NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III

[Mad Dog]

I like Mauro because he feels like he has a soul. I agree, he has his problems but every announcer does. But he seems like he cares about what he's watching where no one else really does. And as said before, he sounds different. He doesn't use that weird WWE vocabulary that normal people wouldn't say. I hear Mauro's voice and my reaction is that at worst it will be an inoffensive night on commentary.

[KawadaSmile]

Low point of the night has got to be Mauro on commentary.

 

The matches were all at least good. The weakest one was Itami/Black, as it had no business featuring chinlocks and whatnot, should've been a sprint. Still, good. Black is incredible.

 

Also my problem with ReDragon appearing is: they are heels (they have to be). AOP are monster heels, and Sanity are heels too I guess. Where are the face teams? TM61 is not around, DIY is no more and Heavy Machinery aren't as featured as they should be. Sanity turning would be very... meh.

[Mrzfn]

I like Mauro. The low point for me was the idea of a McIntyre/Cole title match coming up. That sounds pretty potentially dire to me.

[C.S.]

Fair enough if you "hate, hate, hate" Mauro, but...

 

All JBL ever tried to do was help Mauro be a better announcer

 

How do you know this? Were you there? No.

 

With that said, I agree people were quick to jump to conclusions about JBL - but what you posted in the quote above is also jumping to a massive conclusion.

[KawadaSmile]

I'm pretty sure Thread Killer was referring to JBL's rant on Bring it to the Table, which I would say was indeed constructive.

[sek69]

I was ok with Mauro until Corey came out and ran circles around everyone. He's so good at the style of announcing WWE wants their guys to do and he doesn't sound like a tryhard when he does it. Poor JR sounded like they just did an audio dump of a mid 2000s WWE video game for his announcing, and Mauro came off like he had someone holding a gun to his head to sound as enthusiastic as possible.

[The Thread Killer]

Fair enough if you "hate, hate, hate" Mauro, but...

 

All JBL ever tried to do was help Mauro be a better announcer

 

How do you know this? Were you there? No.

 

With that said, I agree people were quick to jump to conclusions about JBL - but what you posted in the quote above is also jumping to a massive conclusion.

 

NO...you couldn't be more wrong. I clearly said I "hate hate hate hate hate" Mauro Ranallo, not just "hate hate hate."

 

You totally missed two whole "hates." Looking at your quote makes it seem like I hate him 2/5 less than I actually do.

 

I'm pretty sure Thread Killer was referring to JBL's rant on Bring it to the Table, which I would say was indeed constructive.

 

Actually, I was just being facetious. I still think JBL is a massive douche-nozzle. I couldn't care less if they fired him for being a bullying jackass.

 

But it doesn't change the fact that I can't stand Mauro Ranallo.

 

After all this time, I should know better than to try and express sarcasm in written form, it rarely works. Sorry.

[KawadaSmile]

Actually, I was just being facetious. I still think JBL is a massive douche-nozzle. I couldn't care less if they fired him for being a bullying jackass.

 

But it doesn't change the fact that I can't stand Mauro Ranallo.

 

After all this time, I should know better than to try and express sarcasm in written form, it rarely works. Sorry.

 

JBL is absolutely an asshole, but that whole rant - which is the most we got in terms of "bullying" - was much like your previous comment about JBL, for shits and giggles (not that the rant doesn't hold water)

 

Don't worry bubba, sarcasm is welcome. Sometimes the fault is ours, the readers', and not the writer's.

[C.S.]

NO...you couldn't be more wrong. I clearly said I "hate hate hate hate hate" Mauro Ranallo, not just "hate hate hate."

 

You totally missed two whole "hates." Looking at your quote makes it seem like I hate him 2/5 less than I actually do.

 

[The Thread Killer]

I feel a bit guilty, because I have derailed this thread with my (totally justified and not even one little bit overly dramatic) hatred of Mauro Ranallo. Having said that, I do not feel I have lived up to my name and killed this thread yet, but it is on life support. I do feel bad, so I am going to try and get the thread back on topic by discussing the actual show, which was outstanding and deserves attention.

NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III

Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Johnny Gargano

 

Almas has definitely floundered since his NXT debut, but I think he has really found his role as a heel and the addition of Zelina Vega as his manager has helped even more. I'm not going to lie, at first I didn't "get" the dynamic between Vega and Almas, I guess I was expecting her to be more of a traditional valet and just support Almas blindly, put him over during promos, and interfere on his behalf. The whole deal with her yelling at him and almost bossing him around a bit seemed strange to me at first, but now I really like it. I have no beef with changes to old traditional roles like that, and the bottom line is that the dynamic works. I can honestly say that I can see them on the main roster and making it to the midcard level no problem. (A hell of a lot better than Mike Bennett and Maria.)

 

NXT and the CWC was my first exposure to Johnny Gargano. I saw a bit of him in DGUSA, but not enough to leave a lasting opinion. Now I am a huge fan. His match with Ciampa during the CWC was awesome, and I loved their team a bunch. I felt so bad that their breakup got derailed by Ciampa's injury and I was worried what would happen with Gargano while he waited for the inevitable Ciampa return and subsequent feud. Gargano looked great in this match. He is in amazing shape, and that match had pretty much everything you could ever ask for in a hot opener. (Contrast it with Cena/Corbin the next night. Ugh.)

 

I freely admit, I thought Gargano would go over here rather easily. It didn't happen and I'm glad. Almas really showed me something, and certainly Gargano didn't lose any face to me in losing that match. Going on from here, I actually wouldn't mind seeing Gargano get called up to the Cruiserweight Division to challenge Neville. When Ciampa comes back there is no reason he can't attack Gargano on 205 Live. That division and show desperately need some fresh blood and exciting matches. Anyhow, fact is that both guys really showed me something here, I have nothing bad to say about this match.

 

Tag Team Championship Match: Sanity vs. The Authors of Pain

 

A lot of people online have been down on Sanity. I never got that. Firstly, not every stable or talent is going to be a Main Event level act. There has to be some guys who fill important roles on the midcard, and that was always how I saw Wolfe, Dain (who I still wish would cover himself up a bit) and Young. I equated them to Raven's Flock and always hoped they would get called up to the main roster to act as the new Wyatt Family, a role I think they'd be great at. No, they're never going to Main Event Wrestlemania, but so what. They have a great look, they're quirky and weird and they can work okay.

 

I don't really care for the Authors of Pain all that much. They're just okay in the ring, but I think they're still green as grass and even dangerous at times. Even worse, watching them I realized something sad about my childhood. I used to love Paul Ellering and the Road Warriors. When Ellering debuted as the manager of the AoP, I was happy to see him, but then sad to see that his promos were kind of cheesy melodramatic shouting. I really felt that Ellering had kind of slipped in his older age. Then I watched some old LOD stuff on the Network, and discovered to my sadness that I was looking back at Ellering with rose-colored glasses. What passed as a great promo back then for a manager doesn't really work in 2017. Ellering was always really goofy and shouty. But AoP need a mouthpiece since they don't speak English - so why not the guy who managed one of the most badass teams in history, I guess?

 

I do think AoP have improved by leaps and bounds since their debut. I am guessing that since the Revival are down with injury again, and the AoP dropped the titles here, that they might be main roster bound, probably to work with the Hardys. If so, that could be good, but it could also suck. I don't think AoP will look as big and bad on the main roster as they did in NXT. I think they will continue to improve and will turn out to be carryable, given time, patience and good quality of opponents.

 

Having said all that, I really, really enjoyed this match. I think this was way better than it had any right to be. I think whoever put this match together deserves a ton of credit for recognizing the limitations of the participants, knowing their strengths and weaknesses, and structuring a really fun match around that. I was not all that disappointed to see Eric Young in this match, with Sanity winning the titles I assume the fabled Freebird Rule is going to be in effect. Or maybe Dain is getting called up as rumored, and maybe Sawyer Fulton will be back now that he is over his injury. Either way, what a fun ECW lite style match.

 

I was really happy to see Bobby Fish and Kyle O`Reilly show up after the match. (Looks like they might be getting a new team name, since the announcers seemed to go out of their way NOT to call them ReDragon.) I always liked those guys in ROH and NJPW, and I can't wait to see them work WWE style Tag Team matches, which I enjoy so much more than the ROH/NJPW style of Tag Match.

