It’s All Come To This
Yet another NXT Takeover special has come and gone and once again steals the spotlight from its father brands of Raw and Smackdown. In the span of two hours, WWE’s developmental brand’s Takeover specials have provided some very high quality pure wrestling action and while The End wasn’t the all-time greatest NXT show, it was certainly top tier.
What better way to open an event then with a perfect ten? “The Perfect 10” Tye Dillinger himself faced off against the debuting Andrade “Cien” Almas in an impressive showcase for both competitors. It was predictable going in that Almas would win, it’s almost tradition for debuting talent but he showed some excellent potential in this short match-up, with quite a lot of flipping about and cocky show-boating. Nothing to be taken away from Dillinger either, he may be edging on jobber status but damn he’s good, that super kick to Almas during his handstand was delicious. Hopefully he’s called up to the main roster soon before being identified as bait for bigger guys, he’s got ‘Future Intercontinental Champion’ written all over him. It’s a shame that the match was only five minutes, given a few more this could have been great but it stands respectfully at very good and a nice way to kick off the show.
Up next were the NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan) facing The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson) in their rematch from Takeover Dallas for the tag titles in the match of the night. Oh you’ve no idea unless you seen it, this match was brilliant. These teams have been butting heads for a while now but their matches are so consistently entertaining that it hardly matters. American Alpha are two of the best pure wrestlers today, Gable is nothing short of magnificent I could watch him all day every day and never get bored, he’d probably get tired after a while but I wouldn’t. That reverse throw off the rope into a belly to belly was risky, an inch off and Gable would have landed right on his head. Jordan showed off his trademark agility and it never fails to get the crowd going. The spot of the match would have to be the synchronised attacks on The Revival. Both Alphas hitting the same moves, same time, in succession without fail leading into double ankle lock submissions was stunning. That’s where babies come from kids, seeing stuff like that impregnates every woman at ringside. The Revival did pick up the win, which I don’t fully agree with, having a top team like American Alpha lose their first ever title defence makes their initial win seem like a fluke, but either way, The Revival had such a fantastic showing in their own right that it’s hard to be mad at it because in the end both teams did enough to deserve the victory, plus it means we get at least one more match with these guys and there’s worse outcomes than that.
Following the genuine shock of American Alpha’s lose, they were ambushed by two unknown big guys, who to emphasise were quite bloody big, laid waste to the former champs with their manager WWE Hall of Famer Paul Ellering aka the manager for The Legion of Doom/The Road Warriors. He’s a big deal, this team will be a big deal and they’re ready, they’re willing and they beat up Gable.
Upon his debut Austin Aries was hot stuff, set to become one of NXT’s top guys but he was overshadowed a few weeks later by Shinsuke Nakamura, who since his debut hasn’t just been hot he’s been a supernova. The same night at Takeover Dallas back in April, both men made their in ring debuts with Aries having a pretty solid showing against Baron Corbin…while Nakamura would have a match of the year candidate against Sami Zayn. Aries isn’t one to let himself be eclipsed, he’s booked as ‘The Greatest Man That Ever Lived” after all, so here we are at their match and though it’s not up to the calibre of Zayn and Nakamura it’s still a solid showing and one of the events better matches. There were some great examples of in-ring story-telling on offer with the crowd clearly in Nakamura’s corner to the point of singing his entrance music throughout the match, Aries had to incorporate some subtle heel tactics. Despite both men entering as happy smiley faces and Aries no doubt having his fair share of fans, he just wasn’t going to get around Nakamura’s hype. He hasn’t fully turned heel yet but it’s been set up well, and given how easily being the bad guy comes to him, he’ll be a top heel soon enough. Technically the match was stiffer than your Dad. Knees, clotheslines, kicks, forearms and Aries with a fierce Death Valley Driver on the ring apron was powerful, the crowd’s simultaneous “Ooooooooh” afterwards drives it home. In fact, that’s the best word for this match, fierce, it was two fierce competitors in a fierce battle between ‘The Greatest Man That Ever Lived’ and ‘The King of Strong Style’. An entertaining and high quality bout no doubt, but the hype was far too high for it to ever live up to. The victory soon went to Nakamura after avoiding a suicide dive from Aries before dragging him in to the ring for his signature Kinshasa knee to the face. Shinsuke Nakamura is heading to the main event sooner rather than later, his popularity and consistent quality demands it but big things are on the horizon for Austin Aries.
