Tag: NXT

NXT Takeover XXV: Every Match Ranked

For the third week in a row now the Gods of wrestling have smiled upon us and delivered us a show that was and absolute joy to watch, and even if they are about to spit on us this Friday for Super Showdown, we must praise them while we can, because as always Takeover was an awesome show. Granted, it wasn’t quite on the level of Takeover: New York (although to be fair, very few shows are), but that shouldn’t take away from the fact that this show was great from top to bottom.

There’s a lot to break down in all of these matches, so let’s not waste any more time and rank the matches.

5 – Street Profits def. The Forgotten Sons, Undisputed Era, Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch
(NXT Tag Team Championships)
(Ladder Match)

Peaks and Troughs, this match had a lot of them.

NXT Ladder matches always tend to have a sense of urgency to them that we don’t often see from main roster ladder matches, which gives me a few reservations about a couple of moments in this match.

I don’t want to rag on this match too much because it was great, but there’s a couple gripes I had. The first was Jaxson Ryker, it totally makes sense for him to get involved, The Forgotten Sons are a three-man faction after all, but he showed up, threw some dudes around and then just…stood there? He sorta picked up a ladder but didn’t do anything with it and he didn’t even try to pull Blake or Cutler into the ring to grab the titles then he was quickly disposed of by everyone else in the match.

The other thing was that following that moment, it felt like the match went on for way too long. Once Jaxson Ryker was disposed of, it felt like the crowd were at their peak excitement and we were ready to head into the climax, but instead the match just kept going for another 5 minutes and lost a lot of excitement that had been built up until to that point, it annoys me even more when there was a match later on the card which I personally thought needed that 5 minutes a lot more.

Now, the good stuff, because there was a lot of that too. For one thing, Kyle O’Reily getting shitcanned at almost every opportunity, along with The Undisputed Era realising something that no-one other teams in ladder matches do: It only takes one of you to grab the titles, so the other one can stand at the bottom and play defence. Every team played a different role in this match and it led to a great dynamic, with Undisputed Era playing the scheming heels, the Forgotten Sons picking their spots and keeping out of harm’s way as much as possible, Lorcan & Burch standing their ground to the aforementioned heels and Street Profits flinging themselves all over the place because they want those titles more than anyone else.

The finish was great too, I honestly though The Forgotten Sons had it after disappearing for about 10 minutes before the finish, but Dawkins running in to get rid of Blake, allowing Ford to springboard onto the ladder (which will never stop being impressive) and take Culter out with a single punch to win the match was a brilliant way to end the match, and if you ask me, the right team won.

4 – Shayna Baszler(c) def. Io Shirai
(NXT Women’s Championship)

Thankfully, it looks like this is just the beginning.

This match wasn’t quite the epic we were all hoping for between these two, but that’s because it served a different purpose, which was getting the characters in the right place emotionally for the epic match to happen.

The main thread of this feud so far has been the fact that Io is just tired of Shayna’s bullshit. She throws her weight around and beats up everyone in sight, and then has a need to rub it in all the time as well and that drives Io crazy, so now she finally has a chance to put her in her place, and she relishes it.

Baszler takes her to the woodshed for a good portion of the match, but whenever Io’s on top you can just see how much she enjoys the opportunity to take it to Baszler, she wants to humiliate her, and treat her how she’s been treating the whole women’s division for the past year. That’s not an attitude that gets you very far in title matches, however, and eventually it costs her, Baszler is once again able to out-think an opponent that could potentially have her number by just taking a beating and laying in wait; she knows Io’s going to make a mistake eventually, all Baszler has to do is be ready when she does.

Sure enough, that mistake comes in paying too much attention to Candice laying out Duke & Shafir, and after lasting in the Baszler’s Clutch a lot longer than anyone else ever has, Shirai has to relent. That’s an important piece of the story too, she doesn’t pass out, she taps, instead of going until her body wouldn’t let her, she chose to give up, which all feeds into what happens next.

Now we get to the point which was necessary to set up their rematch, which will likely be the epic that we’re all hoping for because when Io comes back and starts to wail of Shayna, there’s a very mixed reaction from just about everyone. The crowd, the commentators and even Candice La Rae isn’t quite sure whether Shirai taking a cheap shot and being a sore loser is a thing we should be cheering or not. Looking at Shirai’s face it’s clear that’s it’s all down to frustration. Frustration at Shayna, Duke, Shafir and even herself for letting her emotions get the best of her, then she goes away and we’re left with a lingering shot of Baszler broken and beaten and what do the crowd chant at this woman who was attacked after the bell by a woman she beat fair and square? You deserve it, and you know what? They’re goddamn right.

