NXT TakeOver: Dallas.

[SirSmUgly]

I don't want to hate on anyone's brother, but yeesh.

Watching Asuka/Bayley again and it deserves more love. I love that spot where Asuka strikes Bayley, gets her mad, and Bayley swings wildly as Asuka ducks before returning a shitload of punches. There was a lot of intensity and violence in this match, specifically from the point where Bayley catches a hip attack and completes a suplex after Asuka attacks her with some nice elbow strikes in an attempt to escape.

I guess that is how I would describe the final three matches - they were violent. Everything felt like a real fight. 

EDIT: And at the finish of Asuka/Bayley, that crowd is pretty devastated. Multiple people with their hands on their heads or over their faces in poses of distress. What a reaction. 

[RIPPA]

34 minutes ago, El Dragon said:

He has an opt out after the 3rd season. Which is almost done taping.

There is some debate I see if the opt-out is after episodes AIR

If it is - he would be locked up for like another 18 months

[MonteCarl]

In defense of my brother, he didn't mean the "is he gay" to be an insult, but rather a legitimate question on if his flamboyance was to represent a gay character or not.

 

I am pretty disappointed with him about not digging that tag match, though. That was one of my favorite tag matches of the year.

[Zheroen]

Really, truly enjoyed every match on the card.  Not often I can say that about any show - when a solid match like Aries vs. Corbin is arguably the weakest, and it's still really freaking good, you know you have something special.

I had butterflies in my stomach as Nakamura made his entrance.  Then the match lived up to the hype and was even better than I'd thought capable.  And it was both Shinsuke and Sami bringing it - the early striking exchanges that busted Nakamura open, the subsequent agitated kicks/stomps from him in reaction to being bloodied, then the retaliation from Sami (showing an aggressive vein in which he needed to tap if he wanted to win this)...everything was so ON POINT.

Asuka brought Bayley back down to earth with her relentless offense executed with relentless precision, and in doing so proved that her tag of Empress is more than just clever marketing.  One has to wonder if some of the confidence that Bayley had previously-displayed as the ace of NXT has eroded somewhat, and can she vanquish those doubts to mount a legitimate challenge?  This is a much better story and character arc for both women than I had initially-foreseen.

Balor brought a sense of purpose to the Demon big match character that had been lacking, but Joe was absolutely IMMENSE, in every sense of the word.  A loss hasn't hurt him here at all, and he earned every right to a rematch down the road.

I love pro-wrestling.

[Jrag]

Th ATL Hawks Kent Bazemore had the bump of the night, but Balor going over the railing is a close second.

[J.T.]

1 hour ago, Trocar Slush Weasel said:

I'm 99% sure Joe's inner-voice was screaming like a school girl when he got busted open.

Look at the fucking color, I swear..

How do you not Brody a finish to put this man over so that he can stare wildly at the camera with the title draped over his shoulder?

How is that not a great go home image for a PPV?

[ChrisM]

Asuka/Bayley was actually my least favorite match. The last couple of minutes were good, but Asuka just does nothing for me...yet. I'm sure she'll grow on me. 

Alpha/Revival was fantastic, despite the botch. Both Jordan and Gable are going to be huge. 

Nakamura vs. Zayn was entertaining as hell. Nakamura is so quirky, that I can see him getting over big with mainstream fans.

Joe/Balor was brutal fun. The crowd needed to shut the fuck up about the medical crew checking on Joe, though. Both guys worked their asses off, and I have no problem with Finn retaining. 

 

 

[J.T.]

3 hours ago, TerjeRUN said:

Problem is, who is Asuka facing in the meantime? Nia Jaxx? 

i love Nia Jax in her role as Awesome Kong lite but I am not sure she should be going over Asuka right now.

With Emma on the main roster, I'd only put Bayley over Asuka right now.

 

[Casey]

Just read that Biff Busick and La Sombra had a dark match together before Takeover last night.

 

Damnit.

[RIPPA]

2 minutes ago, Casey said:

Just read that Biff Busick and La Sombra had a dark match together before Takeover last night.

 

Damnit.

That is correct - I have a strong suspicion Manny might end up on TV via the tapings they are doing today

[Casey]

God, NXT is like the best super indy ever. One hour a week isn't enough with the talent they have.

[RIPPA]

And for those wonder who Asuka would be facing

First match (from the tapings)

Spoiler

Eva Marie

 

[J.T.]

4 minutes ago, RIPPA said:

And for those wonder who Asuka would be facing

First match (from the tapings)

  Reveal hidden contents

Eva Marie

 

RIP mystery opponent in the spoiler tag.

Unless,

Spoiler

Eva wins via Nia Jax shenanigans and continues to help protect the title.

 

[Matt D]

This is all I see so far, but we've got hope the whole thing will pop up:

(it's the start and the end)

 

[Big Fresh]

MonteCarl's brother really soured my "wrestling is great" mood.

[GOTNW]

I don't have much to nitpick about. Really strong show.

