NXT TAKEOVER: London

[The Man Known as Dan]

Reading online, people mostly quite liked this show, but there is a lot of disagreement about which match on the card was best. For me, the two women's matches would be the best things they did tonight. After a bit of reflection, I'm fine with Bayley pulling a Cena and overcoming the odds, I suppose, because Bayley/Asuka is still there as a big match and Nia's not yet ready to be on to. Without the booking being an issue fior me, I can say that as a total package, it was definitely the best match despite the awful crowd trying to ruin it. Bayley is the never-say-die babyface that they want Reigns and even Cena to be, in that she is actually quite easy to root for in that role. 

 

Emma has been killing jobbers so beautifully the last few months on top of her work in this Asuka match that I would venture to say that she's now a top five striker in the whole company. Is that too far out there for other people?

 

I don't think so in the slightest regarding Emma. That girl can brawl.

[Brian Fowler]

Mabel/V did eventually get pretty good, but not until after his WWF main event days were looking past.

And he was never on Vader's level. Jax has improved a lot already, buy has a long way yet to go.

[EVA]

I have significantly more interest right now in NXT's tag and womens division then I do the main title.

Yeah, this is something I brought up in the main NXT thread, but it's probably worth talking about here: The top of the card has been decimated. Right now, the top faces at the main event level are Balor and Apollo (probably the two least interesting big match guys in the territory this year), and then the returning Zayn, who may or may not be getting a call up in a few months.

And on the heel side, you've got Joe (who's probably never going to get a lengthy main event run because he's not a developmental talent) and Corbin, who's improving all the time but still not yet the guy you can count on to deliver the type of big matches that have made NXT so hot this year.

And I guess Itami will be back at some point, but when you look down the card, there aren't many guys that jump out as, for lack of a better term, the next big thing (excepting obvious stars that are locked into tag teams for the forseeable future). I mean who else is there? Tye Dillinger LOL? Bull? Maybe the Drifter will set the world on fire.

That is just a mess.

[The Man Known as Dan]

Biff Busick, you are our only hope.

[EVA]

I guess maybe there's hope in Sombra, as well.

[Niners Fan in CT]

I thought Nia Jax was decent for a rookie in that match. She's already improved a lot.  I don't get the hate for the crowd in that match, they were cheering for Bayley the whole time, what was wrong with it?

[John from Cincinnati]

Since everyone is so divided on the best match(es) of this show, I reckon I'll weigh in with my meaningless opinion.

 

Bayley vs Jax with the tag title bout at a close second. Beyond that, Corbin, Joe, and everyone in the opener was killer. I can see where the divide comes from. 

 

I love Dawson. By process of elimination, I assume Dash is his partner? 

[Patrick B.]

Really enjoyed this show top to bottom.  Corbin beating Crews was a bit surprising, but the top two matches delivered with the underdog champions overcoming the undefeated challengers.

[Tim Evans]

I've always been a fan of Emma since she started in NXT but man, she's on a whole different level now. Until Sasha gets to be in a showcase match on the main roster and Nikki comes back, I think Emma is right up there with Asuka as the best women's wrestler in the company.  She's got really good offense and brought it vs Asuka. That was my favorite match of the whole night.

 

Every match was at least good to Excellent.  That tag title match was a breakout performance for both teams. I've seen Dash and Dawson kill it on house shows for what seems like years so it's nice to see team get a push. Enzo/Cas really should have won the titles in Brooklyn. As much as I'll miss seeing them on NXT, it's time for them to go to the main roster. I can't wait for the Big E vs Enzo promo battles on UpUpDownDown.

 

I enjoyed Bayley/Nia but the finish shocked me. I thought it would be a DQ and I was surprised Eva Marie didn't show up. Nia reminds me of Havok a little bit. She's got potential but I think the loss will help her more than hurt her. When she turns on Eva, that's gonna be a joy.

 

Finn/Joe was good thanks to Joe. I kinda wish he won it cause I just can't get into demon Finn. Nothing is really different from regular finn and demon Finn.

 

As for the crowd, I enjoyed the chants. As a guy that goes to Full Sail shows regulary, it's nice to see everyone get involved instead of 15 or 20 people on the hardcam side do chants all night long.

[Ligerbusa]

 

 

ASUKA. ‏@FromAsukaCity  4m4 minutes ago

Thank you to all those in attendance at #NXTTakeoverLondon. I hope to see you all next week... 

 

...I hope to see you, Nia... （≧∇≦）

 

So yeah... no idea what they are going to do with Bayley

 

 

That's one of those blasted roleplay accounts, this is Asuka. 

[Niners Fan in CT]

I love that a lot of people in NXT have two finishers and they keep them protected for the most part. Asuka appears to have two finishers now. Joe has two. Bayley just won with a submission.

