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NXT Takeover XXXVI - 8/22/2021


Dolfan in NYC

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Can't believe the reign of WALTER is over, but Dragunov was absolutely the right and only guy to have done it. Great build from the first match on through to this excellent match, very memorable. Cool to see Joe back with a win.

Oh yeah and Kay Lee Ray! I'm gonna have to tune in more often now.

Edited by DreamBroken
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1 hour ago, The Natural said:

That's brutal.

Usually you get "Thank you, *wrestlers name*" and " We will miss you." Here it's the goodbye song and "Hardy" chants. As I said, brutal.

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You can close out the 2021 Match of the Year contest right now, because there's not a damn thing that's going to top WALTER/Dragunov.

I mean, the rest of the show was solid, too, but sweet Jesus that was incredible.

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39 minutes ago, Gonzo said:

You can close out the 2021 Match of the Year contest right now, because there's not a damn thing that's going to top WALTER/Dragunov.

That match was my MOTY, is my MOTY and will be my MOTY. I don't re-watch shit often(if ever) but I will definitely be watching that one a 2nd or 3rd time.

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Echoing other comments, WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov is my new Match of the Year dropping Thunder Rosa vs. Dr Britt Baker from AEW Dynamite (17th March) into second place. Gave both *****.

Edited by The Natural
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Grimes/Knight was what it needed to be. LA Knight isn't a super worker, but he's a great stooging heel, which is quite useful. All 3 guys pulled off the story arc exactly as it should've been.

I really liked Dakota/Raquel. Dakota did a great job being slippery and occasionally landing a stiff kick, and showing very little regard for her own body to make Raquel's offense look crazy powerful.

I'll be the first contrarian and say Walter/Ilja was good, but probably the worst match of Walter's reign. The early mat wrestling was pretty generic and didn't really fit the theme they were building by the end. Ilja wasn't doing anything that it made it look like Walter shouldn't be throwing him off those headlocks easily. The match was also overkill-y in a way that Walter matches usually aren't. That said, it was stiff as hell, and Walter's quick tap at the end was a nice way to put Ilja over. I preferred Ilja/Dunne overall.

The 3 stages of hell somewhat more restrained than I expected, but still too long. If Cole is leaving, KoR should've gotten two decisive falls. Also, what is it with guys in NXT being unable to beat handcuffed opponents?

Joe/Kross was ok, but Joe is clearly washed. As a one-time feel-good thing, it was alright, but NXT will be better off if Pete Dunne is the champ soon. I know he doesn't exactly fit the new mold, but he's the best full-time worker there, has been insanely protected since losing to Finn, and has had tension with Joe simmering in the background, so I'm hopeful against my better judgment.

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I liked the Cole/Kyle match a lot. I really wish Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano and everyone else didn’t have 10 hour long “epics” because this should have been THE epic for his send-off. The worst part about having so many of those matches is it makes each following one lose impact, which is a shame because this was a good match.

I really liked Cole’s acting in this a lot. He was such an arrogant, overconfident, bullying prick in this — like a wrestling 80s Johnny Lawrence. Kyle’s rib selling was really good, too, and I liked the “medics checking/Cole’s opportunistic brutality” spot to chew up the time to set up the cage. 

The overall story was well-plotted. Kyle was clearly Cole’s better in the first fall. Cole’s awfulness as a person was a great way for him to even it up AND give underdog sympathy to Kyle. Usually, the heel wins the first fall and has to come from behind. NXT a lot of times has a fun twist on how stories are usually told and they did it for this one.

The end was really well done. The cage section was not all that long, and Cole looking to gloat and humiliate Kyle as opposed to simply winning the match while Kyle was handcuffed was perfect to the character. And then Kyle getting into the ring while cuffed and knowing Cole was coming with a kick (of course) and catching him and Cole cowardly tapping out since Kyle is better than him and awesome at the actual wrestling was a spot-on ending. 

The crowd rooting for Cole in his send-off was annoying. But what can you do? 

Overall, a really good epic that is going to be overlooked because of how overwrought Cole’s other matches have been. That’s the benefits of editing.

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44 minutes ago, RunningFromAmerica said:

Isn't LA Knight also quite likely to go Main Roster, or else Impact? He's 39 in less than 3 months.

He only got to come back to WWE because his Impact run was good.

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10 hours ago, For Great Justice said:

You can definitely sense the transition in the air. Cole out, Walter I presume out (purely my speculation but I could see a “move to the US or else” edict), Kross probably out (I mean where would he go from here?). Joe makes sense as a guy you can trust while you deal with the shifting sands. 

Whatever era of NXT you call this, this is probably the end of it. 

I'm having a hard time seeing Walter on the main roster, and he's never expressed an interest in moving to the US full-time, so, yeah, probably on his way out?  That might be true for all of NXT UK, though.  The NXT world expansion dream is almost certainly dead, and Vince probably views the roster as a lot of projects (or worse).  I'm not really sure what purpose NXT has moving forward?

For that matter, it's hard to imagine Vince liking Dragunuv on the main roster, so what's his future with the company.

Yeah, definitely felt like the last hurrah for this version of NXT.  

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Ilja might stick around in the US long enough to merge the UK and NA titles.

Maybe get a run with the NXT title.

Would not be shocked if NXT as a whole is gone in 12-18 months.

Insane to think that it's burned out so quickly.

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Someone else on Twitter that only a moron wouldn't know what to do with a guy like WALTER.  Well unfortunately we will probably find out soon how much of a moron these people are.  can only imagine the 50/50 booking he is going to deal with 

 

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18 minutes ago, hammerva said:

Someone else on Twitter that only a moron wouldn't know what to do with a guy like WALTER.  Well unfortunately we will probably find out soon how much of a moron these people are.  can only imagine the 50/50 booking he is going to deal with 

 

Look at WALTER, Survivor Series 2019 as an example.

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