After the Unbookables Wrestlemania, we're carrying on the Wrestlemania Week with a show that's definitely going to be hard to top in last night's Takeover. It's with that in mind that I'm just going to dive in with my first point of this Review. Yes, Takeover was absolutely phenomenal last night- and it's going to be very hard to Mania to top it. That doesn't mean they should be constantly compared and have people saying there's no chance Mania tops it and generally burying Mania before it's even taken place. Especially with how good a show we had last night- and a match that'll be very hard to top in-terms of Match of the Year this year took place, I just thought everyone would be more positive about it all. Surely having 2 (or 3 including RAW) amazing shows spread across 4 Days would be best for all involved? It just annoys me when people have this sort of elitist mentality when it comes to NXT and how nothing the Main Roster does can touch it.
This has turned into a very good weekend for me, if you've come here from the MK Dons Review I've already put up today you'll know what I'm talking about. Takeover was absolutely just fucking amazing, and completely worth staying up until 5am- and as a result me running on fuck knows how much sleep while having to stay up until 4+am again for the next three nights. Now Fulham have won I can just sit back and enjoy the rest of Wrestlemania Weekend with a very positive outlook on everything. Speaking of which, let's get to Reviewin'.
American Alpha (still hate that name) v The Revival- NXT Tag Team Championships
This was just the absolute perfect start to, not just Takeover- but the whole of the Wrestlemania Weekend. It was just good, old-fashioned, Heel and Babyface Wrestling. To borrow from The Revival, there was no flips, just fists and proper Wrestling. Jordan and Gable are the best Tag-Team in the WWE other than New Day- last night just absolutely confirmed that. Enzo & Cass have buckets of charisma, but their ring-work is still somewhat lacking in my opinion. Then we move on to Jordan & Gable who- especially in Gable's case have buckets of charisma- which he's drawn out of Jordan as well and have the ring-work to match.
This match was for me the second best match on the card, and when considering how good the first was- that's some praise for it. It was just a great, old-fashioned Tag Match. The Revival played their parts to absolute perfection- and in the whole night I hope their role in the Takeover isn't forgotten. For me, they proved themselves to be the most improved act of 2016 so far last night. They just "get it". They're proper fucking Heels, they actively try to not pop the crowd with any of their offence and they try to cheat at every possible opportunity. It's so simple, but in the modern climate where every Wrestler thinks they have to pop the crowd it's ridiculously refreshing. It was all topped off with Gable and Jordan's win, and I think I had a proper fist pump when the three-count took place because Gable and Jordan are more than deserving of the win.
I think this was when Ibushi was shown next to JR. I personally can't wait for the Cruiserweight Tournament, JR should be great in it.
Austin Aries v Baron Corbin
I felt a tiny bit sorry for Aries last night. It was his big moment of his in-ring debut in WWE after a ridiculously long time and getting turned down for Tough Enough etc. and it's been almost completely overshadowed by the other stuff that happened on the card.
Personally I thought Corbin should have won this. Especially for NXT, everyone knows Austin Aries and just how fucking good he is- a loss on his debut wouldn't have been the end of the world. Then we have Corbin who isn't quite ready for the Main Roster yet- but is more than ready for a run at the top of NXT as Champion in my opinion. I had so much praise for him in the Sammy's with how he developed in 2015- and if he stays on that trajectory he'll be either called-up- or everyone will be begging for him to be called up this time next year. The finish was probably the best realistic outcome in that Aries obviously won the match but Corbin looked dominant and the loss didn't harm him- and presumably he's going to get his win back ASAP leading to a third match at the next Takeover where hopefully he'll go over.
Shinsuke Nakamura v Sami Zayn
What to say about this? I know it wasn't in the Tokyo Dome, but I'll be massively surprised if it isn't Meltzer's first NXT 5* Match ever, and the first WWE 5* Match is god knows how long (Punk/Cena at MITB?). This match was just absolute perfection. I'd said I think the day before that there hasn't been an obvious Match of the Year candidate heading into Wrestlemania weekend- and I think now we've already got THE Match of the Year.
I know I don't do New Japan Reviews on here, but I've seen Nakamura wrestle before last night- not regularly but I've seen him wrestle quite a few times. They got it absolutely spot on with him last night. His Entrance is just absolutely amazing, and perfect for him. His Theme is, again perfect for him. He had the perfect opponent to play off in Sami Zayn- and they didn't try to change him in any way. I mean, they've changed the name of the Bomaye to the Kinshasa (spelling?) but that's it. The word surreal is used way too much in a Wrestling context nowadays, but it's 100% applicable in this case. Imagine predicting 6 Months ago that Shinsuke Nakamura would be wrestling Sami Zayn on the Wrestlemania Weekend Takeover.
