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NXT TakeOver: The End


The Natural

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Dillinger vs. Andrade was a perfectly fine opener, the crowd was into it and they didn't overdo the nearfalls, I couldn't ask for anything more.

 

Alphas vs Revival was tag team wrestling at it's absolute finest. I'd give it almost a full boat, especially considering we got the surprise (AND CLEAN) finish with Revival retaining. Hopefully we get a nice and long 2/3 falls match in Brooklyn.

 

Aries/Nakamura was just a shade above where I expected it to be. I liked it just fine and was glad we had someone playing the heel in Nakamura's second big match in NXT.

 

Asuka vs Jax was a fine place holder for Asuka/Bayley 2 in Brooklyn, and that finishing sequence was brutal/

 

Joe vs. Finn was about where I expected it to be. Fun spots and intensity but nothing earth shattering or mind blowing. The top rope Sling Blade and Muscle Buster spots were appreciated, though, especially since they played off of EVERYONE'S (including mine) expectations of Finn hitting the Double Stomp off the top.

 

Great show top to bottom, these NXT shows are virtually foolproof at this point.

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The best Nia has been in the ring, really great outing for her.

Ming the Merciless the Tenth was just over-the-top enough to be cool. Dillinger is a great replacement for Breeze, someone who is much missed. Heck, they both have the same predicament of being too over to be JTTS.

And in a show with many great imagery, this was my fav:

zp5GncK.jpg

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I'm seeing Brooklyn as

Nak vs Joe
Bayley vs Asuka 
Revival vs Ciampa/Gargano 
Aries vs Almas 
Busisk vs Ty

They can always blow off one of the those on the TV though. I think Authors of Pain vs AA gets settled on TV before the draft. I suppose Roode can be in the mix too but I figure he'll be on the main roster quickly too.

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The Revival/AA match was my platonic ideal of wrestling. The Revival make me realize that I have one dream in life, and that is to be 1/2 of a heel tag team. Or the manager of a heel tag team. I think going custom jacket shopping with your tag partner must be the most fun way to spend an afternoon.

 

Nia has had four awesome matches so far. The two Bayley matches were great. I loved the tag match with Eva against Bayley/Carmella. And last night was really great. She was just tossing Asuka around like a rag doll. I think Nia is my favorite woman's wrestler right now. She is really getting it.

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I think Brooklyn's going to be different than people think. With Aries/Nak not officially being a #1 contenders match I could see them trying to get away from Joe/Nak or making it a NXT TV in case Nak is one of the NXTers called up to the main roster on Draft Day

I'll say my prediction for NXT Brooklyn 2: Best in the World

Samoa Joe vs. Bobby Roode - NXT Title

Asuka vs. Peyton Royce - NXT Women's Title

Revival vs. American Alpha vs. Authors of Pain - NXT Tag Team Title

Samson vs. Almas

CWC Showcase Match: Team NXT (Swann/Ciampa/Gargano) vs. The World (Zach Sabre Jr./Noam Dar/Akira Tozawa)

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With even the WWE social media acting like they don't know what the Authors of Pain's names are - I am assuming they are gettting NXT names which will probably end up being like Machete and Dagger or something

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Damn - that one slap really did light him up

(Also - I really like that the NXT stuff they just let folks speak naturally even if 95% of it is in a foreign language. I mean putting subtitles on the taped videos would be nice but most of these guys can get across the emotion without understanding them)

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10 hours ago, El Dragon said:

The Main. Oh boy, the main. I'm ready for Finn not to be on my TV anymore. I mean, he's not "bad", but man, he feels like someone that has to have his match completely pre-planned and has no real "impromptu" moments to me.

This has been sticking with me.  I'm not completely done with him, but I get the vibe that his NXT work can come across as someone's Indy Create-A-Wrestler that's just waiting to hit his spots.  I don't think it helps that the John Woo/Pele Kick/Coup De Grace all have fairly contrived set-ups.

Also I have a pathological opposition to the Sling Blade (and ESPECIALLY spamming it over and over) that even turned me off Tanahashi for a long time.

 

1 hour ago, Matt D said:

I think Authors of Pain vs AA gets settled on TV before the draft.

Yeah, there's no reason they couldn't pop back in for Brooklyn or whatever, but I have a hard time seeing American Alpha being The Revival's main feud going forward, particularly because they seemed primed to get the call-up come July.  Last night definitely seemed to be about getting the titles back to The Revival, and then using American Alpha to put over Three Minute Warning-meets-The Shield before moving on to greener pastures.

Also The Revival having just taken an L against Gargano/Ciampa does provide another team for them to clash with (and re-cement their reign) in the immediate future.

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I agree that this was Nia's best performance yet. I think she has been developing quite nicely in her role. There's a good story in her frustration at coming close to the belt but not winning and it ultimately unleashing a beast who destroys whoever it is she eventually takes it off of. 

