WWE Worlds Collide (Jan. 25, 2020) -- Results & Afterthoughts

Worlds Collide (2020) was a professional wrestling show and WWE Network event produced by WWE for their NXT and NXT UK brands. It took place on January 25, 2020 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas and was streamed live on the WWE Network. It was the second event promoted under the Worlds Collide chronology.

Worlds Collide is a series of professional wrestling shows that began on January 26, 2019, when WWE held an interbrand tournament featuring wrestlers from their NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live brands. The "Worlds Collide" name was subsequently adopted for a WWE Network series that aired in April 2019. During their Royal Rumble weekend announcements, WWE revealed that a second Worlds Collide event would air live on the WWE Network on January 25, 2020.

Six matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Imperium (Walter, Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel, and Alexander Wolfe) defeated The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, Bobby Fish, and Roderick Strong) in an eight-man tag team match.

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Singles match

Kay Lee Ray def. Mia Yim

I had to go back and watch this match AFTER watching the rest of the show since I wasn't aware that they were airing matches on this kick-off show that weren't going to be on NXT the following week. That being said, I thought this was the better of the two women's matches on this card. Can't say that I'm a big fan of either of these women but they definitely put on one hell of a showing here. I wouldn't mind seeing them go at it again though.

On a side note, KLR is going to kill herself off how she takes some of these bumps and dives. (Laughs) Is she trying to be the UK version of Sasha Banks? She already died for our sins at Survivor Series.

Singles match

Finn Bálor def. Ilja Dragunov

I understand that Dragunov is NXT UK's pet project of sorts, but allowing main roster guys to beat the stuffing out of him isn't doing him any favors outside of showing his threshold for punishment. Sure, these matches are excellent athletic showcases, but if Dragunov is a rising star then he needs to be garnering some big wins underneath his belt. This just seems like on the job training with seasoned/much more experienced talent to educate Dragunov for higher profile matches down the road.

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Nevertheless, this was an excellent match to kick off the show with and set the tone for the night. The right man went over with Bálor picking up the win.

Fatal 4-Way match for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship

Jordan Devlin defeated Angel Garza (c), Isaiah "Swerve" Scott, and Travis Banks

Devlin is another guy that I've heard that NXT UK is really high on as one of Bálor's former students, but I REALLY don't agree with taking the belt off Garza so soon. The guy just won it a few weeks ago and haven't had much time to do anything with his run outside of talking shit on commentary for a few weeks. On the positive side, I suppose this opens the door for more NXT UK talent to bounce back and forth on both shows to defend/challenge for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship.

This match was great, but there were far too many spots and instances where I literally shouted, "C'mon, that should have been the FUCKING finish!" only for guys to pop back up and do more shit for another few minutes. I know, we've been through this a million times now as that's the trend in modern wrestling, but goddamn that shit gets annoying sometimes. Every match doesn't have to go on like it's the main event at WrestleMania/Wrestle Kingdom.

Tag Team Match

DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) defeated Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven and Tyler Bate)

The first thing that went through my head watching this was that Trent Seven must have given up working out altogether like Jericho has over on AEW. This was a nice little dream match, even though I thought this went on a little too long at points. Either team could have won this match and people would have been happy. This was just fan service at this point. Nothing to complain about on my watch in regard to this match as a whole.

I can't speak for anyone else but I get nervous every time I see Ciampa take a head/neck bump and he immediately starts holding his neck, especially after the guy just came back from neck surgery. It'll pass like it did for me with Daniel Bryan coming back from retirement, but geez, there looked like there were a few close calls here.

Tegan Nox attacks Dakota Kai

Nothing to really write home about this since it was settling up their underwhelming match from this week's NXT TV episode. I don't understand why they couldn't hold that match off until the next TakeOver event in another month instead of blowing it off on free TV but that's a topic for another day.

Singles match for the NXT Women's Championship

Rhea Ripley (c) defeated Toni Storm

Out of the two showing for the women on this show, I have to say that this match was a little underwhelming. If I'm perfectly honest, I wasn't too impressed from their previous encounters on NXT UK either. This was a match with a lot of buzz behind it, but just didn't deliver to my expectations. That was added by the fact that Toni Storm failed to recapture the NXT UK Women's Championship from KLR at their Blackpool event a few weeks ago too, so both titles weren't on the line.

I love these two ladies and it hurts me to say it, but this match was easily the weakest thing on this entire card for the night.

Eight-Man Tag Team Match

Imperium (Walter, Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel, and Alexander Wolfe) defeated The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, Bobby Fish, and Roderick Strong)

Alexander Wolfe was taken out of the match early after he didn't lift his chin to safely take the incoming strikes from Fish and O'Reilly, only to be legitimately knocked out and carried to the back. It worked to the benefit of this match as Imperium was down to 3 vs. 4 disadvantage, even though I could have seen Walter easily take on all four members of Undisputed Era on his own if push came to shove. 

Even I felt that chop. That shit sounded like a fucking gun shot. No way in hell I'd be agreeing to take any chops from Walter nor Strong.

Jesus. 

