By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT Takeover: Stand & Deliver Night One
Simulcast live on April 7, 2021 on Peacock and USA Network
Orlando, Florida at Capitol Wrestling Center (WWE PC)
Pre-show notes
Sam Roberts was joined by former professional MMA fighter Jimmy Smith as the hosts of the Takeover pre-show. The panel ran through the Night 1 card to start off the show. The cameras from “earlier today” caught Io Shirai and Zoey Stark entering the WWE Performance Center together and also caught Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai entering the WWE PC…
The show cut to a hype package for Walter vs. Tommaso Ciampa…
The panel sent the show over to a Samoa Joe and Tommaso Ciampa sitodown interview. Joe asked Ciampa for his thoughts on Ciampa’s upcoming match against Ciampa. Ciampa said this is the most excited match he’s been excited for since his match against Johnny Gargano at Takeover: New Orleans. Joe then asked Ciampa about his confidence going into this match.
Ciampa talked about how all his tough times have built him to today, his injuries, matches and setbacks. Ciampa said he’s in the best condition of his career. Ciampa also talked about how much being a father has prepared him towards being a more dangerous fighter. The interview ended after Ciampa talked about going after the UK title and trying to get his new “goldie”…
A split screen video showed Tommaso Ciampa hanging out with Timothy Thatcher backstage. Ciampa handed Thatcher his necklace to keep safe. The show then cut to a tale of the tape which leaned in the favor of Walter…
The show then cut to Joe interviewing Walter. Walter talked about how even though he has a long title reign, he feels like he has to put in a little more work due to being forced to stop wrestling due to quarantine. Joe talked about Ciampa being at the top of NXT a few years ago, having to drop the title due to a neck injury. Walter said that he feels like a similar man to the Ciampa from two years ago, making wrestling the number 1 thing in their lives.
Walter said Ciampa is a different man now with different priorities. Joe wondered if Walter’s match against Ciampa will add to Walter’s legacy. Walter said he sees Ciampa as another one of his opponents and he sees Ciampa as another one of his great challengers. Joe asked Walter if he has any thoughts on going after the NXT Championship one day. Walter said everyone “takes the next step” someday, but right now Walter doesn’t know when that is going to happen. The show then cut back to the panel…
Sports Journalist Arash Markazi joined the panel via Skype to give more thoughts on Takeover. Sam Roberts then hyped up the pre-show match of Toni Storm vs. Zoey Stark. Roberts reiterated my observation in saying that Zoey Stark is on NXT TV just about every week…
Roberts thanked Rob Zombie for providing the song “The Triumph of King Freak” as the theme song for NXT Takeover: Stand and Deliver. Footage aired of Triple H and Shawn Michaels hyping NXT Takeover: Stand and Deliver on WWE’s The Bump show…
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed LA Knight, who is going to be the final wrestler to come out in the Gauntlet Eliminator. Knight cut one of his better promos since returning to WWE because he actually talked about trying to win the Gauntlet Eliminator while also weaving in his catchphrases (as opposed to being on autopilot in listing off his Eli Drake catchphrases). Sam Roberts then ran through the Gauntlet Eliminator rules…
Vic Joseph and Mickie James checked in from the commentary table to call the pre-show match…
John’s Thoughts: Very cool to see Mickie James on NXT let alone WWE television again (due to her appearing rarely these days despite being on the active roster). Hey, if WWE is going to force James to sit on the bench, why not just move her over to NXT to boost that show while also allowing the legend to show the world why she is so good. Remember how hot that James vs. Asuka match was a few years ago in James’s return to WWE?
Pre Show Match: Toni Storm vs. Zoey Stark. The fans traded “Let’s go Zoey” and “Let’s go Toni” chants. Both women traded side headlocks and chain wrestling to start off the match. Stark landed a nice slingshot dropkick, but was slowed down by Storm quickly after who worked on Zoey with methodical offense. Stark ended up rallying back with both women trading punches. Stark hit Storm with a nice Half-and-half suplex and basement knee for a few nearfalls.
