Hey guys and welcome to my review of what was the epic NXT Takeover Orlando show. So much to talk about so we will just kick off now…
From a top of the arena view, we get a small Triple H speech about how NXT is making history. ‘We Are NXT. We Are Home’. From there airs a great promo going through NXT’s journey from 2012 until where it is today, and it also hypes tonight’s show. The commentary team introduce us to the show and Tom Philips, Percy Watson and Nigel McGuinness are all ecstatic to be there.
8 Person Tag Match-Sanity VS Tye Dillinger, Roderick Strong, Ruby Riot And ????
Earlier today at Wrestlemania Axxess, Sanity laid out No Way Jose with an attack, taking him out of this contest, there requiring the team to find a partner. Said chosen partner?! None other than Kassius Ohno! So it was on. A Raucous reaction for all four faces. The match kicked off with all eight brawling in and out of the ring and once settled a bit, it was Nikki Cross and Ruby Riot to start, but that didn’t last too long as frequent tags were always going to be made. Kassius Ohno got the tag and cleaned house with a great start and some KO Punches. Roderick Strong got in and, as usual, caught fire and looked awesome in doing so. But, that was only until Killian Dain entered and dominated Strong. The heels were taking over and were tagging well at this point, between Dain, Eric Young and Alexander Wolfe. They were keeping one another fresh and frustrating the opposition. This match had a lot of history and build up to it based on the awesome rivalry between Tye Dillinger and Eric Young. The crowd were desperate for The Perfect Ten to be tagged in, and when it happened the place lit up. Dillinger cleaned house and the fans were loving it, and once again it just turned into an all out brawl outside the ring, leaving the two ladies to battle it out in the ring. Chaos was ensuing and it was anyone’s game. It was just awesome stuff to watch, the action was everywhere. The match came to its close when Dillinger and Dain were back in the ring, and Dillinger picked up Dain and looked to finish him, only to be kicked in the face by Wolfe, leading to Dain’s Ulster Plantation for the win. What a great contest, and what a way to open the show. Unfortunately, though, it was another disappointing loss for Tye Dillinger, so what is next?? I would love to have him appear on Raw Monday.
Sanity Beat Tye Dillinger, Roderick Strong, Kassius Ohno And Ruby Riot By Pinfall – Ulster Plantation
WWE Hall Of Famers Edge And Beth Phoenix are in the crowd! Awesome to see.
Andrade Cien Almas VS Aleister Black
Andrade Cien Almas has confidence and momentum coming into this but faces a tough test against the much-anticipated debutant Aleister Black. Black got a great reaction coming out which I expected. I have always felt that Almas can work well with anyone, and tonight was no exception. This match started at a slow pace with some trades of holds and both men feeling one another out. There was a great spot where Almas was outside the ring, and Black threatened a dive to the outside, only to bounce off the second rope and land a backflip. It was brilliant to watch. It wasn’t long before the heel Almas took control of the bout with his offence and stayed on Black for a while and landed a great looking top rope Dropkick. As expected the crowd were rooting for Black to get back in it and just that he did with some great kicks and a middle rope Moonsault to the outside. The momentum kept switching ends which made for a great contest. Almas did very well to target Black’s arms with attacks and various submission attempts. Almas then landed his double knees in the corner and followed up with a German Suplex. However, Black’s strong kicks were too much on the night for Almas, and it was ended with Black Mass for the pinfall. What a contest, and an excellent debut, well done guys. Excited to see what is next for both men.
Aleister Black Beat Andrade “Cien” Almas By Pinfall – Black Mass
Next up we got the hype promo for the upcoming Triple Threat Tag Match for the NXT Tag Team Titles, the story between all three teams.
The Authors Of Pain (C) With Paul Ellering VS DIY VS The Revival – Triple Threat Elimination Match For The NXT Tag Team Titles
As previously announce by William Regal, the winners of each title match tonight receives brand new title belts. When this match was made had this one as a show stealer. It all started with DIY and The Revival forming a temporary union to take out The Authors, which worked, leaving the two to battle out. The crowd went nuts when DIY pulled out a table. So it was DIY VS The Revival for the time being and Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa getting the better of it with great work and tags. As expected, it wasn’t long before The AOP were back in, though, and things changed, they took over. At times they display such dominance it is unreal. The Revival managed to gain the upper hand following some great heel team work. Gargano caught fire upon tagging himself in and momentum was rocking for DIY, there was absolutely no doubt who the crowd were wanting to win. I will also add that Gargano’s offence looked awesome. But once again the champions took over in devastating fashion. “This Is Awesome” chants broke out loud, and correct it was! The Authors were on top and as everyone knows they are never easy to overcome. Ciampa got the hot tag following a long beating of Gargano (and no one in NXT sells a beating like Johnny Wrestling), and there was no catching Ciampa at the moment, he was hot. The fans were electric during a spot where the table came into play, and Razar was put through it by all four opponents, hit by The Revival pair and Double Powerbombed by the DIY pair. Awesome! All four men then focused on Akam and landed various submission attempts. There was no question that any team could have won this. Now for an even better spot: An awesome combo happened when Gargano and Scott Dawson landed DIY’s Kick & Knee Combo to one of The AOP members, then Ciampa and Dash Wilder hit the other with The Revival’s Shatter Machine. It was absolutely fantastic to witness, and the four men teamed up expertly there! Even the “Holy Sh*t” chants broke out. That once again left both teams to battle it out, which lead to all three teams being outside the ring culminating in Dawson Superplexing Ciampa on top of everyone. Here came the heartbreaking bit..The AOP tagged in, took out Dawson, and hit Ciampa with their Last Chapter for the elimination. DIY were gone, and the fans were not happy at all, even breaking out the “Bullsh*t” chants. I was gutted, I was wanting DIY to win this thing. So it came down to The Authors and The Revival, and there was some excellent combo stuff from the challengers. The match kept going but was over when The Revival were both caught with the Super Collider. 1..2..3..And still NXT Tag Team Champions. Right, I about showed stealer. That was simply outstanding!
