Dolfan in NYC Posted May 24, 2023 Posted May 24, 2023 From the Tsongas Center in UMass-Lowell, it's the first PLE called Battleground in 6 years! (Last time it was headlined by... oh... oh god no.) Okay, nevermind that. THE CARD! (and yes, this starts at 7:30pm ET, so it is going head to head with Double or Nothing) FOR THE NXT CHAMPIONSHIP - Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Bron Breakker TOURNAMENT FINAL FOR THE VACANT WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP - Tiffany Stratton vs. Lyra Valkyria FOR THE HERITAGE CUP (CONTESTED UNDER BRITISH ROUND RULES) - Noam Dar (c) vs. Dragon Lee TRIPLE THREAT MATCH FOR THE NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP - Wes Lee (c) vs. Tyler Bate vs. Joe Gacy FOR THE MEN'S TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP - Gallus (J. Coffey / Wolfgang, c) vs. The Creed Brothers LAST MAN STANDING - Dijak vs. Ilja Dragunov
Eivion Posted May 24, 2023 Posted May 24, 2023 Card looks great. Only thing I'm not really interested in is the NA title match. Everything else should at least be good and/or interesting.
AxB Posted May 28, 2023 Posted May 28, 2023 My twitter friend in New England is going to this. She bought a front row ringside ticket today, it was discounted to the general admission price.
Peck Posted May 29, 2023 Posted May 29, 2023 Just want to say that that Dragunov/Dijak match might be my favorite match I've seen in YEARS. No "shocked-face kickouts", no spam exchange of finishers, just two guys who hate each other beating the ever-living fuck out of the other. Dragunov may be the most realistic seller in the business right now. I imagine if I was getting the shit beat out of me with a kendo stick I'd react in the exact same way. That was amazing. 1
Ramo2653 Posted May 29, 2023 Posted May 29, 2023 I imagine most of the board is watching DoN but this was a good show. I'm still not sure what to make of Lyra, her movements are odd but not in a fun way. The match with Stratton was good but had some missteps. It was good to not have a NXT main with a bunch of finisher kickouts and exasperated faces but I'm so conditioned for them even with the change to 2.0 that the finish caught me off guard. I'll get used to it one day.
Eivion Posted May 29, 2023 Posted May 29, 2023 (edited) NA 3-way was good, plenty of acton with some neat setups and moments. Dar/Dragon was another good match. Lee and Dar gelled well together, and I dug the bits with Dar's new faction coming together as the match went on. Played into the finish well. Was glad to see the audience into so much of this. Wasn't sure what to expect with Dragon Lee and Noam Dar being somewhat new to NXT viewers compared to everyone else on the show. Curious to see what Dar's new faction will be called. Dug the visual at the end with Lash being the one to hoist Dar up. She is legit the tallest person in the group. Ilja/Dijak was fantastic. The two just beat the shit out of each other with tons of hates shown. Loved the selling from both guys as the match went on. Ilja looked like a star when it was all said and done. Creeds/Gallus was good as expected with Creeds showing some good tag work and passion. Ivy was nice on the outside pumping the crowd up as well. Finish was fine as a continuation of the Ivy/Ava feud. Mostly disappointed since I want to see the Creeds as champs again. Tiffany/Lyra built into a pretty good match with good limb work from Stratton and good selling from Lyra. Was happy to see the bum leg actually play into the match properly at points with it straight up failing Lyra in the end. I think this was the best match I have seen either have in NXT so far. Glad to see them step up successfully. I was especially pleased to see the crowd so behind Stratton. Does make me curious what they do with Lyra. She feels similar to Athena/Ember where she is a good wrestler, but clearly has a character/gimmick the crowd has no idea what to do with it. Athena had the charisma to persevere despite it. Don't think I can say the same for Lyra. Loved Bron/Melo. Melo coming in hot was great, and I loved how Bron mostly powered him down through pure strength and malice throughout the match. Thought the finish was built into well with it being less a big move tradeoff and more of Melo piling on until he finally got Bron down. Really good show, maybe the best NXT PPV/PLE in years which isn't to say the past ones have been bad so much as to how good this show was. The worst match was still fairly good. Thought Ilja/Dijak was MOTN with Bron/Melo not following too far behind as something great. Really hope NXT keeps up this level of quality for bigger shows. Edited May 29, 2023 by Eivion 4
Ryback Hates Bullies Posted May 29, 2023 Posted May 29, 2023 Noam Dar is such a great little shit. He was probably a bit young in his first run after the CWC. One can't help thinking they're revisiting the Alicia Fox pairing a bit with teaming him up with Jackson and Legend, but I like it. Feel a bit sad Sha isn't with him, though I know he did a guest spot at the PC a couple of months ago so maybe it's not impossible down the line. I said Heritage Cup was too good a gimmick to throw away and I was right. It's probably going to be a sort of ersatz junior title, but that's fine. 2
Just Adam Bay Bay Posted May 29, 2023 Posted May 29, 2023 So this is a show I should definitely watch tonight instead of Raw? I was looking for something to fill that time, and it sounds like this over delivered. The only thing that surprised me was @Eivion being surprised that a crowd would get behind a blonde with a massive boob job. Don’t get me wrong I was a fan of Tiffany when she first debuted, but after that of course the guys in any crowd will be rooting for her.
