On June 8th, 2016 the WWE Network presented NXT Takeover: The End! The event featured numerous big and exciting matches, including every championship being defended. Fan reaction has been very positive. The match of the night seems up in the air. Be sure to vote and let your voice be heard, but what did we think of the show? Let’s take a look.
Andrade Almas vs. Tye Dillinger
Brock Allen: This one was a bit more competitive than I thought it would be, going more like Steve thought it might. Both guys looked strong. I’m eager to see what Almas does in NXT and equally eager to see what is next for Dillinger, who proved tonight that he is ready for the next level in NXT. Great opener. Dillinger’s dropkick to a hand-standing Almas in the corner was a thing of beauty.
Steve Coulson: This was a ton of fun. It didn’t overstay its welcome, and while it was primarily used to debut Andrade, Tye looked great here as well. Tye gets a star’s reaction almost everywhere he goes and he carries himself like one. Triple H spoke highly of him after the show, so hopefully it leads to more for him down the line.
As for Andrade, what can you say? He is going to be a big star and everybody knows it. This was a memorable debut, the crowd seemed to have a blast, I loved watching it, and this set the mood right for a very fun night ahead.
Winner: Andrade Almas
NXT Tag Team Titles
The Revival (Dash and Dawson) vs. American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable)
Brock Allen: I was really looking forward to this rematch. Unfortunately, try as they might, this one lacked the magic the TakeOver: Dallas match had. Whether it was because they were more focused on not screwing up or because of the same-old same-old crowd in Orlando, the match was lacking something.
That being said, the last few minutes featured an incredible swing of emotions that had me second-guessing whether or not The Revival would pull it out as I predicted, especially after the wicked belly-to-belly reversal. I like The Revival taking the titles because I like the prospect of seeing a final blow-off between these two teams. As for the post-match beatdown by the two big guys (I have no clue who they are… Sorry), I’m torn. I’m not high on the near similar look of the guys and I’m certainly not sold on Paul Ellering making his return to TV. I’m all for respecting history (and I do very much respect Ellering), but Ellering’s time in the business has come and gone. We’ll see how this thing pans out.
Steve Coulson: I went with this for my match of the night, although it was close. What can you even say about this? It was downright amazing. This, in my eyes, was tag team wrestling at its best and in 2016, I’d put this against anything else going. Whether that means The Day, the Young Bucks, the Wolves, it really doesn’t matter. This is pretty much as good as it gets in my eyes.
The amount of awesome near falls here was outrageous. The belly to belly spot was fantastic. And the surprise of new champions was excellent. Does this mean the Revival takes on Ciampa and Gargano going forward? I would assume so, especially with the Authors of Pain debuting.
Oh yeah, the Authors of Pain debuted and their manager is Precious Paul Ellering. What?! Wrestling is a crazy place in 2016, and you could have asked me to name 1,000 things that could take place on NXT Takeover: The End and Paul Ellering showing up wouldn’t be close to one of my answers. I love it. Amazing match, a lot of intrigue going forward, and in my eyes, the show was stolen here. I also thought this was better than their previous Takeover match.
Winners: The Revival (New Champions)
Austin Aries vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Brock Allen: This was another match I was really looking forward to that, for me at least, fella bit flat. Expectations were astronomical after the Zayn/Taka instant classic from TakeOver: Dallas, but that’s not what hurt this match. On paper this looked like a dream pairing, but in actuality it was a mismatch of sorts. It took nearly the entire match before both guys got on the same page as far as timing, it looked to me, and the match didn’t really get going until the last five or so minutes. I would have liked some sort of story on the taped ribs. How about a Facebook video of Aries training and sustaining the injury on Friday of last week? He says he’s good to go but we know he’s hurt, that would have been the story. But since we didn’t have a story all we got was a blinking red light that spoiled the result of the match.
What I did like, however, was the general pacing of the match. It wasn’t rushed and it wasn’t slowed. It was perfect, if you ask me. Psychology was okay, but Nakamura really needs to work on selling. How long did Aries work over Naka’s knee only for Shinsuke to pull a Lex Luger and act like nothing happened? The finish, though, was great. I loved the DVD on the apron (I popped, I admit it) and I loved the missed suicide dive that effectively ended the match. While I enjoyed the match I happen to believe it was just an off night for one or both. It was still a very good match, I will say that.
Steve Coulson: This was very close to being my favorite match of the night. Nakamura had an amazing match at the prior Takeover with Sami Zayn but Austin Aries hadn’t had that great match yet. Well, not to worry, because now he’s had that great match. Aries is here to stay, and this match was fantastic.
