wrestling / Video Reviews
Leighty’s Retro Review: NXT TakeOver Brooklyn
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-Written: 02.19.26
-Source: Peacock
-Run Time: 2:19:59
-This is a big one as it’s the first NXT PPV/PLE to take place outside of Full Sail. The brand was strong enough to fill an actual arena and for many this is the point where the secret was out and this was the best brand/promotion in wrestling.
-Announce Team: Rich Brennan, Corey Graves, and Byron Saxton
-Aug 22, 2015
-Barclay Center, Brooklyn, NY
-Attendance: 15,589
-We start with HHH standing in the ring with the crowd lights down low. He talks about the rise of NXT and “the future is now.” The lights come up and we see the packed arena and a loud crowd chanting “NXT.” That was great!
Tyler Breeze vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
-Liger being here means only one thing! THE FORBIDDEN DOOR IS OPEN! Liger in a WWE ring just looks weird, but I’m all for it. Props to Breeze for getting this spot as I am sure he didn’t have this on his bingo card. Lockup and Breeze gets a side headlock. He gets shoved off, but runs Liger down with a shoulder and poses in the corner. Liger with a drop toe hold and drops an elbow to the back. He then poses on the corner to mock Breeze. Modified surfboard from Liger as he starts stretching Breeze. He rocks back for added pressure, but Breeze fights his way out and lands a stomp. Breeze misses a charge in the corner and takes a kick to the chest. Romero Special from Liger followed by a monkey flip out of the corner and Breeze makes sure to flip and land on his face. Liger grabs the selfie stick and takes some photos. I would be bummed if I was Breeze. Breeze avoids the Liger Bomb and goes to the mask/eyes. Super Model Kick gets two! Breeze stomps Liger down in the corner as the crowd starts a dueling chant. Breeze with a modified backstabber for two. Liger shoves his way out of a front faclock and catches his breath in the corner. Breeze gets caught with a rolling heel kick in the corner. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and Liger comes off the top, but Breeze gets the knees up to block. Crucifix pin from Breeze gets two. He stomps Liger in the corner, but Liger rushes out with a Palm Strike. Breeze rolls to the floor to avoid Liger coming off the top. Liger drops to the apron and hits a rolling dive to the floor. Back in the ring a Liger Bomb connects for the pin at 8:38.
Winner: Jushin Thunder Liger via pin at 8:38
-Fun opener that wasn’t the blow away classic many thought we may get. Instead it was like a cameo from Liger where he played the hits against someone HHH thought would be the perfect opponent for him. Nothing wrong with that and the crowd enjoyed it. **3/4
-Nash, Hall, and X-Pac are at ringside! 4 LIFE!
-Bayley is getting ready backstage and Charlotte and Becky enter to show their support. Charlotte and Becky were just called up (w/ Sasha) to RAW not long before this.
-Nia Jax vignette! She’s not most girls. Coming soon!
NXT Tag Titles: Blake (c) and Murphy (c) (w/ Alexa Bliss) vs. The Vaudevillains (w/ Blue Pants)
-Of the six people involved, Alexa is the biggest star of the bunch at the moment. Alexa had been a thorn in the side of the challengers, so they have backup and bring out Blue Pants to a big reaction. Blake and Murphy have been Champions since Jan 2015. Blake starts with Gotch and Gotch gets a quick roll-up for two. “Blue Pants City,” chant from the crowd. Gotch fights to get an armbar, but Blake rolls him back to get a two count, which forces Gotch to break or get pinned. English in and hits a running kick to the chest for two. Murphy in and English gains arm control. He ends up on the apron and gets tripped by Blake behind the ref’s back. Back in the ring, Blake gets a reverse chinlock as this one is kind of slow to start, but the crowd is hanging with them. English gets stomped down in the corner and we get a double bicep pose from Murphy. Reverse from chinlock to continue the slow pace. Murphy cuts the ring in half and runs English into the corner. Blake in with a knee to the back of the head for two. Back to a reverse chinlock. English gets loose and has a shot at the tag, but Blake pulls Gotch off the apron. Murphy and Blake with an alley-oop backbreaker for two. English kicks the champs into each other and LUNGES to make the tag to Gotch. He runs wild with strikes and knees before getting his own double bicep pose. Murphy sends Gotch to the floor and knocks English off the top rope (who made a tag). Murphy meets him up and goes for a superplex, but nothing doing. We get a Tower of Doom spot with Gotch bringing The Champions down with a powerbomb. Gotch off the top with a Higj Angle Senton for a two count. Alexa is on the apron and that brings over Blue Pants, which gets the biggest reaction of the match. Blue Pants lands a slap and we get a CAT FIGHT. Murphy gets a roll-up for two in the chaos. English back in and hits The Whirling Dervish for pin and Tag Titles at 10:14.
