NXT TakeOver: Portland Review

Sunday, February 16th, 2020
Moda Center
Portland, Oregon

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

The show kicks off with a highlight package and a live performance by some band named Poppy who apparently some YouTube band, which I didn't know was a thing. No thank you.

NXT North American Championship Match
Keith Lee vs. Dominik Dijakovic

After a long stare down, we get an awesome opening segment that ends with a Lee flying headscissors. Dijakovic gets out of Lee's grip and hits a big boot. Dijakovic goes for a dive to the outside, but Lee catches him in a powerbomb position. Dijakovic is able to get out of that and it leads to a suplex to the apron and him falling awkwardly to the ground. Dijakovic continues the assault back in the ring with some stiff shots. He goes for a suplex, but Lee powers out of it. Lee hits a unique German suplex from a standing position. Both of these guys are just really unique talents. I'm shocked Dijakovic isn't Vince's pet project. Dijakovic hits a cyclone kick off the Irish whip. He goes up top and hits a corkscrew moonsault, but Lee kicks out at 2. Both men just start clubbing each other with some serious shots until they collapse to their knees. Back on their feet and Dijakovic hits a clothesline. Dijakovic has Lee on his shoulders on the second rope and hits an Attitude Adjustment and it's still not enough to defeat Lee. Lee then channels his inner Monty Brown and hits a Pounce that sends Dijakovic flying into the bottom turnbuckle. Both men are to the outside and Lee hits a double slap to a silenced crowd. He sits him down in a chair and does another one. Dijakovic gets Lee in the chair and hits a superkick and then goes up top and hits a somersault dive to Lee in the chair. NXT is kind of a bizarro world where two heavyweights like these two guys are fighting for the secondary title and two cruiserweights are fighting for the main title. Back in the ring, Lee goes for a chokeslam, but flips out of it. Lee then does the same, but doesn't quite land on his feet. Lee hits a powerbomb, but Dijakovic bounces up on his feet. Lee hits another one and gets one of the closest 2 counts I can think of. Lee drags him to the corner and sits on top, but Dijakovic pushes him to the floor. Lee crawls back up, but Dijakovic hits him with a kick. He jumps up top and hits a Spanish Fly off the top rope! Lee kicks out again at 2. He tries to lift Lee up on his back, but isn't able to. Lee then hits the Big Bang Catastrophe for the victory. What a great match that had a little bit of everything. The only issue with NXT's "top this" mentality is that we get so many matches with false finishes to moves that should end the match. I still can't help myself and go crazy with the star ratings, because the efforts are just insanely great. After the match, Lee helps him up and shows his respect for Dijakovic.

Match Rating: ****1/2 (out of 5)

Street Fight
Tegan Nox vs. Dakota Kai

Kai attacks Nox from behind immediately as Nox is making her entrance. Nox retaliates quickly and spears her through a barricade. Kai then hits a DDT onto the barricade. Kai kicks her in the head while Nox is on the steps. Kai grabs a paddle from under the ring and cracks it over the ring post when Nox moves. Nox puts a garbage can over Nox and hits a senton on her. Nox sets up a table, but Kai turns things around and eventually smashes a trash can lid over Nox's head. She misses a kick and Nox greets her with multiple kicks to the chin. Nox follows up with smashing the garbage can on Kai's back. She then hits a German suplex onto the garbage can. Kai comes back and hits a Kairopractor for a 2 count. Nox catches a kick and pulls Kai face-first to the hardest part of the ring. Nox hits a chokeslam off the top rope and then hits a Molly-Go-Round for a 2 count. Kai avoids a kick to the head and then tosses Nox a chair and kicks her in the head. Kai tapes Nox's writst to the ring post and hits her with some more kicks. Nox avoids a smash from a lap top and grabs it and hits Kai in the knee. Nox has the chain and is losing her cool. She rips off Kai's knee brace and puts a chair on it and smashes it. She hits her with a dropkick and tells Kai that she's not done with her yet. Nox goes and grabs the table and sets Kai on it. She grabs the chair and wraps it around Kai's neck and starts climbing the top rope. Nox is knocked off the top rope by Raquel Gonzalez. She picks her up and chucks her at the table, but she doesn't go through it, which makes it look even more painful. Kai gets the victory as Gonzalez looks on. After the match Gonzalez raises Kai's arm as Kai looks confused. Good lord, did these women come out and just absolutely work an insanely intense match that was so fast paced from bell to bell. Fantastic match.