That moment is everything that Shayna’s character has been building to since she won the NXT Women’s Title. She’s the biggest bastard on the planet who beats everyone down and keeps kicking them until they can’t get up then goes and rubs their noses in it once they’re gone, she only ever gets comeuppance in brief, flukey ways and now someone’s finally shown her she’s not invincible, and it’s glorious. Moving forward, Io’s going to continue to gun for Shayna, only now having learnt from her mistakes and Shayna’s going to be out for vengeance and more vicious than ever. There’s one hell of a storm brewing, and I can’t wait until it hits.

3 – Matt Riddle def. Roderick Strong

These two worked together just as well as I thought they would.

On a show like this with so much deep character work, it’s nice to be able to go back to basics. This story is pretty simple, Strong wronged Riddle and Riddle wants a match to get his revenge, and for a non-title match like this, that’s really all you need. I also like that we’re back to seeing Roderick Strong fight in big matches as a singles guy because as much as he’s perfect with the Undisputed Era, he’s an awesome singles wrestler too.

I wasn’t sure on this match for the first half of it, I didn’t feel like it was moving with the flow I expected, but it made sense when the second half came around. In the second half of the match, I really started to get the feeling that these two fully understood how the other one wrestles and had developed ways to work around it and get on top; which retroactively makes the first half a lot smarter because they were getting a feel for each other and learning how their styles mesh.

This was encapsulated by the finish, which involved them slipping out of each other’s submission holds over and over again, until Riddle eventually had to bust out something new in order to catch Strong off guard and finally put him away. There’s not much else to say about this match, it was pretty simple but really good and honestly if every WWE match was like that, I’d have a lot less to complain about.

2 – Velveteen Dream(c) def. Tyler Breeze
(North American Championship)

A masterclass in in-ring storytelling.

When these two characters met in a Takeover match it was always going to be something special. Both of them seemed fairly niche and a bit rubbish when they were first revealed, but eventually won us all over by being amazing on the mic and really good in the ring as well. So what happens when you throw them together? Magic, that’s what.

The first three-quarters of the match were telling a very clear story, Dream is taking every opportunity to outshine Breeze as a personality, but Breeze can absolutely school Dream in the ring. Everything Dream threw Breeze’s way would get countered, and the only time Dream ever got any offense was when he was able to catch Breeze off guard, and when he did, he’d immediately go to flaunting his personality.

The moment where Dream is busy taking a mocking selfie only to suddenly turn around and realise Breeze has recovered and waiting to kick him in the face was absolute genius from whoever came up with it. The last quarter of the match shifted the story a bit to showing how dynamic and intelligent Dream is in the ring. Dream doesn’t run on instinct, he runs on planning so he works out that Breeze can wrestle circles around him, so he tries to outsmart him instead.

First, Dream deals with the constant counters, running up to the top rope for a move that Breeze will easily counter, makes it look like he’s about to jump, so Breeze leaps up ready for the dropkick, only to fake him out, leaving Breeze to crash and burn so Dream can pick him up and his the Death Valley Driver. Then there’s the finish, where Dream is able to plan three steps ahead of Breeze, knowing Breeze won’t allow the countout, Dream goes for a shot with the title that Breeze once again will easily counter, then while Breeze is “doing the right thing” and throwing the title out of the way, Dream swoops in and takes him out.

Dream wins the match not by being the better wrestler, but by being smarter, which in turn makes his personality come across stronger, which exactly what the Dream is all about.

1 – Adam Cole def. Johnny Gargano(c)
(NXT Championship)

I love it when a plan comes together.

While I loved the match these two put on in New York, I wasn’t as in love with it as everyone else was, THIS match however…holy shit.

For one thing, it lasted over 30 minutes, and it didn’t feel at all like it was too long, every part of the match felt necessary to the story and to the result. If I broke down everything then we’d be here all day, so here are some of the highlights.

Adam Cole is definitely in Gargano’s head because he was able to play him like a fiddle in this match. Cole worked the knee at every opportunity, knowing it would pay dividends later on in the match, and seemed to continuously bait Gargano into sequences were Cole could take advantage of him, the sequence of back and forth superkicks both early and late on in the match for example. The best example of this though was when Cole very obviously gave a signal for The Undisputed Era to come out, knowing Gargano would take his focus off of Cole expecting Fish, O’Reily and Strong to attack him. Cole is smart enough to know exactly what Gargano thinks he’s like and instead of trying to prove him wrong, leans into it in order to make him vulnerable.