The match was just absolutely perfect. I fundamentally disagree with the "Fight Forever" chants because with the way these two worked the match they'd have killed each other if they fought forever. This match was one of the stiffest WWE matches probably ever, they just punched and kicked the shit out of each other for god knows how long- and it was absolutely fucking brilliant.
Without knowing, I think this was a test match to see if Nakamura could translate to the WWE Audience and style (working to the cameras etc.) before they pulled the trigger on a Balor/Nakamura Title feud straight away- or they held off on it a bit. Safe to say, I'm expecting Balor/Nakamura pretty soon.
I feel like it's only right to end this section of the Review with Sami Zayn. Nakamura, and Nakamura being in NXT is absolutely amazing- but let's not forget it was one of the people who's gotten NXT to where it is' last match last night. Everyone knows the talent that Sami Zayn has, and since he walked in the door against Hawkins and then later on Cesaro he's just gone from strength to strength. He's going to be ridiculously sore today- and his Hotel Room probably has a lot of ice in it- but it's more than worth it with that being his NXT send off match. Don't worry though, he's only got a Ladder Match still to come.
Asuka v Bayley- NXT Womens Title
Firstly, I'd just like to say I predicted this outcome- and in that respect I completely understand why they've had Asuka win. In short, she's Female Brock Lesnar. She's about as close to a "Ronda Rousey" character the WWE can get in my opinion. As such, she shouldn't be beaten until (in my opinion) it's a surprise defeat- and then she can come back even more vicious. I love Bayley, but just with the way her character has developed- in my opinion she doesn't work well as the person being chased. They've tried their best to get it over, the matches have been really good while she's Champion- but she needs to be doing the chasing.
The match was pretty good, it didn't reach the heights of Bayley/Sasha- but it's rare that a match will- and I'd say it can be best described as pretty decent. If I could change one thing, I'd have had it so the crowd recognised the Asuka Lock spot as the legitimate finish so they were really into it. There just seemed to be a degree of disbelief- not dissimilar to when the Streak ended when Asuka won.
Speaking of the Asuka Lock. Considering the match this was, I feel it's the right time to bring this up. In "modern" WWE, where MMA is bigger than Wrestling without a doubt- Submissions should be treated much more seriously. When someone is in a fully locked in submission- they should be tapping ASAP to avoid serious injury. But it's Wrestling you say, there needs to be drama! The drama in Submissions should be whether the Person A can get the Submission on Person B and lock it in. Person B can be struggling and fighting (let's just say) an Armbar, but once the Armbar's on- struggle for a tiny bit- but tap before Person A breaks their fucking arm. I've forgotten a few because- well, 5am. But I remember a Triangle, an Armbar, an Ankle Lock and 2 Asuka Locks off the top of my head- and all but the 2nd Asuka Lock were fought out of in some way after a period of it being on. That's my rant of the day out of the way.
This was when Bobby Roode was shown, in one of the more obvious signings of "Free Agents" I think there's been in a while. As a result of his Tweet, I obtained many Internet Points- and for that I'm thankful.
Finn Balor v Samoa Joe- NXT Title
I don't really know what to make of this "match" to be perfectly honest. Mainly because it wasn't really much of a match. There was a good start where they were seemingly trying to out-stiff the Nakamura/Zayn match, Joe got the cut above his eye- and that pretty much killed the whole match.
I understand a cut like the one Joe got can't be fucked with, however once they did the initial check on it to see how bad it was- they should have just left them alone and gotten on with the match. I understand the Blood is an issue in a PG Environment- but them basically stopping the match every 2 Minutes to essentially dab Joe's cut with a Towel was just stupid and completely took away from a match. This has to be one of the more frustrating ends to a Takeover ever, because it really could have been a special end to a without doubt special Takeover. But instead, it just fizzled out to the tune of 6 Stitches above Joe's eye.
I really wouldn't be surprised if Joe's on the Main Roster in about 48 Hours time given the way it ended- and as I've said so many times on Twitter over the last month or so, I'm massively in favour of that. As for Balor, especially with Corbin being tied up with Aries after the finish of their match- all signs point to a Balor/Nakamura feud Post-Mania weekend.
Thanks for reading as always, we're keeping this Mania Week going tomorrow with the Wrestlemania Predictions and I hope you'll be here for them. As I said at the start, it's highly doubtful that Mania tops last night- however there's no point slagging Mania off before it's started- and I have to at least hope Mania tops it- because otherwise there's no point in watching. Thanks again, and thanks for reading all of these Posts since I've come back to doing them after the Break- it really does mean a lot.
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