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NXT TAKEOVER - PHILADELPHIA


Dolfan in NYC

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Fantastic Takeover... so much so that even Percy wasn't terrible!

Last time it was Rick Rude, now it's Johnny B. Badd? Damnit, now you're just showing off, Velveteen. You better be "The Model" Rick Martel next!

The tag match was damn fine mix of MMA and foos stiffing the fuck out of each other. Adam Cole is the proverbial cockroach.

The main even was basically a master class in counters and combos. And the best realization why they hired Almas in the first place (and, again, the importance of a manager). Gargano has the potential to be the next D-Bry on the main shows, he just needs a heel to play off of (and, yeah, Reigns maybe the perfect meta nemesis for him).

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I kinda mentioned it indirectly with my comment about garbage wrestling, but it was in reference to that fucking stupid spot on the backs of the chairs. Thinking about that again, it's still by far the dumbest and riskiest spot I've seen in awhile. Even more than Shane jumping off the cell because he's at least jumping into a crash pad. 

On the flip side, Cole's selling of that spot was the best ever. Him screaming in pain made it look like he legit broke his back. Those screams after the kind that will haunt your dreams 

In fact, people shit on Cole, or Fish and O'Reilly, but the selling from all three, Fish and Cole in particular, was great. Fish's "OH GOD!" cries had me laughing because it reminded me of Nic Cage selling pain in Face Off, but it also was super convincing and represented getting his ass beat by a couple of giants really well.

And I'm in the minority, but I thought Mauro was good all night. No complaints there.

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I'm all in on Shayna Baszler, still don't dig Ember Moon. Not sure if it's because I had just watched Tanahashi/Suzuki before Takeover but the comparisons of Baszler to Suzuki are spot on. That arm stomp is a nasty spot.

When the main started I was worried it was going to be a little over-choreographed (and the Vega/LeRae stuff was all but guaranteed) but they blew all of my expectations away. Fantastic match. Almas could reach Eddie Guerrero heights on the main roster, which is a testament to how much he's improved over the past year.

Mauro had some lame calls but was generally pretty good, I thought.

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6 minutes ago, (BP) said:

I thought Cole took the chair spot about as safely as one could. The electric chair bump onto the ladder looked like it could have hurt him a lot more. 

The crowd was God awful when they started booing the doctors sorting out Cole's cut. 

I mean I get Philly wrestling fans don't care about the wrestlers health, but that stuff does need to be sorted out. Especially given the placement of said cut.

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Oh Jesus. At one point it looked like Cole's thumb was hanging off. I thought he damn near cut it off. I didn't even see what he cut it on, but I'm guessing it was a trash can spot. Either way, I hope it doesn't put him out of action for long. It's rare you see someone with a hand injury like that.

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I think Cole got the thumb pinched in the Kendo Stick slats when he did the Lungblower.  He was holding a non-taped end with his right and the blood became visible right after that.

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I loved almost everything on the show, AOP are my dudes, they are so great. Loved Ellering thinking about going to trip Fish and deciding against it, great touch.

Shayna is my favourite thing in wrestling right now, she’s so badass.

The main was outstanding, can only echo everyone else’s comments. 

 

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3 hours ago, maciej said:

But it looks like I'm by some distance the highest person on the opening tag. It's not as stunning in the sober light of day as it was when I watched it drunk after a work party last night (in my brain this morning the Kyle/Razar shootstyle opening was like 3 times longer, haha), but I still really like it. Giving the Authors some more room to breathe and work in their individual talents is proving a very good thing. The random Akam injury storyline is a smart way to do this match, I think, and ReDragon as efficient veterans who can take apart the younger giants when presented an opportunity totally works for me. Also Akam's lariat to Bobby Fish on the apron miiiiiight be my favorite lariat in WWE history? I say that without a lot of thought so I'm sure I'm wrong, but that was Hansen-esque clubberin.

Nah, I'm right there with you. That match was excellent, and I think it's my favorite on the night. It's not the best, but it's my favorite. 

Not only did he have THAT lariat, but Akam played monster as face in peril pretty damn brilliantly. He sold that leg exactly how he should have. I liked that the hot tag didn't get the pop that, like, a Ricky Morton's would. AoP was vulnerable, but they're too dangerous to be sympathetic. So, they didn't drag it out and do three cutoffs. It's an odd thing to go for, but it's fresh. 

It hit me during this match: AoP really remind me of the Twins from Breaking Bad. 

I went into this match kinds dreading it, too, as I really wasn't into Fish and O'Reilly. They totally brought the goods, though, especially O'Reilly. 

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I don't care for "extreme rules" matches for the most part, so I had little expectations for this one. I was pleasantly surprised when I didn't hate it. Didn't love it, but didn't hate it.

That slam onto the chairs was insane, though - something I would expect from CZW or IWA-MS, not this. (That's not a compliment.) I am glad he didn't seem to be legit hurt from it. 

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Most of his weight went onto his feet not his back. I asked somebody who took a similar bump about it and it's not that bad. Probably felt like shit but his sell job clearly worked.

Does remind me of Homer on the fire hydrant though. 

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1 minute ago, southofheavy said:

I went into this match kinds dreading it, too, as I really wasn't into Fish and O'Reilly. They totally brought the goods, though, especially O'Reilly. 

I have always thought of these guys as Davey Richards cosplayers. Maybe I should consider giving them another chance. Hell, maybe I should give Davey another chance. Maybe I have changed my mind since I last watched him. :huh:

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I liked the tag title match, and think both teams did well. Dream and Ohno was pretty rough. I'm not seeing sure fire future world champ in Dream like a lot of people seem to be. There was a bunch of chinlocks and sloppy looking offense from Dream in this. I thought the finish to Ember/Shayna was well done. It did have that Brock/Mir 1 feeling where the inexperienced fighter was dominating, but made a mistake and got caught. Mauro is really grating on me at this point.

