WWE NXT Takeover: Brooklyn IV

NXT Takeover: Brooklyn IV

Brooklyn, New York - August 2018

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into the show, Tommaso Ciampa is the NXT Champion (having defeated Aleister Black on an episode of NXT TV), while the NXT Women's Championship is held by Shayna Baszler. The NXT North American Champion is Adam Cole and his buddies in the Undisputed Era, Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong, are the NXT Tag Team Champions.

COMMENTATORS: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, and Nigel McGuinness

Just like the last Takeover special, the show begins with the NXT Tag Team Championship Match - The Undisputed Era defending the gold against Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven and Tyler Bate). Dueling chants started early, as did the innovative offense. When the AOP/Revival/DIY Era ended in mid-2017, I predicted it would take a considerable amount of time for it to return to being the most must-watch part of the brand. While its not there quite yet (remember, AOP/DIY was the headline match at Takeover: Chicago in May 2017), The Undisputed Era's work over the past 6-8 months has set it on that course. If Strong and O'Reilly just had impressive, fresh offense, they'd be entertaining - but because they also do all the little things right, put all their weight behind every strike, do dastardly, unlikable heel things, and can bump-and-feed like nobody's business (especially Strong), they are worthy of having the entire division built around them. On the other side, Trent Seven is a bit of a rare breed: a natural babyface with a different look, the "perfect sidekick," the Chewbacca to Tyler Bate's effortlessly charming Han Solo. Their natural chemistry and ridiculous arsenal is so undeniable, I was shocked that anyone in the building was rooting against them. As I did not see their much-lauded NXT TV match from a few weeks (months?) back, this was my first glimpse at what these teams could do and it did not disappoint at all. An excellent match that just shows how far wrestling has come from where it was 5, 10, 15 years ago, when a majority of what we saw - nearly every spot and bump - wouldn't have even been dreamed of. Oh, almost forgot, The War Raiders demolishing the champs after the match was a great extra touch. I'm a Ray Rowe fan from his CAPW/AIW days so I'm all about this team. Those matches should be wonderfully brutal. (4/5)

My favorite NXT act was up next as The Velveteen Dream made his way down the aisle (sporting a crown and air-brushed pants with the words "Call Me Up Vince" painted on his ass) to take on EC3, the WWE's "Once and Future Top Prospect." EC3 controlled early, but Dream turned things around with a wicked DDT on the steel rampway. One of the reasons I like Dream so much is that, even as a babyface now, he's maintained his arrogance and still puts his character into every moment of the match, whether he's on top or getting beaten down. While he and EC3 didn't put on a match nearly as smooth as the opener, it was still quite good, with a number of strong moments including the aforementioned DDT, EC3 delivering a pair of perfect powerbombs and a superplex, and the Dream hitting a Death Valley Driver on the apron and following it with an elbow drop. What makes Dream's matches great, though, isn't what moves he can do or even his bumping (which is above average), its the facial expressions, the selling, the flamboyance. I was a bit surprised by the ending as Dream has proven to be somewhat bulletproof when it comes to wins-and-losses and EC3 seems like a guy in need of some credibility before he gets called up to the main roster. An entertaining match, but not necessarily a show-stealer. (3/5)

Matt Riddle is in the house! I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do in NXT and how long his tenure will be considering his penchant for pot. Then again, Rob Van Dam had more than a couple healthy runs in the company and he was as outspoken about his marijuana use as Riddle is.

