NXT Takeover: Fatal 4 Way

Legacy Review

NXT Takeover: Fatal 4 Way

September 11, 2014 from Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL

Commentary: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and Renee Young

I started this run of going back and reviewing these old Takeovers under the premise that classic black and gold NXT was dead and buried, and they now qualified as old school. Well here we are now, just a few reviews in (and only the second under the Takeover name) and now the architect of NXT's glory years, Triple H, is running the whole damn show. And yes, that makes me excited for the future of WWE. Summerslam rocked, and he hasn't even had a chance to really put things together his way yet. But you're not here for that, you're here for old rasslin'. On with the show.

NXT Tag Team Championship: Kalisto and Sin Cara def The Ascension (c) in 7:48- The Ascension are now approaching one full year as NXT tag champs. This is Sin Cara 2.0, the wrestler also known unmasked as Hunico. He replaced the original Sin Cara, who was signed to be the next Rey Mysterio but turned into a walking Botchamania video with his own silly special botch lighting to boot, after an on screen feud between the two (he was Sin Cara Negro for that) and was the latest veteran to come down to NXT to help out. The challengers won a #1 contender's tournament to get this shot. I gotta say, as much as I don't care for the Ascension, they've got a cool entrance. That was one of Triple H's greatest strengths in the black and gold years, getting everyone a memorable entrance. Hope he brings it to the main show now. Viktor and Cara start. Viktor gets some early chops and uppercuts. Cara responds with a series of springboard moves off the second rope. Viktor takes the edge back and Cara gets tossed outside. Konnor rams his back into the apron. "YA" stomps in the corner. Pretty sure that's what the Ascension's chant was. Viktor hooks in a butterfly type hold. He tries for a powerbomb after bouncing Cara off the top rope, but Cara turns it into a hurricanrana. Konnor tags in and knocks Kalisto off the apron. Konnor avalanche for 2. Cara gets a basement enzuguri. Konnor holds him to keep him from tagging and pushes him into the heel corner like a football drill. Cara somersaults over, runs to the corner and gets the tag! Cara springboard crossbody coming in. Viktor lifts Kalisto for a powerbomb, but Kalisto flips it over into a code red! Konnor breaks the pin up. Cara tope suicida on Konnor! Kalisto goes for a plancha, but both Ascension catch him. He escapes, and Cara charges in with a plancha of his own! Back in Viktor avoids a moonsault and kills Kalisto with a clothesline. The Ascension set up for the Fall of Man as the crowd can sense another successful defense coming. Cara grabs Konnor's foot and drags him out! Kalisto hits the Salida Del Sol on Viktor! That gets the pin for the huge upset and the titles! The Ascension's long reign of terror is finally over. Over the next 6-12 months the NXT tag division will slowly start to really come together after being pretty neglected to this point. Slow start with the usual dull as paint Ascension slow beatdown, but the stretch run was decent. **1/4

Young interviews the new champs after the match, where Kalisto officially dubs the team the Lucha Dragons.

 

Baron Corbin def CJ Parker in :29- The future Happy Sad Grumpy Sleepy Wheezy Queazy Corbin is making his TV debut tonight after doing some learning work on the famed Coconut Loop, NXT's non-televised house shows around Florida whose main goal was to get development projects like Corbin live ring time. This is well before Vince forced him to always wrestle in shirts to cover up his tattoos too. He gets a jobber entrance while Parker gets his full one, turning things on their head a little bit. Young calls Parker a "walking Hot Topic t-shirt". Bell, Corbin floors Parker with one punch, hits his as yet unnamed finisher (End of Days) and it's over. Not the last time the future Juice Robinson will get squashed on a Takeover. NR

 

