NXT Takeover: Respect Review

Hello! That's right, the Reviews are back. If you haven't been following along this weekend on Twitter, boy you've missed out. Obviously I missed out on the MSG, Bound for Glory and RAW Review's in the last few days, I won't get into too much detail because I want to move on now- but I was in Hospital over the weekend with a bad virus after collapsing. But now we're back for Takeover, and it was definitely a good one to come back in for- so let's just get this thing on the road.

Finn Balor & Samoa Joe v The Mechanics- Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-Final
This match was quite strange, or at least to me it was. Firstly, I'm not saying this wasn't a good match- there genuinely wasn't a bad match on the show last night. With that said, Finn Balor is the NXT Champion. Finn Balor was also the one taking all of the heat in this match, meaning DASH WILDER AND SCOTT DAWSON were dominating the NXT Champion in-ring for I'd guess 5 or 6 minutes. I realise this is all hindsight, but they did the leg angle which I thought was fair enough- but it really led to nothing which made it even worse for me. As I said though, this was a good match without a doubt and it did get The Mechanics over as legitimate threats going forward.

Rhyno & Baron Corbin v Chad Gable & Jason Jordan- Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-Final
This match was great. I will go as far as saying it was my favourite match on the card last night. No joke. It was actually so good that I didn't even really mind when Rhyno & Corbin won. Chad Gable as a full-on NXT developed guy could seriously be one of the best we've seen. Gable is a star. Hindsight is always 20/20, and after sleeping on it I'm especially in favour of the decision for Rhyno & Corbin to win. Joe & Balor needed to be the Babyfaces in the Final, so they really needed a "proper" Heel team to overcome in said Final which Gable & Jordan simply aren't- they're too good. So in short, Chad Gable is great and the finish wasn't that bad. Even Corbin looked really good, and it was by far and a way his best End of Days (most likely thanks to Gable).

Asuka v Dana Brooke
I genuinely really liked this match, and that wasn't just because of Asuka. Dana Brooke's learning curve is just ridiculous. People like to hate Dana, which I understand to a point- but nobody can say Dana wasn't good last night. I genuinely (and you can go back over my Tweets) saw something in Dana Brooke pretty early on, I think it was because of the No-Hands Flip she does which blows my mind- but still. This match was perfect for it's intended purpose, and established Asuka as a legitimate threat to- well anyone. The only thing that would have made this better would have been if Devin came out after Dana had been killed and patted Dana on the head.

Apollo Crews v Tyler Breeze
I'm starting to feel sorry for Tyler to be honest. I think someone had a statistic that he's Won 1, Lost 6 from the Takeover's. It's becoming pretty clear the Breeze is pretty much the Jericho of NXT- but without the prior success. That said, this match was still good. It's amazing to me how Vince didn't take one look at Apollo Crews and instantly call him up, because he literally has everything. Overall I'd say this match was the weakest on the card, but that's not in any way taking away from the quality of the match- and it's more to do with the lack of build/interest in it all.

Finn Balor & Samoa Joe v Rhyno & Baron Corbin- Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Final
To be perfectly honest, this match was at the low end on the card in-terms of match quality. Granted, it was the second match of the night for all four guys- but still. It was funny because I thought this was the shortest match out of the three Tag Matches last night but going to Wikipedia it was the longest. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing though to be honest. As I said earlier, I'm happy with Rhyno & Corbin being in the Final for this thing because it gave Balor & Joe something to overcome. The simple fact is, Joe would make Gable look like a child if they stood next to each other. Contrast that to Rhyno & Corbin as the two "bullies" of the Tournament and the story fits. Overall this match was good, as every match on this card was- but it was less good than a number of the other matches on the card.

The stuff after with the Trophy and the Rhodes Family was nice. I know my minds been warped from too much Wrestling, but right up until they cut away I was expecting shenanigans. Whether it was James Storm or Balor/Joe turning on each other. I'm not saying it wasn't a nice moment, but with emotions being that high with all the Dusty stuff I would have had the turn happen then. It'll also be interesting to see if James Storm shows up at the NXT Tapings which are presumably happening in the next few days because I'm not sure if they're going to have Joe/Balor after last night.

Bayley v Sasha Banks- NXT Womens Title 30 Minute Iron-Man Match
I feel like there's a number of points that need to be made in this match. Firstly, the billing of it being an "Iron-Man" match. I saw some people questioning it- but it didn't bother me because it wasn't relegating it to a Womens Match, it was a clear message saying this is going to be treated the same as a Mens Match. This goes to my main point for this section, and it's a point I've ended up making a few times in these Takeover Womens Match sections. This wasn't a great Womens match, this was a great match. No conditioning on it being a Womens match.

The story they told for this 30 Minutes was just outstanding, the finish summed it all up perfectly- Bayley was trying to out Sasha, Sasha. All of the stuff happening basically getting Bayley to unleash a vicious streak was just phenomenal story telling. The stuff with Izzy was just next-level heat stuff, and when it happened it was a legitimate "holy shit, that happened" moment. The Izzy stuff was genuine, raw emotion that this business craves. This business lives off of it, and it was just all great.

As I've already said, however great it was- it wasn't my favourite match on the card. Note I've said favourite and not best, and this match was just great. I'm assuming Sasha's done in NXT now, which I think is a pretty fair assumption and it's amazing how she's developed from the girl in-front of the mirror with Summer Rae over her shoulder into without a doubt the best Heel going in WWE.

Overall this Takeover was definitely one of the better one's we've had. Everyone on the card had a fair chance to shine, and the majority of them did. Obviously some shone more than others, because they're great (and also Ready, Willing and Gable) but everyone to some degree shone last night.

You'll notice there's no Impact Review, and I think going to Hospital and watching a part of Bound for Glory with an IV in was what I needed for a moment of clarity. I'm officially done with TNA, the stuff with Matt Hardy and the Title just broke me with how monumentally stupid it was. There won't be any more Impact Reviews. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for the Thursday Review slot, if anything- I suppose that's for next week. If you've got a suggestion feel free to, well suggest it.

Thanks for reading as always. I know it's been a weird week for these Reviews- but hopefully you understand why I've had to miss a few and you haven't missed them too much. They're obviously back now barring another trip/stay in Kingston Hospital, and hopefully you'll stay tuned for the future one's with Hell in a Cell fast approaching. Thanks again for reading, I hope you have a good weekend- it can't be much worse than the one I've just had.