NXT Takeover: Brooklyn

Legacy Review

NXT Takeover: Brooklyn

August 22, 2015 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY

Commentary: Rich Brennan, Corey Graves and Byron Saxton

For the first time ever, Takeover is taking place in a large arena and on the night before a major PPV (Summerslam '15). In fact, it's the first time a Takeover has been held outside Full Sail University at all. I remember during the build for this every time Brooklyn was mentioned the Full Sail faithful booed. They had become understandably proprietorial of "their" NXT, but this move was absolutely vital if the brand was going to continue to grow.

 

The show opens with Triple H in the ring in a dark arena. He gives a great speech about the growth of NXT. "We had an idea, you made it a revolution". The lights come up and reveal a raucous Barclays Center, jam packed for this first ever NXT show outside Full Sail and red effing hot. "WE ARE NXT", mic flip and done. No big video package, that's all the show intro we need. With the switch to large arenas this is also the first Takeover to use the alternate white logo instead of the usual NXT black and gold. Greg Hamilton is making his Takeover debut as ring announcer as well. He's still getting his sea legs, but, as always, Greg Hamilton is Gold (an old deep cut from my old The Following Contest podcast days).

Jushin Thunder Liger def Tyler Breeze in 8:42- Another super special Takeover entrance for Breeze with a bunch of runway models. Those are some shiny hats they're wearing. The New Japan legend and Class of 2020 WWE Hall of Fame inductee Liger is wrestling his first and what would be only match for WWE in his over 30 year career. It's a shame they didn't get Liger's New Japan music for this one off appearance. Saxton mentions Liger is a record 11 time IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion. Breeze hits a shoulderblock out of a headlock and chills in the corner. Liger with a drop toe hold, elbow drop to the back, and he goes to the corner and mocks Breeze's pose! He hooks on the surfboard. Breeze stands out and stomps. Liger dodges the corner, hits a kick, and goes to the Romero Special. Monkey flip in the corner with Breeze doing a full 180 degree sell. Liger takes Breeze's selfie stick! Breeze takes it back and Liger uses the opening to hit some chops. Breeze grabs Liger's mask horns and tries to pull it off. Superkick from Breeze for 2. Snap mare/legdrop combo into a facelock. Breeze reverses a whip and hits a ripcord knee, then a straitjacket backbreaker for 2. The Barclays crowd goes full New Yorker and chants "Full Sail sucks". Guess they heard Full Sail booing them. Liger powers out of a facelock. He lifts Breeze over the ropes onto the apron. Breeze jumps back in but right into a Liger rolling kick! Tiltawhirl backbreaker. Liger comes off the top but Breeze gets his knees up. Flip over crucifix for 2. Breeze gets frustrated, kicking and punching Liger in the corner and yelling at the ref. Running palm strike from Liger! Breeze goes to the floor. Liger with an apron cannonball! Back in Breeze tries to fight out but Liger hits the Ligerbomb, and that gets the pin! Pretty abrupt finish, it felt like they had 5 more minutes left in them. Still a good match that was exactly what it needed to be. You could argue that Breeze should have gotten the win as he was the full time guy, but he had already bounced off the NXT glass ceiling and wasn't going back up there with the influx of huge name indy stars that were coming in. ***1/4

Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and X-Pac are in the crowd. We get a promo for Nia Jax, coming soon. Yeah, that could have been never and I'd have been just fine.

 

NXT Tag Team Championship: The Vaudvillains (w/Blue Pants) def Blake & Murphy (c) (w/Alexa Bliss) in 10:16- Blake & Murphy's entrance is what Kevin Dunn thinks matches should look like. Since last appearing on Takeover the Vaudvillains had turned face thanks to the Full Sail crowd loving them, and the Brooklyn crowd is just as much behind them. They had promised to get help for this match as Bliss had been interfering in all of B&M's title matches since joining them to make sure they kept the belts. Since no one came out with them, Bliss grabs a mic and runs them down for not being able to find anyone. The Vaudvillains point to the stage. The crowd is already ahead of what's happening. The blue gear might have given it away. Yes, iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit's BLUE PANTS (Leva Bates)! Complete with Enzo & Cass recorded intro and them singing the Price is Right theme. Bliss is furious. "This is awesome" chant from the crowd. Once things settle down Blake and Gotch start. Gotch does squats in a hammerlock and works his way out. "Blue Pants City" chant. I'll let you work out what that's riffing. More nice chain wrestling from Gotch into a roll up. He rolls Blake into an armbreaker. Blake counters with a cradle for 2. Double team work from the Vaudvillains. They are in full control and ownership of their gimmick and it's so much fun to watch. Running PK from English for 2. B&M do a double leapfrog, but off the rebound English gives them a double Japanese armdrag, then deep armdrags Murphy and strikes a manly pose. B&M maneuver English onto the apron. He tries to fight off a double team but the heels are too much for him. Back in Blake goes right to the chinlock to kill the match dead. Murphy mocks the manly pose. We get the tweet scroll on the screen. Holy crap, I'd forgotten all about them doing that. And don't miss it. B&M keep English in peril with their usual bland offense. English gets an armdrag and goes for a tag. Blake runs outside and pulls Gotch off the apron just as English is about to tag him. B&M double pop up neckbreaker for 2. English pushes off a double team in the corner and B&M hit heads. Hot tag to Gotch! Manly offense. The strap is down! Running corner forearms on both heels. B&M run into each other again. Murphy fights off a double team. B&M try to double superplex English but Gotch pulls them down. English swanton bomb on Murphy! Murphy kicks out! Bliss gets on the apron. Blue Pants does her job, chasing Bliss around and taking her out. On the distraction Blake gets a roll up for 2. Whirling Dervish! Pin and new champions! Huge pop for the win and the Vaudvillains get a nice celebration, ending B&M's unexpectedly long title reign at 219 days, the second longest NXT tag title reign to that point. The match was perfectly solid, elevated by good storytelling and a very popular win. **3/4

