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Kevin’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III Review

August 19, 2017 | Posted by Kevin Pantoja
Drew McIntyre NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III
7.5
The 411 Rating
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Kevin’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III Review  

The show opens to Code Orange performing live, while clips of NXT stars are intercut.

Andrade “Cien” Almas w/ Zelina Vega vs. Johnny Gargano

They lock up and go to the mat. Both use speed to evade one another. Arm wringer from Almas, Johnny spins out and goes ot a headlock takeover. Head scissors by Almas, complete with tranquilo pose. Gargano runs into another headlock and a shoulder block. Johnny leaps over and hits a rana. Steamboat like arm drag and a roll through into a crucifix for one. Front facelock by Johnny to big “Johnny Wrestling” chants. In the corner, Gargano hits some chops to Vega’s dismay. Almas gets free with a rope hung reverse DDT backbreaker and club. He follows with a single leg dropkick for a near fall. Gargano fights him off and sends him to the ropes. He latches on, but slips out quickly and applies a hanging armbar. He work another armbar like move to wear Johnny down. He gets free with an armdrag and drop toe holds Almas into the turnbuckle. Gargano blocks a suplex and we get a double clothesline spot. Much stiffer than usual. They trade strikes in the middle of the ring, with Gargano winning out until Almas just slaps him. Standing lariats by Gargano and flying forearms. He hits the roll through kick and the slingshot spear through the ropes for two. Almas hangs onto the ropes on a whip again, but Gargano is ready with a superkick. Tope suicida follows and the crowd is hype. Slingshot DDT back inside by Gargano for a close near fall. Almas slips away from Johnny and escapes a back suplex. He sends Johnny to the apron and catches the next slingshot spear attempt into another DDT neckbreaker combo. He hits an inverted tornado DDT for a close two count. Up top they go, with Gargano fighting Almas off with a headbutt. Almas escapes a sunset bomb and sends Johnny to the corner. Gargano cuts off the double knees with an enziguri, but gets hip tossed into the turnbuckles. Double knees miss and Johnny goes tilt-a-whirl into the Gargano Escape. Almas gets close to the ropes but Johnny rolls him to the middle of the ring. He escapes with a dead lift buckle bomb! Double knees hit for a wild near fall. Almas holds Johnny by the hand and kicks and drives his knee into the left arm. Gargano gets free and delivers two superkicks. He hits the lawn dart and wants the finishing superkick. Vega throws a DIY shirt at Gargano. The distraction allows Almas to hit a dropkick and win via Hammerlock DDT.

Winner: Andrade Almas in 13:13

A high quality slow build style match. Something that would’ve fit right in if this were the G1 Climax. Great action and selling, with everything making sense. Even the finish was great because it played into the DIY stuff. [****1/4]

Post match, Gargano slowly backed away from the crumpled DIY shirt.

The Iconic Duo, Daniel Bryan, No Way Jose, Roderick Strong and others are shown in a skybox.

They make an announcement that the show is the number one worldwide trend. Corey Graves is brought out as the special commentator for the next match.

NXT Tag Team Championship: The Authors of Pain (c) w/ Paul Ellering vs. SAnitY w/ Eric Young and Nikki Cross

Just like I’d want, AOP charge the ring and brawl with SAnitY before the opening bell. They send Wolfe outside and team up on Dane, sending him packing. The brawl moves outside, where Eric Young props a table leaning on the guardrail. Wolfe is sent inside and the bell rings. He gets tossed across the ring by Akam. Tag to Razar, and they hit tandem kicks to the chest. They use quick tags to remain in control. Young hops on the apron, replacing Dane to a pop. He sends Akam outside and hits a baseball slide. Razar battles with Wolfe around the ring, while Akam and Young fight into the crowd. Akam misses a charge and hits a railing, but sends EY back to ringside. Back inside, AOP work a bling tag and do a popup Canadian backbreaker. Tag back to Akam, but EY fights them off, only to eat a stomp/side slam combo. Belly to belly by Razar, who wears EY down with a modified sleeper. EY gets a shoulder block from the apron, but his attempt to slide under Razar is cut off by a dead lift choke. He gets slammed to the mat. Wolfe gets the mildest of hot tags and gets in offense, running over Razar with forearms and a pump kick. He hits Akam with an exploder. Razar fights off a German, but still gets hit with one, which wakes up the crowd. Flying clothesline by Wolfe gets two. EY gets dumped outside, allowing AOP to cut the ring in half on Wolfe. They bust out a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo for a near fall. Wolfe takes Razar off the top with a Frankensteiner and pulls the rope down on Akam. Tag to EY, who hits a neckbreaker. He goes up top, but is crotched. Razar goes up and they look for a tower of doom type spot. Nikki holds EY’s legs tough, so Akam just powerbombs Razar. EY comes off the top with an elbow, but Akam pulls his partner to safety. EY hits a slow tope suicida and Wolfe follows with a slingshot pescado. Nikki gets in the ring to a MASSIVE POP. Ellering enters across form her and the referee keeps them apart. She slips free and comes off the top with a cross body into Akam. He catches her, but Dane runs through both with a spear through the table! With Razar alone, Wolfe and EY hit a belly to belly/neckbreaker combo to win the titles.

