NXT Delivered Another Killer TakeOver In Brooklyn...And Ring Of Honor Invaded
A few months ago, NXT TakeOver: Chicago took place, and I wrote this long, nut-sucking blog about how amazing it was and how much I love TakeOver specials. It’s one of my favorite blogs I’ve ever written, honestly. Still, in the days and hours leading up to TakeOver: Brooklyn III, I wasn’t over the moon about the card. I was excited, of course, but it was more “Yeah I’m sure that’ll be good!” than it was “This is the show of the year!”. Ol’ Paul showed me why I should feel the latter for every NXT TakeOver very quickly last night.
The show kicked off with Johnny Gargano vs Andrade Cien Almas (Johnny’s first match since Tommaso Ciampa broke his heart in Chicago) in a matchup a bit strange on paper that was actually genius and worked perfectly. Almas has had such an interesting tenure in NXT, proving the territory as a GREAT place for trial and error. He debuted as a smiling, fedora-and-suspenders wearing babyface, that the crowd turned on in his debut. For those of us who saw him as the masked heel luchador La Sombra, this was a clear misstep in utilizing him. His moveset works way better as a piece of shit, entitled heel. Triple H and the higher ups at NXT saw that, turned him, and gave him Zelina Vega as a manager. He’s now morphed into one of the most hatable heels the brand has to offer, and surprise surprise, when you put that man opposite Johnny fucking Gargano in a wrestling ring, magic happens.
During last year’s Cruiserweight Classic, I said Johnny Gargano was the best and most sympathetic babyface the professional wrestling industry has to offer, and he is just proving me right every time he’s on my television. The man is special, like, really special. He has the look, the moveset, the promo skills, the full package. If the WWE (Vince) stays out of his way when he gets the call to RAW or SmackDown, he will be the next face of World Wrestling Entertainment. Easily.
Back to the match these two had…I adored the shit out of it. It’s one of my favorite matches I’ve seen all year. Just absolutely flawless from top to bottom, with some sequences making me jump from my couch and yell “OHHHH!” like I was in the front row.
After a back and forth bout, Gargano had Almas right where he wanted him for the finish…until he was distracted by a shirt thrown at him by Zelina Vega.
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A DIY shirt. The momentary distraction allowed Almas to hit his hammerlock DDT, and win the match.
I was curious as to who would win this match being Ciampa is obviously the long term feud for Johnny in the future, and he’s injured right now, putting Gargano in a weird spot. They had no issues crafting the most ideal finish I could ever imagine, displaying that the breakup is still haunting Gargano, and ruining big moments for him. I have chills as I’m writing this, literally. Storytelling at it’s finest.
I think Almas is ready for the main roster, by the way. Call him up ASAP.
The Authors Of Pain defended their NXT Tag Team Championships against SAnitY in the next match, and it was pretty much an all out hoss brawl featuring Eric Young. I liked it a lot, and Alexander Wolfe was actually a huge standout to me. He’s made a lot of progress from being the fall guy to becoming someone who you actually want to see get tagged in and work in the match.
Nikki Cross and Paul Ellering, both team’s managers, had a confrontation in the ring that really popped the crowd, followed by Cross taking a ridiculous sandwich bump allowing SAnitY to win the straps.
After the match, Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish, the tag team known worldwide as reDRagon, ambushed the new champs and left their mark.
The Barclays Center came unglued, and my eyes welled up. I don’t know Bobby well, but Kyle is one of the nicest, most deserving guys there ever was on the independents, and this was a long time coming. The fact that he got to do it with Bobby Fish, who he is a 3x ROH Tag Team Champion with and 2x IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Champion with, while NIGEL MCGUINNESS, one of his biggest mentors, called the action, just made it 1000x more special. It wasn’t over for them tonight, either…
Code Orange played Aleister Black to the ring, and it couldn’t be more apparent this guy is ready for a high profile main event feud with John Cena. He’s got it all, and they’re wasting his time in NXT to be frank. His match with Hideo Itami was good, not great, but very enjoyable. The crowd was worn out from the first hour of the show, so they were kinda dead, and this match being based around facial expressions didn’t help that. There were lots of kicks. The final kick just about murdered Hideo.