At the end of the way though, we see exactly who Cole is, a man of his word. He said he was going to do this on his own, and he did. Yes, he’s a jerk and will use his numbers advantage when he can, but when he has something to prove, he’ll do it himself if it kills him. That’s why Cole was getting cheered over mega-babyface Gargano in this match because he’s got that cool anti-hero swagger, but he can back up every word he says because when he has confidence in his own abilities, he can both out-think and out-wrestle his opponent, even if they’re someone who could get hit by a bus and still kick out.

That’s not to take away from Gargano’s role in this match of course, because he was just as good as he always was. Gargano is a master of the little touches that take a great spot to incredible heights, like using a wristlock as leverage to turn over the Figure 4, or moving his injured knee so it was out of Cole’s reach during the GargaNo Escape. He also did a great job of getting played and falling for Cole’s tricks without looking like a total moron. Yes he fell for the bluff of Cole’s obvious gesture, but he did realise he was being fooled, it just took long enough for Cole to recover.

As much as Cole comes away from this match the champion (which I’m over the moon about by the way), you really get the feeling that these two men are equals in the ring and Cole just got the edge on Gargano this time around. There has to be one more match left in this feud, there’s just so much more story to be told.

So there you have it! Those are my thoughts on every match that happened last night! As always, please share this around on all your favourite social media sites and make sure to let me know your thoughts on the show either in the comments below or on Twitter @10ryawoo. Please join me later in the week to suffer through the hell that will be Super Showdown and then I’ve got some Doctor Who stuff on the way!

NXT Takeover New York: Every Match Ranked

NXT is the best thing in wrestling right now and no-one can convince me otherwise.

Without a doubt, that was far and away my favourite NXT Takeover show I’ve ever seen, and arguably up there with my favourite wrestling show, I’ve ever watched. Every single match was absolutely fantastic and such a brilliant showcase of why I love NXT so much, it had something for everyone and most certainly got Wrestlemania weekend off to a rip-roaring start.

However, despite the consistently high quality of the entire show, some matches were better than others, so I’m gonna rank ’em.

5 – Shayna Baszler(c) def. Bianca Belair, Kairi Sane, Io Shirai
(NXT Women’s Championship)

The women’s division in NXT has been the best it’s ever been these past 6 months or so.

I know, that’s a big statement to make, we’ve had Asuka, Ember Moon and the Four Horsewomen in the past, but I genuinely believe that the crop of women in NXT right now is the best in the brand history, and here’s why.

Every single character in the NXT women’s division is a distinct and unique character, not just on a gimmick level but on a deeper level of attitude, ability and character motivations. This match illustrates that excellently, all four women in that ring are so completely different in terms of character and style, even Kairi and Io who are so closely linked feel completely different when you watch them competing.

Of course, this means that when you take these four unique characters together and throw them together in a match, it makes for magic. Baszler & Sane are so diametrically opposed that every time they’re even in the vicinity of each other it tells a great story, with even better wrestling. Then you throw in Bianca Belair who is so desperate to prove she belongs that she’s constantly hiding behind her fake ego, and Io Shirai who is Kairi’s friend, but won’t hesitate to go through her if she’s in her way and you’ve got yourself an action packed fifteen minutes.

Why is it at the bottom? Well, mostly because it had the least new stuff to offer. Don’t get me wrong, this match was absolutely brilliant from start to finish, and would top almost any other show, but ultimately there was nothing shocking or new to be seen here, it was all just brilliant versions of stuff we’ve already seen.

4 – War Raiders(c) def. Aleister Black & Ricochet
(NXT Tag Team Championships)

Honestly, when I finished this match, I thought it would land in the top two, that’s such a testament to how good this show really was.

When I talk about how my favourite type of wrestling is tag team wrestling, people are often a little confused about it and wonder why. This match. This match is why. The urgency and quickness of a match with two competitors on each side can’t be matched by that of one on one, since in a one on one matches you need breaks where both competitors have to sell and catch their breath, but in a tag team match, the moment that happens on one guy, the other can come in and keep things rolling.

I was worried this wouldn’t be a great way to send off Black & Ricochet from NXT, but I was very quickly corrected in that thought because once this match got going, it refused to stop. I keep forgetting just how incredibly Hanson and Rowe can move in the ring, to the point where the 300 pound Hanson could actually keep pace with the king of the flippy shit in Ricochet, and holy crap, every time Black and Rowe faced off it was magical, this match could’ve been 90% those two and it would’ve been absolutely amazing.

