Hello! I've been looking forward to this one for a while- it's the latest NXT Special and with a lot of hype surrounding this one the Stars of NXT will have had to step it up yet again to meet the expectations placed upon the NXT Product. I love NXT, I think that'll become clear if it hadn't been already in this Review- but the one worry I do have is that as the NXT Bubble continues to inflate they move away from the entire purpose of NXT in the first place as a developmental territory. Anyway, enough of the concerns- because this Review should be a Celebration; LET'S DO THIS.
Finn Balor v Tyler Breeze- #1 Contender Match
I don't think I can talk about this without talking about the Entrances. Not just the Balor one however, I'm not sure how far Tyler Breeze in all honesty because I'm not sure how his gimmick will fair in much bigger arenas- but for me his Entrance last night scaled up was a Mania Entrance waiting to happen. Speaking of Mania Entrances, it almost goes without saying that I loved Balor's Entrance- the "Demon" persona is great because Balor can lose a match, and there's already foundation for a Rematch because the Demon side of Balor is an entirely different animal- and much like a Pokemon Balor is continuing to Evolve. Onto the match itself, it goes without saying that I'd have loved Itami to be in the middle of these two because the dynamic of all three works really well. The match was good, but not great in my opinion. I think Itami would have been what took this match to another level- but this was still really good; and it was so good in fact that the Ref forgot how to count.
Charlotte & Bayley v Dana Brooke & Emma
Who'd have known a Divas Tag Match could actually be quite good? In terms of time and build this was always going to be the least important match on the card- but they did a lot with the time they were given and told a solid story. Purely from personal preference I would have had Emma & Dana win because for me Dana in particular needed a big win because she's one of the Women in NXT I can see being around in NXT for a while at least in comparison to Charlotte & Bayley. Although I suppose they did protect her by not having her take the pin.
Baron Corbin v Rhyno
This was a bit "meh" for me, I'm hoping this is the end of Rhyno's NXT run because while it's been fun I'm not really sure what else there is left to do for him in NXT and I'd love to see some other "Veterans" come in for a run Exhibit A being Shelton Benjamin. The match was alright, and for me it reminded the viewer that NXT is still developmental which is why I have a bit more time for Corbin making the odd mistake than I do for those on the Main Roster- and my worry is that as NXT becomes a "third brand" there's going to be even less time for people like Corbin to perform and rectify those mistakes and become better. For me Corbin has all the potential to be a great star both in NXT and the Main Roster- and he has a a look that I can see Vince getting behind, this match just proved that he's not quite ready for that yet.
Team Dubstep v Enzo & Big Cass- NXT Tag Titles
The Dubsteppers' Entrance becomes more of an Epileptics Nightmare every week- at least they aren't leapfrogging now; although I'll always remember the week they did that- so perhaps they should be leapfrogging. The match was good- I saw some people questioning why Enzo & Big Cass didn't win, but again going back to the Developmental Aspect The Dubsteppers need the belts a lot more than Enzo & Cass do at this moment in time and for me Enzo & Cass work better as the one's chasing anyway. The Alexa Bliss Heel Turn was an interesting way to go, although not unexpected- Bliss is almost too much what WWE look for in a "Diva" and she's one of the Women in NXT where it's a matter of When not If they get a call up to the Main Roster so it'll be interesting to see how she handles the Heel Turn because with respect to Carmella I can't see them putting on 5* Matches so the character will be how she gets over.
Sasha Banks v Becky Lynch- NXT Womens Championship
This was a Womens match and set of circumstances that deserve a review. I like some of the "Divas" on the Main Roster but the whole perception of the "Diva" is outdated in my opinion- this is Womens Wrestling; and this is what everyone wants to see. Just on a fundamental level it was a great match- not in comparison to other Womens Matches, it was just a great match. They worked the psychology of the match perfectly with the Arm being the focal point after the build in which Sasha tapped- and then these two put all of the pieces together around that main point of the match and built a proper Wrestling Match and wow did it deliver. By my reckoning these two made 8 Women featured on a 2 Hour Card and none of them were pointless cameos- they all had a purpose. I'm struggling a bit with just how to articulate my feelings toward this match, it was just a "THIS IS WHAT WE WANT!" moment- with the rumours demise of TNA (again) I'd love it if Trips cherry-picked a few of the Knockouts to come in and not take over (pardon the pun) the NXT Womens Division but add to it with different dynamics and styles, I saw the thing about Sara Del Rey being promoted and her being a Road Agent so now the dynamic has well and truly changed with NXT I'd love to see Gail come in for NXT and maybe have a run, but primarily be a trainer. Anyway I'm getting a bit off topic- I loved every second of this- and for the mark of how good a match it was, was the ovation after; every Takeover has delivered a great Womens Match- I personally don't think anything will top Charlotte v Nattie in a long, long time but given the way "Give Divas a Chance" has taken off since the last special for me this was the most important of all of the Takeover Womens Matches- because it showed that we don't want "Divas" to be given a chance- we want Womens Wrestling.
Kevin Owens v Sami Zayn- NXT Title
Where do I start? This wasn't the best match we've had from either guy- but it wasn't set up to be an instant classic of a match; at least from where I'm standing. This put over Kevin Owens as a Monster Perfectly in preparation for Cena- and him working the crowd with the Cena Shirt before the match was perfect. Owens is pretty much the perfect heel, if his personality and general smarts to the business was put into Roman's body- if Vince survived the Cardiac Arrest from discovering such a thing he'd make him Champion for life. This whole thing worked perfectly, factoring in the Balor as #1 Contender Aspect we now have 5 Owens Matches to look forward to;
Owens v Cena
Owens v Balor
Owens v Regal
Owens v Zayn
Owens v Joe
The fact Sami "Never Gave Up" (See what I did there) is grounds for a rematch somewhere down the line- although presumably they worked the match the way they did to write Sami off of the next set of tapings to fix his injury. So now to talk about someone who will presumably be on the next set of tapings. I said more as a joke of sorts that I hoped the Joe taking Indy Bookings was him working us- and as it turned out it was (presumably). I just loved the whole dynamic they immediately created with Joe & Owens and it'll be interesting to see how they address that dynamic in the next set of tapings which I think is tonight. It's amazing how someone can make such an impact on a product without even touching anyone- and for that's a testament to the presence of Joe and I'm hoping that if it's a success- they might be more open to bringing in some other "TNA" guys especially if the Destination America news is true because people like Bobby Roode still have a few good years left in them and I'd love to see some "TNA" guys down in NXT. It's safe to say I loved this ending, and in general this Takeover more than delivered to the increasingly high standard that NXT is setting. Also quick side point before I wrap up, Joe's theme started with "UHAA UHAA"- even his theme was working us.
Thanks for reading as always, it makes such a marked difference for me when I'm reviewing something that I've genuinely loved and can get excited about and I hope I haven't been rambling too much and you stuck with it- I think you can tell by the length of this, I don't usually put too much credence to Word Counts but I've done basically 1700 Words for a 2 Hour NXT Special when I usually get around 1800-2000 depending on if I'm pitching by crazy booking ideas for a 3 Hour RAW Review- and it makes such a difference for these Reviews when I'm genuinely excited about Reviewing something. Anyway, as always feedback is appreciated- the Wrestling doesn't show any signs of stopping with the Impact Reviews coming back this Weekend after last weeks idiotic blunder by me. So stay tuned for that on Saturday- and all I can is thanks again for reading, and let's see what happens at the next lot of tapings; which I think we can safely say will be the most anticipated NXT tapings ever.
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