Rate NXT Takeover New Orleans

[Jacob Fox]

Rate NXT Takeover New Orleans and make sure to leave a comment or two so we know what you thought of the show!

Spoiler: Rate NXT Takeover New Orleans

NXT North American Championship Ladder Match: Adam Cole vs EC3 vs Ricochet vs Kilian Dane vs Lars Sullivan vs the Velveteen Dream

Adam Cole won the match to become the first NXT North American Champion

NXT Women's Championship: Champion Ember Moon vs Shayna Blazer

Blazer won the championship be pinfall

NXT Tag Championship and Dusty Rhodes Classic Final: The Undisputed Era vs the Authors of Pain vs Roderick Strong and Pete Dunne

Roderick Strong turned on Pete Dunne and the Undisputed Era retained the tag belts and won the Dusty Rhodes Classic

NXT Championship Match: Champion Andrade "Cien" Almas vs Aleister Black

Aleister Black won the championship by pin fall

Unsanctioned Match: Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa

If Gargano wins, he is reinstated. If he loses, he is banned from NXT forever

Ciampa tapped out and Gargano was reinstated to NXT

 

[Rosie]

Wrestlemania...

NICE TRY TOPPING THAT SHOW!

 

[Nostradamus]

Perfect show. Anybody that has an issue with this can meet me in the back alley behind the Mercedez-Benz Superdome.

 

[Jacob Fox]

Perfect show. I have zero complaints.

North American Championship: All I can say is ADAM COLE BAY BAY! But seriously, I can say more than that because although I am happy Cole won, EVERYONE put on a great performance. ****

Ember Moon vs Shayna Blazer: ***1/2 Very good match and clash of style. I was thoroughly entertained.

Tag Team Championship: *** The weakest match on the card but still good. Roderick Strong joining the Undisputed Era was awesome. I loved it.

NXT Championship **** I am not a fan of either guy, so the fact that I really was into this match should tell you how good it was. Enjoyed it.

Ciampa vs Gargano ***** This gets five stars because it was the story telling match of the year. It was brutal but that ending was so emotional and so perfect. It capped the entire Ciampa and Gargano journey. It was PERFECT.

Awesome show.

 

[Jacob Fox]

Perfect show. Anybody has an issue with this can meet me in the back alley behind the Mercedez-Benz Superdome.

That might get you offers you really don't want.

 

[Nostradamus]

That might get you offers you really don't want.

Maybe I do.

 

[Chicken McDouble]

wow

that was a show


(4:24 AM over here)

 

[Rosie]

wow

that was a show


(4:24 AM over here)

As soon as I saw Aleister Black win I was like "A Hedgehog in England must be really happy right now..."

 

[Grievous 3D]

Okay...so this is the 1st NXT TakeOver I've ever watched without it being spoiled
for me before hand...so I was super keen for this.

So literally just turned off the "broadcast" and here are my thoughts...

The opening theme/live performance was pretty weak...not the song itself...
just the overall audio quality.

+ The 6 Man Ladder Match +
This was a fantastic match with Ricochet exciting the crowd with his every move.

WWE...you know how you want to "create" a superhero to be the face of your
company...

Ricochet is it!

Pick him for the love of God...don't simply stick him in 205 Live...this guy could
be the main event "Hero" that the Plank of Wood will never be.

All 6 guys played their parts & I'm not surprised Adam Cole won...but anyone of
these 6 guys could have won & I would have been happy.

Also...is it me or does Adam Cole look like he could be Shawn Michaels' son?

+ The Women's Title Match +
Ember's live entrance theme sounded awful...STOP DOING THIS WWE!!!

Okay...first of all the ladder match really burned the crowd out & they seemed
very flat for this one. Secondly...Ronda Rousey was in the front row...and thirdly...
while I wanted Shayna to go over...I didn't actually think they'd have her go over.

And all I can do is feel sorry for Ember Moon.

She has possibly been the worst booked Champion on the NXT brand...at least
since I've been following the brand more closely.

Ember has looked incredibly weak in this feud with Shayna & the truth is the WWE
weren't going to put Ember over Shayna clean a second time...because it would
have damaged Shayna's reputation too much.

I'd like to think Ronda Rousey signing with the WWE had no impact on this result...
but my brain is itching slightly.

And I guess Ember moves on to the main roster as "damaged goods" but perhaps
the WWE will have her win the Women's Battle Royal at Wrestlemania...I mean she
needs something.

She just had 140 days of nothing as the NXT Women's Champion getting choked
out & smacked around & her not defeating Asuka for the belt REALLY hurt her as
a performer.

I'm guessing now Shayna will move in to feud with Kairi Sane?

~ That Paige movie preview was fucking awful...

+ The Tag Team title/Dusty Classic Final Triple Threat Match +
So...I guess the Undisputed Era really is the NXT version of the NWO now.

Strong is in while Fish is out...& I honestly didn't see it coming...but I will
admit this is a big deal for Roddy...it may be just what his career needed.

The match itself was a bit of a mess...but the ending saved it.

Authors of Pain to the main roster please...& keep Paul Ellering with them.

+ The NXT title Match +
Well...it was never going to be as good as Almas vs. Gargano...but this match
fell a little flat for me. Zelina Vega was involved too much & again...I think the
opening ladder match drained the crowd so badly they didn't seem to have the
energy to be excited for this match.

