Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

NXT Takeover Arrival


shoe

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 127
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Watched the show, but in an awkward fashion that made it hard to absorb it all. That said I really enjoyed the last two matches a ton, and liked the opener a lot to despite obvious flaws. Tag title match was a disaster, but an entertaining one. Bull v. Baron was better than I would have guessed and Balor v. Neville was solid for that type of match though it's not a type of match I'm every going to be terribly high on. Over all another really strong NXT special.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crowd wasn't as hot as previous NXT specials which hurt the show for me a bit

 

- Didn't think Neville/Balor was very good tbh. It just really didn't do anything for me. The cool thing with the paint gimmick was Devitt did different stuff every time.....if he's locked into the one look/entrance/manarisms....it's already getting old to me

 

- best match IMO (or at least what I enjoyed the most) was probably the 4 way women's match. I thought it did a good job putting over all 4 characters and letting all of them look good, and while I was hoping Bayley or Lynch would win....in the story of the match and of the NXT booking Sasha winning made sense. Loved the finish with the cradle from the crossface submission

 

- I liked Steen and Zayn a lot, but there was stuff about it I didn't like. I liked the finish but post-finish the docs treating him made it look like a joke (for example lifting his head at one point when he supposedly has a concussion/broken vertebra). Was one of those dudes Doc Ammon? Where's the backboard and neckbrace? As for the match itself....maybe I just had much higher expectations. It was good, but it wasn't blow away good like I expected.

 

- The tag with the Lucha Dragons and "The Mulkeys" as one of the announcers called them was a disjointed mess. It looked like Cara was favoring his left arm for a lot of it and Del Sol wasn't looking crisp at all. I actually like "The Mulkeys" and think they do really good tag team work....but this match was all over the place

 

- Corbin is green and boring as hell, and what is the point of a no DQ match where nothing really out of the ordinary happens? the crowd chanted for tables and Bull appeased them by looking under the apron and there weren't any. The first weapon introduced was a chair and then the match was over with a Corbin spinebuster. lame.

 

- Otami and Breeze wasn't very good. Otami ignored selling the knee for his kicks but then sold it again after kicking....so....whatever. Match didn't do anything for me or impress me with either of them

 

probably the worst of the NXT specials overall so far, at least IMO

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Balor is going to do really well when he gets called up. Everything we all want for Danielson, he'll get.

 

Do you really think Balor is anywhere near as good as Bryan? Or has ever been at any point in his career? Do you think he's ever going to sniff winning the title in the main event of a Wrestlemania?

 

I like the guy well enough, but he's just not that outstanding of a performer to me

 

I am interested to see once he gets called up eventually how he looks against the bigger guys on the roster and how he adapts to work against them on a regular basis. Not in Bryan's league.....so that will be interesting. Same with Pac.

 

Zayn will be fine most likely

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Balor/Neville was just a very indie match with a Randy Orton tribute act inserted at the beginning, and neither of those are something I'm into. Good spots and a hot finish but a total lack of drama unless you're really moved by endless nearfalls.

 

Women's match had a good layout and good spots, but many of the women lack in-ring poise and it's really distracting to me. The way they all hit the ropes so light (Lynch excepted), their offense that often doesn't look particularly hurty... I dunno, I want to like them more than I do.

 

Thought Owens/Zayn was a MOTYC. There were weaknesses, most significantly I felt the build to Zayn's comebacks was a little lacking, but Owens was vicious as hell and Zayn is possibly the best bumper and seller in the world right now. I can't really see the argument that the crowd hurt it when there were shots of people literally CRYING.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Only saw the main. I have a hard time letting go when watching a concussion element to a match in 2015. It was very well executed though. The crowd hurt the match. It's one thing to boo a face, but cheering a heel who was so thoroughly presented as a heel against a face who was there because he was honestly wrong chafed. Owens so energetically taking Zayn's offense took me out of it a little bit too. I have to remember that Zayn isn't that small but given Owens size, there was something offputting about it. Part of that was the sort of bumps Zayn was taking early on and I thought they looked great and were actually appropriate, but maybe they set a physical framework to the match that made it harder for me to buy the way Zayn was throwing around Owens later.

 

I liked it though, I did, but some things took me out of it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Balor is going to do really well when he gets called up. Everything we all want for Danielson, he'll get.

 

Do you really think Balor is anywhere near as good as Bryan? Or has ever been at any point in his career? Do you think he's ever going to sniff winning the title in the main event of a Wrestlemania?

 

I like the guy well enough, but he's just not that outstanding of a performer to me

 

I am interested to see once he gets called up eventually how he looks against the bigger guys on the roster and how he adapts to work against them on a regular basis. Not in Bryan's league.....so that will be interesting. Same with Pac.

