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NXT Takeover XXXI - 10/4/2020


Dolfan in NYC

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Strickland vs Escobar was really  good, WWE letting the Mexican talent work like they do back home is something they should've been doing because all the current Mexican talent are top notch from Almas to Garza to Escobar 

Io vs LaRae was great too.

The main event was dope but I kept waiting for a run in it kinda surprised me it didn't happen. 

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Swerve/Escobar was quite good. 

Io/Candace was the best Candace has looked in NXT, especially since her turn. The finishing stretch was bit much for me on the overbooking side, but I thought this was pretty damn good. Both looked better here than they did in their match form last year which is saying something considering how good that was. Toni & Ember being back was a good surprise. Really looking forward to seeing what they do with them. I just hope we get Toni/Io at a Takeover.

O'Reilly/Finn was utterly great and refreshing. Its wonderful to see an NXT main event away from the usual overkill which has become the norm since Gargano, Ciampa, & Cole took over. Ridge Holland at the end with a dead Cole over his shoulder was nice. Holland/Finn & Holland/O'Reilly could be pretty darn good.

38 minutes ago, Ziggy said:

Ember Knows her Character,  WWE doesn't. That's the problem with alot of the current talent especially on the main roster. Unless that person has enough creative freedom to express their gimmick the way they need for it to work there will be a disconnect. Look at Keith Lee.

And that character is? Ember and character issues happened before she hit the main roster.  

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That was an excellent show and a total rebound from the last couple Takeovers. The main event is pretty close to being the best match I've seen this year. Holy shit. Am I wrong, or were there only two pinfalls in the match? I thought the first was off of the 1916 that KOR kicked out of and the second being off of the Coup de Gras. Man, that was fucking awesome.

Loved seeing Dream get demolished. That was cathartic.

Opener was very good between Priest and Gargano.

KOR is just the best. I'm going to be very sad when TUE turns on KOR and Ridge Holland takes KOR's place.

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1 hour ago, Craig H said:

KOR is just the best. I'm going to be very sad when TUE turns on KOR and Ridge Holland takes KOR's place.

Feels like Holland is more likely to murder his way through UE until KOR stops him.

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Everything was very good. I absolutely had not thought the return could be Ember, but that was a cool surprise and literally a surprise for me!

Yay, for Toni Storm coming back! Does she live in the US currently, or did she row a boat across the Atlantic and it took her all this time to make the trip?

Beth Phoenix said getting hit by Kyle O'Reilly is kinda like getting hit by a baseball bat! Did she mean getting hit with a Kyle O'Reilly is kinda like getting hith with something the size of a baseball bat? Great effort, by KOR, nonetheless!

Wonder if Kushida goes after Legado next? Probably that Adonis dude will, as well!

Priest and Gargano was very good as was everything else, but it kinda foreshadowed the ending of Io-Candice, as if one of the power couple fails, it was very likely the other one would, as well! Who is next for Priest? Ciampa?

Fuck yeah for Halloween Havoc, despite the fact that we all know the real reason the show gets that name, but glad to see it back!

Ridge Holland killing everybody FTW!

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1 hour ago, hammerva said:

It cracks me up how some people are saying that he "turned heel" because of how aggressive and vicious he was.   Given the opponent those people are morons

 

I mean, the announcers also sounded like they were playing it up as a heel turn. And that's what WWE always does. They have the face have enough of taking someone's shit, they wind up beating the heel's ass for it, and that's their way of doing a heel turn. It makes no sense, it doesn't make Kushida a heel in my eyes, but I wouldn't be shocked if that was intended to turn him heel.

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Oh, also, I thought the CWC looked pretty cool. It had a Wrestle Society X meets 1984 Apple commercial vibe to it. The fans there also sounded pretty loud. I still hate the plexiglass, but the banging on the glass reminds me of banging on the metal ROH signs zip tied to the barriers.

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I had a hard time with the presentation here but a lot of the matches were really good. Looks like Balor got rocked a little at the end there, hope he's okay. And UE are faces now? And Ridge Holland is the heel for beating up these annoying bad guys?

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6 minutes ago, Overly Critical Man said:

If Ember knows her character, she might literally be the only person in the world that knows what the hell her character is suppose to be. 

I agree with this, but it isn't like any of these other characters are about anything either.  Seriously, what the fuck is an Archer of Infamy and Kushida is just a dude who really likes Back to the Future.

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32 minutes ago, supremebve said:

I agree with this, but it isn't like any of these other characters are about anything either.  Seriously, what the fuck is an Archer of Infamy and Kushida is just a dude who really likes Back to the Future.

