The last two matches were good but not my thing, the first three matches were astounding. It was another great TakeOver, an event that takes place every few months that reminds you WWE can still do hot serious professional wrestling.
Tonight might’ve been the night where Mauro Ranallo finally completed his arc from unique good commentator to insufferable loon to ironic good commentator.
I also think it’s worth mentioning that every single match on this card had a jumping knee to the face. Even the match that had literally one move.
1. Matt Riddle vs. Kassius Ohno
“We’re chillin’ in LA… we got a ring [looks over] – we got TWO rings down here.” I have a confession: I love Bro. Sometimes I think WWE is the dumbest company, sometimes they have Matt Riddle make his TakeOver debut by having him KO Kassius Ohno in 5 seconds.
2. 2/3 Falls – NXT Women’s Title: Shayna Baszler [c] vs. Kairi Sane
This match ruled. I say it every time they wrestle each other but they complement each other perfectly, with Shayna’s Gotch-ISM and Kairi’s spunky underdog who isn’t afraid to throw a chop to the face. Somehow this 2/3 Falls match was shorter than their last two matches (11 minutes!) but felt more complete, with a hot crowd and callbacks to their last matches and wild run-ins and a perfect finish.
Shayna is a premium pro wrestler. This was an exciting match, but some of the best parts were her slowing it down – the stomp to the face and soaking it in, that scowl as she applied a neck crank. Kairi was brilliant too – loved her going right at Shayna with the dropkick, the chaos of her throwing palms while Shayna overwhelmed her, and her look of terror as Shayna hooked her arms and held her down for the final 3-count was majestic. There were some all-timer Insane Elbows here too… they always look great, but these were special.
Kairi dropping Shayna with a spike DDT on the apron was nuts – part of me wondered why, part of me was like – damn, they made the most of that thing.
Marina Shafir, Jessamyn Duke, Dakota Kai and Io Shirai all ran in for the finish to setup what should be some fun matches. Duke has a serious heel look going, just a real jerk of a face. Dakota Kai just straight kicking her in the face was awesome, as was Io doing a moonsault to the floor in jeans. Great, wild match. ****1/4
3. Aleister Black vs. Johnny Gargano
I’m not sure if the reaction to Johnny was boos or confused silence, but let me tell you: this was an incredible wrestling match. It had the speed and flow of a Rey/Juvy match or something but with kicks and knees to the face. They just didn’t let up with cool crazy stuff that all connected perfectly and it felt like it hurt. Black doing a moonsault to the floor and landing to his feet only to get dropped with a tope tornado DDT from Johnny (who just avoided the moonsault) was a jaw-dropper, as was another Johnny tope which ran right into a knee from Black.
Johnny experimenting with heel work in between it all was interesting too – the slap early, the dickish self-confidence, and soaking in the boos like, “Yep, we’re at this part of my arc and we’re all gonna fucking deal with it.”
Very much enjoyed Black just killing Johnny dead with kicks to the head as the finish. This flying/kick/go-go-go style doesn’t always work, but in the hands of these two it really really did. Johnny Wrestling strikes again. ****1/2
4. NXT Title: Tommaso Ciampa [c] vs. Velveteen Dream
This was very much a FINE NXT Championship match. Dream is a compelling, dynamic performer who feels right now like a can’t-miss star, but while in NXT he has been put in a lot of slots he might not be ready for – Indy Dream match with Gargano, TakeOver title match with Ciampa. It ends up as a lot of pretty good but not great wrestling. He might end up better off on the main roster, to be honest.
I found myself most impressed with referee Darryl Sharma here… dug his catch of Ciampa’s tights-pulling (“HEY! HEY!”) and his conflicted look as he prepared to count for Dream’s DDT on the NXT Title, which Ciampa had originally brought in.
Some solid near falls, Ciampa yelling at Mauro, and Dream’s terrifying elbow drop to the FLOOR brought this home hot. Good regular match, just a decent championship match. ***1/4
5. WarGames: Pete Dunne, Ricochet & War Raiders vs. The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish)
My general reaction to this near hour-long match that featured so many wild bumps into all types of materials is that blood is very similar to marijuana when it comes to professional wrestling. You let the guys toke up to manage their pain, they aren’t using pills to. Similarly, you let the guys cut themselves once in a while, they’re not going to have to do so many wild bumps and would be healthier overall. I don’t need blood every week or even month, but had Hanson gigged here in this WarGames match he could’ve just grabbed the ropes while selling for 20 minutes and not do all the wacky shit he did. My personal preference is that I am way more into a fat dude lying on the ground in a heap of blood versus a fat dude doing springboards. Maybe that’s just me.
All eight of these guys have talent and there was a lot of good stuff here wrapped up in a LONG match that was occasionally fun but also frustrating and not as epic as the gimmick would suggest. There was more Tower of Doom and cute plunder spots than straight-up hate-filled brawling and the former is kind of what these guys promise but if they promise that then maybe a big cage match isn’t the match for them. The fact that the build kind of stunk didn’t help either – more “Eh these guys are feuding at this time, so they’ll go in WarGames” and not “This heated feud needs WarGames.” I always prefer the latter. Maybe that’s just me.
The highlights were there: Ricochet being as spectacular as always, Roddy’s run when he entered, Undisputed Era just decimating Ricochet and Hanson before everyone got in, O’Reilly screaming as Dunne stretched his fingers apart, Fish’s trash talk. The double moonsault was a tremendous capper but everything before it was less than that. Thought the four-on-four showdown felt a little forced too. Maybe that’s just me.
I guess the spectacular stuff wasn’t spectacular enough to overcome there being virtually no violent stuff. It was fun, but not fun enough to be anything memorable. And WarGames should probably be memborable.
Maybe that’s – ah darn it, I killed it. ***1/2
Hell of a show. Great atmosphere, great wrestling, and as a bonus new stars like Matt Riddle and Io Shirai came out looking ready to pick up the torch whenever folks like Shayna Baszler and The Undisputed Era head to Monday or Tuesday night. 9/10