 

Apollo Crews def Tye Dillinger in 4:44- 10! 10! 10! This is early in Dillinger's run as the Perfect 10. He's still a heel and has the old version of his music. It's already starting to get over as the crowd is into it and there's even a small "10" section. After being in the crowd at the last Takeover this is Crews', the former Uhaa Nation, official in ring debut. He acts shocked to see his name on the tron. Lockup! Dillinger dodges in the corner, does a cartwheel, and flashes some 10s. Crews one ups him the next exchange by doing a full backflip. Huge 10 chant from the crowd for Crews. Dropkick from Crews. Dillinger tries to toss him out. Crews lands on the apron, leaps, but Dillinger hits him in midair with a dropkick! Stomps and a choke in the corner from Dillinger. He does a long setup and puts on a modified cobra clutch. Crews fights out. He blocks a superkick, but Dillinger hits an immediate followup superkick for 2. Ground and pound from Dillinger. The crowd's starting to get restless. Crews blocks another superkick and hits a stand up enzuguri. Spinning Rainmaker clothesline. Stinger splash. Diving clothesline and kip up. Crews gives Dillinger a gorilla press followed by a standing moonsault and that gets the pin. Solid enough debut match, but it had way to much Dillinger offense to give Crews the showcase he needed. **

And now for a message from our GM. William Regal announces, in honor of the recently passed away Dusty Rhodes, NXT will be holding the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, which will culminate with the finals at the next Takeover in October. After that we see the final four in the revived and to date last season of Tough Enough at ringside. The only one you need to know is the future Mandy Rose, though there were other familiar names in that season that had been eliminated earlier: Sonya Deville, Chelsea Green, and Patrick Clark AKA Velveteen Dream. We get a good video package for the next match, highlighting Corbin's multi-sport background in boxing and football. This was the start of Corbin's run as the "anti-indy" guy, which was a perfect fit for both him and his place in the evolving NXT landscape.

 

Samoa Joe def Baron Corbin in 10:22- Joe had already wrestled on weekly TV after his surprise debut at the last Takeover so this is just his first Takeover match. Reportedly he originally signed an open contract that allowed him to wrestle elsewhere as well, but WWE locked him in exclusively full time after his debut got such a huge reaction. "Joe is gonna kill you" chant right after the bell. Kudos to the guy with the "Joe has an 8 1/3% chance to win" sign. That joke never gets old. Good lockup stalemate. Joe attacks, Corbin backs him into the corner, and Joe goes for the coquina clutch early. Corbin slips away and slides to the floor. Joe's intense waiting for him to get back in. Corner whip reversal by Joe into a back elbow and enzuguri. A dropkick sends Corbin back outside. Joe cranks up a dive but Corbin blasts him with a forearm before he can take off. Avalanches and corner beatdown by Corbin. Joe ducks a clothesline and delivers more high impact offense. He hooks on a single leg crab, transitions to a crossface, then into an arm crank that's almost a ZSJ Orienteering with Napalm Death. Corbin just gets a foot on the rope, then pulls Joe's shorts to toss him to the floor. Joe cuts Corbin off on an apron move and throws him into the barricade. Back in Corbin plays dead and grabs a heel hook when Joe gets close. Joe teases a tap but just manages to drag himself to the ropes. Big Joe chop. Corbin hits deep six for 2. Superkick from Corbin, enzuguri from Joe, and both guys are down. When they get back up they start throwing hands that lead into a very extended and good slugfest. A Joe spinning back fist rocks Corbin. He sets Corbin up for the muscle buster. Corbin fights off the top rope and hits a big boot. Suplex for 2. He throws Joe into the ropes, maybe looking for End of Days, but Joe ducks and tries the clutch again. Corbin back elbows out before it's cinched in. Modified chokeslam from Corbin. He tries a stack cover, but Joe flips him over! Coquina clutch! Corbin tries to fight but he goes out and the ref calls it. You know, I enjoyed that. Solid NXT big match debut for Joe, and a really good learning match for Corbin. ***