Winners and NEW NXT Tag Team Champions: SAnitY in 12:04

Exactly the kind of chaotic match I wanted from these guys. I was unsure of the EY/Dane swap, but they made it work. Extra points for using everyone and showing that AOP are dominant, but SAnitY had the numbers advantage. [***1/2]

The celebration is cut short by the arrival of Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly. REDRAGON! They hit Akam outside and deliver stereo kicks to EY. They also send Razar outside and hit EY with Chasing the Dragon! They finish him with Total Elimination and pose with the titles.

An unamused Neville is shown in the crowd. Elsewhere, Shinsuke Nakamura and Kalisto have front row seats.

Jim Ross is doing commentary for this match.

Aleister Black vs. HIdeo Itami

Black’s theme is performed live. They go at each other with kicks. They avoid some, Itami catches one and hits a big boot. They come face to face and shove each other. Black hits a kick to the chest and does his springboard moonsault fakeout. Itami has a kick caught and eats a back elbow. Black catches a strike and fires off kicks. Black hits a running knee for two. They exchange strikes and Hideo drapes him over the top rope. HIdeo comes off the top with a guillotine knee. Itami yells to show him respect. He works a neck wrench to wear Black down. Black is bleeding a bit and eats a kitchen sink and kick to the back. More kicks from Itami and a chin lock to boos. Black fights free but eats a forearm and knee. Hideo does his fake knee drop and kicks back at Black. He sits in Black’s signature style, taunting him. Black, with a bloody nose, tries a strike but gets pulled into a DDT. More chinlock time from Itami. Black fighte free and hits some weak kicks. He catches a strike and hits a series of his own, ending with a leg sweep and running knee. He whiffs badly on a springboard moonsault and almost hurts himself for two. Black runs into boots in the corner and we get Hideo’s tornado neck snap. He comes off the top with a flying clothesline for two. Black has a kick caught and HIdeo delivers a spinning back fist that sends him to the corner. Black pops up and pulls him into a rollup for two. He hits a big roundhouse that drops Itami. They go up top and Itami gets knocked down. He pops up and kicks Black off. He climbs, pulling Black up, and hits a super falcon arrow. HE DID THE SUPER DEAL! Hideo takes a second to cover due to his back, and only gets two. Black pops up and stares down Hideo. They go to an exchange of kicks and slaps. JUST THE WAY I LIKE IT! Spinning back fist by Itami but he runs into a popup knee. Falcon arrow from Itami for two. Hesitation dropkick by Itami, who drops the knee pad for the GTS. Black elbows free but eats a knee. Black ducks the next strike and hits Black Mask to win.

Winner: Aleister Black in 12:24

A damn good strong style match. Lots of great strikes and kicks, though it lacked some drama to take it to the next level. [***1/2]

Bayley, Sasha and Becky are shown in the front row.