Holy shit, Strong is incredible to hit an Olympic Slam on that big Austrian bastard.

At the end of the day, this match definitely lived up to the hype and delivered to the tee. If you don't watch anything else during this show, go out of your way to watch this match for the excitement from bell to bell. My only complaint in the closing moments was that both NXT and NXT UK were tied at three wins apiece without any tie-breaker. Who knows they could do this dance again during WrestleMania weekend too and I wouldn't complain if I'm perfectly honest. 

NXT TakeOver: Chicago -- Results & Afterthoughts

NXT TakeOver: Chicago was a professional wrestling show in the NXT TakeOver series that took place on May 20, 2017, at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.The event was produced by WWE for its NXT brand and streamed live on the WWE Network.

Roderick Strong def. Eric Young (w/ SAniTy)

Both of these guys are solid workers but I couldn't really invest into this match when it's apparent that they merely shoehorned Strong into the same position that Tye Dillinger was in before he got called up to the main roster. Both Sanity AND Strong deserve to move onto better feuds than this. This is getting neither of them nowhere. There were a few cool spots in this match and a brutal sequence by Strong to end it, but overall, it all felt very "meh" to me... After that stellar bout between Itami and Strong on NXT a few weeks back, you would think that they would have this guy in a better program elevated higher onto this card. And if Sanity isn't in the tag team division then what's the point of them just being a big faction when all of this ganging up on people isn't getting them nowhere. I'm just sayin'...

WWE United Kingdom Championship Match - Pete Dunne Def. Tyler Bate (c)

It kills me that the UK title is the coolest looking belt in the company right now. You would think that WWE would put a stronger effort into making the rest of their belts look legit like this.

I joked about it on Twitter during the UK title special last night, but Pete Dunne looks like Roger Klotz from Doug to me. I can't help but think that every time I see that guy.

That being said, this was easily the showstealer at this point. I felt sorry for anyone who has to follow this match. I thought this match would have been a showstealer even without the series of dives and flips towards the end by Tyler Bate. The sequence of counters, reversals, and pure mat/technical wrestling was more than enough to blow me away. These two guys are easily going to be the top stars of that UK show whenever WWE gets it off the ground. With the title on Pete Dunne, they easily elevate it more with a top heel putting babyfaces like Bate and Wolfgang into the chase.

If I had one complaint about this match it was the referee CLEARLY stopping at 2 during the pinfall to allow Pete Dunne to kick-out afterwards. That was facing directly towards the hard cam and I know I wasn't the only one who saw that. That was the only thing that was stopping this match from being flawless in my eyes.

Triple Threat Match for NXT Women's Championship - Asuka (c) def. Nikki Cross and Ruby Riot

I'll be blunt here, but this was was the weakest TakeOver bout that Asuka has defended the title to date. I thought that Fatal 4 Way was bad a few months go, but this took the cake for me. That being said, Ruby and Nikki put up a great effort as they carried Asuka throughout this bout instead of the other way around with a few interesting spots here and there, but the sloppy execution at times just made me keep shaking my head and took me out of the moment.

I just felt bad for the girls having to follow that stellar UK title bout in the shit stain/piss break spot here. The crowd tried to stay with them too but it was hard to stay hyped after the previous match blew everything they've done here out of the water.

I guess this is just filler until Ember Moon recovers from her injury to get her rematch at TakeOver: Brooklyn or maybe WWE are saving Asuka's first defeat for Io Shirai or Kairi Hojo's debuts later this year. (Shrugs) Who knows, but whatever they have in mind I hope they know that this women's division is dead in the water until Asuka is dethroned or called up.

NXT Championship Match - Bobby Roode (c) def. Hideo Itami

It was hard to care here and I don't feel sorry that they were robbed of the main event spot. This was the exactly the same as Roode's last few bouts with Nakamura, with him going for a redundant injury angle on a body part. Where does Itami go from here now that Roode beat him CLEAN in this match? The two DDTs for the finish was lame (and rather overkill)to say that Itami had him beat prior to that before he rolled out of the ring.

Much like everything else on this show after the UK title match, I felt like they just phoned it in here as they were under the impression that they weren't going to top that act.

Ladder Match for NXT Tag Team Championships - The Authors of Pain (c) w/ Paul Ellering def. DIY

I know I'm in the minority here, but I watched this match twice and didn't see too much here that blew me away. If I'm perfectly honest, I felt that DIY did a bit TOO much here to say Ciampa was allegedly injured. I think both him and Gargano injured themselves at multiple occasions here, but if they didn't, they have to consider themselves to be extremely lucky. That being said, this has to be the best AoP match they've had to date. I'm still not too fond of these guys, but I have to give them props here.

To say that they gave this main event spot to the tag team division was the clear signal that they were planning something post-match for me. Otherwise, NXT likes to end with the NXT title match, save for that one exception with the Ironwoman match between Sasha and Bayley. I was honestly more surprised that Ciampa stayed babyface this damn long as I was more accustomed to him being heel back in Ring of Honor prior to his WWE debut. I thought it was proven during the CWC series last year that DIY could make it as singles stars, but I think they are jumping the gun on splitting them up right now. What is even weirder to me is that if both of them are on the bench, then why do this angle now for people to forget about it in a few weeks/months while they are at home recovering?

