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Csonka’s NXT Takeover: Toronto II Review
Adam Cole NXT
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Csonka’s NXT Takeover Toronto II Review
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– NXT Tag Team Title Match: Champions The Street Profits defeated Undisputed Era @ 17:00 via pin [****]
– Io Shirai defeated Candice LeRae @ 15:00 via submission [****½]
– NXT North American Title Match: Champion Velveteen Dream defeated Pete Dunne & Roderick Strong @ 17:45 via pin [****¼]
– NXT Women’s Title Match: Shayna Baszler defeated Mia Yim @ 14:30 via submission [***]
– NXT Title Best Two out of three Falls Match: Champion Adam Cole defeated Johnny Gargano @ 51:00 via 2-1 [****½]
– Follow all of my reviews at this link.
– A video opens the show, playing the show’s theme song by Slipknot.
– Attendance is announced as 14,700 by commentary.
NXT Tag Team Champions The Street Profits vs. Undisputed Era: Dawkins and O’Reilly begin, locking up and O’Reilly lays in kicks as Dawkins backs him off. O’Reilly slaps him and then Dawkins takes him down, but O’Reilly counters out and Dawkins hits a shoulder tackle. Fish tags in and Dawkins mows him down. Ford tags in and follows with a dropkick, and the champions follow with double teams. Quick tags follow and Fish fires back, lays in leg kicks and dumps Ford. Back in and O’Reilly follows with knee strikes. They work into counter and Ford follows with arm drags to both. The AWA special follows and the double flapjack connects. Fish cuts off Ford, Dawkins chases O’Reilly but Fish tags in and they cut him off. They isolate Dawkins, and double teams follow. O’Reilly follows with a flurry, hits the leg sweep and covers for 2. O’Reilly lays in knee strikes, Fish back in and the senton atomico follows for 2. The suplex then gets 2. Fish follows with a Samoan drop and O’Reilly tags back in. He lays in strikes, ground and pound, and then works the front face lock. They trade strikes, Fish tags in and Dawkins cuts him of and tags in Ford. He runs wild on Fish, and the clothesline follows. He dumps O’Reilly and the standing moonsault gets 2. The spinebuster follows and the people’s elbow is stopped by O’Reilly, Ford dumps Fish onto him and hits the apron PK. The uranage follows for 2. O’Reilly takes out Dawkins, and chop blocks Ford. The double team DDT/German combo follows for 2. Ford fights back, but Fish takes him up top and Ford fights back, they trade and Ford knocks him to the mat. O’Reilly distracts him and Fish crotches him and hits the avalanche XPLODER and O’Reilly hits the flying knee drop and the Achilles lock follows. Ford fights but Fish flies in and then takes out Dawkins until Dawkins slams him onto O’Reilly to make the save. Ford fights off O’Reilly and tags in Dawkins, he runs wild on the challengers and the XPLODER follows. O’Reilly counters the spear with a knee strike, locks on the guillotine but Ford flies in with the blockbuster for 2 as Fish makes the save. They fight to their feet, trading strikes, and they go crazy fists but O’Reilly hits a running knee strike on Dawkins. Ford fires back, superkick by Ford and the tope follows and wipes out the challengers. Back in and Dawkins spears O’Reilly and then Fish. Frog splash by Ford and the champions retain. Champions The Street Profits defeated Undisputed Era @ 17:00 via pin [****] The NXT tag teams deliver again on Takeover, delivering an absolutely great opener, with the Profits continuing to improve and Undisputed Era continuing to prove that they are one of the best tag teams in the business. They did a great job of teasing the title change, which I thought we were getting, but the Profits retained and proved that they aren’t a fluke as champions. This was hard-hitting with great athleticism throughout. I love tag team wrestling.