 

Zayn will be fine most likely

You don't have to be in Bryan's league to get a better shake than he's gotten. Balor ticks a lot of the same boxes though, plus adds in a muscular look and the type of personality they seem to enjoy.

 

Time will tell how he filters out, but if you told me he main events Wrestlemania 34, I wouldn't be shocked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

It was funny seeing these "smart" Full Sail geeks thinking it was real. That's how good Sami Zayn is.

We should all hope to be tricked into believing as much as possible.
Absolutely. It's meant as a compliment.

 

I totally agree, and that was what I meant by saying the match beat the smark out of the crowd. That's what was so incredible about the match. I mean we got dualing chants for a bit, but the crowd got so invested in the angle and how they were working the match a lot of the crowd suspened disbelief. Both guys did their jobs to a tee.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My thoughts:

 

- To whoever asked if they were the only one who liked Bull Dempsey, I like him a lot too. I posted this elsewhere about Bull Dempsey and Baron Corbin: Baron Corbin does nothing for me. He's a "look" and that's it - and not even an intimidating one at that IMO. It also doesn't help that some jokester obviously lifted the name from indy wrestler Darin Corbin, which I doubt is just a coincidence. Very stupid and disrespectful "rib," if that's what it is. Bull Dempsey is so much better and more interesting, if you ask me. Unfortunately, his "look" kind of sucks. Seriously, with his long hair and women's bathing suit tights, he looks like a male version of Rosie O'Donnell. Come on, think about it... You all see it now too. :) But that's what NXT is for - so these kids can iron out the wrinkles. Corbin can and hopefully will improve, and Bull will hopefully tweak his lousy gear. Cool finish in tonight's match though - came out of nowhere - but I wish the record wasn't Bull: 0, Baron: 3.

 

- The women's match was the best of the night. Yeah, I said it, and I mean it without any irony. Everyone worked their asses off. Even Becky Lynch impressed the hell out of me tonight, and she's never made an impression on me until now. I also dug the aftermath with both Charlotte and Sasha Banks crying and then grudgingly snapping back into character. The tears worked better for them than Kevin Owens after his match. :P

 

- Hideo Itami and Tyler Breeze had a much better match 2-3 weeks ago, but this was still okay for what it was. IMO, Itami didn't get enough offense and really needs a heel turn. Tyler Breeze is the sleeper talent of NXT. He has it all - in-ring skills, looks, charisma, personality, flashy costumes, a fully developed character...everything.

 

- Finn Balor's entrance seemed too long and overwrought to me this time. It was cool as hell the first time, but it felt like it took forever tonight. The match itself was fun enough, but I don't really love that spotty, indy, high flying for the sake of it style.

 

- The NXT fans are too "smart" for their own good. Lots of irritating indy-type "this is awesome" chants, dueling name chants, etc. It's annoying and takes away from the show for me. But I guess that's inevitable with NXT presenting itself as an indy alternative.

 

- The main event was good, but I have to admit I'm not usually a fan of such one-sided matches. Maybe I just had unreasonably high expectations? It's no exaggeration that I've been looking forward to this match more than anything we'll likely see at WrestleMania. Still, Owens and Zayn are awesome. They told a great story. I don't know whether I think the finish was cool as hell or frustrating to me as a fan. Then again, a knockout ending is something we maybe should've seen coming. Hey, the guy has been wearing a "KO" shirt for the past two months. ;) The crowd reactions to the finish were flat-out amazing though. It felt like those people were watching the Undertaker lose his streak all over again.

 

I can nitpick, yeah - and I did - but NXT is always guaranteed to be a boatload of fun no matter what. That's what's so great about it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really wish the NXT fans would boo Kevin Owens. He's a great heel who acts like a heel, but they spend so much time chanting for him that they barely pop when Zayn makes his comebacks.

 

I thought the women's 4-way was equal or better than the main event, but that doesn't really surprise me. I thought Sasha/Charlotte form the last Takeover was the best NXT match of 2014...except maaaybe Charlotte/Natalya.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How was the Bull match a stinker? The stip wasn't really used (I suspect this was the result of a production error for lack of a better term), but as a match I thought it was actually solid. You could argue Corbin selling isn't the best use of him, but he's perfectly fine at it. I actually thought both guys came out of that looking better than they did going in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How was the Bull match a stinker? The stip wasn't really used (I suspect this was the result of a production error for lack of a better term), but as a match I thought it was actually solid. You could argue Corbin selling isn't the best use of him, but he's perfectly fine at it. I actually thought both guys came out of that looking better than they did going in.

 

I wouldn't call it a stinker but I would have liked to see things spiral out of control. NXT could really use some wild brawls for some variety. Is there some kind of decree from higher-up about not using weapons? I found the chair stuff a little odd.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...