Sunday 3 September 2017

NXT Takeover Brooklyn III Review

NXT Takeover Brooklyn III took place last Saturday at the Barclays Center. The last few Takeovers have been pretty decent so will this be better? Let's take a look.

The first match was Johnny Gargano taking on Andrade "Cien" Almas with Zelina Vega. Almas occasionally displays some of the arrogance that Vega is trying to get rid of; and he gets the advantage early on. After they exchange blows, Gargano comes close after a beautiful slingshot DDT. In the end, Gargano is about to go for his finisher when Vega throws a #DIY T-shirt at him. This somehow gives Gargano a traumatic experience and Almas hits a running dropkick followed by  hammerlock DDT to get the win. This was a really good match and without a doubt, Almas' best match since joining NXT. It would have been nice to see Gargano win but I feel that Almas needed it more and hopefully this will continue.
Winner: Andrade "Cien" Almas (1 for 1)

Next is the NXT Tag Team Championship match as Alexander Wolff and Killian Dian from SaNitY challenge The Authors of Pain. Razr and Akam don't fuck around and attack their opponents before the bell rings. When the referee regains control and the match officially starts, Young replaces Dian, which I assume is ok. There was an awesome bit when Nikki Cross attempts a cross body but she's caught by Akam. Dian then does a running cross body, sending all of them through a table. This gives Young and Wolff the chance to hit a belly-to-back suplex/neckbreaker combo to pin Razr and become the new NXT Tag Team Champions...? Holy shit, I didn't expect this. Unofrtuantely, their celebrations were short lived as Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly turn up and fuck everyone up.

This match was probably the one that I was least looking forward to yet this was a very pleasant surprise. MVP of the match definitely is Alexander Wolff. I didn't think he had it in him but he was amazing. Well done to SaNitY for winning their first Championship.
Winners: SaNitY (1 for 2)

Our 3rd match is between Hideo Itami and Aleister Black, and they spent the early part of this kicking the shit out of each other. Itami hits a guillotine knee drop to get the advantage and keeps him grounded. After a very back and forth match, including Itami hitting a flacom arrow from the top rope, Black hits a Black Mask to get the win. It was a bit slower than I expected but despite that it was a good match.
Winner: Aliester Black (2 for 3)

The penultimate match is one that I'm really looking forward to as Ember Moon challenges Asuka for the NXT Women's Championship. Ember dominates Asuka to begin with. However,  Asuka sends Ember into the steel steps then suplexes her onto the steel ramp to get the advantage. Asuka focuses her attack on the shoulder that she injured earlier in the year, with moves such as an octopus lock. The match goes back and forth, with Ember having to adapt due to her shoulder. In the end, Asuka manages to apply the Asuka Lock and Ember eventually taps out. This was a really good match and I was quite surprised that Asuka won. I was going to write about where they would go with Asuka. However, it was revealed that she got injured and is out for a few months. Therefore, she has vacated the Championship and she will be on the main roster when she comes back. A shame that no one in NXT got to beat her. However, I'm looking forward to seeing how she does on the main roster.
Winner: Asuka (2 for 4)

The main event is Drew McIntyre  challenging Bobby Roode  for the NXT Championship. After some back and forth between the two, McIntyre manages to hit a Future Shock and a Claymore utring the match but Roode kicked out each time. Roode goes on to a Glorious DDT but McIntyre kicks out. Roode then hits another Glorious DDT and immediately hits a third. However, McIntyre gets out of it and hits a second Claymore to get the win and become the new NXT Champion. Afterwards, Adam Cole along with Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish, interrupts McIntyre's celebrations and fucked him up.

This was a decent match between the two and I'm looking forward to seeing a McIntyre/Cole feud. As for Roode, I was looking forward to seeing him face Roderick Strong in the near future. However, he got called up to Smackdown a few days later so I guess that might not happen.
Winner: Drew McInytre (3 for 5)

I really enjoyed Takeover: Brooklyn III and it has been the best Takeover of the year so far. Even though two of their Champions are going up to the main roster, I feel that NXT is in a good place right now and will stay there for the foreseeable future.

No comments:

Post a Comment