Storm came back with an Electric Chair slam for a nearfall. Stark reversed Storm with a high back kick. Storm hit Stark with a series of German suplexes. Storm went for Storm Zero, but Stark rolled up Storm (the rollup was a bit awkward). Stark ended up picking up the win (it was a bit rough looking).
Zoey Stark defeated Toni Storm via pinfall in 9:52.
John’s Thoughts: A surprising finish, though the closing minutes were a bit rough. Poor Storm, who is in need of another reboot. She probably needs a mid-card run to acclimate herself to the NXT audience but I still believe she has it in her to be a face-of-the-company type of wrestler. Zoey Stark is clearly someone WWE is very very high on and they’re even acknowledging that they are giving her more TV time than other wrestlers. Again, she’s very rough, and you can’t blame her because they threw her right into the fire; but at the same time she hasn’t floundered. She’s definitely due for a huge NXT or main roster push one of these weeks.
McKenzie interviewed Wes Lee and Nash Carter about their upcoming title match. Lee bragged about being medically cleared from his hand injury. Carter said he should be talking about his opponents, but it’s all about MSK who are going to shine the brightest. MSK left after doing their hand signs…
Sam Roberts reiterated WWE’s usual plug that NXT has the best women’s division in the business as he went on to hype the Women’s Championship match. After the match hype package, Mickie James joined the pre-show panel and gave her thoughts on the Shirai vs. Gonzalez match. They then cut to Samoa Joe interviewing Raquel Gonzalez. After that interview they aired Joe interviewing Io Shirai (which included subtitles)…
Main Show
[Hour One] Alicia Taylor introduced Alice Cooper guitarist Nita Straus to open the show. Strauss played the Star Spangled banner on her electric guitar (You know Triple H is booking this when you have heavy metal Star Spangled Banner opening a “sporting” event). There also seemed to be more fans than usual packed into the WWE Performance Center. After some sound effects, the WWE Narrator introduced NXT Takeover: Stand and Deliver…
Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett, and Beth Phoenix were on commentary…
Entrances for the opening match took place. Pete Dunne had new entrance music. There was also a giant Triple H signature skull set up at the top of the ramp. Kushida still comes out dressed up in Denim and cosplaying as Marty McFly…
1. Pete Dunne vs. Kushida. Both men immediately went for arm submissions which both men quickly eluded. Both men then went for heel hooks on each other. Kushida was sporting cup therapy bruises. Kushida and Dunne kept countering each others’ submissions. Dunne dragged Kushida to ringside and then hit Kushida with an X-Plex on the apron. Dunne hit Kushida with a Sacrifice Arm Breaker on the bottom rope, combined with his wishbone finger break. Dunne and Kushida traded chest chops. Dunne blocked it for a bit, but Kushida ended up hitting Dunne with his signature cartwheel dropkick.
Kushida and Dunne brawled to the elevated ramp which also looked to be made out of plastic. Kushida reversed a Guillotine Choke into the Hoverboard Lock, but Dunne kept his hands clasped. Kushida went for a back elbow, but Dunne countered into a finger break spot. Kushida rolled up Dunne for the two count. The show then cut to picture-in-picture for USA, but continued for Peacock.
Dunne stomped on Kushida’s elbow and followed up with a diving elbow for a two count. Kushida came back with a front kick and a Falcon Arrow into a crossarmbreaker. Dunne escaped and slammed Kushida to the mat. Dunne knocked down Kushida but was also knocked down himself by Kushida’s haymaker. Kushida caught Dunne in the arm with a shotgun dropkick. Dunne was knocked off the top rope with Kushida’s handstand boots. Kushida locked Dunne in a Hoverboard Lock right after a Spanish Fly.
