NXT Takeover: Portland

NXT Takeover: Portland

Portland, OR - February 2020

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, Adam Cole was the NXT Champion, the North American Championship was held by Keith Lee, and the NXT Women's Champion is Rhea Rhipley. The NXT Tag Team Champions were The Undisputed Era, while the Cruiserweight Champonship was held by Jordan Devlin (who I, admittedly, could not pick out of a lineup with a gun to my head). 

After an annoying and unnecessary performance from I Disagree, Keith Lee defended his NXT North American Championship against longtime rival Dominik Dijakovic. The rivalry between these two began even before they were in NXT so you had to know that they would absolutely kill it on their biggest showcase yet. This was an easy Match of the Year candidate, Lee and Dijakovic both delivering the goods. Lee is a mega-star waiting to happen, a 300-pound monster that is inexplicably easy to get behind as a vulnerable babyface. It is a strange mix that strikes me as almost Hulk Hogan-esque at times, his fiery comebacks just the right level of over-the-top hokeyness. Dijakovic's strikes are brutal, but what was most surprising about him was his daredevil high-flying. I'm not usually a fan of 7-footers taking to the air and I'd hate to see Dijakovic overdo it, but in this match it worked because Dijakovic and Lee's history dictated that each guy was going to have come up with the biggest, most innovative offense of their careers to get the victory. My only gripe was the finish, which seemed just a touch out-of-nowhere after so many better sequences - including a devastating pounce from Lee that sent Dijakovic neck-first into the second turnbuckle, Dijakovic performing a somersault senton from the top rope to a seated Lee on the outside, and a bevy of clotheslines that would make JBL cringe. (4/5)

Dakota Kai vs. Tegan Nox competed next in a Street Fight. Before the bell could even ring, Kai was on the attack, but Nox took control soon after. They didn't waste anytime getting to the weapons either, the crowd very happy to see Nox pull out a table within the first 2 minutes. Like the previous match, what really stuck out was the chemistry between these two as they went all-out trying to steal the show. Early on, Nox hit an insane german suplex on Kai into a trash can. Kai and Nox then traded more offense on the apron before taking the action back into the ring where Nox attempted to end Kai with a running kick on a chair. Kai escaped, though, and ended up delivering a kick of her own that sent the chair into Nox's face. Out of the ring, Kai duct-taped Nox to the bottom rope and then destroyed her with a series of big boots to the face. Like the Kabuki Warriors/Lynch & Charlotte match from TLC in December, this match was not brutal "for a women's match," it was brutal and violent and riveting, period. After hitting a Shining Wizard that looked like it could've ended the match, Nox opted to grab a table to deliver more punishment, putting the chair around Kai's neck. Nox went to the top rope to try to end Kai's career, but before she could come off the top, Raquel Gonzalez made her debut, sending Nox into the table with a double chokeslam! As the table didn't break, Nox looked like she might've straight up died. Kai made the cover and Gonzalez got back into the ring to raise her arm in victory. It was a somewhat perplexing debut as Kai played it like she had no idea who Gonzalez was or why she had interfered, but it has me intrigued about where this angle is going. I don't think this one will crack my Top 5 of the year, but I could see it landing somewhere in the Top 10 - especially as I become less and less enthralled with the matches we see from the main roster. (4/5)

