NXT TAKEOVER - Brooklyn III

[MORELOCK]

14 minutes ago, Rick said:

Cole is pretty much guaranteed.

According to whom?

[Kevin Wilson]

I wonder why they feel obligated to have only five matches. I mean SummerSlam is what, 13 matches. I know they don't want TakeOver to be a five hour show but I don't see why it can't be a 3 hour show as they have a big enough roster to pull it off. 

[Rehabilitated Rick]

28 minutes ago, MORELOCK said:

According to whom?

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

 

[mattdangerously]

2 hours ago, MORELOCK said:

They never bothered to properly turn Asuka, and Ember doesn't have nearly the amount of crowd support, so I'm not sure how happy the crowd would be.

Sure, but if Ember is going to win--and she probably is--it's a pretty big deal.  Much bigger than anything that's going to happen in Roode vs McIntyre.

[RIPPA]

Ember has her family with her for tonight - read into that whatever you want

[hammerva]

I am not sure what is the best part of Big E right now

1.  The Ric Flair shirt

2.  Saying that he will only teach hip gyrations in his wrestling school

Holy shit pissed off Neville is the best one.   even going back to Corey Graves turning on Neville when they were in NXT.  

[RIPPA]

Per Ray, Pete, Dolfan and others who are in the building - the crowd tonight is going to be infuriating

[RIPPA]

 

[hammerva]

Yeah I can understand booing Bayley because is now considered the "cool" thing for the marks to do.  But why the fuck are you booing Sasha

[RIPPA]

1 minute ago, hammerva said:

Yeah I can understand booing Bayley because is now considered the "cool" thing for the marks to do.  But why the fuck are you booing Sasha

Outside being douchey - the only reason I can come up with is the Boston vs. New York thing

[ChesterCopperpot]

 

[sydneybrown]

What a surreal moment.  Three of the top ROH guys standing tall while the former ROH announcer talks about it.

[Niners Fan in CT]

This was a great show top to bottom I would say the main event while still solid in spots was the worst match on the card. 

I'm guessing Roode moves up to Smackdown and is a midcard chickenshit heel dude in the U.S. title scene.  

Drew on top I don't think he is going to put asses in seats in NXT but with the ROH Invasion going on I guess he doesn't have to. 

Asuka should now remain undefeated.  She's done it all. Great match with Ember Moon.  I loved it.  

I thought there were a ton of great performances tonight.   The tag title match was a nice brawl.  

Almas and Johnny had a hot match,  hot crowd.  Almas could do big things on the main roster.  He's a better fit there than in NXT. 

[HumanChessgame]

Gargano/Almas was a great opener.  Almas finally got a victory that meant something plus Gargano looked very strong in the process.

Tag title match was a lot of crazy fun and told the story of Sanity's numbers and unpredictable nature being too much for AOP.

Black/Itami was every bit the stiff slugfest I thought it would be.  I do think Itami should have won, though.

The women's match was good, but they've really booked themselves into a corner with Asuka.  Unless they decide to really push whomever wins the MYC they've made her look too unbeatable.

The main event was solid and MacIntyre really looked like world champ material.  

It's good to see the Honorable Ringmen get a strong push as opposed to just some random introductions that take a while to get their characters and storylines going somewhere.

[Niners Fan in CT]

As someone who has not seen ROH in forever...   who is left there?   This feels like the last of what they had.    Keith Lee is the man but he's not there right? He should be down in the performance center soon anyway.  Dude is a beast. 

[sydneybrown]

Just now, Niners Fan in CT said:

This was a great show top to bottom

Absolutely.  I was pretty "eh" on the show going in but every match was literally better than I expected aside from the main which was fine but not particularly compelling.

They did an outstanding job in the storytelling with Asuka/Ember.  So many little things that just made both of them so much better. 

I'm hoping Roode and Ember are getting called up.  They literally have nothing else to prove in NXT.  