With Priest they seem to be starting something with his interviews and pushing him as a laid back, cool party guy. Kushda seems to just be the same guy he was in NJPW. That would be fine in a non-WWE promotion. In NXT he doesn't stand out much or at least didn't until he beat the shit out of Dream. They do seem to be selling him as a guy who will take a person's arm off and beat them with it now.

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52 minutes ago, Eivion said:

With Priest they seem to be starting something with his interviews and pushing him as a laid back, cool party guy. Kushda seems to just be the same guy he was in NJPW. That would be fine in a non-WWE promotion. In NXT he doesn't stand out much or at least didn't until he beat the shit out of Dream. They do seem to be selling him as a guy who will take a person's arm off and beat them with it now.

I was out on Priest when he stepped into a hot tub wearing leather pants.  That is not someone I could ever root for in any way.  

With that said, my point was that pretty much every wrestling character is skin deep.  If the crowd buys into the character is the only real thing that matters.  Seriously, Io Shirai is "Japanese who screams a lot."  Bronson Reed is "Chubby guy with a high self esteem."  Mia Yim is "Asian crip."  Johnny Gargano is "Dude always picking a fight he can't win, but believes in moral victories."  Finn Balor is "Dude who is pissed you didn't take his cosplay seriously."  Adam Cole is, "Yappy puppy who thinks he's tough."  

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29 minutes ago, supremebve said:

I was out on Priest when he stepped into a hot tub wearing leather pants.  That is not someone I could ever root for in any way.  

I'm still lost on if Priest is supposed to be a heel or face. The current stuff makes him come across as a douche, but he keeps facing even bigger assholes.

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2 hours ago, Eivion said:

I'm still lost on if Priest is supposed to be a heel or face. The current stuff makes him come across as a douche, but he keeps facing even bigger assholes.

I thought the same thing, I don't watch the TV so I wasn't sure about either guy. Gargano is probably at Big Show numbers of heel turns he and Ciampa. It was a really good match, Priest has been very impressive at these Takeovers. He's another one of these guys that have the look Vince like but as we've seen with guys like Keith Lee, that doesn't mean he'll be used correctly on the Main roster.

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9 hours ago, Ziggy said:

I thought the same thing, I don't watch the TV so I wasn't sure about either guy. Gargano is probably at Big Show numbers of heel turns he and Ciampa. It was a really good match, Priest has been very impressive at these Takeovers. He's another one of these guys that have the look Vince like but as we've seen with guys like Keith Lee, that doesn't mean he'll be used correctly on the Main roster.

T-Bag Dijak has very similar look, physique wise, to Priest and that did not help him at all once he got to the main roster. Priest HAS been very impressive with right opponents, but he will be we well served staying on NXT as long as possible. 

As far as heel/face allegiance is concerned, I'm guessing he's trying to be a super cocky face, but being such, he indeed needs to face the biggest of douchebags around, so his cockiness won't rub people the wrong way. Actually, I would not be at all surprised if he'd be facing VD for his next program.

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So, is this the first time WWE just completely overhauled their entire face/heel dynamic and match structure formula, or has this been going on for a while? It was super refreshing and the most fun I've had watching a WWE show in years. The virtual audience got the noise level up to Full Sail level at least, and was the first post-pandemic show I've seen that wasn't overly disengaging due to lack of crowd noise.

The Gargano/Priest match was something I wasn't excited about going in, but they pulled off a nice back and forth match that didn't go into super overkill. Seeing a Gargano match end off the opponent's first finisher was a welcome sight.

Kushida/Dream was an even bigger surprise and a legit great match. Dream is at his best as an overmatched heel, and Kushida came across as a real killer instead of a foreigner happy to be here and squeak out unconvincing wins. Kushida didn't seem heelish at all to me, even at the end. More of a badass face vibe that wasn't gonna get pushed around or let sneak attacks go unanswered. If he keeps working like that, he'd replace Riddle as a guy that makes every match feel like a war.

Santos/Swerve was probably the worst match of the night, but it was still pretty decent and I enjoyed the Lucha Underground success story. The complaints I have were the early sequence where Santos was lazily walking into and staring at Swerve's dives coming from a mile away (which was odd for a guy who's normally super smooth), and Mendoza/Wilde as the new Singh Brothers (which seemed to be the last vestige of lazy WWE tropes on the show). The 450 nearfall was the biggest one of the show and it stood out when no other matches went to such extremes. The finish with Swerve spiking the back of his head on the turnbuckle bolt was a good way to end the match after escalating the action so high.