Dunne managed to find the bottom rope, but Kushida pulled the arm back with a armbar. Dunne broke the hold by getting his toe on the bottom rope. Kushida locked in the hoverboard lock a few more times, but Dunne kept getting a limb on the rope for the break. Kushida went for the Haymaker again, but Dunne caught the punch and did his finger break spot. Dunne stomped on Kushida’s hands a few time and followed up with a Buzzsaw Kick. Dunne hit Kushida with the Bitter End for the win.
Pete Dunne defeated Kushida via pinfall in 10:39.
Vic Joseph said that Dunne is the best technical wrestler in the world after winning that match (I mean, Daniel Bryan is still wrestling though. And Timothy Thatcher isn’t bad either). Highlights from the match aired…
John’s Thoughts: Great stuff which got uninterrupted if you were watching via the Peacock feed. This is exactly the way it should have gone, with Dunne getting the clean win over the very-protected Kushida. As protected as Kushida is, he still feels like he’s in a similar spot as Toni Storm in that he needs a few meaningful midcard stories before we can take him seriously in the main event. Dunne is doing that now in terms of his rebuild and this is a good step towards him being a NXT champion if that’s the route they want to head six months from now or so. Thoughts aside, this was a fun, fast paced, and technical matchup to start the show. Nice Takeover opener..
Io Shirai was shown entering the WWE Performance Center with Zoey Stark while Raquel Gonzalez was entering the PC with Dakota Kai…
A WrestleMania ad aired…
Vic Joseph, Beth Phoenix, and Wade Barrett checked in on commentary where they ran through the rules of the Gauntlet Eliminator. Leon Ruff was supposed to make his entrance for the eliminator, but he was beat up and dragged to the ramp by Isaiah Scott…
2. The Gauntlet Eliminator Match for a North American Championship Title Shot on Night 2 of Takeover. Ruff recovered and managed to trade blows with Scott after the bell. Ruff hit Scott with a nice twisting cutter from the announce desk to ringside. Scott recovered and tried to hit Ruff with a Super Power Bomb, but Ruff reversed it with a Frankensteiner. Bronson Reed made his entrance at the 3 minute mark. Reed power slammed Scott back in the ring. Reed gave Ruff a splash in the corner. Ruff and Reed hit Scott with a double team superplex.
Ruff tried to baseball slide under Reed, but Reed sat down and squashed Ruff. Ruff German Suplexed both Ruff and Scott at the same time. Cameron Grimes made his entrance and took out Reed with a springboard moonsault. Grimes took out a stack of cash and then paid Scott to team up with him. Scott accepted the cash. Ruff used his quickness to avoid Grimes, but Scott caught Ruff with a Power Slam on the buckle.
John’s Thoughts: Even when it comes to comedy, Impact really dropped the ball in terms of their bad booking of Trevor Lee. This guy is money! He wrestles like Daniel Bryan and with good writing he can be hilarious as hell. Big Money Trevor must be making his North Carolinian Senpai Big Money Matt Hardy very proud. I’m sure Jeff’s proud too, but he never had the Big Money character like Matt did and does.
While Dexter Lumis was making his entrance, Scott eliminated Ruff via pinfall in 9:45. Lumis entered the ring and gave out suplexes to Scott and Grimes. Beth Phoenix made the Oprah Winfrey You get a Car joke for these suplexes. Lumis and Reed traded punches in the ring. Both men struggled to lift up each other and were at a stalemate. Grimes dumped Reed to ringside. Lumis and Grimes took each other to ringside with a lariat (wtih Lumis landing awkwardly on the apron).
LA Knight made his entrance at the 12 minute mark. Knight cut a promo to the ring. He said he was going to punt Grimes to deep space. Grimes said he was going to drop Grimes to his head. Knight was about to cut a promo about Scott, but he was dragged into the ring by Bronson Reed. The show then went to picture-in-picture for the USA feed.