The finish of the match was great & the WWE actually put the belt on Black...
which is just awesome.

I'm guessing Almas & Vega will be on SDL shortly?

&

+ The Unsanctioned Match +
I found this match really interesting because it started slowly & built to a great
finish...but its pacing seemed very strange. Like it crawled along with the odd
burst of energy but it told a great story...especially the final moments.

I think if you can watch this match & "Get it" then you may just have an actual
"wrestling brain" & be able to grasp a more subtle art of in-ring storytelling.

Also...I'm glad Johnny Wrestling is back in NXT.

Can he be the first to challenge Adam Cole? (BAY-BAY!!!)

All in All...it was a great show...BUT...I feel putting the Ladder Match on first
really hurt the rest of the show & the fact the NXT title match didn't main event
also seemed strange to me.

I'm going to say...7 out of 10...not because of the match quality...but simply
because of the match order.

 

[SWL]

Amazing show as usual, it's always a fresh change of pace to only have 5 matches set for a special

• the NA title ladder match was great, but I think we all expected it to be. Ricochet had an amazing showing and I love his entrance pose. There wasn't a dull moment in this match, everyone got their shit in very quickly and they played to each others strengths perfectly. Adam Cole winning makes the most sense, even though I would have loved to see an upset happen here with someone like Velveteen Dream, who amazes me every single time he goes out there. This man is 22 and truly leaves it all out on the table. Forget about Mandy and Sonya, this is Tough Enough's biggest success since The Miz. I hope he keeps it up like this.
• the women had the unfortunate placement of following a true banger but I think they recovered well. I wouldn't say it was great but Shayna's starting to work for me. Things like relocating her shoulder by ramming it against the turnbuckle or grabbing her own hair to keep the sleeper locked in tight without using her other arm. It's very creative and due to her background, she kinda knows what would hurt in a shoot fight and what wouldn't. So that adds to the legitimacy of her character. Also, I don't know if this is a thing for Ember now or if this is a part of the gimmick but she survives these submissions for way too long. Last time she wrestled Shayna she was in that armbar for, what felt like, 2 minutes or something. Not cool dude, you either hurt the move's believeability or credibility. Just tap/pass out after a couple seconds, it wouldn't hurt your character as much as it hurt Shayna's moveset lol.
• now, the undisputed era kinda had to win here, didn't they? AOP already won it last year, Dunne and Strong's team was way too short term to win the titles AND the trophy at once, especially if Dunne's already a champ in his own right. But the Strong turn was very well executed and to be honest, should have probably happened a long time ago. Like, Roderick Strong was made for this stable and it kinda irked me that he wasn't in it to be begin with. Anyways, the Undisputed Era is better than ever with the tag titles, Dusty Rhodes trophy and the NA title over their collective shoulders, I'm really looking forward to what they're up to on the next TakeOver.
• Almas/Black only picked up towards the 2nd half of the match but man, every Almas match has some of the best near falls. Glad that Black finally secured his way up on the top of the NXT roster, he really deserves it after having great one on one matches at TakeOver after TakeOver. There really isn't much to say about it other than great job to both of them and apparently Drew McIntyre is coming back to challenge Black now, so there's that.
• can I just point out that Gargano and Ciampa both look insane? It's like they have no body fat on them at all anymore. And good lord, they went 40 minutes lol. Obviously they told a great story, I especially loved the ending of it but sometimes it just felt a bit slow if you compare it to their CWC match for example. Something I also noticed was that their punches look kinda weak when they started teeing off at the beginning. Which worries me a bit because it has been said that if you can't land good punches, Vince isn't gonna like you. That's probably why he liked the Rock/Stone Cold program so much, because they started every match they had with a real good back and forth fist fight. That's just me nitpicking and going off topic a bit tho, I really enjoyed the match and there's nothing to really complain about here either. The real match I'm dying to see now is Black/Gargano but I doubt they'll go through with that just yet.

this is weird for me to rate, on one hand there really isn't a bad match or moment on the card but on the other, watching it live didn't fulfill or hype me up as much as it did for other people I guess. Imma give it an 8/10

 

[Rosie]

Also wait a second...

Dusty Rhodes Classic ends in a Dusty finish, with a match which has a swerve finish. That sounds like a tribute to Dusty :emoji_heart:

 

[Rosie]

Also, I would edit my previous post, but Griev already gave it a like. But I just checked twitter and I saw this tweet from one of our favourite finger breaking Brits.



British Strong Style vs Undisputed Era?!

LOVE IS BLINDNESS

 

[Nostradamus]

If you voted this show any lower than a 9, like this status so I know who to fight in that back alley behind the Mercedes-Benz Superdome tonight.

 

[SWL]

If you voted this show any lower than a 9, like this status so I know who to fight in that back alley behind the Mercedes-Benz Superdome tonight.

be careful what you wish for

 

[Nostradamus]

Also, idk if anybody realized this, but look at the symbolism of Roderick Strong and the Undisputed Era armband. Not only did he TAKE one and put it on, he took one from the LEADER, and put it on. This not only symbolizes that he's taking a spot (which people assume is Bobby's spot), he wants to take Adam Cole's spot and assume leadership. Very subtle way of doing that, I applaud NXT.