though the EY beatdown wasn’t the most interesting thing there was some neat stuff peppered in. Enjoyed EY’s big bumps, Tye’s big dropkick, Killian big crossbody, and EY’s Flair turnbuckle flip leading to the top rope belly-to-belly. A fine shenanigans-filled finish, though a couple nitpicks: EY kicked out a little early on the front cradle and his clearly getting in place for Wolfe to save him from a pin took this mark idiot out of it. IT’S OK TO NITPICK, JUST NOT ALL THE TIME. This was good. ***
2. Roderick Strong vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas
Roderick Strong vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas was your reliably decent 2nd TakeOver match. There was some hard-hitting stuff here and some nice fast-paced exchanges, with Roderick being his solid self and Almas seemingly ready to go all out, but it just didn’t hit that next level for me and was hurt by both guys still seeming like they’re treading water – make some effort, NXT! To be honest I haven’t seen anything from Roddy I actively enjoyed since 2004, but that was also the last time anyone seemed to put any effort into presenting him as interesting. Him being being trained by Jim Neidhart in a backyard is still the best story. Liked the early matwork, Almas doing the Murakami corner thing, both guys hitting REALLY HARD, and Roddy’s crazy-ass backbreakers. The final kick to Almas was nuts too. **3/4
3. NXT Tag Team Title: #DIY [c] vs. The Authors of Pain w/ Paul Ellering
Will the NXT Universe ever know the difference between Akam and Rezar? As The King of 1053 Ridge rightly points out, they at least have their names stitched on their jackets… BUT THEN THEY RIP THEM OFF BEFORE THE MATCH. #DIY vs. The Authors of Pain was the tale of two wavelengths of professional wrestler. There was so much good stuff here… Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa are both amazing babyfaces (YEAH THAT’S RIGHT, I KNOW THE TERMS), with Johnny doing all the great little things (bumping big on the slingshot spear miss, wildly swinging at the Authors, the stare at the crowd when he got caught on the slingshot DDT, selling of the beatdown, just eating it on the apron late in the match), and Ciampa just being a house of god damn fire (his work on the apron, big time hot tag complete with two German suplexes, chopping the fuck out of one of the Pain brothers). Liked #DIY’s tag work too – the frequent tags early, the double slingshot spear. But the Authors of Pain just aren’t there yet to fully take advantage of it all. They did their beatdown, they took their shots, they hit big moves, and it was fine but the timing and impact just wasn’t there (although yes, the one Author brother keeping hold of Johnny after the enzuigiri was great). It was still good, just felt like something really really really good was lurking beneath the surface. Finish was hot and loved the callback to The Revival finish. Oh and the headresses for the AoP entrance were on-point. This was a really good match laid out to be a really great match with a more experienced bad guy team. ***1/2
Seth Rollins Invades NXT
SETH ROLLINS!!! THEY ACTUALLY DID IT. This was the greatest Seth Rollins promo of all time. “I’M TAKING THIS BITCH OVER.” “HOLY SHIT” chants for the breaking of NORMS. Hot angle, loved all of this.
4. Fatal 4-Way Match – NXT Women’s Title: Asuka [c] vs. Nikki Cross vs. Peyton Royce vs. Billie Kay
The NXT Women’s Title match was laid out insanely well and hit all the right notes, but just kind of ended. Felt like a really strong TV match versus a big TakeOver title match. Solid points by the Internet sleuthing community on why Billie and Peyton didn’t just pin each other. Liked a lot of this though… Billie and Peyton being straight-up bitches, all the Asuka and Nikki Cross teases before they finally threw down. I am highly enjoying Nikki’s shtick as the crazy girl who thinks the crowd already loves her, always looking at them like “SUP GUYS! YOU SEE THAT SHIT?” Asuka is an insane person to take that neckbreaker off the apron. Loved Nikki’s big plancha and the superplex to her off the commentator’s table followed by Billie and Peyton’s GLEE. And then Asuka finished their asses. A match that shows the flaw in stupid star ratings – it was exactly what it needed to be, but wasn’t some epic thing I was jumping out of my seat for. **3/4
I’ve really got to get on the Matt Riddle bandwagon. Mugging for the camera behind Tyler Bate and mouthing “I’m gonna woop his ass” – tremendous.
5. NXT Title: Shinsuke Nakamura [c] vs. Bobby Roode
Well god damn did Nakamura vs. Bobby Roode exceed expectations. This was a near-30 minute match that was compelling almost the whole time and finished SO hot. Roode has just gone full Ric Flair with the robes and the women, and Nakamura’s seizure-inducing entrance with the platform taking him to the ring was wonderful. ENTRANCES! CHARACTERS! PRESENTATION! PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING. Crowd was HOT and with them the whole way here. Loved the start… working holds, Roode backs off and yells “get him off!”, Nak does the weird forehead thing and Roode shoves him away, Nak tells Roode to bring it, Roode says GLORIOUS!, Nak waves him off. That’s how you professionally wrestle, man. I will say the middle of this match didn’t 100% grab me; just some solid work I wasn’t all in to. But the first few minutes and the last 10 were incredible. This was the best Nakamura has looked since the freaking Zayn match – big bumps, crazy-ass desperate knees and boots, and the SELLING. It was astounding. Last 10 minutes or so here were wild and took this sucker to epic territory: Nak sets up the Kinshasa but Roode is down and OUT – but no, Roode suckers him in for a schoolboy for 2! Roode gets another near fall putting his feet on the ropes. Desperate Nakamura throws some crazy-ass knees and boots, then hits the wild jumping knee on the apron that leads to him hurting his knee. Nak finally hits the Kinshasa but he’s HURT! ROODE HITS A GLORIOUS DDT! KICKOUT!!! SINGLE-LEG CRAB HOLD, PUNCHES TO THE KNEE, FUCKING ALBERT SHOWS UP. Nakamura knees out and tries the Triangle, but can’t lock it in. A doctor comes to the ring, Roode kicks the knee, Glorious DDT, OVER. SO. GREAT. I am shocked they went with Roode but in a good way, and the End of Nakamura was done really really well. Welcome back, Shinsuke. We missed you. ****1/4
The NXT buzz is faltering, but TakeOver’s remain so much fun. This didn’t have an epic peak like a Nakamura/Zayn or 2016 Revival tag (though the main event came close) but top-to-bottom it was a heck of a show. Everything here is well worth checking out. Also, SETH. FREAKING. ROLLINS. 7/10
