NXT Takeover: Philadelphia

NXT Takeover: Philadelphia

Philadelphia, PA - January 2018

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into the show, Andres "Cien" Almas is the NXT Champion, Ember Moon is the NXT Women's Champion, and The Undisputed Era's Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish are the NXT Tag Team Champions (having defeating SaNity at an NXT TV show in November).

COMMENTARY: Mauro Ranallo and Percy Watson

Cool Paul Heyman promo video to start the show. I liked that it didn't go over-the-top with the ECW references, which is just so old hat in 2018.

The show kicks off with The Authors of Pain challenging for the the NXT Tag Team Championships held by The Undisputed Era's Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish. Unsurprisingly, the Ring of Honor alumni get a loud reaction for their entrance. I liked O'Reilly's offense early on, striking at Razar's knees and legs with calculated strikes and then trying to lock the big man into a submission. AOP would maintain control, though, leading to two great bumps - a Flair-flop-esque drop to the arena floor off the apron by O'Reilly and a face-first drop from the wheelbarrow position onto the guardrail by Fish. In order to try to get some traction, Fish would take out Akem's damaged leg and then sacrifice himself with a spear through the ropes and onto the outside on Razar. From there the Era would cut the ring in half, keeping Akam in their corner and continuing to target his injured left leg. Razar would come in on a hot tag and connect with a very impressive fallaway slam/samoan drop on both men to a huge pop. Fish and O'Reilly wouldn't stay down though, Fish eventually hitting an Exploder suplex on Razar. I'm not sure I like that particular spot as they'd spent so much of the match successfully playing into the size difference, but the live crowd certainly enjoyed it. From here we'd see all four men in the ring for a double submission stretch. The finish came after Akem had single-handedly taken out both Undisputed Era members when the AOP attmepted a Super Collider but Akem's damaged leg allowed O'Reilly to hurricanrana his way out of it and steal the victory on a roll-up. A good, almost-great tag team match that shows just how far the Authors have come since their debut. I think I would've liked this one more if the crowd had "played along" and cheered the faces instead of working against the story of the match. (3/5)

War Machine, Ray Rowe and Hanson, are shown in the crowd. As a Clevelander, I'm a Raymond Rowe homer.

The Velveteen Dream took on Kassius Ohno next. I usually take notes during matches, but because I'm such a Velveteen Dream fan, I put the computer away and just watched. Dream's entrance was terrific. I expected Ohno to get a warmer response from the Philly crowd but, unlike in the opener, his Ring of Honor supporters were drowned out by the Dream fans. The match started out hot but then petered out at times. I haven't seen enough of Ohno's work, good or bad, to make a judgment call about whether his performance was up to snuff, but I thought he looked winded early on and spent too much of the match on the mat. When he needed to, he was able to go into a second gear, but it just wasn't the star-making performance I was hoping we'd see out of him. Dream, meanwhile, looked lost at times, unsure how to keep the audience engaged as Ohno's sold on the mat. He telegraphed some of the transitions and Ohno was equally sloppy at times, botching at least one maneuver towards the end and making no effort to shield his spot-calling in another. I'm not sure if it was a lack of chemistry, if the match structure was just too loose for a relative newcomer like the Dream, or if Ohno's conditioning was the biggest issue, but for whatever reason, this one paled in comparison to the Dream/Black match from the last Takeover when, at least on paper, it seemed like it could've been really great. (2/5)

Ember Moon defended her NXT Women's Championship against Shayna Baszler next. Baszler has great presence and its nice to see NXT finally push a heel that the audience actually wants to react to as a heel (Asuka's run was the exact opposite of that). Baszler's limb attack work is ridiculously devastating and about as vicious as it gets. Ember did well fighting from underneath and she's been improving more and more when it comes to establishing her character, but I do think the match suffered a little bit from the mismatch in personalities - Ember being mystical and Baszler being the shoot fighter. Like the live crowd, I disliked the break in action after Ember hit her finishing maneuver but then needed to be checked out by the doctor. I can understand wanting to keep Ember's finisher looking strong, but I thought her selling was on-point enough to make it believable that she was unable to capitalize and go for the cover. Baszler eventually locked in the arm bar and looked to have the match sewn up but Moon just would not tap and wisely used her remaining energy to get Baszler on her shoulders. This isn't the first time we've seen a plucky underdog champion overcome the odds using smarts over strength or technique (didn't the Nia/Bayley match end on similar circumstances?) but I thought it was really effective. Skills-wise, Moon should be ready for a call-up after Mania but with both brands now somewhat loaded, its not an unwise move to let her keep her spot in NXT and continue to build up the tension between her and Baszler. I've seen some people go as high as 3.5 stars on this, but I didn't find it to be that good, just slightly above average. (3/5)

