NXT Takeover

Legacy Review

NXT Takeover

May 29, 2014 from Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL

Commentary: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and William Regal

ArRIVAL was the first live NXT show (and the first live show ever on the WWE Network), but the true lineage of Takeovers starts here. As a point of historical interest, the dark match for this show was Sasha Banks vs Bayley. The future is almost here.

Adam Rose def Camacho in 5:07- Want to play a fun game with these early NXT shows? See how many future stars you can spot as Rosebuds. Tonight I can see Becky Lynch, Braun Strowman and Simon Gotch in a Waldo outfit. I think there's a couple of other possibly familiar women, but the masks and camera cuts make it hard to tell. Adam Rose is one of those fun gimmicks that was a hit in Full Sail but DOA when he hit the main roster. Camacho is the future Tanga Loa, now famous for teaming with his brother Tama Tonga as the Guerillas of Destiny in New Japan, the record holders for most ever IWGP Heavyweight Tag Title wins. He was trained in FCW and had done some main roster work, and this would turn out to be his last televised WWE match before being released. "Party pooper" chant as the bell rings. Rose dances around. Camacho hooks on a full nelson. Rose does a full on junk grind to get out. That gets Camacho even more pissed and Rose laughs. He leaps into Camacho's arms. Angry forearms from Camacho. "Party pooper this!" and he hits a double underhook suplex for 2. Chinlock from Camacho and the crowd starts to sing Rose's music. Rose hulks up. A Camacho legdrop only gets 1. Rose counters a backdrop and rolls through comeback punches. Spinebuster! CHOO CHOO! The Party Foul hits and gets the pin. Not much here wrestling wise, but Full Sail loving Rose so much makes it fun. *1/2

Video package on Sami Zayn trying to pick himself back up after losing to Cesaro at ArRIVAL.

 

NXT Tag Team Championship: The Ascension (c) def Kalisto and El Local in 6:18- El Local is none other than Ricardo Rodriguez under a mask. He was famous for being Alberto Del Rio's personal ring announcer over the past few years, a fantastic gimmick that he excelled at. The Ascension does the Suzuki-Gun jump at the bell. The faces counter with stereo hurricanranas that send both heels to the floor. They dial up a pair of dives, but Ascension counter with midair uppercuts from the floor! Things settle in with Viktor and Kalisto. 75% of the match is Kalisto taking a beating. Not sure about the layout call here. He gets caught in the tree of woe in the heel corner and Viktor gives him a GTR off it for 2. They go to the floor and Konnor bounces Kalisto off the ropes. Kalisto hooks the ropes and tries to get out but gets cut off and back in the heel corner. After a little more beating Kalisto gets a back elbow and hurricanrana in a neutral corner, and tags. Hot tag run from Local. He tries a springboard off the second rope and barely makes it. He was an experienced indy wrestler, but didn't do much wrestling in WWE and the ring rust shows, which makes the call to have Kalisto do almost nothing but sell even more puzzling. Local moonsault off the second rope. Donnybrook! Viktor dodges Local coming off the top rope and murders him with a clothesline. The Fall of Man ends it. The torture continues as the NXT tag division continues to slowly be put together. **

Video package on Tyler Breeze living, and owning, the gimmick.

 