Hair vs Hair Match: Enzo Amore (w/Colin Cassidy) def Sylvester Lefort (w/Marcus Louis) in 5:38- Enzo and Cass. It's hard to overstate how hugely popular these guys were, both in NXT and on the main roster, before they were undone by bad decisions on both sides. It is telling how no one ever trusted them with a tag title reign though. There's not much to say about the other guys. They were a French team called The Legionnaires, and would later work in Impact as The Tribunal. There's the usual barber's station set up on the stage, and Enzo and Cass have a bucket of hair removal cream that they accidentally used on Carmella's dog a couple of weeks prior, a segment that was Carmella's TV debut and would set up her first gig as Enzo and Cass' valet. Enzo and Cass cut their usual prematch promo and the crowd is all for them. S-A-W-F-T SAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWFT! After the lockup Lefort hits a shoulderblock and goes for a quick cover. Enzo cranks a headlock, does a drop toe hold and walks over Lefort's back. Roll up for 2. Enzo goes into dodge mode and hits a dropkick. He hiptosses Lefort off the apron back in. Leforte snaps Enzo's throat over the top rope. Chinlock! Enzo counters a backdrop. There's wayyyyyyyyyyy to much arguing happening on commentary. Saxton and Young are fake bitching at each other so much it's hurting the match. It's like trying to watch those sitting hot air windbags that yell fake opinions at each other all day on ESPN. Lefort goes into slow beatdown mode. Enzo punches back. Louis distracts and Lefort hits a clothesline for a long 2. Cass takes Louis out. Enzo rolls Lefort up, grabs a handful of tights and gets the pin. Not much wrestling wise, commentary was awful, but the crowd loves Enzo and Cass so that helped. *1/2

A whole bunch of postmatch shenanigans end with Lefort skedaddling and Louis getting the bucket of cream dumped on his head. Kind of a gyp on the stipulation really.

New NXT General Manger William Regal comes out to introduce the "biggest international signing in the history of WWE", and that man is.....KENTA! They really did hype the hell out of this, and rightly so as KENTA is and was that big. Hulk Hogan even went to Japan to do the initial announcement at a NOAH show. Huge reaction from the crowd for KENTA as he comes out. He says that WWE is his dream, his goal is to be NXT Champion, and announces he will now be known as Hideo Itami. Very lukewarm reaction to the name change. Sadly we all know how this ended, with constant injuries and disappointment, though it did lead to KENTA going to New Japan for the first time instead of back to NOAH which was a plus in the end. Watching this over again, I really think they cut KENTA's legs out from under him right at the start with the name change after they had already announced signing him as KENTA. They should have either let him keep it or changed his name right away and never called him KENTA in WWE canon. Not letting him do the Go2Sleep, a move he invented, due to the CM Punk connections didn't help either. After his promo a pissed off Ascension come out and attack. While Regal's giving them the death stare Itami pops back in the ring, takes his jacket off and fights them both off. Konnor looked lost selling Itami's offense. This is just the beginning of NXT snapping up the best of non-WWE talent.

 

Bull Dempsey def Mojo Rawley in 1:10- Rawley and Dempsey teamed up in the #1 contender's tournament, with Dempsey turning on Rawley after they lost. Rawley charges straight in and the brawl is on. It's all Dempsey until Rawley hits a back elbow and tackles Dempsey. They have an ugly collision in the corner that looked like a miscommunication. Dempsey hits a tackle, a headbutt off the top rope, and another squash is complete. Given who was in there it's definitely best they kept it short. 1/2*

We cut to Enzo and Cass walking backstage. Enzo's mad he didn't get to see anyone bald tonight. They stumble on their opponents. Lefort takes off again. Enzo and Cass grab Louis, who has a towel on his head, drag him into the arena, all the way into the ring, and take the towel off. He's mostly bald but has little chunks of hair like Kane when he first unmasked. In between Saxton and Young's reignited awful fake bitch session Phillips gets a decent chuckle line in: "He looks like a cue ball with lint on it".

Video package for the women's title match. Bayley kick started her long rivalry with Sasha Banks by defeating her not once, but twice to get this title shot. Watching this with a teary Bayley saying how much she loves this and how she wants to be the best for a long, long time is really something seeing her today.

