wrestling / TV Reports
Hawke’s NXT TakeOver: Orlando Review
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...April 1, 2017
Orlando, Florida, USA
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Percy Watson, & Nigel McGuinness
Kassius Ohno, Tye Dillinger, Roderick Strong, and Ruby Riot vs. SAnitY (Eric Young, Killian Dain, Alexander Wolfe and Nikki Cross)
This was a very fucking weird one. They went out of their way to remove No Way Jose from the match and to replace him with Ohno. That was all just to treat Ohno like “just a guy” who only briefly stood out in this match. As soon as he was the first person cut off after the initial brawl/babyface flurry to kick off the match, you just knew that the NXT agents don’t take him entirely seriously.
The match itself then became very generic and actually led to a SAnitY win. This whole SAnitY deal seems like a parody of shitty TNA stables but somehow the decision makers behind the scenes forgot that it was just a joke and now we are all stuck with them. Meh. Dillinger ate the fall to give SAnitY a win for some reason. (**1/2)
Aleister Black vs. Andrade Almas
This was designed to be a strong introduction of the Aleister Black. In that sense, it was mostly successful. Black was presented like a huge star, and the fans seemed to be accepting of him.
The match itself though was just a *tiny* bit off which took away from the action. As a result, the fans seemed to progressively care a little bit less and less as the contest went on. The match was certainly not a failure by any stretch, but this was not the exclamation point introduction that they probably wanted for Black.
(Almas really came across like an afterthought here. I guess he and Oney Lorcan can just keep tearing it up and not be treated like stars at all.) End won cleanly. (**3/4)
#DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) vs. The Authors Of Pain (Akam & Rezar) (w/Paul Ellering) vs. The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson)
This was for AoP’s NXT Tag Team Championship.
This match came off incredibly well. You would think that they would have tried to probably do a compact match, but instead they went for epic and basically pulled it off as well as one could have reasonably expected.
The main story of the match ended up being The Revival and #DIY realizing they really needed to work together to have a chance to take down AoP. It all led to this great extended sequence where the teams did in fact work together. They had some very creative and wild ideas, and the fans absolutely ate every single moment up.
The Revival lost sight of the goal though and eventually broke ranks. They didn’t act like cartoon heels about it though. They simply miscalculated how long they needed to work with #DIY. That allowed AoP to easily eliminate #DIY.
From there, The Revival seemed like dead meat. That’s exactly what they ended up being as the AoP finished them off without *too* much trouble. They probably should not have done an elimination match if that was going to be the finish. Everything came off very flatly after it became crystal clear that The Revival had no chance in the final minutes. This was still a very good and unique match that the show really needed. (***3/4)
Asuka vs. Ember Moon
This was for Asuka’s NXT Women’s Championship.
This was a solid match that told a really good story even if they lost steam and excitement along the way.
From the get go, Asuka treated Ember like a genuine threat, and Ember proved to be up for the challenge. She took it to Asuka right away, and this felt like a star-making match for Ember.
Ember did eventually get cut off, and Asuka dominated her for a good while. Ember made a valiant comeback though, and it seemed like she had a genuine chance to win.
Asuka betrayed everyone though and utilized the referee’s body to crotch Ember. A simple kick to the face finished Ember from there.
Asuka’s heel turn was very well done here, and it hopefully will lead to some cool stuff on future TakeOvers. Ember Moon’s chase to the title should be the big story in the women’s title scene for the rest of the year. (***)
Bobby Roode vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
This was for Roode’s NXT Championship.
This was a total embarrassment from these two. You could not reasonably expect anything more from them at this point, but everyone involve should feel shame that this is the main event of yet another TakeOver.
These guys are just too damn old and too damn unmotivated to work like this match was remotely important. NXT needs to be about young and hungry wrestlers who use every small opportunity to prove themselves in a big way.
You maybe can get away with one old name in your main event, but you need more motivated talents like Ohno, Roddy, or Oney to bring some life to these TakeOver mains. Instead, for a YEAR, we’ve been treated to dudes in their late thirties coasting by on such pedestrian wrestling matches that they now come off as aggressively boring.
There is no urgency. There is no violence. There is no sense of danger. There is no excitement. There is no energy. It’s just cliche main event wrestling tripe.
Much like their last match, they relied on a final third that focused work on Nakamura’s injured leg to make up for the endless boring that preceded it. Things have to change. Now. Roode won cleanly in the end. (*)
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