Winners and New NXT Tag Champions: The Vaudevillains via pin at 10:14
-Kind of boring, but they picked things up in the final two minutes. Hot ending with the women getting involved and then finish to pop the crowd. **1/4
-Earlier Today: Finn Balor arrived and has Cesaro and Adrian Neville with him. Cesaro faces Kevin Owens at SummerSlam tomorrow.
-Rick Rubin is ringside!
Tye Dillinger vs. Apollo Crews
-Man, it just dawned on me that Crews is going on 11 years in the WWE. Dillinger at least got a break between his WWE stops to refresh things. The crowd chants Uhaa as they still aren’t feeling the new name for Crews. It’s actually a solid name compared to other ones people were stuck with in NXT. Crews flips out of the corner and mocks Dillinger by noting that was a ten and the crowd agrees. Dropkick from Crews. Dillinger blocks a charge in the corner and sends Crews to the apron. Crews goes to spring back in, but Dillinger catches him with a dropkick on the way up. Cool! Submission hold from Dillinger as he tells us this is why he is a perfect ten. Crews powers his way out, and blocks a sunset flip, but dropping down into a pin for a two count. Dillinger responds with a super kick for two. Ground and Pound from Dillinger! Crews blocks another super kick and hits a standing enziguiri. Discus Clothesline wrecks Dillinger. Leaping clothesline into a kip up. Gorilla Press Drop like Warrior and a Standing Moonsault finishes at 4:42.
Winner: Apollo Crews via pin at 4:42
-Solid debut for Crews, but he never got that big push in NXT before making it to the Main Roster. **
-WIlliam Regal is backstage and announces the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic to honor the legacy of The American Dream. People actually “WHAT” him, which is sad.
-Tough Enough Final Four is in the front row as the Season Finale is this week on USA. I reviewed that show and my recap of the finale is here. Mandy Rose is the only one of the four to do much of anything and sadly, Sara Lee, who was married to Blake, died by suicide in 2002 at only 30 years old. If you are reading this and are struggling and need help, please reach out. Call or text 988.
Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin
-Corbin is pissed guys like Joe are coming in to steal his spot based on what they did elsewhere and Joe notes “they called me.” This show needs a HOSS FIGHT! The crowd lets Corbin that Joe is going to kill him. Lockup and Corbin pushes Joe back. He misses a clothesline and Joe goes for an armbar. Corbin fights off and runs Joe into the corner. Joe goes right to The Clutch and Corbin bails to the floor. Back in, Corbin lands a kick to the gut and starts throwing forearms. Whip is reversed and Joe hits the back splash followed by the Pele Kick. Dropkick sends Corbin over the top and to the floor. Suicide Dive, but Corbin HAMMERS him with a forearm before he made it through the ropes. Corbin back in and hits a series of clotheslines in the corner for a one count. Joe ducks a forearm and lands a loud chop and starts throwing jabs. Joe gets a roll-up for two and turns the kick-out into a half crab. Cool! Corbin reaches for the ropes, so Joe switches to a Cross-Face. Corbin reaches out and Joe grabs that arm and starts bending. Corbin resorts to getting a leg on the ropes to force a break. Joe gets dumped to the floor, but catches Corbin with a trip on the apron and then sends him into the barricade. Joe takes one look at the crowd and Corbin pounces as he catches Joe walking into a heel hook. “You Can’t Wrestle,” from a small, minority in the crowd. Deep Six from Corbin gets two. Joe with an enziguiri to leave both men down. Nice! Both men are up at eight and Joe starts throwing jabs again and then body blows. Back fist is blocked and Corbin starts throwing bombs. Joe retaliates as this is what I want. PUNCH PEOPLE IN THE FACE! Joe lands the spinning back fist and it sounded great. Corbin fights away from a Muscle Buster and lands a big boot. Twisting suplex gets a two count. Corbin stomps Joe in the corner as he is frustrated and takes it out on Joe. End of Days is countered into the Coquina Clutch, but Corbin fights out. Choke Bomb from Corbin gets two and again, Joe uses the kick-out to catch Corbin and gets The Clutch to a big pop. Corbin fights, but is choked out at 10:23.
Winner: Samoa Joe via pin at 10:23
-I dug all of this! HOSS FIGHTS are fun and this was what I wanted. 10 minutes of hard hitting action until one man was left awake. ***1/4
-Ric Flair, Sgt. Slaughter, and Kanna are in the front row. I hope things work out for Kanna and she becomes a star. If not today, then I bet tomorrow.
-Naomi and Tamina are also in the front row as they are here to support Sasha (Team BAD for Life).
