wrestling / TV Reports
Csonka’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn Review 8.22.15
Loading...
NXT Takeover: Brooklyn Review 8.22.15
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Jushin “Thunder” Liger defeated Tyler Breeze @ 8:35 via pin [***]
– NXT Tag Team Title match: The Vaudevillians defeated Champions Blake and Murphy @ 10:12 via pin [**¾]
– Apollo Crews defeated Ty Dillinger @ 4:45 via pin [*¾]
– Samoa Joe defeated Baron Corbin @ 10:22 via pin [**½]
– NXT Women’s Title Match: Bayley defeated Champion Sasha Banks @ 18:29 via pin [****¾]
– NXT Title Ladder Match: Champion Finn Balor defeated Kevin Owens @ 21:45 [****½]
* Triple H was in the ring for the open, saying that NXT was a change and that the fans made it an unstoppable revolution. He posed and the house lights came on and the house looks awesome. Triple H is now mid-90s Paul Heyman in the NXT universe.
Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs. Tyler Breeze: Breeze got an NYC themed fashion show entrance. Liger may be 50 years old, but the man can still go and has had some good singles outings this year. I also think it’s awesome to see Liger in a WWE ring. Much like his ROH match with Dalton Castle, Liger made sure to play to the gimmick and mocked Breeze and even used the selfie stick. Breeze was great early; selling and bumping like a champ for Liger before taking control. They had a really fun match with a great crowd. I loved Breeze’s aggression during the match, he keeps adding in the little things, which I appreciate. Liger used the palm strike and the Liger bomb for the win. That was a fun opener, pretty much exactly what it needed to be.
* Nash, Hall and Waltman are in the crowd.
* Charlotte and Becky wish Bayley luck backstage.
* We get a promo for Nia Jax, coming soon.
* Bliss ran down the challengers for not having anyone in their corner, and then Blue Pants arrives. Blue Pants is scarily over.
NXT Tag Team Title Match: Champions Blake and Murphy w/Alexa Bliss vs. The Vaudevillians: The Vaudevillians controlled early, until they tripped up English on the apron and then the champs took control. Blake and Murphy are perfectly fine, but they remind me of a team I’d watch back on WCW Saturday night. Gotch finally got the hot tag and ran wild, and got a great pop. There was some miscommunication between Blake and Murphy, which allowed the comeback. We got the tower of doom, and English hit the senton for a great near fall. Bliss tried to get involved, Blue Pants chased her and she then ended up in the ring. Blue Pants sloppily got rid of her; the Vaudevillians hit the whirling dervish and picked up the win and the titles. This got a great reaction overall, but I still can’t help but to think that the Enzo and Cass win here would have been amazing. Anyway, they worked a good and clean match, played into the crowd well and the title change was well received. We’re two for two tonight in terms of fun matches, although I liked the opener more.
Tye Dillinger vs. Apollo Crews: Crews is the former Uhaa Nation, and a hell of a talent. Dillinger’s “10” gimmick is over, and Crews played into that well early. Dillinger took control and tried to work the million-dollar dream, and then got a near fall off of a superkick. Crews then made the comeback and hit the press slam into the standing moonsault (2/3 of the Uhaa Combination) for the win. This was acceptable, too much was given to Dillinger and when he had control it felt really slow and they lost the crowd a bit, almost killing any momentum they had built. I felt that this needed to be more of a showcase for Crews.
* William Regal announces the “Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic,” which stars in two weeks and will end at the next NXT special on October 7th. He plans to make Dusty proud with the tournament.
* The Tough Enough finalists are in attendance.
Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin: To be honest with you, I haven’t exactly been a fan of Corbin. So far he’s just been a guy to me, never really showing me much as far as potential. Hopefully he can step it up tonight on this big stage. Typical hoss battle stuff early on, with Corbin controlling by using strikes. Joe was able to use his grappling and submissions to take back control, and then the fight went to the floor, where Joe kept the advantage. They worked back and forth, and the crowd wasn’t with this nearly as they were for the first two matches. They aren’t into Joe big time, and they aren’t even really shitting on Corbin, they are just kind of there. Then they started beating the hell out of each other, which finally got the crowd into the action a bit. Much like Dillinger, a lot of Corbin’s control work isn’t very interesting and quite honestly dull. Joe countered out of a pin attempt and locked in the clutch and that was all. This was just fine, there were times that it was looking good; the striking exchanges and basic hoss stuff worked well, but I feel Corbin’s heat segment was a killer. I have to say that I was hoping for more, especially from Corbin as this was a big chance for him to step up. It was just fine.
