How's this for immediate reactions eh? As I'm typing this it's 9 Minutes past 10, WE'RE ALL ON UK TIME TONIGHT FUCKERS- because I figured "Hey, Why not do the Review tonight?". I'm genuinely not sure what to make of the Takeover we've just witnessed at the time of writing this sentence. Usually I've slept on my thoughts for these Wrestling Reviews, and they usually become more "thought out" and considered. So, I suppose what I'm trying to say is- this Review is going to be a rambling mess. Do I know how to sell these, or what? I know I've ended up skipping a couple of Reviews, namely the TLC and RAW ones for this week, but some stuff came up and I can only apologise.
Tonight's Takeover had flaws without a doubt, of which I'll get into as this Review unfolds- but of course it being an NXT Takeover it had massive positives as well. This Takeover along with TLC, RAW and judging from the Smackdown Spoilers- Smackdown as well have all been pretty good. I wonder when the last time we had such a good week product wise was.
I've briefly made reference to this in some of my other Reviews, but I think tonight perfectly encapsulated what I've been trying to say with regard to there being a "new version" of Heels now. The Heels, apart from Samoa Joe were universally Heels- in that they were booed constantly. Which, after all is what Heels should be. "Cool" Heels and "Smarky" Heels are something the WWE are clearly trying to avoid now, because that way when the Babyface they want winning wins- the crowd are actually happy to see it happen. I'm not saying the "Cool" Heel is going to be completely obsolete, but I'm expecting to see the "Heels" who are going to get cheered simply become Babyfaces- because the crowd clearly wants to cheer them.
Anyway, enough about my thoughts on the Wrestling business and its future for now. LET'S GET FIELD TRIPPIN- I MEAN REVIEWING!
Asuka v Emma
This was a pretty good opener all things considered. Asuka is just great, and Emma is as well. I know Asuka is somewhat of a "new toy" and she's going to take (deserved) praise- but Emma's part in this match can't get lost. It wasn't perfect, and there were a few missteps along the way- but on the whole this match really was good. It makes me laugh that we had two Women's matches tonight, and the crowd surprisingly cared about them. You know why, because they were booked in such a way where the crowd actually could. We had defined Babyfaces and Heels, and the matches were presented as being a "big" deal.
What with this being the last "major" event of the Year for either NXT or the Main Roster, I think this is a good time for reflecting back on the last year. I'll talk about this more with someone a bit later, whom you can probably guess- but the rate at which Dana Brooke's improved over this last 6-7 Months is remarkable. I know she wasn't wrestling tonight, but she did really well in her "Manager/Valet" role- and she's become a very watchable screen presence.
I was actually leaning more toward Emma winning tonight. As I've said I know Asuka is in the "new toy" phase, and based off an interaction we had later with Nia Jax she's most likely going to take a loss at the next Takeover- or in the build for it. Asuka winning was the natural conclusion for this feud, however I really like Emma and Dana as a pairing- and they needed a win A LOT more than Asuka did. I'm not really sure where Emma and Dana go now, because I highly doubt they're going after Bayley next.
Dash & Dawson v Enzo Amore & Big Cass- NXT Tag Team Titles
I'll start with the ending. Dash & Dawson NEED the NXT Tag Team Titles at present, and they definitely need them a lot more than Enzo & Cass. I'm definitely warming to Dash & Dawson, I'm not quite there yet- but I'm warming to them. However, as I've said- I'm not quite there yet and crucially neither are they. Dash & Dawson need to be chased, and they need to be the team to "overcome" to be in any way relevant at this moment in time. Going back to my point about Dana Brooke, they haven't yet developed a proper "screen presence" at this stage. I'm not saying they're not going to in the future, but they haven't yet. I know they always say "The Titles don't make the Man", but in this case it's about a 50/50 split between them making the Titles- and the Titles making them.
I liked this match, without ever getting close to loving it. Enzo & Cass are just really enjoyable to watch, and Dash & Dawson really are good at what they're doing at the moment. I do "get" Dash & Dawson, and I think that helps in my view of them- but in the "modern" WWE I'm not sure they're going to be to everyone's taste. Overall this match definitely satisfied me, and the way they built up to the finish- and they shot the near-fall after Enzo's splash so you couldn't really see Dawson at first was just great.