With DIY on the shelf and split up, then who's next for AoP to feud with? TM61 are still injured and everyone else other than Heavy Machinery are straight job squad filler, so I don't know what they are going to do. They could feud with Sanity but that would make AoP the babyfaces in that feud and I doubt that NXT is going to go that route. Much like the women's division, it seems like that NXT's booking has backed them into a wall.

NXT TakeOver: Orlando (April 1, 2017) -- Results & Afterthoughts

NXT TakeOver: Orlando was a professional wrestling event in the NXT TakeOver series. It took place on April 1, 2017, at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, as part of the WrestleMania 33 weekend festivities. The event was produced by WWE for its NXT brand, the event was streamed live on the WWE Network.

Five matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Bobby Roode defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the NXT Championship. On the undercard, Asuka retained the NXT Women's Championship against Ember Moon and Authors of Pain retained the NXT Tag Team Championship against #DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) and The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder). The event also saw the debut of Aleister Black. Also, all of the championships were given new belt designs.
Note: This article was posted AFTER my WrestleMania 33 write-up, so I'll be mentioning stuff from after the fact.

SAnitY def. Tye Dillinger, No Way Jose Kassius Ohno, Roderick Strong & Ruby Riot

You guys can go back to one of the earliest entries I've wrote about women's wrestling for here or for the archives from Let's Talk Wrestling, but DAYUM Heidi Lovelace/Ruby Riot isn't easy on the eyes. She's even uglier to me in HD. That being said, it was cool to see what she brought to the table against Nikki Cross. I still feel like she needs to change her ring gear as it looks like she belongs in Sanity instead of against them. Her and Cross didn't do much other than deliver their own unique brands of crazy while the guys did most of the work.

No Way Jose was written off in an injury angle during the preshow so Kassius Ohno was made to be his replacement. Thank god he changed up his ring gear to some more flattering colors to hide his fat. That white NBA jersey wasn't doing him any favors. Now you can focus on his offense instead of seeing his gut and cellulite jiggling around during everything that he does. Can someone tell Roderick Strong to SLOW THE FUCK DOWN? This isn't Ring of Honor anymore so he doesn't have to go a million miles per hour in his matches. I'm sure one of the coaches/road agents chewed him out about that post-match. A part of me hopes Dillinger gets called up just for he doesn't have to be burdened with this feud much longer. I rather see NXT go in a different direction with everyone involved here (except for Ruby and Cross) out of the guys as it just seems to be redundant at this point.

This wasn't a bad match at all and definitely got everyone hyped to kick off the show, but I rather see most of the guys on Dillinger's team in singles feuds than in a huge stable war against Sanity, who could be in the tag team division conversation, especially in a division that's going to be lacking bodies once Revival get called up.

Aleister Black def. Andrade “Cien” Almas

I had no idea who this guy was supposed to be from the vignettes until I read up on message boards and social media to find out that this is the debut of Tommy (FUCKING) End in NXT. The guy definitely lived up to his reputation and I appreciated that NXT presented him like a megastar right off the bat. That's something I'm still shaking my head at how they failed to do with Roderick Strong. That guy was a fucking main eventer for Ring of Honor (which you can pretty much call an unofficial feeder system for WWE nowadays) and they just brought him in like a regular guy with little to no fanfare. Some of the Full Sail folks knew who he was but it wasn't made into a big deal like End's debut here. I've seen Almas work matches at NXT house shows, so he was the perfect opponent to put End over in his TakeOver debut.

If memory serves, isn't this the same guy who had that stellar exhibition match against Neville during the UK Championship Tournament?

NXT would be crazy not to push this guy to the moon. Then again... this is the same company that's deadset on doing NOTHING with guys like Sami Zayn, Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler, etc. at a main event level...

NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain def. #DIY and The Revival

I've been hearing people call this a MOTY candidate all weekend and I don't know about that. I'm usually biased towards the Revival's matches because they are that damn good at tag team wrestling, but at the same time, this wasn't as flawless as Revival's last few TakeOver outings. Don't get me wrong, Revival and DIY made the Authors of Pain look like a million bucks by enduring their arsenal of moves being laid on them, but the second DIY got eliminated this match went to shits. The Authors of Pain went back to being sloppy and green as grass. You could see that in how sloppy they finished off the Revival for the win here. Everything up to that point was superb though from DIY and Revival.

I was personally pulling for Revival as three time NXT Tag Team Champions but whatever, if they want to keep pushing AoP, I hope they learn something from Paul Ellering in the long haul as they got a LOT to learn about tag team wrestling.

I'm sad that we didn't get a special one night only appearance of Jim Cornette managing The Revival since he raves about them so much on his podcast.

NXT Women’s Champion Asuka def. Ember Moon

This was a great back and forth match with Ember Moon matching and one-upping Asuka move for move and counter for counter. They have fought each other previously prior to signing with WWE, so this was a highly anticipated rematch of sorts for fans who have followed both the former Kana (Asuka) and Athena's (Ember Moon) careers up to this point. I was ready to call this the match of the night until the finish.

