Orlando, FL - June 2016
CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, Samoa Joe is the reigning NXT Champion, the team of American Alpha - Jason Jordan and Chad Gable - are the NXT Tag Team Champions, and Asuka is the NXT Womens' Champion.
COMMENTATORS: Corey Graves and Tom Phillips
Our opening contest was the debut of Andrade "Cien" Almas, the former La Sombra of CMLL and New Japan fame. Typically the NXT crowd welcomes big name former talent, but they were mostly in support of Almas' opponent, Tye "Perfect 10" Dillinger. A decent opener that featured some quality maneuvers out of Almas (and an awesome superkick from Dillinger at one point) but not a "star-making" debut like the ones we saw when Finn Balor and Nakamura and Samoa Joe made their first appearances in NXT. (2.5/5)
The Tag Team Championships were on the line in our next bout - American Alpha defending against The Revival. A very strong match that included some of the best mirror/"stereo" sequences I might've ever seen, the hot crowd enjoying the hell out of everything the two teams did. American Alpha is on the brink of being one of the top five tag teams today, while I have no issue putting The Revival on that shortlist already - their incredible, old school heel teamwork is just too good to ignore. For example, after withstanding a slurry of offense from the goodies, The Revival slowed things down killing off the crowd or boring them and then, as the match went on, executed textbook perfect cut-offs to keep the audience begging for a Jason Jordan hot tag. Masterful stuff. Getting even more specific, I really liked one sequence that saw the babyfaces hitting pitch-perfect dropkicks in tandem and, on the heel side of things, a two-man stun gun that would've made 91'-era Steve Austin proud. With an excellent finish that should guarantee a rubber match, this was one of the best tag team bouts that NXT has produced this year. (3.5/5)
...And we get the debut of a team of monsters! I loved this post-match beatdown for two reasons - first, we get the return of Paul Ellering, a classic manager in an environment where a classic manager is going to be fitting. Second, by attacking the most over babyfaces on the tag roster, you now have the opportunity to get two big tag feuds happening - one involving the champions and one involving these behemoths vs. the Alphas. Throw in the second annual Dusty tourney somewhere down the line and I like the way this summer/fall will go for tag wrestling in NXT. (+1)
Nakamura vs. Austin Aries in a snug, tightly worked contest was next. While this one didn't bring the goosebumps the way Nakamura's debut did on WrestleMania weekend, it was still a strong showing for the charismatic and enigmatic Nakamura. Aries controlled most of the bout, but has yet to truly get his character over in NXT the way it was in TNA and it was telling how less hot this match was than when Nakamura was paired up with the much-adored Sami Zayn. Move for move, though, it had some awesome moments, including Aries connecting with a Death Valley Driver on the ring apron and Nakamura dishing out some super stiff kicks. I've seen some argue that this was better than Nak's debut, but I just didn't see it. (3/5)
The NXT Womens' Championship was on the line when Asuka took on Nia Jax. Too short to truly be considered a "great match," I still found this to be one of the better bouts of the night and maybe the most satisfactory 8 minutes of the whole show. Jax looked like an absolute monster and the kind of figure that, given time, could turn out to be the major player that the company wishes they could've had in Awesome Kong and, to a lesser degree, Tamina Snuka. Asuka was excellent as the undersized babyface who had to use her cunning and knowledge of submissions to take down the giant. Had this one gone 4-5 minutes longer, I might even call it the best match of the night. (3/5)
Main event time - Samoa Joe defending the NXT Championship against Finn Balor in a steel cage. I really enjoyed their last Takeover bout, but was worried that this one would be less thrilling without the extra drama that Joe's bleeding brought to it. That apprehension proved unmerited as Balor and Joe put on one of the better cage matches in recent WWE history, Joe tossing Balor multiple times into the steel and unleashing a torrent of aggressive offensive maneuvers. Baylor, in response, fought back with great spirit throughout but not getting too "cutesy" with his sometimes repetitive offense (how many slingblades does one really need to see?). Most other reviews I read did not praise this one nearly as much as I have, though, part of that is in the inherent backlash to Finn Balor by a growing number of fans who, with the resurgence of Joe, the arrival of Nakamura and Asuka, and the growing appreciation for American Alpha, the Revival, and even jobber-to-the-stars acts like Gargano/Ciampa, Tye Dillinger, and Rich Swann, are no longer as captivated by the former NXT Champion. Hey, didn't the same kinda thing happen with Neville? Regardless, even without blood, I found the match to be violent enough, well worked, and dramatic, with both guys working hard to capture the victory while still trying to position themselves as the better, tougher man by not sprinting for the door every second they got. (3.5/5)
With a strong score of 2.7-out-of-5 on the Kwang Meter, NXT Takeover: The End... is the lowest scoring Takeover special I've reviewed, but let's remember, the Dallas, London, and Brooklyn shows were Event of the Year-caliber specials and the Unstoppable and Rival specials featured some 4-star efforts in Lynch/Banks, Zayn/Owens, and Rival's 4-way NXT Womens' Championship bout. This show didn't feature any of those peak performances, but it also didn't suffer from any tedious Bull Dempsey or Baron Corbin matches (though, Corbin did improve over time), making it a more even show, but arguably flat when compared to the variety of action we've got in other specials.
FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand
The Tag Team Championships were on the line in our next bout - American Alpha defending against The Revival. A very strong match that included some of the best mirror/"stereo" sequences I might've ever seen, the hot crowd enjoying the hell out of everything the two teams did. American Alpha is on the brink of being one of the top five tag teams today, while I have no issue putting The Revival on that shortlist already - their incredible, old school heel teamwork is just too good to ignore. For example, after withstanding a slurry of offense from the goodies, The Revival slowed things down killing off the crowd or boring them and then, as the match went on, executed textbook perfect cut-offs to keep the audience begging for a Jason Jordan hot tag. Masterful stuff. Getting even more specific, I really liked one sequence that saw the babyfaces hitting pitch-perfect dropkicks in tandem and, on the heel side of things, a two-man stun gun that would've made 91'-era Steve Austin proud. With an excellent finish that should guarantee a rubber match, this was one of the best tag team bouts that NXT has produced this year. (3.5/5)
...And we get the debut of a team of monsters! I loved this post-match beatdown for two reasons - first, we get the return of Paul Ellering, a classic manager in an environment where a classic manager is going to be fitting. Second, by attacking the most over babyfaces on the tag roster, you now have the opportunity to get two big tag feuds happening - one involving the champions and one involving these behemoths vs. the Alphas. Throw in the second annual Dusty tourney somewhere down the line and I like the way this summer/fall will go for tag wrestling in NXT. (+1)
Nakamura vs. Austin Aries in a snug, tightly worked contest was next. While this one didn't bring the goosebumps the way Nakamura's debut did on WrestleMania weekend, it was still a strong showing for the charismatic and enigmatic Nakamura. Aries controlled most of the bout, but has yet to truly get his character over in NXT the way it was in TNA and it was telling how less hot this match was than when Nakamura was paired up with the much-adored Sami Zayn. Move for move, though, it had some awesome moments, including Aries connecting with a Death Valley Driver on the ring apron and Nakamura dishing out some super stiff kicks. I've seen some argue that this was better than Nak's debut, but I just didn't see it. (3/5)
The NXT Womens' Championship was on the line when Asuka took on Nia Jax. Too short to truly be considered a "great match," I still found this to be one of the better bouts of the night and maybe the most satisfactory 8 minutes of the whole show. Jax looked like an absolute monster and the kind of figure that, given time, could turn out to be the major player that the company wishes they could've had in Awesome Kong and, to a lesser degree, Tamina Snuka. Asuka was excellent as the undersized babyface who had to use her cunning and knowledge of submissions to take down the giant. Had this one gone 4-5 minutes longer, I might even call it the best match of the night. (3/5)
Main event time - Samoa Joe defending the NXT Championship against Finn Balor in a steel cage. I really enjoyed their last Takeover bout, but was worried that this one would be less thrilling without the extra drama that Joe's bleeding brought to it. That apprehension proved unmerited as Balor and Joe put on one of the better cage matches in recent WWE history, Joe tossing Balor multiple times into the steel and unleashing a torrent of aggressive offensive maneuvers. Baylor, in response, fought back with great spirit throughout but not getting too "cutesy" with his sometimes repetitive offense (how many slingblades does one really need to see?). Most other reviews I read did not praise this one nearly as much as I have, though, part of that is in the inherent backlash to Finn Balor by a growing number of fans who, with the resurgence of Joe, the arrival of Nakamura and Asuka, and the growing appreciation for American Alpha, the Revival, and even jobber-to-the-stars acts like Gargano/Ciampa, Tye Dillinger, and Rich Swann, are no longer as captivated by the former NXT Champion. Hey, didn't the same kinda thing happen with Neville? Regardless, even without blood, I found the match to be violent enough, well worked, and dramatic, with both guys working hard to capture the victory while still trying to position themselves as the better, tougher man by not sprinting for the door every second they got. (3.5/5)
With a strong score of 2.7-out-of-5 on the Kwang Meter, NXT Takeover: The End... is the lowest scoring Takeover special I've reviewed, but let's remember, the Dallas, London, and Brooklyn shows were Event of the Year-caliber specials and the Unstoppable and Rival specials featured some 4-star efforts in Lynch/Banks, Zayn/Owens, and Rival's 4-way NXT Womens' Championship bout. This show didn't feature any of those peak performances, but it also didn't suffer from any tedious Bull Dempsey or Baron Corbin matches (though, Corbin did improve over time), making it a more even show, but arguably flat when compared to the variety of action we've got in other specials.
FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand
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