Adam Cole defending the NXT North American Championship next against former Lucha Underground breakout star Ricochet. Ricochet is a phenomenal athlete and probably the most "must see" high flyer since (at least) Evan Bourne or Neville and maybe even Rey Mysterio Jr. I'm less high on Adam Cole. While he's as smarmy as they come, a natural heel with experience and sound fundamentals, he's undeniably undersized, a dude who looks like he's one skipped meal away from being a 205 Live guy. Despite being legitimately taller than Eddie Guerrero and the same height as Kurt Angle, Cole comes off considerably smaller than either. Anyway, onto the match...Cole and Ricochet had some history from the indies and New Japan so fans in the know had plenty of reason to expect a great match. I liked the mix of old and new here, Cole trying to keep his opponent grounded, locking in a headlock and not letting go, and weaseling his way onto the floor to avoid Ricochet's finisher at one point - it wasn't the flashiest performance ever, but it rang true to Cole's motivation. Ricochet, as expected, dazzled the crowd his agility and energy, though I do think he's not quite "all there" when it comes to garnering sympathy and getting that emotional investment out of the fans (compared to, say, Tyler Bate, who almost seems like he could end up being one of the brand's next unexpected breakout babyfaces ala Johnny Gargano). There were some really cool spots throughout the contest, maybe best of all an absolutely jaw-dropping superkick from Cole onto a mid-moonsault Ricochet. I'll never claim to being aware of what has or hasn't been done in any wrestling ring in the world, but I'm not sure I've seen this specific spot done in a ring owned by Vince McMahon. The match was even enough that I expect we'll get a rematch sometime soon and, with the right stipulation, I expect it could top this. A strong match, but not quite at the level as the opener. (3/5)

Ronda Rousey and her fellow Horsewomen (I'm not sure of their names) were in the house (along with Mark Henry and Kevin Owens) for the next bout - Shayna Baszler defending the NXT Women's Championship against Kairi Sane. I didn't catch their match at last year's Mae Young Classic Finale so I'm glad there was a video recap before this match. Baszler has been a real pleasant surprise since emerging as NXT Women's division's resident badass this past January. Sane has had a comparatively quieter run, but has all the experience that Baszler doesn't. Putting them together, on this stage, I was not only curious about the outcome, but about the chemistry. I needn't have been worried as these two put on an excellent match, Baszler showing more range here than in her series against Ember Moon and Kairi Sane winning over the crowd that, like me, didn't seem to be fully behind her or understand her character going into the contest. Remember - there are plenty of folks like myself who absolutely love the NXT Takeover shows but still don't watch the weekly Network shows, fans that will gladly purchase a ticket for a Takeover show without a single match announced based on the brand's track record more than its roster. This match is further proof that this isn't necessarily a bad thing as Kairi Sane came out of this as a much bigger, more credible star than she did going in - and it would've likely been this way even if she hadn't ended up with her arm raised at its conclusion. Speaking of the finish, I'm not usually a fan of wrestlers kicking out of established finishers, but Baszler is a different beast - a legit toughwoman with a mean streak a mile wide. I don't necessarily mind her managing to withstand serious punishment, especially as, ultimately, Baszler did prove to be beatable, that Sane's elbow drops did cause damage. Though the "feel good" ending (like the finish of the North American Championship match) seemed to effectively dash any hopes that Johnny Gargano would leave with the NXT Championship, it was still a great moment and really smart booking. I'm not dying to see Baszler on the main roster just yet - she still has areas to work on and, truthfully, I'm not sure SmackDown or RAW needs her just yet when a debut at the Evolution PPV would give her a bigger spotlight - but I also think having Baszler repeat the "Asuka story" would've been a short-sighted and fruitless direction. With Sane's hard-fought victory and the next Mae Young Classic set to start in early September, the NXT Women's division, as a whole, has become "must watch" again in a way I'm not sure its been since the days of Bayley, Sasha, Charlotte, and Becky. (3.5/5)