I get that NXT are toying with the idea of making Asuka a heel but it really doesn't work when everyone is going to cheer for her anyway when she's beating the shit out of everyone thrown her way. Besides, it doesn't make much sense that she has to cheat when her whole gimmick to this point has been she's been an unstoppable striking machine. The whole referee bump spot just seemed like a cop out since they want to milk this feud until the next TakeOver event or even longer. I seriously doubt they are calling up Asuka to the main roster any time soon anyway. From the way it looks currently, I wouldn't be surprised if they call up Ember Moon before they call up Asuka.

That being said, NXT needs to do something drastic to pull this women's division out of being on life support. I was hoping that this Ember/Asuka feud was going to be the shot in the arm that it has needed since all of the Four Horsewomen left, but I was kinda let down here. Sure, Ember was the first opponent in a long time where she could go all out against instead of holding back (looking at all of you - Eva Marie, Aliyah, Liv Morgan, Billie Kay, and Peyton Royce), but it seemed like they were told to not play all of their cards at once. I don't know what it is about NXT and wanting to wear out something good (the Joe/Balor feud, any feud involving Revival, etc.). Start doing some one-off feuds and a rematch tops after a title change. No need to force feuds to go on and on to bore people to no end. Besides, NXT has a TON of talent that hasn't even debuted on TV yet, so you would think they would be trying to cycle in as many people as possible to get them TV ready for the main roster before they raped clean like last year's draft again.

NXT Champion Bobby Roode def. Shinsuke Nakamura

I'm going to be in the minority here and I'm starting to get bored by these bouts between Nakamura and Roode. They are both amazing wrestlers, but this is getting stale to watch. It's starting to bore me as much as the Nakamura/Joe and Balor/Joe feuds where they blew their load on everything that you can expect them to do. This match felt like the Asuka match before it whereas it's starting to become a chore to watch these repetitive rematches since audiences have become used to what to expect from these two. At least Ember Moon/Asuka was something new, but this was the exact same thing that we saw at the previous TakeOver event without the whole injury angle at the end. I'm honestly ready for both Roode and Nakamura to move onto other things. Wouldn't be surprised if Nakamura gets called up to SmackDown! tonight. At the same time, I don't see why they wouldn't call up Roode for either brand. You got an instant main eventer here that can talk and work solid bouts, so why keep him in NXT? He's not getting any younger.

I forget which podcaster said it best, but WWE need to start worrying about how many guys they have on their roster that are mostly "entrance props" and that's it. The more it carries on, I fear that Roode's music will be more over than he actually is in the eyes of WWE fans. Wrestling fans that have seen him elsewhere in TNA and GFW know better, but I'm skeptical that he's just over because his music is freakin' awesome.

I have to ask at the end of this NXT TakeOver review, but where do we go from here? Solid show as usual that we've come to expect from these events, but what's next for this brand in terms of storylines? It just seems like a lot of feuds have stagnated.

WWE NXT Takeover: San Antonio (January 28, 2017) -- Results & Afterthoughts

NXT TakeOver: San Antonio was a professional wrestling show in the NXT TakeOver series that took place on January 28, 2017, at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas. The event was produced by WWE for its NXT promotion, and was streamed live on the WWE Network.

Five matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Bobby Roode defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to win the NXT Championship.

Sanity's Eric Young def. Tye Dillinger

Tye REALLY needs a better look for these Takeover events. That vest thing looks fucking stupid.

Watching this opener, I was having deja vu back to their match on the weekly NXT tapings a few weeks ago. There really wasn't much to write home here about this. The match left a bad taste in my mouth where they did the two-man interference spot and finisher reversal to the near-fall, which should have been the finish yet they continued with the match anyway.

I don't know what was more moronic here - the fact that it took interference from BOTH members of Sanity at ringside or the fact that Dillinger lost another one of these Takeover matches. Who's dog did Dillinger kill in the front office that they are holding a grudge not to give this guy the ball and run with it? Good lord man, after Toronto I thought that NXT would scrap the rocket on this guy's back and shoot him up to the moon but nope, he continues to be the Dolph Ziggler of NXT, having stellar in-ring bouts but never winning when it matters the most. I dunno where they are going with this next. I hope WWE knows that if they keep doing this that people are going to give up on him JUST LIKE FUCKING ZIGGLER.

As for Sanity, I get that they are heels and EY is supposed to be building these guys up but holy shit they looked pathetic here, collectively as an unit. If you can't beat a guy with a shitty of a win/lose record as Dillinger without help then something is CLEARLY wrong.

The whole wannabe Aces & Eights thing with Sanity still isn't doing anything for me by the way...

