NXT Takeover: [R]Evolution -- Results & Afterthoughts

NXT Takeover: [R]Evolution took place on December 11, 2014. WWE advertised for Kevin Owens' debut during the event. Corey Graves, who announced on the preshow his retirement from the ring due to concussions, made his debut as a commentator for the event.

Kevin Owens def. CJ Parker in his NXT debut

After watching Kevin Steen, now dubbed Kevin Owens (named after his favorite wrestler, Owen Hart, and a tribute to his own son, Owen), for the past few years in Ring of Honor, I had a lot of faith in his WWE debut. My only concerns are his backstage attitude and keeping his weight down for WWE's preferences. Don't forget what happened to Chris Hero/Kassius Ohno (WWE seems to love these "KO" monikers...) - he got fired because he had a beer gut since he couldn't keep his weight down. 

Getting busted open in his debut was that struck of luck that Kevin Owens needed in his debut to get over with the Full Sail University crowd (and everyone else for that matter) to get over as a legitimate roughneck, bad ass. Regardless, the guy manages to finish the match with a busted nose, thanks to a botched Shotei from CJ Parker, causing the blood to pour out like a faucet. I was a little underwhelmed that WWE made one of his old running/diving move counters into his finisher, Pop-Up Powerbomb. I can't be too surprised as I knew going into this that WWE wouldn't allow him to use the Package Piledriver as a finisher here. 

Baron Corbin def. random jobber while Bull Dempsey watches from the crowd

This has been going on for weeks now and I hope they get to the point with these encounters. Are they going to team up or are they going to feud against each other and finally end these squash matches as NXT is running out of jobbers for both of them. 

Over the last few months, people keep telling me that Baron Corbin has the "it factor" to be a big star, but in all honesty, I'm not seeing it. I'll give it more time into the New Year, but this isn't the 90's anymore and these guys with these "streaks" from defeating waves of nameless jobbers and forgettable opponents don't impress me in the least. I will garner fair judgment of this guy once he has a legitimate threat and wrestles a match that's not a squash. 

Lucha Dragons def. The Vaudevillains to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships

As much as I loved the video vignettes to build up to this match, the match itself left me a bit underwhelmed. Maybe I'm spoiled from watching pure lucha libre from Lucha Underground, but I was hoping from a little bit better from this match. All of these guys are talented, don't get me wrong, but this match felt more like a standard bout on a regular episode of NXT than a title match.

I hope The Vaudevillains don't fall to the bottom of the ladder in terms of contenders to the NXT Tag titles as I wouldn't mind them getting a title run in the New Year. That being said, there's a LOT of budding teams in this division, so both the Vaudevillains AND the current reigning champions, the Lucha Dragons, are going to have to stay on their toes or any one of the other teams may take their spots in this division.

Speaking of which, that brings us to the next match on this card...

Hideo Itami & Finn Balor def. The Ascension

I remember watching this event live and my Twitter feed exploded during Finn Balor's entrance. I personally found it to be hilarious to see the WWE marks' reactions as I can clearly tell who has and has not seen Prince Devitt (Finn Balor) work a match prior to his NXT arrival. That being said, I wouldn't get too excited as reports already confirmed that this won't be a regular thing for Devitt wearing his signature body paint. Much like his run on the indies and more notably for NJPW, it's going to be saved for special occasions, such as these live PPV-style events.

This match wasn't bad at all, but after watching the recap special on NXT that same week earlier that day, it's the EXACT same match they wrestled against the Ascension from their first encounter. Sure, the finish is different, but it's pretty much the same match they wrestled before.

To be honest, I was more entertained at how hard NXT was trolling during this match to cater to the marks than the actual contest itself: KENTA (Hideo Itami) teasing the Go To Sleep (an obvious spot out of spite towards CM Punk, despite KENTA being the innovator of the move) before it was countered and Devitt hitting the Reverse Bloody Sunday (rarely WWE allows popular indy talent to use their same finishers on their programming - i.e. Cesaro, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, etc.) were at the top of this list of spots they were doing to get a reaction out of people.

Charlotte def. Sasha Banks to retain the NXT Women's Championship

Before I even talk about this match, I want to rave for the video package that hyped up this match. I swear if more video packages like this were made for the women's division, I think more people would care about the Divas instead of instantly writing them off as the "bathroom break" on every show and PPV event.

As much as I enjoyed this match and was thoroughly entertained to see women's wrestling matter again in WWE's product, I can't discredit Sasha Banks for carrying Charlotte throughout this match. From start to finish, Sasha lived up to her moniker as "The Boss" - carrying the momentum and controlling the pacing of this match.

If you regularly read my live tweets during NXT and WWE programming, you should know that I'm not particularly fond of Charlotte's ring work. I feel that she's improving but she's not that strong of a competitor unless she has someone (namely a veteran) who can control the match from start to finish and hide her flaws. Sasha Banks performed that task flawlessly. I'm skeptical to believe that Charlotte wouldn't be in this position in the NXT Women's division if her daddy wasn't Hall of Famer, "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair.

Despite what I think about Charlotte, this match did what it set out to do. It added another accomplishment to Charlotte's resume as another bullet point by establishing her as strong champion in a division without the "Anti-Diva" Paige. We all know that Paige left some rather large shoes to fill in for the NXT Divas in her absence. Sasha Banks turned a lot of heads as well, establishing herself as a future star in the making. If she either doesn't win the NXT Women's Championship by the end of 2015 or show up on the main roster, then I'm going to be surprised. Like I was telling another friend about this match, Sasha has a lot more "character" (the main thing that keeps AJ Lee over while diluting her mediocre ring work) than the bulk of girls on both rosters and she's not afraid to show it.

(Whistles) With or without Paige, the Divas of NXT continue to set the standard and raise the bar higher in terms of women's wrestling in WWE. If the Divas on the main roster don't step their game up in 2015, then the NXT Women's title will end up being more prestigious than the Divas Championship, no matter how long  or how many times AJ Lee holds it.

Sami Zayn def. Adrian Neville (c) to become the NEW NXT Champion

This was the moment that we have been waiting for. Every time these two Superstars get into the ring together it has been truly magical. Without a shadow of a doubt, this match is going to be on everyone's Match of the Year lists one way or another. This match had everything - superb storytelling, amazing athleticism, and a powerful payoff that sets the stage for the future of NXT for months to come. This sole match had everything that is missing in a lot of WWE's product on the main roster.

If Sami Zayn didn't win this, I would've cried for him. That shows how much emotion was behind this match. As a wrestling fan, I was proud to see these indy greats make their mark on one of WWE's grand stages. The sky is only the limit here for these guys. If you didn't mark out for Kevin Owens' heel turn post-match then clearly you haven't kept up with their history prior to WWE.

(Whistles) If they can top their crazy on/off wars from Ring of Honor, then NXT fans are truly in for a treat for the years to come.

Final Thoughts:

Without a shadow of a doubt, this was my personal favorite WWE Pay-Per-View of 2014 just from my favorites from the independent scene upstaging the main roster talent. This single event proved that WWE has the tools to be amazing again.

This was the wake-up call that the ENTIRE WWE Universe and all of its employees needed. With all of the alternatives on the horizon for 2015 - Lucha Underground, New Japan, Global Force Wrestling, Impact Wrestling on Destination America, Ring of Honor, etc., WWE can't settle with their mediocre "same ol' shit" regime. If they can continue putting on stellar shows such as this, then there's hope for the future of WWE and Vince McMahon wouldn't have to worry about the subscription numbers for the WWE Network nor fear people walking away from his product to the abundance of alternatives.

NXT, keep up the great work. The future is looking bright.