Cero Reviews NXT TakeOver: Dallas

[cero2k]

NXT TakeOver: Dallas
April 1st, 2016
Dallas, TX

NXT Tag Team Titles Match
The Revival (C) vs American Alpha - 8/10
Huge pop for American Alpha. Announcers said that Dash and Dawson grew up together and stuff, and no more than 5 minutes later said that they barely started tagging in July, so which one is it? The match was great, it started out like a squash and i got worried, but as soon as Revival got the upper hand the match got awesome, the babyface in peril segment was awesome. They did the reversing pins spot towards the end of the match and weirdly enough it worked as we got a whole lot of near falls. Finish was crazy. Good start to the show, Jordan is crying.

They showed Kota Ibushi on screen and Graves says "Ibushi is in Dallas!?" Yeah you moron, you're not the only wrestling show in town tonight. Fuck I hate WWE commentary.

Aries vs Corbin Build-Up Video - meh, it just reminded me that Corbin should be in the main event

Baron Corbin vs Austin Aries - 4.5/10
Corbin is dressed as Wez from Mad Max: The Road Warrior. Aries is back to vest and short tights. The match started good, a lot of potential, all over the place, then Corbin locked in a claw on Aries' shoulder and stayed there for what it felt 10 minutes, and then he just taunted him for another 5 minutes, and eventually Aries did make a comeback. I have said before that Corbin is best when he wrestles smaller guys, but also when he fights at a faster pace. The finish was terrible, just terrible, doesn't do anything for anyone. I'm also not a fan of Aries' wrestling style, it felt different and not in a good way.

Zayn vs Nakamura Build-Up Video - ok, they showed Nakamura footage, and it sucks that they couldn't show something from NJPW were Nakamura was actually a God, it almost made him seem like just another indie guy, but I guess it's appropriate for NXT.

Sami Zayn vs Shinsuke Nakamura - 8/10
Weirdly enough, Sami Zayn's entrance attire looks more like the Vaudevillains, than English or Gotch themselves. Nakamura's new song is nowhere close as awesome as the NJPW one, they HAD to add that fucking Japanese flavor because WWE. Tom Phillips talked about Zayn's Helluva Kick and then asked 'what does Nakamura bring to the table?" Do you fucking homework you fucking geek! GOD! And apparently they renamed the Bom Ba Ye to some other crappy name. The match was good, but I expected so much more from these guys, a lot of it was just crappy hitting each other and not even at a NJPW level. Nakamura is still himself, which is good, but we'll see how long until he becomes just another guy in the roster. Also, what WWE calls 'Strong Style' is a joke.

Bayley vs Asuka Build-Up Video - They made Asuka seem dangerous, Bayley like a nerd. And i realized that Regal says the same thing for each of the new 'big' signees.

NXT Women's Title Match
Bayley (C) vs Asuka - 6.5/10
Asuka looks awesome tonight. This match is really exposing how huge is Asuka, she looks like a real fighter while Bayley seems like girl wrestler from WWE, because nothing against Bayley or her abilities, but Asuka is wrestling circles around her. Hated the finish, Tate vs Holms is still to fresh and I hate that WWE are so pussy about having their faces tap or get pinned. Oh, and no footage of Izzy crying, terrible production.

Balor vs Joe Build-Up Video - Aside from the song, awesome. They made Joe seem unstoppable, like Balor is actually in trouble.

Bobby Roode is in the NXT crowd, we all kinda expect it. Graves is really annoying every time he has to hype "the hottest free agent in the world"

NXT Title Match
Finn Balor (C) vs Samoa Joe - 8/10
Holy shit, Balor stole Ambrose's chainsaw, now what the hell is he gonna do against Lesnar, by the way, this seriously has to be to stupidest entrance I've ever seen. STUPIDEST. All that build up video did and the cartoon entrance just killed the seriousness of this feud. Dang, Joe is bleeding in the first minutes of the match and he is pouring, they also killed a security member in the crowd, he looked dead. Fans boo when the ref tries to clean Joe, then Joe pushes him away and the fans cheer, fans love blood, let it be. Joe is amazing. PG Sucks chants. Let them bleed chants. They should call an audible and make all these medic interference the story of the match and the reason why Joe loses. Also hated the finish, do we really need another Balor vs Joe match?

