The Pre-Show was the usual banter plus a few awards being handed out, highlighted by Kairi Sane winning not just Female Competitor of the Year but Overall Competitor of the Year and her being completely touched. Her asking the interviewer “what do you think?” was adorable.
1. NXT Tag Team Title: The Undisputed Era (Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly) [c] vs. War Raiders
As it was, this kind of felt like it was going nowhere for a bit before they started doing crazy shit and the crazy shit was really good. Hanson was a freak as usual, doing topes to the outside into nothing and handspring back elbows. And when Rowe is on a run of offense, it is some elite level stuff. Roddy and O’Reilly meanwhile remain two of the most fun dudes to just watch in wrestling, from their choices on beatdowns to the way they go flying when it’s time to bump. A good match, it’s just that Undisputed Era set the bar high. I wish the beatdown in the NXT TV tag and the finish here could be spliced together, as that might just be the best match that ever happened. ***1/2
2. Matt Riddle vs. Kassius Ohno
A good match for Riddle, a solid if not disappointing match otherwise. Kassius Ohno is an entity that seems incapable of generating any type of heat or interest, even when he is booting Matt Riddle square in the face. It stinks. It sucks. But it is truth. The stomp on Riddle’s bare foot was awesome. The toe biting thing was strange. Either way, it wasn’t really clicking. For a “solid if not disappointing” match though I still appreciate that it gave me Riddle doing what might be the first ever sleeper suplex ever performed in WWE as well as the incredibly cool finish, which saw Ohno tapout as Riddle rained down elbows strikes on his neck. ***1/4
3. NXT North American Title: Ricochet [c] vs. Johnny Gargano
So yeah these guys are pretty good. Gargano continued his incredible TakeOver output but this was the Ricochet Show, as this guy did like ten things that made me lose my mind. And he din’t just do them, he made them look perfect AND had the time/poise to react to everything and make the most of it. The backflip off the post, slingshot DDT catch, front flip onto his feet off a Frankensteiner, tope con hilo over the corner post followed by a springboard 450, the CATCH of the Gargano tope… this was a man on a mission to prove he is the most incredible man that lives on planet earth. Of course there was also a wrestling match here and that wrestling match was pretty awesome, though some of the stuff in between the spectacular stuff felt a little empty. It was a match designed to be a 5-star match, but c’mon, Rico – did you really want to win this thing? Was anybody actually, I don’t know, wrestling? Still – a marvel. ****1/4
4. NXT Women’s Title: Shayna Baszler [c] vs. Bianca Belair
Love a Shayna Baszler match. She did a spinning armbar here. A SPINNING. ARMBAR. Using Belair’s ponytail to drive her into the ring post was great stuff too. This was mostly Belair fighting from behind and after watching the match I am going to say that is the correct way this match should have happened. She didn’t get much in, though when she did she shot her shot. The sleeper hold fight was awesome and if they’re going with Belair as a babyface then yeah this is the correct way this finish should have happened. I had no idea how this match would go but it ended up a win. ***1/4
What a get-up on Velveteen Dream tonight – this is no mere superstar, but a supernova.
5. NXT Title: Tommaso Ciampa [c] vs. Aleister Black
A match that felt as long as boring as a WWF live event opener from 1985. *3/4
The Ciampa/Gargano visual at the end was neat, but I was lost by then.
Worst TakeOver of the modern era, though it was still a good show. There were a lot of quality individual performances in matches that came together well enough but didn’t feel like they reached their potential. And a bad main event. 6/10