Sgt. Slaughter and Ric Flair are at ringside, and standing with them is KANA! Holy shit, did Kana sign with NXT? It would be confirmed later on that she had, one of the absolute best joshi wrestlers coming in to an NXT women's division that needed some reinforcements after recent callups. For those that don't know, it's Asuka, AKA my favorite women's wrestler of all time. Naomi and Tamina are also at ringside, Sasha Banks' Team BAD partners. Stephanie McMahon comes out and takes credit for creating women's wrestling. Thanks, Steph. The much hyped Steph-led "Diva's Revolution" had started on Raw a couple of weeks prior when Banks, Charlotte and Becky Lynch all made their Raw debuts. The group was also starting to be acknowledged as the Four Horsewomen on screen.

 

NXT Women's Championship: Bayley def Sasha Banks (c) in 18:16- Bayley's got Dusty tribute polka dots in her gear. She's still got a brace on her hand, she had been working through a hand injury. Banks gets an awesome special entrance, rolling into the arena in a Cadillac SUV and escorted by bodyguards. Serious big match feel here with a nuclear hot crowd that's more split than you'd think. Banks continues to get fans despite her heelishness because she's just that great of a wrestler. Banks makes fun of Bayley's polka dots. Bayley takedown! Back and forth brawl on the mat. A real brawl, not a rolling around catfight like the women used to do. Bayley hits a elbow to the back of Banks' neck and a diving clothesline. Huge dueling chants. Like, you can barely hear commentary huge. Bayley no sells buckle shots and gives Banks a couple. She puts Banks in the tree of woe. Springboard elbow drop! She goes for an early Bayley to Belly. Banks dodges into a roll up for 2. A Bayley armdrag off the second rope sends Banks to the floor. She takes her time recovering outside. Bayley goes out and hits her with the corner baseball slide! Banks goes for the kneedrop with Bayley propped in the second rope. Bayley works free before she can hit it. Banks tries a superplex instead but Bayley fights that off too. Banks kicks Bayley in her previously hurt knee and Bayley falls off the second rope all the way to the floor. Banks mocks Bayley's entrance, then mocks Bayley's moveset. Vintage Banks. Neck crank and straitjacket from Banks. Bayley fights back with forearms in the corner. Banks sets Bayley up for the corner kneedrop again. Bayley catches her in midair! Banks grabs Bayley's head with her legs and runs her into the turnbuckle! She sets Bayley up on the TOP rope. Triple decker corner kneedrop! Cover for 2. More jawing from Banks, saying Bayley's a loser and pathetic. Bayley kicks her in the face, setting off a comeback flurry. Banks goes to the apron and snaps Bayley's arm over the top rope. On the floor she pulls off Bayley's hand brace, exposing her hurt hand. She rams it on the steps! Then she wedges the hand between the steps and apron and kicks the steps! While Bayley's recovering on the floor Banks dives over the ref with a tope con hilo! Roll back in and cover for 2. Banks knucklelocks Bayley's bad hand, runs up the ropes, but Bayley gets free and Banks collapses to the floor. Slugfest back in with Bayley trying to protect her bad hand. Bayley running double ax handles. Corner elbow. She suplexes Banks into the corner and calls for the Bayley to Belly. Banks deadweights her. Bayley rolls her up, tries for a deadlift German suplex, but Banks blocks that and slams Bayley's bad hand. Banks Statement! Bayley reaches for the ropes with her bad hand....and Banks stomps it! Bayley just pushes off the rope and flips over. She reverses the Banks Statement! Banks slowly crawls and just gets to the ropes. The Bayley to Belly hits! Banks kicks out! Bayley sets Banks on the top rope. Banks fights her off. Bayley bounces back up with a running forearm. She goes for a hurricanrana, but Banks blocks it and Bayley splats hard on the mat! That was one of those deals where they made the counter look so good it could be mistaken for a botch, but it was all as it was supposed to be. Banks Meteora off the second rope with a cover! Bayley kicks out! Another top rope setup and fight for leverage. Bayley works around......POISONRANA OFF THE TOP ROPE! Another Bayley to Belly! That gets the pin and the title! Bayley's crying as she's handed the belt and Sasha can clearly be seen crying on the mat. They know what they just did. Charlotte and Lynch come out to congratulate Bayley. After a minute Banks and Bayley hug, and all Four Horsewomen celebrate in the ring in an absolutely wonderful and completely genuine real life moment. Four women that changed the game. NXT had great women's title matches before this, but this is the one that silenced all but the most trollish of the doubters and put women's wrestling on the map to stay. It's possibly the single most important women's match there's ever been. I dare you to find anything wrong with this match. I certainly can't. Drama, great wrestling, great story, great crowd, historical importance, this match has it all. *****

WWE World Heavyweight Champion, and the first ever NXT Champion, Seth Rollins is ringside with his former woman, looking at his future wife in the ring. We get video of Triple H announcing to the crowd earlier in the night that in December NXT will be going on a tour of the UK. Might want to have a Takeover while you're over there.