The match even managed to cast doubt on the result once or twice, and after the Black Mass into Shooting Star, I honestly bought that it was the finish. War Raiders eventually winning was the best choice of course, and the post-match stuff was lovely too since this is likely the last time we’ll ever see Black & Ricochet in NXT, it was an absolutely wonderful send-off.

That’s the thing with positioning this match too because I honestly don’t have a single bad thing to say about it, just the other matches on the show somehow managed to outdo it.

3 – Velveteen Dream(c) def. Matt Riddle
(North American Championship)

Velveteen Dream just…wow, what a wrestler.

I showed concern in my predictions that I wasn’t sure the styles of these two wrestlers would mesh very well in the ring, but I very quickly learnt that I was completely and totally wrong to ever think that because something between these two just clicked. The characters helped a lot with this I think, after all, it’s hard to have a man carried to the ring on a throne while dressed as the Statue of Liberty and not be blown away by the spectacle of it.

It was the kind of match where it didn’t need any form of story overcomplications or big twists, because you already had two perfect characters ready-made for you, with the very simple motivation of “I want to be champion” and then you could just put them in a ring and rely on the characters to act like the characters, which always makes for the best stories.

The match was paced to perfection too, with it starting off low-key and every single moment built on the ones that came before it. It wasn’t that fast, which is normally what I like, but it was exactly what it needed to be and there wasn’t a single moment of wasted motion.

The finish was also pitch perfect because quite frankly, a sudden roll-up is the only way Velveteen Dream should win any big match. It created a shocking moment since I think most of us thought Riddle was going to win this one and it left the door open for a rematch later down the line which will likely play off of everything that happened in this match, which is the mark of a simple story, well told.

2 – Johnny Gargano def. Adam Cole
(NXT Championship)
(2 out of 3 Falls)

I had so much trouble which should be number 1 and which should be number 2, but in the end, I think this was the right way round to do it.

In terms of storytelling and all-out excitement, this match had no equal. When it came down to that final fall I was encapsulated, to the point where I was literally on my feet for the last couple of minutes. I so desperately wanted to see Adam Cole win this one going in, but the story that was told in the match made me root for Gargano just as hard.

I wasn’t a big fan of how quick the first fall went by, it seemed a bit jarring, but I understand why it happened given the time constraints and overall it made sense. That minor gripe was completely irrelevant by the time the final fall got underway, however, because once the action got going, it slowed for nothing. Not only was this match was able to craft a story that allowed you to have the same emotional weight that the Gargano/Ciampa match could’ve had, but it did the rarest of things, it used interference and a referee bump to enhance the story, instead of ruin it. It shows how much impact these tools can have when you use them sparingly and effectively, instead of braking them out at every opportunity like on the main roster.

The last fall had me at almost every second as well, and when Adam Cole hit the final Last Shot, I honest to God believed he’d won, and it was genuinely shocking to me when Gargano kicked out in the best way possible. Following that, it didn’t outstay it’s welcome and Adam Cole was tapping to the GargaNo Escape about a minute later, and despite rooting for Cole, I was over the moon at his victory.

Ciampa coming out to hug Gargano and Candice at the end and shocking didn’t turn on him, was a brilliant cherry on the cake of emotions too, and the best possible way to end off the show.

It was effective storytelling combined with great wrestling, it certainly a match of the year contender and it was so close to being number 1.

1 – WALTER def. Pete Dunne(c)
(United Kingdom Championship)

I don’t often get patriotic, but man…this match.

I never really got the thrill behind the old-school style of wrestling, I didn’t really understand how a mat-based, methodically paced match could be as exciting as one with fast and constant action, but this match turned me around on that line of thinking completely.

While it wasn’t as high octane or thrilling as Cole vs Gargano, it was perhaps one of the best pure wrestling matches I’ve seen in a long time, and I realised that this is exactly what makes the British wrestling style so special. This match didn’t try to do anything too flashy very often, it instead took the basics, twisted them a little and executed them to total perfection.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a match build so slowly like that one and have it be so effective in encapsulating me in the action because it really had all the stuff you’d expect. Big guy beatdown leading the small guy coming back, limb targetting and constant lockups with endless back-and-forthing in the later stages. None of this stuff is anything special, but Dunne and WALTER took all of these tropes and did them in the best way possible, it led to moments where the audience legitimately gasped when Dunne started to make his comeback for the first time in the match, and they were hanging on every single move, much like I was at home.