For whatever reason, it hit me during the women's match that Candace reminds me of CM Punk stylistically. She obviously has a great wrestling mind and lots of charisma, but she doesn't quite have the natural athleticism to pull off everything she sees in her head. It was noticeable against Io, because she effortlessly moves through the strike exchanges and never has any trouble setting up her spots, while Candace is always taking an extra second to make sure she's in perfect position and she's moving just right. Her positives still have kept her matches enjoyable over her career though, and this was no exception. I won't be hyperbolic and say stooging second Johnny is better than wrestling Johnny, but it was a welcome change of pace. His "Are you fucking kidding me" made the whole sequence. The returns after the match were overkill, but I liked Io being nonplussed by the whole thing.

I haven't watched much WWE this year, but if there was a better match than Balor/O'Reilly, please point it out. It was a match full of surprises but never left the ring. Balor looked dominant as champ, and Kyle looked strong even without getting close to winning. Every time it looked Kyle was gonna get control, Finn cut him off with something. The quick abdominal stretch counter and sharpshooter counter were very surprising after the last several years of WWE style. Finn's offense never looked better and it was easily his best WWE match, if not overall. Low-key Finn is the best Finn.

I'm so glad I watched this. First show since March that reminded me why I liked wrestling.

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18 minutes ago, Go2Sleep said:

So, is this the first time WWE just completely overhauled their entire face/heel dynamic and match structure formula, or has this been going on for a while? It was super refreshing and the most fun I've had watching a WWE show in years. The virtual audience got the noise level up to Full Sail level at least, and was the first post-pandemic show I've seen that wasn't overly disengaging due to lack of crowd noise.

No, this Takeover and the main event in particular felt pretty unique compared to past NXT TV and Takeovers. The main event felt more like Finn and KOR calling their match instead of letting an agent fuck with it considering there were only two pinfalls the entire match. They worked a Japanese style main event and past main events have all been the HBK style "epic" main event format where the match runs too long with too many kickouts and too much of dudes looking like they're near death, taking a finisher, and then kicking out again. And this is from someone who really liked the first couple Gargano vs Cole matches and really likes Cole. The main event was a breath of fresh air.

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30 minutes ago, Craig H said:

No, this Takeover and the main event in particular felt pretty unique compared to past NXT TV and Takeovers. The main event felt more like Finn and KOR calling their match instead of letting an agent fuck with it considering there were only two pinfalls the entire match. They worked a Japanese style main event and past main events have all been the HBK style "epic" main event format where the match runs too long with too many kickouts and too much of dudes looking like they're near death, taking a finisher, and then kicking out again. And this is from someone who really liked the first couple Gargano vs Cole matches and really likes Cole. The main event was a breath of fresh air.

So refreshing getting away from the excesses of Gargano/Cole/Ciampa. I didn't like any of the Cole/Gargano and Cole/Champs matches. Most I've enjoyed a NXT Championship match since Almas/Gargano at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia 2018.

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54 minutes ago, Go2Sleep said:

 I haven't watched much WWE this year, but if there was a better match than Balor/O'Reilly, please point it out. It was a match full of surprises but never left the ring. Balor looked dominant as champ, and Kyle looked strong even without getting close to winning. Every time it looked Kyle was gonna get control, Finn cut him off with something. The quick abdominal stretch counter and sharpshooter counter were very surprising after the last several years of WWE style. Finn's offense never looked better and it was easily his best WWE match, if not overall. Low-key Finn is the best Finn.

I'm so glad I watched this. First show since March that reminded me why I liked wrestling.

AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Smackdown Live, 6th June.

Roman Reigns vs. Jimmy Uso. WWE Clash of Champions, 27th September.

Hope that helps.

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10 hours ago, The Natural said:

AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Smackdown Live, 6th June.

Roman Reigns vs. Jimmy Uso. WWE Clash of Champions, 27th September.

Hope that helps.

Thanks, I'll make sure to check those out. I am interested to see heel Roman in full swing, so I'm glad that match is recommended.

Edit: After watching, I'll have to do a hard disagree on both, and it's pretty easy to do direct comparisons. The dueling body part work in KoR/Finn was better than Bryan and AJ playing their greatest hits, and the underdog drama played out more consistently than in Jey/Roman. Felt like the latter would've been twice as effective with half the time (and some juice) because the finishing run was intense. Reminded me of Bret/Backlund in the sense that it was a decent match that could've been an all-timer with some tweaks to the writing.

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