Roderick Strong def. Andrade 'Cien' Almas

This was easily the second best match of the night. I remember seeing a lot of people saying on social media this past week that Almas would get a great match out of Strong and they weren't lying at all. Even though I tire of that rope resting spot from Almas (TJ Perkins does it, Dragon Lee in Ring of Honor/CMLL does it, a few guys in Lucha Underground do it, and even one guy in TNA did it a few months ago, so yeah it's pretty stale at this point...), you can't deny that Almas is one hell of a worker even though his gimmick isn't worth writing home about. Roddy started busting out the backbreaker variations that he's known for and that's when I really was getting hyped about this match. A few sloppy spots here and there, but it still came together nicely by the time it was all said and done.

Sad to say but there were a lot of sloppy performances on this show tonight worse than what was seen here.

The Authors of Pain def. DIY (c) to become the NEW NXT Tag Team Champions

Good grief, AoP got exposed as being green as grass here. DIY were wrestling circles around them to the point those guys were CLEARLY winded and DIY had to slow down to accommodate. DIY was carrying them from bell to bell here which managed to be AoP's best match to date here in NXT, but that's not saying much when those guys have been in majorly squash matches up until the Dusty Classic finals back in Toronto.

I figured that DIY were going to lose the gold here, as NXT has a history of the babyface tag champions losing the gold shortly after winning them. LuchaDragons, Vaudevillains, American Alpha, and now DIY.

Seth Rollins calls out Triple H

While most people were shocked at this turn of events, I was sitting here laughing during this segment. So it took Rollins MONTHS after the fact to realize that if he wanted to reach HHH he had to show up at NXT? Of course, HHH ignored Rollins and sent out his henchmen, err security goons to do his handiwork.

(Sighs) At least WWE is starting to care about continuity...

NXT security in a nutshell #NXTTakeOver pic.twitter.com/drkkwMuRUh

— Let's Talk Wrestling (@LetsTalkWrestle) January 29, 2017

Asuka (c) def. Peyton Royce, Billie Kay, and Nikki Cross to retain the NXT Women's Championship

I mentioned this on Twitter for the past week, but I had like no faith nor passion about this match in the least. NXT did absolutely NOTHING to make me care about the build-up to this match. Nikki Cross' gimmick is still in its infancy, so you know she wasn't getting a title shot - thank god she wasn't the one pinned. Billie Kay and Peyton Royce as wannabe Adam West Batman-themed villains crossed with Mean Girls weren't winning either, so who cares? The marks on social media rave so much about Billie and Peyton's gimmick but it's fucking stupid and just the same as almost every other dime a dozen female heel duos. I would love to know what is up with WWE Divas' fixations on being inspired by Batman's female villains for their heel personas. The only person who isn't pulling that shit is Charlotte but she's ripping off her dad and Stephanie McMahon enough as it is, so I guess she doesn't have to.

Speaking of Billie Kay and Peyton Royce, here's the thing that just ruined the ENTIRE narrative to this match for me where I pretty much mentally tuned out for most of this match. Right off the bat, it was established that Billie and Peyton didn't care which one of them won the title, but not for ONE FUCKING SECOND did these two "geniuses" think about pinning each other, especially while Asuka and Nikki Cross were out cold at ringside.

The double suplex through the table on Nikki Cross (who didn't really do much here at all) and the double team moves from Royce/Kay weren't bad either but this was another match wasn't really much to talk about either. They could've done this match on the TV taping for NXT this past week if they were going to do that.

Most people were complaining on Twitter that the in-ring segment with Rollins/HHH took away some of the time for them, but I doubt that when the show is on the Network and they could go as long as they wanted tonight.

Bobby Roode def. Shinsuke Nakamura (c) to become the NEW NXT Champion

The best match of the night, without a shadow of a doubt. While I have openly expressed that Bobby Roode has bored me since his last run in TNA, I have never said that he wasn't a talented worker. That was shown off here why he's one hell of a hand to have on any roster. The guy carries himself like a main eventer, but I still feel like the guy has stagnated since his days in TNA. I fear that if his entrance wasn't so over, the same people who didn't give a flying fuck about his World Heavyweight title runs and main event push in TNA yet are dick-riding him hard right now wouldn't care about him right now in NXT either. He would be in the same collective rut that Aries and Strong are in post-ROH and TNA where their hype levels have fizzled out.

Major props to Nakamura to playing out the injury angle in the finish flawlessly. I have to wonder why did they go with this again when they just did an injury angle during the feud with Samoa Joe a few months prior? Roode barely worked Nakamura's legs until that point and just kept hitting his finisher (which targets the head more than the legs...) and then that Single Leg Boston Crab, but Roode and Nakamura's facial expressions were on point. I cannot stress enough how valuable that aspect is important to ANY wrestler selling a narrative.

Nakamura tonight during that finish ROTFLMAO xD. #NXTTakeOver pic.twitter.com/RrWNvYue1d

— Let's Talk Wrestling (@LetsTalkWrestle) January 29, 2017

Closing Words

I felt that this show was pretty average at best, with the finish to the main event saving it from being entirely mediocre from start to finish. There was flashes of brilliance here, such as how well the injury finish was executed in the main event and the hard-hitting, back and forth contest between Strong and Almas was, but this show struggled with a lot of VERY predictable and questionable booking decisions. If I were to give it a grade, I would give it a C+ until the main event, whereas the finish bumps it up to a strong B-. For once, I'm confident that the main roster will actually outperform NXT on the following night with the Royal Rumble.

