wrestling / Video Reviews
Hall’s WWE NXT Takeover: New Orleans Review
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...WWE NXT Takeover: New Orleans
Date: April 7, 2018
Location: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
Attendance: 13,955
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson
This show is often high up on the list of greatest Takeovers, and that should make for a fun look back. There is a lot on the card, but by far the biggest part of the show is an anything goes grudge match between Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano, which is a very long time in the making. Other than that, it’s your usual Takeover goodness. Let’s get to it.
I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the lower bowl with the entrance on my left.
Cane Hill performs It Follows, the official theme song, as we see (well parts of) the opening video, which looks at the main card.
North American Title: EC3 vs. Ricochet vs. Killian Dain vs. Lars Sullivan vs. Adam Cole vs. Velveteen Dream
Ladder match for the inaugural title and hello (I’m pretty sure) during Cole’s entrance. The fans declare this awesome at the bell, and EC3 drops to the floor so the rest of them can brawl. Sullivan and Dain (the powerhouses) clear the ring but go outside to beat up everyone else. They have another staredown, but Ricochet is there with a springboard shooting star to take them out. Ricochet and Dream get back inside, with Ricochet snapping off a headscissors into a great dropkick.
Dream cuts off a springboard and climbs the ladder, only for Cole to cut him off. Sullivan is in with a powerslam to Cole and another one to EC3, but Dain is back in as well. Dain sends Sullivan outside for a huge suicide dive, and everyone brawls inside. Sullivan brings a ladder in to clean house and goes up, but Ricochet (the big crowd favorite) cuts him off. A triple bomb brings Sullivan down, and Cole is left alone to climb. Dain pulls him down, and Cole asks who Dain thinks he is.
That earns Cole a headbutt and Dain…knocks the ladder over, which doesn’t seem that smart. EC3 and Cole get together to take Dain out, but EC3 does his own version of Cole’s daunt. That earns him an AA onto a ladder, leaving Cole to fire off a bunch of superkicks. Dream is back up to take over with a bunch of Purple Rainmakers and a ladder to Sullivan’s head. That lets him climb to the top of a ladder (above the belt) and hit a HUGE Purple Rainmaker to crush Sullivan again.
EC3 is back up to powerbomb Dream onto a ladder, followed by a TKO to bring Cole off of the ladder in a big crash. That doesn’t work for Dain, who puts EC3 under a ladder, and with Cole on his back, hits a Vader Bomb to completely crush EC3. Back in and Sullivan and Dain start throwing Ricochet back and forth, which just can’t feel good. Ricochet falls out to the floor, leaving Dain to uppercut and forearm away at Sullivan.
Somehow Ricochet is back up and tries to climb, but Dain shoves the ladder over….so Ricochet moonsaults off of it onto a pile at ringside (THAT’S NOT NORMAL!). Back in and EC3, who is somehow alive, gets crushed on the ladder, but Dream cuts Ricochet down again. A big right hand drops Ricochet, but the ladder shot misses in the corner. Dream bridges another ladder in the standing one and puts Ricochet on the bridge, only for Ricochet to get up for a slugout.
Naturally, Dream gets up and hits the Dream Valley Driver to plant Ricochet onto the bridged ladder, leaving referees to make sure they’re both still alive. Sullivan is back up and puts Dream onto a ladder, setting up a Freak Accident (kind of a Rock Bottom) to put EC3 through Dream through the ladder, leaving EC3’s eyes bugging out in a great visual. Not to be outdone, Dain picks Cole up and drives him through Ricochet through a ladder, leaving pretty much everyone down.
Sullivan is up first and goes up the ladder, but Dain is there to cut him off. They fight on a ladder as EC3 and Cole climb another one. Of course, Dream goes up on a third ladder, and Ricochet joins him for the six-way brawl. Cole gets knocked down, and Ricochet gives Dream a neckbreaker to bring him down as well. Sullivan Freak Accidents Dain down, and everyone needs a breather. Sullivan starts to climb, but Ricochet springboards in and lands on his back for a nasty crash down. Cole turns the ladder over to send Ricochet down, though, and goes up to get the title at 33:28.
