NXT Takeover: New York Review

Friday, April 5th, 2019
Barclays Center
Brooklyn, New York

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NXT Tag Team Championship Match
War Raiders vs. Ricochet & Aleister Black
War Raiders come out in costumes with a similar entrance to the Phoenix show. I'm not a fan the look, but obviously I'm in the minority. As awesome as Black and Ricochet are as a team, I'm still not sure why they had to team together. Rowe and Black do some nice chain wrestling and both tease some big strikes, but don't due to respect. Ricochet and Hansen are in and both War Raiders are thrown out and Ricochet and Aleister Black do their faux leap and pose in the ring. Hansen goes bonkers and starts splashing both opponents in opposite corners over and over. He then sends Black over the top, but then Ricochet picks up Hansen and slams him in a surprising spot. Black and Rowe are no longer holding back and getting in some stiff strikes. German suplex with a bridge by Black and he almost gets a 3 count. Ricochet shows off some of his unique offense, but then so does Hansen, who does a handspring into an elbow, which is incredible. Hansen goes up top, but Ricochet gets there before he can do anything. War Raiders hit the leaping clothesline and both pin Ricochet, but Black comes out of nowhere and breaks the fall to a huge pop. Moonsault to the outside by Black to Hansen. Then Rowe hits a suicide dive on Black followed by a move that only Ricochet can come up with to Rowe. Now it's Hansen's turn and he does a cannonball from the top rope. It's formulaic, but with these four it's at a different level. Rowe and Ricochet are now slugging it out. Black Mass by Black and Ricochet hits the Shooting Star Press. Ricochet covers him, but Hansen bulldozes his way through Black to break up that fall. Ricochet is back up top and misses the 630 splash. Black misses the moonsault to the outside and for some reason the camera cut to a weird angle. Pop up powerslam by the War Raiders and now the War Raiders hit Fallout for the victory. The outcome was never really in jeopardy, but that was still quite the opener. If Ricochet isn't in one of the main matches next year at WrestleMania, it will be a huge missed opportunity.

Match Rating: **** (out of 5)

After the match, both teams embrace. This is most likely the last time Black and Ricochet will ever step foot in a NXT ring. The War Raiders put the belts on the ground and bow to their opponents and head to the back. Ricochet is holding back tears as they receive a standing ovation. Even Black is emotional here. Let's hope they get some time on Sunday.

Gargano is backstage getting ready for the main event. Piper Niven and Toni Storm are shown ringside.

NXT North American Championship Match
Matt Riddle vs. Velveteen Dream
Matt Riddle is sporting Yankees pinstripes. Velveteen Dream is dressed up like the Statue of Liberty for his entrance. I like that a lot better than the War Raiders entrance, but to each their own. I still remember being furious when he was kicked off of Tough Enough when he was clearly the most talented person on the show. I did not realize that Riddle is 10 years older than Dream. This one should be pretty interesting. I think Riddle is going to be a headliner on the main roster, but he hasn't completely won me over just yet. Not sure that even makes sense. Riddle is locked in already and gets Dream into the Kimura until Dream finally gets to the ropes. They are playing up that Dream hasn't been able to get in the head of Riddle. Dream finally gets some offense in after stomping on Riddle's bare foot. Both of these guys are two of the more uniquely built performers, which helps make their offenses even more unique. Dream goes up top to the outside, but Riddle sidesteps it and hits him with a German suplex. Riddle is just all over Dream here with a flurry of kicks and suplexes. RIddle goes for the Bromission, but Dream blocks it so he goes for the arm bar, but Dream gets to the ropes again. Riddle is starting to get a little frustrated as he hasn't been able to put Dream away. German suplex into a bridge almost gets the 3 count. Riddle is hitting Dream with kicks, but Dream is Hulking up. Dream takes over and hits a double ax handle from the top rope to the outside. Riddle catches the kick to the face by Dream and turns it into the ankle lock. Dream hits a superkick and a DDT. Dream has saved himself on the ropes multiple times tonight. Riddle does an awesome suplex from the apron and back into the ring and then the Floating Bro, but Dream kicks out. Powerbomb by Riddle and then a knee to the face, but it's still not enough. Bromission is in and he's in the center of the ring. Dream rolls over and gets the pinfall out of nowhere. Riddle is in shock. It sort of felt like they were going to go that route since they had Riddle dominate over 60% of the match, but it still worked for me. Riddle definitely won me over there. That was quite the intense match.

