NXT TakeOver: Rival took place on February 11, 2015 and served as NXT's premiere event to kick off the 2015 season of NXT programming and storylines in the wake of the critically acclaimed and praised NXT TakeOver: [R]Evolution. Did this event live up to the hype and high-standard that it's predecessor set the bar for? Let's find out shall we?

Hideo Itami defeated Tyler Breeze. Itami pinned Breeze after a running kick.

Not bad for an opening match. I still feel like Tyler Breeze has been reduced to an afterthought or rather, enhancement talent, after the monumental signings of Prince Devitt (Finn Balor), KENTA (Hideo Itami), and Kevin Steen (Kevin Owens), but at least he put on a stellar showing in this match with Itami. I wonder where they will go from here as NXT has to be VERY careful how they push Itami and Balor from here on out. I personally would have kept them both as a tag team a bit longer before dissolving their partnership, but apparently NXT wanted to split that up and push them to the moon as singles competitors.

I'm not taking anything away from Itami in the least but I can't help but feel sorry for Tyler Breeze who constantly seems to be getting the short end of the deal.

I'm guessing that NXT are going to keep teasing the Go To Sleep by Itami until his first big title win as a singles competitor. I'm already shocked that they are still letting him use the Busaiku Knee Kick while Daniel Bryan already had first dibs on that as a finisher. CM Punk isn't coming back anytime soon so WWE should go ahead and give Itami one of his iconic moves to his NXT arsenal.

No Disqualification Match: Baron Corbin defeated Bull Dempsey. Corbin countered a chairshot attempt into the End Of Days for the win.

To be quite honest, NXT lost my interest in this feud the second these two fought each other for the first time after all of the hype and anticipation, only for Bull Dempsey to lose CLEAN. No bullshit, no count out, nada - just a CLEAN loss. Apparently, Bull Dempsey is the 2015 edition Mojo Rawley after losing not once but TWICE to Corbin prior to this match. Corbin's match against Adrian Neville two weeks ago on NXT's weekly broadcast, but I'm skeptical how they are going to continue to build this guy off squash matches.

I honestly don't see how this guy is being garnered as "the next big thing" (no pun intended), when we haven't see him do much in an extended bout that's not a squash match. Neville can work a stellar match with a paper bag so you can't garner judgment on Corbin's single match against him.

As for this match itself, it was better than what I was expecting going into this. If this event had any piss break match, it was this one for sure. This match was littered with "been there, done that" spots and a more than obvious finish.

NXT Tag Team Championship Match: Blake & Murphy (c) defeated the Lucha Dragons. Blake & Murphy retained after a frog splash. After the match, we got more teases for Solomon Crowe’s debut.

I have been saying it since they debuted but Blake and Murphy are NXT's poor man's version of the American Wolves sprinkled with a little of the Motor City Machine Guns, but without their flair and charisma. It disappointed me to see this match filled with botches to start off, but they were fortunate to shake off those shortcomings and turn this match around for the better during it's latter half.


I feel like the Lucha Dragons are trying to overcompensate and compete with what the guys down in Lucha Underground are doing every time they perform on NXT over the last few months. If I were Kalisto, Hunico/Sin Cara, Primo, Epico, and El Torito, I would be racing to Lucha Underground without hesitation once my contract expires. They are talented without a doubt, but their talents pale in comparison to the folks in Lucha Underground as a whole.

I have been believers of Blake & Murphy's abilities for a while now, but I wish they had a better storyline that secured them tag team gold instead of a fluke win after they were one of (MANY) teams fed to the Ascension religiously over the past year in squash matches. In the words of Jim Cornette, it's going to take a while to wash that smell of funk off of them.


#1 Contender Tournament Final: Finn Bálor defeated Adrian Neville. Bálor pinned Neville after a top rope double-stomp.


I'll give you guys a second to recover from your orgasms from Devitt's entrance again...


Great match from start to finish. This match marked the point of this event where business really picked up big time. I'm glad that WWE are allowing Devitt to keep using the Bloody Sunday (and it's variations) as signatures/finishers, but I rather he end a match with that than the double foot stomp.

On a side note, wasn't it ironic that New Japan Pro Wrestling's weekly show made sure to highlight Devitt's match against Okada this past week? I thought that was perfect timing given that this was one of the three high profile matches on this event's card.

Fatal 4-Way for the NXT Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks defeated Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Bayley. Bayley hit a second-rope Bayley-to-Belly on Charlotte and went for the pin, but Sasha pulled her off. Sasha locked in the Banks Statement on Charlotte, who refused to tap. Ultimately Sasha turned the crossface into a crucifix pin to win and become the new NXT Women’s Champion.


(Stands up and applauds)

The ladies had the infamous "death spot" before the main event and managed to COMPLETELY blow Balor and Neville's match out of the water from start to finish.











If you're a fan of women's wrestling, you MUST see this match. If you don't believe women are just as talented as men in this sport, watch this match. If you're just a fan of professional wrestling in general, PLEASE do yourself a favor and watch this match. It's that damn good.

With Sasha Banks being crowned as the new NXT Women's Champion, it looks like Charlotte could be bringing a little Flair to the main roster sooner more than later. I'm all for her on the main roster as long as she doesn't steamroll over the already battered Divas division. This is the time to rejuvenate the division not dig it into the dirt even further. Both AJ Lee and Paige's title reigns over the past year have done enough damage to the perception of the division.


