wrestling / TV Reports
Kevin’s NXT TakeOver: New York Review
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...The opening video package shows highlights of successful NXT Title holders who have done well on the main roster. Then, it shifts over to Cole and Gargano. The rest of the card also gets run down.
NXT Tag Team Championship: War Raiders [c] vs. Aleister Black and Ricochet
Big fancy drums in the War Raiders entrance. Black starts against Rowe. They trade arm wringers. Black does to a side headlock. Rowe escapes into a snapmare but ends up back in it. Black counters a chin lock into one also. Rowe takes him down and has an opening for a punch but holds back and they reach something of a stalemate out of respect. After another series, Black gets his foot on Rowe’s shoulder and stops, showing the same respect back. Both guys tag out. Ricochet and Hanson have an exchange where Ricochet uses his speed to combat the size. He does a backflip into a headcissoes that sends Hanson outside. Tag to Black who sends Rowe outside. Black goes to dive but does his quebrada when they move. He and Ricochet sit cross-legged in stereo to a huge pop .Insice, War Raiders show off their athletic moves before Rowe eats a kitchen sink and a shot from Ricochet. In the corner, Hanson hits a seated senton on Black and slams Ricochet. Tag to Rowe who slams Hanson onto Ricochet. Black gets worked over but tags Ricochet who comes in with high flying offense. He hits a springboard clothesline and standing SSP for a near fall. Standing chin bar from Ricochet but Rowe powers out. Tag to Black who hits a running elbow for one. Seated abdominal stretch Rowe fights out and knocks Ricochet off the apron, but is lit up by Black kicks. Rowe takes a sweep and Black rolls him up for a near fall. Rowe avoids a kick and hits his big back throw/knee strike. combo. Tag to Hanson who hits a sidewalk slam and cross body on Ricochet. He puts them in opposite corners and hits each with clotheslines. It goes on for a while. He sends Black into Ricochet, who tries to send him over the top safely but he hits his jaw. Hanson tries a cross body on Ricochet but gets caught. Ricochet walks as he carries Hanson and throws him over with an insane fallaway slam. We now get a Black/Rowe battle that is breathtaking. Black hits a roundhouse and tries the quebrada but leaps into a knee. Rowe hits the ropes and eats a knee too. German suplex by Aleister gets two. Both men tag out. Hanson cartwheels away from Ricochet. Ricochet backflips away and Hanson cartwheels again. Ricochet hits him with kicks and misses the handspring kick. Hanson answers with a handspring back elbow of his own for two. Hanson goes all the way up top but Ricochet stops him. Hanson blocks a rolling DDT and tags Rowe, who hits a running knee. They knock Black off the apron and Rowe throws Hanson into Ricochet in the corner. They throw Ricochet into a German suplex/springboard clothesline combo but Black breaks up the pin with a double stomp off the top. Black blocks their popup offense attmpt with a Meteora. he dumps Rowe outside and hits Hanson with a moonsault to the outside. Rowe nails him with a tope suicida and Ricochet follows with the space flying corkscrew tiger drop!. Hanson goes up and takes all three men out with a huge cannonball. They do a fantastic countout tease where Black and Hanson don’t make it back, but Ricochet and Rowe do. Inside, they trade blows Ricochet hits a big boot before the Rowe knee. Tag to Black who kicks Rowe and knocks Hanson off the apron. Rowe faces off against Black and screams, but Aleister wrecks him with Black Mass. Tag to Ricochet for an insane Shooting Star Press. Hanson knocks over Black and into the pin to break it up. Ricochet misses the 630 and Black misses a moonsault outside. Hanson clotheslines him and sends Rowe in. Tag to Hanson and Ricochet nails them with a kick. However, he runs into Thor’s Hammer. Hanson takes out Blakc with a tope suicida. Fallout connects and the War Raiders retain.
Winners: War Raiders in 18:39
An absolutely insane tag match. They didn’t have to use tag formula and they made it work. Plenty of huge spots, great drama, and insane action. Some of the most fun you’ll ever have watching a tag match. [****1/4]
War Raiders help Aleister and Ricochet up. They show respect and bow to them before leaving. The fans give Black and Ricochet a standing ovation. Ricochet is crying. This must be goodbye. The two hug and bow to the crowd.