NXT Women’s Championship: Asuka (c) vs. Ember Moon

Ember dropkicks Asuka at the bell and then sweeps her. She follows with a basement dropkick for one. Asuka kicks her away but has her next kick caught. Suplex by Ember and Asuka takes a breaker outside. Ember misses a baseball slide and gets hit with a spin kick. Ember kicks back and comes off the second rope with a somersault. Asuka sends Ember into the steps and fires off shots in the aisle. They’re promoting #TheStreak on Twitter. Hammerlock suplex on the ramp from Asuka. Inside, Asuka kicks away at the arm and wrenches away on it. The torque is rough looking. They go to the mat, where Asuka remains in control. She continues, stomping on Ember’s back while holding her arms back. Like mini-Curb Stomps. Kicks by Asuka and she applies a fantastic octopus stretch, which she transitions to an armbar. Ember powers up and drops Asuka in a modified electric chair drop. Ember avoids some strikes and hits big kicks, finishing with a step up enziguri for two. Asuka comes back with a German into the bottom turnbuckle. Ember fights off the Asuka Lock and counters into a crossface chicken wing. Asuka escapes and hits an armbreaker. Back to the Asuka Lock but Ember gets free. Asuka goes for it again, but gets pulled into a pin for two. Ember uses the good arm for a lariat. They each duck clotheslines and Asuka hits a hip attack for two. Ember comes back with her tornado suplex for a near fall. They trade forearms until Ember hits knees. A running one sends Asuka flipping over, but she fights back with a slap and more strikes. She nails a modified GTS and kicks Ember in the face a bunch. Modified uranage by Ember for two. Ember looks for a Liger Bomb but Asuka escapes only to get put in the tree of Joey Lawrence. Ember gets two after knocking her down. She goes up top for the Eclipse and hits it, but Asuka kicks out. The fans bit on the near fall. She goes up top, looking for it again.Asuka hides behind the official but Ember jumps anyway with a cross body. Asuka rolls through and holds the tights but the referee catches her. Superkick by Ember for two again. Ember goes to pick Asuka up, but she played possum an dpulls her into an armbar. Ember counters to a pin for two, and Asuka goes right into the Asuka Lock. Ember has no choice but to tap.

Winner and STILL NXT Women’s Champion: Asuka in 14:46

Good, but it lacked something to reach the level of their Orlando match. I thought the first half or so were solid but unineresting, though the arm work was good. The finishing stretch was high quality though. [***1/4]

Ember sits in the ring in tears, getting a standing ovation.

Kevin Owens is shown in the crowd. Cut to Samoa Joe, another former NXT Champion.

NXT Championship: Bobby Roode (c) vs. Drew McIntyre

Drew is played out by the NYPD bagpipe group or something. Then, his current NXT theme plays, killing what little interest I had in this match. Drew misses big strikes in the corner and Roode gets in chops. Drew finally catches him, so Bobby retreats outside. Roode’s chops don’t have much effect. He finally hits some that work and leaps over Drew. Drew escapes an early Glorious DDT attempt and Roode taunts. Drew reverses a whip and has the leap frog scouted, catching him with boots. Chops by Drew and he sets early, eating a kick. He responds with a big boot and body slam toss. They fight outside, where Roode tries a cross body off the apron. He gets caught but slips out and sends Drew to the post. Drew blocks and hits an elbow. He nails a tilt-a-whirl slam onto the apron. Inside, we get dueling chants. Drew eats a knee and a neckbreaker over the middle rope. Roode comes off the apron with a blockbuster. Inside, Roode wears Drew down, but I lost my feed for a bit. It comes back on when Drew gets whipped hard into the corner. Roode works a chinlock but is backed into a corner. Roode goes to a sleeper and Drew escapes. He catches Roode with a snap belly to belly suplex. Roode gets dropped chin first on the turnbuckle and Drew hits a charge in the corner. Drew gets pounded on but hits an Air Raid Crash for a near fall. Roode snaps Drew’s neck off the top to cut off any momentum. Drew cuts him off up top and they fight for position. Drew ends up in tree of Joey Lawrence position, but it’s only so he can hit his belly to belly spot from there. Drew calls for the Claymore but Roode is dead. He plays possum and rolls Drew up for two. Roode avoids Future Shock and nails a Backstabber for two. Drew wins the next exchange but gets two on Future Shock. Roode counters a move in the corner with a powerbomb for his own near fall. They exchange punches and kicks until Bobby busts out an enziguri. Drew connects on the Claymore from out of nowhere, but Roode gets foot on the bottom rope to survive. Roode escapes outside, so Drew follows with a somersault tope. He basically completely missed. Drew rolls him inside but Roode avoids a second Claymore with a spinebuster. Drew counters Roode into a pin for two and tries a tilt-a-whirl slam, only to get caught in a Glroiosu DDT for two. Roode nails another Glorious DDT and holds on, but Drew counters a third. Claymore hits and we have a new champ.

Winner and NEW NXT Champion: Drew McIntyre in 22:20

Decent storytelling, but I was never invested. Like a lot of Roode matches, it dragged on and was rather boring. [**]

Drew’s celebration gets cut off by reDRaon on the apron. On the other side, it’s Adam Cole. Oh, joy.  They jump McIntyre and Cole superkicks him. He holds the NXT Title and stands over Drew.

7.5
The final score: review Good
The 411
The first three matches all over delivered, but the last two disappointed. Ember/Asuka was good, but was missing something to make it great, while Drew/Roode nearly put me to sleep. I love reDRagon but don't see anything of interest in Adam Cole. I recommend watching the first four matches and you can turn it off after that.
legend