You may have noticed that I forgot to mention this show when talking about my upcoming posts, and that was purely a mistake. As a result, today you are getting a double header. First is NXT Takeover: Dallas and later today, my recap of Wrestlemania 32. Let's get rolling.
The opening contest between The Revival and American Alpha was about as good as anyone could've expected. Two fun, well put together tag teams fought tooth and nail over those NXT Tag belts, with the right team, American Alpha, walking away with the gold by the end. Kudos to the new champs for delivering the most emotional moment of the night as they celebrated their biggest win to date. Following that came the only dark spot on this amazing card, but to be fair to them, Aries and Corbin were never going to live up to the standards set by the rest of the night's performances. Good debut win for Aries.
Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn are two of the greatest performers in the business today, and the match they put on was something special. There were no titles, no stipulations, just pride and victory on the line. Almost everything in this match was executed perfectly, from the false finishes to the trading of forearms to the post-match hug. Sami Zayn has been the ace of NXT for over two years now, and his departure means that someone else is going to have to step up. Ever since Brooklyn of last year, Bayley has ruled over the NXT Women's division, beating every challenger to her throne. The only woman who can beat a queen? The Empress, Asuka, who was crowned the new champion in the most gut wrenching way possible. The match itself was solid and told a nice story, but was never going to live up to Zayn/Nakamura right before it. That finish though......shocking, to say the least. Seeing Bayley scramble to attempt an escape, the lock getting further tightened, her body go limp and the ref calling for the bell. It was a very emotional moment, and will likely not be forgotten any time soon.
For the second Takeover in a row, this show was main evented by Finn Balor and Samoa Joe, and I think this was the better of the two encounters. This match was not a technical masterpiece like Zayn/Nakamura, it wasn't a physcological battle like Zayn/Joe, or as emotional as Bayley/Sasha in Brooklyn. This was an all out war, and I loved it. Regardless of whether it was intentional or not, Joe getting busted open really put this match over the top. Although this may be his last match in NXT, Samoa Joe really proved that he still has it. I haven't liked a large majority of Joe's bouts, hell I didn't even like him coming to NXT, but on this night he proved why so many think so highly of him. Balor, although he did well, was definitely out performed, and that isn't good for the future of NXT. Despite that, this match was as good as it possibly could've been, and was a nice finish to a fantastic night of professional wrestling.
I began watching NXT at Takeover:Fatal 4 Way, and have watched every episode of NXT and every Takeover since. Although I enjoyed shows like Brooklyn and R Evolution, this show is the best Takeover event I've ever seen, and up there in terms of overall wrestling shows. Truly a great time to be watching NXT, and Wrestlemania is as f***ed as ever.
10/10
Although I like to remain optimistic, there is simply no way 'Mania tops this show. Maybe I'm wrong, and if I am, I'll be eating a serious amount of crow. Stay tuned for my Wrestlemania recap and all the new content coming your way soon.
-Henry
The opening contest between The Revival and American Alpha was about as good as anyone could've expected. Two fun, well put together tag teams fought tooth and nail over those NXT Tag belts, with the right team, American Alpha, walking away with the gold by the end. Kudos to the new champs for delivering the most emotional moment of the night as they celebrated their biggest win to date. Following that came the only dark spot on this amazing card, but to be fair to them, Aries and Corbin were never going to live up to the standards set by the rest of the night's performances. Good debut win for Aries.
Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn are two of the greatest performers in the business today, and the match they put on was something special. There were no titles, no stipulations, just pride and victory on the line. Almost everything in this match was executed perfectly, from the false finishes to the trading of forearms to the post-match hug. Sami Zayn has been the ace of NXT for over two years now, and his departure means that someone else is going to have to step up. Ever since Brooklyn of last year, Bayley has ruled over the NXT Women's division, beating every challenger to her throne. The only woman who can beat a queen? The Empress, Asuka, who was crowned the new champion in the most gut wrenching way possible. The match itself was solid and told a nice story, but was never going to live up to Zayn/Nakamura right before it. That finish though......shocking, to say the least. Seeing Bayley scramble to attempt an escape, the lock getting further tightened, her body go limp and the ref calling for the bell. It was a very emotional moment, and will likely not be forgotten any time soon.
For the second Takeover in a row, this show was main evented by Finn Balor and Samoa Joe, and I think this was the better of the two encounters. This match was not a technical masterpiece like Zayn/Nakamura, it wasn't a physcological battle like Zayn/Joe, or as emotional as Bayley/Sasha in Brooklyn. This was an all out war, and I loved it. Regardless of whether it was intentional or not, Joe getting busted open really put this match over the top. Although this may be his last match in NXT, Samoa Joe really proved that he still has it. I haven't liked a large majority of Joe's bouts, hell I didn't even like him coming to NXT, but on this night he proved why so many think so highly of him. Balor, although he did well, was definitely out performed, and that isn't good for the future of NXT. Despite that, this match was as good as it possibly could've been, and was a nice finish to a fantastic night of professional wrestling.
I began watching NXT at Takeover:Fatal 4 Way, and have watched every episode of NXT and every Takeover since. Although I enjoyed shows like Brooklyn and R Evolution, this show is the best Takeover event I've ever seen, and up there in terms of overall wrestling shows. Truly a great time to be watching NXT, and Wrestlemania is as f***ed as ever.
10/10
Although I like to remain optimistic, there is simply no way 'Mania tops this show. Maybe I'm wrong, and if I am, I'll be eating a serious amount of crow. Stay tuned for my Wrestlemania recap and all the new content coming your way soon.
-Henry
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