The show cut back with Knight hitting Reed with a cutter and hitting Grimes with a power slam. Knight hit Scott with a Superplex after a nice pounce on the top rope. Lumis tossed Knight aside and then locked Grimes in the Kata Gatame. Knight elminated Lumis wtih a jackknife pin at around 15:50. Reed slammed Knight to the mat. Reed eliminated Knight via pinfall at around 16:00. Lumis put Knight in the Kata Gatame at ringside before both men were sent to the back.
Grimes, Reed, and Scott traded signature moves Grimes and Scott took each other out with Reed falling on top of them while he was in a daze. Reed took out Scott with a lariat and Grimes took out Reed with his nice Spanish Fly power slam. Scott and Reed traded rollups with a hand full of tights with Scott getting the last hands on the tights. Scott eliminated Grimes via pinfall at about 19:45.
Reed went high risk, but was taken off with a dropkick and a sick looking power slam on the apron. Scott caught Reed with a 450 for a really close nearfall. Scott worked on Reed with a few kicks and a house call kick for a two count. Reed recovered and hit Scott with a Samoan Drop. Reed hit Scott with a Tsunami Splash to eliminate Scott and win the eliminator.
Bronson Reed won the Gauntlet Eliminator Match in 23:14 to earn a North American Championship title shot for night 2 of Takeover Stand and Deliver.
Johnny Gargano posed with the North American Championship at the top of the stage to face off with Reed. The show then cut to a hype package for Walter vs. Ciampa…
John’s Thoughts: A fun, well-paced match and one of the better gauntlet matches I’ve seen on WWE television. This match was given plenty of time and didn’t have any of those BS quick eliminations. In my opinion, this was a star making moment (in NXT) for Isaiah Scott and LA Knight. Knight stumbled out of the gate in last few NXT appearances with miscible in-ring matches and bland promos. Knight got to cut really good promos on this show and a lot of people really sleep on his very plucky in-ring ability. I feel like part of the problem is Knight tends to crap all over “workrate” and whatnot, but at the same time he’s one of the better workrate guys I’ve seen in modern wrestling (And I always go back to his match against Alberto El Patron for the GFW championship as an example that Knight can tell an amazing in-ring story). Scott got to show that he really shines in 10+ minute matches due to his ability to tell long stories. Scott got 23 minutes here and got to really shine. Reed was the right guy to go over here and his match with Gargano can really steal the show tomorrow, especially if we get “Takeover Gargano”.
Entrances for the NXT UK Championship match took place. Vic Joseph noted that WALTER’s over 2 year reign as UK Champion makes him the longest reigning major champion in WWE since the 1980s. Wade Barrett noted that Tommaso Ciampa was wearing wrestling tights for the first time in a while. Alicia Taylor handled the formal in-ring introductions for the Championship match…
3. WALTER vs. Tommaso Ciampa for the NXT United Kingdom Championship. Ciampa used his quickness to avoid Walter’s devastating strikes. Walter backed down Ciampa to a corner, but Ciampa fought his way out of the corner with rapid fire strikes. Ciampa threw in a bit of trash talk. Walter quickly ended Ciampa’s momentum with a knife edge chop. Walter tangled Ciampa in the turnbuckles and gave Ciampa a deadly chop and a few stomps. Walter tried to chop Ciampa on the announce desk, but Ciampa avoided it and he ended up karate chopping the Takeover logo display in half.
Walter suplexed Ciampa on the apron. Walter gave Ciampa a few lighter chops. Ciampa used strikes to fight Walter back. Walter adjusted his weight to block a suplex. Ciampa came back with shortarm kicks to Walter’s arm. Walter got a moment of respite after slowing down Ciampa with a Yakuza Kick. Walter dug in on Ciampa’s back with a Half Crab into a STO. Joseph noted that Ciampa’s kicks prevented Walter from locking in the submission. Ciampa escaped and rolled to ringside, with Walter selling his arm.
