[2018-01-27-WWE-NXT Takeover: Philadelphia] The Undisputed Era vs The Authors of Pain

[ShittyLittleBoots]

This was a really well done David vs. Goliath tag battle. Loved the AOP completely overwhelming Fish & O'Reilly w/ their power in the early stages of the match. The champs were looking to be in BIG trouble until Akam tweaked his knee - that then became a big part of the Undisputed Era's attack on him, which lead to a really good FIP segment. Akam sold the good work by Fish & O'Reilly wonderfully. After he gets the hot tag to Rezar, they start to get that power move game rolling once again, but Fish & O'Reilly bust some really good counters to those, including going after that bad knee of Akam. Really good stuff all around with awesome performances from all involved. ***3/4

[Edwin]

This was a fantastic big vs. little tag opener. I dug UE going after that one AOP's knee to try and bring them down to their size. Some pretty cool selling from that one AOP who got his knee attacked to boot too. I also really dug those knees/thigh strikes in the corner on O'Reilly, ain't no thigh slapping there, just thud from thigh on face/chin. Good stuff.

 

***1/2

[KawadaSmile]

AOP work surprisingly well as FIP, or working the hot tag. They are quickly becoming one of the most complete tag teams around, which is fucking INSANE considering how young they are.

 

UE did some nice work with their pestering, constant leg attacks. The fact that it actually paid off in the end made the structure of the match even sweeter.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

Thought this was the second best match on the card. AoP deliver every time and they were great working underneath here. Love UE most as a duo apart from Cole. I think the tag division in the entirety of WWE is just loaded, bottom to top.

[Maciej]

Who woulda thunk I would be this excited about Kyle O'Reilly vs. Razar shootstyle openings? And Akam delivering the most Stan Hansen-esque Lariat I've seen in quite some time to Bobby Fish? Giving the Authors some more room to breathe and work in their individual talents is proving a very good thing. The random Akam injury storyline is a smart way to do this match, I think, and ReDragon as efficient veterans who can take apart the younger giants when presented with an opportunity totally works for me. ****1/4

[southofheavy]

This isn't the best match on the show, but I think it's my favorite. I wasn't excited for it at all, because I really don't like UE and I knew they weren't gonna lose the belts so soon. But, they took this match in a completely unexpected direction with that AoP face in peril segment and UE came outta nowhere with a very smartly worked match. It made complete sense, the ending was legitimate, and I thought Akam's selling was phenomenal. Completely in step with the AoP gimmick.

 

This match came outta nowhere. I dig the hell out of AoP and they showed a lot of growth here. Couldn't stand UE and now I'm excited to see what they do next. Hell, I thought Kyle O'Reilly was a fucking dork and he rocked the crap out of this match. AND THAT LARIAT. Goddamn.

[KB8]

Man, the Authors of Pain have gotten reeeally good. Assuming this is what they are now. I think the last time I saw them was early last year and while I didn't think they looked bad or anything, they never left much of an impression. But they were a ton of fun here. This was a pretty great brutes v technicians match and I thought Akam especially was on point in showing some vulnerability. Fish and O'Reilly had a bunch of cool stuff to work over the knee and Akam sold it all great, trying to swat at flies when the UE would swarm him, doing lots of limping and hopping on one leg. He was always dangerous, but if it looked like he'd caught one of the two the other guy would usually manage to cut him off. At one point both Fish and O'Reilly took turns charging him in the corner and Akam would keep flinging them away, just tossing them over his shoulder or booting them with the good leg, but then Fish improvised and hit a dragon screw around the middle rope to down him again. Fish and O'Reilly worked like a true unit, basically. Rezar came in swinging off the hot tag and the whole finishing stretch was strong, with a couple awesome moments to boot, my favourite being Akam hitting an apron lariat across Bobby Fish's face. Finish with Akam's leg buckling under him leading the to miscue was a cool way to make Fish and O'Reilly look crafty without having either AoP come off as weak. It sets up a rematch pretty well too, and I'd absolutely be down for it.