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was at the show, good time as always. have been to all 3 NXT takeover BKs. got free tickets via my friend's friend who works for WWE so pretty amazing seats too.
won't post spoilers but there is one pretty good match from the pre-show/tv taping.
Andrade "Cien" Almas vs. Johnny Gargano
Crowd was way into Gargano via him being EVOLVE's top dog for a while and La Boom in Queens being one of their main bases. Prob my personal favorite match of the night. Almas needed the win badly and Gargano is one of those natural "underdog" types who is made to take pins so good call. Also, the DIY shirt being thrown at Gargano as metaphor for Ciampa always being in his shadow is classic pro-wrestling storytelling.
****1/4
Sanity vs. Authors of Pain
V shocked by the result. Match was way better than I thought it would be. Alexander Wolfe was the real star here. Wondering if the Authors will move up, they'd be a good team to eventually put over Rollins and Ambrose to give the RAW tag division a good dominant team. Wonder if old ass Paul Ellering can handle the WWE touring schedule.
Popped hard for the reDragon debut. Looks like Sanity will just be transitional champs.
***1/2
Aleister Black vs. Hideo Itami
Feel bad for Hideo. Feels like he has never and maybe will never get a fair shake. It was obvious from the second Code Orange came out to play Black's theme who was going over. Could see Black fast-tracked to the main roster. Dunno what else they do with him since it seems pretty clear that Adam Cole will be McIntyre's first challenger. A program with Ohno would be pretty dope, I guess. Black def has "it" though I think "Aleister Black" is a lame ass name especially compared to Tommy End. Match was disappointing. Thought it'd be the runaway MOTN. Instead it was just pretty good.
Could see Itami brought up to feud with Neville. I don't know what else you do with him in NXT at this point.
***
Asuka vs. Ember Moon
Very happy Asuka retained. Ember is a good wrestler but I don't like her character (inconsistent, she's a demonic werewolf and an "aww shucks" sympathetic babyface at the same time - pick one or the other), nor do I feel she's been built up well enough to be the one to end Asuka's winning streak. Also - just the right call given the way the crowd would have received a Moon victory. If she won she would have been booed out of Barclays. Instead she put on a hell of a match and got a standing ovation, "earning the crowd's respect." A win here would have made her a divisive champ which would't do her justice if they want to push her as a top face. Great match.
****
Bobby Roode vs. Drew McIntyre
Boring as fuck "WWE main event" style match that everyone basically knew would suck. Right guy won. Roode is just boring in the ring and would probably be in an Eric Young-esque role if he didn't luck into having that theme song that basically forced them to push him. I'd imagine that he's done in NXT and will be good midcard heel fodder for Smackdown. They may as well have him take Mike Kanallis' spot and ship him out.
Crowd went nuts for Adam Cole. I fucking hate Adam Cole and think he's the most overrated guy on the indies so I wasn't too psyched. Dude is just a bootleg redneck Shawn Michaels/Chris Jericho who tries to do the Kevin Owens/Young Bucks comedy spots but just comes off as tired. Whole fucking gimmick is aping Chris Jericho's "COME ON BAY-BAY" every seven seconds.
*1/2
Great show overall, but no real "classic" match like the last two takeover Brooklyns.
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