NXT TakeOver: Dallas.

[(BP)]

I know it won't happen for a variety of reasons, but I desperately want Nak/Reigns. 

[Matt D]

I want Nak/Miz. Shoot high.

[Hagan]

Holy shit. Well,  between Ospreay vs ZSJ and Nak vs Zayn I saw two five-star matches today. Not a bad Friday of pro-wrestling. 

- Tag was great. Hate the botch that happened but American Alpha is so good. Now I'm in the mood to watch Steiner Brother matches. 

- Aries vs Corbin was dandy. A little methodical but perfectly good wrestling. 

- There is a slightly more than reasonable chance we get fucking Nakamura vs Ibushi on WWE TV this year. That's insane. 

- Nak vs Zayn was as good a match as they'll be this year. 

- Women's match...Jesus...I would have had Bayley lose in the main event of an Orlando Takeover to really get the crowd emotion but I figure she's a lock for Monday and will come back and do the goodbye like Sasha did on a special. Technically that was probably the best women's match in NXT yet. 

- Joe SEIZED his moment. He was a warrior and a monster. I gotta figure a lot of Finn's comeback got killed by the stoppages but that's fine. Joe should 100% be on the main roster because he's the upper-midcard bruiser they can through in there and fight anyone. Finn is gonna be a trickier story and you gotta think they want to run a Balor vs Nak main event for the belt. 

 

This was a king-size show. 

[Cristobal]

10 minutes ago, Bald Henry said:

4. Holy shit Kota Ibushi! I remember watching him 10 years ago in DDT where he stood out immediately. Were the commentators just hyping him up or has he become one of the best cruisers in the world?

 

5. The presentation of the women has improved so much. There seems to be more of an emphasis on athleticism than sexuality and it's a great thing. Just wondering, have they ever let the women main event a show in NXT or on the main roster (on TV? definitely not on PPV obviously) The finish to this match was great. Normally I would've expected to see some hulking up and busting out of the submission, but it made sense for Bayley to succumb.

4: a little from column a and a little from column b. He spent a year or two basically trading the IWGP Jr title with Devitt in NJ. I dunno if I'd call him BITW, (I imagine him being there and them calling him a cruiserweight means we'll seem him this summer) bit he's good

 

5: Yep. Bayley and Sasha Banks headlined the last Takeover with a 30 minute iron man match for the title

[Greggulator]

10 minutes ago, Bald Henry said:

Apart from the recent Royal Rumble, I haven't watched any wrestling in 2-3 years and barely follow it. I realized Wrestlemania was on this weekend and decided to order the network. I figure even if I don't watch anything but the PPVs, $12 is still a pretty good deal. So I ordered it and noticed there was an NXT show on in half an hour so decided to watch. I'm familiar with the concept, with Devitt and I've seen a couple of clips of Bayley online, but that's about it. I figured I'd give some random thoughts as a newbie.

 

 

2. Also surprised by the hipster/metrosexual look of the commentators. Wrestling sure has come a long way. They were pretty good too. At one stage, I noticed that one of the guys sounds like one of the South Park guys, so I pretty much had Randy Marsh commentating for the rest of the show which was pretty funny.

 

5. The presentation of the women has improved so much. There seems to be more of an emphasis on athleticism than sexuality and it's a great thing. Just wondering, have they ever let the women main event a show in NXT or on the main roster (on TV? definitely not on PPV obviously) The finish to this match was great. Normally I would've expected to see some hulking up and busting out of the submission, but it made sense for Bayley to succumb.

2) The heel announcer is Corey Graves. He was on the indie scene for years and was on NXT before concussions ended his in-ring career. His gimmick was an edgy punk-type dude.

5) NXT Woman's Division has been THE story in wrestling the past year. You really need to catch up on all of it. If you aren't familiar, there was a "core four" group dubbed The Four Horsewomen who were rivals/partners/etc. for their run. This was Bayley, who you saw tonight; Becky Lynch, a former indie darling who returned from injuries; Charlotte, who is Ric Flair's daughter; and Sasha Banks, who is "The Boss" and has a Nikki Manaj-type gimmick. We'll all argue about who is better than who, but all four churned out some seriously great matches. Sasha Banks and Bayley had a match at NXT's Takeover in Brooklyn that tore the house down. They then had a rematch at the next Takeover that was the main event. It was a 30-minute Ironwoman match. We've spent all year essentially arguing what was the MOTY between those two and Sasha/Becky Lynch from a few months before those two.

And by MOTY, I don't mean just for women. I mean for all of wrestling. They are THAT good.

Becky, Sasha and Charlotte were brought up to Raw as past of the "Divas Revolution." There were some misfires and hits with their arrival, but overall, the women's division on Raw hs improved dramatically since their arrival. Those three are in a three-way match at WrestleMania.

Bayley stayed down at NXT. She's had some really great matches against some very green workers.

But all four are awesome wrestlers. You owe yourself a binge watch to go back and watch what they were able to do.