Steventon Posted May 29, 2023 Posted May 29, 2023 Holy shit that Ilja vs Dijak match was great. Easily the best of Dijak's career and Dragonuv proves he's still one of the best in the world. I commented in the DoN thread that the Anarchy match had plenty of violence but not much room for the spots to breathe - and this was a great comparison to that. The violence wasn't quite as sick - no tacks, barbwire, etc - but it was so much more dramatic because they let the spots reverberate and both guys sold the beatings like a war of attrition. Just a stiff, hellacious grudge match with both guys showing tonnes of fire and elevating their games. It might have been my favourite WWE match of the year. 2
The Natural Posted May 29, 2023 Posted May 29, 2023 MOTYC in Ilja Dragunov vs. Dijak. Great match. Battered each other for our entertainment. 2
The Natural Posted May 29, 2023 Posted May 29, 2023 Ilja Dragunov vs. Dijak was one of the stiffest WWE matches ever.
Niners Fan in CT Posted May 29, 2023 Posted May 29, 2023 Tremendous show top to bottom. I think it was the best show of the weekend. Tiffany and Lyra are really good already. Bron and Melo are going to be stars on the main roster. The best match on the show and of the weekend goes to Dijak vs. Dragunov. It was super hard hitting, intense and violent. They fucking brought it. The length of the show was nice too. I think it might have been a bit under 3 hours. Very smooth and consistent. It brought me back to the old Takeovers. 2
The Natural Posted May 29, 2023 Posted May 29, 2023 (edited) 34 minutes ago, The Natural said: MOTYC in Ilja Dragunov vs. Dijak. Great match. Battered each other for our entertainment. I think Ilja Dragunov vs. Dijak from NXT Battleground might be my new MOTY. It's between that, Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay from NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 and GUNTHER vs. Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre from WWE WrestleMania XXXIX. All three *****. Edited May 29, 2023 by The Natural
The Natural Posted May 29, 2023 Posted May 29, 2023 (edited) 5 hours ago, LF2 said: So this is a show I should definitely watch tonight instead of Raw? I was looking for something to fill that time, and it sounds like this over delivered. Yes, especially for Dragunov/Dijak. Edited May 29, 2023 by The Natural 1
Eivion Posted May 29, 2023 Posted May 29, 2023 5 hours ago, LF2 said: The only thing that surprised me was @Eivion being surprised that a crowd would get behind a blonde with a massive boob job. Don’t get me wrong I was a fan of Tiffany when she first debuted, but after that of course the guys in any crowd will be rooting for her. Wasn't trying to imply surprise at Tiffany being over. I was just happy at how over she was. 1
Greggulator Posted May 30, 2023 Posted May 30, 2023 (edited) Did Dijak and Draganov forget that wrestling is fake? Dear god. This match is insanity. This feels like torture porn. Edited May 30, 2023 by Greggulator 1
Iron Moose Posted May 30, 2023 Posted May 30, 2023 39 minutes ago, Greggulator said: Did Dijak and Draganov forget that wrestling is fake? Dear god. This match is insanity. This feels like torture porn. ... as opposed to their promo segment from two weeks ago, which was just porn... 2
Eivion Posted May 30, 2023 Posted May 30, 2023 1 hour ago, Greggulator said: Did Dijak and Draganov forget that wrestling is fake? Dear god. This match is insanity. This feels like torture porn. That was kind of the point with the feud being about Dijak testing Ilja's limits. 1
Just Adam Bay Bay Posted May 30, 2023 Posted May 30, 2023 17 hours ago, The Natural said: Yes, especially for Dragunov/Dijak. Once I get around to updating my list again that’s definitely going to be my top WWE match so thanks for the recommendation. 1
The Natural Posted May 30, 2023 Posted May 30, 2023 22 minutes ago, LF2 said: Once I get around to updating my list again that’s definitely going to be my top WWE match so thanks for the recommendation. Pleasure. Glad to help. 1
StuntmanCrowley Posted May 31, 2023 Posted May 31, 2023 Recency bias be damned, that might be one of my favorite matches ever 2
Ziggy Posted May 31, 2023 Posted May 31, 2023 This was a really good TakeOver. Probably the best TakeOver since the 2.0 era because I rarely miss TakeOver and PLEs but I'm pretty sure I've not watched atleast one TakeOver since they switched to 2.0. I haven't watched the last 2 matches. I thoroughly enjoyed everything I did see. Noam Dar should be on the main roster , he's such a good heel. Tyler Bate should have been called up by now too but he's still young. Dijak is insanely good, I wish Hunter dud something with him before Vince came back smh. 1
The Natural Posted May 31, 2023 Posted May 31, 2023 (edited) My top ten of 2023 so far: 10. Eddie Kingston vs. Jay White. NJPW Battle in the Valley 2023. 9. Kyle Fletcher/Mark Davis vs. Hirooki Goto/YOSHI-HASHI. NJPW Sakura Genesis 2023. 8. Adam Page vs. Jon Moxley. AEW Revolution 2023. *****. 7. Mark Briscoe vs. Jay Lethal. AEW Dynamite, 25th January. 6. Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens vs. Jey Uso/Jimmy Uso. WWE WrestleMania XXXIX. *****. 5. Kenny Omega vs. El Hijo Del Vikingo. AEW Dynamite, 22nd March. *****. 4. MJF vs. Bryan Danielson. AEW Revolution 2023. *****. 3. GUNTHER vs. Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre. WWE WrestleMania XXXIX. *****. 2. Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay. NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17. *****. 1. Ilja Dragunov vs. Dijak. WWE NXT Battleground, 28th May. *****. Edited May 31, 2023 by The Natural
The Natural Posted June 2, 2023 Posted June 2, 2023 Meltzer: Ilja Dragunov vs. Dijak, ****3/4. Natural: Ilja Dragunov vs. Dijak, *****.
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