NXT TakeOver: Rival Review

Wednesday, February 11th, 2015
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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Hideo Itami vs. Tyler Breeze

This was the first TakeOver that I watched live. They show a WWE.com exclusive interview with Itami and he gets attacked by Breeze, setting up this match. Breeze debuts the selfie stick here and then gets jumped on by a woman that security has to pull off of him. Itami is enraged and takes it out with a series of kicks and clotheslines. Breeze is able to trip him up and work on the leg. Breeze slaps on the Figure Four on the ring post before the 5 count. Back in the ring, Breeze puts on a Figure Four/Sharpshooter combo in the middle of the ring. Itami tries to get Breeze up for GTS, but Breeze escapes and hits a Supermodel Kick for a 2 count. Itami is hulking up and hits a series of kicks, but is still selling the leg. Itami hits the running dropkick in the corner and a running kick for the victory. This was a fun opener with both guys looking good in their roles. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

They cut to William Regal and Kevin Owens backstage. 

No Disqualification Match
Bull Dempsey vs. Baron Corbin

They start brawling right away into the ring and then up the ramp. Bull drives Baron into the ring and then hits a suplex onto the ramp. Back in the ring, Corbin is able to hit a spine buster and then hits a clothesline. Corbin goes over the top, but Bull doesn't so he does it himself and the crowd boos it. That was terrible. Back in the ring, Bull hits a top rope headbutt and Corbin kicks out at 2. Queue the overly dramatic surprised reaction from Bull. Bull rolls Corbin out of the ring and throws him into the steps. Bull grabs a chair, but Corbin hits him with End Of Days and that's it. This was absolutely terrible.

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show Bayley and Becky Lynch mentally preparing for their match tonight. 

NXT Tag Team Championship Match
Lucha Dragons vs. Blake & Murphy

Well, at least this one can't possibly be as bad as the last match. Just as I type that, Sin Cara falls off Blake when trying to do a tilt-a-whirl headscissors. Kalisto then messes up his dive, but catches himself and is able to hit it on a second try. Sin Cara then hits a top rope victory roll that looked a little scary. Is Sin Cara the biggest bust in WWE history? I feel like he has to be up there. This match just has no flow to it. The finish comes when Sin Cara hits a one armed powerbomb on Murphy for a 2 count. From there Murphy hits a suplex and Wesley hits a Frog Splash for the victory. This wasn't very good either, but at least they were trying to make it exciting. 

Match Rating: *1/2

NXT Championship #1 Contender Match
Adrian Neville vs. Finn Balor

We have demon Finn here tonight. We get a little bit of back and forth action. Finn goes for a springboard dropkick, but gets hit with a dropkick from Neville. Balor gets Neville out of the ring and then hits the swanton over the top. Balor then hits a running dropkick onto Neville outside the ring and knocks him into the barricade. Balor hits a double stomp off the top rope to the back of Neville's head, but only can get a 2 count. The momentum shifts over to Neville and we get some impressive offense. After a corkscrew somersault or something like that, Balor is able to kick out. Neville goes for the Red Arrow, but Balor gets his knees up and immediately goes for a pin. Neville kicks out at 2 and Balor hits him with a running dropkick. Balor hits the Coup de Grace and that's all. This was lightyears better than the last two matches and both men held up their half of the bargain. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

Now we see Sasha Banks and Charlotte just moments before their match.

Fatal 4-Way For The NXT Women's Championship
Bayley vs. Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte

These are always my favorite matches to recap. Becky and Sasha work together until they both go to pin Bayley and it goes south from there. Becky hits Sasha with a pump handle suplex. Charlotte has been eliminated from the equation thanks to being thrown into the LED board earlier. She comes back in to break up a pin attempt and hits a few neckbreakers. Charlotte and Sasha start trading forearms and then Sasha sidesteps Sasha and spears Becky. Charlotte is going for a Glam Slam and Bayley hits Becky with the Codebreaker in the middle of it. Sasha sets up Charlotte on the second rope and Becky on the first and hits double knees. Bayley comes in and hits an exploder suplex on Sasha. Bayley then connects with back elbows in the corner and the gross referee is clearly telling them instructions. Bayley props up Charlotte and hits a hurricanrana. Bayley hits the Bayley To Belly, but Becky breaks up the pin. Bayley hits a slide through dropkick under the first rope and through the corner of hte ring. Sasha takes them both out with a dive. Charlotte then hits a dive onto the three of them and they are all down. Becky has Charlotte up in the corner and here comes Bayley. She knocks Becky off and hits a super Bayley To Belly but Sasha breaks it up. She goes for a pin, but Charlotte kicks out. Sasha puts on the Bank Statement in the center of the ring, but has to break it to knock Bayley and Becky out of the ring. She puts it back on, but Charlotte won't quit. Sasha turns it into a pin and becomes your new NXT Women's Champion. This was a very good match that crammed in a ton of action in a fairly short amount of time. It was clear that Sasha was the next darling of the division, so the choice is not surprising here. All four women got time to shine and took advantage of it. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

After the match, Charlotte extends her hand to Sasha, but they hug instead. Sasha then shoves her away and holds up the title. 

NXT Championship Match
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn

Owens steps out of the ring to mess with Sami, but Sami is tired of waiting and hits a senton over the top rope while the referee is trying to get Owens in the ring. Back in the ring, Owens attacks with some big time contact and Sami is bouncing all over the ring for it. Sami attempts to fight back, but gets dropped on the top rope instead. After a lengthy beatdown, Sami fires back with some clotheslines. Zayn hits a Blue Thunder Bomb and naturally that isn't good enough for the victory. Zayn runs into a kick from Owens and it's followed up by the cannon ball, but Zayn kicks out. They battle up top, with Zayn going for a superplex. Owens shoves him off and goes for the senton, but Zayn gets his knees up. Zayn hits the exploder suplex in the corner, but Owens is able to get out of the way before the Helluva Kick. Outside the ring, Owens goes for a powerbomb, but Zayn is able to escape on the ring apron and then hits a springboard moonsault. Back in the ring, Zayn is selling the effects of hitting his head on the ramp and as a result eats a Pop Up Powerbomb, but is able to kick out at 2. Owens now starts to go Brock Lesnar on Zayn here. The trainer comes out to check in on Zayn and then Owens hits a powerbomb. He picks him up and gives him another one, but Zayn slowly is able to roll up his shoulder during th epin attempt. The trainer continues to attempt to check on Zayn, but Owens gives him a third and fourth one. During the fifth attempt, the referee pulls Owens away and rings the bell, declaring Owens the new champion. The crowd does not like that finish until Owens holds up the title. Typical fans. This was good, but a bit too methodical for my taste. I would have rather they trimmed off 5 minutes and gone with a quicker pace. The ending fell a little flat too. These guys are incapable of having anything less than a good match though, no matter the circumstances.

Match Rating: ***1/2

This TakeOver was on par with the last few they have put on, although the Dempsey/Corbin match was dreadful. The tag team match was a big letdown as well here. The last three matches delivered though and were able to mostly make you forget about those. This is a definite thumbs up and a good one to take a look back at. 

Overall Rating: 82%