I’ll admit, I expected some shenanigans post match that we didn’t get. Either Bobby Roode or Hideo Itami. We got neither here, and that was surprising. I’m not sure what is in Aries’ future, while I think Nakamura takes on Joe at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn. Regardless, this match was awesome, it told a great story, and the finish was excellent.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
NXT Women’s Championship
Nia Jax vs. Asuka
Brock Allen: I was really impressed with this match. Nia Jax needed to show up and deliver a truly career-defining match, and I think she did it tonight. This was a very good match, much better than I thought it would be. Nia showed more passion and intensity on this match than nearly all of her other matches combined.
I really liked the story of this match and, psychologically, the end result. Nia pushed Asuka to unseen limits and gave the champion her first truly hard-fought victory. This match allowed Asuka to show that she could tell a complete, multi-layered WWE-style story, from arrogance to uncertainty, complete control to helplessness, game plan to improvisation. In other words, Asuka looked a lot like Bret Hart tonight. As much as this was Nia Jax’s coming out party, this was also Asuka’s arrival to the top echelon of women’s wrestling in WWE. I see this as a minor angle for Asuka and Jax before Bayley and Asuka revive their feud for TakeOver: Brooklyn which, in a perfect world, would signal Bayley’s last hurrah in NXT.
Steve Coulson: So this was my least favorite match of the night, but that isn’t an insult. This was good. Nia brought it, although she’s still not quite all the way there yet. And obviously Asuka brought it on her end and worked really hard here. Both women looked good coming out of this, and the finish was very well done, although maybe a little too similar to the prior match. Regardless, it made sense and I liked it. If this was the worst match on the card, it really speaks to the show’s quality.
Winner: Asuka (Still Champion)
NXT Championship
Steel Cage
Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor
Brock Allen: The cage was supposed to enhance the story of this match, but in a way it hindered it. I do think a real opportunity was lost to use blood as a dramatic tool. Had Joe been busted open in the closing minutes of the match, not gushing, mind you, it would have added an element of drama and finality to the coup de grace false finish that was lacking.
Though i truly enjoyed the match, it just wasn’t that great of a cage match, in my mind. The lack of blood undermined the story going in and seemed to handcuff the wrestlers. What should have been a very violent kind of blow-off to a violent feud was instead a normal sort of match that just happened to be in a cage. I liked the psychology of both men, including the impeccable timing, but I just wasn’t buying a toned down blow-off. After seeing the match I wondered in a ladder match wouldn’t have been the better way to go. And I was left wishing this were the second match and not the final. It was a great match on one level, yes, but I just happen to think it missed on others.
Steve Coulson: This was really good. While it wasn’t my favorite match of the night, nor my second, it was still quite good. WWE cage matches in 2016 are almost always going to be limited due to no blood, and the door stipulation still sucks. But they worked a really good match despite those issues and Joe in particular was awesome.
Oh, and that finish? That was intense. And scary. A Musclebuster off the second rope? I very much was surprised to see that here, along with the DVD on the apron in the Nakamura/Aries match. They upped the big moves tonight and that was quite noticeable. Maybe not the best match for “the end”, but still very good.
Winner: Samoa Joe (Still Champion)
Closing Thoughts
Brock Allen: This was the first TakeOver event that I can honestly say I enjoyed every match on the card. There’s usually one of the five or so matches I’m just not crazy about, but this event featured nothing but good matches with memorable spots in every one. I think it’s obvious that Finn Balor is done with NXT and that Nia Jax is being groomed to take over the Women’s division maybe sooner than we might expect. While none of the matches stand out like previous TakeOver events, this was a very good show with very good matches. I’m curious to see where NXT goes after the July brand expansion.
One final thing I’d like to say about NXT is just how polished and good of an announcer Corey Graves is. While I love his work on NXT I can only hope that one day Graves replaces JBL. I think Graves is every bit as good as Jesse Ventura, and I’m sticking to it.
Thanks again to Steve Coulson and Jon Potter for allowing me to share my views with the readers of WWENetworkNews.com. I appreciate the opportunity, as always.
If you like you can visit WrestlingDVDNetwork.com for all the latest wrestling DVD news. While you’re there, check out my Kayfabe Commentaries reviews and my weekly Throwback Thursday articles.
Steve Coulson: I really liked this show. I felt like two great matches took place, with the tag match being my favorite tag match in recent history. Meanwhile Aries and Nakamura was great as well. The only thing I can call disappointing about this show was a lack of a big newsworthy debut, but with the Authors of Pain, Paul Ellering, and Robert Roode showing up or teased, even that complaint seems unjustified. I can’t wait for NXT Takeover: Brooklyn.
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