Hideo Itami, formerly known as KENTA, is still not delivering to the level he was expected to when he was signed, and it fucking sucks as a big fan of him years back. If he was able to work like he did a decade ago, he’d be one of the best wrestlers in the world currently. I’m not sure if it’s the injures or just the time passed that changed something, but something is absolutely changed.
NXT Women’s Championship time! Asuka has been holding the title for over 500 days at this point, and is undefeated in the WWE, making her one of the most protected, dominant superstars in history. Remember when Ronda Rousey was in her prime and everyone else in the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Division was just helpless? That’s kinda what it’s like for Asuka. Ember Moon came the closest to beating her in Orlando the night before WrestleMania this year, but Asuka used the referee as a weapon when Ember was setting up for the Eclipse, never allowing that devastating maneuver to connect. At TakeOver: Brooklyn III, towards the end of a brutal match, Ember Moon did hit the Eclipse…
…and Asuka kicked out. For months, Ember Moon has been telling herself if she had just hit that one move, she’d be NXT Women’s Champion. After it only got a two count from the referee, Moon went into denial. There were a few more fantastic false finishes, but Asuka retained in the end. It was a decision that I loved, further cementing Asuka as the greatest wrestler in NXT history (kayfabe) and further cementing the rest of the division as helpless.
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Drew McIntyre defeated Bobby Roode for the NXT Championship in the main event. I saw a lot of negative feedback for this match on Twitter, people claiming it was boring, but like the Black/Itami match, I didn’t see anything wrong with it. I thought it was a solid title match with great brutality shown from Drew. I’m hoping Roode, along with Almas, gets the call to the main roster as soon as possible. There’s nothing left for him in NXT and I believe his style (in ring and on the mic) will translate better in the “big leagues”.
Just as the show was about to end (wink wink we all knew this shit wasn’t over yet), Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish made another appearance, staring down the new NXT Champion. He was then greeted by none other than…
ADAM COLE, BAYBAY! The only three time Ring Of Honor Champion in history, former member of Future Shock with Kyle O’Reilly, former member of Mount Rushmore with Kevin Owens and The Young Bucks, former member of The Kingdom with Mike and Maria Kanellis and Matt Taven, and former member of the Bullet Club, has arrived in NXT. It certainly looks like he’s the “third man” in this ROH Invasion, with Donovan Dijak and Lio Rush on their way.
Adam Cole is one of the best independent wrestlers of the past decade in my opinion, and he’s always been one of those “he’d kill it in the WWE” guys. Cole received “next Shawn Michaels” praise during his first run as ROH World Champion a few years back as he feuded with Kyle O’Reilly, Kevin Owens, Jay Briscoe, Michael Elgin, and Jay Lethal. I actually met him as a fan at ROH War of the Worlds 2014, where I went up to him before the show and said something like “Hey man, I’m sorry to bother you just to be a mark, but I just wanted to let you know I’m a huge fan of your work and I’m excited to see you live for the first time tonight.” He thanked me, and said “We’re all marks, dude. If we weren’t, we wouldn’t be here. Never be ashamed of that.” It was a really cool thing to hear in a business where it seems anyone who’s received a hair of success has become too cool to enjoy wrestling, and something I’ll never forget. The Brooklyn crowd gave Cole a nice sendoff, and they went home, preparing for SummerSlam today.
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I can’t wait to see what the future bring for these three, and I can’t wait to see what the future brings for NXT. It’s not perfect, and their hour long weekly show could use a lot of work, but these TakeOver specials make me look down at my forearm at the turnbuckle I had tattooed on there, and be damn proud to be a wrestling fan. All fucking hail Triple H.