NXT Takeover: The End of the Beginning (June 9, 2016) -- Results & Afterthoughts

NXT TakeOver: The End was a professional wrestling show in the NXT TakeOver series that took place on June 8, 2016. It was produced by WWE, showcasing its NXT division, and stream live on the WWE Network. It took place in the Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.

Andrade "Cien" Almas (formerly La Sombra) def. "Perfect 10" Tye Dillinger

You'd think he would finish the match with this but nope...

This is La Sombra's Takeover (debut), but this isn't my first time seeing him wrestle for the NXT brand. He's been wrestling live events, including the NXT Columbia event I went to shortly after Takeover: Dallas. At that event, he faced off against Nakamura and I was hoping they would put him in a program with Nakamura. This isn't a bad alternative as Dillinger is a strong hand on the roster. That being said, I'm honestly sick of NXT just using Dillinger as a strong hand instead of pushing this guy. He's obviously talented and the WWE Universe are behind the guy so why not give him a chance to see what he can do with a push? I don't have a problem with La Sombra (get used to me calling him that until I get used to his WWE name...) taking the win here, but goddamn that finish was lame to say this opening match was decent for the most part.

One more thing I have to add is that BOTH Dillinger and La Sombra's entrance gear looked fucking stupid. Was Sombra supposed to be a Mexican pimp and Dillinger was a walking billboard? Either way it looked ridiculous.

NXT Tag Team Championship Match - The Revival def. American Alpha (c)

Kurt Angle would be proud... 

These two teams have been fighting since Takeover: Dallas at live events and know each other very well. You know what to expect here - tons of great old school tag team wrestling. American Alpha has the Steiner Brothers' routine down to the tee. I absolutely adore rough-and-tough style of the Revival. It reminds me of the Arn and Ollie Anderson in their prime. TONS of great spots in this match and the excitement never wanes here from start to finish. I felt that NXT's booking in this match and the opener took the air out of the sails  in Full Sail University since the crowd weren't too happy with both finishes. They really wanted Alpha and Dillinger to pick up the win here.

That being said, Shocked to see the Revival pick up the win... BUT I get what NXT is doing. American Alpha are better in the chase than as the champions, so I'm guessing another build throughout the next few tapings going into Takeover: Brooklyn where they pick up the gold all over again.

As for those guys who looked like 3 Minute Warning crossed with the Shield and Leo Kruger (Triple H has stated they are called the Authority of Pain... *rolls eyes*), I have no idea to think of them yet. Major props to American Alpha for selling the match they were in prior beforehand though. That was something small that doesn't get enough praise in modern wrestling. - SELL your fatigue after a grueling contest for crying out loud. That annoys me to no end. I'm anxious to see why Paul Ellering of all people would want to come to NXT though.

Shinuke Nakamura def. Austin Aries

This spot made me wonder why hasn't AJ Styles busted out his
Brainbuster onto the ring apron spot in WWE yet?

This match was everything that I expected it to be... awesome. Seriously though, if you can't work a great match against Nakamura then you need to be fired in my eyes. Another showstealer, but I don't think it was as good as Sami Zayn vs. Nakamura at Takeover: Dallas. It was definitely Aries' best NXT match to date though. Aries seemed to be just going through motions on auto-pilot since his debut in NXT, but it's great to see him on all four cylinders in this match, much like his main event push in TNA.

I thought it was a little odd that Aries was working Nakamura's leg to say he kept going for head-based submissions, but whatever... That's just a minor gripe I had with this match.

NXT Women's Championship Match - Asuka (c) def. Nia Jax

I really got sick of hearing Nia shouting "HUH!!??" during this match. I was glad to see that she's FINALLY starting to show a little more aggression here but it was a little to late in the ending phase in this match. As a powerhouse/monster, Nia Jax still bores me. She needs to be getting mentored or getting advice from Big Show or Kane on how to carry herself in these David vs. Goliath matches. It wouldn't hurt to watch some of Awesome Kong's matches from Impact Wrestling either. I just can't buy into her as dominating threat outside of the first few spots in this match, but that was all thanks to Asuka selling like Dolph Ziggler...

Surprised that was enough to beat Nia but whatever, we all knew this was filler.

As a result, I felt this was the weakest match on the card in my eyes. There wasn't not one instant I thought that Asuka was going to lose. Nia Jax kept stalling and taking her time to cover and following up to buy into the drama. We all know that NXT is setting up Asuka vs. Bayley II for Takeover: Brooklyn anyway. This was just filler until then.

Steel Cage Match for NXT Championship - Samoa Joe (c) def. Finn Balor

Has to be my favorite "Demon" entrance to date with this Walking Dead style intro...

For me, the steel cage match stipulation didn't really add much more depth to this match. It seemed to hinder them both rather than helping the finale of this feud. Regardless, Samoa Joe and Finn Balor didn't pull any punches and did their best to pull out all of the stops in the finale of this epic (I guess...) feud.

Seems weird that Joe is billed as a Submission Specialist in WWE, but
rarely wins with submissions...

One thing I have to note is the change of Balor's attire - he's gone from his traditional red and black attire for these Takeover events to white and black. It's the same colors that AJ Styles was wearing last week before laying out John Cena and revealing himself to be aligned with the Bullet Club all along. I still say that was bloody obvious to see coming last week because why else would Styles change his gear to be just like Anderson and Gallows' own even though they were "done" with each other.

Closing Thoughts 

If I were to give this event a grade, it would be a passing grade of B+. The finish to the opener and the Women's Championship matches were very weak overall, with the tag team match and Nakamura/Aries were the strongest showings on the card. One could blame the PG environment that WWE caters to (despite the event being on the WWE Network...) nowadays, but I can't condone that the steel cage match was played a little too safe. I guess Samoa Joe and Finn Balor didn't want to go all out after their match at Takeover: Dallas was cut short from Joe being busted open within the first few seconds of the match, so they didn't want to derail the momentum in this finale of their rivalry.