Once again, there wasn’t a single meaningless movement in this match and it felt like every single move had impact. What’s most amazing though, is that the constant slow, mat-based style meant that when they finally did go for high spots, it felt HUGE. The crowd’s reaction when WALTER went up top for the first time was brilliant, and the powerbomb from the top rope was the single best spot of the entire night as far as I’m concerned.

Not only was this match brilliant from start to finish, but it opened my eyes to exactly what the British Style of wrestling could be at it’s best, and as far as I’m concerned it’s just as good as anything North America or even Japan can put out.

I honestly believe that Pete Dunne is the future of WWE, and the fact that this title loss felt like a huge deal (even if we all knew it was coming) is a testament to just how far he can go in his career, especially if he keeps putting on matches like this one.

So there you have it, that’s what I thought of every match that took place on NXT Takeover New York. If you enjoyed then a share would be a huge help, follow me on Twitter @10ryawoo if you want live tweets about the shows as they’re going down, and stay tuned early next week for my review of Wrestlemania itself!

NXT Takeover: New York Predictions

Wrestlemania weekend is quite the beast nowadays, with this year’s Wrestlemania looking to be the longest WWE show of all time, it’s in danger of wearing out its audience before the show’s even begun. However, the night before Mania we get to not worry about that for a few hours and watch what is arguably one of the most stacked cards in NXT history.

You don’t need me to tell you how geat Takeovers always are, but this one has a lot of intrigue to it thanks to a lot of storylines moving in directions I don’t think any of us were expecting. In part thanks to Ciampa’s injury and also thanks to sudden call ups.

So, we’ve got five matches which all look like they’re going to be amazing, so let’s get to predicting them.

War Raiders(c) vs Aleister Black & Ricochet
(NXT Tag Team Championships)

This match is arguably the easiest to pick on the whole card, purely because of what else is going on over on the main roster right now.

With Black & Ricochet having pretty much already left for main roster, this is quite clearly designed to be their farewell match. That said, this should be far from a phoned-in performance. We’ve seen all over the place for the past couple of months that these two seem to work really well as a team, granted they don’t quite gel like you’d expect a team to, but their offensive styles seem to complement each other quite well in the ring.

Meanwhile, War Raiders have always been great, and I imagine Black & Ricochet will give them a run for their money, but ultimately War Raiders will win, and Black & Ricochet will ride off into the NXT sunset together.

Velveteen Dream(c) vs Matt Riddle
(North American Championship)

The North American Championship seems like quite a weird one now I’m thinking about it because I don’t think we’re ever really going to get that long a reign with someone holding it.

While NXT veterans like Dream and Gargano have held it recently, for the most part it seems like it’s going to be used for people who are hot new stars on the scene, but aren’t ready to be thrown up into the NXT title scene just yet, which is exactly where Matt Riddle currently stands.

I like both of these guys, and I think Dream is going to have a field day when it comes to taunting, mocking and imitating Matt Riddle, but I’m not entirely sure if these two guys styles will mesh properly. They seem like two very different wrestlers to me, but I have faith that this one will at least be a fun match to watch.

As much as I’d love Velveteen Dream to hold onto this title for ages (mostly so he doesn’t have to go to main roster), it would be a bad idea for Matt Riddle to lose here, so I’ve got to go with him to pick up the title.

Pete Dunne(c) vs WALTER
(United Kingdom Championship)

I don’t often feel very patriotic, but when I look at these two…just wow.

Pete Dunne has been the lone constant in the WWE for the past couple of years, with almost 700 days as UK Champion, putting on amazing title defence after amazing title defence, it’s going to be very difficult to see with without a title over his shoulder anymore. I hope he eventually makes it to main roster and isn’t stuck in NXT UK forever, but for now, I’m going to enjoy it.

As much as I love Pete Dunne and wish he could remain UK Champion forever, Walter has to win here. NXT UK can’t really move forward in its current state, and I feel a new champion who doesn’t reign seemingly forever would be a good idea to help that along. Granted, I doubt Walter will lose the title very quickly once he has it, but having Pete Dunne at the top for so long hasn’t really done the UK scene many favours, even if he is amazing.

Shayna Baszler(c) vs Kairi Sane vs Io Shirai vs Bianca Belair
(NXT Women’s Championship)

Turns out this one is a really hard pick.