Rating: A+. Oh, come on, like this could be anything but perfect. This was six people going absolutely insane with one big spot after another. The idea here was to have them all wreck everyone else, and it definitely worked, with pure carnage throughout. I was stunned at how long the match lasted, as it doesn’t drag in the slightest and had one cool spot after another. Outstanding match and total carnage in the perfect way.
We recap Ember Moon defending the Women’s Title against Shayna Baszler. Moon is the new star around here, but Baszler is the violent submission monster, whom Moon barely beat in their first title match. Now, Baszler is even angrier and ready to destroy her for the title.
Women’s Title: Shayna Baszler vs. Ember Moon
Moon is defending and gets played live to the ring for a nice touch. Ronda Rousey and Jessamyn Duke are here to watch Baszler, and you can see how much this means for Rousey in a great moment. Moon misses a running boot to start and gets punched out of the air, meaning they’re on the floor early. That’s fine with Moon, who dropkicks her into the steps and hits a top rope Codebreaker for two back inside.
A crossface sends Baszler over to the ropes and then out to the floor, where she pulls Moon onto the apron. Back in, and Baszler grabs a nasty gutwrench suplex and a kick to the back gets two. A bow and arrow into a knee to the face gets two on Moon, so Baszler grabs the Kirifuda Clutch. That’s broken up with a ram into the corner, and Moon is back with a faceplant.
Baszler kicks her down and tries to stomp on the arm, but Moon switches places with her and gets in a stomp of her own. Baszler’s arm is limp, but she’s able to kick Moon down in the corner, leaving Baszler to ram her shoulder into the post and pop it back in. As you do. Moon knocks her out to the floor and hits the Eclipse to leave them both down outside. Back in and Baszler gets the Kirifuda Clutch, so Moon goes back to the arm to escape.
That leaves Baszler to pull her into a triangle choke, which is broken up with a powerbomb for two. Another Eclipse is countered into the Kirifuda Clutch, and Moon knows she’s in trouble. Baszler even gets a one-armed version to protect her bad arm. The hold stays on for a good while with Moon fighting (fair enough, as it’s not the traditional version) until she finally passes out to make Baszler champion at 12:55.
Rating: B. This took some time to get going, but once it turned into Baszler using her submission skills and pulling Moon in, it worked rather well. Baszle,r having the arm injury, evened things up a bit, but once she survived and even blocked Moon’s big shot in the Eclipse, there was nothing left. Good match, even as it followed that opener.
Baszler celebrates with her friends in a nice moment.
We look at Fighting With My Family, which was rather fun.
Adam Cole is banged up and isn’t sure if he can defend the Tag Team Titles.
We recap the Tag Team Title match. Pete Dunne and Roderick Strong were facing the Authors of Pain in the finals of the Dusty Classic, but the Undisputed Era interfered. A triple threat was set, with the winners leaving with the titles and the cup.
Tag Team Titles/Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals: Undisputed Era vs. Pete Dunne/Roderick Strong vs. Authors Of Pain
The Era is defending, but Cole is very banged up and can barely walk. The Authors start the fight fast and clear the ring, save for a sitout powerbomb/neckbreaker combination for two on Strong. Cole is sent crashing out to the floor, and a double powerbomb sends him crashing through the announcer’ table, which should be it for him. O’Reilly is back up with some running boots, but Dunne catches him with a Kimura.
That’s fine with O’Reilly, who reverses into a quickly broken cross armbreaker. Strong strikes away and starts snapping off the backbreakers, including one to O’Reilly for two. O’Reilly is back up with a triangle choke to Strong and an ankle lock to Rezar at the same time (that’s snazzy). Akam powerbombs Dunne onto the three of them for the break, and we settle down to Rezar choking Strong as it turns into a regular tag match. That’s broken up, and O’Reilly comes in to kick away at Rezar, who drops him with a forearm to the head.
Strong comes in and gets taken down just as fast by a knee from Akam. O’Reilly’s attempt at a choke is cut off with a boot to the head, but Strong is able to get over for the tag off to Dunne. House is cleaned, including a tornado DDT, but the Authors are back with some clotheslines. The Super Collider into the Last Chapter gets two on O’Reilly, with Strong making the save.
