NXT Takeover: New York

NXT Takeover: New York 2019

New York, New York - April 2019

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the NXT Championship was vacant (due to Ciampa being sidelined due to a neck injury), while the NXT North American Title was held by The Velveteen Dream. The NXT Tag Team Champions were the War Raiders and Shayna Baszler held the NXT Women's Championship.

COMMENTATORS: Maura Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, and Percy Watson

NXT Takeover: New York kicked off with The War Raiders defending the NXT Tag Team Championships against the winners of the Dusty Rhodes Classic, Ricochet and Aleister Black. Mauro Ranallo called it an "instant classic" and I have to agree - this was really, really good. I'm usually not a fan of face/face matches where the only story seems to be "let's just do cool shit non-stop," but these four guys had enough cool shit in their bag to make it work. Plus, there were some clever twists and callbacks and the match felt emotional (especially the post-match) without feeling forced. There were a half-dozen unbelievable spots, but what made this match great was the relentless pace and the fluidity of each one. Some moments crept into overtly choreographed territory, but overall, the selling and bumping was phenomenal with every knee strike and superkick registering. While not quite at the all-time great level of the DIY/Revival matches of yesteryear, this was easily the best War Raiders showing I've seen and maybe even in the top 3-4 matches that Ricochet and Aleister Black have had in NXT (no small feat considering their resumes). (4/5)

The Velveteen Dream defending the NXT North American Championship against Matt Riddle was next but before the action could start this match already earned a point as Dream's entrance was a batshit insane homage to the Statue of Liberty. Dream is one of my favorites and Riddle has also impressed me so I was glad to see they had tremendous chemistry. Dream's best matches, so far, have been when he's squaring off against another character as loud and colorful as himself and while Riddle's "gimmick" doesn't leap off the screen, his natural charisma and athleticism does. Riddle is deceptively strong and he used his strength to deliver a number of great throws, rounding them out with a bunch of brilliant strikes too. As he dominated, the crowd turned on him a bit, and Riddle began playing the subtle heel just by taking his time breaking holds and raining down blows when his opponent was in the ropes. Dream literally "hulked up" to change the momentum and it worked because he is charismatic enough to pull it off. Riddle regained control, though, applying an Ankle Lock in another clever nod to a WrestleMania legend - Kurt Angle. Riddle attempted a powerbomb, but Dream countered it into one of his DDTs and then a Dream Valley Driver. Dream attempted an elbow drop, but Riddle caught him with a submission and nearly tapped him out. Dream got into the ropes, but Riddle hit him with an insane belly-to-belly from inside the ring perched on the second rope. Riddle then hit an insane splash for 2. Dream begged for more, though, and Riddle hit him with a powerbomb and then a stiff knee to the jaw. He locked Dream up in his submission, but Dream rolled him over and Riddle's shoulders went to the mat. I liked Riddle's post-match body language and the "bro bump" too. While a heel turn here could've worked, it wasn't necessary. I enjoyed this match even more than the opener and could even see it make my year-end list come December. (4/5)

WALTER challenged Pete Dunne for the WWE UK Championship in the next bout. I haven't seen much of Walter (is it always all capitalized?), but from this match alone, I'd say he is awesome. Dunne is awesome too so it was no surprise that this match was great. It started with a relatively slower pace than the two bouts that preceded it as the two felt each other out. When Walter did finally hit one of his massive chops, the crowd popped huge and Dunne sold it like a gunshot to the chest. Walter's offense looks devastating and while he doesn't do anything super flashy, everything he did in this match looked like it did damage. The simplicity of his moveset - chops, a Boston Crab, the Big Boot, a sleeper - actually makes him stand out. Dunne showed a ton of heart, using his agility to survive and eventually get some offense in (including a sit-out powerbomb from the corner and a double stomp to the outside). Walter hit a simple powerbomb that looked like it could've won the match just because of the way he used his body to make the cover after - another one of those "little things" that the guy does that make him a special talent. Dunne took an avalanche sleeper suplex from the top rope, but it was the less over-the-top offense that looked like it could've decapitated him - include a stomp right to the neck when he was in a bridge. With few options, Dunne was forced to target Walter's fingers. Towards the end, Walter and Dunne engaged in a brutal series of head-stompings escalating in Dunne applying a submission that featured Walter's fingers being pulled nearly back to his wrist. Walter rolled to the outside and hit a nasty lariat on Dunne, who was perched on the top rope. Dunne countered a splash into a triangle, but Walter fought his way free and then stomped a mudhole into the champ. Dunne again went to the fingers, but got stomped for his efforts and then hit with a second huge lariat. Dunne was able to hit his Bitter End but only for 2, the crowd erupting into a loud "Walter" chant. Dueling chants followed as the two men traded blows in the center of the ring. Dunne ate a big boot and looked to be out, but Walter took too long getting to the top rope, allowing for Dunne to climb up and apply a triangle. Walter countered with a ridiculous release powerbomb from the top and then hit a big splash to end the reign of Pete Dunne. An absolutely great match that was only hurt a little bit by the somewhat contrived powerbomb spot (why Dunne would attempt a triangle choke on the top rope to a guy with a powerbomb finish made little sense). At this point, this show featured as good a string of matches as I can ever recall watching back-to-back. (4/5)

