411’s NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable Report

411’s LIVE NXT Takeover: Unstoppable Report 5.20.15
* Welcome.

The TakeOver Pre-Show brings us some breaking news. A video made shot by a fan shows they’re talking to Enzo Amore and Big Cass, when they hear screaming. Hideo Itami is found holding his shoulder in the parking lot as some others check on him. Kevin Owens walks by and says “that’s a shame.” The Number One Contender’s match is now going to be just Finn Balor vs. Tyler Breeze. They run down the card with nothing else newsworthy for the first half so far. Greg Hamilton also interviews Stephanie McMahon outside. She puts over NXT.

The opening video package hypes NXT and the buzz around it. Stephanie McMahon, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, John Cena and others put it over. It then moves to promote the Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens rivalry. Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks get some shine before we see more highlights of the roster.

Number One Contender’s Match: Finn Balor vs. Tyler Breeze

Tyler Breeze gets a WrestleMania like entrance. The ramp has been lowered as some chicks do runway modeling before he appears. Crowd chants “Finn” during his entrance. He has wings, spikes and extra paint. The crowd is relatively split as the guys trade early headlocks. Breeze works Balor over on the mat. Balor comes back with a dropkick that sends Breeze outside. Balor goes to dive, but Breeze senses it and runs back in, only to eat some loud chops. Breeze goes all Chris Jericho with the springboard apron dropkick. Breeze hits a neckbreaker for two before yelling at the ref to “do his job”. Standing leg drop gets Breeze two again, so he moves to a headlock. Balor gets free and hits some forearms and chops before a sweet dropkick. He gets on the apron and double stomps Breeze on his back to the outside. Balor climbs up top for the finishing double drop but Breeze rolls out. He hits an enziguri on the top. Breeze counters Bloody Sunday but runs into Slingblade. He charges for the corner dropkick but Breeze nails the supermodel kick for a very close near fall. Breeze exposes the turnbuckle but stomps a mudhole in Balor in the opposite corner. He attempts the Beauty Shot but Balor ducks. He tries a double stomp, but Breeze counters with a rollup. Balor rolls him up to and gets knocked into the exposed buckle. Tyler follows with the Beauty Shot. 1….2…….NO! Balor kicks out and rolls outside. Breeze throws a fit in the ring. Breeze goes outside but Balor disappears. He comes from out of nowhere to level him and climbs the new entrance stage. He leaps off onto him, earning “Please Don’t Die” chants. Inside, he hits the dropkick and double stomp to win.

Winner: Finn Balor in 11:03

Really good opener. Tyler Breeze was able to look great in the loss, while Finn Balor continues his hot streak of delivering night in and night out. ***1/2

As Kevin Owens is watching on a monitor, we cut to some ringside big names. Stephanie McMahon is sitting next to the Mountain from Game of Thrones. Not kidding.

Clips air from the NXT live shows in Philadelphia this past weekend. It looked like an absolute blast. They also show the Albany highlights.

Bayley and Charlotte vs. Dana Brooke and Emma

“Bayley’s gonna hug you” chants as Bayley opens against Dana. Dana knocks her down, but Bayley is back up and slingshots her into a clothesline of sorts from Charlotte. They continue to work some double teams as Bayley chops her. Tag goes to Emma, earning “Evil Emma” chants. A shoving match ensues that Bayley wins, causing Emma to run outside behind Dana. Bayley takes this opportunity to do a dropkick through the ropes. Back inside, she gets on the second ropes, but a Dana distraction allows Emma to knock her down. Emma wears her down until tagging in Dana. They take turn stomping on Bayley in the corner. Emma removes Bayley’s headband and sends her into the corner, following in with the Emmamite sandwich. Corey Graves shuts me down by saying Emma no longer calls it that. Bayley snaps out of it, hitting a T-Bone suplex before making the hot tag. Charlotte lights up Dana with some chops and a nice neckbreaker. She nails a running boot on Dana but Emma runs in. Charlotte dumps her out, but the distraction leads to Dana taking advantage. Tag to Emma, but their double team move fails. Charlotte cartwheels through it before a double DDT. She gets the crowd hype but only gets two on Emma. She charges Emma twice but eats an elbow and boots. Emma climbs up top with a cross body, but Charlotte rolls through and locks in the figure eight! Dana comes in to break this, but Bayley slips under and plants her with the belly to Bayley. Charlotte nails Emma with Natural Selection and that’s all.