And enough good things can't be said about Asuka pretty much kicking her head off. Love that ending. 

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1 hour ago, RIPPA said:

With even the WWE social media acting like they don't know what the Authors of Pain's names are - I am assuming they are gettting NXT names which will probably end up being like Machete and Dagger or something

Look, you just be glad they don't get stuck with a gay pornstar gimmick when Vince finds out one of their names is Gzim. 

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Aries was the show MVP. A big YIKES on that match-changing bump.

Of course, the people who have been hating on Aries since he showed up just sort of skipped over talking about that match. Ha.

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6 minutes ago, Jrag said:

Aries was the show MVP. A big YIKES on that match-changing bump.

Of course, the people who have been hating on Aries since he showed up just sort of skipped over talking about that match. Ha.

I came out thinking the same tbing. Aries was held his own against Nak. Everyone knew he was going to lose, but damn if he didn't get stronger because of it. 

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I thought the women's match was the best of the bunch and probably my favourite women's match since Brooklyn. Little to no contrived bullshit, just a fantastic job of monster power heel and Asuka selling her ass off with great hope spots, cut offs and a simple yet brutal finish that matched the story. I'd only put Brooklyn and Sasha vs. Becky ahead of it and not by a tonne. Hard to believe too when their house show match in Seattle was straight up bad. Also, Asuka's selling in the moment is way more sympathetic than Nakamura's. Nakamura sells accumulative damage very well but more active and desperate short term selling will help him win over unfamiliar viewers on the main roster. That, not killing people, and the language barrier are the three things he probably needs to focus on before getting the call-up. 

Good showing from Aries.

Fun show as a whole but definitely a step back from Dallas. Good night though when a perfectly executed apron DVD is my third or fourth favorite spot of the night.  Aries eating guardrail, Nia snatching Asuka into a rad powerbomb, and shitbum Finn kicking Joe flush on the jaw hard were amazing moments. 

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Sombra looked crisper than expected for his first time in a WWE ring. It's too bad the Impact Zone had to shit all over his debut. I didn't enjoy the tag match much at all, but I guess that's one I'll need to go back and watch again. Nak/Aries was pretty decent for a one-off dream match. The women's match was MOTN just for the insane performance by Asuka. At this point, I might take her over any of the guys on the main roster. She is a beast. 

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I know this could be said of any thread discussing any show, but comparison is the thief of joy around here.  I loved this show.  Absolutely loved it.  The tag title match had so much shine it was hard to look straight at it.  Here comes the cutoff...no, more shine.  Ah, HERE is the cutoff...HAHAHA NOPE SHIIIIIIINE!!!  By the time Revival finally got the advantage, those devious bastards, I thought Full Sail was going to go full Korakuen.  This was joyful tag team wrestling at an elite level.

I certainly enjoyed the main event more than most. The Dallas match was very cool, but it was wild and unpredictable in a way that few things are, or are allowed to be, anymore. So it gets points for that, but it's not necessarily reasonable to take points away from something that lacks that.  Joe is a monster, yes, and maybe even a monster first and foremost, but anybody who watched "Champion" Joe in ROH knows that he's a mastermind as well.  Joe is a winner and will win any way he can, so when I see him going for the door I don't think "oh shoot, this is an escape match and I hate escape matches" (although I generally do), I thought here is Joe trying to win and showing Finn that his priority is leaving with the belt. Furthermore, when Joe would make later attempts to escape through the door, and specifically over the top, I loved the inversion of expectation that Joe would be the one chasing the smaller, faster wrestler around and trying to prevent him from escaping. None of the escape "spots", which were really just moments of fluid action, were labored or extended in the way that many historically bad escape matches are laid out.  The intensity was there but without the blood.  Joe throwing Finn into the cage over and over again was ferocious, and Joe absorbs Finn's dropkicks like nobody else on the NXT roster. They look fantastic.

I'm pretty much in agreement with everyone on the rest of the card, except maybe some comments about Aries getting too much on Nakamura, but that's probably because I love Aries and he really needed to look like a guy that could beat Nakamura here.  Can we please get Joe vs. Aries for the title before this is all over?

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2 hours ago, Cyanide said:

This has been sticking with me.  I'm not completely done with him, but I get the vibe that his NXT work can come across as someone's Indy Create-A-Wrestler that's just waiting to hit his spots.  I don't think it helps that the John Woo/Pele Kick/Coup De Grace all have fairly contrived set-ups.

Also I have a pathological opposition to the Sling Blade (and ESPECIALLY spamming it over and over) that even turned me off Tanahashi for a long time.

Glad people are finally seeing this. Finn has nothing but stomps, dropkicks and twitter skills.

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