So we have the go-home for TakeOver New York, ostensibly the biggest TakeOver of the year (since everything's the biggest when it's Wrestlemania weekend), and this should feel huge, but with the lack of the Tommaso Ciampa/Johnny Gargano match that it's all been building towards, this seems like it's going to lack that punch that the last few Mania-weekend TakeOvers have had. I know that I keep harping on that point, but it cannot be understated how massive of a hole that leaves in NXT overall, and it's especially felt with TakeOver New York. But they've done their best to stack the card as big as possible, so let's explore what happened this week in order to build toward their biggest show of the year.
First up was War Raiders, who have been so ridiculously protected that, to my memory, haven't competed in a match since TakeOver Phoenix (which I was indeed at), and I guess to make up for lost time, they had an interesting night. They came out to the ring where two unnamed local talents were already waiting and the crowd chanted, "Let's go, jobbers!" which I thought was pretty damn funny, and the two vikings made short work of them, getting a quick pin. Then Rowe and Hanson grabbed mics, and told their upcoming NXT Tag contenders Aleister Black and Ricochet (known here as Kicks and Flips) that they have a message for them and that they didn't have to listen, but just watch and asked to bring out the next team, which was Cesar Bononi and Adrian Jaoude. They laid waste to a more seasoned team just as easily, and send their message that they were ready to take on all comers for their tag belts. I thought this whole segment was pretty effective as a competitive promo that wasted few words and let deeds tell the story. On a more personal note, I also thought it was funny to see the tag champs compete for the first time in three months and beat two teams in one night.
We were then treated to some video packages; the first being one hyping up the NXT UK title match that's happening at TakeOver NY between the nearly two-year run of champ Pete Dunne and WALTER. This match between The Bruiserweight and The Ring General should be a lot of fun to watch. The second was a really quite moving package for the Performance Center. It was just really sweet and funny and touching. It melted my cold mark heart.
Then there was an outside-the-PC interview with Candace LeRae (yay!) about how she felt about Johnny's upcoming title match, where she basically said she's standing by her man but she's looking to make her own mark on getting into the NXT Women's title picture, and then she's confronted by Vanessa Borne and Aliyah, who spout the same "mean girl" heel shit that I can't stand on the main roster by referring to how she can now join her husband as being a failure, and Candace simply replies to them that they are certainly the experts at failure since they're so used to it (lay it down, girl!), and that she's going to challenge Aliyah to a match and how Candace is going to knock her on her "bougie ass" and I fist-pumped. I love seeing Candace so much and that she's going to be on the pre-show for TakeOver beating the fuck out of Aliyah is really cool. I'm hoping we're going to see a lot more of her in the coming months.
Then we got a match that no one asked for, and that's Oney Lorcan vs Jaxson Ryker. I don't know if I've made this observation before, but Oney has definitely not been missing leg day, because those things were chicken legs relatively recently and now they're fucking tree trunks. I'm not saying that no one asked for an Oney match, because I love me some Star Destroyer, but I could literally go the rest of my life and never see any of the Forgotten Sons in a WWE ring again. I don't know if they're looking to get a new Lars Sullivan up and running as far as having another monster in NXT, but I don't think Ryker is that guy. Yeah, he's big and scary, but he's not fun in the way that Lars was fun to watch. Anyway, Oney tried to build some momentum but Ryker hit a power bomb on him to get the pin. I just don't care one single solitary shit about Forgotten Sons and the sooner we move them to the heel enhancement role, the happier I'll be.
Then came another pair of video packages hyping the other big title matches; the first being the NXT title match between Johnny and Adam Cole (BAY BAY), and goddamn, this package was really solid. Johnny selling himself as being full babyface Johnny Wrestling again makes me happy, and Cole being the overconfident heel is pretty much perfect. It's a good thing that MetLife Stadium is nowhere near the Barclays Center, because this Two Out of Three Falls match is going to burn the place down. The next package was hyping Matt Riddle vs Velveteen Dream for the North American title, and while this doesn't have the same level of excitement for me, I'm still really stoked to see what they do in this match because it's going to be a lot of fun.
Then we got another outside-the-PC interview with Keith Lee after taking a look back at the match he had against Dominik Dijakovic 5 episodes ago that we were all certain was going to be the grudge match of TakeOver NY, but since Lee got hurt, that had to be put on hold. But he announced that the rematch got bumped from the TakeOver card (clever kayfabing of Lee's injury) would take place in two weeks. So that's good stuff. I'm dying to see who goes over, unless this is the start of a multi-match rivalry, which I'm good with too.
Then we had our main event between Kairi Sane vs Bianca Belair. I know that I've said a lot about Belair's character as far as her promo and mic work, but she is absolutely legit in the ring. Both her and Kairi looked great in this contest, and I wanted this match to not get schmozzed up. But unfortunately the outcome of this match was never in any doubt, because if you thought for a hot minute that Shayna Baszler and The Horsewomen weren't going to come in and cause a No Contest, you clearly have not been paying attention. Although there was the form of some vague comeuppance for Shayna as Io Shirai came out to try to fight off the heels on her own, but was relatively quickly joined by the entire NXT Women's roster to break up the fight. Nearly all of the competitors in the Fatal 4-Way for the NXT Women's title got a spot but it was Io who ended up standing tall in the ring. I think this could be a sleeper hit of a match, so we'll see tomorrow!
