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Takeover: Orlando


HumanChessgame

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The show was better than I thought it would be considering Tommy End's debut was the only thing I was really looking forward to.

Opening 8 man was a fun sprint.  Everyone in the match looked good and was made better by Hero's participation.  Sanity winning was also the best decision.

Almas/Black was alright.  There were a few sloppy moments but the ending stretch was good stuff.  Like someone mentioned above, Almas has picked up some momentum lately and should keep it up, but Black obviously needed to win in his debut.

I'll echo everyone else comments about how good the tag match was.  The ending felt kind of anticlimactic, but was also the best way it could have gone down if that makes sense.  AOP are really being built up as dangerous and unstoppable so it's good they're being booked like that.  Revival will hopefully debut on Smackdown on Tuesday and DIY don't really need another run.  That being said they really need to start building up another team to be able to win the belts.

Women's match was good but nothing spectacular.  I really thought Moon was going to win.

The main event completely overdelivered.  Roode bores the hell out of me in the ring but the match was laid out really smartly.  Nakamura losing means we're stuck with Roode as champ for longer, but maybe it means Nak is going to debut this week as well.

A while back I figured every title (except the Smackdown tag belts) are going to change hands at Mania, so maybe that accounts for none of the belts changing here.

This crowd also sucked for a lot of the show.  What was with the "shut the fuck up" chant during Almas/Black?  I also noticed the camera crew missed a few key shots, especially at the end of the tag match.

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I thought it was a really good show.  The opener was pretty hot.  Nice introductory match for Black.  The tag title match was spectacular.  Ember and Asuka had to follow the tag match, but had a solid match that sets up the rest of the feud.  And Nakamura and Roode fought a war of attrition.  That hurricane implant DDT... yikes.

And WHAT'S DREW MCINTYRE DOING IN THE NXT ZONE?

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I feel pretty down on this show.

- Ruby Riot didn't do much, and what she did looked unintentionally awkward. Tye not catching a break feels like it's gone on long enough, and I don't have enough of an idea of Sanity to approve or disapprove of them. And the eyeshadow was trying too hard.  

- Almas did great work, but seems to have settled into a Tye-lite Intro Guy rut. 

- Ember's failure to scout the running hip attack and subsequent dive to the guardrail don't speak well of her character (whatever it is?), and I don't think Asuka was evil enough to set up a compelling rematch. 

 

Tag and main were great though. 

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Pretty awesome show. Opener was fun stuff with a really good finishing stretch. Loved Young's sell of Roderick's sick kick sending him flying out of the ring and the girls jumping on the backs spot ruled. Nikki and Ruby both looked great and I look forward to more of them. Black's debut was solid and put him over strong.

Tag title match was off the charts and a top match of the year so far. Loved AoP getting booked to be so dominant. I expected them to retain but not quite so decisively, that ruled. Thought Asuka/Ember was a little underwhelming but really glad Asuka retained as it certainly didn't feel like the right time or feud to end her reign. I guess the feud continues so it will a bit better if Ember is going to dethrone her. Not crazy about making Asuka more heelish and having to cheat to win, I hoped she'd retain and revisit the Nikki Cross rivalry, but pretty good stuff nonetheless.

Absolutely loved the main event again. Their last match is my MOTY so far and this one ranks right up there with it. Huge fan of Roode, awesome to see him retain clean and decisively. Great stuff from both guys, had a big fight feel from the get go. Roode is such a fantastic old school heel. Stoked for Drew McIntyre in NXT, that should be incredible.

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Very enjoyable.  I'm all in on an Asuka/Ember Moon rematch.  They can play up that Asuka had to cheat to beat her. This was better than Ember who is still relatively unknown beating her in the first match.  They can slow burn this to SummerSlam weekend.  It was nice watching Asuka in there with someone who can keep up with her again. 

The tag match was great stuff. I sure do love the Authors of Pain a lot more than the crowd did. 

Main event was good, I have to assume that's it for Nakamura down in NXT. I'd love to see him on the blue brand.