Baron Corbin v Apollo Crews
Again, with this being the last "major" event of the year- let's look back on Baron Corbin. I'm going to go into more detail in The Sammy's- but suffice to say had you have said I'd be a Baron Corbin fan, and would actually be happy for Corbin to go over Crews 6 Months or so ago I'd have had you committed to a psychiatric facility. Corbin has come on leaps and bounds in this last 6 Months. I know it's surprising, right? Someone has actually developed in developmental. I always make a point of not completely writing someone off in NXT any more, after I did Sasha- before that fateful day with Summer in-front of a Mirror.
This match wasn't amazing, but at the same time it was a long way from being "bad" as well. Ithink the best way to describe it is "solid". As I've already said Corbin's come a long way, and Apollo Crews is... Apollo Crews. It would have had to be something for this match to be a "bad" match. I thought these two played their roles really well, and told a good story- and the story was an extension on what we've already had between the two. Crews played the "this is personal" type Babyface perfectly tonight. Nobody watching, even those unfamiliar with the story wouldn't have been able to "get" it pretty quickly. Overall this was a solid, satisfying middle of the card match- with in my opinion the "right" person winning at the end. Yes, I'm happy Corbin went over Crews. Going back to what I've said with regard to Emma as well as Dash & Dawson, Corbin needed the win tonight A LOT more than Apollo did. I can see Corbin feuding with Balor or a returning Sami next after tonight.
Bayley v Nia Jax- NXT Womens Title
This was never going to be a technical masterpiece. This wasn't going to touch Bayley/Sasha in-terms of- well pretty much everything. However, for what it was- and with how limited Nia Jax is they did about as well as they really could have done. Nia is quite limited at present, so they just decided to do the good ol' fashioned "David vs Goliath" story. It was basically Bayley having a match against a Tree. With that said, both women sold the match and the story quite well. I was definitely getting vibes of Brock/Cena at Summerslam and/or Owens/Zayn during the middle part of the match, so the comeback from Bayley when it did come was definitely welcome. I'm not sure how I feel about the 4 (?) Dragon Sleepers in a row as the Finish, it did feel a bit anti-climactic. There wasn't the "WOW!" moment, there was just a run of Dragon Sleepers that eventually wore Nia out. I'm not saying that's a bad finish- in-fact Bayley winning by basically having more ring awareness than Jax was pretty good, but usually in the "David vs Goliath" matches you get the "big pop" moment- which in this case would have been a Bayley-to-Belly. I'm not even sure if that's possible with Nia though.
Finn Balor v Samoa (NOT SOMOA, GRAPHICS PEOPLE) Joe- NXT Title
This was just great. I'm not saying it's anywhere near a few of the NXT Title matches we've had, but these two going at each other with everything they have was never NOT going to be great. These two just gave absolutely everything in this match, to the point where it looked like Balor was hurt at the end. This match simply put was just brutal. There's not much else than can be said in-terms of match quality for the match.
I'm not sure what to make of Finn Balor retaining tonight. I will say with Balor winning, I'm fully expecting Joe to be called up ASAP- likely at the Royal Rumble. I've got this idea for Joe should he get called up in the Rumble that I'll elaborate on fully in my Rumble Match Booking that I'll do in the Rumble Predictions. Anyway, back tonight's result- there's three people who I think Balor can realistically feud with now. Baron Corbin- who I think is likely after tonight), Sami Zayn although this feud would take some work and then Hideo Itami. Aside from Corbin there's not much Finn can do as a Babyface Champion now, so for me- and this may just be because I did a whole booking thing about it. I want Balor to "sort of" turn and it turn out that Balor was the one who attacked Itami- or rather "The Demon" did. Speaking of "The Demon", mandatory reference to Finn Balor's Entrance/Paint. It was very good.
Overall I really enjoyed this Takeover. It wasn't the best Takeover of the Year by a long way, but there wasn't one bad match on the card- and there were a couple of really good ones. I'd probably rank Asuka/Emma as the Match of the Night, but that's not to discount any of the other matches on the card- specifically Balor/Joe. As I've already said, tonight- as well as what's shaping up to be a decent Smackdown has all-in-all made this week a really, really good one for the WWE.
Thanks for reading as always, I know I missed the TLC and RAW Reviews- but I'll be adding my thoughts on stuff like Roman winning the Title next week. Which, in a way is better because we'll see whether Roman's booking will carry on as it has done this week- or we'll be back to the Roman we all know and get frustrated by. Thanks again for reading, I hope you have a really good weekend- and you're back here for the last Review before Christmas.
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