NXT Takeover Brooklyn

NXT Takeover Brooklyn

Brooklyn, New York

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, Sasha Banks holds the NXT Womens Championship, the NXT Tag Team Champions are Blake and Murphy, and the NXT Champion is Finn Balor.

COMMENTATORS: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, and Rich Brennan

After a brief introduction from Triple H, Tyler Breeze makes a grand, NYC-themed entrance for his match against Japanese wrestling legend, Jushin Thunder Liger. While Liger gets a good pop for his initial maneuvers and comedic hijinks, the crowd gets a bit restless as the match goes on, at one pointing chanting "Full Sail Sucks" apropos of nothing. Liger's signature spots looked good, but no one would confuse this one for a career highlight. I'm not a regular NXT viewer but Breeze seems to be the company's go-to "hand" for putting over outside talent and while he certainly plays that role well, it takes away any suspense that he might actually get a win in a match like this. Nothing too special here, despite the historical significance of it being Liger's first match in a WWE ring. (2.5/5)

Nia Jax promo. 

The Vaudevillains challenge Blake and Murphy (with Alexa Bliss) for the NXT Tag Team Championships next. Blue Pants arrives to the worst ring entrance "music" since The Shockmaster's butchered "Day Tripper" theme, evening the scales for the baby faces. The Brooklyn crowd chants "This is Awesome" before a single move has been performed and now I'm even less likely to enjoy the match. If this is anything like what we're going to get at SummerSlam, there'll be a "Holy Shit!" chant for the Lesnar/Taker pre-match video package. Once the match begins, the crowd starts a "Blue Pants City" chant, which I'll admit is pretty funny. Gotch works the arm of Blake in the early going, which English wisely continues once he gets tagged in. Blake and Murphy's offense is fairly generic, but their timing and pacing is good - considering how little action there is and how few high spots are utilized, the crowd is engaged and does perk up during the bigger moments (Blake pulling Gotch off the apron to block a hot tag, Blake and Murphy's tandem pop-up neckbreaker, a costly heel miscue in the corner). The final minute is particularly strong, with Blue Pants finally getting involved and the crowd getting the ending they wanted. While not a classic, this was an enjoyable match that didn't overstay its welcome and hit all the targets one would've wanted. (3/5)

Rick Rubin's in the house!

"The Perfect 10" Tye Dillinger makes his way down the aisle. Does anyone else remember when DDP was using a similar gimmick and forcing Kimberly to hold up "10" placards whenever he hit a big move? Dillinger's opponent this evening is the debuting Apollo Crews. I've seen some highlights of Crews when he was on the indie scene as Uhaa Nation, so I'm pretty excited to see what he busts out here. Dillinger gets a ton of offense in, which is surprising considering I was under the impression that this would be a Crews showcase. When Crews does get on offense, he makes quick work of his opponent, hitting an impressive guerrilla press slam and a standing moonsault follow-up. Not a bad debut, but not a landscape-altering one either. (2/5)

William Regal announces a Dusty Rhodes Tag Tournament - sounds cool.

Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin is next. I like Corbin's "Who cares about the indies?" gimmick in the NXT setting and putting him against Joe is an extra smart move. Unfortunately, this match just seemed to fall a bit flat. Joe has lost a step and its noticeable. While he's still a better-than-average worker in terms of building a story, there's less velocity in his strikes and combos than there was when he was a world-beater ten years ago. Corbin's selling was good, but his offense was nothing impressive. At one point it looked like he even struggled to get Joe up in a standard suplex. Decent enough finish, but no one would confuse this with any of the classics Joe put on routinely during his prime years. (2/5)

Stephanie McMahon comes out next to hype the NXT Womens' division for no good reason. The NXT Women are over already. Plus, her proclaiming that Banks/Bayley is tonight's "first" main event is also patently ridiculous. The match that goes last is the main event - plain and simple - even if there are "bigger" matches before it (see WrestleMania X8). Stephanie sets us up for an excellent hype video about Bayley's journey up the NXT ranks to become the number one contender for Sasha Banks' title. 

Here we go - Bayley vs. Sasha Banks for the NXT Womens Championship and the crowd is fully into this one from the bell, something one would never imagine seeing in a WWE ring in an arena this huge. The first major spot, a springboard elbow in the corner, is one of my least favorite (there's no way for the person receiving the maneuver to make it not look like they're setting themselves up for it), but things get better quickly - Bayley hitting a dropkick on the outside, Sasha cutting off her momentum by cleverly knocking her off the second rope, both girls laying in their strikes. Sasha's double-knees to the Bayley on the top rope didn't look nearly as vicious as it should've/could've, but Sasha makes up for it with her attacks on Bayley's injured hand on the outside of the ring - refreshing heel work for any match, women or men's. From there, Banks hits a picture-perfect somersault over the ref and onto Bayley, popping the crowd huge. Bayley gets a small reprieve by knocking Banks to the floor and then takes control for the first time in a long time. Minutes later we get one of the best submission sequences I've seen in a long, long time, followed by the best false finish of the night and a textbook example of how "less is more" when it comes to finisher kick outs. Bayley then takes a nasty bump out of the corner, one that looks like it could've been a career ender, but somehow kicks out of Banks' Lou Thesz press from the top rope. After a huge maneuver from the opposite corner, Bayley hits her finish and in one of the best feel-good moments in recent WWE memory, we have a new Womens Champion. Very emotional ending to a really good match. I'm not going to call this my guaranteed Match of the Year, but it could easily make my Top 5. I absolutely loved Sasha Banks' "Curtain Call" moment too, a move that makes no storyline sense considering Banks' character, but one that had me smiling and almost in tears nonetheless. Amazing post-match that earned this one an extra half-point. (4.5/5)

Its main event time - Kevin Owens challenging Finn Balor for his NXT World Championship in a Ladder Match. Awesome entrance for Balor and I like how incorporated the NXT Championship into it, something I felt might've been awkward. A few minutes in, something distracts the crowd and gets a massive pop, but Owens and Balor are good enough to earn their own over the next few minutes via some signature spots. Fairly back-and-forth contest with plenty of cool moments, including Owens launching Balor onto-and-over the commentary table, the Demon hitting a springboard dropkick onto a table-holding Owens, multiple instances of stiff-looking ladder-based offense from both men. Owens' character work was also on point here, mocking Balor's flamboyant taunts at various points in the match. Owens' power bombs (in this case one off a ladder and one to the apron on the outside of the ring) are always going to pop me, but his super kicks might've stolen the match. In one of the craziest spots I've seen, Balor connected with a double foot stomp from atop a ladder to retain the championship, a crowd-pleasing ending but nowhere near as emotional as the one that occurred in the prior match. Very good ladder match that didn't "over-rely" on the ladder and certainly featured the requisite big bumps that a match like this needs. (4/5)

All in all, not the best show I've ever seen, but with an average rating of 3.0-out-of-5, there are many worse ways to spend two hours (and I've chronicled them on this very site!). Bayley/Banks is a Match of the Year candidate due to the emotional payoff and Owens/Balor was superb, as good as "PG-era Ladder Match" as we've seen over the past few years (though maybe a hair under the Ziggler/Harper match from TLC last December). Corbin/Joe and the Apollo Crews debut were nothing special and though I've read others praise the opening contest, I wasn't blown beyond the novelty of seeing Liger in a WWE ring. Overall, a solid show that was boosted tremendously by the Womens' Championship match, one that Dave Meltzer has already proclaimed as one of the best womens' matches of all time.

FINAL RATING - Watch It All…With Remote in Hand