Unlike my experience with the TLC event last Sunday, my viewing of NXT Takeover was fraught with peril as my internet seemed to dry up and vanish just as the pre-show was starting. I caught a replay and was able to watch half the show until the internet God frowned on me again and I had to catch the second half of the show the following day. I'm glad I stuck it out, as it was a great show and I'm bummed I didn't get to live tweet through the madness.
The London crowd was rowdy and burst into chants at even the slightest manuever. The 10,000 plus fans in attendance sounded like a group ten times their size and made the show feel even bigger than the average WWE pay per view. Nearly everyone was "over", to borrow a term from the smart marks.
Asuka and Emma opened the show with a great match, clocking in at almost fifteen minutes. Asuka's kicks and submission holds were too much for the evil Aussie to comprehend, and even after some devastating counters and an attempted weapon interference from her partner in crime Dana Brooke, she was K.O.'d by the smiling assassin. Asuka approached Nia Jax backstage after the match, setting up what will surely be a physical encounter down the road. Seeing Asuka "chop down that tree" should be pretty entertaining.
Dash and Dawson retained the NXT tag titles against Enzo Amore and a returning Colin Cassiday in a messy, but fun tag match with a lot of crowd momentum. Dash and Dawson work together like classic southern heels, and used every trick in the book to hoodwink the challengers. It's uncertain to me at this point where Enzo and Cass will go from here. They're in the same awkward spot as the Vaudevillains at this point. I expect the next challengers to be Jordan and Gable, who've been putting on fantastic matches and are both big prospects from the world of amateur wrestling.
Sami Zayn also returned, but his match was either a dark match or a part of the pre-show. Glad to see him healthy and kicking ass again, but part of me wishes they would've saved his return for the Royal Rumble.
Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews worked the midcard grudge match. Corbin is a bully with a cool entrance that you love to hate and his heel-isms and disses were on point, even if his ring work still seems very limited. Crews is a beast athletically, but his smiling rookie persona is already starting to wear thin. We saw a meaner side of him in the build up to this match, and in that intensity lies his future. Time for Apollo to get mean. Corbin won, and will most likely be the next opponent for Finn if he and Joe are finished feuding.
Bayley and Nia Jax clashed for the NXT women's title in an encounter reminiscent of Shawn Michaels vs. Vader from back in the 90's. That seems fitting too, since Shawn was apparently one of Bayley's big inspirations growing up. Jax made a ragdoll out of the plucky underdog champ for a good ten minutes or so until Bayley forced her to tap in the center of the ring with a chokehold. Both ladies understood their roles in the match well and (nearly) everything Jax did looked effective and dangerous. More of this.
The main event between Samoa Joe and Finn Balor was a satisfying "indy" style match with many false finishes and momentum changes. Joe started by playing the big man, but both men looked to be on equal footing later on. There was a wide arsenal of moves and ring psychology on display here, as Finn and Joe were careful to give all four sides of the ring a great (and unique) show. There were even a few times where I thought Joe was going to steal a victory. Ultimately, Balor prevailed and Joe left frustrated. Something in his gaze said "cage match". Do it. This CAN'T be the only time these two meet. As good as the match was, I felt like they were just getting warmed up.
And yes, Finn's Jack the Ripper look was pretty cool too.
Overall, this was a great 2-hour wrestling experience, despite my own technical difficulties. Five matches featuring the best and brightest that WWE developmental has to offer. I saw screw the haters, the WWE has a bright future ahead. At least when it comes to talent. Now what they decide to do with these guys when they bump them up to Raw or Smackdown, that's another story . . .
Hmm, that might make a nice topic for a future post. Anyhoo, thanks for reading and you can always give me a virtual slap and let me know how wrong I am at @ChrisBComics on Twitter.
No comments:
Post a Comment