wrestling / TV Reports
Zen Arcade Reviews: NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III
Loading...Off the heels of one of the best shows in WWE history back in May – Takeover: Chicago – NXT has had one of its most fun periods as a TV show in some time. The weekly quality of wrestling has seldom been better, and the continuance of NXT’s simple storytelling has been as reliable as ever. Because of that, I’m coming into NXT’s third Brooklyn event with my expectations high. It’ll be incredibly hard to beat the one-two punch that last year’s event had with DIY vs. The Revival and Joe vs. Nakamura matchups, but what’s life without trying? I’m excited either way.
We are LIVE from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.
Your hosts are Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, and Percy Watson. Some generic rock band plays us in, for some reason. They’re better than Kid Rock at any rate.
Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade Almas
Johnny’s 2017 has been quite the rollercoaster if you’ve followed it to any real degree. The last Takeover show ended with a depressing visual, his former best friend Tommaso Ciampa standing over his badly beaten body after a grueling ladder match with the AOP. He’s been trying to build himself back up since then, and has to set out on a singles journey after Ciampa went down with a torn ACL. And it’s hard to be Johnny Gargano and have a bad match, especially against such a reliably good wrestler like “Cien”.
Neither man is able to get the advantage in the early feeling out process until Johnny Wrestling pulls off a step-up Frankensteiner. He beautifully rolls into a front facelock after flustering Almas with his furious countering. This crowd just adores Gargano, and Almas shuts them up with hanging backbreaker/GTR combo. Johnny makes the mistake of throwing Almas into the ropes, which earns him a Triangle hanging over the top rope. Johnny drop toeholds Almas into the second turnbuckle, but Cien stays on him until both men go flying after a double clothesline. They trade some nasty strikes in the center of the ring until Johnny starts building up a head of steam, hitting his sliding enzuigiri to a kneeling Almas, followed by the slingshot spear for a nearfall. Almas counters out of a suplex, but gets superkicked right out of his Tranquilo posturing, followed by a TOPE CON HILO! SLINGSHOT DDT! Almas kicks out. Almas escapes the Gargano lawn dart, and he COUNTERS A SLINGSHOT SPEAR INTO A GTR! SUPER REVERSE DDT! Gargano kicks out now. Kind of like a tornado Destino there. Almas puts Gargano up top for a prospective Superplex, but Gargano battles out and rattles off a few strikes to knock Cien loopy long enough for a sunset powerbomb.. BUT ALMAS BACKFLIPS OUT OF IT! DOUBLE KNEES COUNTERED INTO AN ENZUIGIRI FROM GARGANO! HIP TOSS INTO THE CORNER! DOUBLE KNEES COUNTERED… AND GARGANO ROLLS INTO THE GARGA-NO ESCAPE~! COUNTERED INTO A SINGLE ARM BUCKLE BOMB! DOUBLE KNEES! GARGANO KICKS OUT~! Almas tries to get Gargano up for the Hammerlock DDT by softening him up with some short knees, but Gargano slips out and SUPERKICKS HIM! LAWN DART! Selena Vega distracts Gargano before the running knee though by throwing a DIY shirt at him, and Almas pins Gargano with the Hammerlock DDT in 13 minutes. ***3/4 I am overjoyed at the match we got here, an opener befitting of both men’s immense talent and standing on the NXT roster. Almas is always good for an exciting match on a Takeover undercard, but when you put him in there with Johnny Gargano – one of the most talented wrestlers on the planet bar none – you get a proper showstealer as evidenced here. I love the storyline of Gargano simply having to move on from the devastating DIY breakup, only for a smarmy dickhead like Andrade Almas to beat him in his first big singles match. The best part? Almas’ manager used a DIY t-shirt to make it happen, which is one of those small storyline details that can go a long way towards making a moment memorable. There really isn’t much more you can ask for out of an opener considering the sprint these two opened up with, and we’re off to an outstanding start.
Johnny scoots away from the DIY shirt that cost him the match in a great touch.
Both main roster GM’s are in attendance, Daniel Bryan getting his ear talked off by Billie Kay and Peyton Royce.
NXT Tag Titles: Authors of Pain © vs. SanitY
On paper, this match seems like one of the weaker tag title matches NXT’s put on a Takeover in quite a while. The AOP have improved wonderfully, but we’ve yet to really see them have a great match with a team that’s not DIY. Killian Dain and Alexander Wolfe are a solid team to be sure, but the cynical side of me is a little wary of this bout. But considering my love of wacky hoss fights, I’m still mostly excited for it.