Backstage, Johnny Gargano is shown warming up.
Piper Niven and Toni Storm are shown in the front row, representing NXT UK.
NXT North American Championship: Velveteen Dream [c] vs. Matt Riddle
Riddle is out in Yankee pinstripes. Meanwhile, Dream emulates the Statue of Liberty. That man is amazing. He is carried to the ring in a giant throne. It’s Macho Man inspired. Something of a split crowd. More Velveteen chants now and he plays up to it. Riddle gets more boos. Riddle offers a fist bump but Dream declines and mocks karate. They struggle to a grapple and Riddle takes him down into a double wristlock. He springboards into a stronger version of the hold. Dream gets to the ropes. Knuckle lock and Dream flips him over. Riddle transitions into an armbar, but again Dream makes it to the ropes. Dream stomps on Riddle’s toes for an advantage. Shoulder block gets one as does a series of rollups. Old school back rake by Dream and he does a Rick Rude grind. Riddle catches him with the rolling gutwrench suplexes. On the final one, he stops to grind and Dream counters before nailing a dropkick. Two axe handle smashes from Dream. Springboard axe handle knocks Riddle off the apron. Dream goes up and has his next axe handle smash avoided. Riddle turns it into a German suplex on the outside. Back in, Riddle chops Dream a bunch and hits a bicycle kick. Corner forearms connect and an Exploder. Dream avoids a PK, Riddle does a back flip and Dream avoids it. Riddle adds a senton and PK for two. He looks for the Bromission but Dream avoids it so he grabs an armbar. Dream saves himself but eats a kick. Dream catches him with a German. Riddle popsup and hits him with a knee. Fisherman Buster gets two. Kick to the back by Riddle. Senton gets one. Dream rolls away from the MMA elbows to the ropes. Riddle gets pissed and wails on him with elbows to boos. Dream catches him with a sleeper. Riddle counters into a prawn hold for two.Dream gets caught in a triangle armbar He gets out but takes a knee, Bro 2 Sleep, and German gets two. More kicks from Riddle. Dream is out of it. Riddle talks trash, saying he’s the “bro that runs the show.” More kicks. Dream starts HULKING UP complete with the YOU point. He lights Riddle up and hits the big boot. Body slam connects and a running kick. Clothesline sends Riddle outside. Dream follows with a double axe handle. Fameasser inside gets two. Dream knocks Riddle back but springboards into a knee. Dream retaliates with the Codebreaker for two. Riddle catches a PK into the Ankle Lock. Dream kicks his way free. He ducks a kick , counters a powerbomb and hits a superkick. Dream DDT connects. He rolls Riddle into the Dream Valley Driver. Dream goes up for the Pirple Rainmaker but Riddle catches him into the Bromission. Dream does everything he can to block. He gets to his fee and goes to the apron but Riddle stands on the middle rope and pulls him up into a massive German suplex. Riddle hits the Floating Bro off the top and somehow only gets two. Riddle can’t believe it. Dream dares Riddle to bring it, only to slap him. Riddle eats a superkick and hits a powerbomb. He delivers a huge flash knee for two again. He goes into the Bromission. Dream is passing out but rolls out and turns it into a pin to retain.
Winner: Velveteen Dream in 17:31
Told a great story. Riddle kicked Dream’s ass for most of this. He fired up and made it competitive late, but Riddle still looked like the better man. But then Dream found a way to escape with the title. [****]
Post-match, Dream gives Riddle the fist bump and celebrates when Riddle leaves.
Adam Cole prepares backstage with the rest of the Undisputed Era.
KUSHIDA singing his contract is shown. He’s also in the front row!
