Tonight, it was the end...........of the beginning..............of the end of the beginning............of the beginning of all ends............of the ending of all beginnings...........some other ambiguous crap.
Yes ladies and gentlemen, the longest pay-per-view name in history, just not officially. Technically the official name is just "The End", but let's all admit, that isn't nearly as fun. What was fun was this show; that is a segue and a half right there.
This has been a weird recap thus far, but let's get to business. To open the show, we got the debut of Andrade "Cien" Almas, otherwise known as Manny Andrade or La Sombra. He's a very talented wrestler, and showcased some of that in this match against everyone's favorite wrestler, Tye Dillinger. I will say that I enjoyed his debut a lot more than Austin Aries at Takeover: Dallas, but I do wish we could've gotten some character development.
The Revival and American Alpha tore the house down at Dallas, but although the match had the crowd invested, it was a somewhat sloppy bout. This one was much tighter, and once again tore the house down. If I was told heading into the match that The Revival would be walking away NXT's first two-time champions, I would've lost my mind, and probably never have found it. After watching the match, I could agree with the decision. Thanks to some help on comm from Corey(takes notes, Maggle), the story was told quite well: at Dallas they tried to out-wrestle Jordan and Gable, and changed their approach, which got them the victory. Simple, but effective. The post-match beatdown from the Authors of Pain(I think that's their name) was also simple and effective, and it's great to see Paul Ellering back in the WWE. As I said on Twitter, I really hope the "Who are you" chants were not directed at him, because then I would be very sad.
I'm going to lump the Nakamura-Aries and Jax-Asuka matches here. I liked both, the former more than the latter, but neither quite captured the essence of NXT. Nakamura-Aries is way too meta for the little dev company, but they did put on a show, so kudos for that. I'm more and more impressed by Nia Jax with every match she wrestles. Is she the greatest ever? Of course not, However, for those who complain how "green" she is, remember that this is developmental. They think Nia's going to be a star, and to be honest, I agree. She's an interesting force, and offers a beast-like mentality that's missing in the women's division on the main roster. Asuka sold well, though I still can't see her adapting well on the big show.
Joe-Balor was a solid bout, though I didn't feel it was the best of their encounters. They did use the cage well, and as I mentioned on Twitter, good cage matches are pretty rare in the PG-environment. That ending Muscle Buster was easily spot of the night, but the ending just felt anticlimactic. Side note: I really hope Balor is working heel on the main roster, because I have grown to hate face Balor.
8/10
I feel like I overuse it, but the word to be used her is solid. It was a fun show without being game changing, and pretty much everybody held up their half. Almas should be great, the tag division has become my favorite part of NXT, Nakamura and Aries were great, though it felt weird seeing them on NXT. Nia and Asuka put together a nice bout, and the main event was worth it just for that final spot. The Takeover shows continue to impress, but the major question is: can Brooklyn be #betterthanBrooklyn? I leave you with that.
Yes ladies and gentlemen, the longest pay-per-view name in history, just not officially. Technically the official name is just "The End", but let's all admit, that isn't nearly as fun. What was fun was this show; that is a segue and a half right there.
This has been a weird recap thus far, but let's get to business. To open the show, we got the debut of Andrade "Cien" Almas, otherwise known as Manny Andrade or La Sombra. He's a very talented wrestler, and showcased some of that in this match against everyone's favorite wrestler, Tye Dillinger. I will say that I enjoyed his debut a lot more than Austin Aries at Takeover: Dallas, but I do wish we could've gotten some character development.
The Revival and American Alpha tore the house down at Dallas, but although the match had the crowd invested, it was a somewhat sloppy bout. This one was much tighter, and once again tore the house down. If I was told heading into the match that The Revival would be walking away NXT's first two-time champions, I would've lost my mind, and probably never have found it. After watching the match, I could agree with the decision. Thanks to some help on comm from Corey(takes notes, Maggle), the story was told quite well: at Dallas they tried to out-wrestle Jordan and Gable, and changed their approach, which got them the victory. Simple, but effective. The post-match beatdown from the Authors of Pain(I think that's their name) was also simple and effective, and it's great to see Paul Ellering back in the WWE. As I said on Twitter, I really hope the "Who are you" chants were not directed at him, because then I would be very sad.
I'm going to lump the Nakamura-Aries and Jax-Asuka matches here. I liked both, the former more than the latter, but neither quite captured the essence of NXT. Nakamura-Aries is way too meta for the little dev company, but they did put on a show, so kudos for that. I'm more and more impressed by Nia Jax with every match she wrestles. Is she the greatest ever? Of course not, However, for those who complain how "green" she is, remember that this is developmental. They think Nia's going to be a star, and to be honest, I agree. She's an interesting force, and offers a beast-like mentality that's missing in the women's division on the main roster. Asuka sold well, though I still can't see her adapting well on the big show.
Joe-Balor was a solid bout, though I didn't feel it was the best of their encounters. They did use the cage well, and as I mentioned on Twitter, good cage matches are pretty rare in the PG-environment. That ending Muscle Buster was easily spot of the night, but the ending just felt anticlimactic. Side note: I really hope Balor is working heel on the main roster, because I have grown to hate face Balor.
8/10
I feel like I overuse it, but the word to be used her is solid. It was a fun show without being game changing, and pretty much everybody held up their half. Almas should be great, the tag division has become my favorite part of NXT, Nakamura and Aries were great, though it felt weird seeing them on NXT. Nia and Asuka put together a nice bout, and the main event was worth it just for that final spot. The Takeover shows continue to impress, but the major question is: can Brooklyn be #betterthanBrooklyn? I leave you with that.
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