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Best NXT Matches Ever.


The Natural

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Just now, Dewar said:

If post-match angles count, I'd have to put AOP/DIY from Takeover Chicago in a top 20 list somewhere. I liked the match to start with, and then the Ciampa heel turn put if over the top for me. The Owens/Balor ladder match is worthy of some consideration as well, since I really like how they used the ladders for additional violence, as opposed to most ladder matches which seem to focus on jumping off the ladder for a big pop.

My problem with that call for Owens/Balor isn't that you are wrong, it's just that if we are going down that route, I feel like Bo Dallas/Adrian Neville from the 1st Takeover did the same thing, and, imo, did it better.

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I think that original list is pretty close to what I would have barring the last few matches.  That Pete Dunne/Tyler Bate match from December definitely belongs on there.  Such an amazing match in so many ways from Bate's selling to a rare NXT runover so that you really couldn't predict when the finish was coming.  

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I will do a massive rewatch. But off the top of my head, my favorites in order are:

1) Bayley/Sasha, Ironwoman. The ladies headline the show and deliver maybe the best match in my favorite match stipulation. This match was a huge "thank you" to The Horsewomen. If you want to get really pretentious, it is a huge statement of progressiveness in an era where women's rights have gone to a new level. 

2) Sami/Neville. Wrestling is a morality play. This was a morality play at its finest. It wasn't just a match where "What would Sami do?" was the question. It was also a question of "What SHOULD Sami do?" among wrestling fans. There were plenty of people who wanted Sami to bend the rules and you could justify him doing so. It also introduced us to the amazing Kevin Owens character and their story arc that is still going on today.

3) Revival/DIY 2 out of 3: Maybe the best tag team match of all time. Period. 

4) Sami/Cesaro, the one on regular NXT. I think this match really made NXT. That was the first match that made a lot of people take notice of NXT outside of the dorks like us who will watch anything.

5) Emma/Santino vs. Summer/Fandango. Best comedy match ever.

I know there are a lot more. I loved Gargano/Almas. But it didn't have a bigger picture to it that a few other matches did. But this is NOT my official list.

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I'm not going to make a list, but I've never been as emotionally invested in a match like I was with Sasha vs Bayley from Takeover Brooklyn. I'm a big baby and I still get teary eyed watching it. For me, that's the best match in NXT history and when I think of matches that represent NXT the best, that's probably it.

Almas vs Gargano from the last Takeover is right there with it. As far as a wrestling match goes, it's one of the best I've ever seen, but I just didn't get roped in emotionally like I did with Sasha and Bayley.

After that, it's just a bunch of matches I love. War Games goes here. Another match that doesn't get enough love is Joe vs Finn from Takeover Dallas. That match is fucking wild. On first watch, I was beyond annoyed with the stoppages. Every other time I watch it I love it more and more. The stoppages actually help that match because whenever they allow the match to continue, Joe comes out like a mad bull. He and Finn just start dropping bombs on each other until the next stoppages. With each stop, the intensity and violence builds more and more. Plus, oh man, there was so much fucking blood. 

As far as best moment goes, it's a tie between the post match stuff after Sasha vs Bayley and KO annihilating Sami after Sami wrestled the match of his NXT career. One of the best and most heelish moments ever.

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5 hours ago, El Dragon said:

BTW, if anyone else is doing a deep dive on NXT right now, may I recommend hitting up the Neville/Kevin Owens match from 2/17/15. 

Is that the one where KO hits a DDT and Neville does a flip takes two steps and falls on his face? And ends on a count out or DQ because he powerbombs Neville on the apron? Because that match is awesome.

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Thinking... I'm not sure it makes my top five women's title matches, against the two Bayley/Banks, the two Bayley/Asuka and two Asuka/Moon matches.

Which is crazy because at the time it had a legit case for being the best WWE women's match ever.

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I can almost promise no Asuka match will even enter my top 20, with the only one that has a shot is her match with Emma. I just really can't see an argument that any of Asuka's title matches even come close to Sasha/Becky, which is almost unquestionably to me the best technical match in NXT history. Fuck, I don't think anything else is close.

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2 hours ago, Brian Fowler said:

Thinking... I'm not sure it makes my top five women's title matches, against the two Bayley/Banks, the two Bayley/Asuka and two Asuka/Moon matches.

Which is crazy because at the time it had a legit case for being the best WWE women's match ever.

At the time it really didn't have much competition save a some gems from the previous 20+ years that were good but nothing MOTYC level and some good NXT Women's Title matches that were more glimmers of that next level Sasha/Becky eventually hit.

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I can see an argument for Asuka/Moon but that would be the only Asuka match I'd place up there on the level of Sasha/Becky.  

Not enough love in here for Samoa Joe and Finn Balor.  The match where Joe gets split wide open and is a fucking maniac. The stoppages did their best to try to ruin the moment but Joe saved it and looked like a fucking killer in that match.  

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On 04/02/2018 at 12:36 AM, Brian Fowler said:

Pete Dunne is rapidly becoming must watch, and Bate is probably his best opponent.

I'd never seen either wrestle prior to their first NXT match.

I literally ran the gauntlet from "UK guys? Cool" through to "mother of God."

I'm sure I've seen better matches, but I've never had that feeling before where I saw (from my POV) two guys go from wrestlers to superstars in one match.

By the time of the airplane spin I was marking out in my flat big time. Actual "what the fuck" after that strike exchange near fall. 

 

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