Where do they go from here? Well, they have a lot of options, I'll say that much.

Anyone who thinks that Nakamura will be in the Royal Rumble tomorrow night, or rather tonight as you're reading this, are fucking stupid as he just played up this major injury and lost the title. He's not getting a main roster call up after that. They are setting him up for a rematch after benching him for a few weeks or months to lead up to the Takeover rematch during WrestleMania weekend in Orlando.

For Asuka, I say it's now or never to pull that trigger on the next few tapings to have her feud with Ember Moon. They've put that off long enough. They could do a singles feud between her and Nikki Cross for filler between these months between now and April, but after tonight I'm under the impression that Nikki Cross would want revenge on Billie Kay and Peyton Royce more than anything else to get her credibility back.

DIY losing the tag titles here doesn't hurt them in the long run as they function better when they are in the chase for the gold as it gives the fans someone to cheer for as the "underdogs" since they are still in the title hunt. I'm guessing that NXT will set up a triple threat between the Authors of Pain, DIY, and The Revival for WrestleMania weekend since TM61 are derailed with that injury to one of their own. With both DIY and Revival (alternatively, Sanity) in that match, it would help hide the Authors of Pain's lack of experience MUCH better there than they did tonight.

NXT Takeover: Toronto (November 19, 2016) -- Results and Afterthoughts

NXT TakeOver: Toronto was a professional wrestling show in the NXT TakeOver series that took place on November 19, 2016, at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The event is produced by WWE for its NXT brand, and streamed live on the WWE Network.

Bobby Roode def. Tye Dillinger

This was a solid opener for this event, but if I'm perfectly honest, I'm not really blown away from anything Bobby Roode has done since his arrival in NXT. I'm not knocking the guy - it's just that I have been bored with him since his last run in Impact Wrestling and Global Force Wrestling. That goes double for Austin Aries too. It just seems like those guys are riding off the same old shit that they were doing in TNA for the last decade or more and the WWE marks who haven't bothered to watch anything outside of Vince's kingdom don't know any better, even though NXT is supposed to be the smarky audience.

To say that Roode dominated the majority of this match to a minor comeback by Dillinger, only for Roode to ultimately win at the end (with a fucking Impaler DDT no less) just seems like another blow to Dillinger as NXT continues to chop that guy's legs out from underneath him. Despite how stupid he looked in his entrance and he had to follow behind Roode's fucking mass choir singing along with his GLORIOUS entrance theme, Dillinger didn't allow that to shake him and the crowd was really behind the guy - even carrying on his memory throughout the weekend. I just wish WWE would give him a chance to shine instead of allowing him to fizzle out like most of their homegrown talent in NXT in favor of the established "indie darlings".

Dusty Tag Team Classic 2016 Finals - Authors of Pain def. TM61 with Paul Ellering confined within a shark tank hanging above the ring

Speaking of indie darlings, this is one case where the established indie guys should have gone over. The Authors of Pain have been lame since their debut and having Paul Ellering in their corner has done them absolutely no favors. They pulled that shark tank stipulation right out of their asses too as who saw that one coming. I guess they wanted to hype up that new playset for the kids with the holidays right around the corner.

Outside of that crazy dive spot off the structure at ringside, I couldn't have cared less about this match. Both teams tried but this year's Dusty Classic has been a complete waste just to feature the former CWC talent in pointless tag team matches as filler while taking away the focus from deserving new and established teams in NXT. Goddamn, this tournament has been such a wasted opportunity this year.

I'm guessing that they gave Paul Ellering's team the win since they are trying to brown nose him into sticking around even though his daughter recently signed with Ring of Honor for their women's division.

By the way, Paul Ellering would be one hell of a Hall of Fame induction sooner more than later. He's MORE than qualified at this point.

NXT Tag Team Championship Match - DIY def. The Revival (c) in a Best of 3 Falls Match

After the first fall, I stood up and applauded as I thought that was the finish. I had NO fucking idea that this was a Best of 3 Falls Match like Revival's last encounter against American Alpha. That Shatter Machine counter to Gargano's Slingshot Spear was fucking beautiful. That being said, Revival and DIY put on a tag team clinic in this match. It was as great as their last Takeover match, despite a few miscues and botches but it came together by the end. This was the ONLY match the entire weekend that had me emotionally invested from bell to bell.

I predicted that DIY would win the gold here, but at the same time, I was a little heartbroken to see Revival lose the titles. I hope they are getting a call up to the main roster sooner more than later as both brands could benefit from a tag team of their caliber on their rosters. If it is time for Revival to move up, then the division is in good hands with DIY on top.

NXT Women's Championship Match - Asuka (c) def. Mickie James

I don't get why the Canadian crowds were chanting that Mickie "still got it" when she honestly never quit wrestling much other than during her pregnancy. Just because you leave WWE for roughly the last few years doesn't mean that you haven't been wrestling period. Geez, folks. Give TNA some credit for keeping her memory alive after all of WWE's work lately to drag the post-Lita and Trish era of WWE Divas in the mud until the Bella Twins came around.

