I just want to point out that this was a predictable as hell show. All three title matches felt like filler defenses, but here we are praising yet another fantastic NXT Takeover!
9/10 as usual.
Gosh. I could gush all day about the NXT tag division. It's my favorite thing in wrestling, and it makes me wish I've watched more main roster stuff at this point. While it's a shame that Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch vs the Kingdom wasn't MOTN because the main event was that damn good... well, the main event was that damn good at every big show I've seen this year. This may have been one of the 10 best matches I've seen. The frantic pace, the crazy hot tags, the stiff shots the big spots... I can't put this over enough as an adrenaline rush match.
Ricochet vs Dream... I liked this match less than most. BOOOO BOOO BOOOOO. It's about 3 1/2 stars for me and probably better on second viewing. The match was good but not the one I expected. After the fire opener I saw the unbelievable athlete in Dream saying whatever Ricochet could do, he could do better, then we got a few spots playing towards that at the finish after a mostly technical/quality first 3/4ths of the match. Again it was a quality first 3/4ths of technical wrestling in a match built to be a real car-crash stunt show, largely I wasn't prepared for it? I guess you could say? Even after the end after the holy shit moment of that elbow drop from miles away and the glorious shooting star, I was waiting for Dream to start hitting 630 splashes and twisting corkscrew planchas and shit. Was that too much to ask? Definitely, but who knows? Maybe Dream could hit a 810 splash, he could do it better?
What I was prepared for and a match I enjoyed more than most... shocker... was Baszler vs Cross. Cross's batshit insanity really set the tone and it really felt like she was living this gimmick, and Shayna sold it pretty well. Lots of character stuff to make up for Shayna's shortcomings was sad to see, though, as usually if they had to go that far to cover it up there's a reason for that. Shame, since she has everything else down to a T. The ending gif was glorious and Shayna retains and moves on hopefully to Kairi while Dakota Kai is pushed in the background.
The NXT title match kinda felt like a nice Aleister Black showcase match, as much fun as NXT's Braun Strowman has been, Lars Sullivan really reminded me of Ryback in this match... and I enjoyed the Big Guy as a different sort of dude on the roster but Black really felt like he was wrestling a broomstick and got a quality match out of the guy, then wound up looking strong in the end... The little dude chops down the big dude is a great kind of finish really, it always makes both guys look good. Aleister's strikes wrecked the big and scary big guy.
The only thing I can really type about Gargano/Ciampa II is just how much fun it was to watch myself and all the wrestling fans sitting there in Chicago being kids again. It's not a story of how they'll do on the main roster, not a tale of backstage politics or star ratings or anything like that, for every minute of this match I was sitting here watching Johnny Wrestling with whatever bit of plunder he could get his hands on beating the fuck out of his former best friend who took everything for him, and like the bloodthirsty psychopaths we ate up every bit of it, especially after Gargano saw the wedding ring ripped off his finger and grabbed the stretcher and became just as bloodthirsty as the rest of us... and I hated the finish. My God, everyone hated this finish so much for all the right reasons. Evil got a lucky shot in and triumphed over good and for one night, kayfabe lived...
And if where we're going is Ciampa winning the NXT Title before Summerslam, then Gargano winning it before Survivor Series... Usually you can't predict something months in advance and watch it be good, but here's the exception to your rule. This. Is NXT.
(I miss being good at these lol)