NXT’s women’s division is nothing to scoff at, with so many great female combatants it started this revolution WWE is pushing. The four horsewomen (Bayley, Becky Lynch, Charlotte and Sasha Banks) Paige, Emma and Asuka are no doubt to thank for that, but there is an odd one out here in Asuka. She’s the only one still in NXT apart from Bayley who’s out with an injury. This isn’t to say that the women in NXT currently are bad, far from it, NXT’s women’s division is constantly impressing, despite the newer debuting talent barely winning a match, let alone being in one that lasts more than a couple minutes. The problem is Asuka took down Bayley, the top dog and she was already the dominant force, so who’s left to challenge her? No one is currently being booked strong enough to take her on. Apart from her opponent in Nia Jax, someone who really stands out for her size and power although her actual in ring skill isn’t exactly great, she tends to throw people around a lot and slam with heavy hits. Though in her defence, this was one of, if not her best performance. It was booked similar to Nia Jax taking on Bayley in a David vs Goliath scenario. Inevitably Asuka took her down with her stiff style and agility in a fairly typical match, there weren’t any stand out moments, the finish felt quick and Jax looked like she could carry on because Asuka’s final two blows didn’t seem like the kind to win a title match. Here’s where the points I made earlier come into play, who’s left for Asuka to face? Bayley? Most likely, but then who does the winner of that match face? Talent like Alexa Bliss, Carmella and more are good wrestlers but not at the level to be in the title picture yet. NXT needs to focus on building more formidable female stars that can believably take on the champion and hold the title themselves.
Lastly came the match that gave the event its name, Finn Bálor vs NXT Champion Samoa Joe inside a steel cage. These two have been feuding for months in what’s been a well done rivalry. Finn toppled Joe at Takeover London in a great match and again at Takeover Dallas in a decent match that was brought down by medical staff interrupting the match to tend to a bleeding cut above Joe’s eye, bringing the match to a halt constantly. #LetJoeBleed. Joe would eventually win the title at a house show meaning it wasn’t televised and everyone not at the event found out online, congrats to Joe, good on him but I really would have liked to see that match. But now inside NXT’s first steel cage, their feud has reached ‘The End’. What can be said about both men, Finn is one of the best wrestlers in the world and Samoa Joe is iconic, they’ve delivered before and they’ve delivered again, it wasn’t the match of the night, nor the best match either men have done in the company but it’s a satisfying finale to one of NXT’s great wars. Both men took some very rough bumps throughout the match, it was certainly the hardest hitting of all their encounters. Finn’s sling blade from the cage wall was awesome, Joe’s jumping enziguri kick from the ropes to Finn on the wall had some serious impact to it and was as spectacular as it was dangerous, Finn striking with a punt kick while on the ropes only to knock Joe out onto the ropes causing Finn to lose his footing and get crotched by the ropes was an interesting, reckless and new spot and the story-telling was great too, both men gave it their all here and had to give more than ever for the win, Joe screaming “I’M GOING TO END YOU” after Finn kicked out for the umpteenth time was great.
Ladies and gentlemen, I had a vision, an idea too risky to pull off and too awkward to set up. I pictured Joe catching Finn just as he reached the top of the cage pulling him onto his shoulders and delivering from the ropes a super muscle buster before slumping himself onto Finn…1…2…3.
And that’s exactly what happened, and by God, it was marvellous. Done incorrectly, that’s a back/neck injury Joe and surely a broken neck for Finn, but they did it, they did it and they did so beautifully. No one can think less of Finn for not getting back up, or not believe Joe will be a great champion afterwards. But now with Samoa Joe raising his title to the NXT locker room, looking for his next challenger, what happens to Finn Bálor? Well, it’s looking like it may finally be time for his main roster debut. Bálor Club for life.
Dan's Digest 