Professional Wrestling

[RJK]

Ah cool. Didn't know Paige was the first. I started watching towards the end of her reign.

All NXT titles are a little grey because the rebooted everything from FCW. It was the fcw talent but they started out with new championships via tournaments if I recall correctly.

[Space Suicide]

Takeover in 2 minutes.

Surprised to see Tensai/A-Train on the pre-show.

[RJK]

Clearly the girl that attacked/hugged Tyler Breeze was a plant. They mentioned her too much.

I enjoy Jason Albert (A-train/Tensi) on commentary.
Graves is finding his footing as a commentator too.

[Piko]

I'm liking Alberts on commentary as well. And I agree on Graves. He's definitely getting better. Huge transition for him. He's still got a way to go, but he'll get there.

[Swykk]

Did Itami hurt his leg?! Hope he's just selling.

Hopefully with the teases that have been going on, the former Sami Callihan will be debuting tonight.

[Space Suicide]

No DQ match? Didn't matter. Not a single object was used. I hate when that happens.

I like Corbin but that match was bad.

[Swykk]

Great match from Balor and Neville!

Charlotte looks like Ric and Debra McMichael had a baby...40 years ago. Go Banks or Lynch!

[Space Suicide]

Boo for Sasha Banks winning. Good Divas match though. One of the best I've seen since Kaitlyn departed.

Why is that one girl wearing a Buzz Lightyear shirt in crowd? LOL.

[Swykk]

Nah, Sasha winning was rad! Totally the best choice!

[RJK]

Fight Owens Fight!

[Piko]

Holy shit! Didn't think it would end like that. What a short reign...

[Swykk]

SO happy for Kevin Owens!!!!

[henryeatscereal]

Woa, Owens wins!

[Space Suicide]

Surprising ending. Only a 2 month reign. I'd give the event 8/10.

Pros

Balor winning! Not to mention the crazy back and forth match. Both men were on fire.
Amazing Fatal-4-Way Divas Match! Thoroughly entertaining and extremely competitive. Not a dull moment.
Good main event, similar like Balor and Neville since it was a crazy back and forth. I wanted Zayn to retain though.

Pro/Con

Corbin winning was my wanted outcome but it was an underwhelming match, No DQ rules made it even more underwhelming due to lack of it.

Cons

Itami vs Breeze, I like Itami but boring match as it was kinda whatever.
Tag match between Luchador whatever and the Generic Dubstep Duo. Boring, didn't even pay attention.

[Swykk]

8/10 is fair. I liked Itami and Breeze but like you, I didn't give a shit about the tag match. The Corbin/Bull match was terrible as well.

[Piko]

I didn't care too much about the tag match. If you have a no DQ match, at least throw in a chair or something. Itami/Breeze was a good starter. Could've been better.

7.5/10

[gorast]

Breeze/Itami was a great opener, some really brutal moves. Itami needs an actual placeholder finisher, though. Variations on a kick won't cut it much longer for him. Breeze always looks like money and that obsessed fan plant was an interesting introduction for that particular Diva (I recognized her).

Tag match was shit. Lucha Dragons botched half the shit they did, which is surprising, because neither of them have ever been that sloppy. You can't even blame it on Blake and Murphy, because the two of them were slipping off the ropes like amateurs without Generic Dubstep Men touching them. Tag scene is easily the weakest part of NXT.

No DQ match was a pointless stipulation and I think Bull expected something better, seeing as he actually went under to grab a weapon and didn't find any. Then again, he could've just done the chair spot with a ringside chair, so I guess that was always the finish. Dumb. They put on a decent match, though.

Now then, onto the real matches. Bálor and Neville put on a great match that felt weirdly slow considering how the two of them generally wrestle, but the closing sequence was spectacular. I was a little disappointed that Bálor didn't bring in a completely new entrance, but what we got was a nice variation on it. Neville continues to do great pseudo-heel work and puts people over in a great way. Wonder if he's finally headed up now.

Women's 4-way match was the match of the night, no doubt. These are the best four female wrestlers in NXT, and definitely top six overall in WWE when AJ and Paige are thrown in. Great sequences, and Becky Lynch really, really sold herself as a wrestler. Makes sense considering she came from Shimmer alongside Paige. Bayley's improved a lot, too, and I like that she's being a lot more aggressive in the ring. Was honestly hoping we'd get swerved and Becky would take the belt, but Sasha Banks getting the clean win over Charlotte is a huge deal in any case. It kept Charlotte looking great because she refused to tap, but Banks still pinned her without assistance and earned that win. Fantastic.