Match Rating: ****1/4

After the match, Riddle gives Dream a fist bump and walks to the back.

WWE UK Championship Match
Walter vs. Pete Dunne
This is the first full match of Walter that I have ever seen, so I'm looking forward to see if he lives up to the hype. We get a little bit of a slow start here. Walter then absolutely destroys Dunne with some chops. Dunne hits him with a stiff clothesline and it has no effect. Walter then does a leapfrog and a boot to the face. Dunne finally shows some fight and is now going to the top rope, but there's Walter to stop him, but then Dunne works on his hand and then hits a sit down powerbomb for a 2 count. Walter rolls to the outside again and now Dunne is going up top again. He does a double foot stomp and how does that not hurt? Wow. Walter is able to hit a dropkick shortly after, which I hate. No way he should be fighting back after that last move. After some offense by Walter, Dunne fights back with a step up enzuigiri. Dunne stomps on his hand and goes up top and again is blocked by Walter. Walter goes for a sleeper, but Dunne smashes Walter's hand on the ring post. But still Walter is able to hit a sleeper superplex. Dunne catches the hand of Walter and goes back to some hand manipulation. Dunne is now stomping repeatedly on Walter's head. Walter, on his back, starts kicking Dunne in the head. More stomps by Dunne and then he has Walter's fingers again and he begins torquing back on Walter's arms, but Walter is finally able to get to the ropes. Walter hits a clubbing clothesline while Dunne is sitting on the top rope. Walter then goes to the top rope, but Dunne catches him into the triangle. Dunne then goes to work on the fingers, but then again Walter fights back and stomps on the body of Dunne. Dunne hits the Bitter End, but Walter kicks out to a huge pop after a few quieter moments from the hot crowd. Dunne is clubbing Walter on the ropes, so the ref steps in and then Walter decapitates him with a big boot, which causes some boos. Walter goes up top, but Dunne goes back to the hands. Again, he probably shouldn't be up that quickly. Walter hits a powerbomb from the top rope in a cool spot. Walter up top again and hits a big splash and we have a new WWE UK Champion, as Dunne's historic reign comes to an end. That was a super stiff match, but just because a match is stiff doesn't mean it's great. Selling is pretty much non-existent in current day wrestling, minus a select few. However, with this match having a little bit slower of a pace, the no selling really bothered me in a few spots. Walter here looked good, but not like the living legend he is being made out to be. Dunne, on the other hand, is a star in my opinion as he brings something different, especially for his size.

Match Rating: ***

NXT Women's Championship Match
Kairi Sane vs. Bianca Belair vs. Io Shirai vs. Shayna Baszler
Will this be the end of Baszler on NXT? We get the usual intro to multi-person matches, where it breaks down quickly. Baszler grabs Belairs hair, but Belair uses it to pull Baszler into the ring post face first. Belair catches Shirai and uses her as a weapon on Sane and then slams here down. Baszler is back in there now and is back in control. Kairi Sane goes for the Tower of Doom spot, but can't until Shirai gets in there first. Not every 4 way match needs to have that spot, I promise. Shirai launches Sane onto Belair and Baszler and then Shirai hits a springboard moonsault to the outside. All four women are down in the ring. Shirai is the first one up and goes for a cover, but it's broken up. Belair does a press slam on Shirai and throws her to the outside on to both Sane and Baszler. Baszler has felt like an afterthought in this match thus far. Baszler counters the chicken wing facebuster and puts her into the Kirifuda Clutch. Shirai hits a moonsault from the second rope and then again from the top and only gets a 2 count because her BFF Sane broke up the count. Sane does an Alabama Slam on Shirai onto Baszler. Belair does a double KOD with both Sane and Shirai on her back, which is both impressive and cheesy. Baszler is back in and puts the Kirifuda Clutch on Belair and she is doing everything in her power to get out, but has to tap. The crowd isn't happy about that one and consider me surprised. I thought for sure they would have her lose without getting pinned and we'd see her on Raw Monday.