Mike Rome can’t even finish the introductions before the AOP jump Dain and Wolfe, and they slow the pace down by isolating Wolfe for the time being… and Eric Young replaces Killian Dain in the match! Hey, the marquee didn’t say Wolfe and Dain, it just said SanitY. I’ll allow it. Things soon devolve into a Pier Sixer as Young takes Akam into the crowd for a little bit of clubberin’, but Akam chucks him back ringside and eventually back in between the ropes. AOP hit an INSANE Backdrop into a Dominator followed by a Curb Stomp/Sidewalk Slam combo on Eric Young, the poor bastard. Young flips out to the apron and tries to slide inside through Rezar’s legs, but Rezar catches him and heaves him up for a Tree Slam. Young finally gets the tag to Wolfe, who comres in and cleans house on the Authors. He tosses Akam back with a dope Exploder and hits Rezar with a German! He follows with a flying clothesline on Rezar, but Akam saves the day for his partner. Wolfe kjeeps fighting back until the AOP hit a Neckbreaker/Powerbomb combo on him for 2. They measure for a Superbomb on Wolfe, who COUNTERS INTO A SUPER FRANKENSTEINER! He tags EY back in, and he goes up top for an elbow that ends in Rezar crotching him. Nikki Cross grabs Eric Young’s feet to prevent a Tower of Doom, which means Rezar powerbombs his own partner! Elbow from EY scores, but Rezar pulls his partner out of the ring before the three count. SOMERSAULT PESCADO FROM WOLFE! Nikki Cross measures for a dive, but Paul Ellering steps into the ring to tell her what’s what. She slips past and dives out on Akam, but gets caught… SO KILLIAN DAIN SPEARS AKAM THROUGH A TABLE OUTSIDE~! BACK SUPLEX/NECKBREAKER IN THE RING! SanitY knocks off the AOP in 12 minutes. ***1/2 This was so much fun. It wasn’t something that took either team weeks to come up with, but it didn’t need to be that complex. It was a fight between four rough and tumble dudes, and it was worked with just enough tact to get over beyond that level. Alexander Wolfe was very impressive especially, as he showed an amount of fire that I didn’t think he was capable of. He was smooth, dynamic, and still did a good job of keeping his personality in mind. Eric Young was his reliably good self, playing excellently the defacto face-in-peril. His babyface fire matched that of his partner, and watching him work like this is always a delight. I have slight mixed feelings about the title change though, as I think the Authors had a bit more mileage as tag champions in NXT. They’ve improved to the point where I’m legitimately impressed with their effort every time out and I’d have liked to their defeat to be built up a tiny bit more than it was here. With that being said though, I ultimately have no issue with SanitY getting the belts as they’ve been used correctly and built up well since they debuted, so it’s not like a Jinder Mahal situation or anything. This was a balls-to-the-wall hoss fight, and a very pleasant surprise.
Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly attack everybody during the celebration! ReDRagon are a team in NXT! They hit EY with Chasing The Dragon, and all of a sudden the NXT tag division heats up in a major way.
Aleister Black vs. Hideo Itami
NXT has done a fine job of slowly building up the former Tommy End, giving him several big wins over the likes of the debuting Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish, former partner Kassius Ohno, and many others en route to this big match with newly heel Hideo Itami. Hideo has started to really find his footing in NXT this year, having a fun little mini-feud with Ohno before landing in Brooklyn with this match, one that looks to be quite the slobberknocker on paper.
Jim Ross is randomly the guest commentator for this match. As long as it’s not a live New Japan show I guess. Both men come out swinging, throwing kicks at each other until Itami eats a shot that sends him to the floor. Aleister keeps the momentum rolling until Itami cuts him off with a gordbuster on the top rope, followed by a diving knee drop that sends him right back to the mat. Black’s nose is already busted open, and Itami adds insult to injury by adding a few “Fucking Unnecessary” kicks to his back. Percy Watson calls Black “Alexander Black” on commentary, taking the pressure off JR assuredly. Hideo taunts Aleister a little bit, but he’s able to deal with any consequences by firing off a DDT. Aleister hits a nasty leg sweep and a running knee to the temple, followed by a GORGEOUS Quebrada for a nearfall. He measures for Black Mass, but Hideo puts a stop to that before hitting a flying clothesline for 2. Itami crumbles Black with a backfist, but runs right into a flash Victory Roll for 2… followed immediately by a nasty high kick. Black heads up top, but Itami cuts him off at the pass for an AVALANCHE FALCON ARROW~! He did the SUPER deal! Black kicks out, and he pops up and goes toe-to-toe with Itami! Itami STARCHES him with slaps, but he runs RIGHT INTO A JUMPING KNEE FROM BLACK! FALCON ARROW FROM ITAMI! Aleister Black becomes perhaps the first man to kick out of two Falcon Arrows in one match. Itami hits a nasty Shibata-esque dropkick in the corner and measures for the Go 2 Sleep, but Black elbows out… only to eat a knee to the gut that floors him. He tries a Lariat, but TURNS RIGHT INTO BLACK MASS! And just like that, Aleister Black gets the win in 12 minutes. ***1/2 This is one of those bouts that played out exactly like you’d imagine it would when seeing it on paper. These two are lethal strikers with their feet, and they worked the sort of stiff war that you would expect of them. This is the first time that Black has wrestled a guy as hard-hitting as Itami in NXT, and Itami did a great job of schooling him in the earlygoing with his trademark spots. He matched him kick for kick and even added nasty slaps and backfists to his arsenal. The one thing that ended up paying dividends in this match though was the looming threat of the Black Mass kick and sure enough, once Aleister found the opening, it was curtains for Hideo. Psychology like that is what gets a finisher over as a guaranteed match-ender, and wrestling needs more of that these days. Really good stuff, and hopefully we see a rematch someday because I have no doubt that they can have a barnburner if given the chance.