NXT Championship #1 Contender's Match: Tyler Breeze def Sami Zayn in 15:55- To be clear, this is for a title shot on weekly TV, not the next Takeover. I don't think there even was a next Takeover planned at this point, they were taking it one show at a time. Unlike ArRIVAL both guys have their well known music now. I've always loved Breeze's entrance, it's staged so well. Cautious start and arm wringer tradeoff. Zayn uses his agility advantage to zip around Breeze and hit a couple of armdrags. Breeze hair pulls to try to get out and Zayn responds with a hair pull of his own! Heel kick from Zayn. He gets up on the second rope, but Breeze grabs a leg and twists it to send him down to the floor. Breeze bulldog into the second turnbuckle for 2. Faceplant for 2 and he hooks on a front facelock. Zayn powers out, backpedals and pulls the top rope down to send Breeze outside. Springboard moonsault! Zayn crossbody off the top for 2. Blue thunder bomb for 2. Breeze dodges Zayn coming off the top, hits a reverse kick to the gut and DDT for 2. Zayn tries to hang onto the middle rope in the corner. Breeze pulls him out and lifts him into a power bomb for 2! Beatdown in the corner from Breeze. Zayn pops out and gives Breeze a corner exploder suplex! Boo/yay punches. Corner whip reversals, Zayn hits the brakes when he almost squashes the ref in the corner, and Breeze rolls him up for 2. Breeze flips out of another blue thunder bomb. Standing switches. Breeze blocks a roll up. Superkick! Zayn kicks out! Both guys are slow to get up. Zayn with a slap! That sets Breeze off. Zayn blocks a whip, hooks in for what could be a package piledriver if that wasn't a banned move, counters that I don't think went the way they were hoping, all ending with Zayn hitting an x-plex. Breeze kicks out! Zayn goes for the helluva kick. Breeze flops down to the floor as a defensive move. Zayn tope con hilo! He goes for the helluva kick again. Breeze ducks it, and when he does he hits Zayn right in the gonads! Intentional? Not intentional? It's deliberately ambiguous. Beauty Shot! Breeze gets the win! Damn good match. Breeze is now a made man with that performance and win, at least in NXT, while Zayn doesn't suffer from losing as it's all part of the long term underdog arc. ***3/4

Lana is out and brings Rusev with her. Rusev's transitioned to the main roster and moved to the Russia part of Bulgaria. It's the full on presentation, with the picture of Putin on the tron and everything. Mojo Rawley interrupts with a US flag, and says he's going to shove one flag or the other right up Rusev's Putin. Props to whoever wrote that line for him. Rawley charges and runs right into a machka kick. Avalanche and the Accolade is hooked on. Lana says MOAR CRUSH, so Rusev hooks it on again while they're on the ramp. International politics aside, Rusev destroying Rawley makes you feel all is right in the world. Unfortunately like so many others before him, Rusev's hot run would end when he became the latest victim of the John Cena Heel Credibility Destroying Machine. Much like Bray Wyatt was going through at the time this show took place.

Recap of the women's title tournament. Paige comes out with the butterfly belt to say hi.

 

Tournament Final for the Vacant NXT Women's Championship: Charlotte (w/Ric Flair) def Natalya (w/Bret Hart) in 16:49- Paige famously made her main roster debut on the Raw after Wrestlemania 30, defeating AJ Lee for the Divas title. Soon after that she was stripped of the NXT Women's title since she was going main roster full time. An 8 woman tournament was held for the vacant title, culminating here. Quite possibly the two greatest professional wrestlers that have ever walked on this planet are standing at ringside for their respective family members. Nattie was already well known as one of the workhorses of the main roster women's division and a former Divas Champion, while this is Charlotte's first taste of the big time. Lil' Naitch is here to ref this one! Rough lockup. Nattie shows her power advantage early. She gets a fireman's carry takedown and armbar. Charlotte headscissors counters and stalemate. Charlotte cartwheels to reverse an armbar. Nattie flips around and gets a leg takedown. Charlotte grabs a leg and Nattie carwheels over into a modified cloverleaf. Charlotte leans and gets a chinlock. Fantastic mat wrestling so far. Crisp and compelling. After another reversal exchange they crank up the speed. Nattie reverses a wheelbarrow into a roll up for 2. Body scissors that Nattie maneuvers into a cross armbreaker. Charlotte rolls to the apron. Slap from Charlotte. Nattie slaps harder. Charlotte blocks a German suplex so Nattie turns it into another roll up for 2. Charlotte hits an OK chop, like .3 Flair, but Nattie drops instantly and sells it like death. Flair gets excited and struts around. Nattie sleeper. Charlotte jawbreakers out. Cover for 2. Charlotte with a headscissors. Or "figure four headlock" according to Regal. Hey, I'm not arguing with him. I know better. Charlotte uses her legs to run Nattie's face into the mat! Abdominal stretch. Nattie reverses it. She turns it into a backslide. Charlotte slips out and hits a basement dropkick. Nattie double underhook suplex. Man, I can see Nattie calling spots a mile away. Snap mare and basement dropkick from Nattie. Charlotte does the corner Flair Flip! Nattie forearms her off the apron. Charlotte drags Nattie to the floor by her leg. After a cover Flair gets on Lil' Naitch about the count like he's Tommy Young. Charlote goes up top. Per Saxton this is the first time she's ever done this. Moonsault! Nattie dodges! Nattie discus clothesline for 2. Sharpshooter! Charlotte crawls to the ropes but Nattie pulls her back to the center. Charlotte flips out of it. Figure four! Long and good sequence where they fight for leverage, roll around and slap each other. Charlotte crawls down the apron with the hold still applied! Lil' Naitch makes her break. Nattie's knee is kicked into the stairs. Charlotte gets her back in, thinks figure four again, then stops, thinks, looks at Bret, and hooks on a Sharpshooter! Nattie flips her over. Charlotte fights off another Sharpshooter! Bow Down to the Queen! (the earlier and better name for Natural Selection) Charlotte gets the pin! Flair goes nuts. Everyone involved hugs it out with Charlotte and especially Flair showing some genuine emotion. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the coming out party for Charlotte Flair. Made woman doesn't even begin to cover it. It's the birth of a new Flair legend. ****