[Hour Two] Walter dragged Ciampa back in the ring with a suplex. Walter toyed with Ciampa with light kicks. Walter planted Ciampa back to the mat with a high knee to the head. Walter kept Ciampa to the mat with shortarm punches and boots. Ciampa got up and hit Walter with a series of quick clotheslines, but couldn’t get Walter off his feet. Ciampa got Walter against the ropes with a jumping lariat, but not off his feet. USA went to commercial.
Ciampa continued to run at Walter with running strikes, but couldn’t get Walter off his feet. Walter came back at Ciampa with a chop, but Ciampa no sold it and took Walter off his feet with a tackle. Ciampa hit Walter with an air raid crash for a two count. The show then cut back from commercial with Walter continuing to sell his arm. Walter reversed a Fairy Tale Ending into a pin attempt. Ciampa kicked out and hit Walter with the Fairy Tale Ending. Walter kicked out at two. Joseph said he doesn’t think anyone has gotten that close to beating Walter.
Ciampa hit Walter with a running knee. Walter sloawed down Ciampa with a sleeper. Ciampa got to the rope for the break, but Walter broke the hold with a German Suplex and lariat for a two count. Ciampa escaped a power bomb with a bite to the hand. Walter quickly came back with a kick to the spine and forearm. Ciampa took down Walter with a armbar. Ciampa twisted Walter’s digits in the submission. Walter got a toe on the bottom rope for the break, with Ciampa milking the 5 count.
Ciampa came at Walter with rapid punches. Walter dropped off the apron to avoid the Willow’s Bell. Barrett noted that Ciampa has to slow down to avoid disqualification. Walter tried to hit Ciampa with clubbing blows, but Ciampa hammered Walter’s hand into the top buckle with hammer blows. Walter and Ciampa made their way to the top rope. Ciampa adjusted himself and hit Walter with a Super Air Raid Crash for a two count. Walter and Ciampa traded fighting spirit chops.
Walter caught a chop and gave Ciampa a side sweep. Walter used a test of strength to lead to stomping Ciampa neck first into the mat. Walter hit Ciampa with a series of power bombs for a two count. A “this is awesome” chant ensued. Walter turned Ciampa inside-out with a Half Nelson Suplex and a knife edge chop for the pinfall win.
WALTER defeated Tommaso Ciampa via pinfall in 16:59 to retain the NXT United Kingdom Championship.
Highlights from the UK Championship match aired. Walter posed at the top of the ramp alongside Marcel Barthel, Fabien Aichner, and Alexander Wolfe. Walter continued to sell the injured arm after posing with the title, with his Imperium stablemates looking a bit concerned…
John’s Thoughts: Hands down, WALTER is my favorite wrestler to watch in modern pro wrestling and that’s due to his brutality and very practical wrestling style. Walter matches are the closest way that you can get a visual video game boss battle in real life with it all being very realistic and brutal. Credit to his selling of the hand that Ciampa injured during the match. The match outcome was no way in question but both men made this compelling nonetheless, causing you to suspend your disbelief for the great nearfalls. Ciampa showed that he can still wrestle that main event level here and hopefully they
The cool dog from this past week’s NXT was shown climbing up the ring steps to join it’s master in the ring. The LED showed that “Franky Monet” will be debuting on Tuesday (this is presumably the WWE name for Taya Valkyrie)…
Vic Joseph hyped up the Peacock discount QR code for membership (hey, and if you have Comcast as an Internet Provider, you can get Peacock for free)…
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Bronson Reed about winning the Gauntlet Eliminator. Reed said he put in 14 years of hard work and he’s beating Johnny Gargano tomorrow. Gargano showed up and said that Reality will hit Reed when Reed faces the greatest Takeover performer of all time. Gargano said he’s fresh. Gargano said Reed should enjoy tonight because tomorrow is about to be a different story…
Entrance for the NXT Tag Team Championship match aired. Oddly enough, no Zack Gibson promo before the match on his way to the ring…
4. “MSK” Nash Carter and Wes Lee vs. “Legado Del Fantasma” Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza vs. “The Grizzled Young Veterans” Zack Gibson and James Drake for the vacant NXT Tag Team Championships. The match started out fast paced until Drake and Carter slowed the action down with methodical wrestling. Drake hit Carter with a body slam for a two count. Wes Lee hit everyone at ringside with a Poetry in Motion dive at ringside. Legado Del Fantasma hit everyone at ringside with stereo dives.
