Tag: Phoenix

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!