In an Extreme Rules match, Aleister Black took on Adam Cole. After not "getting" Aleister Black when he debuted, I've become a fan of the guy and his match at the last Takeover show very nearly made my Top 10 list of Matches of the Year in 2017. Cole is good as an annoying heel ringleader, but as we'd find out during his Rumble appearance the next night, size is an issue with him (Wikipedia says he's 6'1'', same as Rollins, but the Architect towered over him on Sunday). I liked how Black didn't even want to use weapons at first, preferring to just use his hands and feet to take out the cocky Cole. Once the "toys" did come into play, though, this match heated up and the bumps Cole took were especially gruesome (including an absolutely insane backbreaker onto the spines of two chairs that was eerily reminiscent of the legendary back bump Shawn Michaels took into the casket at the 98' Rumble). I've read some reviews that really downplayed how extreme this match was, even if it wasn't a total bloodbath (note, though, Cole's hand seemed to have been sliced open hardway so its not like there was no color at all). In terms of hardcore matches, I'd actually consider this one to be one of the better, more violent editions we've seen over the past few years - especially in a 1-on-1 setting. As anyone might've predicted, Cole's cohorts in the Undisputed Era showed up to prevent Black from scoring a victory, but we eventually run off by SaNity, a stable that I still have no clear understanding of. Overall, I found this to be a really fun, hardcore match that told a dramatic, intense story and firmly established Black as a deserving number one contender to the NXT Championship. (4/5)

Main event time - Andres "Cien" Almas defending the aforementioned NXT Championship against Cleveland native, Johnny Gargano. After the ultra-violent, weapons-heavy match that Black and Cole put on, I wasn't sure how hot this match would get with the live crowd. Gargano and Almas wisely started things off with the exact opposite of what the Philly crowd had just seen, grappling and maneuvering with unreal quickness and technicality. As the match progressed, Gargano and Almas continued to be one step ahead of each other, the sense of "scouting" really touching home. The match continued to build and build in intensity, Almas and Gargano slowly but surely raising the stakes with increasingly stiff strikes and high-flying. When Jim Ross talks about guys needing to get a "second gear," both men's performances here are what he's talking about as Gargano and Almas worked the crowd into a frenzy with little more than great cut-offs, countless reversals, and passionate facial expressions that made this match feel more like genuine competition than any other match we've seen in months. Almas' valet, Zelina, was BRILLIANT in her moments, too, so much so that when Candice LeRae (the real life Mrs. Gargano) finally ran her off, I nearly had tears in my eyes. Flawless execution, several "Oh My God" moments (those running knees into the post on Gargano was reminiscent of the kind of injury angles that NWA put on TV in the 80s and was treated as such), and Gargano delivering yet another remarkable babyface performance in front of a red hot crowd - this match was wrestling perfection. Not just an instant classic, an instant Match of the Year contender and, arguably, the best match NXT has presented since the heyday of Bayley and Sasha. (5/5)

With a Kwang Score of 3.4-out-of-5, NXT Takeover: Philadelphia started out a little rough with a good-not-great tag match (usually one of the strengths of the Takeover shows) and a disappointing Ohno/Dream match. Even Baszler/Moon didn't quite deliver the goods that I wanted out of it despite Baszler's presence and Ember Moon being probably the most reliably good women's wrestlers on NXT. I liked Cole/Black and the variety their match offered on a card that had not yet gone "extreme." The main event, though, was what elevated this show beyond just being your typical "great" into the level of being a highly, highly recommended evening of pro-wrestling.

FINAL RATING - Watch It