WWE United Kingdom Championship: Pete Dunne [c] vs. WALTER
“UK” chants. The lockup is won by WALTER. WALTER takes him down and rips at his leg. Dunne turns it over into a toe hold while stepping on his hand. Dunne manipulates WALTER’s joints and avoids a chop when WALTER gets free. WALTER tosses him aside with ease a few times. Dunne again avoids a chop and they’re building that up like it’s a death blow. WALTER lifts Dunne by the arm and throws him around. Big chop floors Dunne. He reacts like he had no clue what that was going to feel like. Another one knocks Dunne down. Dunne with a drop down and leap frog before a clothesline that WALTER absorbs. WALTER leaps over him and nails a big boot. WALTER drapes him u top, climbs and stands on his throat. Dunne falls all the way outside. Release back suplex onto the apron. Inside, stomps by WALTER. He wrists at the foot before Dunne counters into a heel hook. WALTER chops Dunne but he doesn’t let go. Another chop makes him release the grip. Boston Crab by WALTER. Dunne nearly powers out and crawls to the ropes. Dunne is on the apron and WALTER clubs him. Dunne catches the second and goes to break the fingers but WALTER powers out and boots him to the ground. Dunne gets in to eat some boots. Dunne fires up with a flurry of shots. He leaps over WALTER and hits an enziugri. Dunne lands on his feet on a German attempt and kicks WALTER in the ear. WALTER now goes outside for a breather. Dunne takes him out with a moonsault to the outside. Inside, Dunne blocks a superplex. He gets the fingers and bends them back before trying a sunset flip bomb. WALTER blocks but Dunne walks with him and nails a Liger Bomb for two. WALTER goes outside and Dunne follows with a double stomp. Dunne tries the backflip over him inside but WALTER is ready for it. He catches him with a huge front dropkick. Dunne gets to the ropes to block a German, WALTER slaps his hands free, and hits the German. Powerbomb with a bridge gets two. WALTER clubs on his back and then chops him. Dunne slaps him, so WALTER chops him and stomps on his fallen body while holding his wrist. Chops and forearms are exchanged and Dunne obviously falls first. Dunne wrenches on the fingers but WALTER takes him down and stomps on his face. Neck snap. Dunne avoids a powerbomb and hits a step up enziguri. Both men are down. Dunne is up first and stands on the fingers. He stomps them and kicks him. Dunne goes up but WALTER crotches him. He wants a top rope German but Dunne blocks. He takes WALTER’s fingers and smashes them on the ring post. WALTER stays in control with a super dragon suplex of sorts. I couldn’t really tell. It gets two. Dunne gets up and catches a chop. He twists at the digits and breaks the fingers. WALTER goes after him with his other hand and that one gets snapped. Snap German hits and a crucifix bomb gets two. Dunne stands on the hand and starts stomping on WALTER’s head. WALTER , from the ground, kicks back at Dunne. Dunne does it back. WALTER pulls him into a rear naked choke. Dunne rolls through hand stomps on his head. He rolls into a wild looking arm submission where he pulls on the digits. Both hands are trapped but he uses his legs to make it to the ropes. Dunne climbs up while holding WALTER’s hand. WALTER is on the apron. He slaps Dunne’s chest and then clotheslines him back inside. WALTER now goes up top for a splash but Dunne catches him in a triangle. Dunne turns it over and wants to snap the fingers, but WALTER manages to block. He chops Dunne a bunch and stomps on his head. Dunne keeps hold of the hand. He avoids a boot and wants the Bitter End. WALTER blocks and wrecks him with a lariat. He hits the ropes and Dunne with a forearm. He knocks him down with another. Bitter End connects but WALTER kicks out. They stand up on opposite ends of the ring. They meet in the middle and Dunne with a forearm. Chop by WALTER. Back and forth but WALTER’s shots clearly hurt more. Dunne demands more chops and fights through them with forearms. He lights up WALTER with slaps. Big boot by WALTER after the referee spearates them. Dunne is out, so WALTER climbs to the top for some reason. Dunne gets up and snaps his fingers up top. He wants a hanging triangle but WALTER just chops him. He turns it into a release superbomb. Splash from WALTER and we’ve got a new champion.
Winner: WALTER in 25:31
An incredible match. A fitting end to Dunne’s fantastic title reign. There were a few moments I didn’t get into (like WALTER wanting to go up top again in the final sequence) but they are nitpicks. This was a war and they did it in a way that felt realistic despite the size difference. Loved WALTER’s selling of the hand and the desperation of both down the stretch. [****1/2]
Edge and Beth Phoenix are shown in the crowd. Edge’s hair is magnificent.