Dunne snaps Rezar’s fingers, and Strong grabs an Angle Slam for two. Strong and Dunne are up with the strikes to Akam, but O’Reilly is back in to trade kicks with Dunne. The Bitter End gets two on O’Reilly…as Strong turns out Dunne and lays him out and puts O’Reilly on top to retain at 11:34.
Rating: B. Outside of a quick bit in the middle, this was pretty much all action, which is impressive as one of the people involved wasn’t around for most of the match. That’s more than fair enough, as Cole already had a huge match earlier in the night and couldn’t really move. The fact that the Era won a tournament they weren’t even in was quite the selling point, which they would of course brag about quite a bit.
Post-match, Strong puts on the Undisputed Era armband, with Cole and O’Reilly looking stunned in happiness. The fans go NUTS in approval as Bobby Fish comes out as well for the four-way pose.
We recap Aleister Black challenging Andrade Cien Almas for the NXT Title. Black has run through the roster and is now going after the title, while Almas and Zelina Vega have made quite the formidable team. This is only so big of a match, and they can’t really get around it.
NXT Title: Aleister Black vs. Andrade Cien Almas
Almas, with Zelina Vega, is defending. Black kicks away to start, and Almas bails to the floor, where Black nails a nice middle rope moonsault. Vega gets glared away, but Almas gets in a shot on the floor, only for Black to get something like a Black Widow back inside. That’s broken up, and Black is sent outside, where Vega grabs a nice hurricanrana into the steps (more impressive in leather pants).
Back in, and Almas grabs a triangle choke over the rope, followed by a crossface chickenwing of all things. Almas stays on the arm by going back to the ropes, only to get kneed out of the air to give Black a needed breather. Black’s springboard moonsault press gets two as Vega is losing it at ringside. Almas is back up with a knockdown into the double moonsault, followed by a hard elbow. Black shrugs that off and kicks him in the face for two, leaving them both down.
They trade kicks to the head for another double down before Almas hiptosses him into the corner. The running knees are cut off, but Black’s next springboard is shoved outside for the big crash. A springboard twisting crossbody hits Black for two, meaning it’s time to cheat. Vega grabs the title to distract the referee, allowing her to hit a spoke hurricanrana for two, leaving the villains freaking out. A quick Black Mass connects, but Vega puts the foot on the rope in time.
Vega offers a distraction, though, and Black misses a charge to crotch himself in the corner. That lets Almas hit the top rope double stomp to the apron for tw,o and Almas is stunned. Black gets up, but Almas catches him from behind with another shot to the head for two more. The running knees against the post rock Black again, but the hanging hammerlock DDT is broken up. Black’s big running flip dive goes a bit too far, though thankfully, Almas hits a hammerlock DDT for two back inside. Vega tries to come in again but gets caught by Almas, allowing Black Mass to give Black the pin and the title at 18:20.
Rating: A-. It’s kind of a shame that this match is on the same show as the opener and main event, as it doesn’t get the love and respect that it deserves. This felt like any other NXT Title change as Black was pretty clearly winning throughout, but dang, they wound up having a heck of a match, and it wound up being a classic. Awesome match here and pretty easily the best thing both of them did in the company.
Remember the look at Fighting With My Family? Here it is again.
We recap Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano. They were best friends and Tag Team Champions, but then everything fell apart when Ciampa turned on him after the team started losing. The problem was that Ciampa hurt his knee (at a house show, which I happened to be at in person) and was out for several months.
Gargano went on a singles run but lost his career thanks to a returning Ciampa interfering. As a result, Gargano is obsessed with getting his revenge and has basically tormented Ciampa, who turned to Commissioner William Regal for help. The result is an unsanctioned match for Gargano’s career, as Gargano is out for revenge while Ciampa is the most hated man ever in NXT.