[nofuture]

1 minute ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

As someone who has not seen ROH in forever...   who is left there?   This feels like the last of what they had.    Keith Lee is the man but he's not there right? He should be down in the performance center soon anyway.  Dude is a beast. 

You would think they would have strapped the rocket on Dalton Castle by now, but they still haven't.

[Niners Fan in CT]

3 minutes ago, sydneybrown said:

Absolutely.  I was pretty "eh" on the show going in but every match was literally better than I expected aside from the main which was fine but not particularly compelling.

They did an outstanding job in the storytelling with Asuka/Ember.  So many little things that just made both of them so much better. 

I'm hoping Roode and Ember are getting called up.  They literally have nothing else to prove in NXT.  

This may be a controversial opinion but I think Asuka should relinquish the title and be called up to the main roster.   Ember should be called up also.  And Probably call up the Iconic Duo too.  

Then make the winner of the MYC the new women's champion and just start fresh with the division from there. 

[EVA]

Great show aside from the typical plodding Bobby Roode main event, that didn't even have the typical clever finish where Roode keeps the belt.  Glad it's off him, though, even if Galloway is badly miscast as a fiery babyface in the promotion of vanilla midgets.  

Gargano/Almas was great, and somehow Almas will still not be over afterwards.

Black/Hideo was fun in spots, but, yeah, Black working from underneath is not something anyone seems interested in right now and he's not especially good at it yet, either.

Tag match was about what I expected.  Like that AoP gets protected because they clearly lost to the numbers game.

I loved Asuka/Ember.  Asuka staying on Ember's arm like a bulldog was great stuff.  And while I hated that they burnt the Eclipse, I honestly thing Ember was more over after this match than she would have been if she'd won.

[Lamp, broken circa 1988]

new world hors d'oeuvres aside, I thought this was a great show. 4 out of 5 matches were really enjoyable.

note: haven't watched a WWE anything since WM. Timed my free trial to catch these two nights and the Women's Tournament since after Summer Slam that's all I'm really gonna watch from WWE for the rest of the year. So I went into this show with zero expectations.

-The manager seems green as grass, and doesn't yet totally know when the camera's on her, but character-wise if they make it so she's like going for the lowest possible blows to get the win for Almas I'm down. Almas moved beautifully and deserves better. Gargano's convincing people he is a technical wrestler is maybe the best sleight of hand trick I've ever seen.

-As hair-brained an idea as "NO, I WILL WRESTLE INSTEAD OF THE ENORMOUS BEAR MAN" seemed, Eric Young winning thus made him look like an actual evil genius so shout out to that. Really enjoyed this match a lot, as Wolfe hadn't appeared on my radar as anything but "you look like you love Mr. Bungle." Tonight he showed that he's totally game to get his ass kicked and can make people look really good doing it. Also, Nikki Cross throwing off like four different shirts while screaming at Ellering was good stuff.

-Last time I watched a Takeover show, I was massively bored by Alestair Black's edgelord gimmick. I know so many "I'm into the DEVIL (as long as it gets me tattooed chicks)" people down here, and he reminded me of all of them at the same time. Itami beat him so hard that he looked like a wrestler. Lot of fun watching this. Credit to Black for being game for catching just some fucking wild beatings in this. I wish he wouldn't do the Dragon Gate/UK Scene Fighting Game Combo bullshit and instead just fucking Fight A Man, but I get that I'm in the minority there.

-Speaking of bored (NO HOLD ON DON'T FLAME ME YET) I thought the last Moon/Asuka match was dull too. Like they were trying to build it as this clash of the titans, but Ember didn't have the wins under her to make that match work. She had a killer finish and not enough history to make me actually believe she could beat Asuka. I did not expect much here. I instead got what is probably the North American Match of the Year, or at the very least a serious candidate. They beat the holy shit out of each other, made the reversals look like "OH FUCK NOT THIS MOVE" instead of ballet, and pulled out the smartest finish they could have used here.