Io Shirai vs. Candice LeRae: LeRae rushes the ring and attacks. Shirai cuts her off and teases a sunset bomb to the floor, but then suplexes LeRae onto the commentary table. LeRae is down as Shirai heads back into the ring. LeRae crawls her way back in and Shirai follows with a dropkick and then mounted strikes. The flapjack follows and the basement dropkick connects for 2. She grounds things, but LeRae battles back and Shirai counters the head scissors and follows with a dropkick. The camel clutch follows, and follows with an air raid crash for 2. LeRae fights off a suplex, but Shirai cuts her off, heads up top and misses the missile dropkick. LeRae follows with strikes, chops and works over Shirai in the corner. The brainbuster follows for 2. The octopus hold follows, but Shirai makes the ropes. Shirai trips her up but LeRae counters the 619 and the neck breaker follows for 2. LeRae takes her up top and follows but Shirai kicks her to the apron, the 619 follows. To the apron and LeRae knocks her to the floor and hits the suicide DDT. Back in and the double stomp follows for 2. Shirai rakes the eyes, and locks on the crossface but LeRae counters out but eats a superkick. They trade clotheslines, German by Shirai and LeRae rebounds with one of her own. Shirai counters back and follows with a bridging German for 2. Shirai fires up and hits the double knees, heads up top and counters out of a German, misses the charge but LeRae counters into a poison RANA for 2. LeRae follows with the wild ride off the ropes for 2. LeRae up top, gets cut off and Shirai follows her up and hits the Spanish fly for a great near fall! Shirai can’t believe she kicked out, follows with strikes but LeRae cradles her for 2. Shirai counters into a back breaker and head up to and the moonsault connects for ONLY 2! My word. She unloads with slaps on LeRae, and the koji clutch variation follows, LeRae fights, and passes out. Io Shirai defeated Candice LeRae @ 15:00 via submission [****½] This was absolutely awesome from the opening bell as they kept a great pace, it had great crowd heat and intensity throughout and these ladies just killed it and were in their element tonight. Io was a tremendously remorseless heel, while Candice was in her element, thriving as the babyface fighting from the bottom. Io’s mannerisms are also top notch as she does all of the little things so very well. I am thrilled that Candice finally got the chance to deliver on a Takeover.
– Matt Riddle arrives and calls out Killian Dain for a fight. Dain arrives and they brawl on the floor, trading strikes and Dain follows wit a bicycle kick as officials break them up. Riddle charges him and they brawl on the stage. Dain rakes the eyes and Riddle catches him with a pair of knee strikes. He follows with ground and pound as more officials arrive to put a stop to it. Riddle fights them off, hitting knee strikes and bro to sleeps until Dain cuts him off and pummels him. Riddle tries to choke him out and Dain fights him off and then they fly of the stage and through tables; great angle from these two.
– EVOLVE’s Austin Theory is in the crowd.
– Dream gets the Raptor’s dancers as part of his Mountie themed entrance and it’s awesome.
NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream vs. Pete Dunne vs. Roderick Strong: Dream plays to the crowd, they argue and Strong attacks and dumps Dream. He follows with chops on Dunne and Dunne quickly cuts him off with a lariat. Dream dumps Strong and he then pulls Dunne to the floor. Dream follows with strikes and the double axe handle. Dunne back in and he and Dream work over Strong with double teams. Dunne attacks the arm of Strong and Dunne dumps Strong. He grounds Dream, and follows with the arm bar until Dream cradles him for 2. Dream counters bitter end and Strong crotches Dream on the post. The apron back breaker follows and then one for Dunne. He follows with chops, and back in, covers for 2. The belly to back suplex follows for 2. Strong maintains control, grounding Dunne and then follows with chops. The back breaker follows for 2. Dream flies in and takes control, hits the Russian leg sweep and that gets 2. He hits a back breaker and hits the Bret Hart elbow and the sharpshooter follows but Dunne flies in with a missile dropkick to break that up. To the floor, and Strong takes out Dream and Dunne follows with a moonsault to the floor. Back in and Dunne follows with an enziguri and follows with Germans on both covering for 2. Dunne stomps away at both, but they fire back and beat down Dunne. They battle and all three brawl. Strong follows with kicks, Dunne cuts him off and stomps on both of their hands and it breaks down and all three are now down. Dream now heads up top, Dunne cuts him off and looks for a superplex, snaps the fingers, and Strong joins in and the tower of doom follows. Strong follows with strikes, Dune gets the triangle but Strong powerbombs out and Dunne attacks the fingers as Dream flies coast to coast with an elbow drop onto Dunne. Knee stakes by Strong, follows with running elbow strikes and tiger drivers Dunne onto Dream and locks on the double stronghold. They escape, Dream fights back and the double dream valley is countered, Dunne snaps both of their fingers and hits bitter end but Dream stops the count. Dunne takes him out, and hits the curb stomp on Dream. Strong fires back, counters bitter end and gets the stronghold. Dream tosses Strong and hits the dream valley driver but Strong dumps him and hits end of heartache but Dream makes the save and pins Dunne. Champion Velveteen Dream defeated Pete Dunne & Roderick Strong @ 17:45 via pin [****¼] This was great stuff, with really strong pacing as they worked the triple threat formula really well and everyone got a chance to shine. The closing stretch was really excellent, with tons of great near falls and teases of a possible title change, but even though it wasn’t easy, Dream managed to retain and continue on with his reign.
NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler vs. Mia Yim: They lock up and Baszler slaps her. Lock up again, Baszler starts to attack the arm and then slams Yim down. Yim follows with leg kicks, but Baszler looks for an am bar but Yim rolls, and makes the ropes. Yim follows with arm drags, and then a RANA. The running boot and cannonball follows. Baszler cuts off the suicide dive, but Yim then sends her to the steps. She traps the arm in the steps and then dropkicks the steps. Back in and Baszler trips her up and follows with kicks. Baszler follows with a running knee strike and then covers for 2. Baszler looks to attack the arm and then stomps on it. Both have dinged up arms now. The kimura follows, and follows with strikes to the back and follows with kicks for 2. Baszler works the arm in the ropes, follows with leg kicks and then back to the arm. Yim pulls the hair to escape, but Baszler cuts her off. Baszler then follows with a dropkick for 2. She then goes back to the arm, working it in the ropes but Yim rakes the eyes and follows with a Saito suplex. Yim follows with clotheslines, kicks, and… they fall down on a botched counter spot. Yim follows with a belly to belly and hits the suicide dive. Back in and the tornado DDT follows or 2. Baszler avoids the kicks, hits the knee strike and another, covering for 2. Yim counters back, stuns Baszler off the ropes and the tarantula follows. She heads up top and Baszler cuts her off, follows her up and they battle for position and Yim follows with the super code red for 2. Baszler now locks on the clutch, Yim attacks the inured arm and escapes. She stomps on the arm of Baszler and the PK and arm bar follows, cranks back but Baszler counters into he clutch again. Yim attacks the arm, escapes, but Baszler locks on the figure four head choke and Yim taps. Shayna Baszler defeated Mia Yim @ 14:30 via submission [***] The match was good with string work and a fine lay out, but had almost no heat or real intensity overall; it was lacking, especially following Io vs. Candice. I love Mia, but it wasn’t the right time for a change judging by the crowd reaction here. Will Dakota Kai finally return and be the one to beat Baszler?
Two out of Three Falls NXT Title Match: NXT Champion Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano: Fall One – Wrestling Match: They lock up and work into counters, with Gargano grounding things and Cole escaping to his feet. They lock up again, Cole hits a shoulder tackle, but Gargano counters back and they end in a stand off. They work to the ropes, and Gargano follows with a RANA and dumps him. Cole misses a kick, hits the steps and Gargano then attacks the knee. Back in and Gargano grounds the action, focusing on the knee. The trailer hitch follows, but Cole makes the ropes. Gargano keeps attacking the knee, working over Cole in the ropes. Cole fires back, and pulls Gargano to the floor and Germans him into the apron. Back in and Cole hits the neck breaker. He follows with strikes, and the neck breaker follows for 2. Cole grounds things, working the neck. Gargano counters out but gets slammed to the buckles. Gargano counters the Panama sunrise and suplexes Cole to the buckles. They trade strikes, Gargano follows with clothesline and the rolling kick. Cole counters the slingshot spear but Gargano hits the Michinoku driver for 2. He follows with chops, takes out the knee of Cole and the figure four follows. Cole escapes, hits the back elbow and the German follows for 2. Cole lays in strikes, a head kick and enziguri. The Panama sunrise is countered into a sunset driver for 2. Gargano follows with chops, they work up top and Cole slips out and then catches Gargano with the code breaker and Michinoku driver for 2. They trade strikes, work into counters and into a double down. Cole cuts of the suicide dive but Gargano send him to the barricade and the slingshot DDT follows for 2. The superkick follows, but Cole follows with superkicks back in and the OG last shot connects for 2. Cole now follows with strikes, powders and grabs a chair. He slides it in and the ref takes it, and he superkicks Gargano for 2. Cole grabs the chair and sets it up and takes a seat. Cole then tosses it out, argues with the ref and Gargano hits the superkick and Gargano grabs the chair and nails Cole for the DQ @ 20:45, Cole is up 1-0.