NXT Women’s Title: Asuka © vs. Ember Moon
When taking in long-term buildup, this rematch is probably the slowest NXT has built a title chase since the Sami Zayn storyline. Ember Moon has been earmarked as the woman to finally dethrone Asuka since she debuted at last year’s Brooklyn Takeover, and she’s been treated as such in her booking. Seems okay, right? Only the issue is, the more I watch Ember Moon the more it hits me that she just doesn’t have the starpower to believably be Asuka’s foil. I understand that’s a very very difficult task to undertake, but I don’t even think Ember is all that close to being the right woman to take Asuka down. There’s too much of a charisma and presence gap for me to really take it as seriously as NXT wants me to. But one thing Ember Moon CAN do is work a wrestling match, so my complaints stop there.
Ember comes out a house of fire early, causing Asuka to get the hell out of Dodge for a breather. Ember keeps after her though, somersaulting off of the second rope to the floor onto the champion. Asuka regroups and manages to throw her bad shoulder into the ringsteps, stopping all the progress Ember has made up to this point. Asuka takes her time systematically dissecting Ember’s arm until she tries a cocky Fujiwara Armbar, which earns her a Teardrop Suplex, followed by an enzuigiri for 2. Ember tries to keep it going, but Asuka slips under and tosses her into the turnbuckles with a nasty German. Asuka tries the Asuka Lock, but Ember counters into one of her own! Asuka makes her pay by yanking her shoulder out, and gets the hooks in for a proper Asuka Lock! Ember escapes by simply taking a bump, but Asuka sits right back up and locks it on again! Ember escapes and finally gets some separation with a forearm. Asuka sends Ember FLYING with her hip attack, but it only gets 2. Ember cuts her off running and sets up for a cool Tornado Suplex, but Asuka manages to kick out. They exchange in the center of the ring before Ember rattles Asuka with a few knees, but Asuka battles back and goes full American Dragon with stomps! Ember suckers her in for a Backdrop into a side slam for 2. She measures for the Eclipse, but Asuka cuts her off and tries a Superplex, so Ember kicks her leg out of her leg and hits a stomp to send her to the mat for 2. ECLIPSE FROM EMBER~! ASUKA KICKS OUT!!! Ember is at a loss and just decides to go for another one, but Asuka uses the ref to distract her long enough to GET A ROLL UP WITH THE TIGHTS! THE REF CATCHES HER! SUPERKICK FROM EMBER! ASUKA KICKS OUT! FLASH CROSS ARMBREAKER FROM ASUKA! COUNTERED INTO A ROLL UP… FOR 2! ASUKA LOOOOCK!!! EMBER TAPS! Asuka retains her title in 15 minutes. ****1/4 Without a doubt, one of the best 3 women’s matches I’ve ever seen under a WWE banner, and probably the most fun I’ve ever had watching either woman. As lackluster as I think Ember Moon is as a personality, she is still one of NXT’s best babyfaces between the ropes. Her selling, fire, and comebacks were all outstanding. She came off as a woman who wanted nothing more in this life than to defeat Asuka for the championship. She’d battled through Asuka’s cheating in Orlando, getting her shoulder thrashed on TV, and worked like a woman who was willing to fight through all of that to unseat the Empress. Unfortunately for her, Asuka isn’t your run of the mill obstacle; she’s the best Women’s Champion in NXT (and WWE, really) history. She’s been on top for 18 months for a reason. She can pinpoint your weaknesses, take you apart methodically, and leave you a completely broken shell by the end of the match. That’s not to say Ember didn’t come in with a solid strategy. Instead of letting Asuka figure her out early, she came out swinging and didn’t let up. Asuka hasn’t fought someone like that, and it really had her reeling early. But like I said earlier, Asuka can set her focus on your one weakness and exploit it all the way to the bank… and exploit it she did. She went right after Ember Moon’s bum shoulder and attempted to soften her up for the patented Asuka Lock. Seems simple right? Only Ember ended up being her toughest challenge, taking every shot Asuka threw and reciprocating in kind. She even managed to hit the Eclipse on Asuka for the first time, something Asuka prevented back in Orlando… but Asuka kicked out. What was Ember to do? No one had ever been able to survive the move and she was completely lost once Asuka did. Asuka used her champion’s heart – and some cheating ways – to recover, and once she was able to find a small opening, the Asuka Lock was in and Ember had no choice but to save herself by tapping. Rarely are you ever treated to such a riveting and ultimately satisfying psychological war, but we were here. It not only puts over Ember Moon for being in such a titanic struggle, it adds to Asuka’s continuing reign. Yes, she is human, but she’s the best in the world. This was just phenomenal.