Main event time - the NXT Championship was on the line as Tommaso Ciampa defended the gold against his arch-nemesis Johnny Gargano. This match was originally supposed to be a triple threat bout featuring Aleister Black, but Black was legitimately injured before the bout so he was pulled about a week or two ago. Gargano and Ciampa have had the best feud of 2018, but, as Mauro Ranallo noted, this was the third NXT Takeover show in a row with them in the headline spot, wrestling a match with a near-identical stipulation as their previous two matches, and there was some question as to how they would top those performances. While this match didn't necessarily vary from the ultra-violent formula of the first two installments, I did find the pacing and building of suspense to be an improvement on the somewhat cartoonish match they had in June. As I wrote back then, I wasn't sure what else these two could do to each other short of committing actual murder, but was pleased to see that instead of trying to come up with a dozen even crazier, high risk spots, they stuck with variations on the same themes they touched on in the past - tables, chairs, crutches, exposing the floor, exposing the ring's wooden boards, handcuffs. I can totally understand fans who were burnt out on this pairing having this kind of match, but credit must be given to the participants - if there was a feeling that every where they went was well-trodden territory, that they were simply traipsing along in the footprints they made months earlier, they didn't let it show. These two were as merciless here as ever before, but thankfully, they toned down some of the emotion and drama. There was no Candice LeRae. There was no gratuitous "concussion eyes" sequence from Gargano. No WrestleMania XXX-esque EMT moment. This match felt streamlined, but no less taxing, dangerous, or suspenseful. Critics have already noted that there were some implausible moments as Gargano and Ciampa both sprang back to life in under 10 seconds after suffering what would've been game-enders in most any other match. Sadly, the stipulation tends to force this sort of ridiculousness. The best spot of the match (and there were a ton of really cool moments, including Ciampa delivering a trio of his powerbomb/backstabber combo move) was when Ciampa ran Gargano through the timekeeper wall with a chair only seconds after Gargano had performed the second best spot of the match - an errant superkick to one of the camera assistants who chin was in the exact wrong place at the exact wrong time. The match's final minutes were, justifiably, the topic of debate all Sunday long. Handcuffed to a piece of the set, Gargano seemed to have Ciampa at his mercy. He could bash him in the head with a chair. He could lock in a sleeper (as Ciampa had done to him earlier) and force him asleep. He could even bury him under a pile of junk the way Ciampa had attempted mere minutes before. Instead, Gargano opted to let Ciampa beg, eventually opting to put him away with a symbolic running knee to the school. Unfortunately for Gargano, his momentum carried him past Ciampa's skull and directly into a stack of electric equipment, Johnny Wrestling taking a nasty fall onto a table and then the floor. As the ref counted both men down, Ciampa, still handcuffed, slid off the stage, his feet hitting the floor and putting his body into a half-standing/half-slouching position. The crowd was, surprisingly, less livid than I expected they would be with the disappointing conclusion, but maybe the crowd noise was drowned out by the production team? Regardless, it was a heartbreaker ending that was only somewhat salvaged by the commentary team, who made it clear that Gargano's injured knee would've prevented him from ever getting to his feet independently (this idea was further bolstered by the fact that Gargano was unable to leave the arena without medical assistance). I found this match to be as good as their last one, maybe even a hair better, but the needle-in-your-eye finish prevents it from feeling as emotionally rewarding as the Unsanctioned match from Takeover: New Orleans. (4/5)

Once again the NXT brand delivered a superb wrestling show, Takeover: Brooklyn IV earning a strong 3.5-out-of-5 on the Kwang Meter. While the entertainment value of these Takeover shows have become predictable, what I liked about this particular edition was the position it put the brand in moving forward. O'Reilly and Strong have become the best heel tag team NXT has had since The Revival, but before recently, the list of credible opponents has been thin. Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch had a good outing against the champs in May and, on this show, Moustache Mountain cemented their status as deserving a continued push while the War Raiders attempted to jump to the front of the line themselves. It took time, but the NXT tag division is finally shaping up beyond just the UE and a thrown-together pair of guys from the UK. Similarly, with Kairi Sane's victory, the NXT Women's Division has opened up a little, while Ricochet is perfectly suited for giving the North American Title some credibility after a very forgettable Adam Cole reign. Elsewhere on the card, Aleister Black has unfinished business with Ciampa, but the bigger question is who exactly attacked him? Despite the message on his pants, here's hoping that The Velveteen Dream's big win on this show is the start of a streak for him. If there is a better opponent for Ciampa than him, I don't think I've seen him yet. 

FINAL RATING - Watch It All