NXT TakeOver: The End

[EVA]

When Joe tried to escape through the door 10 seconds into the match, I knew that match had a ceiling on how good it could be.

[Ace]

It's understandable to not recognize Paul Ellering. It's gotta be his first appearance without shades in decades.

 

[Rev Ray]

As I said on Twitter, I'm not sure they should have Tye as the "utility guy".  I know they trust him and everyone puts him over, but he is super over with the Full Sail crowd so if you're trying to hot debut someone it's a bit tough when the crowd is really cheering hard for Dillinger.

 

I liked the show a lot.  It flew by.  Not sure if I liked Alpha/Revival or Nak/Aries better.  I think this was probably Nia best outing on TV.  Considering some people where shitting on her Asuka matches on the Northwest tour, this was a very respectable appearance.  It's interesting that she's dangerous but beatable which is good.  They can sort of run that story that when she's still a rookie and when (if) she figures things out, she's very buyable as that that monster they need.  Cage  match was OK, but the logic of escape cage is always goofy.

[offspring515]

5 minutes ago, Ace said:

It's understandable to not recognize Paul Ellering. It's gotta be his first appearance without shades in decades.

 

Plus he hasn't been a relevant figure in wrestling for what, close to 25 years now?  And for people who grew up as WWF fans he was just that guy with a puppet who showed up for a couple of months.  Totally understandable for current fans to not immediately recognize him.

 

That said the chanting was annoying no matter who it was directed at. 

[Buy Me a Burrito]

Nia Jax is the only person who doesn't look like they are going to die in the ring with Asuka.

 

Even the Bayley match was weird because Asuka was throwing these lethal strikes and Bayley just threw some light, play fighting kind of stuff back at her. Nia was good at absorbing offense and throwing bombs back. I liked that match. 

[Cyanide]

7 minutes ago, EVA said:

When Joe tried to escape through the door 10 seconds into the match, I knew that match had a ceiling on how good it could be.

I'm beating a thoroughly abused horse in this thread at this point, but wholeheartedly agree.  You have two guys raging out of control, trying to destroy each other, in the culmination of what's basically become a blood feud spanning half a year - having anyone immediately try to squeak out with the title is not the way to go.

 

Nothing much to add otherwise: a great three match block book-ended by a promising Almas debut and the cage match.  The tag match was fantastic, Aries/Nakamura was absurdly good (and agree that Aries worked his ass off in what's probably his best showing anywhere in a long time), and I actually really dug Nia/Asuka.  I do think Nia keeps getting better in the ring and more comfortable in her role, and, as a KENTA fan, I can support any finish involving teeing off on someone's domepiece to just finally keep them down for three goddamn seconds.

[The Man Known as Dan]

When Joe went for the door only to clock Finn immediately afterwards, I really got my hopes up with "Oh, Joe was just fucking with him to get an advantage! This can still work!"

 

Nope.

[Greggulator]

I very much want Tye Dillinger to have an upset win over Joe. That would be an epic Full Sail pop and a super great feud. I could get down with a NXT Ali vs. Chuck Wepner.

The intro package was spellbinding. So insanely well done.

[rzombie1988]

Sombra needs his mask back pronto. He lost all of his swag with it. And he's gonna fuck someone up with those double knees in the corner, the question is just when. He looked fine, but he's not going that far without the mask.

Tye looked the best he ever looked. He's clearly been taking some lessons from Regal. Hate to tell Sombra this, but he got overshadowed by Tye.

[victor]

Good show, Nia Jax did a good job of hanging with Asuka, and Balor losing to Samoa Joe again pretty much kills that program.

Meltzer said the two guys with Ellering were Selmani and Dhinsa, MMA guys I think. The Asention  2.0? 

[Peck]

52 minutes ago, Ace said:

It's understandable to not recognize Paul Ellering. It's gotta be his first appearance without shades in decades.

 

I knew who it was but where the fuck was the rolled-up Wall Street Journal??

[(BP)]

6 minutes ago, Peck said:

I knew who it was but where the fuck was the rolled-up Wall Street Journal??

Digital media killed print journalism, even for Precious Paul. 

[EVA]

I think Sombra looked sharp, but I think he's yet another case of NXT babyfacing an incoming big star who is much better suited to be a heel.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

I'm disappointed seeing AA have a short title reign, but I guess that all but confirms they're getting called up. I'll love seeing Alpha on the main roster. I think Alpha and Gallows & Anderson have a fun series of matches in them. I've got no problem with The Revival having the titles if AA are on the way up, and look forward to another match against Gargano & Ciampa; TM61; and Paul Ellering's new team. 