The Authors Of Pain Beat DIY And The Revival By 2 Pinfalls (Last Chapter/Super Collider) To Retain The NXT Tag Team Titles
The next hype promo was shown to get us ready for the next match.
Asuka (C) VS Ember Moon For The NXT Women’s Title
Again, the winner of this contest receives a brand new title belt. The match kicked off right away with intense lockups, reversals and chain wrestling. Again this one had a lot of build to it, and despite never facing each other, it was a heated situation. Both women were ready for this and were trading some shots yet neither had the upper hand. This changed though when Asuka took control kicking Moon to the outside, and from there staying on top of the contest. For the time being Moon was finding it difficult getting back into this, but we all know how great Asuka is. However, with one strong forearm, the challenger found her way back into it, a great momentum switcher. The champion took back over with her awesome kicks, and more than once she kept trying her Asuka Lock, to no avail, though. Both women were absolutely going for it, this was an amazing watch. Both got to trading slaps which escalated quickly. As Moon was getting the better, she climbed up to the top rope to look to end Asuka with the Eclipse. That did not go to plan: A rare sighting, the champion used some heel tactics by pushing the referee into the ropes causing Moon to fall, before executing her Head Kick for the pinfall victory. Still, the champion, brand new title. Well done ladies and something tells me that isn’t over, Ember Moon will be after a rematch based on how that ended. A possible heel turn for Asuka?!
Asuka Beat Ember Moon by pinfall – Roundhouse Kick
Drew McIntyre is in the crowd, how awesome is that?! My thought here was..”Please tell me he is on his way back to WWE”!
Before we got to the main event came the hype for the main event, the promo, the journeys of both men and the feud up until now. The same applies for the final time, the winner will get a brand new title belt.
Bobby Roode (C) VS Shinsuke Nakamura For The NXT Title
Both men got an electric reaction once again. Have I mentioned before how much I love Bobby Roode and his entrance, simply class! A 50/50 crowd which was awesome as they lifted the roof throughout the whole thing. The match started at a nice slow pace with Shinsuke Nakamura getting the better start displaying knees and kicks. But, as he always does, and superbly so, Bobby Roode took over with some great offence and kept on the challenger for several minutes. I thought that this whole match was just a perfect build. Roode was enjoying it, taking his time with the methodical offence. The crowd were split, the pace was picking up and they were loving it. It took Nakamura a long time to find his way back into the contest but he did so with some more knees and kicks and now he was in control. When Nakamura uses knees, he can be very hard to stop, but Roode had it figured out. Roode, just like at Takeover San Antonio, targeted Nakamura’s knee, and Nakamura’s selling of the knee was brilliant like he was legit hurt. Once again, this attack was several minutes long and Roode was being methodical about it. The challenger managed to turn it around and lock in a couple of Armbars but the champion got out. This was just outstanding stuff! Again the trading continued, submissions were attempted, near falls were coming, it was just unfortunate that someone was walking out of Orlando with a loss. It got even better: Roode attempted his Glorious DDT, but it was countered and Nakamura landed Kinshasa for an unbelievable near fall. Roode then landed his Glorious DDT and Nakamura kicked out. The crowd were red hot, and likewise was the match! Roode threatened a disqualification when he brought the ring bell into the ring, which was quickly confiscated by the referee. Nakamura was back in control until Roode landed his Double R Spinebuster for another near fall. I was so nervous at this point. Again, the challenger looked to end it, only for Roode to catch his knee and end it all with a great looking Modified Glorious DDT. 1..2..3! Still the NXT Champion..Bobby Roode!
Bobby Roode Beat Shinsuke Nakamura By Pinfall (Modified Glorious DDT) To Retain The NXT Title
Overall Thoughts
Honestly what sort of weird person would not catch this show?! That was outstanding, top to bottom, open until close, that was fantastic. A great opener in what now looks to be the end of the Sanity/Tye Dillinger rivalry, and possibly the end of NXT for The Perfect Ten. Aleister Black and Andrade Cien Almas were very impressive in Black’s debut, and as I said above I look forward to seeing what is next for both men. For me the Triple Threat Tag Match was a joint show stealer, all three teams were excellent and the story they told was classic stuff, and again, it will be interesting to see what happens now in regards to the Tag Team scene. Impressive yet again were the women who pulled off a great contest, and hopefully, a rematch is on the horizon for Ember Moon. And finally, the other show stealer, the main event, was epic. Again, Bobby Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura tore the house down just like they did in Texas. Surely it is now time for Shinsuke Nakamura to come to the main roster, and I cannot wait to see who is or are next to step up to the plate against Bobby Roode. Thanks again to anyone who has read this and please leave comments and feedback. For anyone who missed this show or just has not watched yet, don’t be silly, find a spare two and a half hours and you will not regret it. Thank you guys, take care, over and out.