Winners: Bayley and Charlotte in 6:50

Solid stuff here. Bayley is a ton of fun and every girl brought it tonight. Even Dana Brooke, who isn’t very good, didn’t look bad. Bayley is perfect to place the face in peril as she easily garners sympathy, while Charlotte is great for the hot tag. **3/4

Charlotte and Bayley do the Flair strut before we see new NXT signings at ringside. Jessie McKay, KC Cassidy and Uhaa Nation stand out. The crowd chants for Uhaa.

Baron Corbin vs. Rhyno

They start with a feeling out process and Rhyno knocks Baron outside a few times. Back inside, Baron returns the favor and sends Rhyno outside. The fans chant “Cor Bin sucks” to the “New Day Sucks” tune. Corbin now throws Rhyno around the ring, looking pretty dominant. Rhnoy dodges a move in the corner, getting in some shots, but Corbin overcomes this rally attempt. He shows off a football spin to avoid the official and go back on the assault. He wears Rhyno down a bit. Both men up down as Rhyno tries to stage a comeback. Rhyno levels Corbin with some shots before hitting some shoulder thrusts in the corner. He tries a belly to belly suplex, but Corbin blocks with some headbutts. Rhyno pulls out a spinebuster for two. He hits the belly to belly this time and calls for the Gore. Corbin is able to meet him with a big clothesline before the End of Days puts Rhyno down.

Winner: Baron Corbin in 7:11

Nothing special here, just two big guys beating each other up. Baron does well against vets, but he’s at his best against smaller guys. This could have been better, but still wasn’t bad. **

Greg Hamilton interviews Kevin Owens. He says that he showed how much of a prize the NXT Title is by stepping on the US Title on Monday. The fans applaud this loudly. He says that if Zayn shows up tonight, it’ll be the last anyone ever sees of him. He does the Cena “you can’t see me” for this.

NXT Tag Team Championship: Blake and Murphy (c) vs. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady w/ Carmella

Enzo Amore and Big Cass do their usual opening promo stuff and its great. They have a serious New Age Outlaws vibe to them. The Tag Champions have a new theme. Enzo and Blake begin. Enzo surprises with a hard cross body and a well executed dropkick. The Champs try to attack Enzo, so he runs and tags Big Cass and they back up. Murphy lights up Cass with chops but he no sells them because HE’S SEVEN FOOT TALL. He then launches Murphy across the ring for two. Cass then sends Enzo into Murphy, before Enzo gets two on a cross body. Blake gets involved, allowing the champions to turn the tide. Like wise tag team strategy that you’d expect, Blake and Murphy cut the ring in half on Enzo. Carmella rallie sthe crowd for the hot tag, but Blake cuts it off and applies an abdominal stretch. After knocking Cass off the apron they do a powerbomb/lungblower combination but Enzo somehow kicks out. Murphy takes Enzo up for a superplex, but Enzo fights back and knocks him off. He leaps from the top and catches him with a nice DDT. Hot tag comes in and Cass cleans house as you’d expect. Big boot for Blake and the one for Murphy knocks him outside. He runs off the ropes and nails a big elbow but Murphy breaks the count. They double team him but he ends up taking them out anyway. He tags Enzo and basically drags him to the corner. He sets up to launch him from the top onto Blake but it takes forever. Alexa Bliss comes out and attacks Carmella, causing Cass to check on her. Murphy kicks him in the head. Alexa grabs Enzo’s leg, allowing the Champions to knock him down and steal this.