 

NXT Women's Championship: Charlotte (c) def Bayley in 10:40- Tonight is the first of *six* straight Takeovers where the women's title match is NXT Four Horsewomen facing off against each other, an incredible accomplishment for the group largely responsible for making modern WWE women's wrestling what it is. This is classic hugging wacky inflatable tube men face Bayley, while Charlotte is a heel for the first time. For those that weren't around for this era, Full Sail loves Bayley. I mean Full Sail LOVES Bayley. I don't think Full Sail has ever loved anyone the way they loved Bayley. "Bayley's gonna hug you" chant at the bell. Charlotte offers a handshake. Bayley flips the script and attacks! Great way to show how serious she is tonight, especially with questions about if she had a killer instinct or not. Charlotte with a knee to the face and chop. Bayley crossbody and a series of elbows from all angles for 2. She tries for a backslide. Charlotte blocks it and turns it into a modified neckbreaker. Kneedrop. Commentary is starting to have issues being too noisy again. Part of the problem is Saxton has been shoehorned into the heel voice role, something he is not naturally suited for. Charlotte hooks on the figure four headscissors and pounds Bayley's face into the mat. Bayley tries to bridge into a pin. After a bit more beatdown Charlotte puts the headscissors back on and rolls Bayley around in it. Bayley with a flash sunset flip. Charlotte rolls through it and tries to hook on the figure four proper. Bayley small package counter for 2. Charlotte dropkick. Bayley slips out of a slam and gets a roll up for 2. Charlotte knee to the gut. Bayley staggers up with forearms. Charlotte responds. Forearm flurry from Bayley, backing Charlotte into the corner. Bayley corner shoulderblock. She rolls back, does a quick pull on her hair tie as opposed to her usual longer setup, but Charlotte dodges when she charges and drops Bayley face first with a kneedrop. They go up top, have a few slaps, and Bayley hits a hurricanrana! Both women are down. Bayley slowly crawls over to cover for 2. Hug! Bayley to Bell....no, Charlotte blocks and cradles for 2. Standing switch. Charlotte pulls Bayley back and the back of her head SMASHES into the bottom turnbuckle! Damn that was nasty looking. Charlotte moonsault. Horrible landing, she landed on her feet then dropped down. Bayley kicks out. Natural Selection hits, and it's over. Good match, but they didn't get enough time to get it up to that next level. Really good first major outing for Bayley though, who looked good in losing and silenced a lot of critics that didn't think she was good enough for a spot like this. ***

After the bell Sasha comes out. Full Sail gives us the classic "Sasha is ratchet" "NO SHE'S NOT" dueling chants. Do the kids even say that anymore? Sasha mocks Bayley, then attacks her! Charlotte comes in to make the save! The long epic between the Four Horsewomen (Becky Lynch not appearing tonight) is just getting started.

Video package for the main event, which includes something I'd forgotten- they got a big preview match on the last Raw before this show, Neville and Zayn vs Kidd and Breeze in a tag match.