Finn Balor vs. Johnny Gargano took place next. The genesis of this match was actually several months ago when Balor turned heel on the WWE Universe and attacked Gargano. Unfortunately, Gargano suffered a legit injury that kept these two from squaring off at the previous Takeover show (and ultimately led to Balor facing Matt Riddle instead, I believe). Despite being the heel, Balor got a sizable pop from the Portland audience. Balor and Gargano traded grappling maneuvers early, which was a nice way to differentiate this from the matches that came before it. There was a duel "Johnny Wrestling/Let's Go Finn" chant which is a bit disappointing as Balor has definitely tweaked his character to be more heelish and less likable, even adapting his entrance to be less showy. Another minor detail I enjoyed was Gargano's trunks and boots, the black-and-red palette a clear reference to Balor's Demon character (almost as if to say that Gargano has assumed Balor's mantle of being NXT's all-time greatest performer). The tightly-packed sequences got a little looser once the two made their way into the floor and Balor took over. Balor working at a deliberate half-speed is still a faster pace than the wrestling I grew up with, but its a noticeable change for him and I appreciate it. I also liked the attention to limbwork by both guys as Gargano sought to prepare Balor for the Gargano Escape as Balor worked to go after Johnny Wrestling's historically vulnerable knee by delivering a very painful-looking leg screw on the top rope and then a stomp-to-the-back-of-the-knee minutes later. Balor eventually applied a deathlock that Gargano fought out of by delivering some nasty strikes to Finn's face, the crowd once again erupting into dueling chants. After a flurry of offense, Gargano attempted a tope to the outside - pausing momentarily to shake out his leg (a nice attention to detail I feel like we rarely see out of guys like Adam Cole or Seth Rollins) - but Balor blocked it only to get rammed into the steps. Gargano followed it up with a somersault splash to the floor and a then a slingshot spear for 2. I wish he actually had some Ws with that move as it was impossible to bite on that nearfall despite the impact. Gargano attempted a powerslam, but after a series of reversals, got drilled to the mat for another nearfall that was never going to end the match (it also didn't help that Gargano looked like he was just waiting to kickout at 2 when he could've raised a shoulder at 1). Moments later, Gargano attempted a slingshot DDT, but Balor escaped - only to get lawn darted into the corner! That move should be a game-ender, but Balor quickly recovered and we got a series of kicks and counters resulting in another nearfall. Gargano and Balor started duking it out on the apron, only for Gargano to attempt another slingshot spear. Balor countered it and attempted a Coup De Gras across the top rope, but Gargano moved in the nick of the time and delivered the slingshot DDT for 2. Again, the execution and impact was there, but the match had become a formulaic string of bomb-throwing signature offense, each sequence foreshadowing (or telegraphing) the next big spot. Now, that's not to say there weren't some great spots - including Gargano hitting a double-dropkick on Balor into the guardrail - but even Gargano's decision to bring the announcer's table into the match was lifted entirely from Gargano's previous feuds with Ciampa and Cole, where things had gotten so personal that Gargano had to question his own ethical limits. Gargano wrestling 20-minute epics has become his shtick, a gimmick just as easy to get tired of as being a wrestling plumber or ex-convict. The live crowd clearly adored this match and I enjoyed the first third of this match quite a bit, with extra nods to Balor's subtle heel work and the execution throughout...but by the end of, this felt a like a brand new rerun. (3.5/5)

Bianca Belair challenged Rhea Rhipley for the NXT Women's Championship in the next match. I'm a bigger Belair fan than Rhipley fan, but I'm not blind to the fact that Rhipley is the more polished and popular worker and that this match was mostly about solidifying her relatively short reign. That being said, Belair was not without her fans and while I know they've often sided her with the heels, she is so naturally charismatic and good at selling that she has a much brighter future as a babyface than she does as a heel. While I thought Belair's match against Shayna Baszler told a better story (partially because Baszler is/was so over as a despicable heel that Belair being the underdog was bought wholesale by the audience), this was still an excellent showing for both women and the NXT women's division as a whole. Going back to 2016, the division has been built around huge, larger-than-life figures like Charlotte Flair, Asuka, and Shayna Baszler with definable, credible selling points to the audience. Rhipley and Belair didn't have built-in audiences to support their push or this match, but they knocked it out of the park anyway. There were some nasty spots - including Rhipley getting back-body-dropped out of the ring and looking like she might've broken both ankles on her landing - and some very hard hits, but they also didn't overdo it with nearfalls or put together too many needless, overtly choreographed sequences. This match felt like a competition and even some of the rockier moments came off as organic rather than botches. A very, very good match with a nice post-match moment from Charlotte Flair to build up to WrestleMania. (3.5/5)