 

It was also great to hear Corey Graves, too. He is so damn good.

 

Aleister Black vs. Hideo Itami

 

I think it is pretty much universally felt that Itami has been a disappointment since his arrival in NXT. He has been injured a bunch of times, and there is something else. Please don't judge me for saying this, as I am not condoning the usage of performance enhancing drugs, BUT...Itami really doesn't look as good when he is not taking steroids. If you go back and watch KENTA in his prime in NOAH, it's pretty damn clear that he's a hell of a lot bigger. I think it is better for Itami's health and general wellbeing that he is NOT juicing now, but he is one of the more dramatic examples I can think of where a guy pretty clearly has gone off the gas and it becomes very noticeable. Aside from his NXT Title Match with Roode a couple of months ago, I am hard pressed to remember a good Itami match in NXT. Maybe the mini-angle he worked with Chris Hero.

 

I freaking love Aleister Black. He is one of my favorite things about Pro Wrestling right now. He has such a unique and eye-catching look, and his wrestling style is not just the bland style that some WWE wrestlers can be accused of working. I am nervous about his promos, and I fear that the creative team on the main roster won't get him or know how to use him...I worry he'll end up being Bray Wyatt 2.0. But for now, I am really enjoying his rise.

 

For the third time in a row, this match really exceeded my expectations. I was hoping Black would bring his "A" game, and he did. But Itami really showed me something and rose to the challenge. This match was everything I was hoping that it could be. I hope both guys can build off this and continue to impress.

 

And I didn't mind JR as the guest commentator one little bit.

 

Women's Championship Match: Asuka vs. Ember Moon

 

To be honest, I am not as enamored with the NXT Women's Division or with Women's Wrestling in general as most people here at PWO. I don't hate it, but I have a really hard time getting emotionally invested in it, as well. But...you'd have to be blind not to see that Asuka is head and shoulders above the entire NXT Women's division, and probably 99% of the main roster too, while we're at it. I don't mind Ember Moon. She has a fantastic look, but I find her promos kind of weak. On one hand, eventually they're going to have to take the title off Asuka at some point. On the other hand, I don't think Ember Moon is believable enough to do it. On the other hand (I'm using three hands for this argument) who really is good enough to beat Asuka? It's going to have to be some sort of screwjob or something, with outside interference in order to be believable.

 

NXT Championship Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Roode

 

I am going to leave myself open to criticism here, but I don't get the Bobby Roode hate. I don't think he'll ever be World Champion on the main roster, but I think he's definitely capable of being an "upper midcarder." To me, I can see him on the same level as The Miz, for example. I think that's an obtainable goal for him. His ring work is solid if not flashy, his promos are good if not great, and he has a good look. And yes...that entrance and vainglorious attitude really cracks me up and makes him a throwback to the cocky heels I loved growing up.

 

Damn, is Drew McIntyre good. This guy literally has it all. He's big, he can wrestle, he can move, he has a great look, good promos...I look forward to his reign in NXT and seeing what kind of challengers they have lined up for him. As far as this match I think McIntyre is exactly the kind of guy Roode needs to be in there with, somebody who can work as well or better than he. I wouldn't say this match was great or excellent, but it was just solid back and forth action. It was engaging and kept my interest. There was nothing during this match that made me think either of these guys didn't deserve to be in this Main Event. Was it a MOTYC? Nope, but it was better than about 95% of the crap that was to follow the next night at Summerslam.

 

Final Thoughts

 

Poor Percy Watson. I don't hate the guy, but he really seems to be in over his head. I keep forgetting he is there until Ranallo or Nigel throw to him to get his response, to which he comes back with a bland or obvious observation - or he gets the wrestler's name or move wrong.

 

Speaking of which, I am happy to eat a big plate of crow about Nigel McGuinness. I didn't like him at all in ROH. I found him to be nasal sounding, whiny and uninteresting. Not only is he really damn good as a color guy in NXT (and on the UK shows) but he is getting better all the time, and his personality is starting to come out.

 

I am obviously in the minority here, but I didn't like that band. I never like live bands at wrestling shows, except for Motorhead at Wrestlemania, because Lemmy rules all your faces and Motorhead kicks all the ass in the history of history. But I didn't really like Code Orange or whatever they were called. I didn't much see the point of them being there, but it was a small thing and not worth quibbling about. And obviously some of you enjoyed it, so there is clearly some merit there. Just not my particular preference.