Video recap for the main event. Tyson Kidd, the final graduate of the legendary Hart Dungeon and now husband of Nattie so Hart by marriage as well, was another established but underused main roster wrestler moved to NXT. His gimmick is a heel looking to use NXT as nothing more than a springboard to revitalize his main roster career. Cesaro and Christian are shown ringside for this one, and behind them is I'm fairly certain a very young Izzy.

 

NXT Championship: Adrian Neville (c) def Tyson Kidd in 20:55- There's a "Cast Neville in the next Hobbit movie" sign. Fantastic. Staredown after the bell. Another rough lockup all around the ring. Kidd offers a handshake. Neville takes it and it's genuine. They roll through some nice ground laying basics. Kidd has a touch more power, Neville a touch more agility. Lots of flippydo from Neville and he flips Kidd over by the arm. Neville takes the edge on the mat as we continue to ease into it. I'm not complaining. Speed run and Kidd shoulderblock. Armdrag exchange. Both guys go for dropkicks! Great sequence. Commentary puts over the whole "mirror match" aspect. Kidd levels Neville with a forearm! I think we've moved to a new phase in the match. Neville gets put in the tree of woe and Kidd pummels him with kicks to the spine. Running corner dropkick. Not nearly on the level of Shibata or KENTA on that. Neville's comeback is cut off with a hot shot and a dropkick sends him to the floor. Kidd somersault plancha! Back in Neville gets a boot up in the corner. Simultaneous crossbody! Man they hit hard. That spot never gets old. Neville is up with rapid fire forearms and kicks. He puts Kidd in the tree of woe and gives him his receipt with kicks to the spine. Corner dropkick from Neville. Better, but still not as good as the best. Springboard forearm from Neville for 2. That was pretty much the Phenomenal Forearm. He could do it because AJ Styles wasn't in WWE yet. Kidd cuts off a dive with a kick to the head. Cover for 2. They go up top and fight for control. Kidd tries for a sunset bomb. Neville flips through it and lands on his feet. Neville pop up powerbomb! Kidd kicks out! Neville tries to springboard off the second rope, but before he can come off Kidd jumps up next to him and gives him a Russian leg sweep! Kidd tries a Boston Crab but Neville rolls him up for 2. Kidd enzuguri. Neville suplexes Kidd over the top rope and both guys tumble to the floor! They both barely beat the count back in. Struggle slugfest. Kidd hooks on a Sharpshooter! He feels Neville trying to counter, so he turns around and grabs Neville's arm in and armbreaker, and the way his legs are wrapped it's almost like a triangle choke. Neville fights, almost passes out, and grabs a rope. Kidd goes up top and does a somersault legdrop while Neville's hanging in the ropes! Cover for 2. Kidd goes up top again. Neville tries to hop up. Kidd fights him off. They do that a few times before Neville stays up and hits a hurricanrana! Kidd ends up in the opposite corner. Neville goes up top. Red Arrow! Cover for 3! After the match Neville offers a handshake but Kidd shoves him off and walks away. Really good match, but not quite great. It had a lot of great moves for sure but didn't come together as a whole as well as it could have. ***1/2

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- The first couple of matches are a little rough, especially by Takeover standards, but that's soon forgotten when you hit the rest of the show. NXT's second live show is another success as the brand continues to come together, grow and evolve. The usual red hot Full Sail crowd is always a plus. Soon the name Takeover will be synonymous with blowaway quality wrestling.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B+