-Stephanie McMahon is out and looks fantastic. She handles ring announcing duties for our first of two Main Events tonight.
-Sasha/Bayley video package featuring Izzy, who is now a wrestler. They talk about the Four Horsewomen and how all of them other than Bayley, got the call up to the Main Roster. Great video package! Sasha: “Boo freaking Who. Grow up.”
NXT Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bayley
-The crowd is JACKED for this one. Bayley is wearing polka dots on parts of her gear as a tribute to Dusty. Nice! Sasha arrives in an Escalade with a team of massive human beings as her security team. Well, I guess Steph was just there to announce the match was next and now we get our normal, super special in ring intros from our regular announcer. You can see Sasha was a bit emotional during the ring intro, but has gotten back into Sasha mode at the sound of the bell. She talks trash to Bayley, so Bayley takes her down and they start trading ground and pound. Loud dueling chant as this atmosphere is just BONKERS. I wonder what the women on the main roster had to be thinking? Bayley shakes off being sent into the buckle and runs Sasha into it several times. She hangs Sasha in the Tree of Woe and springs off the bottom rope to hit an elbow drop. Sweet! It only gets one though. Sasha pulls out a roll-up for one, but runs into an elbow in the corner. Bayley sends Sasha to the floor off an arm-drag. Sasha gets into it with the crowd and loses sight of Bayley, who bails to the floor and hits a dropkick coming through the ring post and ropes. They fight on the apron and up to the top rope. Bayley fights out of a superplex, but Sasha kicks her knee and Bayley crashes to the floor. Sasha is rolling as she mocks Bayley and beats her down to the mat. Sasha goes to a neck crank and the crowd is staying with them. Sasha lets Bayley know she is a loser and stomps her. Sasha transitions to a straitjacket hold. Bayley gets to her feet, so Sasha runs her into the corner and throws a back kick for good measure. Bayley blocks a forearm and starts firing back with her own. Sasha gets caught on Bayley’s shoulders, but uses the rope to escape and run Bayley into the corner. Sasha lays Bayley across the top rope and lands the double knees to the gut for a two count. Sasha talks more trash, so Bayley kicks her in the face and goes back to the ground and pound. Sasha holds the ropes to avoid an elbow and drops Bayley arm first on the top rope. Sasha goes after the damaged hand and removes the hand brace. Bayley was out of action with a broken hand, so Sasha has a target. She puts Bayley back in the ring, just to throw her right back out. She smashes the bad hand of the ring step and stomps on it for good measure. Tremendous spot as Sasha wedges Bayley’s hand between the steps and ring and kicks the stairs. That was awesome and got a heck of a of a reaction. Sasha is soaking in the boos for the crowd! The ref bends down to check on Bayley and Sasha LEAPS OVER HIM to hit a Senton. Amazing! “This is awesome,” chant from the crowd. Sasha gets two back in the ring and is starting to show signs of frustration. Slap to the face and Sasha goes to drop the arm off the top rope again. She leaps to the top, but Bayley shoves off and Sasha crashes to the floor. Both women are down, but Sasha has to beat the count and gets back in at eight. They start trading bombs from their knees and the crowd reacts accordingly. Bayley wins this exchange and fires up with double axe handles and hits a running shoulder in the corner. Back Splash followed by a vertical suplex into the corner and the crowd loves what they are seeing. Bayley tightens her ponytail, but Sasha blocks the Bayley-To-Belly. They trade counters and Sasha hits a Flatliner and transitions to the Banks Statement as the crowd freaks out. Bayley reaches out, but Sasha is a beast and STOMPS THE BAD HAND. Sasha kicks off the ropes, but Bayley rolls with her and counters to her own Banks Statement and the crowd is losing it. Sasha is able to swivel her position enough to get her foot on the bottom rope. Bayley-To-Belly hits, but Sasha is out at two and the crowd is annoyed, but at the same time let us know “this is awesome.” Sure is! Bayley gets Sasha up top for a Super Bayley-To-Belly, but Sasha punches her away. Bayley fights back up and goes for a top rope rana, but Sasha shoves again and Bayley nearly lands on her head on the way down. Top Rope Meteora gets two! To the other corner where Bayley elbows Sasha down, but Sasha is relentless. More elbows from Bayley and she hits a TOP ROPE POISONRANA. SHUT THIS SHOW DOWN! Oh wait, Bayley-To-Belly hits and this time the crowd rejoices as Bayley is the New NXT Women’s Champion at 18:19.