-...which made it weird that Roode and Drew Mac ran through pretty much the same spot for a near fall. Anyways, this was kind of the Best Possible Lex Luger vs. the Second-or-Third Worst Possible Ric Flair, and it's a damn shame they had to follow Asuka/Moon because I don't know what the hell could have that wasn't like a total blood bath. Roode gets credit for trying with all his heart, pulling out some really weird spots that he's clearly been saving for opponents he's smaller than (the tilt-a-whirl to the DDT was joyous). But yeah, no way to follow Asuka/Moon, and then the moment was robbed by setting up an angle that has pretty much guaranteed I'm Good On Watching NXT Until Like January. No regrets though! Good show!

[Greggulator]

Another great Takeover. 

The opener was awesome. That match was such a great story. I love Almas losing control or missing a pinfall whenever he got cock, only for Zelina Vega to snap him back into attention. Where did she come from? She's an awesome manager already and has outstanding presence. She just looks like a star. They did a really good job at the beginning of the match reminding the audience of the DIY split and then it came back at the end with the DIY shirt getting in Johnny's head ever so briefly. I like that touch -- Johnny Wrestling has to escape the shadow of his betrayer who is nowhere to be found/Almas's new manager has him headed in a more serious direction.

The tag match was the Alexander Wolff show. Where the f did that come from? He looked like a future main event guy. Great brawl with a lot of tricks and turns, with the numbers game and chaos being the antidote to the structured destruction of AOP. 
Black/Itami was what I thought it would be. Great strike-heavy match. Itami's whole "I WANT RESPECT" surly jerk act is a blast to watch. Black is a star. He feels like how Rusev did during Rusev's brief NXT run -- just a guy who should just probably cut the line and get onto the main roster already. 

Asuka/Ember was fantastic. I think it may have been Asuka's best match, actually. She is so much better as the overconfident heel than as a conquering hero. Ember did an awesome job selling the shoulder throughout. Wonderful match. 

The main event was kind of a snooze. I love Bobby Roode so much. Drew just doesn't do anything for me, at least tonight. I think they're both too similar in terms of build and how they pace a match. I think Roode works so well because he looks overwhelmed against guys like Nak and Roddy but he outsmarts them anyways. But Drew isn't as flashy as those guys, beyond that crazy tope. 

As far the ROH invasion goes: I don't know who these guys are. Are they any good? I watched a few promos. Bobby Fish has a great Brooklyn hipster d-bag look. Kyle O'Quinn looked really stupid trying to do a 10,000 yard stare into the abyss. Adam Cole's YouTube promos -- I don't know the context of them, but is he going for a really cocksure Matthew McConnaughey in Dazed and Confused thing? That could be fun. 

[(BP)]

I haven't kept up with NXT for most of the year so I went in to this cold. Great show. Gargano is a hell of a technician and great face working from underneath. The tag match didn't overstay its welcome and had fun spots. I thought the layout of Black/Itami didn't do them any favors. Should have been a shorter sprint. Black looked like he'll do well, but it's tough watching Itami struggle in this spot. 

Askua and Ember had a really good match with probably my favorite finishing stretch this year. I don't know where you go with either party from here though. 

Main was pretty good. Drew looks fantastic. There's no reason he shouldn't be on top of Raw or Smackdown by this time next year or sooner. But that's just me, and the crowd was not into him, so who knows. I guess Roode gets called up, but I don't know if he stands out on either main show with the rosters so stacked right now. I'm not familiar with any of the ROH guys, but there seems to be a lot of excitement about them. This definitely made me want to get back into the weekly TV. 

[supremebve]

 I'm in Brooklyn.

Check out @supremebve's Tweet: https://twitter.com/supremebve/status/899102022007492608?s=09

[sydneybrown]

I really like that WWE is back into letting indie guys keep their name and not giving them a new one.  Because if they aren't changing "Bobby Fish," they aren't changing anyone.

[HumanChessgame]

Any word on dark matches or stuff they taped for tv?