[DreamBroken]

Asuka/Emma was amazing. Thought Emma looked fantastic throughout and Asuka was just perfect all the way. Great false finishes with the heels almost cheating their way to victory, loved it and an excellent finish calling back to the last nxt show. Great stuff from both. Asuka's offense continues to be killer, loved the three big hip attacks and Emma got in good stuff too. Asuka is the best and most enjoyable wrestler to watch in the company right now imo.

 

Nia Jax tapping out was lame as hell and killed her off early as a real threat. Hated that whole sequence, get put in a choke while ON the ropes so climb down and run to the center of the ring rather than just.. stay and grab on to the ropes.

 

I liked Corbin/Crews. Always liked Corbin and have been enjoying Crews more lately, especially here, good finish. Really dug Joe/Balor, thought that was a pretty great war of a match. Both guys dished out everything and in the end it felt like Balor really earned the win. Good stuff and I enjoy Balor as champ but I do think Joe would've been a good choice to dethrone him. Pretty good show overall, with Asuka/Emma being the easy match of the night for me and one of my top favorites of the year.

[Go2Sleep]

It says a lot when the worst NXT special of the year is better than every main roster one. This show was well-written, but the execution was a bit lacking relative to other takeovers. The matches were all solid, but the show lacked a true MOTYC, which all the other Takeovers managed to produce.

 

Asuka/Emma was good, but definitely had too much Emma offense. When Asuka was in control, she just hit this gear that Emma obviously doesn't have. That ass-based offense actually looks painful, and the way she snaps off her submissions, or that quick corner dropkick counter just shows that she's one of the most advanced wrestlers in the entire company. Emma tried hard and wasn't bad at all, but it's more of a testament to Asuka that having her sell so much for Emma looked silly. The finish was very well designed and got the right reactions from me, although the ref kinda looked like a goof.

 

The tag title match was my favorite match on the show. I've been on the Dash/Dawson bandwagon since the Dusty classic and Enzo and Cass brought it. Not that there weren't a couple rough spots here, but the nearfalls were great, and the top-rope shatter machine was a killer big-match finish.

 

Baron/Crews was pretty uninspiring. First dull match either man has had in a while, so I'm just gonna write it off as "not clicking on this night." I'm kinda glad Baron won since he was in danger of getting Breezed and there's no reason to saddle Crews with the undefeated streak baggage.

 

Bayley/Nia was a fairly impressive carry, because holy shit did Nia look lost out there. I think she's got potential, but this moment appeared to be too much too fast in retrospect. Props to Bayley for salvaging what she could, although she destroyed Nia's finishers. The guillotine finish was nice, as was never even attempting a B2B. Ending the match on a different spot gives people something positive to remember and washes away some of the bad taste. Nia/Asuka looks like just a weekly main #1 contenders match now, but let Bayley Cena another couple of girls in the coming months and Bayley/Asuka is worth all the money in Dallas.

 

Joe/Balor was definitely the most polished and well-executed match of the night, although it didn't seem to go above and beyond. I felt like a Kobashi/Sasaki style chop exchange would've bumped this match up considerably. With the roll he's on now, I really wanted Joe to win, but at the same time, it would be stupid to have "the demon" lose. There's serious money if they play that streak right. Hopefully Joe can rebound, but there aren't a lot of strong faces for him to go over. I'm torn if I want guaranteed good matches that he'd probably lose with Crews, Zayn, Itami, etc or take a gamble on him going to the main roster.

[Jenalysis]

My favorite was Emma/Asuka then the tag match.   Both great.  

 

Everything else was decent to good.

 

I really think Dawson and Dash need to get a team name and be brought in as assassins on the main roster.  (Hell, why not make them Masked Assassins- they could make it work)

[RandomAct]

I thought Nia Jax was decent for a rookie in that match. She's already improved a lot.  I don't get the hate for the crowd in that match, they were cheering for Bayley the whole time, what was wrong with it?

No, they were trying to sing clever songs while Bayley was fighting for her life.

[MADCAP]

Favorite match was Asuka/Emma. I don't perv out too much, and even though she's not really my type, Evil Emma is smoking hot. Wrestling wise, I thought she hung in pretty well and I loved that clothesline she hit Asuka with.

Liked the tag match as well. When I saw Enzo, the first image in my head was that cat from Bloom County(sorry, I don't know his name. Never really read the comic.).

Crews/Corbin was what it was. I don't have anything bad to say about it. It was passable enough for me.

Liked the Jax/Bayley match more than I thought I would. Someone posted earlier about repeating sequences 3 times in a row. I get what they were trying to do, but it a bit much. Got no problem with Nia tapping out.

Main event was fun. I'm a sucker for Finn's demon entrances. The Jack the Ripper theme was sweet. Joe definitely was the star of the match to me.

[MORELOCK]

I don't perv out too much

Yeah, you kinda do.

and even though she's not really my type

Lol

[supremebve]

One of Dash and Dawson did a slingshot suplex.