 

I never really liked Adam Cole in ROH. I didn't get him, much as I suspect some of you don't get the appeal of Bobby Roode. He's just okay, but I didn't see him as the franchise or anything. But I am not upset he is in NXT, I really want to see what they can do with him and what he can do for them. I am prepared to be open minded about this and see how he does. Maybe he just needs to be tweaked a bit. (I don't mean he needs to take crystal meth, either. Although that would make for an interesting character.) And I DO love stables, so Cole, Fish and O'Reilly as a unit are exciting to me. I wish there were more factions and stables on the main roster, so I'll enjoy them where I can get them.

 

The crowd was awesome. I love the atmosphere at NXT shows.

 

The theme to this show for me was "exceeded expectations." Almas was way better in the opener than I thought he would be, and the match rocked as a result. The Tag Title match seriously surprised me with how fun it was. Itami really rose to the challenge as well, and made his match better than I thought it would be. All these guys working so hard combined to make this show so much better than I thought it would be...and I thought it would be good to very good. Instead we got an excellent show, with no bad matches and a real fun atmosphere.

 

To me, this show was the absolute antithesis of the show the next night. Great matches, good booking and a damn good time. Thank God for NXT.

[Mad Dog]

I saw Asuka and Ember Moon a second time because my wife wanted to see it. Even better on second viewing. I would entertain arguments that it was better than the Summerslam main event. What was great about this match and angle is that it was all about the fact that Asuka is better than Ember. It's about Ember's journey and how she threw her heart and soul into finally beating Asuka and just not being good enough. I thought it was a really memorable match.

[C.S.]

A great post, Thread. I agree with you that Itami has been an absolute disaster in NXT. Whatever he had that was special as KENTA is now gone, assuming it was ever there in the first place (I've never seen a KENTA match, admittedly). I was into his mini-feud with Kassius Ohno though (really wish they had dropped that stupid name into a ditch when Hero came back). I think Ohno vs. Itami should've been at TakeOver instead. BTW, I never knew Itami was on the juice, but the "steroidal bitch tits" he was sporting at TakeOver make a whole lot more sense now.

[The Thread Killer]

A great post, Thread. I agree with you that Itami has been an absolute disaster in NXT. Whatever he had that was special as KENTA is now gone, assuming it was ever there in the first place (I've never seen a KENTA match, admittedly). I was into his mini-feud with Kassius Ohno though (really wish they had dropped that stupid name into a ditch when Hero came back). I think Ohno vs. Itami should've been at TakeOver instead. BTW, I never knew Itami was on the juice, but the "steroidal bitch tits" he was sporting at TakeOver make a whole lot more sense now.

 

I really have mixed feelings on KENTA.

 

If you ever get bored and are so inclined to check it out, I'd say KENTA's prime was probably between 2006-2009. He had a match in 2007 in ROH against Bryan Danielson (at Driven, I think it was) that I remembered loving at the time, but to be fair I have not seen it since and I might be remembering it as better than it was. Even as far back as his formative years, I remember in 2004, on the same NOAH show when Kobashi defended against Takayama, the co-Main Event was Misawa and Ogawa (who were the GHC Tag Team Champs) defending against KENTA and Marufuji, (who were the Jr. Tag Team Champs.) I remember that match being really good and a lot of fun too. There was a spot where KENTA imitated Kawada and repeatedly kicked Misawa in the face, the crowd went nuts and needless to say, Misawa was not impressed, and let KENTA know it. When Misawa finally came to America and wrestled in ROH, he defended the GHC title against KENTA. It's an average at best match, it was more special to see Misawa in front of an American audience that clearly worshiped him (as well they should have). But that is good indicator of what KENTA wrestled like in his prime, and ROH has it available free on YouTube.