Then, of course, RIP Sami Zayn. I was fairly sure they'd pull the trigger on Owens after hearing so much about how WWE is really, really high on him, but good God, I didn't think they'd do it like this. What a great way to work the crowd - I legit thought Sami was fucked up, like, for real, for a little while, up until Owens started powerbombing him over and over again like the cold-hearted fuck that he is. "It's just business," fucking bullshit, Kevin. But he did it. Two months to the day and he's at the top of the fucking mountain. Good lord.

It wasn't REvolution, but it was a great PPV (?), and I walked away satisfied.

[RJK]

Breeze/Itami was a great opener, some really brutal moves. Itami needs an actual placeholder finisher, though. Variations on a kick won't cut it much longer for him. Breeze always looks like money and that obsessed fan plant was an interesting introduction for that particular Diva (I recognized her).

Who was she?

[gorast]

Looked to me like Dana Brooke.

[henryeatscereal]

I'm glad that Sasha Banks won, BTW
I like Charlotte but she's already very over, she doesn't need the belt, Sasha in another hand is a very talented diva that deserved it for a long time, can't wait for both of them to debut in the main roster...

[thefragile_jake]

I really liked tonight's show and I could go on forever about it...but I'll just write some quick thoughts.

- Opening match was great, shame they didn't let Itami do the TKO to Breeze's face to play along with a "broken nose model nose" storyline
- Corbin is NXT's Roman Reigns...he's just a look and nothing more. Can't stand this guy. I tweeted that Corbin really brought the show down and he's basically the NXT's version of Roman Reigns, a look with no real great in ring ability and I found out he blocked me. Ha.
- the Lucha Dragons were incredibly sloppy in the ring.
- Was it just me or did the crowd seem a little deflated when Balor didn't come out to new body paint? I guess instead of letting him change it up, they picked a look they felt could be marketable. Great match with Adrian though
- Fatal four way match was fantastic
- Main event. Wow. Incredible back and forth between Owens and Zayn. Both looked like superstars out there and I was actually buying into the notion that Sami might've actually been hurt. We don't often see "TKO" finishes in wrestling, but I have to hand it to them for doing something different. The man's shirt says "KO" for god's sake

Good stuff all around and worth the hype.

8 "Z-pack chants" out of 10.

[skullboy0]

We don't often see "TKO" finishes in wrestling, but I have to hand it to them for doing something different. The man's shirt says "KO" for god's sake.

I can't think of a time where a title changed hands on a "TKO" finish, so I can't help but wonder if the finish is going to be overturned somehow.

Guess we'll find out after tapings tonight.

[henryeatscereal]

I liked last's night event so much, i almost don't want to watch "Fastlane", excluding Daniel Bryan's match i don't care for the card...

Also, how awesome is this?

[spiralout]

Great show last night. Nothing like an NXT special to really make me not give a shit about the following WWE PPV.

[Space Suicide]

I got the Network but let's have some nostalgic fun.

[thevoid99]

I just read that Rhyno is back on the WWE but on NXT.... I hope he comes back to the main roster and destroy Roman Reigns. GORE! GORE!!! GORE!!!!!

[Space Suicide]

I just read that Rhyno is back on the WWE but on NXT.... I hope he comes back to the main roster and destroy Roman Reigns. GORE! GORE!!! GORE!!!!!

I seen a photo, he looks like crap.

[gorast]

NXT taping stuff: Spoiler: Brian Kendrick (THE Brian Kendrick, mind you) also returned and got fucked in the ass by Bálor. I've heard that this match wasn't taped for an episode, however, but I don't even know how anyone would know that, so maybe it'll show up. He had a tryout to be a trainer in December, but nothing was reported on that after it happened. Rhyno confronted Bálor and it looks like they might have a program to fill time before Bálor's title match. Like any vet that shows up in NXT, don't expect him to stick around.

Also, Solomon Crowe debuted by beating the shit out of CJ Parker in true NXT tradition. He entered and exited through the crowd, Roman Reigns style.

[henryeatscereal]

Never liked Rhyno, to be honest, i do respect him for being in the original ECW, but in the WWE he was always bland and i can't recall a good match from him (not a bad one either, he was just forgettable).
He did had a awesome spear, i mean ...gore!

[Piko]

Never minded him. Sick piledriver in ecw though.