NXT in general is just great but the women really make it special.

[sydneybrown]

3 minutes ago, steve said:

He didn't get the chainsaw reference.

 

Of course he didn't.  And I guarantee he'll complain about how Dean didn't use a chainsaw to murder Brock to win the match.

"He should have won!  Terry Funk gave him a CHAIN saw.  Why didn't he use it?  WHERE did it GO? And why is TERRY Funk using a CHAIN saw?  That doesn't MAKE any SENSE!"

[SirSmUgly]

17 minutes ago, EVA said:

Nakamura's kickout from the Blue Thunder Bomb was about as close as it fucking gets to 3.

Yeah, his timing on everything is elite, but he was really nailing those kickouts. That move never gets three ever, and that near fall sucked me in. 

[SirFozzie]

How do you rank the matches.

5. Austin Aries/Baron Corbin They had to do a crowd killer match, but they did a good one with a coherent story, the man the Smarks love, versus the man the world loathes.

4. Finn/Joe Calling this the second worst match of the night is not a horrible thing. It was a further the feud match instead of a decisive thing, and still was very good, with the minuses of WWE's rules on blood.

3. Asuka/Bayley. I'm only putting this #3 because the right person won STORY wise, but the air just went out of the building people wise when Bayley went out. I don't think they're sending Bayley up just yet, but we'll see. Again, a slower match because the crowd had just come off a huge match, but they told a GREAT story with some freakin awesome hope spots for Bayley (the blocks of the strikes, and the grab into the arm bar? Choice)

2. American Alpha/Revival This match WAS a revival, a revival of the awesome southern style matches that the Midnight Express and Rock and Roll Express made famous. So many teases of the hot tag, and the crowd was JUUUUUST on the edge of having blue balls at all the teases, and then, BOOM, hot tag, "TIME TO KICK IT UP A NOTCH."

1. Nakamura/Zayn If this is not on anyone's MOTY ballot, they either didn't watch it and hate little guys and Puro-style matches, or they're clinically brain-dead when it comes to wrestling. That Elbow fest. Those moves. The facial expressions. Even what they changed Nakamura's finish name to made sent (Kinshasa was where the Rumble in the Jungle took place, and the fans chanted "Ali, BOMA YE" (Ali, Kill him).. it calls to that and is AWESOME for the announcer to scream when he hits.)

 

And yes, that theme above is fucking choice! One of the best things about WWE right now is the music.

[Jiji]

Nakamura/Zayn is my match of the decade so far. Absolutely perfect, every last detail. Shinsuke's theme is the best CFO$ produced theme (they did that one, right?) and it's not even close. GOAT candidate theme.

Joe is fucking back, baybay! Easily the best match of Balor's NXT run, probably the best of his career. He finally showed some emotion and passion. Joe should've won but if he's going up, that's cool too (I guess?). 

Bayley's weaknesses came to the forefront in that match. You see Nakamura/Zayn laying it in so hard, Asuka is Asuka and convincing as all heck, and then Bayley looks so loose and soft in her offense. If people complain about Tanahashi's strikes, what do they have to say about Bayley's? Disappointing match but a few cool moments.

That wasn't a very good debut for Aries. Fine in spurts but overall a pretty sub-standard match.

Corey Graves embarrasses the rest of the colour commentators. He's so good.

[OSJ]

The end result is that Balor, Nak, and Asuka rule the world and that is as it should be. 

Seriously, this may have been the best card top to bottom that I've ever seen and that covers a lot of ground. Really, when the worst match is Aries/Corbin with **** and the basic heel gets his comeuppance storyline you're working in a pretty rarefied atmosphere. Balor did just enough to show there's some crazy behind that bodypaint and you ignore that at your own peril. All losers except Dash & Dawson looked strong in defeat, when's the last time a major show was able to deliver that? Damn, what a fucking great card. I seriously wouldn't want to be anyone on the main roster participating in Sunday's coming debacle.

 

[Buy Me a Burrito]

The ref and doctors stopping the Joe/Finn match added to it so much. Joe was a wounded and bloodied animal out there trying to kill the blue-and-white-cartoon-man. That ref and those doctors were humans just trying to keep the carnage to a minimum. Bones were going to be broken, lives ruined and murderous intentions were being acted upon. It made that match for me. 

[Big Fresh]

I think I liked Joe and Bálor even more than Zayn and Nakamura. Joe V. Bálor was just chaos from the word go. You don't see that kinda thing very often in WWE anymore. Maybe the first SHIELD vs. Wyatts match was the last thing that made me feel like that.

[Jamie Virtue]

7 minutes ago, Greggulator said:

2) The heel announcer is Corey Graves. He was on the indie scene for years and was on NXT before concussions ended his in-ring career. His gimmick was an edgy punk-type dude.