Legado hit Lee and Carter with stereo coast-to-coast dropkicks. GYV broke up Legado’s pin. Wilde and Mendoza put the boots to Gibson and tossed him to ringside. The show then cut to picture-in-picture for USA Network (I’m watching via Peacock by the way).
Mendoza hit Carter with a lionsault for a two count. Drake rolled up Mendoza with a rollup for a two count. Lee came in and cleaned house with kicks and punches. Lee took out Gibson with a dive. Lee took out Mendoza and Wilde with a Tope Con Hilo. Lee hit Drake with a Eddy Gordo Waterfall Kick. Carter tagged in and MSK hit Gibson with Hot Fire Flame to give Carter a two count. The GYV went for a Doomsday Device at ringside on Lee, but Carter took out Drake with a running knee. Lee took out Legado with a double hit toss. Lee gave Drake a suplex.
Gibson kept Lee from escalating the top rope. Gibson tangled Lee’s injured hand in the top buckle pad and Drake gave the hand a dropkick. Gibson locked Lee in the Shankly Gates. Drake put Carter in a crossface, but Carter held on to Lee’s hand to prevent him from tapping. Mendoza broke up both submissions. Wilde jumped off Mendoza’s back to hit Gibson with a splash. Legado hit Lee with the Legsweep Leg Lariat combo for a two count on Lee.
Drake dove from the elevate ramp to hit Wilde with a Doomsday Device with the help of Gibson. MSK took out Mendoza with a double stomp slam. MSK and GYV had a slugfest in the center of the ring. Carter hit GYVs with a cutter and DDT combo. MSK hit Gibson with a Corkscrew Blockbuster to give Lee the pinfall win.
MSK defeated The Grizzled Young Veterans and Legado Del Fantasma via pinfall in 15:24 to become the new NXT Tag Team Champions.
John’s Thoughts: For me personally, this was a buffer match, but at the same time this was a stellar spotfest style match with nonstop action and acrobatics. This was fun, especially if you like that really fast faced indie style. The finish was a bit surprising because I thought that either of the heel teams could have benefited from picking up the title belts. Legado could have done the “draped in gold” thing with Escobar, and the GYVs need to get a consistent push without the start and stops. That said, I don’t mind MSK picking up the titles because finally a legitimate tag team with buzz has the straps in NXT for the first time in a long while. Hopefully some good matchups can come out from this. I just thought it would have been good to have the babyfaces chasing and they had the out with the Lee storyline hand injury.
The commentary team ran through the card for NXT Takeover: Stand and Deliver Night 2. Vic Joseph announced that Poppy will be performing on Night 2 of Takeover…
A hype video aired to promote the NXT Women’s Championship match…
Stephanie McMahon and new NXT signing Surray were shown cheering in the crowd…
The women’s championship got the World Championship match introductions, where you have the camera following the fighters through the corridors. Entrances for the match took place. Shirai had green and glittered ring gear this time (not sure if this is some new Kamen Rider gear. I’m not following KR Saber until the show finishes up). Alicia Taylor handled the formal in-ring introductions. The introductions included the Tale of the Tape graphics accompanying the intros…
5. Io Shirai vs. Raquel Gonzalez for the NXT Women’s Championship. Gonzalez took out Shirai with a big boot early on. Shirai convered a huracanrana into a double boot to gain control. Shirai cornered Gonzalez with a huracanrana and a corner crossbody. Shirai took down Gonzalez with boots. Gonzalez blocked Shirai’s slingshot meteora. SHirai dumped Gonzalez to ringside. Shirai hit Gonzalez with a crossbody dive against the barricade. The referee caught Dakota Kai trying to get involved, which caused her to get ejected. Kai did manage to get hands on Shirai before being ejected.
