NXT Takeover: Dallas

NXT Takeover: DallasNXT Takeover: Dallas

By Big Red Machine
From April 01, 2016
Discussion

NXT Takeover: Dallas (4/1/2016)- Dallas, TX

OPENING VIDEO PACKAGE- Awesome.
Also, they appear to have done a really great brawl between Joe and Balor on the go-home show. Well… that’s what I get for looking at the non-spoiler preview and deciding to not watch the show.

NXT TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Revival(c) vs. American Alpha- 7/10
HUGE pop for American Alpha. “Dueling” chants of “WHICH ONE’S DAWSON?!” “WHICH ONE’S DASH?!” F*cking brilliant!
I can’t imagine that this is actually correct, but this match also contained the first “you f*cked up!” chant I remember hearing in NXT.
This was a great match with lots of emotion, but I’m not going to lie: the finishing sequence felt pretty anti-climactic.

KOTA IBUSHI IS IN THE CROWD- Corey Graves immediately puts him over as one of the best Cruiserweights in the world and then immediately brings up the upcoming cruiserweight tournament. If you listened very closely while Kota was on the screen, you could actually hear Gedo screaming in anger and smashing things in his living room.

Wow. Both Corey Graves and Tom Phillips look like complete and total goofs in their suits, but in completely opposite directions.

They showed some clips of Bayley hugging young fans. Due to my Grinch-sized heart, the first thought that ran through my head was “how do you think that little girls is going to feel in three days when she learns that her coveted toy WWE Divas Title is obsolete?”

AUSTIN ARIES vs. BARON CORBIN- 6.5/10
TOM PHILLIPS of all people directly references Aries ending Joe’s ROH World Title reign (although he managed to do so without actually mentioning ROH). Good match. It wasn’t much of an introduction to Aries’ move-set, but it was certainly an introduction to his ability. I really liked the finish, and thought Corbin really enhanced it with his facial expression afterward.

Did they actually just put a WrestleMania commercial on this show? Do they really think there is anyone who is watching an NXT Takeover special that wasn’t already going to watch WrestleMania?

SAMI ZAYN vs. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA- a PERFECT 10/10!
First the announcers told us that Shinsuke Nakamura was the “King of Strong Style.” Then the wrestlers proved it to us. A truly EPIC start to Shinksuke Nakamura’s NXT career… and possibly an EPIC end to Sami Zayn’s as well?

NXT WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Bayley(c) vs. Asuka- 6.75/10
Asuka’s mask for tonight is a crying mask, so I guess she is doing the job… Or not. They had a fine match, but Bayley losing the title seemed like it kind of deflated the crowd a bit. I also don’t like this title change simply because Asuka has already face pretty much everyone and I think Bayley had a lot more mileage in her as champion (have Alexa or Dana screw her out of the belt and have her get it back, for example). I was also expecting something more from this. This seemed more like your standard Asuka big TV main event as opposed to a big Takeover match.

OH SH*T BOBBY ROODE IS IN THE CROWD!- and even better: no sign of Eric Young anywhere!

NXT TITLE MATCH: Finn Balor(c) vs. Samoa Joe- 7.75/10
Huh. I guess Dean Ambrose isn’t the only one who has been hanging out with Terry Funk. I thought Finn chainsaw-ing along to his music was way too goofy. It was supposed to look intimidating, but all it made me do is burst out in laughter over the fact that he is using a chainsaw as a musical instrument.
I’m sure this will be exhibit A for many people who don’t like WWE’s “no blood” policy, and in this case, I wholeheartedly agree with them. Their constant need to quickly run in and close Joe’s cut every time it opened kept this match from really getting going for a while because whenever someone would seem to be picking up some momentum, they would have to stop and wait for the cut to get stitched up.
They did eventually get going and built very well until the finish. That finish though… I wasn’t a fan. Based on the story they have been telling in this feud, it seems like this is the finish they should have done in London, with London’s more decisive finish here. This was definitely more of a “barely survived him rather than beat him” finish.

Another awesome Takeover show from NXT, containing what has to be the greatest match in NXT history so far, as well as an extremely hot and rowdy crowd. You should go out of your way to see this show.

STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Corey Graves- “Stephanie McMahon is such an integral part of the women’s division here at NXT.”
Okay… I’ll admit that this isn’t so much “stupid” announcer quote as it is just an extremely infuriating lie.

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