 

Man Gargano is lean he looks like he weighs about 170.  Main event was incredible. I don't know where it ranks, but it's on the shortlist for best NXT match ever. I think i would've had Ciampa cost Johny the match while the ref was distracted with Candice and Vega, but that's nitpicky. Great performance from both guys. I'm hoping for some Almas vs Styles matches on SDL later in the year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I liked that they played with people's expectations that Tommaso didn't come out when it was expected he would. It worked doubly so, because that would've been back to back matches with heel interference and it legitimized Almas. 

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Yeah I get why they did it because Almas probably needed the clean win. Plus I like the story of him having Gargano's number. I just like the story of Gargano having the belt won only to have Ciampa cost him, but it worked out well.

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That was my first time seeing Fish and O'Reilly. They were pretty good, but Fish needs to lose the mouth piece if it's the reason for his egregiously noticeable spot calling. The tag also had the most notable use of silly Dunnesque quick cuts all night during one of AoP's beat down segments. 

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13 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

I liked that they played with people's expectations that Tommaso didn't come out when it was expected he would. It worked doubly so, because that would've been back to back matches with heel interference and it made legitimized Almas. 

It also makes Ciampa look like an even bigger cold, calculating prick to let the match play out. If Gargano wins, attacking him guarantees Ciampa gets to cut in line for a title shot that Gargano will grant just to get revenge. If Gargano loses, Ciampa gets to beat him down immediately after his hopes and dreams have been crushed. 

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30 minutes ago, southofheavy said:

I went into this match kinds dreading it, too, as I really wasn't into Fish and O'Reilly. They totally brought the goods, though, especially O'Reilly. 

I have always thought of these guys as Davey Richards cosplayers. Maybe I should consider giving them another chance. Hell, maybe I should give Davey another chance. Maybe I have changed my mind since I last watched him. :huh:

 

Re the women:  I agree with others that the armbar spot lasted way too long. I have been armbar'd. Once that shit gets locked in, you're tapping in seconds - not minutes. They need to shorten it and teach the opponent better techniques for fighting it off. (not once did I see Moon try to drive her elbow to the ground, for instance) Also, Shayna has been practicing armbar holds since her very first week of jujitsu, probably, so she's going to have to work on fighting the years of muscle memory. She needs to not lock it in so quickly. 

Minor enough quibble. I enjoy her character and look very much, and she's come a long way in a short time. Great potential. I am hoping Ronda doesn't overshadow her. 

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KOR evolved beyond Davey Richards underling years ago. The hate he gets on here is just one of those DVDVR things I don't understand I guess. I could see him not being everybody's cup of tea, sure, but it goes overboard.

So I'm alone in thinking Gargano's selling was also way too over the top? Almas felt like a prop at times, with damn near every close-up being Johnny's derp face. His selling became the story rather than Almas' skill and cunning.

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37 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

KOR evolved beyond Davey Richards underling years ago. The hate he gets on here is just one of those DVDVR things I don't understand I guess. I could see him not being everybody's cup of tea, sure, but it goes overboard.

So I'm alone in thinking Gargano's selling was also way too over the top? Almas felt like a prop at times, with damn near every close-up being Johnny's derp face. His selling became the story rather than Almas' skill and cunning.

Johnny's selling made the match.

I will refrain from saying Almas is just a prop because I actually thought he was pretty good last night, but that was The Johnny Gargano Show.

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I'm okay with Johnny's selling because I grew up a Shawn mark and I'm not bothered by theatrical selling. Even though he lost, there's not a doubt in my mind that Gargano is now the ace for the brand. The match and the commentary was completely designed to put him over, and Almas got a minor "You gotta hand it to him," from Mauro afterwards. I wouldn't be surprised if the grudge match with Ciampa goes on last at Takeover New Orleans over Almas versus presumably Black. 

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8 hours ago, RIPPA said:

 

- Everyone needs to watch the like last 5 minutes of the show. Zelina Vega and had another star making run on the mic. She shhhsed Sam Roberts which was amazing but pretty much the highlight of the night for me, Joe said Almas name but randomly decided to through in a Spanish accent and Zelina stone cold looked in his face and goes "That's nice. Next time trying rolling your Rs". It was fucking crazy. Another reminder that giving people scripts is fucking infuriating.

 

She was awesome on the pre-Show. Another example of the greatness of a good manager. 

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1 hour ago, Oyaji said:

KOR evolved beyond Davey Richards underling years ago. The hate he gets on here is just one of those DVDVR things I don't understand I guess. I could see him not being everybody's cup of tea, sure, but it goes overboard.

So I'm alone in thinking Gargano's selling was also way too over the top? Almas felt like a prop at times, with damn near every close-up being Johnny's derp face. His selling became the story rather than Almas' skill and cunning.

I know for me, a lot of it started with (and was escalated by) that cringe inducing "respect" promo he cut with "K-Mart Fit Finlay" Tony Kozina and "Captain Spotfest" Davey Richards. I thought O'Reilly's work was fine last night, I just can't fully get behind someone who appears to be that big a "serious bizness" mark. Maybe he's changed. That style just isn't for me. Give me the AOP mauling dudes for 6 minutes so I can get on with my day.

 

Also, according to wiki, almas is an inch shorter than Gargano. That can't possibly be true, can it? 

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