[JCM]

Really enjoyable show with all the matches at least doing their job. Dillinger is probably too over for his role. I thought the middle three matches were the highlights of the show. Alpha/Revival had the best tag match in NXT history that was awesome start to finish. Aries and Nak delivered pretty much what I thought they were capable of with a pretty tremendous match. Nia and Asuka had a much better match than I though they would. This was laid out really well. Asuka was great, and Nia continues to improve. She needs to work on her selling some, but she's had two real good matches with Bayley and Asuka lately. Joe and Balor worked hard, and had a good match. I'm glad Finn took a loss as the demon. They did about all they could for a bloodless cage match I guess.

[badfish69]

I'm torn between not wanting to be the asshole wanting men to slice themselves up for my viewing pleasure, and "Dammit! This is wrestling!  Where's the damn blood!"

[Wyld Samurai]

The Steinerification of Aa was completed tonight. Jordan even became The Dog Faced Gremlin at one point and the crowd ate it up. 

Dash & Dawson is the best pure American tag team I've seen in 20-25 years. They're not Anderson/Tully... they're Anderson/Zybisco.

[Tim Evans]

I figured those two big guys were going to debut after seeing them face American Alpha at the last tapings in a dark match. Seeing Jordan throw those dudes around like Rick Steiner to Vader will be a treat.

Thought the show was good but the main event was disappointing. I really hope that's the last Joe/Finn match.

Best part of the night was the pre-show match with Athena debuting her new name, Ember Moon. I hope that means she really debuts tomorrow at the tapings.

[mattdangerously]

Anyone know if these Authors of Pain guys are any good?  I'm worried.  The one without tattoos was sucking air pretty hard after only a couple of minutes.

[Go2Sleep]

I'll throw out the (maybe) controversial opinion that this show was better than Dallas.

Alpha/Revival is seriously not more than a smidge behind Zayn/Nakamura in my MOTY estimation. Really sharp match where every move mattered, and nothing felt out of place. Gable and Jordan did a good job breaking off their formula early in the match, and their two fired-up babyface spots were the best I've seen in a while. The crowd was hot the whole match, but those two spots made the fans dig extra deep to get even louder. The tag team strategy was also next-level with the blind tags, ref distractions, double teams, partner cutoffs, etc. Just really smart stuff you don't see in WWE these days. The finishing run was great with more focus on back and forth counters and Revival ending up getting the last move in a match that felt like it could've gone either way. This was the match I imagined these teams could have, as I was underwhelmed by their Dallas match.

Aries/Nakamura was also a very high-end match. Great storytelling between two guys who can do so much with just their body language. Aries had a chip on his shoulder and was annoyed by Nak showing off. I liked Austin's double-layered strategy of going after the legs to set up working on the neck to set up the last chancery. There was some good back and forth in the middle with Aries trying to stick to his plan between flurries of strikes and subs from Nak. His plan worked pretty well too, even after Nak got out of the last chancery, he still had the apron DVD to play on the neck work. The best part of the story is that Aries had him dead to rights after that, but just had to go for another flashy killshot. Despite the fact that I'm sure he'll chalk up the loss up to his "injured" ribs, it was his own hubris that did him in and everyone knows it. It'll be a nice progression his slow heel turn when he tries to make excuses.

Nia/Asuka was great as well, and maybe even a little better than I expected they could do. They did a good job staying true to their characters and made the match look like a true test of wills. Asuka was relentless with strikes even when she was on the defensive as well as the flash submissions, while Nia stuck to the power counters. The final powerbomb and slow cover was the only thing that felt out of place, but it wasn't too bad. I think Asuka having a little bit longer of a finishing run would've sold the story of one competitor finally breaking the other one down with their style a little better, but the kick sequence at the end was still really inspired. I was pleasantly surprised when they actually ended there at the right time instead of trying to force more epic-ness when it wasn't necessary.

The other two matches were fine. Almas looked good in his debut, and Tye got some shine too. Joe/Finn was their usual good-but-not-great affair. This match reminded me of Dallas except with escape attempts replacing blood cleanups as groan-inducing momentum-killers. The finish was pretty sick, though.

[DreamBroken]

The End....... of the Beginning.

