The coolest thing about the TakeOver Pre-Shows is if you’re watching the weekly TV there’s not really any new footage so you can Fast-Forward through most of it.
1. NXT Tag Team Title: The Undisputed Era (Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly) [c] vs. Moustache Mountain
I loved this match. They brought all the great stuff from their other classic matches over the last few months and somehow built on them with a crazy dramatic finish and a few all-timer near falls.
Undisputed Era is on another level as a pro wrestling tag team right now. Their choice of offense on their beatdowns is great, highlighted by that insane Gory Special by Strong. Their cut-off timing is great, highlighted by that amazing Strong lariat to cut Bate off. And their bumping when it’s time to is great, highlighted by Strong and O’Reilly both hurdling over the top rope to the outside as Bate made his comeback.
Moustache Mountain might be their perfect opposition. Seven and Bate brought the beautifully strung together babyface tandem wrestling (a lost art, to be honest), jaw-dropping power spots from Bate, SELLING THE LEG! by Bate, and Seven throwing SHOTS when it was his turn. I mean everybody throws chops, but Trent Seven throws CHOPS.
The last 10 minutes or so were special, one of those things where it feels like there’s no other way to talk about it than to just recount all the cool stuff going on. You had Seven’s massive hot tag run, Bate’s incredible koppou kick, and incredible moments like the Undisputed Era double submission spot ending with Bate lifting out of O’Reilly’s triangle choke and throwing him into Strong to break the Stronghold (WHAT).
A few near falls here were all-timers, things that made me viscerally react as I sat alone watching the wrestling. There was the Bate Exploder on O’Reilly into Strong followed by a big tope followed by the rebound lariat followed by the Tyler Driver for All-Timer Near Fall #1.
There was Undisputed Era going back to wrecking Bate’s knee to setup the O’Reilly heel hook, Strong dragging O’Reilly back towards their corner on the heel hook, another stupid towel forfeit tease only for Seven to throw it away, Bate craaaawling from the heel hook to tag Seven, and finally the 7-Star Lariat for All-Timer Near Fall #2.
And an Ode to the Bulldogs got All-Timer Near Fall #3, which I find very cool because Strong used to do that when he teamed with Jack Evans like 15 years ago, around the time everybody went, “Hey – Roderick Strong is pretty good.”
Loved Roddy finally just plastering Bate with the knee at he end too.
God damn. Nothing like some quality tag team professional wrestling. *****
Post-match, Strong & O’Reilly made the War Raiders look the best they ever have too. These boys are on a run.
2. Velveteen Dream vs. EC3
I liked the first 5 minutes of this as between Dream sneaking up on EC3 and backing away, EC3 shoving Dream, the wristlock lift, and Dream crotching himself on the ropes, it felt very WWF 1980s. But then it kept going.
First of all, a guy like EC3 should not be selling the neck – that thing is too big. Also, a guy like EC3 should not be making babyface comebacks, as all his signature offense looks stupid and doesn’t get over because it just confuses everybody. TakeOver atmosphere aside, this didn’t really work. The CALL ME UP VINCE tights were the best part. **1/4
MATT RIDDLE OH MY GOD
3. NXT North American Title: Adam Cole [c] vs. Ricochet
They brought this together for the finish but the first half lost me, which explains a lot of wrestling matches throughout time. You don’t have to be doing crazy stuff, just be a character as you stomp or apply a chinlock or whatever you want to do. They did have a lot of cool stuff planned – Ricochet countering a leapfrog with a dropkick, Cole countering a handspring with a Backstabber, and Ricochet catching the superkick – but everything around it just didn’t grab me.
Regardless, what a finish. The superkick counter of the Ricochet backflip was nuts, as was their big (if not a LITTLE goofy) strike exchange. And the crowd seemed to dig it, so what do I know. I dug the cocktease of the 630 splash too with Cole rolling outside, followed by the rana to the floor which actually led to the finish. Good for Ricochet. ***1/4
4. NXT Women’s Title: Shayna Baszler [c] vs. Kairi Sane
These two have such a special dynamic, with Shayna’s dickish confident “I trained with Billy Robinson, bitch” act up against Kairi’s spunky underdog who will elbow you to death act. And they took that dynamic and stayed true to it from bell-to-bell. And it ruled.
Shayna just wrecking Kairi’s leg was awesome and I thought they did a great job teasing the Kairi comeback/win only to keep pulling the rug out. Kairi’s facial expressions really put this over the top, with extra passion behind everything she did – the stiff backfist, the spear, the drama she created as she headed up for that second elbow drop.
Amazing, special submission counters at the end too: the Anchor into the sleeper hold, the leglock into the Anchor, the elbow into the sleeper, and finally the sleeper into the cradle. All the feels for that finish too. Go Kairi! ****
5. Last Man Standing Match – NXT Title: Tommaso Ciampa [c] vs. Johnny Gargano
Damnit.
This was a great match, but as pretty much everybody with access to the Internet has already said, the way they have stretched this feud out hurt it. Dumb finish aside, if they run this exact same match at TakeOver: New Orleans, it’s pretty much just as good. And I think I gave that one 5 stars. But as the third match in this series, it didn’t bring anything new to the table and felt just a little annoying.
I did like how few counts there were – the first half was very much them deciding to try and kill each other before waiting around for a 10-count. I liked Ciampa’s choices to beat the counts – rolling outside, using a crutch to stand. The pile-on spot outside with Ciampa putting a PERSON on top of Gargano was a good near fall too. And individually, I still dig these two guys – Gargano is going through some STUFF but is still one of the finest babyfaces on the planet, while Ciampa is such an awesome scary wrestler with such impact behind everything he does.
It was a really good match that went too long, both in-ring and as a story. And really, is it even possible to have THAT good of a Last Man Standing Match when #LastManStanding is in the upper left corner of the screen? ***3/4
If anything, I’m kind of starting to see NXT with new eyes. It does stink to see folks like Balor, Bayley, Revival and others move on to obscurity on the main roster. But NXT also does give us a look at those who might not otherwise get the chance to do some WWE main event wrestling before Vince McMahon decides they aren’t good enough.
Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened – yanno?
Shocker – another great TakeOver. Tight layout, great characters, great wrestling, big moments. The main event was disappointing and the EC3/Dream match was a stinker so it wasn’t as high-end as others, but still, good work folks. 8/10