Winners and Still NXT Tag Team Champions: Blake and Murphy in 8:51

Enzo Amore deserves a ton of credit for how good he looked here. There has always been a knock on his ring work but he was on point tonight. THe finish kept Cass and Enzo looking good, but I’m not sure how a heel Alexa will work. Still fun stuff though. **3/4

NXT Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks (c) vs. Becky Lynch

Becky Lynch dyed her hair pretty much orange. She has new attire, while Sasha is wearing new colors. They start with an exchange of holds, with neither girl getting an advantage. Becky takes her down and tries the armbar, but Sasha escapes. Becky does the “this close” thing as Sasha looks nervous. She uses some Ricky Steamboat like arm drags and I dig how her offense targets the arm. Becky hits a springboard kick that sends Sasha to the apron. She follows with another kick attempt, but Sasha catches the foot and slams her to the apron with an arm wringer. Inside, Sasha now targets the arm, using the ropes to pull it back. She steals Becky’s taunt and does some head banging. As she goes back, Becky pulls her into a small package for two. Sasha retaliates with a neckbreaker for two. Sasha goes to a stranglehold, hitting the backstabber leading to “quit Becky quit” chants. Sasha is merciless with the hold but Becky won’t quit. She finally gets out but Sasha is still in control and nails her corner double knees, but onto the arm. The role reversal here is masterful. The arm work continues and just looks absolutely brutal. Sasha applies her own armbar, leading to “Sasha’s gonna kill you” chants. Becky counters for a near fall but Sasha is relentless. Becky powers out and lifts Sasha up for a bit slam. Becky now gets in some uppercuts and dropkicks to send Sasha to the corner. She climbs up top and hits a Bryan like missile dropkick for two. Becky goes to the arm, but Sasha runs up the corner and arm drags her to the opposite side. She follows in with consecutive double knees for a near fall. They go face to face and Sasha slaps her. Becky hits an uppercut but they mess up their next move. Becky saves this by sending Sasha outside and they continue to brawl. She wraps her arm around the post and continues to target it. Bexplex hits and she drops a leg on the arm before going for the arm bar. She does a variation of it with her feet and kicks off. She hits another Bexplex for a close two. “Suplex City” chants. Sasha counters the next move and tries a suplex, but Becky blows. She counters out into the armbar! My system reboots and I miss a good chunk of the match here which pisses me off to no end.

Winner and Still NXT Women’s Champion: Sasha Banks in 13:40ish

From what I was able to see, that was phenomenal. The psychology was off the fucking charts. Tremendous work from both girls and the NXT women’s division continues to deliver with every opportunity. Fantastic. ****1/4

Becky Lynch gets a standing ovation from the fans after Sasha Banks leaves.

NXT Championship: Kevin Owens (c) vs. Sami Zayn

Kevin Owens is wearing the US Title John Cena shirt. In typical Kevin Owens fashion, he exits the ring at the bell to play mind games with Sami. Zayn goes outside and a brawl ensues with Sami overwhelming Owens. They go inside where Sami ends up clotheslining Owens back out. Owens kicks him and teases the apron powerbomb but Sami backdrops out of it. Sami throws him into the steel steps and this has a different feel than their last match. He does it to the opposite steps too. Things get even more different as they fight into the crowd. Owens goes for a powerbomb on the concrete but Zayn holds the barricade to block it. Owens charges but is back dropped over the guardrail and back to ringside. Inside, Zayn nails a blue thunder bomb for a near fall. He gets a waistlock but Owens fights out, only to be hit with a half nelson suplex for two. Considering their last match and history, this has been excellently done. Zayn chops Owens and tries a tornado DDT, but Owens counters. Owens misses the cannonball corner attack and is then hit with the corner exploder. Sami calls for the Helluva Kick but Owens slips out. Sami follows and nails an exploder on the outside! Sami charges but eats a popup powerbomb onto the apron! Officials check on Sami, but Owens keeps going after him. Owens just continues to beat on a defenseless Sami in by the steel steps. Owens won’t stop and brings Sami back inside. Officials are begging him not to. William Regal is out to yell at Owens not to continue this. Owens doesn’t listen, so Regal pulls him off physically. Owens headbutts him down. Owens grabs a steel chair and goes to attack but an unfamiliar them ehits. IT’S SAMOA JOE! He already has an official NXT tee and he’s billed as Samoa Joe. He gets in the ring and faces off with Owens as they come face to face. “Holy shit” chants. Owens backs away.

Winner and Still NXT Champion: Kevin Owens in 12:58

The official bell is never called but I just stopped the clock as Owens left. The match was balls to the wall when it came to action. It was non-stop until the popup powerbomb. Kevin Owens looked like a monster, Sami was resilient and relentless and Samoa Joe is here. ***3/4

Kevin Owens comes back out but stops halfway when he sees that Samoa Joe noticed.