Fall Two – Street Fight: Gargano lays in a flurry of chair shots, Cole powders but Gargano follows with the suicide dive. They brawl into the crowd, with Gargano just beating Cole down. He takes a selfie and Cole fires back. Superkick by Gargano, and he then wheels Cole around in an office chair and into a wall. He follows with a high cross and they crash through the barricade. He dismantles the announce table, lays Cole on it and tease a pedigree, Cole rakes the eyes and Gargano backdrops him through the Spanish announce table. Gargano pulls out a table, slides it in the ring and gets another. He slides that one in as well. He then tosses in chairs and Cole cuts him off with the shining wizard and the ushigoroshi gets 2. Cole wedges a chair in the corner, but Gargano fights him off but Cole hits the superkick. Gargano battles back and lawn darts Cole into the chair and the Gargano escape evens it up @ 29:33.
Fall Three – CARNAGE CAGE MATCH: The weapons filled cage with a barbed wire top lowers as lethal lockdown, minus the roof, comes to NXT. There is NO escape here, only pin or submission. They brawl, trading strikes and Cole hits a superkick but Gargano rebounds with a lariat. They trade kendo shots, beating the hell out of each other and work into a double down off of the double superkick spot. The crowd love this and is still hot at 35-minutes in. Gargano climbs for a ladder, Col follows him up and Gargano then hits a RANA. The poison RANA follows and the superkick gets 2. He sets up the table, but Cole follows with chair shots and takes control. Cole follows with a kendo-assisted backstabber for 2. Cole sets up chairs, takes Gargano up top and follows. He teases a superplex, but Gargano fights him off and shoots a fire extinguisher at him. The tornado DDT into the chairs follows for 2. Gargano lays in kendo shots grabs a sledgehammer, and Cole follows him up but Gargano hits the sunset bomb. Gargano has the sledgehammer, but Cole cuts him off with superkicks, and then climbs and hits the Panama sunrise for a great near fall. Cole sets up the ladder, climbs, and hits another Panama sunrise for 2! Cole now follows with kendo shots, looks for the last shot but Gargano collapses. He lays Gargano o on the chair and misses the last shot and Gargano locks on the kendo-assisted STF, but Cole bites his way out. Cole follows with strikes, kendo shot by Gargano and he sets up the ladder, lays Cole on the table, and climbs the ladder. Cole rolls off the table, so Gargano drops down and follows with kendo shots. They work up top and Gargano hits the super Panama sunrise for only 2! Both men are down, Gargano brings out bolt cutters and snips some barbed wire. Cole is terrified; tries to escape, and they work onto a table on top of the Cage in the corner. They trade strikes, Gargano looks to attack with the barbed wire and they fly off the cage and through the tables as Cole drapes an arm over Gargano to retain. Champion Adam Cole defeated Johnny Gargano @ 51:00 via 2-1 [****½] This was an absolutely tremendous war between these two, and it should really serve as the blow ff to the feud. They went long really long but kept the crowd invested the entire time. It was insanity, they threw everything at each other, and everything they did felt like the feud’s culmination. I loved the finish as it fit the Gargano character well, as he has a tendency to go too far in order to deliver the deathblow, which ultimately costs him. It was another excellent match from these two, although I prefer the first two matches more. I think it would have been better going a bit shorter, but I got what they were going for (the dramatic epic) and the crowd loved it, but sometimes you need more Tombstone and less Wyatt Earp. It really feels like Gargano needs no move on now.
The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 41. On the show, the good brother, Jeremy Lambert, joins 411’s Larry Csonka and the guys will preview the big weekend shows. ROH Summer Supercard, NXT Takeover: Toronto II, and WWE Summerslam 2019. Finally, the guys catch up on NJPW G1 29 reviews. The show is approximately 135-minutes long.
* Intro
* NJPW G1 29 Night 12 Review: 2:25
* NJPW G1 29 Night 13 Review: 14:25
* NJPW G1 29 Night 14 Review: 24:45
* ROH Summer Supercard Preview: 43:45
* NXT Takeover: Toronto II Preview: 1:07:45
* WWE Summerslam 2019 Preview: 1:30:45
You can subscribe and listen to the 411 on Wrestling Podcast via the above player on Transistor, or on the following platforms:
* iTunes
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play
