Quick thing before we get into all the matches, the Triple H thing before it was cool. Also, his "THIS IS N-X-T" was his NXT version of the Paul Heyman "THIS IS E-C-W" that they show on pretty much every ECW related programme. It was just a really cool moment, and you knew this meant the world to him in terms of how far NXT's come. Without wanting to make it about me, as someone who was watching NXT before it was even called NXT this was just such a cool moment.
Jushin Thunder Liger v Tyler Breeze
This was the only one I predicted wrong on the card, so let me briefly explain myself. I thought they were going to open with the Womens match. With the "Co-Main Event" billing I thought they were going to open and close with them- and similar to the first Takeover when they opened with Zayn/Cesaro because this was such a big deal I thought they would have wanted to open with a massive bang. As soon as the Woman with the Empire State Building dress came out I knew I'd messed up. They opened the show to give us a Babyface win to put everyone in good spirits- and I'm fine with that, it's just slightly annoying.
Onto the match itself, and it was a really fun opener- as already said to put the crowd in good spirits for the rest of the show. I wasn't expecting miracles, the simple fact is that Liger is 50. He can't move as well as he used to- but what he did do is use his experience to maximise the impact of everything he did. I'll talk about this a lot more in another match later on, having guys like Liger wrestle matches with the NXT guys will only help them and teach them a lot. Oh Yeah, Jushin Liger was in a WWE Ring.
Nia Jax Vignette
This was cool, I'm not sure what she's like in-ring yet- but the vignette was cool and any Woman who looks like she does will always have the potential to be something special in Wrestling.
The Vaudevillains v Blake & Murphy- NXT Tag Titles
All of this was great. The Blue Pants angle was great, it was pretty obvious what was happening the minute we saw the Vaudevillains gear- but it was still a really cool moment (also my theory of it being Nia Jax went out the window with the vignette).
The actual match was great, all of the Wrestling was really good- they worked the match perfectly for the crowd and then the finish was great. Just before the finishing sequence we had English do a Swanton- and the one thing that would have annoyed me is if they'd have kept going for a little while after. There's always that thing of having on false finish too many and that killing the crowd. But to the credit of the guys who were working out the match they dived straight into the stuff with Alexa and Blue Pants- because we all knew anything that happened wasn't going to be the finish until we got a spot with those two. So basically this was great.
Apollo Crews v Tye Dillinger
Before I get into Crews, can I just say Dillinger is great with this "Perfect Ten" gimmick- I'm not saying he's going to main event Mania, but he plays his gimmick perfectly and I hope he gets a good run out of it.
This was a near perfect way to introduce Crews to the crowd. Anyone who's even seen the smallest clip of Uhaa Nation knows the guy is a complete freak, but being ridiculously athletic isn't always enough. What this match did was showcase Crews perfectly in a long(ish) match so that when he made his comeback it meant something. The only problem I had with this match was Crews didn't use the whole "Uhaa Combo" for the finish. If you're wondering what that is well;
William Regal announces the "Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic"
I thought this was quite a cool thing for them to do. I'm not exactly what it means yet in terms of what Teams will be competing because while the Tag Division in NXT has improved assuming the Vaudevillains won't be in it with them being the Tag Champs you've still only got 5 Teams. You've got Blake & Murphy, Gable & Jordan, The Mechanics, Hype Bros and then Enzo & Big Cass. Whether they draft in teams like The Ascension, I know Ciampa & Gargano worked as a team at the Tapings just before Takeover- either way it's a nice touch and something I'm looking forward to. It also legitimises it to an extent my putting Dusty's name on it, similar to the Andre Battle Royal (at least the 1st one).
Samoa Joe v Baron Corbin
This isn't taking anything away from Baron Corbin, because he was really good last night- but what a worker Joe is. As with the Liger match, the "proper" NXT guys can only benefit from getting in the ring with Joe. Without knowing, I think it's 99% certain that Joe planned out the whole match and what we got was Corbin's best match by a mile- and the best he's looked. The finish confused me a bit because we had Joe choking out Corbin and then Corbin immediately waking up after it- presumably to protect him to an extent, but there were surely better ways to do it.
Bayley v Sasha Banks- NXT Womens Title
This was just great. I'm not going to go as far as saying this was the best Womens Takeover match, some may well disagree- but for me Charlotte/Nattie and the 4-Way (and possibly even Becky/Sasha) was better. The emotion in this match and the occasion was without a doubt better, but in terms of the actual match it didn't quite reach the other two so it all depends on how you rate matches. However, just because it didn't reach those two matches that were simply outstanding doesn't mean this match wasn't also great. They worked the match near perfect, the one issue I had was the "Hand" angle because they were saying "She may have broken her hand" after the hand in the step spot- despite the fact she had her hand all taped up implying that it wasn't healed. Maybe Sasha re-broke it, or broke it in a different place, but that's really nitpicking. Everything about this match was great, it just had the emotional connection that a great match needs. Sasha played her Heel role to absolute perfection last night and it made Bayley even more over as the Babyface if that was even possible. Pretty much everyone knew Bayley was winning, but this match got everyone sucked in and as I've said so many times in this section- IT WAS GREAT!
One thing that has really annoyed me about the match- and it isn't even about the match. Seemingly everyone wanted to turn this match into a stick to beat The Bellas with. Yes, the match last night was better than any Bellas match, Yes The Bellas are in fact not as good as Sasha and Bayley. We all know why Nikki's got the Belt, that fact is not going to change- so stop finding ways to bitch about the Bellas and enjoy the fucking match.
Also, the "Curtain Call" after the match was the perfect way to close the "Four Horsewomen" chapter of NXT, I know Becky and Charlotte worked a match that'll happen on Wednesday and without spoiling anything it may be leading to a Tag Match with them involved. But, between Bayley's win and presumably getting a run as "top dog" of NXT and then things like the Nia Jax vignettes these next few months should see the "next generation" of the NXT Womens Division come through to the forefront. Hi Eva.
Finn Balor v Kevin Owens- NXT Title Ladder Match
This was great. This match was completely different to the Womens match in almost every conceivable way, which was a great thing because it helped to completely differentiate the two Main Events. This is a truly shocking revelation, Kevin Owens is in fact a great heel. He played his role to absolute perfection last night. Balor is, well Balor- he's just great and combine the two and you never won't get a great match. As with the Womens match I do have one nitpick, that being the Powerbomb on Apron spot from Owens. In terms of moves that was about as protected as you can get, it even killed Cena to a point he had to miss a RAW- but Balor got up after it in about 20 Seconds and practically ran up a Ladder completely no-selling it. I know that further establishes "The Demon" as an unstoppable force, but it did annoy me a bit. But overall this was just a brutal match and a perfect way to presumably end Owens' run in NXT.
This wasn't the best event of the year, it wasn't even the best Takeover of the year- which for me was Rival. That's not to say this wasn't great, but Rival had a much better Undercard, through no fault of anyone, it's just a sad fact that with all of the injuries the NXT Roster has been quite thin. However, because of the size of this for a Takeover it was such a landmark event when it comes to NXT and it's progression that it may well be the most historic of any of the Takeover's we've had so far.
Thanks for reading as always, as said right at the start- this was only Night One. If you haven't already check out my Predictions for Summerslam (http://t.co/AB7Y72DgrG) and of course I hope you come back tomorrow for the Summerslam Review tomorrow. In the mean time I hope you'll join me on Twitter tonight for the Summerslam coverage and let's hope we see a great show two nights in a row. Thanks again for reading, and let's all remember despite Finn Balor's "Demon" this is still Entrance of the Year by a clear margin.
No comments:
Post a Comment