Sanity def. Tye Dilligner, Roderick Strong, Kassius Ohno and Ruby Riot – 8 Person Mixed Tag Team Match
I can’t say I was following the underlying storylines behind this match because I simply don’t have time to watch NXT next week, so I was just going to see how the match would progress. I had noticed that Nikki Cross was in Sanity, and I don’t know if she was a heel in her Fatal Four Way bout with Asuka, Billie Kay and Peyton Royce, but if someone can clear that up for me, I’d appreciate it. Anyways, I think this was a great opening bout to start off the night. The storytelling was great, with Sanity using heel tactics to get the advantage and using blind tags to use the numbers game to their advantage. I was paying close attention to Ruby Riot, because she’s a new face I had yet to seen, and from what I saw, she needs some work but served her purpose well in this match. She tried to neutralize the impact of Nikki and they practically canceled each other out. I also liked the non-stop pace that Roderick Strong brought to the match every time he entered the match. He just had a nice pace, great energy and hit some crisp moves in the ring. The action was all over the place, and if done right, organized chaos can make for a terrific tag match. I think we got that here. I’m not sure what the deal is behind Tye Dilligner losing another Takeover, so maybe it may be a prelude to a main roster call up. In any event, great opener. ***1/2
Aliester Black def. Andrade “Cien” Celmas
Another new face that I wasn’t accustomed to in Alliester Black. What I noticed about him is that he has tremendous ring presence. The backflips that he does from the second rope, the stiff and precise kicks he hits and his overall awareness is very good indeed. Andrade seems to be NXT’s newest enhancement talent, and he’s a serviceable worker at best, and I think he gave Black a good match. These two had unique styles to them, and I think they made it work in this match. I wasn’t hopping out of my feet or anything, and I probably won’t remember it tomorrow. But for what we got here, this would make a solid RAW main event. ***1/4 (Oh, a couple of Ring of Honor mentions in this match can’t bode well).
Authors of Pain (C) def. DIY and The Revival – NXT Tag Team Championship (Triple Threat Elimination Match)
Boy, so much to digest, so little time. Well, I guess I should start by saying that I do love the new designs for the tag belts. They look very defined and I appreciate the new color scheme. As for the match? Well…wow. Those fifteen minutes might have been the some of the most liveliest moments I ever had watching any wrestling match, let alone those from NXT. I don’t like taking credit away from the Authors of Pain. They look the part of a dominant tag team, they do have some moves, and with proper placement, they can become a great force. But, man. That was the definition of carrying the match on the part of DIY and The Revival. I unabashedly loved their teamwork trying to eliminate just ONE member of the Authors of Pain earlier on. I mean, it took both tag teams just to put ONE member through a table. THEN, one member of each tag team applied their best submission hold and they still held on. I think that’s how a dominant tag team should be booked. How about that suplex spot right into the sea of competitors as well? There’s just so many moments that were happening so quickly, I completely lost it. A part of me is still trembling. The match incorporated everything I love about wrestling. Precise moves, great storytelling, intense action, a hot crowd, and unison. This match had all of that, and to be honest, it was headed towards five-star territory.
However, I believed the order of the eliminations messed up everything. If they were gong to eliminate one of DIY and The Revival first, it should have been The Revival. The pacing and heat of the match slowly died down after DIY left, and the crowd sensed it. There wasn’t anything left that they could give and it was just mainly The Authors of Pain dominating The Revival and the latter just getting some last ditch efforts in. Again, this was headed to five-star territory, but it will have to settle for a bit lower rating because of the finish. Doesn’t take away from the match. That’s a match of the year contender next to Styles and Cena from the Rumble. ****1/2
Asuka (C) def. Ember Moon – NXT Women’s Championship
I was looking forward to this match for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I was wondering if this would be the moment where Asuka finally passes the torch to Ember Moon, who seems to be next in line to hold the championship. These two have very similar personalities in an unorthodox kind of way. I think these two worked great together and exchanged great holds together. Asuka continued to show her frustrations with someone who could conceivably match up with her, just like Mickie James in Toronto last November. This was a fine match overall, but I’ve seen Asuka done better. It’s clear Ember is the future of the NXT Women’s Division, and while only Triple H knows when Asuka’s time in NXT will be finished, they certainly are teasing it. I think this all but confirms Asuka won’t make an appearance tomorrow (though never say never). As for tonight, I was left satisfied here. It was a very good outing for Ember herself, and I think she needed a great performance in order to validate that spot. She did so tonight. ***1/2
Bobby Roode (C) def. Shinsuke Nakamura – NXT Championship
I don’t think the result was in any serious jeopardy, but you could have fooled me. What I loved about this match was the methodical story-telling of it. It wasn’t rushed. Bobby consistently worked over the knee that he worked over at their match in San Antonio, and it factored into the finish. It also showed the cunning of Bobby as we wisely took out Nakamura’s most important weapon in his arsenal. Because he was able to take out his knee, he prevented Nakamura from being able to use his finisher. In addition, Nakamura had to compensate in the match by using submissions and other last-ditch efforts in order to gain the advantage. Roode and Nakamura blew their San Antonio match away with this one. I thought the stoppages in the match in the previous one hurt the pacing, but here, they worked a very great match that went on for some time, but it had an end game to it. I alway say that if a match is going to go long, it had better have a great story to follow, and this one had a great story to it. Not to mention these tow hit nice, pristine moves. Roode’s Spinebuster and the hangtime he got on both of his DDT’s are examples of that. Nakamrua did his thing as usual as well.
Many speculate now that Nakamura lost the match, he’ll be on the main roster this week. While I wouldn’t hedge my bets on that just yet because Nakamura is advertised for NXT shows in the summer, this definitely signals that he will be coming to the main roster sooner than later. He’s already won the NXT Title twice, so there’s nor eal reason for him to continue to be there. WWE still likes his star power, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they had him there a little longer, but best believe the debut is coming. I pray it is to Smackdown. As for this match, it was wonderfully booked, it got the time it needed to tell its story, and it accomplished its purpose. This match may not have had the energy from the crowd from Nakamura/Zayn in Dallas last year, this match was just as good from a story-telling and in-ring standpoint. ****1/2
Conclusion:
NXT rebounded in a big way from a lackluster San Antonio event with a WrestleMania caliber NXT show that we’ve come to enjoy from them. While Takeover: Dallas to me stands as their best edition, the combination of the tag match and Roode/Nakamrua puts this over the top for me. Everything else was wonderfully booked and every match served its purpose well. I highly reccomend this show, and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed if you were to watch the entire show from start to finish. But if you are strapped for time. Definitely watch the tag match up until DIY’s elimination, and Roode/Nakamura is a great storytelling spectacle. Thumbs way up. See y’all for WrestleMania tomorrow.