 

The biggest knocks against KENTA were that his selling was kind of spotty, and that he wrestled a very specific style which focused on a lot of repeated high impact moves and false finishes, not so much mat based stuff or real old school psychology. There are those who said (and I don't necessarily disagree) that KENTA had a hard time when he was pushed out of his "big match" formula. Basically, he had to wrestle other guys who wrestled the same style, otherwise he couldn't produce a good match. That's probably why he had a successful run in ROH, he sort of set the template that Davey Richards and company kind of ran into the ground later on. ROH at that time was basically an AJPW/NOAH cover band, if you ask me. And I don't mean that was always a bad thing.

 

Anyhow, in his day KENTA was definitely a "your mileage may very" type of guy.

 

When he showed up in NXT I was really surprised. I know he's only 36, but he wrestled in AJPW and NOAH for almost 15 years. I am guessing his body took about 30 years worth of punishment in that time (if not more) from that fabled "King's Road" style. Bottom line is, by 2014 I hate to say it, but he seemed way past his "best before" date. I think that might be why he has had so many injuries as well. I can't imagine you can subject your body to the type of punishment he put his through for so long without ending up a shell of yourself and injury prone.

 

I really don't want to sound like I am advocating steroid usage, because I'm not. But to me, as Hideo Itami he has seemed smaller, slower, beat up,less fiery and not the same guy he once was. This Takeover show was the first time I had seen flashes of what KENTA once was. Having said that, I'm not sure I want to see him return to that form. I don't know if he could even do it, I don't think it fits in with the "WWE style" and it would probably kill him if he did it. It's sad to see Hideo Itami as kind of a shell of KENTA, but I really think that is the end result of the kind of style he wrestled for so long.

 

I really loved that match with he and Black. But I don't think Itami is capable of repeating performances at that level, sadly.

[Dwide Schrude]

 

 

 

 

I like Mauro and Nigel as a team.

I hate that Mauro gives away every nearfall like the kick-out of the Eclipse by Asuka by shouting stuff like "we have a new champion" before or during the pinfall attempt. Though that is less his fault and more the general way how WWE announcing is done.

Last night made me hate Mauro Ranallo more than I already hated him.

 

I hate his stupid booming deep voice and I hate his stupid shouty announcing style.

 

I hate him using a bunch of Hip Hop references on the show last night, like "if you don't know, now you know" or talking about Tupac. Hey Mauro, you're a pudgy middle aged white guy with a bad haircut, not an MTV VJ from the 90's. Stop trying to be cool.

 

I hate him for trying to shoehorn stupid rhyming schemes into his commentary, seeing how many words in a row he can use that start with the same letter, pretending he's goddamn Howard Cosell. Stop trying to get yourself over and just call the fucking match.

 

Like Robert says, I hate the way he gives away nearfalls by hysterically proclaiming the match is over when we all know it isn't. Stop trying imitate Vince McMahon when he did play-by-play.

 

I hate him trying to beat everybody over the head with how much he knows about Pro Wrestling, by trying to cram in as many references to other organizations and other wrestlers from the past, with his stupid "SHADES OF..." calls. Stop trying to impress the voters for the Observer awards.

 

I hate him so much now, I'm starting to feel sympathy for poor JBL, who was picked on and victimized by all the cruel and heartless Ranallo fans. All JBL ever tried to do was help Mauro be a better announcer, and for that he became a victim of cyber-bullying and a ruthless online smear campaign. Every one of you who participated in the unwarranted character assassination on JBL should be ashamed of yourselves.

 

I hate Mauro Ranallo and I hate that he's the voice of NXT.

 

Hate hate hate hate hate.

This is how MMA fans have felt about Mauro for the past decade.

[Johnny Sorrow]

I just got around to watching this show and it fucking ruled. It totally washed away the bad taste of a SummerSlam that, while I had a great time watching with my friends, left me cold and booing that Brock won.

 

And I loved the Main Event, I think the reasons anyone is down on it are because it followed the Moon/ Asuka match that was fucking amazing, and the weirdo contingent I seem to be in the same circles with who have this ridiculous take that Roode isn't great.

[El-P]

Only watched Asuka vs Ember Moon, since that's the only thing that interested me. Best Asuka match since she came in WWE without a doubt. It's a fitting end to her stint, finally delivering what she was supposed to but never quite did until now. Props to Ember Moon too. Love her work, she's got a great crazy look too. That twisting Stunner was, well, stunning. I'd go so far to say it was better than the 4-way at SummerSlam. Terrific match.