 

Ladder Match for the NXT Championship: Finn Balor (c) def Kevin Owens in 21:39- Owens insisted on a ladder match for his rematch after losing the title at the Beast in the East Tokyo Network special, thinking he had the advantage because Balor never had a ladder match before and he's been in a ton of them. Another Takeover, another great Demon entrance. After it's over we can see Owens chilling in a chair by the announce table giving absolutely no shits at all. Fantastic. Hey, there's only ONE ladder here! They didn't fill the entire ring area with 87 ladders. That's a refreshing change. Owens points up at the title belt and Balor is hesitant. Owens shoves and tries to step out to go for the ladder but Balor stops him. Dropkick and corner chops. Balor runs into a back elbow and Owens hits a senton. Again Balor stops Owens from even getting out of the ring to go for the ladder. The crowd gets distracted by some stupidity happening in the upper deck and the match slows down while they settle down. I don't remember what it was and really don't care. Balor blocks a powerbomb. Standing double stomp. Owens hits the cannonball. Some more back and forth sluggy stuff. The crowd starts chanting "Ole". Owens stops and mocks Sami Zayn's shoulder injury. Balor with a slingblade while Owens was messing around! That's great thinking on your feet, there's no way they could plan for that. Owens finally gets out of the ring and goes for the ladder. Balor chases him from behind and Owens gets run into the ladder. Balor starts dragging the ladder to the ring. Owens grabs the other end and squashes Balor between the ladder and the apron. He sets the ladder up in front of Balor, backs up, charges....then stops and punches Balor! I love it when he teases high spots then does something super simple. Balor comes back with forearms and tosses Owens over the barricade. Crowd brawl! Balor gets whipped into the barricade on the crowd side. Owens sets up a powerbomb. Balor backdrops him over the barricade back to ringside. He leaps off the barricade but Owens catches him and rams him into the barricade, then tosses Balor over the announce table! Owens grabs the table cover and drops it on Balor, then hops onto the table and poses. He looks under the ring and gets the backup ladder. It's a modern ladder match, there has to be at least two ladders involved. Balor shotgun dropkicks the ladder into Owens off the announce table! Damn that was a hard hit. Owens keeps Balor from getting the ladder into the ring. Balor tope con hilo! He sets the ladder up and climbs. Owens pulls him down and throws him into the ladder. He tosses Balor out and climbs, sees Balor coming in with the other ladder, stops and intercepts him. Balor dodges a ladder throw in the corner. He charges, probably for a running dropkick, but Owens cuts him off with a clothesline. He rams the ladder into Balor's arm and drops it on Balor, then slams Balor on the ladder. Senton on the ladder! Owens sets up a powerbomb again. Balor backdrops him onto the edge of the ladder! Set up and Balor climb. Owens pulls him down and throws him into the corner ladder. Cannonball! Balor dodges and Owens crashes into the ladder! John WOOOOOOO dropkick! Coupe de Gracie! Balor climbs. Owens gets up and grabs him. Powerbomb off the ladder! If he keeps backdropping you, just pull him off the ladder and drop him. Owens climbs. Balor tips the ladder over. Owens drags Balor to the floor and sets up for the dreaded apron powerbomb of death. Balor grabs the ropes to save himself! Apron PK! He goes for a double stomp off the apron but Owens dodges. Kick wham apron powerbomb! Owens resets the ladder and climbs. Balor recovers to get back in time and tips the ladder over again. Owens lands on his feet and hits a superkick! He yells "Stay down!" at Balor and superkicks him again. "You did this!". Owens sets up a ladder bridge in the corner. He sets Balor up on the standing ladder to fisherman's superplex him onto the bridge ladder. Balor blocks it, punches, and Owens falls on the bridge ladder! And the ladder doesn't break! Ouch. Balor climbs but the ladder but it's too far over to reach the belt. He sees Owens, has a rethink, and hits another Coupe de Gracie off the ladder! Ladder reset, climb, and Balor gets the belt to win! They had a hell of a match to follow, but they did it with a tremendous car crash match where Owens looked like the perfect ruthless bastard doing anything he had to do to win, and Balor overcoming it all to survive. ****1/2

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- The first large arena Takeover couldn't have gone better. Some people still point to this show as the gold standard of Takeovers. There's some after that I think are better, but there's no denying this show's greatness or historical importance.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: A