 

It ruled. 

I agree, it is one of those moves that always looks great.  They need to give someone a slingshot jackhammer as a finisher. 

[Ramsey]

I liked the show. I didn't even hate the crowd. For me it was an English sports crowd doing English sports crowd things just like Philly crowds and Tokyo crowds have their own styles. At least they were having fun.

 

The only thing I disliked about the show was Corbin and Crews and it wasn't because of Corbin. I am still not seeing anything special about Crews. He's very athletic but he is about as interesting as a pair of socks.

 

Also, I think Nia was just fine. She was the monster who was able to blow through everyone with her limited tools and huge power and figured out half way through the match that she didn't bring enough to beat the champ.

 

Also, Joe was king sized. I missed that Joe.

[Ramsey]

Favorite match was Asuka/Emma. I don't perv out too much, and even though she's not really my type, Evil Emma is smoking hot. Wrestling wise, I thought she hung in pretty well and I loved that clothesline she hit Asuka with.

Liked the tag match as well. When I saw Enzo, the first image in my head was that cat from Bloom County(sorry, I don't know his name. Never really read the comic.).

Crews/Corbin was what it was. I don't have anything bad to say about it. It was passable enough for me.

Liked the Jax/Bayley match more than I thought I would. Someone posted earlier about repeating sequences 3 times in a row. I get what they were trying to do, but it a bit much. Got no problem with Nia tapping out.

Main event was fun. I'm a sucker for Finn's demon entrances. The Jack the Ripper theme was sweet. Joe definitely was the star of the match to me.

Bill....the cat. He was Bill...

 

...the cat.

[Jrag]

If I had to rank the worst 3 things on this show it would probably be:

 

1. Nia Jax

2. Apollo Crews

3. The guy holding the camera on the outside who wanted to turn a simple count out spot into a shaky cam moment.  (This guy should probably be #1.  Worst dude.)

 

Some of you continue to see something in Nia that just isn't there, so I'm going to have to double down on this take.  She is SOOO bad that she shouldn't even be on TV.  She is the least athletic person they have on either roster.  She doesn't look like a monster, she looks like she has trouble getting up off the mat.

 

The 3 best things:

 

1. Enzo's bump on that clothesline when he was trying to break up the pin.

2. The false finishes in Asuka/Emma.

3. Joe firing up during Balor's comeback.

[Firebreaker Chip]

Gable and Jordan were just ungodly over

 

The vibe of the Bayley-Jax match was a bit weird because they weren't really bringing the crowd down the way they wanted to in terms of hushed concern for Bayley's wellbeing or whatever, but it's a big traveling crowd having a party atmosphere the first time they've ever had the chance to see the product live, what are you gonna do

 

A significant chunk of the UK wrestling chants I'm aware of got repurposed for at least one person tonight; also as noted "ONE FAAAALL" and annoyingly chanting one number ahead when the ref does ten counts

 

The main got v good live reaction, just seemed like Joe was on-form and hard hitting and mean, and it took a lot to stop him. Quite a split crowd as well and the outcome felt in doubt

 

Not sure if the audible groan of embarrassment at the initial Ripper slash bit in Finn's entrance came over on TV; stoked for his John Wayne Gacy entrance in Chicago

[Firebreaker Chip]

Emma/Asuka was great and Emma got in a lot more offense than I thought she would.  Dana has a great future as a valet/manager if her in-ring career doesn't work out. Also, Drake Younger can go through light tubes and barbed wire and still kick out, but gets incapacitated by getting pushed into the corner?  I guess donning the ref shirt automatically depletes your HP to a super low level.

Laughed heavily at this at the time, wonder how demeaning it felt for him to have to sell that

 

maybe he caught a hit on one of the hundreds of blade scars criss-crossing his forehead and it caused him momentary blinding pain

[MADCAP]

I don't perv out too much

Yeah, you kinda do.

No I really don't. I'm not ever saying I've said "x" was pretty or fine, but you have me confused for someone else?

and even though she's not really my type

Lol

It's funny that you don't believe she's not mainly my type? Okay...feel what you feel brotha.

[Brysynner]

As far as Bayley wouldn't the easiest match to set up be Bayley vs. Carmella. See if you can turn Enzo/Cass/Carmella heels. Enzo/Cass can be the heel team that GABLE/Jordon run through while D&D take on the Vaudevillians. Then you have Bayley vs. Carmella with the easy story of best friend is jealous of her friend's success. This also kills time so Asuka can run through Nia Jax and you set up Bayley vs. Asuka at Mania Takeover.

 

So Mania Takeover would look like

 

Bayley vs. Asuka

Dash and Dawson vs. GABLE and Jordan

Balor vs. Corbin

Nia Jax/Eva Marie vs. Emma/Dana

Itami vs. Crews