Match Rating: ***1/4

NXT Championship Match
Best 2 Out Of 3 Falls 
Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole
So these are probably my two favorite current acts in the company. To say I am excited for this, would be an understatement. I was not anticipating the crowd to be overwhelmingly for Cole over Gargano. Remember when Bo Dallas was NXT Champion? I'd say we've come a long way in a short time. I am kind of just taking this one in and watching two amazing performers at the peak of their career. Neither man has really had clear control just yet. Gargano launches himself as Cole was running off the rope into a spear. Cole is already rolling down the knee pad, but Gargano ducks it. They are really playing up the one step ahead of each other and doing a great job with it. Seemingly out of nowhere, Cole hits him with the knee and gets the first pinfall. Gargano losing the first fall was the expected call, but it also is the right call as Gargano was born to fight under pressure. Cole hits the Last Shot and Gargano is able to kick out of it. Gargano then hits another spear, this time on the apron and then with a somersault off the apron. Gargano then hits the DDT off the apron and both men are down. Gargano gets in the ring and could have taken a countout victory, but rolls back out to get Cole, who then promptly throws him into the ring post. Now Gargano gets Cole into an arm bar and then gets him into the crossface and Cole taps. We are all tied up at 1-1. Gargano is bleeding from his right eyebrow area. Two bicycle kicks by Cole, but Gargano fires back with a clothesline. Cole is on the top, but Gargano hits the step up enzuigiri and then the lawn dart. He then does a full nelson into a facebuster and almost gets the victory. After striking back and forth, they hit a double superkick and now both are down once again. Cole hits a superkick to the back of the head and into a German suplex into a pin and only gets 2. Superkick by Gargano and then jumps on Cole's shoulders and hits the reverse hurricanrana. Cole is able to roll out of the ring, buying him some time and hits a wheelbarrow suplex into the hardest part of the ring. Gargano gets up and hits two different DDTs and then a suicide dive and then does the spear, but Cole hits him with a superkick and then a Canadian Destroyer and only gets 2! What a burst that was by both men there. Cole kicks Gargano off the apron and starts calling him a failure and pushing his head to the ground. Gargano then slugs him with a forearm and throws him over the announcers table. Cole hits the Fairytale ending on the table and the table did not break. Cole rolls into the ring and Gargano is just able to get into the ring before the 10 count. Cole hits the superkick and again only gets a 2 count. They both hit superkicks and then Gargano gets the crossface on, but out comes Roderick Strong to distract the ref. Fish and O'Reilly attack Gargano. The ref gets thrown back into the match by Strong, but Gargano kicks out! Cole charges at Gargano, but Gargano launches him over the ropes onto the Undisputed Era. Gargano is now taking care of all of them with his signature offense. He's back in the ring and takes a superkick to the face, then the back and then a running knee to the back of the head. And he STILL KICKS OUT. My lord, this is special. Cole goes for the knee again, but Gargano ducks. Gargano gets him into the crossface again and he taps. Johnny Gargano is your new NXT Champion! What. A. Match. Should I do it? Of course I should. For the 16th time, I am going the full monty. What a performance by both men and one of the best matches I have ever witnessed.

Match Rating: *****

Candice Lerae is in the ring to celebrate with her husband. After celebrating with the crowd and as the NXT logo pops up, out walks Ciampa and they embrace. A great ending to a great story.

For my money, that was the greatest Takeover of all time and one of the greatest WWE shows in their long history. The first two matches were awesome, the next two were good and then from there Gargano and Cole told a fantastic story and somehow made a near 40 minute match look easy. Thumbs up all around and boy, is it going to be near impossible to top on Sunday.

Overall Rating: 100%