Finn Balor can play makeup as much as he likes, Samoa Joe is the real demon.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: It was a great show for NXT wrestling wise, but the WWE hand kept creeping in and it was really annoying. In a show with guys like Nakamura, Balor, Aries, Asuka, and Zayn, Samoa Joe was really the MVP. Good to see that all matches were able to deliver considering the terrible build up ALL matches had for the last 4 months.

[Serujuunin]

I may be a terrible observer, given how limited my exposure is to wrestling in other promotions or overseas, but I think this show, and other NXT shows like it are a critical step for WWE. It's better quality wrestling than on the main roster (typically), more fan interaction, more organic characters (again, typically), and, with fans like me, more emotional investment in the talent, their stories and their development. Sure its not going to be the same as wrestling elsewhere, it is still WWE after all, despite the heavy presence of names recognized from elsewhere, and they can only do so much in a company that is so heavily micromanaged.

That being said, I enjoyed the show (so far, I'm on the Women's match as I write this). Every match had a big fight feel to it, and I actually WATCHED the Women's match instead of just listening to it or skipping it entirely, as I usually do. It's still not going to be the same as wrestling in other promotions, but for a WWE show, it was excellent. I'll probably enjoy it more than Wrestlemania tomorrow.

[Big Red Machine]

I may be a terrible observer, given how limited my exposure is to wrestling in other promotions or overseas, but I think this show, and other NXT shows like it are a critical step for WWE. It's better quality wrestling than on the main roster (typically), more fan interaction, more organic characters (again, typically), and, with fans like me, more emotional investment in the talent, their stories and their development. Sure its not going to be the same as wrestling elsewhere, it is still WWE after all, despite the heavy presence of names recognized from elsewhere, and they can only do so much in a company that is so heavily micromanaged.

That being said, I enjoyed the show (so far, I'm on the Women's match as I write this). Every match had a big fight feel to it, and I actually WATCHED the Women's match instead of just listening to it or skipping it entirely, as I usually do. It's still not going to be the same as wrestling in other promotions, but for a WWE show, it was excellent. I'll probably enjoy it more than Wrestlemania tomorrow.

It's not really a "WWE vs. elsewhere" thing. It's a "Vince McMahon vs. someone who isn't an out of touch neurotic control freak who changes his mind every five seconds" thing. Vince does his “sports entertainment” and he does it his narrow way with his legion of “writers” who are writing promos for people. Hunter is doing what every other booker in every other company ever has done: he is booking a wrestling show.

WWE PPVs could feel the same as NXT Takerover specials. It’s Vince, Steph, Dunn, and the writers who are holding them back.

For example: a lot of the reason that this show had a “big fight” atmosphere while most WWE PPV matches don’t is because pretty much every instance, the only time the competitors have even touched each other before tonight was in the angle that set up the match. Zayn & Nakamura have never touched. Asuka and Bayley never touched. Aries and Corbin only touched in the segment where Corbin attacked Aries to set up for this match. Aside from the brawl on the go-home show, I don’t think Joe and Balor have touched since the last Takeover special, and if they have, it was MONTHS ago. The only match where this wasn’t the case was the tag title match, and that match was built around Gable and Jordan winning the tag titles for the first time (and this was their very first title shot). Compare that to the main roster where the guys wrestle each other at least three times before the PPV, so when it comes time for the “big” match it doesn’t feel special anymore and isn’t as exciting because you’ve seen all of the spots already.

The fan interaction in NXT is much more similar to an indy than to WWE for two reasons:
1. The wrestlers have the freedom to interact with and react to the crowd in ways that allow for more of a connection (promos into the camera, being able to use their own words in promos, not having to be worried that Vince or Dunn will arbitrarily not like something they said and they’ll lose their push), so the connection feels stronger. Who are the full-time guys the crowd responds to best on the main roster? (Excluding AJ because he is new) It’s Cena, Owens, and Ambrose… who are also the three guys who, in the course of both their matches and their promos, interact with the crowd in the most natural ways.