This match just seemed off. It wasn't as bad as Gail Kim and Mickie James' lack of chemistry from throughout the years, but to me, it felt like that Asuka and Mickie James were struggling to click with each other on this one. At the same time, I couldn't help but think in the back of my mind that Trish Stratus turned down this match because there wasn't no way in hell she would have come back just to get stiffed by Asuka and job out in her homeland. Yeah, I'd get knocked up too if that meant I would have an excuse not to fight her. Mickie did enough to keep this one interesting but not at one moment I felt that Mickie was going to win here.

Sadly, this match had a rushed/sloppy finish that just came off awkward in the middle of their reversal exchange. That alone left a bad taste in my mouth as we didn't get a true "decisive" win here. Instead, it just looked like a botch and the girls went with it. On top of that, this seemed like a missed opportunity to not have Asuka's next challenger make herself known after this match but I guess they didn't want to take the spotlight away from Mickie's "glorious" return.

As for Mickie James, I doubt she'll come back to a full-time WWE schedule when she's got a kid at home and her husband is still working the indies as well.

NXT Championship Match - Samoa Joe def. Shinsuke Nakamura (c) to become the first ever 2-time NXT Champion

Outside of not dislocating Samoa Joe's jaw again, I felt that this was about the same as their first match. Not saying that was a bad thing, but if you enjoyed their first encounter then it was a lot of the same here. I was really surprised to see Joe bust out the Chimera Plex in this match, but I guess that was to cater to the New Japan fans. I was even more surprised to see Nakamura lose here. I thought they would have given the two-time NXT Champion spot to Balor before he left but I was definitely wrong on that one. Samoa Joe seems like he's going to be one of Triple H's pet projects for a long time. If handled well, Joe could be a more dominating and unstoppable force than Owens and Lesnar combined. That would definitely make up for how TNA handled that guy's main event push.

I have to wonder if Nakamura is getting the call up sooner than we are expecting. I mean c'mon the guy is FAR too big of a star too keep him down in NXT for two WrestleManias in a row. Then imagine the crowd reaction for his entrance at WrestleMania, let alone for the Rumble next month if they debut him like they did AJ Styles last year. Just imagine that crowd reaction for Nakamura if he showed up in the Rumble match. It would be crazy if Nakamura and Styles have their Wrestle Kingdom rematch at WrestleMania next year.

After seeing people mention this online, I have to agree with the predictions that Nakamura will more likely get the belt back when NXT tours in Japan next month. That makes perfect sense for Samoa Joe's last hurrah and for Nakamura to regain the gold back in his homeland. I'm fine with that as long as they don't start tossing the belt back and forth like a hot potato like how Sasha Banks and Charlotte were doing on the main roster for the last few months.

Closing Thoughts

If I were to give this show a grade, I would give it an average B. That's it. It was your average run of the mill NXT episode stretched into two and half hours. The best match was easily the best match of the night and I'm sure people will be buzzing about the entrances for months to come, but there's nothing much else to write home about this event. Sad to say, but this was EASILY the best thing that WWE offered during Survivor Series weekend. If forced to pick between the two to watch, I HIGHLY recommend watching this show over wasting 3.5+ hours of your life watching that mess that was Survivor Series.

NXT Takeover: Brooklyn II (August 20, 2016) -- Results & Afterthoughts

 

NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II was a professional wrestling show in the NXT TakeOver series that took place on August 20, 2016. The NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II event was produced by WWE, showcasing its NXT developmental brand, and streaming live on theWWE Network. The event took place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Austin Aries def. No Way Jose

Jose has so much intensity when it comes to his meanstreak and aggression when he needs to fire up. That dude's mean/game face is fucking scary. I'd hate to be in his way on a bad day. Jose was beating up Aries at one point like he was fighting for payback for every slave during the civil rights movement. I was surprised that Aries picked up the win with the Last Chancery in a WWE ring though - even though he comboed into it after the Rolling Powerbomb out of the corner. I would've preferred to see the Brainbuster into it, but that works too.

Overall, this match had some high and low points, but it served as a good warm-up to get the crowd buzzing.

They put this off LONG enough. About time Itami finally did it in WWE.

The biggest takeaway from this match was Hideo Itami coming down to confront Aries and lay him out with the Go to Sleep. About time KENTA started reclaiming his moves that were raided by CM Punk, Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson, and even AJ Lee.

Ember Moon def. Billie Kay

This match was a FAR too short for my taste, but these two SHIMMER Women's Athletes' alumni know each other well enough to get both of their shit in and make this look good enough for Athena's NXT debut. She's been hired for over a year and working house shows just as long so I don't know what was the hold up on getting her on TV until now. I really hope that Moon is built up as the one who ends Asuka's streak. Bayley doesn't need any more accolades in NXT. She's long overdue to move on to the main roster. The women of NXT are being held underneath her thumb as long as she's there in the top spot. It's time to make some new stars in that women's division.

We finally get to see the O-Face in a WWE ring! Welcome to NXT, Athena... err Ember Moon.