Nakamura-Zayn was very much their best-of spots combined together into a match, but. It just clicked. The way Zayn, as the top face, reacted to Nakamura's viciousness by punching him and stomping on his head is the type of thing that makes him a great wrestler. In comparison, Bayley didn't really show anything against Asuka. She tried to work on her kicking leg, but didn't really ramp up the intensity or anything. Her one ankle lock spot was cool but she really needed to do more, especially since she almost started crying out of fear when she had the stare down with Asuka after she saved Bayley from Nia and Eva. I don't know. Sami lost but also looked really great in an excellent match and it felt like a great send off and he looks to be done. Asuka-Bayley wasn't as good as I'd hoped it would be (and I don't hold Bayley in the same esteem the people who voted her into winning MM do) and the ending made me feel they HAVE to do something more cause.......yikes. Still a good match but I hope we get a rematch and it is better.

Tag match was very strong as well. Botch came at a bad time and IMO they needed to prolong the heat section to salvage it instead of continuing with what they were planning but. It was still really good. Laid out well and had a lot of great spots and ideas. Not a great match bud they'll get there.

Corbin-Aries was fine, thought Corbin looked way better than Aries. Finn Balor is boring. The first couple minutes of the main were really great, with Joe just ragdolling him, but when they transitioned away from Joe murdering Balor to cute reversals and "we love strong style" exchanges I was done.

[Trocar Slush Weasel]

I had to make bigger versions of those Joe gifs

[Norwegian Rudo]

5 hours ago, RIPPA said:

That is correct - I have a strong suspicion Manny might end up on TV via the tapings they are doing today

Looks like he might be held off for the Cruiser tourney as his big debut.

[rzombie1988]

1 hour ago, Norwegian Rudo said:

Looks like he might be held off for the Cruiser tourney as his big debut.

He'll get shown up though if Ibushi is in it, I can gurantee it. Sombra's good but Ibushi's spectacular. Sombra's style is more like Balor where he doesn't do a ton of really crazy stuff.

[Lawful Metal]

Stray thoughts -

Asuka looking a little nervous before the match with Bayley was really something extra.  Bayley keeping the strong face when not making eye contact with Asuka and connecting with the crowd was good too.  Especially how that expression dropped any time she had to acknowledge Asuka in the ring with her.  Was very pleased with the match, and I thought Bayley held her own.  Bummer of an ending, as I was really digging the leg work that Bayley started on towards the end.  I thought she was going to pull it off. 

Very happy for Jason Jordan.  He had a very "started at the bottom, now we're here" low key story, and seeing the emotion of the win was pretty cool.  Keep Gable and Jordan together forever!

Sami Zayn v. Shinsuke Nakamura exceeded the hype.  Could not believe how good that was.  Fight forever.

Loved the main event, but, yeah, bummer of an ending again.  Really thought it was Joe's night.  He looked like such a beast out there.  I thought all the re-starts with the refs and the med techs really added to the match, and it really seemed like a bomb throwing masterpiece where they'd just go for big move after big move after every reset.  Joe murdering a security guard with the body of Finn Balor was really special. 

Loved the special, every match was good-to-great.  Sami - Nakamura is MOTYC.  Not sure what's going to top that.  I do wish Joe and Bayley would've won.  Would've been more interesting to see the Demon finally fail, and I'm still not sick of Bayley overcoming the odds, which is weird because it's the most overused trope in wrestling, especially the WWE. 

[peterien]

Watching Nak/Zayn again and found myself rewinding the part where Nakamura does his entrance rope taunt 5 times. The guy is a bonafide star. 

I dont know how and i dont know when but Nakamura is going to be World champ in the next 3 years.

Those 30-40 mins from the entrances to Samis exit are some of the best I've ever witnessed as a fan. 

[(BP)]

17 minutes ago, peterien said:

Watching Nak/Zayn again and found myself rewinding the part where Nakamura does his entrance rope taunt 5 times. The guy is a bonafide star. 

Same. It's one of those really satisfying pops I'll always go back to, like when Jericho's name came on the Titantron during his debut. 

[supremebve]

18 hours ago, Matt D said:

This is all I see so far, but we've got hope the whole thing will pop up:

(it's the start and the end)

 

That is actually the complete match.  

[peterien]

1 hour ago, (BP) said:

Same. It's one of those really satisfying pops I'll always go back to, like when Jericho's name came on the Titantron during his debut. 

Exactly. I found myself smiling because its like "yep,he's gonna do just fine".

EDIT; Jesus! Only saw the Bobby Roode pop now. This is the show that just keeps on giving.

[Kyuubi]

I feel like Finn did a fantastic job for once. We complained how the Demon entrance and all the charisma he exudes in his entrance just evaporates once he enters the ring. For once, it did not here. He was menacing or as much as he could be against Samoa Joe who was on another level. It was pretty much what happens when you pit a serial killer against the Predator. The Predator is going to be scarier no matter what. But Finn had moments of unnatural resurgence that got me behind the idea that he is a completely different person in the paint. When Joe tossed Finn over the barricade and after a few brief moments of Joe being a monster, the scene refocuses on the spot Joe threw Finn and you see Finn pop back up menacingly was an excellent spot and great camera work that we expect from WWE. Then there is the moments of almost super human tenacity that you never see from Finn and sudden turn of aggression. Sure, his moveset is basically the same, but I think he amped the aggression of those moves in spite of those moves being...not so hurty and flamboyant.