Generally, in a multi-person match for a title like this one, it’s generally a safe bet to say that the champion will retain because them losing the title in a multi-man would be a bit underwhelming.

That said, I can’t help but feel like it’s Baszler’s time to drop the title and move on from NXT before the summer. It’s inevitable that Duke & Shafir will get involved, although I imagine they’ll be easily repelled, but if I say that Baszler is going to drop the title, who to?

Kairi Sane seems like the easy choice, but we’ve already seen Sane & Baszler fight a lot and I don’t really feel like Sane needs the title right now. Bianca Belair could work, but I don’t think Belair could reasonably get away with beating Baszler in a one on one rematch, and she certainly can’t out heel Shayna Baszler to win. So what about Io Shirai? Well, there really is no tangible reason for her not to win the belt here, just for some reason I’m not feeling like it’s going to happen. I know she’s been around for a while now, and her winning the belt opens up opportunities for great matches, but it just feels like it’s too soon for me, and I can’t quite put my finger on why.

I’m going to take a risk and say Shayna Baszler is going to retain, hopefully, to lose the belt to Io Shirai in a one on one match at the next Takeover.

Johnny Gargano vs Adam Cole
(NXT Championship)
(2 out of 3 Falls)

Match of the year, right here.

I don’t think there’s any debate over whether or not this match will be good, Gargano doesn’t even know what a bad match is and Cole has shown time and time again that he can hang with the best. The real debate here is who’s going to win.

I think my head might be messing with me a bit because I desperately want Adam Cole to win, and it seems obvious that Gargano will win since Cole wasn’t even supposed to be in the match, but I like to think NXT storylines are more complex than that. Sure, logic dictates Gargano wins, but the NXT writers could quite easily change the storyline on the fly.

You also have to consider that it seemed Gargano was originally planned to be joining Ricochet & Black on main roster until Ciampa got injured, so maybe that will happen anyway past Wrestlemania? However, The Undisputed Era has done pretty much everything there is to do in NXT, and they feel like they’re about to leave as well, and while I’d love to see it, I’d argue Cole doesn’t really need to win the NXT title to be seen as a big deal on main roster.

While I would be entirely happy if Cole won, I think Johnny Gargano will finally win the big one here, probably losing the first fall thanks to the Undisputed Era before overcoming the odds to win the gold.

As always thank you very much for taking the time to read, if you enjoyed then please share it around on social media and make sure to follow me on Twitter @10ryawoo for plenty of thoughts about what’s going on throughout Mania weekend. Tomorrow will be my predictions for Wrestlemania, and then in the days after I will have my review of both Takeover and Mania, so stay tuned!

NXT Takeover Phoenix: Every Match Ranked

Finally.

I’ve been wanting to do this for ages, but I’d never really found the time. However, NO MORE, as today is the day I get to talk all about my favourite thing in modern pro-wrestling.

Admittedly, I didn’t think this Takeover was quite as good as any of the ones that took place in 2018, but, there is no such thing as a bad Takeover and it was still an extremely high-quality show. So let’s break this down match by match and look at all the lovely wrestling details that lie inside.

5 – Matt Riddle def. Kassius Ohno

This should show how good this show was because even though I’ve ranked this match as the worst, I still thought it was great.

I was pretty interested to see what kind of stuff Riddle would pull out in his first big Takeover match like this. He didn’t necessarily blow me away in this match, but it’s clear he’s a brilliant talent and hasn’t shown all he has in his arsenal just yet.

There were some pretty gnarly spots as well, with Ohno and Riddle hitting each other surprisingly hard at some points in the match. Ohno also tried to eat Riddle’s toe, which is…..fine I guess? It’s what you get for wrestling barefoot I suppose. The finish was pretty fun too, with it referencing their NXT TV match in a couple points before Riddle would pick up a decisive victory.

Ultimately this wasn’t going to be anything amazing given that these guys have already been fighting a whole bunch since Riddle debuted, but it was a good introductory feud for him, I look forward to seeing where he’s going to go next.

4 – Shayna Baszler(c) def. Bianca Belair
(NXT Women’s Championship)

Belair’s stock just got shot into the stratosphere.

This match was nowhere near the level of Baszler vs Sane, but it didn’t matter, because it did exactly what it needed to do, make Belair look like a star.

I don’t think I was alone in that I wasn’t too crazy about Belair going into this match. Granted, I liked her more than Sam Roberts seemed to, but that’s beside the point. This match completely turned my opinion around on Belair though, as it seemed like the perfect showcase for her talents. Baszler naturally came in underestimating her, and it was exactly that which allowed Belair to get in some of her better shots and almost get the win on a couple of occasions.