Fatal 4 Way Match for the NXT Championship: Adrian Neville (c) def Tyler Breeze, Sami Zayn and Tyson Kidd in 24:12- Cautious start with all four guys sending out lockup feelers. After a couple of minutes the heels attack the faces and everyone pairs off, Breeze with Zayn and Kidd with Neville. They brawl to and on the floor for a while. Zayn and Neville get back in and stare off but are quickly attacked from behind again. Back to the floor. Zayn has Breeze's phone! And he hits Breeze with it! Nothing is sacred anymore. Kidd comes around and attacks Zayn. They get back in the ring and Zayn hooks on the Koji Clutch! Breeze breaks it up. Neville drives Breeze up the ramp. Kidd clips Neville's knee! The heels double suplex Neville on the stage! Then double suplex Zayn on the ramp! Zayn gets double teamed in the ring. The next stretch of the match is the heels isolating Zayn while keeping Neville out of the ring. After a bit of that Breeze tries for a pin. Kidd pulls him off and asks him what the hell. Breeze dropkicks Kidd! That alliance is over. Kidd hits Zayn with a neckbreaker and covers for 2. Zayn jawbreakers out of a chinlock. Kidd with a clothesline. Neville gets in and immediately gets tossed out again. Kidd top rope legdrop for 2. Zayn gets put in the tree of woe. Kidd cuts Neville off again with a wicked apron PK, then gives Zayn a corner dropkick for 2. A Zayn/Kidd slapfest leads to Zayn getting beat down in the corner. During all this Breeze has been napping out on the floor. Another long Kidd chinlock, which feels really unnecessary in a 4 way match. Neville gets back in and lasts a whole 5 seconds before hitting the floor again. He pops right back in and lets loose an offensive flurry on Kidd. Breeze finally gets back in. Everyone but Zayn gets tossed outside. Zayn teases a dive, but Neville beats him to it with a huge springboard moonsault! Zayn and Neville stare down while the crowd eats it up. Here we go! Neville gets the edge with rapid fire kicks. Handspring. Zayn is supposed to catch him but can't hang on. He recovers to quickly cover Neville for 2. Kidd's back in. He and Neville go up top. Neville fights him off. Zayn charges, and Kidd backdrops him into Neville, knocking him off the top rope to the floor! Kidd fisherman's neckbreaker on Zayn for 2. He goes for the Sharpshooter. Zayn fights it off. Kidd rolls through a monkey flip and tries again. Again Zayn fights it off. Kidd kicks Zayn from the apron. He goes for a springboard elbow drop but Zayn gets his knees up. Zayn sets up for the Helluva Kick....but when he charges Breeze cuts him off with a Beauty Shot! Breeze superkick on Kidd! He covers. Kidd kicks out! He covers Zayn. Zayn kicks out! Breeze is furious. Neville goes up top again. Kidd and Breeze meet him. Then Zayn comes in and we have the tower of doom spot! This was before doing that became cliche in every multi-man match and the crowd goes crazy for it. Zayn drops on Kidd for 2. Kidd pounds Zayn down in the corner. Zayn runs into a Neville kick. Neville goes up top and hits Zayn with a reverse moonsault. Breeze throws Neville out! He covers Zayn! Zayn kicks out! The crowd's going ape shit now. Breeze goes for the Beauty Shot again. Zayn ducks, Kidd grabs Breeze's leg, takes him down and hooks on the Sharpshooter. Breeze fights but Kidd drags him back into the center. Neville dives in and grabs Breeze's arm to keep him from tapping out! Zayn breaks it up. Zayn/Neville slugfest. Zayn backdrops Neville to the floor. Corner exploder on Kidd! Tope suicida on Neville, sending him over the guardrail! Corner dive tornado DDT on Breeze! The decks are clear for Zayn! HELLUVA KICK ON KIDD! Cover! NEVILLE PULLS THE REFEREE OUT! Oh the crowd did not like that one bit. HUGE heat. Zayn's pissed. He drops down but walks into a Neville superkick! Neville goes up top. Red Arrow on Kidd! Neville gets the pin to retain! After the match the camera focuses on a forlorn Zayn as much as the victorious Neville. Their story is not over. Hell of a match. It started slow, but once it got going it was amazing, and everyone got their moment to shine and almost win. This was the end of Kidd's NXT rehab stint. He'd go back up to the main roster and get a bit of traction before his unfortunate career ending neck injury the following summer. ****1/4

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS: This is generally considered one of the weakest Takeovers, and rightfully so. The roster was still being put together, and they were still figuring out this whole Takeover thing. This one felt more like an extended episode of regular NXT TV with all the talking segments and squash matches than what we would come to know Takeover as. Commentary clearly still needs work as well. They'll figure it out soon.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C+