Winner and New NXT Women’s Champion: Bayley via pin at 18:19
-This is a legendary match and deserves all the accolades and praise. Just a spectacular match with an amazing crowd that showed the women could absolutely crush it when given the chance and the fans would eat it up. There may be better matches that came later, but doesn’t take away from this one. It deserves every bit of the full marks. Props to both women and the crowd for giving these women an incredible atmosphere. *****
-Charlotte and Becky are out to celebrate with Bayley. Sasha is up and she hugs Bayley and the crowd erupts. Man, they really should have closed the show with this one. Loud NXT chant as the Four Horsewomen embrace. They all have tears in their eyes and we figured this was a glimpse of the future at the time, but didn’t know how much these four would change the game. This makes me smile and gives me goosebumps! I love wrestling!
Ladder Match: NXT Championship: Finn Balor (c) vs. Kevin Owens
-Balor won the Title from Kevin Owens at the Network Special, Beast in The East, from Japan. I couldn’t find the whole show on YouTube, but the Balor/KO match is there. KO is great as he just sits in a chair on the floor as Balor does his full entrance. This is the second match in NXT history with the first being Neville/Dallas in the first NXT live event on Peacock. KO talks trash, shoves Balor and immediately tries to get to the ladder, but Balor stops him. Dropkick from Balor and he takes a look up to the Championship. Running chop in the corner and another one. KO lands a back elbow and hits a Senton before soaking in the crowd’s reaction. A fight or something breaks out in the crowd and gets a massive reaction from the fans. A “Yes” chant breaks out as I wonder if it was a proposal? Balor blocks a powerbomb attempt and hits a double foot stomp. KO sends Balor into the corner and hits a cannonball. The crowd starts the Sami Zayn “ole” chant, which annoys KO. He fakes having a shoulder injury to mock Sami, which is fantastic. Saxton misses it and thinks he is mocking Balor. Sling Blade from Balor sends KO to the floor, which works for him as he goes for the ladder. Balor knocks him down and starts dragging the ladder back to the ring. We get a tug-of-war which leads to KO running the ladder into Balor into the apron. KO teases doing a cannonball up the ladder to Balor, but just casually punches Balor in the face to piss off the crowd. Again, FANTASTIC! They end up brawling in the crowd and Balor gets sent into the railing. Powerbomb is blocked and Balor backdrops KO over the barrier and back to the ringside. Balor off the barrier, but gets caught and run into it. KO sends Balor flying over the announce table and launches the top of the table at Balor to a big pop. KO finds another ring under the ladder, but takes a bit too long and as he turns, Balor comes off the announce table with a shotgun dropkick into the ladder. Great! The crowd wants tables because ladders aren’t enough. KO on his feet, so Balor hits a dive on the floor. He gets the ladder in and starts to climb, but KO grabs him by the ankle and pulls him down. Balor gets run face first into the ladder and then pitched to the floor. KO climbs, but drops down as he sees Balor push a ladder into the ring. KO throws the ladder at Balor, but misses. Enziguiri from Balor, but he follows by running into a clothesline. Ladder shot to the ribs of Balor as we get a dueling chant. Nasty looking slam on the ladder followed by a KO Senton. That had to suck! Balor shows some life, but KO cuts him off with a knee. Powerbomb is countered again and KO takes a backdrop onto the open ladder. Ouch! Balor climbs, but KO pulls him down and launches him back first into the ladder. Cannonball misses this time and KO bounces off the ladder. Shotgun dropkick! Coupe de Gras connects and Balor starts climbing. KO gets there and brings Balor down with a SICK powerbomb. KO climbs, but Balor tips the ladder over and KO crashes into the corner. KO with a trip and goes for the pop-up powerbomb, but Balor escapes and hits a running boot. Double Stomp on the floor misses and this time, KO finally hits the apron powerbomb. NXT chant from the crowd. KO crawls back into the ring and he gets a ladder in the right position. He starts climb, but Balor is back. He tips the ladder over, but KO is ready this time and delivers a super kick. I swear it sounds like a “Young Bucks,” chant started from some in the crowd. Another super kick as KO lets Balor know he did this. KO bridges a ladder between the corner and another ladder. He drags Balor to the top of the ladder and teases a suplex, but Balor fights it off. Head-butt from Owens and he tries again, but Balor kicks away. They continue to brawl and Owens gets his head run into the top of the ladder and crashes onto the other ladder. Balor is not close enough to get the Championship. He kicks Owens away and hits The Coupe de Grace Now, he can adjust the ladder and climb. He retrieves the Championship at 21:42.
Winner and Still NXT Champion: Finn Balor via belt retrieval at 21:42
-Old school ladder match where they teased a lot but didn’t go so crazy that would question what they are thinking. Hard hitting and just a fun match with KO doing a lot of little things to make sure he was booed by the crowd. ****1/4
-Thanks for reading!