* Kana, Ric Flair and Sgt. Slaughter are at ringside.
* Yeah, Kana just appeared at a WWE event. This shit keeps getting more and more weird in a gloriously fun way.
* Stephanie McMahon came out to the ring to take credit for the creation of all women and women being allowed in sports. Thanks mom.
* They show a great video package for Bayley vs. Sasha.
NXT Women’s Title Match: Champion Sasha Banks vs. Bayley: Bayley has some polka dots n her gear in tribute to Dusty Rhodes. Sasha was brought in an Escalade and had a security detail. They’ve told a great story to get here, and the XNT ladies traditionally deliver, so I am looking forward to this. Sasha has been quick to dismiss Bayley through out the feud and build to the match, and kept to that mocking her here Bayley may have been all smiles on her entrance, but showed a more aggressive vibe here, showing how serious she was in wanting to win the title. They told a good story with Bayley trying to counter and overcome the dominant champion, while Sasha was condescending and over confident at times. Sasha worked the arm late, taking the shortcut to unwrap the previously injured hand/wrist of the challenger. She even pinned the hand in between the steps and the apron and “crushed” it by kicking the steps. Sasha then decided to bust out the tope con hilo over the ref, which really lit up the crowd. They had a great homestretch, with Bayley having to overcome the injured hand. Sasha locked in the Banks statement and was kicking the hell out of Bayley’s hand, which was so great and brutal looking. Not a fan of the reversal spot by Bayley, as it made no sense to use a crossface, after Sasha was destroying the hand. It’s the little things, both good and bad. We then had a great near fall off of the Bayley to belly, and then they went up top and they were go gin to do the spot where Sasha pushes off Bayley as she tries a top rope RANA, but Bayley pretty much landed on her head. That was scary. Banks then hit the meteora for another near fall. They then battled up top late, and Bayley hit the REVERSE RANA off the top (WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK!?!) and then the Bayley to belly to win the title. It started a bit slow, but they played off of the story and kept slowly building and building in layers very well. And then they just started to go wild and got the crowd into a frenzy, and once again the NXT ladies delivered. Not only because they have talent, but also because they are put in places to succeed. They keep the picture simple, they tell the story and they give them the chance to deliver in the ring when it comes to it. That’s the opposite of the muddled attempt at a revolution on the main roster. Anyway this was a spectacular match, a top tier match of the year candidate. I have watched a ton of wrestling this year, and I’d say it’s easily in the top 15 (all being ****¾ and up) and maybe even in the top 10 because of the story element. This was simply sensational work here. This was a great story, great work, a huge step up for Bayley and another feather in the cap for Sasha Banks. Also, for those that say women’s wrestling isn’t and never will be over, these two ladies beg to differ. They worked a big time match in a big time venue in front of a big time crowd and absolutely delivered.
* Charlotte and Becky came out to celebrate with Bayley and carried her around the ring. Bayley and Sasha then hugged post match, and then we got a group hug. The match and post match together painted an amazing picture.
NXT Title Ladder Match: Champion Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor: This started really late, but since we’re on the network they didn’t have to rush, starting in the ring and not rushing for the ladder. Owens controlled early, the fans started to do the OLE chant, and then he mocked popping out his shoulder in reference to Zayn. He’s a spectacular asshole. At about five-minutes in they introduced the ladder, which led the brawl on the floor. At about 11-minutes in Owens worked over Balor, using the ladder heavily in his offense. Balor seemingly tweaked his ankle, but worked through it well. The aggression from Owens here was excellent, really acting as if he gave no fucks and was doing anything and everything to put the champion away. Balor would fight back to hit the double stomp and climb, but Owens was able to powerbomb him off the ladder to stop that. I was a bit worried that the crowd may have been burnt out from the previous match, but these guys did a great job of getting them into the match. Owens snapped late, superkick Balor and demanding he stay down, and telling him he did this. Owens built a ladder bridge, but Balor would battle back and send Owens down onto the bridge. This led to another double stomp, this time off of the ladder and Balor finally grabbed the title to retain. This was a great main event.
* End scene.
* Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”