So that's it for this episode! Later today, you'll be getting my Hopes and Predictions for TakeOver NY, and over this massive weekend, there will be more content coming regarding TakeOver and, of course, Wrestlemania, and as always next week, I'll have my recaps of Raw and Smackdown as well as a look at the pre-show matches for TakeOver that'll be broadcast on NXT.
We've got lots and lots of wrestling, kids, so I'll be seeing you soon!
First up was War Raiders, who have been so ridiculously protected that, to my memory, haven't competed in a match since TakeOver Phoenix (which I was indeed at), and I guess to make up for lost time, they had an interesting night. They came out to the ring where two unnamed local talents were already waiting and the crowd chanted, "Let's go, jobbers!" which I thought was pretty damn funny, and the two vikings made short work of them, getting a quick pin. Then Rowe and Hanson grabbed mics, and told their upcoming NXT Tag contenders Aleister Black and Ricochet (known here as Kicks and Flips) that they have a message for them and that they didn't have to listen, but just watch and asked to bring out the next team, which was Cesar Bononi and Adrian Jaoude. They laid waste to a more seasoned team just as easily, and send their message that they were ready to take on all comers for their tag belts. I thought this whole segment was pretty effective as a competitive promo that wasted few words and let deeds tell the story. On a more personal note, I also thought it was funny to see the tag champs compete for the first time in three months and beat two teams in one night.
We were then treated to some video packages; the first being one hyping up the NXT UK title match that's happening at TakeOver NY between the nearly two-year run of champ Pete Dunne and WALTER. This match between The Bruiserweight and The Ring General should be a lot of fun to watch. The second was a really quite moving package for the Performance Center. It was just really sweet and funny and touching. It melted my cold mark heart.
Then there was an outside-the-PC interview with Candace LeRae (yay!) about how she felt about Johnny's upcoming title match, where she basically said she's standing by her man but she's looking to make her own mark on getting into the NXT Women's title picture, and then she's confronted by Vanessa Borne and Aliyah, who spout the same "mean girl" heel shit that I can't stand on the main roster by referring to how she can now join her husband as being a failure, and Candace simply replies to them that they are certainly the experts at failure since they're so used to it (lay it down, girl!), and that she's going to challenge Aliyah to a match and how Candace is going to knock her on her "bougie ass" and I fist-pumped. I love seeing Candace so much and that she's going to be on the pre-show for TakeOver beating the fuck out of Aliyah is really cool. I'm hoping we're going to see a lot more of her in the coming months.
Then we got a match that no one asked for, and that's Oney Lorcan vs Jaxson Ryker. I don't know if I've made this observation before, but Oney has definitely not been missing leg day, because those things were chicken legs relatively recently and now they're fucking tree trunks. I'm not saying that no one asked for an Oney match, because I love me some Star Destroyer, but I could literally go the rest of my life and never see any of the Forgotten Sons in a WWE ring again. I don't know if they're looking to get a new Lars Sullivan up and running as far as having another monster in NXT, but I don't think Ryker is that guy. Yeah, he's big and scary, but he's not fun in the way that Lars was fun to watch. Anyway, Oney tried to build some momentum but Ryker hit a power bomb on him to get the pin. I just don't care one single solitary shit about Forgotten Sons and the sooner we move them to the heel enhancement role, the happier I'll be.
Then came another pair of video packages hyping the other big title matches; the first being the NXT title match between Johnny and Adam Cole (BAY BAY), and goddamn, this package was really solid. Johnny selling himself as being full babyface Johnny Wrestling again makes me happy, and Cole being the overconfident heel is pretty much perfect. It's a good thing that MetLife Stadium is nowhere near the Barclays Center, because this Two Out of Three Falls match is going to burn the place down. The next package was hyping Matt Riddle vs Velveteen Dream for the North American title, and while this doesn't have the same level of excitement for me, I'm still really stoked to see what they do in this match because it's going to be a lot of fun.
Then we got another outside-the-PC interview with Keith Lee after taking a look back at the match he had against Dominik Dijakovic 5 episodes ago that we were all certain was going to be the grudge match of TakeOver NY, but since Lee got hurt, that had to be put on hold. But he announced that the rematch got bumped from the TakeOver card (clever kayfabing of Lee's injury) would take place in two weeks. So that's good stuff. I'm dying to see who goes over, unless this is the start of a multi-match rivalry, which I'm good with too.
Then we had our main event between Kairi Sane vs Bianca Belair. I know that I've said a lot about Belair's character as far as her promo and mic work, but she is absolutely legit in the ring. Both her and Kairi looked great in this contest, and I wanted this match to not get schmozzed up. But unfortunately the outcome of this match was never in any doubt, because if you thought for a hot minute that Shayna Baszler and The Horsewomen weren't going to come in and cause a No Contest, you clearly have not been paying attention. Although there was the form of some vague comeuppance for Shayna as Io Shirai came out to try to fight off the heels on her own, but was relatively quickly joined by the entire NXT Women's roster to break up the fight. Nearly all of the competitors in the Fatal 4-Way for the NXT Women's title got a spot but it was Io who ended up standing tall in the ring. I think this could be a sleeper hit of a match, so we'll see tomorrow!
So that's it for this episode! Later today, you'll be getting my Hopes and Predictions for TakeOver NY, and over this massive weekend, there will be more content coming regarding TakeOver and, of course, Wrestlemania, and as always next week, I'll have my recaps of Raw and Smackdown as well as a look at the pre-show matches for TakeOver that'll be broadcast on NXT.
We've got lots and lots of wrestling, kids, so I'll be seeing you soon!
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