NXT Takeover: London

Legacy Review

NXT Takeover: London

December 15, 2015 from The SSE Arena Wembley in London

Commentary: Rich Brennan, Corey Graves & Byron Saxton

NXT is on their first international tour in the UK, and they figured why not have a Takeover while they're at it? The atmosphere is electric as you'd expect with a crowd full of UK football hooligans.

We get another dark arena in-ring Triple H promo start. Trips references getting his ass kicked last Sunday, he was murdered by Roman Reigns the last PPV as part of their ongoing feud leading to their main event match at the next Wrestlemania. Fortunately he got better, just like getting over being turned into a newt.

Asuka def Emma (w/Dana Brooke) in 14:49- Asuka took out one half of the Emma/Brooke duo in her debut at the last Takeover, but they couldn't let the issue die so now Asuka gets to take out the other one. The crowd is all kinds of into Asuka. Emma ducks a lockup. Asuka swings a kick and Emma hides in the ropes. Basic exchange and Emma dodges a dropkick. Hammerlock exchange. Emma rolls around but can't get Asuka to break. They do another long run of standing switches before Emma has enough and hits a back elbow. Both women hit the ropes and Asuka takes Emma down by the arm and tries to cinch in a Fujiwara armbar. Emma gets to the ropes and rolls out. Asuka hip attack off the apron! Brooke distracts and Emma hits a shotgun dropkick that knocks Asuka off the apron. Another shotgun dropkick in the ring for 2. Emma stretches out Asuka's arms in a submission hold. Asuka tries to roll over but Emma cradles her for 2. The crowd continues to come up with new ways to chant "Asuka". You have to love UK crowds. Emma hooks on a full nelson. Asuka back elbows out and does a backslide for 2. Emma turns her around into a clothesline for 2. Hard corner whips for Asuka. Brooke is shouting her head off from ringside. You can hear everything like she's got Jimmy Hart's megaphone. Asuka tries to reverse a corner whip. Emma blocks and slaps her! Uh oh. Asuka hops up to the second rope and hits a missile dropkick. On the knees slugfest. Asuka dropkick and kick combo. She lights Emma up with rapid fire strikes. Hip attack and yes kicks. Emma grabs her leg. Another slap. Emma ducks the spinning back fist response, gets a leg takedown and jackknife cover for 2. Asuka hits the spinning back fist! Another hip attack for 2. Emma dodges in the corner, goes over the top rope and wraps Asuka in the tarantula. She double underhook suplexes Asuka into the corner! Emma sandwich! Cover for 2. She sets up for the Emmalock. Asuka grabs her ankle and turns it over into an ankle lock! Emma stands up and tries to get free, so Asuka grabs her waist and hits a German suplex! Running kick for 2. She goes for the Asuka Lock. Emma fights it being fully applied and the ref gets squashed in the corner. Brooke takes off her belt and slides it to Emma. Asuka sees it and they fight for it. Asuka wins that, but Emma sees the ref get back up, drops down and tries the old Eddie Guerrero trick. While Asuka is arguing with the ref Emma rolls her up for 2. Asuka transitions it straight into the Asuka Lock! Brooke tries to get in and the ref goes over to stop her. Emma taps out and Asuka lets go, but the ref didn't see it. Emma gets the belt. Asuka sees her coming and hits a spinning kick to the head! That gets the pin. Another great outing for Asuka, and Emma continues to show new life with her heel character. After a couple more losses to Asuka Emma would move back up to the main roster early the following year and again do nothing of note other than the legendary Emmalina disaster before her release in late 2017. ***3/4

British wrestling legend Johnny Saint is in the crowd. He would be heavily involved in NXT UK after it started, both behind the scenes and as the on-screen GM.