Shirai hit Gonzalez with a moonsault into a DDT against the barricade. Gonzalez then lawn darted Shirai into the ringpost (there’s a Mysterio ode for Shirai). Gonzalez reversed a DDT into a flapjack into the top rope for a two count. Shirai tried to come back with chops, but was taken down by Gonzalez shoulder tackle. Gonzalez locked Shirai in a modified Gory Special. Shirai countered a power bomb with a victory roll into a double stomp. Gonzalez avoided a 619 initially, but Shirai gave Gonzalez an armdrag and 619. Shirai hit Gonzalez with a slingshot dropkick.
Shirai hit Gonzalez with a Code Red for a two count. Gonzalez almost landed her finishing Uranage but Shirai rolled up Gonzalez into a Crippler’s Crossface. Gonzalez got to the bottom rope for the break. Shirai caught Gonzalez at ringside on the elevated ramp with a Triangle Moonsault. Shirai took out Gonzalez at ringside with a running meteora. Shirai climbed on top of the Triple H skull and then gave Gonzalez a diving crossbody. WWE had 6 or so cameras set up to show this dive.
[Overrun] At this point we’re 10 minutes into the match. Shirai hit Gonzalez with her finisher, the moonsault. Gonzalez kicked out at two with Shirai selling shock. Gonzalez recovered and gave Shirai a power bomb at ringside. After trading words, Gonzalez took out Shirai with a Clothesline from Hell. Gonzalez then hit Shirai with her elevated Uranage for the victory.
Raquel Gonzalez defeated Io Shirai via pinfall in 12:56 to become the new NXT Women’s Champion.
Highlights from the match aired. The commentators talked about Gonzalez ending a historic championship reign. Gonzalez was emotional and cheering at the top of the ramp as she was given fog machine and sparkler pyro to comemmerate the moment. Gonzalez held up her new title belt to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: That was a great match. Fun part about it, it was shorter than your usual Takeover main event, yet had as much action as any Takeover main event. This was a fun main event with a lot of US and Lucha Libre combined influence in it. Io played the role of Rey Mysterio very well in trying to become the giant killer, even utilizing most her idol Rey’s moveset against Raquel. Raquel never disappoints as well and it was also good to see her implement some of the Gory Guerrero offense into her moveset here. Kudos to WWE for building up Gonzalez like a monster in the last episode of NXT and not wasting that build on this week’s show. Good stuff and you know Shirai was losing when Gonzalez kicked out of the finisher.
Let the speculation begin as to weather Io Shirai is getting called up (especially with WWE introducing a new Japanese sensation wrestler in Surray before the match). As usual, you never wish for anyone to get called up because WWE main roster has a bad track record with NXT callups. The track record is even worse when it involves a person of color. Look at what happened to Andrade recently. Worries aside, Shirai and Gonzalez put on a Takeover worthy main event on this Takeover themed show. Sporting the Takeover theme, this match was at that Takeover level which sets the table to something very amazing and special the following night. I’ll have more of my thoughts in a bit with my member’s exclusive audio review of this show.
“Good stuff and you know Shirai was losing when Gonzalez kicked out of the finisher.
no I didn’t know Shirai was loseing when Gonzalez kicked out of her finisher…… I’ve seen that type thing happen over the years when when a wrestler kicks out of a nother wrestler’s finish.. it doesn’t mean the wrestler is set to lose their match. it gives fans excitement then a wrestler kicks out of another’s finishing hold.
“Ruff German Suplexed both Ruff and Scott at the same time.”
Dang, Ruff got the stuff!
This ring announcer is terrible – almost as bad as Justin Roberts. Can’t we get Lilian Garcia back?