wrestling / Columns

NXT TakeOver II: The Future Is Now?

September 11, 2014 | Posted by Greg De Marco

On Thursday, September 11, the WWE presents it’s third in a series of “special events” from the developmental brand, NXT. The first two, NXT ArRival and NXT TakeOver, were met with critical praise. And the third is poised to surpass the first two.

NXT ArRival

This broadcast originally aired on February 27, and featured six matches, including one of the best Divas matches of the year between Paige and Emma. Cesaro and Sami Zayn were given over 20 minutes to impress fans, and Adrian Neville wowed the audience with his death-defying offense as he captured the NXT Championship from Bo Dallas in a Ladder Match.

This first event was aptly titled, as it was indeed the arrival for NXT, transitioning it from a developmental territory to a WWE brand—and a marketable one at that. Even more than Superstars or Main Event, WWE NXT became a key reason for ordering the WWE Network.

NXT TakeOver

NXT took over (pun intended) once again on May 29 with NXT TakeOver, an event that was structured much differently than the first. The first was bookended by the card’s best matches, whereas TakeOver built from a slower beginning to its main event peak.

Tyler Breeze and Sami Zayn had a 15-minute classic, Charlotte surprised everyone with her performance against Natalya. The show closed when Adrian Neville delivered another amazing match, this time in a 20-minute encounter against Tyson Kidd.

Unlike NXT ArRival, which saw Cesaro defeat Sami Zayn, no member of the main television roster was victorious at TakeOver, showing that the NXT roster was fully capable of holding their own against any and all competition.

NXT TakeOver II

Set for September 11 with an announced card is loaded with potential, NXT TakeOver II could be the best NXT special yet.

Mojo Rawley vs. Bull Dempsey is a sleeper candidate here, as Dempsey is a very underrated, old school talent. Enzo Amore vs. Sylvester Lefort in a Hair vs. Hair match is a throwback, and should be a highly entertaining affair. The Ascension is likely paired with their most talented opponents yet in Sin Cara and Kalisto (who, if you haven’t realized it yet, is the next Rey Mysterio). You also have the televised debut of KENTA, who will likely be immediately thrust into a program. I don’t expect an impromptu match, but I do expect physicality of some sort.

On top you have Charlotte defending the NXT Women’s Championship against Bayley, and of course the four-way main event with Adrian Neville defending the NXT Championship against Tyson Kidd, Sami Zayn and Tyler Breeze. These four can flat out go, and this match will deliver in a huge way. I’d love to see an elimination style match with them, and we may get that down the road. Hell, I’d approve it as a last minute addition to the Night Of Champions card (which you may remember as something I’ve advocated for in the past, specifically for Night of Champions).

Is The Future Now?

A popular train of thought is to showcase more NXT talent on Raw, much like the match you can see above. I am not 100% sure this is a great idea. What we saw on Monday felt fresh and exciting, much like when ECW talent “invaded” Raw. But how soon before that got old, or before they got caught up in outlandish storylines? Vince McMahon is reportedly hands-off with NXT, leaving Triple H and a skeleton writing crew for the show.

And look how good it is!

NXT is currently the WWE’s wrestling brand. That’s not to say it’s not sports entertainment—it most certainly is. But it’s leaning to the sports side while delivered an entertaining product on a very consistent basis.

I can’t say for sure that the future is now, but it’s coming. And from what we’ve seen, it’s damn good. The talent on Raw and Smackdown was largely recruited for a product that is more storyline driven. The talent in NXT has been recruited for their in-ring abilities. Yes, they have characters. Yes, they deliver promos. But the stories are told in the ring…and that’s exactly the way it should be. So as Triple H carries more and more influence over the WWE product, I believe that the NXT style will slowly find its way into what we see on television.

But there’s another train of thought, and that’s NXT as a WWE brand. A touring brand. Could NXT sell on a smaller, regional level? In 2000-5000—seat arenas? I believe it could, and we just may see a small scale expansion of NXT in the future.

I obviously can’t say what the future holds, but the success of NXT and the talent that exists in the WWE’s Orlando Performance Center shows me that the future is very, very bright.

Greg DeMarco is a wrestling fan of over 30 years and has also worked on the independent circuit as a promoter, announcer, character and booker. Greg a weekly contributor at 411Mania.com, applying his opinionated style to the world of pro wrestling on Sundays and Thursdays.

He began writing for 411Mania in October 2010 and has been pissing readers off ever since!

Greg’s latest series of must read articles at 411Mania.com:
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