NXT Women’s Championship: Shayna Baszler [c] vs. Bianca Belair vs. Io Shirai vs. Kairi Sane
New gear for Kairi and Bianca. Shayna leaves Duke and Shafir in the back. They all go after each other at the bell. The Sky Pirates are dumped out, so Bianca and Shayna can rematch Phoenix. Bianca slams her down and hits a shoulder block for two. Io breaks it up with a running knee. Shayna breaks their pin with a kick. Kairi breaks hers with a running neckbreaker. Sane and Bianca get into a shoving match and Bianca shoulder blocks her with ease. Kairi catches the sarcastically blown kiss and pitches it to Io who homers off it. Aww. They double dropkick Bianca. They send Bianca out and team up on Shayna. She has trouble keeping up with them. Chop from Kairi, trip from Io, and a double dropkick to the head. They go at it now. They both land on their feet on offense attempts. Shayna and Bianca return. Shayna seps on Bianca’s arm as it is bent on the mat. She runs into an elbow . Bianca rolls away and dropkicks her. Shayna pulls Bianca by the braid into the post but Bianca blocks and pulls Shayna. She then forearms Sane to the ground. Bianca with a handspring moonsault inside for two. Sane goes up and hits the Kabuki Elbow on Bianca for two. Bianca backflips away from her but Sane avoids a dropkick and hits an axe kick. Io springboards in with a dropkick as Sane slides under her to hit Shayna with a baseball slide. Double knees inside by Io onto Bianca. Bianca prevents her from going up. Io with a forearm and wants a cross body but Bianca catches her and hits Sane with her. Fallaway slam but Shayna breaks the pin. Shayna takes Bianca out and knees Sane. She hangs Bianca in a choke on the middle rope. Sane interrupts but Shayna still wants a gutwrench suplex. Sane goes under and can’t powerbomb Shayna. Io helps and they powerbomb Shayna into a gutwrench suplex off the top. Io launches Sane over the top and onto their opponents with an elbow. Io hits a middle rope moonsault onto them right after. Bianca interrups their next dive with a spear but Sane breaks up the pin. Double chicken wing slam by Bianca. Io hits a German suplex on Shayna and everyone is down. They start breaking up each other’s pins. Bianca is left in between the Sky Pirates. They wail on her and knock her down with an uppercut. Shayna pulls Sane outside and Bianca rolls up Io for two. She forearms Io and press slams her out onto Shayna and Sane. Bianca gets Shayna up for the double chicken wing but Shayna rolls out and into the Kirifuda Clutch. Bianca struggles and powers up to her feet. She fights out and hits the KOD but Io breaks up the pin. Bianca has a powerbomb countered into a facebuster. Moonsault to Shayna by Io. She goes all the way up and hits a second but Sane breaks it up. Now Sane and Shirai go at it. They counter each other until Sane hits her with the Alabamam Slam onto Shayna. Kairi goes up and hits the Insane Elbow but Io breaks it up. Again, it’s down to Io and Kairi. Kairi with a shot but she eats a dropkick. Io with shots and a body slam but it gets countered into a DDT. Bianca whips Kairi with her hair up top. She picks up Io for the KOD and also grabs Kairi for a double KOD. She walks with them for a while before hitting it. Cover on Sane but Shayna interrupts with a kick. Kirifuda Clutch is applied on Bianca again. She struggles again, scratching at Shayna’s eyes but ultimately taps out.