The NXT Women's Championship was on the line in the next bout - champion Shayna Baszler defending against Io Shirai, Kairi Sane, and Bianca Belair. This was another absolutely awesome match and one that offered something different than what came before it. Sane and Shirai showed why so many were clamoring for them to challenge Bayley and Sasha for the NXT Women's Tag Team Titles this weekend, while Belair proved she's no "one hit wonder," delivering two insane power spots (a military press that sent Shirai over the top rope and a double KOD on the Sky Pirates). Baszler's job was to play spoiler, eat a ton of offense as the biggest target in the match, and sell - and she did all three of those things perfectly. I read a Facebook post by someone whining about Baszler's reign going too long, but like Asuka before her, I'm not bothered by her dominance (and can't see how any should be) when you consider how consistently great her matches have been. I'm not quite sure this was as "must see" as the previous two bouts, but it was still very, very good, arguably even better than the opener, and, on a lesser show, could have easily been a Match of the Night level bout. (4/5)

Main event time - Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole for the vacant NXT Championship. The crowd was, somewhat oddly, split, with a sizable portion of the audience backing the heel Adam Cole. In my opinion, Gargano's heel turn this year was contrived, ill-fitting, and did nothing for him except kill some of the natural sympathy and support he had from the crowd. This one started with a little bit more of a deliberate pace than anything else on the show, but it still featured lots of rope-running, counters, and head-scissors in the first few minutes - a 205 Live version of "slow," really. The crowd was with them, the dueling chants breaking out every couple of minutes. The first fall was a touch uneventful, with Cole winning cleanly with a kick to the back of the skull. This is one of the problems with having matches like the ones Gargano had against Ciampa, where he withstood such crazy violence that taking a kick to the back of the head becomes an unbelievable finish. A minute laer, Cole hit his Last Shot, but Gargano kicked out of it - I woud've preferred to see him fall to that move, but whatever. Gargano recovered to take over the match and hit some moves to the outside. Cole then hit the Ujigoroshi back in the ring and followed it up with an attempt at a super powerbomb, only for Gargano to reverse it into an Air Raid Crash from the top rope (an homage to his former tag partner Ciampa). Gargano hit a slingshot DDT on the apron that left Cole in a heap on the outside and earned a "Mamma Mia" chant. Back in the ring they went where Cole tapped to Gargano's crossface submission immediately, knowing that sustaining prolonged damage would've made it even harder for him to win the final fall. Gargano rolled away and he and Cole stared each other down, Gargano sliced open a bit above his right eye. The fight continued and both guys stepped up their offense - Gargano tossing Cole like a lawn dart into the middle buckle, Cole and Gargano stunning each other with simultaneous superkicks, the UE leader hitting Johnny Wrestling with a superkick to the back of the head and then a straightjacket suplex. At one point the crowd erupted into a "Both These Guys" chants and while their efforts were commendable, I found some of the decisions made in this match - from a storytelling perspective - to be a bit questionable. That's not to say there weren't' great moments, especially during the suspenseful third fall. For example, in one sequence, Gargano hit Cole with his signature headscissors spike and then a sharp superkick to the jaw only for Cole to roll out of the ring and escape a would-be guaranteed pinfall loss. Unfortunately, this effective and smart sequence was a bit tainted by what followed - a string of big moves followed by blatant no-selling and "workrate porn." The crowd loved it and popped huge...but its hard to tell the story of this match being an epic battle when major maneuvers are undersold so blatantly. They headed out of the ring and we got our first "hardcore" spot of the night, a Fairy Tale Ending from Adam Cole onto Gargano on the announcer table. Cole then told the ref to make the count - a clever callback to Gargano refusing to do the same earlier in the match. Gargano beat the count but got superkicked. Cole went for the cover for 2 and the crowd popped huge again, the dueling chants erupting once more. Cole went for another superkick but Gargano caught him with one of his own, only for Cole to hit another superkick. Cole went to the top, but Gargano caught him with a submission. Roderick Strong ran down the aisle, distracting the ref and allowing for O'Reilly and Fish to poke Gargano in the eye to break the hold. O'Relly and Fish then hit their finish and sent the referee (who had been momentarily knocked out) back into the ring...only for Gargano to kickout at 2! The crowd was going batshit by this point. Cole went for another superkick (I think?), but Gargano back-body dropped him out of the ring and onto his UE brethren. Gargano then hit superkicks on all of the UE, taking them out 1-on-3. Back in the ring he went, but Cole delivered two superkicks and another Last Shot...for 2 again! A massive NXT chant rang out followed by a "This is Awesome!" chant. Cole went for another Last Shot only for Gargano to counter it with his submission and tap Cole! Gargano wins! I wasn't a huge fan of the first fall, I liked the second fall better, and the final fall was a bit of a mixed bag (with some excellent offense and some very not-so-good underselling). But this match also featured arguably the best 3-4 minute conclusion to any match in recent memory with an emotional post-match scene. The only thing keeping this from "must see" territory is that I'm not sure I'd revisit before any other match on this show. (3.5/5)


The best NXT Takeover in at least a year, this show earned a strong Kwang Rating of 3.90-out-of-5, with 4 out of 5 matches potentially ranking in my Top 10 Matches of the Year list come December. The opener was a terrific send-off to Aleister Black and Ricochet, the NXT North American Title match was a fantastic clash of strong characters, and the UK Title Match felt like a worthy "passing of the torch" moment as (hopefully) Pete Dunne makes his way to the main roster so he can prove his mettle against more established stars. I'm all in on Shayna Baszler's title reign - she might be the best, most natural heel the WWE has developed since The Miz. If she doesn't rank in the top 5 currently in the whole company, I'm not sure who would. I wasn't a huge fan of the main event - definitely not as much as Dave Meltzer (who described it as maybe the best WWE match ever) - but the last fall was spectacular and pushed it well into "above-average" territory. One of the best beginning-to-end shows that the WWE has ever produced.

FINAL RATING - Curt Hennig Level