The NXT Tag Team Championships were on the line next as Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly defended the straps against the Broserweights - Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne. Before the match, Riddle led the crowd in a little tongue twister. I've seen some call it stupid and others call it funny and I guess I'm in the middle. It wasn't Richard Pryor in 76', but on this show - which had not really had any humor up to this point or very many backstage segments - I thought it was a nice break from the seriousness of the action and the live crowd ate it up. As Riddle and Dunne had their fun, Fish and O'Reilly sprinted down the aisle and the two teams brawled for a little while before the match even started. From there, this was everything one would've expected - both good and bad. There were some great double-team maneuvers, some absolutely nasty kicks and stomps and knees to the head, and the crowd was insanely into it from beginning to end. On the flip side, there were also stretches that were so loaded with moves that nobody bothered to register or sell long enough for it to matter. At one point, Kyle O'Reilly took two consecutive fall-to-the-ropes-bounce-back-into-eating-another-strike spots, which came off as just too cartoonish for me. Still, an undeniably good match that those invested in NXT liked even more due to its "feel good" ending. Personally, I don't think Riddle and Dunne have the same underdog, fan favorite appeal as, say, Bayley did in 2015, but few ever have so I can see why this would be considered a "big moment" to an NXT die-hard even if I didn't get misty-eyed or anything. I'm also not sure if I might've liked this even more if it had been the opener and Lee/Dijakovic had been in this slot - the fact is, by this point in the show, we'd seen some really, really good wrestling and this one didn't offer anything all that different than what came before it. Not a "must see" match to me, but close. (3.5/5)

Main event time - Tommaso Ciampa challenging Adam Cole for the NXT Championship. I've been vocal about my distaste for Cole and I've always found Ciampa to be a much better heel than face so I was not super excited about this match but I must admit that I enjoyed it more than the overly dramatic Cole/Gargano series. The pace of this wasn't quite as non-stop as the previous bout, but I still feel like this was just too fast with too little long-term selling. I loved the sequences and spots where Cole targeted Ciampa's surgically-repaired neck and that theme absolutely connected with the crowd, who gasped audibly when Cole delivered a reverse wheelbarrow suplex on Ciampa into the edge of an announce table. Unfortunately, by the time Cole got around to targeting the neck with submissions and his finishing move - The Last Shot - that thread was all but forgotten and Ciampa looked no worse for wear than he had at any other point in the match. To me, this would've been a far more interesting match if Ciampa had wrestled most of it from so far underneath that things were 90-10, almost reminiscent of the Lesnar/Cena slaughter at SummerSlam 2015, when Cena was just absolutely decimated but at least got to kickout of a couple german suplexes. Here, Ciampa suffered the kind of damage that should've and could've literally paralyzed him...but still got to land all his big offense and, at one point, take out the entire Undisputed Era single-handed. Like I've said for every major Cole match of the past year, its impossible to just call this match "average" because, in terms of execution and precision and crowd response, there was nothing "average" here. Still, nothing here felt fresh or different or made me any more interested in the NXT title picture - which, at one point, featured a far more varied group of champions and challengers, including innovative, colorful high-flyers (Balor and Andrade), heavyweight badasses (Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens), and stiff strikers (Shinsuke Nakamura and Aleister Black). Cole, Ciampa, and Gargano are phenomenal talents - but their matches blur together even if that big blur is objectively action-packed and loaded with insane bumps. Speaking of Gargano, his heel turn was the worst part of an otherwise well-crafted show, just an absolute creative dead-end that has rightfully been criticized widely by fans online. The first time Gargano turned heel it yielded very little in terms of great matches or character work and I don't expect anything better from it a year or two later. (3/5)


I've written it countless times about the main roster - that the talent level is so high that it has basically become like the old wrestling sim Extreme Warfare: Revenge with the difficulty level set at "Easy." You can map out the names of every roster on any of the three rosters, throw two darts, and potentially get a 5-star match. Unfortunately, while the talent level is high, all three bands have suffered from stagnated "creative," a lack of fresh feuds and storylines, the errant belief that the "perfect show" is one where every match is an epic and every performer should be trying to "steal the show" at all times. This show benefited tremendously from featuring a handful of performers who haven't yet been overexposed - namely Keith Lee, Tegan Nox, and Dakota Kai - but the main event, Gargano/Balor, and even the NXT Tag Team Championship match felt like the product of a computer algorithm designed to randomly generate "great matches." Based on the crowd responses, it was clear that the live audience was on the edge of their seat for most every match, but watching it at home, I almost felt fatigued by the go-go-go style of nearly every match. With a Kwang Score of 3.58-out-of-5, this will still probably stand as the best WWE/NXT show of the year match-for-match. Again, the level of action and insane wrestling is very high. Still, I miss the variety and pacing of a show that ebbs-and-flows rather than one where one arguably gets "too much of a good thing." Or maybe I'm just getting old.

FINAL RATING - Watch It