NXT Takeover: San Antonio

NXT Takeover: San Antonio

San Antonio, Texas - January 2017

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, Shinsuke Nakamura holds the NXT Championship, the NXT Tag Titles are held by #DIY, and the NXT Women's Champion is Asuka.

COMMENTARY: Corey Graves, Percy Watson, and Tom Phillips


A cool video package summarizes all the storylines coming into tonight's show - definitely helpful for viewers like myself who only sporadically watch the episodes on The Network but always make sure to catch the Takeover specials. This is probably the "coldest" Takeover show in terms of hype, but nobody told the crowd that because they're super hot from the word go.

Tye Dillinger arrives to a big pop and chants of "10" from the audience - it will be a disappointment if he doesn't enter the Rumble at that number tonight. His opponent is former TNA star Eric Young, leader of SAnitY, a stable not unlike the Wyatts. Eric Young takes control early with help of his goons and proceeds to dissect his adversary for a lengthy stretch, dishing out a variety of neck-focused offense including a dragon sleeper on the top rope and a reverse neckbreaker. Dillinger's comeback gets a great reaction and from a technical perspective, he's a very fluid worker, but I don't see "top guy" in him at all (maybe its the haircut? maybe its that his catchphrase is already annoying to me?). Excellent finishing move from Eric Young, but one he won't be able to hit on everyone. As I don't watch NXT weekly, I know I'm missing what SAnitY is all about, but I would've liked the commentary team to connect the dots for me because I'm not sure if they're another Wyatt-like cult or a gang of weird methhead bikers or what. Average. (2.5/5) 

Andrade "Cien" Almas arrives to a fairly nothing reaction for his match against relative newcomer Roderick Strong (who comes out to an equally tepid response). Almas works hard to get heat and is obviously a smart, seasoned worker, but the crowd just isn't convinced that this is an important match and it shows in their responses, which are respectful only to the big spots and most elaborate sequences. Two strike-trading sequences is at least one too many in a match like this. Almas is either missing an unidentifiable piece that would make him a really compelling heel or he has all the pieces but they haven't been put together in the right configuration yet. A very brief, quiet "This is Awesome" chant starts but is so patently undeserved the majority of the audience just ignores it. Strong hits a cool backbreaker on the top turnbuckle but clutches his arm, feeling the effects of all of Almas' work on the limb. A hotter crowd and a more personal issue at stake would've made this match seem more meaningful, but in terms of execution and delivery, this was hard to criticize. (3/5)

The NXT Tag straps are on the line next - #DIY vs. The Authors of Pain. Akem and Rezar try to establish dominance earlier, but Gargano and Ciampa use their speed and striking to keep things even, popping the crowd with some explosive offense. After a few minutes, Gargano finds himself in trouble, tossed around the ring by Akem and stomped on in the corner as the crowd starts chanting "Johnny Wrestling" in support. Ciampa comes in for the hot tag to a huge pop and then scores an even bigger reaction by hitting german suplexes on both monsters, nearly ending the match with the impressive feat of strength. Akem eats a series of strikes and knees, but won't stay down, proving his resilience and retaliating with a big clothesline of his own. Back in control, the AOP attempt a double-team maneuver, but end up a victim of one by #DIY, Gargano back in the ring dishing out forearms. #DIY's flurry is cut off moments later and the AOP are back in control, the crowd trying to will them into victory with their support. Ciampa locks in an arm bar and Gargano manages to lock Rezar into a crossface, but Rezar uses his impressive strength to stand up and drop Gargano onto Ciampa to break up the would-be finish. The crowd chants "Holy Shit" and then "This is Awesome" as #DIY hit a collection of strikes and attempt to put their opponents away with some dual superkicks. The AOP are able to use their momentum against them, though, lifting them up for the Super Collider (stereo powerbombs) and then finish off Ciampa with The Last Chapter. Easily the best match of the night up to this point and a feather in the cap for #DIY, who have again proven how good they are at pulling the crowd into a relatively cold match through storytelling, selling, and high spots delivered at the right times. I'd put this one notch below "great." (3.5/5)