5) NXT Woman's Division has been THE story in wrestling the past year. You really need to catch up on all of it. If you aren't familiar, there was a "core four" group dubbed The Four Horsewomen who were rivals/partners/etc. for their run. This was Bayley, who you saw tonight; Becky Lynch, a former indie darling who returned from injuries; Charlotte, who is Ric Flair's daughter; and Sasha Banks, who is "The Boss" and has a Nikki Manaj-type gimmick. We'll all argue about who is better than who, but all four churned out some seriously great matches. Sasha Banks and Bayley had a match at NXT's Takeover in Brooklyn that tore the house down. They then had a rematch at the next Takeover that was the main event. It was a 30-minute Ironwoman match. We've spent all year essentially arguing what was the MOTY between those two and Sasha/Becky Lynch from a few months before those two.

And by MOTY, I don't mean just for women. I mean for all of wrestling. They are THAT good.

Becky, Sasha and Charlotte were brought up to Raw as past of the "Divas Revolution." There were some misfires and hits with their arrival, but overall, the women's division on Raw hs improved dramatically since their arrival. Those three are in a three-way match at WrestleMania.

Bayley stayed down at NXT. She's had some really great matches against some very green workers.

But all four are awesome wrestlers. You owe yourself a binge watch to go back and watch what they were able to do.

NXT in general is just great but the women really make it special.

I recommend the "4 Horsewomen of NXT" Collection on the Network. It's got all the good stuff.

[The Man Known as Dan]

The best thing in the world that could have went down in that match is having Joe bleeding strongly right from the word go. It made him look like a fucking killer.

[JCM]

Joe is all the way back to 04/05 world beater Joe. Man that dude deserves a chance to run as a top heel on the MR.

[EVA]

If you go back and watch during the main event when the crowd starts chanting LET THEM BLEED, it's a wide shot, but you can kinda see Joe nodding his head, looking crazy as hell.

[PetrolCB]

WrestleMania was great tonight. Wonder what the dark matches were, guess they'll air those Sunday night. 

[Jiji]

Just now, EVA said:

If you go back and watch during the main event when the crowd starts chanting LET THEM BLEED, it's a wide shot, but you can kinda see Joe nodding his head, looking crazy as hell.

"Let Joe bleed" and yeah, he sure as hell did. He played the drama surrounding the blood about as well as he possibly could. 

[Big Fresh]

There were some moments early on in that match when I thought Joe was gonna start throwing punches at refs and EMTs and get himself fired.

[The Man Known as Dan]

Also, some don't like crowd chanting, but the crowds chants today were fucking aces for me.

Fight Forever

Please Don't Tap (that the first time that's been used by a WWE crowd?)

Let Joe Bleed

 

Fuck yes to those chants.

 

[DreamBroken]

Great action-packed show top to bottom.

Badass opener with the tag teams. Super exciting way to kickoff the show with a real good 15 minutes of tag team wrestling.

Solid debut for Aries and I'm excited for his future here. Looking forward to him really getting going as he's been one of my favorites for so many years and is still one of the very best.

Nakamura put on a show and absolutely lived up to all the hype, delivering in a major way. Spectacular entrance, loved it.

Loved Asuka getting the victory, my favorite moment of the night for my current favorite wrestler. I don't know if I liked the match as much as Asuka/Emma but still a real good match with some cool spots throughout. Actually dug Bayley catching Asuka's kick and dropping straight down to a leglock. Very happy for Asuka and loved seeing her as champion, hope she reigns for a very long time.

Killer main event for sure. Joe early on with the blood all over from his head to his body was an amazing visual and then launching Balor over the rail was an awesome spot. Very good match that could've gone either way. Could see the finish coming once they were facing the corner, same finish as an RVD/Joe match on Impact in 2010. Big fan of both guys and Balor comes off looking like the man for sure with another big successful defense. Great show.

Also very cool to see Ibushi and especially Roode get shown on screen, much like it was when Asuka was first seen. I love today's landscape where any and every name free agent is looking to join NXT so you never know who might show up and when. Like James Storm's brief stay and I'll continue to feel bad that he didn't stick around the more I see guys like Aries, Roode, etc here. Definitely excited for the possibility of Roode joining as he was always a favorite of mine in TNA especially during his big heel run.

[Josh Mann]

There's really not a lot I can add except to say 'Your move, WrestleMania'

[supremebve]

This is the best wrestling show I've ever been to, and it isn't even close.  I'm going to Wrestlemania, but I don't think it will be even 25% of what this was tonight.  It was absolutely perfect. 

[sydneybrown]

4 minutes ago, DreamBroken said:

Could see the finish coming once they were facing the corner, same finish as an RVD/Joe match on Impact in 2010.

Yes, I'm sure that's the famous match they borrowed the finish from...

[The Man Known as Dan]

1 minute ago, Josh Mann said:

There's really not a lot I can add except to say 'Your move, WrestleMania'

WrestleMania has no move. If every single match on that card went absolutely perfectly, and everyone wrestled there best possible match... I don't think it could match tonight.