I'm SOOOO glad that Athena/Ember Moon got to keep the O-Face as her finisher in NXT. From the reactions on Twitter and social media, I can tell that people were blown away from what they have seen in this debut. Athena vs. Naomi has been on my list of dream matches out of women's wrestling for a LONG time now and I might get to see that in the near future.

Bobby Roode def. "Cien" Almas

That entrance was something else, but man, I hated how the Brooklyn crowd ruined this match for me for the most part. They were booing Almas throughout the ENTIRE match when Roode is supposed to be the heel. Cool, you like his entrance but at least TRY to buy into the heel/face dynamic when Almas is busting his ass off trying to get a reaction from the crowd - only in vain. Ultimately, Roode ends it with a fucking Pumphandle Slam/Drop that they are calling the Glorious Bomb. I guess no Payoff (Perfect Plex) since Curtis Axel is still on the payroll nor a Roode Bomb when Cena and like two other guys are using finishers and signatures similar to that, but whatever. That was a fucking lame way to end the match.

Both of these guys tried, but I wasn't really impressed. Both are talented but there's no chemistry between them. They definitely have to do something to change up Almas. I'm starting to think that taking the mask off of La Sombra was a HORRIBLE idea because the Mexican pimp look isn't doing anything for anyone.

NXT Tag Team Championship Match - The Revival (c) def. DIY (Ciampa & Gargano)

This was essentially a tag team clinic from top to bottom. Somehow, someway, the Revival surpassed their performance with American Alpha here and even managed to get in all of their tag team spots in to garner and maintain heel heat. Whether you love or hate this tag team, you have to respect and admit that these guys are the best pure tag team in WWE today. Gargano and Ciampa put up an amazing effort though and don't have a damn thing to be ashamed of.

After that match, I feel like the main roster needs to trash the WWE Tag Team titles because those two divisions are laughable in comparison to what they are doing on NXT. So, when are we getting a #GiveTagTeamsAChance movement going on the main roster?

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

This was a lot more of the same from their first encounter at Takeover: Dallas, but a lot more heavy-hitting from Asuka - if that's even possible - and more aggression from Bayley. There were a few stumbling blocks here and there, but it ultimately came together for the most part.

I'm VERY happy that Bayley didn't pick up the win. Asuka doesn't need to have her hype train derailed by anyone who is set to move up to the main roster at any moment now. I know the marks would have preferred to see Bayley become a two-time NXT Women's Champion but she has overstayed her welcome in NXT for far too long. It's time for Bayley to move on like the rest of the Four Horsewomen.

I thought it was a little in bad taste to have Asuka hug Bayley after the match. That moment takes away a bit of Asuka's aura of bad-assery in my honest opinion. You don't see Brock Lesnar hugging guys after he just beat the shit out of them. Keep me in the suspension of belief that Asuka legit wants to kill all of these girls and eat their flesh.

By the way, how the HELL did Izzy get there? Does WWE have an all-expenses paid deal with that kids' family to be there for all of Bayley's matches?

NXT Championship Match - Shinsuke Nakamura def. Samoa Joe (c)

Going into this match I thought this was going to be a straight up slugfest or a brawl given the build after the last few TV episodes of NXT. Nope - they worked a pretty slow and technical match. It seemed pretty strange to follow up with that after the Brooklyn crowd blew their loads during the Women's title match. Then again, how could you follow up the main event with anything else other than a cool down before slowly building up to another powerful finish.

I have to admit that I applaud WWE for getting someone to play the violin to the sound of Nakamura's theme for his entrance. That was fucking amazing but can they tone down the flashing lights a bit. I had to look away from the TV as I was avoiding having a seizure as my eyes are already bad enough from sensitivity to bright lights.

I was legit shocked that they went with Shinsuke Nakamura getting the gold tonight and becoming the first Japanese NXT Champion - they are really trying to sell the Network to the Japanese fans to compete with New Japan World, huh? At the same time, I hope Samoa Joe is okay. He looked like he couldn't close his jaw after the first Bomaye from Nakamura. The follow-up attacks and the finish didn't do him any favors as the referee threw up the "X" symbol as soon as the match was over. I'm thinking they called an audible with Joe possibly off the table from this injury.

Closing Thoughts

This was a solid show from top to bottom, despite a few very minor stumbling blocks. As usual, it's going to be a tough act to follow for the main roster at Summerslam the following night. The men and women of NXT definitely continued the trend of great wrestling that Ring of Honor started with Death Before Dishonor Friday evening. As for Samoa Joe and Bayley, it's about time that they move up to the main roster after their performances tonight. You could call up the Revival too, but I would be scared to see what happens to the NXT Tag Team division without them. I can honestly see Bayley debuting as early as Sunday during Summerslam or during Monday Night RAW.

As for tonight's show, it blows my mind that there was ZERO talent booked on this card who could be considered in "development" - i.e. meaning that they were trained from scratch out of WWE's system. I guess Triple H wanted to play it safe and stack the card full of their "internet darlings" instead of giving the newer folks a platform. At the same time, that shows how little confidence they have in their own homegrown talent when NXT lives and dies off their big indie signings.