Kyle O’Reilly (C) and Bobby Fish (C) (The Undisputed Era) def. Authors of Pain – NXT Tag Team Titles
I apologize because I still cannot discern Akam from Rezar, so you’ll have to excuse me for still not knowing the difference. Regardless, I beleived this was a highly solid opening match, and I think this did a good job of highlighting how far Authors of Pain have come as a team. This time last year, they were basically two clones of Ryback; two muscle-bound freaks that were reckless and lacked ring awareness. This year, they’ve gotten tag team psychology down and are much more in sync. Of course it helps when you have O’Reilly and Fish to help carry things along. The psychology was pretty basic, but it worked within the context of the match. The Authors of Pain are two muscle-bound heavyweights and the best way to attack them is by taking out their lower extremities, and Fish/O’Reilly did a masterful job of using leg locks and holds to limit their mobility.
I was also very impressed as to how powerful Fish and O’Reilly were, because while the Authors of Pain can take some bumps, it’s very difficult to get overhead suplexes on them, and that was cool to see. The result was kind of obvious, though I admittedly bought a finish of Authors of Pain winning towards the ending sequence. However, the finish was cleverly constructed, because it protects both teams, and makes the right team go over once again. Both teams worked hard, they kept the crowd engaged thoughout, and they wrestled a consequence-less tag team match. ***1/2
Velveteen Dream def. Kassius Ohno
Velveteen is what sports entertainment is about. It’s a different, but unique character, he keeps the crowd engaged adn he performs well in the ring. Unfortuantely, I don’t think Kassius Ohno was the right opponent for him. The match against Aliester Black? Money. This match? Would probably make a good RAW match. My problem with the match is that they had the crowd engaged and it was very hard hitting for the first five or so minutes. However, after that, the matche became very sloppy, some of the moves weren’t executed properly, and most importantly, Ohno lokoed extremely gassed. I don’t want to say it’s because of his weight, but I think he has to work on his conditioning, because he just looked very sluggigsh and couldn’t match Velveteen’s energy.
Still, with all that being said, the hard hitting physicality and the finish saved the match and Velveteen did his absolute best to keep the crowd engaged, and they didn’t totally lose them. So, I’ll give the match the benefit of the doubt, because it was by no means horrible. I just don’t think it highlighted Velveteen’s strengths well. He has a future in this business. ***
Ember Moon (C) def. Shayna Baszler – NXT Women’s Championship
The biggest thing I was looking for in this match was going to be Ember Moon’s selling ability and how the work early in the match played into the finish. And I dug it. While the match wasn’t long in terms of mat based work, Baszler’s style is so uniquely different, and when you have the kind of background she has, there’s a certain complexity that’s added into the match, and you saw the different dynamic immediately with the takedowns and submissions she looked to put Ember in. Ember tried to overpower everything, and it actually worked for a while until Shayna was able to get her signature submissions in, and Ember’s selling was spot on, especially after hitting her finisher.
The ending submission sequence, which seemed like it lasted an eternity, was also one of the best sequences I’ve ever seen in an NXT match. You could believe Ember was going to tap at any moment, but you could also assume that Ember could just do a fluke pin for the win. The problem is that usually the fluke pin occurs immedaitely after a submission is applied, but it was a contentious battle of wills for a good five or so minutes. Baszler continuing to hold the armbar in and do some serious damage, and Ember doing her very best to fight on despite the pain and refusing to tap. Eventually, Ember got the pin and the crowd popped for it. It was a smart finish because it protects both, and you could argue more so Baszler, because of her post-match beatdown and how Ember was selling it by spazzing out. It was a good physical match that paves the way for a rematch at the next takeover, and it’ll probably end up with Shayna getting the better of Ember this go around. ***1/2
Aliester Black def. Adam Cole – Extreme Rules
So, I’m positive Adam Cole should be dead, but somehow he’s not. Good freaking gosh, how do you describe brutal? If this wasn’t a wrestling match, I’d definitely say these two were trying to kill each other with some of those shots that both men took. I mean, the shots with the kendo stick, stomping your opponent through tables, and landing back first unto the top of two chairs side by side. It was all just magnificently brutal. Aliester just has a unique mystique about him that separates him from the rest of the NXT roster. He’s all business, says little words, and is able to be engaging without being a loud mouth. In spite of that, he also had to get much more gritty in order to survive the onsalught of Adam Cole and his entourage.
I loved the chemistry between the two comeptitiors, and I believe they delivered a worthy Extreme Rules match that can only make a Philly crowd lose it. While I certainly could have done without some of the interference and believe the match would have been just fine eithout it, my goodness, that was a well done Extreme Rules match. Both men took their licks, but both men were also equally brutal in their assualts on each other. Adam Cole’s gonna need a lot of morphine after what he went through tonight. Took some time to get going, but once it did, it was some awesome stuff and more. ****1/4
Andrade “Cien” Celmas (C) def. Johnny Garganno – NXT Championship
Yeah, so this match. Let’s talk about THIS match. The way I viewed it, it was basically the main event of WrestleMania 30 if Batista won. Johnny had every conceivable obstacle put in front of him. He suffere dlike 6 or so concussions in the match, Andrade’s manager kept interfering in the match, even getting a good hurcianrana in, and Andrade kept throwing everything in his arsenal at Johnny, but he still kicked out of everything. Johnny’s resillence in this match was something out of a fairytale. He just kept fighting and fighting until he had nothing left to give. What I loved the most about this match was probably the pace of it. It just kept going and going and we had all of the big spots hit with such precision. The final ten minutes especially is what had me out of my seat and had my heart racing.
There was at least five instances where I thought the match could of ended. The amount of times Johnny was kicking out and the amount of times I was led to believe that Andrade would just give in and tap out. But no, the two men jus tkept fighting and fighting until there was literally nothing left. I was hoping this match would get at least 20 or so minutes, but the match way over-delivered and showcased the best of what each man had to offer. Many say that the trigger probably should have been pulled here on Johnny simply because of the amount of adversity he had went through. However, I actually liked the decision. Andrade has been awesome, and he brings a fresh outlook on the NXT Championship. The man has also absolutely delivered in the ring, and tells amazing stories as a heel. The whole bit with Garagno’s wife getting into things as well towards the end was the icing on the cake. And who can forget Ciampa after all this time coming in at the end of the PPV to make his presence felt, reigniting the feud that came beforehand. Honestly, everything about this match was perfect to me, and while some didn’t like the sudden finish after half an hour of awesome storytelling and wrestling combined into one, I didn’t mind at all. If you are a fan of wrestling, and you love a good match, this is what wet dreams are made of. *****
Conclusion:
I think it’s becoming an impossibility for a Takeover to be bad. Seriously, this Takeover had everything and more, with no matches being under three stars, a perfect match and a series of quality, hard-hitting outings. It just goes to show that when you tell a good story, have good mat-based action to perpetuate that story and all business, you have a great PPV. The Royal Rumble has a difficult act to follow, and I’m not about to ge tmy hopes up that it can match the energy this PPV brought, because it rarely does. I’d like to think that the main roster guys watch what NXT does and should be motivated to deliver, but it seldom ends up that way. But nonetheless, what more can I say about this Takeover that hasn’t been said? It was a tremendous show, the fans got more than their money’s worth, and we got remendous build towards the next Takeover. Thumbs all the way up for the Philly edition of Takeover. Until tomorrow folks. See you on the first stop on the Road to WrestleMania!