Hey, it's Seth Rollins! Short, sweet, fiery promo. Where's this Rollins been? Triple H walks out from the back and a staredown ensues before security shows up to do his dirty work for him (or attempt to). Even more security comes down and they carry Rollins off as the crowd chants "Let Him Go!" (and then "Bullshit"). Really good segment. (+1)

Asuka defends her NXT Womens' Championship next against Nikki Cross of SAniTY and the aligned Australians Billie Kay and Peyton Royce. I really like the concept of this match as there is no one that, on their own, is really a threat to Asuka - but in a Fatal Fourway, one doesn't even have to pin Asuka to win the gold. The crowd are on their feet for this before the bell, a good sign. Brilliant start with Kay and Royce not getting involved until the two "maniacs" start off against each other. Double German Suplex pops the crowd and Cross and Asuka finally get to trade blows, Asuka delivering an absolutely nasty German Suplex on the Scot, who comes back with a straightjacket neckbreaker. With Asuka out on the outside, Cross launches herself off the top and hits a crossbody onto the Aussies on the outside. The fight ends up all the way to the commentary table where Royce and Payton, in an impressive feat of heeldom, double-suplex Cross from atop one table through another. Asuka, who'd been (over)selling damage for awhile is now caught in a 2-on-1 situation, but Kay and Royce can't put her away. Royce delivers a Widow's Peak Neckbreaker, but Asuka bridges out at two. Royce can't keep the pressure on and Kay can't save her as Asuka lands a jaw-breaker of a kick on Peyton to end this one decisively. I was expecting a more dramatic conclusion and certainly a lengthier match overall as I don't think we really got to see what Cross, Kay, and Royce were really capable of. Disappointing, but only because I expected a more suspenseful escalation of big moves. No worse than average. (2.5/5)

Main event time - Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bobby Roode for Nakamura's NXT Championship. As has become the norm, Roode gets a magnificent entrance, with the crowd singing along to his theme. Not to be outdone, Nakamura comes in on a Green Goblin-esque glider fitted with strobe lights. The crowd was fairly split here, though I think there were a fair number of fans like myself who were rooting for Roode only because we're eager to see Nakamura get the well-earned "call up." Good but not great first third with Roode in control, which is par for the course with the Glorious One as he's never been a particularly flashy performer. Nakamura's comeback picked up the pace and the suspense level raised quite a bit when Roode played possum to combat Nakamura's multiple attempts at a Kinchasa. The faux injury angle actually hurt this one for me - I'm not sure it was entirely necessary when you could've reached the same conclusion without having essentially a 2-3 minute break in the middle of the match with trainers and extra refs and, at one point, Albert showing up at ringside. While not a MOTYC like most of Nakamura's other TakeOver bouts have been, I thought the last two thirds were very good/almost great. (3.5/5)


TakeOver specials in the past have almost always delivered at least one Match of the Year candidate. This show did not. Still, with a relatively strong 3.2-out-of-5 Kwang score, it is an easy recommendation, especially for fans of the NXT brand who are not yet ready to quit on what was, in 2015 and 2016, often called "The Best US Promotion" (even if it is a WWE-owned and operated "indie"). On the positive side, nearly every match was no less than average - with the Tag Title Match exceeding my expectations, the Fourway match certainly delivering what it needed to in an abbreviated runtime, and the main event proving that, paired with the right worker, Bobby Roode can be a really good "base" for a wide variety of challengers in a way that we haven't seen in NXT for awhile. The Seth Rollins appearance was probably the best segment I've seen from in what? 2 years now? SAniTY needs a reason for existing and Eric Young has the charisma and range to make the gimmick work, but again, its unclear what the gimmick is to me based on this show - this is where commentary would help. Speaking of commentary, Percy Watson wasn't great, but its pretty harsh to judge him on his first major outing. Given time, he'll sink or swim. I didn't think his commentary was so detrimental that it was worth a point deduction. 

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand


In terms of Kwang scores, surprising as it may seem, this one edges out Takeover: The End, the first Takeover: Brooklyn, Takeover: Unstoppable, and Takeover: Rival and fairly handily.