Csonka’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III Takeaways

– Welcome back to column time with Larry. Today I thought that I would look at the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III event and some takeaways from that show. Have a good time and make sure to share your thoughts. The only rules are “have a take, be respectful of other’s opinions and don’t be a dick.” We all have opinions, we’re going to disagree, just be cool about it.

DON’T. DOUBT. TAKEOVER: Going into NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III I will freely admit that the TV was solid but unspectacular. But like many Takeover shows I saw a lot of “this card isn’t interesting, there are no good matches, I will take a pass” style comments. And if you felt that way, don’t feel bad because to be honest with you, I had some of those feelings as well. It wasn’t the strongest if builds, it wasn’t the best card on paper, but thankfully they delivered a great show. I have felt this way a few times in the past with Takeover shows, but each time I felt that way, they delivered. I should have known better, and have officially learned my lesson. I will never doubt Takeover again, until they actually give me a reason to do so. I really love these shows; 2-hours, great wrestling, interesting stories and everyone feels like a star.

🖤BLACKHEART 🖤 pic.twitter.com/7GRCJsPkv6

— BLACKHEART (@ProjectCiampa) August 20, 2017

Johny Gargano Has Such Amazing Babyface Potential: If you’ve been reading my reviews or columns for the past 7 years or so it should be no surprise to you that I have been a huge fan and supporter of Jonathan “Johny Gargano” Wrestling. That’s his full, legal, Christian name; his mother told me so (I’m lying, I stole his wallet at a CHIKARA event back on 2012). Gargano really hit his stride and started to really capture interest during his WWNlive run. It was a run I greatly enjoyed, but not just for the great matches. It was because Garagno constantly grew and evolved as a performer. That is the key for every wrestler trying to make it, you can be good, but if you don’t evolve (for lack of a better term) you die. He proved that he could thrive as a major player; he just needed the chance and he got it. Watching Gargano transform himself from a friend in similar tights to a top guy who constantly delivered was a complete joy for me. He was a douchey little heel, but also a completely awesome babyface; a pure babyface that fans unconditionally follow. I loved his match with Almas at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III, he was a great fiery babyface that had the crowd willing him to win, they wanted a hero and they wanted it to be Johnny Wrestling. But the hero didn’t win here because Zelina Vega used the ghost of Tommaso Ciampa (via throwing a DIY shirt at Gargano). Gargano is a star, he is a hero, but he’s been hurt emotionally and is vulnerable in a good way that fans can relate to. He didn’t look stupid for losing, he had an emotional reaction to seeing an item that made him remember the tragic betrayal, and lost focus for a moment, which cost him the match.

#SDLive GM @WWEDanielBryan has garnered the attention of a certain #IconicDuo at #NXTTakeOver: Brooklyn III! @BillieKayWWE @WWEPeytonRoyce pic.twitter.com/nOhk11Ieyr

— WWE (@WWE) August 20, 2017

They Heavily Teased Call-Ups/Moves For The Rumored Superstar Shake-Up Impacting NXT: One of the more interesting things about NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III was the tease of NXT call-ups for the upcoming/rumored superstar shake up. I thought that the AOP would retain, sending Sanity to the main roster. But with Sanity winning and starting a feud with Fish and O’Reilly, I can see the former champions moving up and being the Fashion Police’s attackers. And then they showed Angle and Bryan in a skybox with several NXT talents, with the big tease that the Raw and Smackdown GMs were in attendance for meetings and scouting possible roster additions. And then we came to the main event, where NXT champion Bobby Roode did the clean job for McIntyre. I can see him working a match on the upcoming NXT tapings, likely losing to Strong and doing some possible involvement with Cole, Fish, and O’Reilly to tease Strong’ inclusion in the group. That allows Strong to get revenge and possibly set him up for another shot at the NXT title. Or even have Cole beat him to get him up and running right away. When you take into consideration how loaded the NXT roster is, along with the additions of Cole, Fish, and O’Reilly (and with whoever they sign from the Mae Young Classic) people will be called up. Judging from this show, along with various rumors going around, I’d say Roode, the AOP w/Ellering, The Iconic Duo and Liv Morgan are all prime candidates; Ember Moon has an outside shot as it’s tradition to bring up losers from main shows.

I Loved The Start on The “ROH Invasion”: I loved the start of the “ROH Invasion,” which had been rumored for a while. I loved it because they didn’t waste any time in getting these guys rolling. Fish and O’Reilly came in and had competitive introductory losses to Aleister Black and disappeared. And I think that their disappearance and the fact that they didn’t have Cole sitting in the crowd for the typical cameo all played very well. Fish and O’Reilly attacking Sanity and also beating down the AOP was smart, and gets them back together (they are better off together in my opinion) and right into the tag title mix. You have a few directions to go here, if the AOP are being moved up, then on this week’s tapings, I’d have reDRagon beat them to send them packing and get them solidified as a serious team right away. Cole immediately put himself into the title mix by attacking and laying out McIntyre, with the group standing tall to end the show. It was an impressive debut for the three as a unit, it changes the landscape of NXT in a big way and if the predicted call-ups happen, really freshens things up. Plus there are also a lot of other guys waiting in the wings for their chances. I think that we may be about to enter a really interesting stretch of NXT TV moving forward.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”