2. In NXT, the fans have been taught that their interaction matters. In WWE they want us to cheer and boo because a hot crowd looks good on TV and makes the match and the angle seem hot… but that’s all that our cheers matter to them for. Us cheering someone isn’t going to make him/her turn face or get a better push, us booing someone won’t make him/her turn heel, and our apathy to someone will be ignored on Raw and dubbed over on Smackdown. The only exceptions are when our cheering/booing is SOOOOOO overwhelming that it is completely ruining their plans (see: Bryan, Daniel)… and even then they’ll only give us what we want in the hopes that it will shut us up so they can go back to setting up what they wanted to do.
In NXT (and everywhere else in the world), we have been shown that our opinions matter. The NXT fans got Blue Pants booked, made Adam Rose as a babyface and made Bo Dallas as a heel. If the fans don’t react to the women’s division, it doesn’t get pushed. How we react matters. The fans hate Eva Marie? Vince’s reaction would have been to say “too bad” and just keep throwing her out on TV. In NXT, Triple H took everything the fans think about Eva Marie- whether it’s true or not- and did whatever he could to fit that into her character on the show. In NXT, Roman would have been the top heel a year ago (which, by the way, Hunter has wanted to do on the main roster but Vince keeps shooting it down).

As for the stories and the characters… it’s all a matter of knowing how to do it. In NXT they tell stories that build up over time and make you care about the characters. In WWE they write segments and put a bunch of matches together.

[cero2k]

For example: a lot of the reason that this show had a “big fight” atmosphere while most WWE PPV matches don’t is because pretty much every instance, the only time the competitors have even touched each other before tonight was in the angle that set up the match. Zayn & Nakamura have never touched. Asuka and Bayley never touched. Aries and Corbin only touched in the segment where Corbin attacked Aries to set up for this match. Aside from the brawl on the go-home show, I don’t think Joe and Balor have touched since the last Takeover special, and if they have, it was MONTHS ago. The only match where this wasn’t the case was the tag title match, and that match was built around Gable and Jordan winning the tag titles for the first time (and this was their very first title shot). Compare that to the main roster where the guys wrestle each other at least three times before the PPV, so when it comes time for the “big” match it doesn’t feel special anymore and isn’t as exciting because you’ve seen all of the spots already.
Revival and AA hadn't had a fight with each other either according to commentary. But this is a great point that you make, just the comparison on how you build dream matches. NXT built Zayn vs Nakamura with names alone and some promos, meanwhile in the main roster, they just threw Jericho vs Styles for free on RAW with minimum promotion or built.

[Big Red Machine]

For example: a lot of the reason that this show had a “big fight” atmosphere while most WWE PPV matches don’t is because pretty much every instance, the only time the competitors have even touched each other before tonight was in the angle that set up the match. Zayn & Nakamura have never touched. Asuka and Bayley never touched. Aries and Corbin only touched in the segment where Corbin attacked Aries to set up for this match. Aside from the brawl on the go-home show, I don’t think Joe and Balor have touched since the last Takeover special, and if they have, it was MONTHS ago. The only match where this wasn’t the case was the tag title match, and that match was built around Gable and Jordan winning the tag titles for the first time (and this was their very first title shot). Compare that to the main roster where the guys wrestle each other at least three times before the PPV, so when it comes time for the “big” match it doesn’t feel special anymore and isn’t as exciting because you’ve seen all of the spots already.
Revival and AA hadn't had a fight with each other either according to commentary. But this is a great point that you make, just the comparison on how you build dream matches. NXT built Zayn vs Nakamura with names alone and some promos, meanwhile in the main roster, they just threw Jericho vs Styles for free on RAW with minimum promotion or built.

It's not even "dream matches" per se. It's any match you want people to pay for or feel is special.

[KILLdozer]

*Scott Hall and X-Pac.

[cero2k]

*Scott Hall and X-Pac.

you're talking about them showing them on the crowd? yeah, i didn't really care about them