The finish was also great, with Belair breaking Baszler’s clutch the first time, and then almost breaking it on the second attempt before finally succumbing. She now feels like a much bigger deal than she did going into the match, and it means we don’t have to worry about what might happen to her now her UN-DEA-FEA-TED streak is over.

3 – War Raiders def. The Undisputed Era(c)
(NXT Tag Team Championships)

The team to finally take down the Undisputed Era was going to be a tricky one to work out. We thought it would be Moustache Mountain, but thanks to NXT UK starting up, UE got their titles back pretty quickly and moved on.

However, since last summer things have changed in NXT, ever since War Games, it’s felt to me like Undisputed Era are starting to wind down in NXT before bowing out later this year. Luckily, the perfect candidates to carry the titles next had just arrived in the form of War Raiders.

The thing with UE, is that, even though their small guys, you can’t just have some big dudes run them through. They proved that with Heavy Machinery, sure UE were outmuscled at every opportunity, but the whole point of UE is that their smart, they can duck and move and know exactly when to strike to ensure victory.

War Raiders aren’t just big dudes though. They’ve got the muscle sure, but these guys have the agility and speed to go with it, and they show a level of ring intelligence that UE hasn’t faced very often during their reign as champions. That’s the story I think they’re going to try and tell in the rematch, that UE were caught off guard by something new, and they lost before they could adapt.

UE has always shown such a high level of subtle, yet deep psychology that I’m seriously looking forward to this pair’s second match.

2 – Tommaso Ciampa(c) def. Aleister Black
(NXT Championship)

Kinda funny how Aleister Black’s entrance music claims “No man is ever truly evil” and yet here he’s facing the personification of evil in wrestling.

In terms of hype, this was certainly the match I was most looking forward to. Black is hands down my favourite wrestler in the world right now and Ciampa is arguably the best heel in the whole of WWE. Their styles also tend to be very hard hitting and often featuring lots of quick strikes.

I’m happy to say that’s pretty much what we got. The action here wasn’t exactly at a lightning pace, but it was deliberate and hard-hitting which helped the match feel like an absolute war. I’ll get into some of the similarities between Gargano & Ciampa’s matches later, but the callbacks to Gargano vs Black in this match were brilliant and seeing just how Ciampa was having NONE of the crap Gargano fell for.

I thought the finish was brilliant and made both men look really good, with Black kicking out of a second Fairy-Tale Ending, then being able to counter a third and only failing to hit with Black Mass because Ciampa had spent the whole match wearing down Black’s leg, before finally succumbing to a fourth Fairy-Tale Ending.

I don’t think Black is quite done with NXT just yet, and if I were to hazard a guess, I’d say a triple threat between Black, Gargano and Ciampa is on the horizon, and the way this match ended gives Black just enough to believably claim another title shot.

1 – Johnny Gargano def. Ricochet(c)
(NXT North American Championship)

Gargano strikes again, with another match of the year contender.

I don’t think anyone was ever doubting that this match was going to be brilliant, and yet I still managed to come out of this one blown away at how good it was. The extended sequences of the two going back and forth with all of the flippy stuff is just a joy to watch, and even if it’s not for you, you’ve got to admit there is an inherent sense of fun to it.

This match also gave us the continuation of the Gargano/Ciampa storyline, despite neither of them having any interactions with each other until the very end of the night. The idea that Gargano is trying to be Ciampa in order to echo his level of success is something that has never been more clear than right here, when Gargano would rip up the padding on the floor, as Ciampa would later in the night, and screaming “I win” in Ricochet’s face at the end of the match, just like Ciampa would at the end of his match.

The two of them standing side by side to end the show is just a great shot, and once again I find myself so interested for where this story’s going to go because I think it’s going to be great.

So that was my first ever NXT Takeover review! If you enjoyed it then please share it around on social media, so we can get more eyes on this, and come tell me what you thought of the show on Twitter @10ryawoo. I’ll see you soon!

NXT Takover: Phoenix Predictions

I’ve been wanting to start doing this for some time now, but I’ve never really found the time.

I’ve mentioned it a lot in the past and this isn’t exactly a hot take, but I adore NXT. There’s a reason a good 50% of my match of the year list was filled with NXT matches, as far as I’m concerned, it’s where the best wrestlers in the world do the best wrestling in the world.