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That tag match is on the short list of best matches in NXT history. The Revival might be the best act NXT has created. I loved how The Revival's hubris ended up being the downfall of both teams who had come together to nearly defeat the unbeatable monsters. Great story.

Woman's match was really good. But it had the one flaw I don't like with Asuka. She teased being an arrogant heel in the build-up to the match. I would have absolutely loved if she just gave one or two looks at Ember like "Oh, damn, I might lose this!" during the match. Like a spot where she had to scurry her way and hold her jaw in nervousness or something. Or maybe if there was a tease spot earlier in the match where Asuka thought about cheating but then didn't. Maybe they didn't go over that when laying out the match. But Asuka's so great in so much of what she does, but the storytelling component isn't always there. The end was great, but the build to it could have been better and if executed well a MOTYC.

The men's match was so so so so good. It's such a throwback to a 1988-style match. It's actually probably laid out in the same fashion as any number of Flair/Sting matches, just with strong-style kicks replacing chops. Bobby Roode is just such a great cheapshot artist conniving heel. Great using their previous match to set up the second half of this match.

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8 person mixed tag was pretty fun outside of Ruby Riot being so off. I'm not sure how she is normally sicne she didn't do much the Stardom tour she was on, but I feel sorry for her that this was her debut match.

Almas/Black was a solid debut.

Tag Titles match was awesome even with the awkward atmosphere after DIY were eliminated. Revival and DIY are great, but the AoP looked damn impressive as well. Hopefully their victory here means a feud with Heavy Machinery is in the future.

Asuka/Moon was a damn good match. I loved Ember constantly matching up with Asuka and throwing her off as a result. I especially loved the finish with Asuka having to cheat. Hopefully this is the start of heel turn for Asuka.

Nakamura/Roode was fantastic, even better than the first match with how much they built on it. I'm not sure which I loved more between it and the tag titles match. Both are easy MOTYCs. Its weird thinking Roode has been Nakamura's best opponent in NXT.

This was a good show.

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The story in the tag title match was phenomenal but I feel like Revival matches have too neat symmetry and coincidences are too common. I get that it's pro wrestling and you can do that kind of stuff because it's a story but sometimes it's just too much for me. All Japan in the '80s and '90s could do wonderful callbacks without being so cute about it. Great match though (slightly outdoing Dijak/Lee from Evolve 81) and the crowd was awesome right up to DIY's elimination. They kind of sucked shit the rest of the show though with maybe the opener being the exception. Everything on the show was good. Yeah, End and Andrade had some awkwardness but overall was a good showcase though Almas shouldn't be in that slot. Ruby looked fine, I don't get the criticism of her. Her, Cross and Moon are the only women on TV that can keep up with Asuka right now. Dain's one winged angel looks so weak relative to Omega's but he's great outside of that so it's not a big deal. 

I loved the Moon/Asuka match and I'm actually glad they didn't do the typical WWE/NXT telegraphing of the finish with overdone facial reactions and the like. If they could do it with some subtlety I'd be on board, but we know that's not their style (thanks Shawn! I love you!). Ember finally caught Asuka on the 4th (I believe it was) hip attack and Asuka's mannerisms early made it seem like she WAS taking Ember Moon lightly and those mannerisms disappeared as the match went on. Great stuff but too bad the crowd was just not giving Ember anything. When she was on offense they sat on their hands. Asuka having to resort to cheating to retain is perfect because it gives them time to see if Ember Moon is the right call to dethrone Asuka or if they go with Cross or one of the women debuting soon.

Good on Galloway for getting back to NXT. He's perfect for them. Giant, gorgeous man who can talk and work really well with smaller guys while also excel in hoss battles too. The intensity he's found on the indies should serve him well if they don't drill it out of him. I'm guessing he gets his EVOLVE title shot before joining NXT but maybe they switch it up because it'd be a mighty obvious outcome otherwise.

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56 minutes ago, HumanChessgame said:

This crowd also sucked for a lot of the show.  What was with the "shut the fuck up" chant during Almas/Black?  I also noticed the camera crew missed a few key shots, especially at the end of the tag match.