NXT Title: Bobby Roode © vs. Drew McIntyre
Drew McIntyre’s return to WWE by way of NXT has been about as good as one would think. His marked improvement as an all-around performer has shown itself in spades, which is a great thing considering the slightly stale state of the main event scene in NXT. Bobby Roode has been a really good champion for sure, but there’s been a little something missing from his feuds since he won the belt. It does help that this is the first Roode defense that has a bit of unpredictability to it, so I think we’re going to end up with a great main event at the end.
Drew’s power is the conquering factor early, sending Roode to the outside to regroup. Roode uses his veteran cunning to slip in a few chops, and he nearly gets the Glorious DDT in a struggle. McIntyre does a good job keeping his head above water, catching a diving Roode off of the apron and hitting him with a nasty Tilt-a-Whirl Backbreaker on the apron. Roode manages to shitcan McIntyre though, and he dives off of the apron with a Blockbuster on the floor. It goes without saying he has the advantage after that. Missile Dropkick scores in the ring for a two count. Roode eats the turnbuckles in attempting to keep a Chinlock on, and he runs into a Belly-to-Belly from Drew on the rebound. McIntyre alley-oops him into the turnbuckle and starts building a comeback, heading to the top rope for a flying clothesline. He catches a running Roode into an Air Raid Crash for a two count. He catches Roode on the top rope and measures for a Superplex but gets crotched, knocking him down in the Tree of Woe… only to PULL UP AND DRAG HIM BY THE FACE FOR A SUPLEX! He measures for the Claymore, but Roode isn’t moving and it turns out he’s playing possum for a cradle that only gets two! Drew looks for Future Shock, but Roode counters out and hits a Backstabber for a two count. McIntyre gets a nearfall of a backslide, and hits Future Shock out of nowhere! Roode manages to get a shoulder up. McIntyre looks for an avalanche Air Raid Crash, but Roode slips under and counters into a falling powerbomb for 2. It’s a slugfest in the center of the ring now until Roode wobbles McIntyre with an enzuigiri… but MCINTYRE EXPLODES INTO A CLAYMORE KICK! Roode is able to get his foot on the rope. The referee won’t let McIntyre follow up as Roode rolls outside… so HE OPTS FOR A TOPE CON HILO~! Roode doesn’t even TRY to catch the poor bastard. McIntyre rolls the champ into the ring for another prospective Claymore, but ROODE COUNTERS INTO A SPINEBUSTER~! GLORIOUS DDT… COUNTERED INTO A CRADLE FOR 2! TILT A WHIRL GLORIOUS DDT FROM ROODE! MCINTYRE KICKS OUT! ONE MORE GLORIOUS DDT! A THIRD COUNTERED INTO A CLAYMORE! ONE, TWO, THREE! Drew McIntyre is your new NXT Champ in 22 minutes! ***1/2 A bit too meandering during the heat to truly be a great match – Roode matches have that issue sometimes – but everything aside from that was perfectly acceptable main event wrestling. Drew McIntyre is one of those rare talents that looks like money, but actually has the skills to back it up. He’s very aware of how he wrestles, and he’s able to adapt that into any situation. Crazy sprints with Oney Lorcan? Check. Awesome big guy/little guy stuff with Speedball Mike Bailey? Check. He was even able to adapt wonderfully to the archetypal WWE main event style that Bobby Roode wrestles. The match itself was a bit lacking compared to Roode’s first match with Nakamura or the Itami match, but in general it did a really good job of accomplishing its goal. It was an exciting match that ultimately did its job of crowning Drew McIntyre as the new face of NXT, and there’s not much else I could really want than that.
Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish are on the apron, and ADAM COLE JUMPS DREW~! ReDRagon and Adam Cole appear to be a group, and we have an incredibly interesting direction coming out of this Takeover.