So, what better opportunity to start writing about my favourite wrestling brand than it’s first major show of 2019?

Matt Riddle vs Kassius Ohno

Well, this one should be fairly simple.

Matt Riddle seems to be getting the fast track to the top in NXT, and Ohno is a surprisingly good introductory feud for him. His surprise 6-second match at Wargames seemed like it should’ve been a one and done, but I’ve actually been enjoying this whole feud quite a lot.

I imagine we’ll get more of an actual match this time around since Riddle does need an opportunity to showcase his many talents on a big stage like Takeover. It’s hard to tell where exactly Riddle will go from here, but I think we’ll see him competing for the NXT title fairly soon.

To the surprise of no-one, I’m picking Matt Riddle to walk away with the win here.

Ricochet(c) vs Johnny Gargano
(NXT North American Championship)

My body is ready.

Gargano was a 5-star match machine last year, featuring in a rather large number of my favourite matches from 2018, and it looks like he’ll be kicking this year off with another one.

Ricochet has been on fire since he got to NXT as well, with some brilliant matches against Adam Cole at Brooklyn, Pete Dunne on NXT’s weekly show and a death-defying performance at Wargames. These are two men who’s styles should blend excellently to create a memorable match that I imagine will be the stand out an already loaded card.

NXT’s storytelling can often be a lot more unpredictable than the main roster’s, so as much as it feels to me like both Gargano and Ciampa need to be holding titles going into Wrestlemania season, a better story might actually come from Gargano adopting Ciampa’s style and attitude and STILL failing. That said, I think Ricochet has done enough with the title to justify dropping it now to serve a bigger story, and it just feels right to me that Johnny Gargano picks up the title here.

The Undisputed Era(c) vs War Raiders
(NXT Tag Team Championships)

Talk about a size miss-match.

That’s the beauty with how Undisputed Era have performed during their time in NXT though, they go into matches where they have absolutely no chance and come out on top without making themselves look super weak. Sure, they’re bastards who cheat to get their way, but they also put on a damn good performance and show that they’re capable wrestlers in the process.

While I haven’t been overly impressed by what War Raiders have done in NXT so far, they’ve certainly shown promise and I’m not one to write wrestlers off very quickly, so I’m confident this will be a massive showcase for their talents as a team.

As much as I’d love to see Undisputed Era to carry on their role as sneaky heel champions that can actually wrestle, I think their time in NXT might be coming to a close rather soon. I also think a loss really wouldn’t do Hanson and Rowe any favours, so I’m picking War Raiders to pick up the titles here.

Shayna Baszler(c) vs Bianca Belair
(NXT Women’s Championship)

I’ll be honest, I’m not really huge on this match.

I’ve talked about it plenty before, but Baszler and Sane were so perfect for a feud with each other, that anything else feels pretty wrong. This is amplified by the fact that this match is heel vs heel, so it’s kinda hard to get invested.

That said, I’m sure that match will still be great. The way Shayna attacks and beats down her opponent can make you feel sympathy for pretty much anyone who suffers it, and I expect Belair here to look properly victimised at some points in the match.

I don’t think there’s any real doubt of who’s winning though. Shayna Bazler is absolutely on fire right now and her momentum doesn’t seem to be slowing any time soon, so not picking her to win here would be a pretty silly decision. I’m not entirely sure what’s going to happen with the NXT Women’s title in the next few months, but whatever it is, the title needs to be over Baszler’s shoulder.

Tommaso Ciampa(c) vs Aleister Black
(NXT Championship)

I know we say this almost every time, but this could be one of the best Takeovers ever.

These two have got to be my two absolute favourite wrestlers in the world right now and I’ve been praying for this match for so long. Both men have this aura of invinsibility around them, everything they do seems so brutal and I just know this is going to be one hell of a fight. My only worry is that Gargano could get involved, I know they’ve been teasing a heel #DIY reunion for a little while now but I really just want to watch what happens when these two smash into each other at full speed for 30 minutes.

I would love to see Black win back the title here and reign over NXT forever, but I know realistically Ciampa needs to win here. I’m really not sure where this whole story is going, which is a wonderful feeling for me personally, but I know that Tommaso Ciampa has to win here to keep things rolling.

Thank you very much for reading my Takeover predictions, I’m not sure if I’m going to write a review of the show just yet, but if I do it will come out after my Royal Rumble review, so make sure you follow me on Twitter @10ryawoo for updates. Come back tomorrow for my Royal Rumble predictions, and I’ll see you there!