Match Rating: ****1/2

Johnny Gargano vs. Finn Balor

This one should be interesting. I personally think Gargano is the best in the company right now, where Balor is really up and down for me the last couple of years. We get some mat wrestling to kind of calm the crowd down after the intense brawl we just saw. Balor does a nice heel move with doing push ups while he has Gargano in a headscissor. Gargano picks up the pace and hits one of my favorite moves in wrestling with his rolling kick on the ground. Gargano avoids Balor, leaps over the apron and spears Balor to the ground. Gargano charges after Balor, but Balor hits him with a Sling Blade. Gargano begins to work on Balor's arm. Balor attacks Gargano's knee as Gargano was going up top. Balor continues to work on Gargano's knee. Gargano fights back as only he can, but Balor catches his suicide dive. Gargano counters that and pushes Balor into the steps and then hits a running somersault dive. Gargano hits a slingshot spear for a 2 count. Gargano goes for a DDT, but Balor blocks it. Gargano hits a lawn dart to the turnbuckle. Balor hits a Pele Kick after Gargano hit an enzuigiri, but Gargano lands on top of Balor and gets a 2 count. Both men are slugging it out and it leads to Gargano hitting a slingshot DDT for a 2 count. Some of these flurries they have sprinkled throughout the match are just really tremendous. Balor hits another Sling Blade, but Gargano hits a superkick. Balor with another Sling Blade and follows it up with a running dropkick. Balor goes up top, but misses with the Coup de Grace. Gargano gets him in the Gargano Escape, but Balor is able to get out and hits him with a stomp. Balor goes for the 1916, but Gargano gets him in Gargano Escape again. Balor is able to escape and they are back outside. Gargano hits a running dropkick on Balor and he slams back into the barricade. Balor hits a face-first suplex on Gargano onto the announcer table. Balor runs across the announcers table and hits the Shotgun Dropkick off the table. Balor hits the Coup de Grace back in the ring and Balor hits the 1916 DDT for the 3 count. Another really good match here and they did a good job of not having too many false finishes. I get why Balor won and he was who I predicted, but I do think Gargano gets the Jericho treatment too often.

Match Rating: ****1/4

The Undisputed Era is in the back for an interview. Strong says that Velveteen Dream is a dead man on Wednesday. Strong then hypes up his fellow Undisputed Era teammates.

NXT Women's Championship Match
Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley

Belair shows off her skills, but Ripley quickly shows off what she can do. The NXT women's division really is something else. I didn't realize Belair was 30 years old. Belair has a mess up with a suplex, but hits it the second time. Belair puts Ripley in a seated Full Nelson, which is pretty cool. Ripley escapes and hits a back body drop and a series of clotheslines and knees. She then hits a nice dropkick to a seated Belair. Both women start hitting each other with open palm strikes and then Belair uses her hair to whip Ripley. Belair then body presses Ripley off the top rope. Ripley blocks a handspring moonsault and then follows it up with a boot. Belair hits a spear and both women are down. Belair hits a back body drop on Ripley to the outside and then hits a somersault dive over the top rope. Ripley quickly recovers and slams Belair into the steps. Ripey is up top and grabs Belair. Belair counters it and goes for a superplex, but Ripley counters that. Headbutt by Ripley and she goes for a sunset bomb, but that too is countered. Ripley hits a Rip Tide and that's good enough for the 3 count? That was an anti-climatic finish to a match that was really hitting it's stride. Perhaps my expectations were too high for this one, but this one didn't quite deliver for me. Part of it was probably the fact that you knew Ripley wouldn't be losing here. And just as I type that, Charlotte comes in and attacks Ripley from behind. Charlotte says that she thought about it and that she will see Ripley at WrestleMania. She hits Natural Selection and picks up the NXT Championship to a chorus of boos. Charlotte grabs Belair and then throws her into the steps for good measure.

Match Rating: ***1/2

NXT Tag Team Championship Match
Undisputed Era vs. The Broserweights

The Broserweights come out in a golf cart with neon lights and the Dusty Rhodes Classic trophy on top. Riddle asks "how much fish could Bobby Fish fry if Bobby Fish could fry fish?" and even gets a sing along queue on the bottom of the screen. Undisputed Era runs out and they start brawling in the entrance. Riddle and O'Reilly start it off in the ring. Fish gets in their quickly and Riddle hits a gutwrench suplex. Dunne is in and stomps on O'Reilly's elbow in what will never not be a convincing move to me. Dunne hits a suplex on the outside and clubs Fish. O'Reilly hits a nice series of kicks on Dunne and in comes Fish again. Fish hits a Samoan drop on Dunne and O'Reilly now follows with some of his signature strikes. Dunne tries to fight out of the corner, but O'Reilly hits a leg whip and then Fish kicks out Dunne's leg. As much as I love this team, I can't wait to see what O'Reilly can do in a singles role. Dunne ducks a running boot from O'Reilly and it hits Fish. Hot tag to Riddle and he destroys both members of the UE. Riddle is just so different, it's fantastic. Riddle hits a German suplex with a bridge for a 2 count. The Broserweights both go up top and hit 2 flying maneuvers to both opponents. Riddle and O'Reilly are in the ring and Riddle hits a running knee and German. They hit each other with some knees and both men are down. Riddle hits both men with spears and goes for a suplex, but Fish takes out Riddle's knee and Fish tosses him halfway across the ring with a German suplex. Riddle hits a double knee strike and he makes a tag to Dunne. O'Reilly and Dunne have an awesome exchange that leads to double Ankle Locks for the Broserweights. O'Reilly has the Sharpshooter on and Fish has a sleeper. Riddle is able to hit a knee on O'Reilly to break up the Sharpshooter. All four men are down. Dunne stomps on Fish's hands and Riddle goes up top for a double team move, but Fish battles out. Fish hits an avalanche suplex off the top and O'Reilly hits a knee off the top and has Riddle in a knee bar. Fish blocks Dunne from breaking it up, but Dunne destroys Fish's fingers and then stomps on O'Reilly's wrist. Dunne and O'Reilly are giving each other all that they have left. O'Reilly pushes Dunne into Riddle, knocking him off the apron. Dunne goes to work on O'Reilly's fingers. Riddle charges in and accidentally spears Dunne. UE hit Chasing The Dragon, but Dunne is able to kick out at 2. Riddle tags in and hits Fish with a knee. They hit an awesome Go To Sleep into a dropkick and we have new Tag Team Champions! Another really great match here, not that I would expect anything less. Riddle and Dunne may be the two most unique performers on the roster and this gives them something to do until they get their shot higher up on the card.