Some people started chanting "You Suck" at Black, and others responded with "Shut the Fuck Up".

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I thought the show over preformed.  This is another on paper show that was kind of eh, but was very fun.  

Opener was a fun sprint, but yeah, the Ruby/Nikki interactions looked a little off.  

I thought Black/Almas was good but it was odd match to book because Almas just seemed to get some momentum with his heel turn but you shouldn't beat a guy in his debut.  There were a few very close pins here, there was one roll up where it looked like Almas pinned him.  

Tag Titles where good.  I'm assuming Revival is getting the call.  The crowd really loved DIY and Revival so it worked with them ganging up on the AoP who the crowd don't like.  I marked out for them doing their mixed finishers and the crowd pop for Johnny not breaking up the pin and then slapping on the cross face was awesome.  AoP had a good outing, but seemed still a bit clunky.  Camera work during this match was pretty bad.  Lots of missed spots, bad cuts.

Ember/Asuka was very hard hitting, I was sort of distracted during this but fun and now we got Super Heel Asuka.

Roode/Nakamura was a good match, but didn't live up to the previous matches.

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I felt bad for Nigel after he accidentally called NXT "Ring of Honor" which was followed by what felt like an eternity of awkward silence.

Loved the show.  Tag match was so SO much better than I was expecting.  The last five minutes hurt it but until then it ranked with any of the best Revival matches.

Thought Asuka was going to lose because I assumed SOME title was going to change hands, but I'm glad they are going to let this build.

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Normally as a tv viewer I don't mind the smarky fans being all about themselves. But fuck those fans tonight who turned on the triple threat tag match just because DIY got eliminated. Okay, in hindsight it would have made more sense for DIY to be the ones to eliminate Revival and than face AOP to keep the match going. But aside from that it was an amazing damn match and screw those people for trying to ruin the flow of the match. AOP had a great moment tonight where they were made. If the four best men in the division can't beat them...than who can?

I really hope it leads up to a AOP/Sanity match. I'm not sure the WWE is ready for a HOSS battle like that. But hot damn, its what we all need right now.

Asuka vs Ember Moon was an all right match. I think there was something in the styles that didn't mesh, but boy did they trade some shots at a couple of points. Ember gave her a couple of back elbow's to let her know she could give it just as good. I like the idea that Asuka is going to start cheating to keep this streak alive. If they really want to explore her character, they could say instead of being great star he signed, she's becoming Americanized and using dirty tactics and Regal is so disappointed in that.

Bobby Roode continues to be great. It must be amazing for him to do his Money gimmick from 2007 in TNA and actually get paid for it this time around.

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4 minutes ago, Casey said:

Aleister Black is my new favorite wrestler. His t-shirts better be cool as fuck, damnit. :P

Some people here will assume his t-shirt will just have tulips and wooden shoes on it. 

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10 minutes ago, Casey said:

Aleister Black is my new favorite wrestler. His t-shirts better be cool as fuck, damnit. :P

Dude.

Spoiler

27086_800x800.jpg

27090_800x800.jpg

If you're okay wearing satanist gear (hail Aleister Crowley!) and angry Tommy End poetry, then the above link is your homie. I can almost guarantee you his NXT gear won't be as good as some of the shit on there.

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I have thoughts on this show, but right now, I just have tears in my eyes seeing Ruby Riot doing work here.

Ruby/Heidi/Dori is a local girl. She was a waitress at a local wings place in town that my girlfriend and I would go to pretty frequently. The first time she waited on us I had a Samoa Joe shirt on and she asked if I was a fan. I said I was and she mentioned she's a wrestler and was actually going to do a tryout for ROH. She waited on us multiple times after and was ALWAYS awesome. She's such a cool person. I actually had no idea she was signed by WWE. Last week when she came out it was one of those things where I went, holy shit, is that...? Then tonight, I called for my girlfriend to take a look and she was like, "holy shit!" It was really, really, really fucking cool to see her make it to this stage and I hope she keeps rising up the ranks. Way to fucking go, kid!

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