Great show. Tag title match was so killer again. Love those two teams against each other. Was mildly surprised that the Revival won the titles back already and clean at that but the finishing stretch was amazing. Loved the post-match angle, felt very ECW like to me with Ellering's surprise appearance being a really cool little add on to the show. When American Alpha lost, I first immediately figured they were getting called up but after that, I'm already really looking forward to them against the new team. The mid air belly to belly off the shoulders was my favorite spot of the night.

Aries/Nakamura was good stuff. I was a little worried the match would be hindered a little by Aries never really seeming to have a chance and it being more of another Nakamura showcase but I thought both guys looked great. Loved the hot crowd early with dueling chants and the fans singing Nakamura's theme was one of the few enjoyable crowd sing along moments. I hope Aries doesn't get lost in the shuffle with Nakamura moving up to challenge Joe next and assuming Balor is called up next. Aries still exudes superstar from his entrance on, love his theme music after hearing it more. Very much look forward to Roode being added to NXT. Too bad Storm left and I guess Eric Young was one time.

Asuka/Nia went pretty much exactly as it should have. Glad they rebuilt Nia to this point even if it would've added a bit more if Nia was still unbeaten going in. Asuka remains my current favorite wrestler to watch.

Cage match was pretty good, just not as explosive and chaotic as their previous match, but a nice decisive finish. Didn't even hit me at first until I read it here about that being the first loss for Demon Balor. Solid ending to another great Takeover night.

[The Natural]

Revival vs. American Alpha was really good though on a first watch I’d say the match they had at NXT TakeOver: Dallas was better. We need a rubber match, the NXT staple 2 out of 3 falls?

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Austin Aries was very good. Best Austin Aries performance I’ve seen in a while. Boma Ye puts Aries away.

The match I enjoyed the most might well have been Asuka vs. Nia Jax (am I the only one?) with Asuka throwing in submissions and strikes against a bigger and stronger opponent. Asuka retains the NXT Women’s Championship

Joe vs. Balor was fine but a big step down from the NXT TakeOver: Dallas match. Joe remains NXT Champion.

 

[Phantom Lord]

3 hours ago, Ace said:

It's understandable to not recognize Paul Ellering. It's gotta be his first appearance without shades in decades.

 

He didn't have his rolled up copy of the Wall Street Journal. It took me a minute to realize it was him too. Maybe he's coming back with his daughter doing stuff with them. No idea who the guys he's got are though. A part of me was hoping when Road Warrior Animal's kid finally retired from the NFL, Animal and Ellering would be there to usher him into wrestling.

Anyway this show was great. I was really surprised American Alpha lost to The Revival and without controversy no less. Gable going all Rick Steiner with the mid air belly to belly was so awesome. Steiner used to always do that to anyone who would be dumb enough to put him up on someone's shoulders. He did it to Bobby Eaton a bunch of times in matches against Anderson/Eaton with Scott. He even did it to Hawk once when they went for the Doomsday device on him. I'm hoping the next big match they do is 2/3 falls. Just devote an entire show to that.

Aries/Nakamura was great as expected. I was kinda expecting an upset and hoping for Aries to win and it almost looked like he might. I don't think Brooklyn can contain Joe/Nakamura when it happens.

Asuka vs. Nia was a fun match Nia not going down for damn near anything until almost the end. I knew it was going to take Asuka kicking her head off to beat her and boy did she deliver. I loved it when Nia was all THAT ALL YOU GOT and Asuka was You want more...okay. I think she legit caught her with that first kick though and Nia really did get all fired up. Either way I loved the hell out of it. Nia only can only be beaten by knockout or a fluke submission is a great weakness to exploit in her character for future matches.

Joe/Ballor seemed like it was a let down compared to their other matches. With it being a cage match I was hoping for a trickle of blood. Sadly there was none. It was still a good match, but not nearly as good as the other two. Loved the ending though. I thought Balor was going for a super stomp off the top but Joe going for the Super Buster was even better.

Overall it was a pretty good show. Amazing the night and day difference between this and the stuff they do on the main show.

[Marty Sugar]

Amazing show. Only match I felt was "weak" was Nia/Asuka and even that was a really good match. I just felt they didn't mesh well, IMO. Tag match was insane.

[Sky Blue Sam]

1 hour ago, DreamBroken said:

 Too bad Storm left and I guess Eric Young was one time.

 

Triple H did an interview last week where he said they were negotiating a deal with EY