Match Rating: ****1/4

NXT Championship Match
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Adam Cole

These NXT main events are always in such a tough spot compared to the main roster. I've already given 4 matches ****1/4 or higher. Ciampa's story has been really well documented and it's hard not to root for him, but I just like Cole too much here. After going back and forth, Cole hits a kick on the outside and mocks Ciampa's pat on the back. Ciampa loses it and throws Cole over the announcer table and hits a running knee followed by his celebration. Ciampa rolls Cole back in, but Cole rolls all the way out. Ciampa hits a baseball dropkick and then follows up with a knee to the head. Cole again rolls out of the ring, which is a great touch. Ciampa hits a huge running knee on Cole to a great reaction. Ciampa goes for a powerbomb, but Cole counters it and then ducks an enzuigiri and picks up Ciampa and hits him on the announcer table head first. Cole hits a backstabber for a 2 count. Ciampa counters a Panama Sunrise attempt with a jumping knee. Ciampa hits a series of clotheslines and a German Suplex. The crowd is very much still awake and into Ciampa here. Ciampa hits a Torture Rack powerbomb for a 2 count. Both men are on the second rope and Ciampa hits an Air Raid Crash for a 2 count. Cole hits a superkick from the floor, but Ciampa hits a powerbomb onto the announcer table. He hits another one and this time it collapses. Ciampa throws him back in the ring and hits a running knee. He rolls down his knee pad, but Cole hits him with a superkick, but Ciampa then nails him with a clothesline. Ciampa follows that up with Project Ciampa, but it's still not enough. Cole hits a couple of bicycle kicks and sends Ciampa outside. Cole goes for a suicide dive, but Ciampa hits him with a dropkick. Cole hits another couple of moves to Ciampa's neck and gets a 2 count. Cole starts to show his frustration and starts yelling at Ciampa. He tries to comeback, but Cole hits a superkick and a Last Shot, but this time Ciampa rolls to the ropes. Cole tries to do a Panama Sunrise on the apron, but Ciampa catches him and hits an Air Raid Crash on the HARDEST PART OF THE RING! Cole hits a back body drop and then jumps up on the announcer table and hits a Panama Sunrise on the outside. As Cole is coming in the ring, Ciampa hits a DDT and a Fairytale Ending, but it's still not enough. Roderick Strong is now out distracting the ref. Here come Fish and O'Reilly to attack Ciampa. They roll him back in and Ciampa kicks out. Ciampa avoids a Last Shot and then tosses him over the top onto the Undisputed Era. Cole hits a Last Shot on Ciampa after he gets back in and again it's not enough. We get a ref bump that leads to a low blow from Cole. Cole goes for a Panama Sunrise, but Ciampa hits him again and hits the Fairytale Ending again. There's no ref to make the count on the knocked out Cole. Gargano is out now and throws him the title belt. As Ciampa goes to pick it up, Gargano pulls it away and hits him in the head with it. The ref comes back in and Cole successfully retains his championship. Since I didn't watch this live (I'm about 90 minutes behind), I saw some of the reviews for this match ahead of time and they seemed pretty low. After watching this, I thought this was another absolute killer match on a show full of them. Both of these guys are just so good and even with the screwy ending, it all made sense to me. As much as I love Gargano/Ciampa, I was hoping they'd keep them away from each other a little longer. Regardless, this was a great main event to a great, great show.

Match Rating: ****1/4

NXT does it again is the least surprising thing I could ever type here. Each show just seems to try and one up the following show and they seemingly almost do every time. My only minor complaint is that the talents need to communicate better on spots so that we aren't seeing some repeats. They also need to cut back a little on the huge moves that are only for false finishes. However, neither of those are complaints that are specific to NXT, as just about every modern wrestling show I have ever watched has that same issue. With that out of the way, if you haven't watched this show, watch it now. It is worth every minute of your time.

Overall Rating: 99%