As for the NXT Women's division, Sasha's title reign was LONG overdue in my humble opinion. She should have gotten it over Charlotte in Paige's absence if she wasn't riding her Daddy's coat tails to stardom. Sasha has more than capable opponents to keep her busy for the duration of 2015 and beyond -  Bayley, Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss (why hasn't she been on any of these events??), and Carmella to name a few.

The sky is the limit for these girls down here on NXT. I can see why even the main roster Divas are saying the NXT girls are better off staying down there after this wrestling showcase that these girls put on this event.

NXT Championship Match: Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn (c). Owens repeatedly powerbombed Zayn, causing doctors to check on Zayn. Owens was relentless, repeatedly powerbombing Zayn until the referee stopped the match and awarded him the NXT Championship. Title change by TKO.


I'm going to get heat for saying it but here goes...





This match was a bit of a letdown.


Allow me to elaborate. I have watched this event about three times now and while I cannot fault NXT for their masterful storytelling with this narrative with this match, I cannot get behind putting the strap on Kevin Owens immediately like this. Sami Zayn losing in his first second defense is a bit jarring, but I suppose it added more shock and awe to the Streak being ended-style reaction from the live audience. A part of me felt like Sami Zayn got the rug pulled out from underneath him prematurely, but at the same time, the guy has based his ENTIRE NXT career on bouncing back from screw jobs and shortcomings. He's better at being Daniel Bryan (i.e. the underdog babyface) than Daniel Bryan himself.

I had to ask a friend to clarify, but the title change via KO hasn't been used in decades as a finish. That alone is a milestone for NXT's storytelling here. Plus that is a rather ironic way to win your first title when your moniker/gimmick is "KO", Mr. Owens.

At the same time, I was expecting something a bit more graphic (i.e. some blood in there...), especially given Owens/Zayn's history on the independent scene that NXT are playing off of here. I had my fingers crossed for a Package Piledriver spot, but I guess we're all going to have to get used to Owens' finisher being the Snap Powerbomb in WWE's playground.

Closing Thoughts 

This event was great, but at the same time, it was NOWHERE as good as NXT Takeover: [R]Evolution back in December. If you ask the WWE marks who eat and worship all of the shit that comes out of WWE's ass with a shovel, they will tell you that this show or ANY NXT event was the hottest thing since sliced bread.




There's one huge glaring weakness to NXT and I have to admit that they are doing a fine job at covering it up, but it's their tag team division. I'm not really surprised as WWE as a whole doesn't know what to do with tag teams anymore. As soon as something gets hot, they want to split a team up and push them as singles stars. The Dubstep Twins (the smarks' name for Blake & Murphy) aren't doing much to change that mindset while the Lucha Dragons failed to provide something new and fresh in a division that seems completely lost after the Ascension got called up to the main roster. Enzo Amore and Big Cass are excellent on the microphone but as exciting as watching wet paint dry in the ring, while Jason Jordan and Tye Dillinger showed some promise, but they were currently split up and reduced to squash/jobber matches as of late. The Vaudevillains haven't been seen for weeks, despite their strong outings throughout 2014 and their recent failure to capture the gold from the Lucha Dragons. Like I mentioned earlier, NXT would have benefited from keeping Itami and Balor as a tag team after they disposed of the Ascension. It was rather strange that they didn't challenge for tag titles at least once. Instead they quickly split up and went their own separate ways.

I personally wouldn't rate this event higher than [R]Evolution, but it ties with the ArRIVAL event from last year in terms of quality. The ladies truly stole the show from the boys on this one and as a fan of women's wrestling, it makes me beam with pride from that fact. This just makes me wish that WWE would have more confidence with their women on the main roster and give them similar opportunities to shine like this. Contrary to popular belief, it's not that the main roster's Divas "suck" in comparison, it's the fact that they have little to nothing to work with. Try getting yourself over, tell a story, work some psychology, AND create a character for yourself within 3-5 minutes (entrances included in that time), if THAT much once every other week on WWE programming? Not every Diva is AJ Lee, who gets a lot more screen time to get herself over on the camera than most of the other girls - in and out of the ring.

The last three matches of the show really saved this show from being a flat out average event. Neville/Balor threw the home run pitch while the Fatal 4 Way for the Women's Championship knocked it out of the park big time. The main event was great, without a shadow of doubt, but it just left me craving more.

I guess I'm a little disappointed to see Sami Zayn go from his show-stealing performance at [R]Evolution only to find himself in the same position as John Cena at Summerslam last year against Brock Lesnar, mounting little offense against Kevin Owens. It seems like every major North American-based promotion is going for their own Brock Lesnar archetype that is systematically destroying everything in their way - Bobby Lashley (Impact Wrestling), Brian Cage (Lucha Underground), Moose or Hanson (Ring of Honor), and now Kevin Owens on NXT.

Then again, babyfaces always need to be chasing something so I'm anxious to see how Sami Zayn bounces back from this defeat as we know that this feud is far from over. As for Finn Balor as the next #1 contender, NXT have to play that match VERY carefully as they don't want to tarnish his credibility prematurely. I'm guessing that Owens will retain against him via DQ or count-out without the title changing hands. Once again, NXT have to be careful how they weave the narrative of Owens vs. Balor as they don't want to damage either rising star's credibility at this point.
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