Winner: Shayna Baszler in 15:40
A very good multi-person match. Everyone got their chance to shine and came out of this looking great. It was a bit of a cluster at points and followed the trope of being spending time outside at others, but it flowed quite nicely. [***3/4]
NXT Championship Two Out Of Three Falls Match: Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano
Iron Man themed gear for Gargano. Crowd is split. They lock up and work the mat for a while. Cole avoids a leapfrog and they go at it. Gargano with an armdrag after avoiding a strike. Cole fights to his feet and takes a shoulder block. Cole scurries to the ropes to avoid the Gargano Escape. Forearm by Cole. They trade blows and Gargano wins out by clotheslining him to the outside. Cole avoids a shot from the apron but Johnny knocks him back with a dropick through the ropes. Cole is rolled in but goes all the way out to the other side. He catches Johnny with a step up enziguri. Chop from Cole followed by knees. Cole takes it to the mat with a chin lock. Gargano fights out and runs into an elbow for one. Gargano fights out of a modified dragon sleeper and they cross body each other. When they get up, they trade shots and clotheslines. Johnny with a snap belly to belly suplex. Cole counters a pin into one of his own for two. Johnny with the roll through kick and Cole rolls outside. Cole gets in and eats the slingshot spear for two. They fight and Johnny fakes a leap off the second rope to fake out Cole’s kick attempt. He follows through with a swinging Paydirt. They fight over a suplex and some waistlocks before Cole catches him with a Backstabber for two. I miss a bit of the next sequence and they roll each other up for two. Cole ducks a kick, Johnny ducks a kick and pins him for two. Cole counters a sunset flip and hits the Last Shot to win the first fall in 13:55. In the second fall, they trade shots. Cole with a German suplex and the Shining Wizard for two. Johny fights free of a fireman’s carry and ends up on the apron. He spears Cole on it and climbs back on before hitting a somersault dive. Inside, Cole counters the slingshot DDT and hits the USHIGIROSHI for two. They fight up top and Gargano hits an avalanche Air Raid Crash, Ciampa’s move, for two. Gargano goes to the apron for the slingshot DDT but Cole drops down and joins him on the apron. He hoists Gargano up on his shoulders. Gargano gets out and does the slingshot DDT to the apron. Outside, Cole gets vicious and throws Gargano into the ring post a few times. Inside, Gargano grabs his leg to block the Last Shot. He pulls him into Ciampa’s armbar. Cole counters and Johnny counters back into the Gargano Escape. Cole immediately taps at 20:55. Johnny has a cut above his eye. They trade blows inside and Johnny takes Cole down. he wants the DIY taunt superkick but Cole blocks. Johnny with a kick to the head. Cole with the Brainbuster on the knee to answer for two. Cole brings Johnny over to the corner. he climbs up but Johnny hits him with a step up enziguri. Lawn Dart connects and he gets two. With both men on their knees, they trade strikes. They get to their feet doing that. They catch each other’s superkicks and then hit enziguris. Forearms, clotheslines, and superkicks all at the same time. Cole holds the wrist but hits a forearm. He leaps over Johnny and superkicks him in the back of the head. Straightjacket suplex gets two. Johnny blocks an Fairytale Ending but takes a backdrop driver. Gargano avoids the Panama Sunrise. He hits a reverse spike rana and added a superkick, but Cole rolls outside to avoid getting pinned. Johnny takes a sick wheelbarrow suplex onto the apron. Cole rolls him inside but Gargano hits a spike DDT. Slingshot DDT only gets two. Cole goes back outside. Johnny follows with a tope suicida. He tries to slingshot in but eats a superkick. Panama Sunrise follows to a huge pop but Gargano gets a shoulder up. Johnny is out on the apron. Cole kicks him outside and calls him a failure. Johnny responds with a forearm and throws him over the announce table. He clears it off but Cole turns it around with the Fairytale Ending onto the table. Gargano beats the countout and gets inside. Cole hits the superkick but Johnny kicks out. Cole looks for another Last Shot but Johnny pops up with a superkick. Cole with another one of his own. Johnny blocks Panama Sunrise and pulls him into the Gargano Escape. Roderick Strong shows up and is knocked off the apron. Johnny puts him back in the hold but Strong distracs the referee as he taps. Kyle gets in and rakes Johnny’s eyes. Cole kicks Gargano into the referee. Undisputed enter and hit Total Elimination on Johnny. They roll the referee in and Johnny still kicks out. Johnny sends Cole out onto the Undisputed Era. He throws him back in and sends Roddy into the post, superkicks Fish, and hits a tornado DDT on Kyle. Inside, he eats another superkick. Another one to the back of the head. Last Shot connects and again Johnny kicks out. Johnny ducks another Last Shot and puts on the Gargano Escape again. He rolls away from the ropes and Cole taps out.
Winner: Johnny Gargano in 38:10
That was very good, but went way into overkill late. That third fall saw Johnny survive way too much and it took me out of the match. The first fall had some boring bits too. They told a good story but if you get the first fall going a bit quicker and shave off some of the absurdity late, you’re looking at something special. As it is, it was a great culmination to the Johnny story and one hell of a dramatic affair. [****]
Johnny celebrates with Candice. He reaches the top of the stage and Tommaso Ciampa comes out behind him. He hugs Johnny and the three embrace to end the show.
