Saturday 11 February 2017

NXT Takeover: San Antonio Review

NXT Takeover: San Antonio took place at the Freeman Coliseum last Saturday. Every Takeover that I've watched so far have been really enjoyable. Despite that, I was worried that, as it was my first Takeover review, that it would not be as good. Ah well, let's find out.

The first match on the show was Tye Dillinger taking on Eric Young. Dillinger has to deal with Alexander Wolff and Sawyer Fulton Killian Dian trying to interfere, which is does until Young gouges his eyes; and when he goes to the outside, gets ran over by Dian like a freight train. Dillinger manages to make his comeback after he dropkicks Young when he jumps off the  turnbuckle. Dillinger goes on to hit the Tye Breaker but Wolff puts Young's foot on the ropes. Dillinger later on stops Dian from going into the ring but Young pulls him off the ropes to hit the wheelbarrow neckbreaker to get the win. I enjoyed this match and I feel sorry for Dillinger. I don't think that I've ever seen him win a Takeover match.
Winner: Eric Young (1 for 1)

 Next is Andrade "Cien" Almas taking on Roderick Strong. After a technical battle between the two, Almas takes advantage after putting Strong in an armbar over the ropes. Strong does get back into it and goes on to win after hitting Almas with a running big boot. For most of the match, I thought it was good but nothing really stood out. There were some cool spots towards the end and I was surprised that Strong won. However, this match has made me start to appreciate Strong a little more.
Winner: Roderick Strong (1 for 2)

We now get Authors of Pain challenging #DIY for the NXT Tag Team Championship. Like their usual matches, Authors of Pain proceed to brutally murder their opponents. However, Ciampia and Gargano hit them with double team moves and fast paced offence. That stops when Akam knocks Gargano off the apron into the barrier. After Gargano eventually gets the tag to Ciampia, they come close to winning when they put the Authors of Pain in the same submission moves that won them the Championship at the last Takeover. However, Razer picks up Gargano and slams him onto Ciampia. In the end, #DIY go for their finishing move but they get hit with the super collider instead. They go on to hit Ciampia with the Last Chapter to become the new Tag Team Champions. This match was really good and I think that this is the best match that the Authors of Pain have ever had. I'm disappointed that #DIY had a short reign but hopefully they go on to bigger things.
Winners: Authors of Pain (2 for 3)

The penultimate match is for the NXT Women's Champion as Asuka faces the challenges of Billie Kay, Peyton Royce and Nikki Cross. For most of the match it was between Asuka and Nikki before Asuka gets incapaciated. This is when Billie and Peyton get more involved, taking out Nikki with a suplex through a table. They then go after Asuka but it was in vain as she gets the win after a brutal kick to Peyton. This was a good match however, it did have one flaw. With Peyton and Billie working together, and not caring which one of them was Champion, why didn't they just pin each other?
Winner: Asuka (3 for 4)

The main event is the Glorious Bobby Roode challenging Shinsuke Nakamura for the NXT Championship. Roode frustrates Nakamura, getting to the ropes at every opportunity. The match goes back and forth before Nakamura starts kneeing the fuck out of Roode. However, he injures his knee when he lands on the floor after kneeing Roode off the apron. Nakamura gets on to hit the Kinshasa but his injury prevents him making the cover. Despite the pleas of the referee and the medic, Nakamura insists on continuing and walks into an Implant DDT by Roode, and just kicks out. Roode proceeds to do a half Boston crab on the injured knee followed by another Implant DDT to get the win and become NXT Champion. Wow. I knew that Roode would become the Champion at some point but I didn't think it would be now. It now looks like that they have a rematch in Orlando and then Nakamura can go up to the main roster.
Winner: Bobby Roode (3 for 5)

I really enjoyed this event. All the matches were pretty good and it shows how good the NXT roster is becoming. Every NXT live event they have done has been really good so far and hopefully that will continue in Orlando.

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