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano
Anything goes. Ciampa comes out with no music and is booed out of the building while giving the crowd an outstanding disgusted look. He poses on the ropes and soaks in a loud “F*** YOU CIAMPA” chant like a true heel should. The referee even wears black gloves because this is unsanctioned, in a nice touch. They glare at each other and start the brawling, with Gargano being sent to the apron but coming back in with the slingshot spear.
Gargano unloads with stomping in the corner, and they fight to the floor with Gargano firing off the left hands. Ciampa is sent over the barricade, and Gargano hits a big dive, but Ciampa fights back to take over for the first time. The floor mats are peeled back (that doesn’t happen enough anymore), but neither can hit a suplex. Instead, Gargano hits a superkick from the apron and throws Ciampa over the announcers’ table for the big crash. Fans: “MAMA MIA!”
Gargano’s attempt at a piledriver is cut off by a monitor to the ribs, and Ciampa hits a NASTY suplex from the table to the floor. The top of the table is set up so Gargano can be suplexed onto it for a nasty crack, and they go back inside. Ciampa chokes away but stops to talk trash, allowing Gargano to hit him in the face. That earns him a belly to back suplex for one, and Ciampa grabs a kneeling Texas Cloverleaf.
Ciampa lets it go and kicks away at the back of Gargano’s head, followed by the running knee. With Gargano down, Ciampa goes over to steal crutches (which have a history for them) from a fan who had no reason to be there other than to have his crutches stolen. Ciampa misses some crutch shots and gets kicked in the head, sending him out to the apron. Gargano can’t knock him to the floor, but can manage a sunset bomb to send Ciampa onto the concrete. Fans: “YOU DESERVE IT!” My goodness, they hate this man.
Back in, and they both grab the crutch with Gargano managing to take it away and hit Ciampa over and over. One heck of a big shot to the head rocks Ciampa, and the slingshot DDT gives Gargano two. The banged-up Gargano pulls off the middle turnbuckle pad, but the lawn dart is broken up. The slingshot spear is blocked as well, and a spinning torture rack powerbomb gives Ciampa two. Ciampa hits a DIY style running knee for two more, and they both need a breather.
Gargano gets out of Project Ciampa, and they strike it out until Gargano tries a poisonrana. It doesn’t quite work as Ciampa doesn’t flip over and lands on Gargano’s back, meaning it’s off to the Gargano Escape. It’s unsanctioned, so the rope means nothing, so Ciampa has to go to the eyes to escape instead. Ciampa tries to use some wrist tape to choke, but Gargano grabs it, and they wind up kind of tied together for the slugout.
Gargano gets the better of things until Ciampa goes low, setting up Project Ciampa for two. They grab each other by the beard (ow) and Ciampa yells a lot, only to get lawn darted into the exposed buckle. One heck of a basement superkick gives Gargano two, so they go up top, with Gargano elbowing his way out of trouble.
That takes too long, though, and it’s a super Project Ciampa for two, even with Ciampa hurting his own knee. With nothing else working, Ciampa takes down the knee pad and tries the running knee, but Gargano hits him with the knee brace. Gargano loads up the crutch, but Ciampa begs off, with Gargano not being able to do it. They sit down next to each other, so Ciampa tries the cheap shot, only to get pulled into an STF with the brace over the face to make Ciampa tap at 37:00.
Rating: A+. The key here was that the two of them understood the assignment. This never felt like a wrestling match in any way and instead was two men who hated each other having a fight. It was about making sure that one of them didn’t get up, and that made for an emotional roller coaster of a brawl. Outstanding match here, and it doesn’t feel anywhere near its length, which is always a perk.
Post-match, Candice LeRae comes in to celebrate with Gargano. After the show, they would go to the stage, where Gargano would look over his shoulder before posing in a nod back to Ciampa attacking him before.
Results
Adam Cole b. Velveteen Dream, Ricochet, Lars Sullivan, Killian Dain, and EC3 – Cole pulled down the title
Shayna Baszler b. Ember Moon – Kirifuda Clutch
Undisputed Era b. Pete Dunne/Roderick Strong and Authors Of Pain – End Of Heartache to Dunne
Aleister Black b. Andrade Cien Almas – Black Mass
Johnny Gargano b. Tommaso Ciampa – STF with a knee brace