 

NXT Tag Team Championship: Dash and Dawson (c) def Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady (w/Carmella) in 14:58- The UK crowd REALLY loves Enzo and Cass. Dash and Dawson targeted and hurt Cass' knee old school style during the build. There's no issue with it at the start but it's something to bank away for later. Enzo and Dawson start with a crazy rough lockup. Dawson hits a punch and locks on a headlock. Dash tags in with some big European uppercuts. Enzo slides between Dash's legs and in the same motion does a single leg takedown. Nice. Then he faceplants Dash. Cass pounds Dash down in the corner. After a whip Dash grabs the top rope and bails to the floor. Enzo follows, dodges and Dash clotheslines the post. E&C targets the hurt arm. Cass hooks on an armbar and taunts Dawson. The crowd serenades Cass with a full song. Dash dodges an avalanche and the heels pummel Cass in the corner. Long sequence of flying fists to try to get the big man down. Cass hits a double clothesline and presses Dash into Dawson. E&C set the rocket launcher up but Dawson rolls to the floor. Enzo charges and Cass launches him over the top rope onto both heels! Enzo sunset flip back in. Dawson gets a blind tag. Crossbody from Enzo, but Dash grabs him from behind and tosses him to the floor. Enzo hit the apron as he was sliding out and hurt his shoulder. D&D, the perfect old school team, know exactly what to do and start picking it apart. Dawson hits a hammerlock northern lights suplex for 2. They continue to keep the ring cut in half. Dawson basement dropkick and legdrop for 2. After more double teaming Dawson does a slingshot suplex for 2. After some more arm work Enzo counters a backdrop attempt by Dawson. He leaps over to tag....but Dash knocks Cass of the apron just before he can! Front suplex from the heels. The ref makes D&D swap as he didn't see the last tag, and the delay lets Enzo just kick out in time. Dash sets Enzo up top. Enzo fights Dash off. Leaping DDT from the top rope! Tag to Cass! Cass unloads on Dawson. Avalanche. Dawson ducks a big boot. Cass tiltawhirl side slam. Dash breaks the pin up. Cass goozles Dash and pushes him 360 over the top to the floor. While he's distracted with that Dawson chop blocks him from behind! There's the knee they worked on the weeks leading up to this becoming important again. Dash hooks on a reverse figure four. Enzo comes in but Dawson cuts him off with a clothesline. Cass fights in the hold a long time and finally manages to get to the ropes. Dawson goes up top but Enzo pushes him off. Cass rolls Dawson up for 2. Big boot on Dash! The rocket launcher hits! Dawson pulls Enzo off the pin just in time before 3! Cass gets in his face and he hides behind Carmella. Carmella slaps Dawson! Cass charges, but Dawson pushes him hard into the post! Enzo gets up top in the ring. Dawson goes up top with him. SUPER SHATTER MACHINE! Pin and it's over. The crowd is not happy. Once again Enzo and Cass come up short in a Takeover tag title match. The soon to be Revival carried them to their best match ever, one of the first of their many masterclasses in tag team wrestling. Clink me. Top guys, out. ****

 

Baron Corbin def Apollo Crews in 11:41- Crews tossed Corbin out in a #1 contender's battle royale, then Corbin interfered in Crews' title match, and the whole feud snowballed from there. This continues Corbin's unofficial position as the resident "anti-indie" heel, a role he was perfectly placed in. Crews also showed some fire during the feud, something he had been lacking to this point. Crews is aggressive in the lockup but Corbin shows better power. Corbin does some jawing and Crews charges. After a shoulderblock Corbin powders and stalls on the floor. Back in Corbin weathers another storm, hits a knee to the gut and gives Crews buckle shots all around the ring. Crews slips out of a slam. Corbin blocks a roll up. Crews ducks a clothesline and hits a dropkick. Corner charge, and Corbin backdrops Crews over the top down to the floor. Crews crashes on the stairs on the way down. Corbin: "How you feeling now? You should have stayed in Ring of Honor! You should have stayed in little gyms!". And that, ladies and gentlemen, is Baron Corbin's peak moment in NXT. I remember I laughed so hard watching this live when he said that, even as a very pro-indie guy who'd rather watch an incredible wrestling show in a gym with 50 people than a crappy one in a full football stadium. Corbin rolls Crews back in just to throw him out again. Crews tries a sunset flip but Corbin punches him in midair. Corner tackles and big boot from Corbin. The crowd gets on Corbin as the methodical beatdown continues. Crews tries a springboard crossbody off the second rope. Corbin catches him. Crews works it into a small package for 2. Another hard corner whip and Corbin soaks in the crowd's hate. Backbreaker. Corbin lifts Crews up for either a powerbomb or Canadian backbreaker but legit falls down. He recovers and charges. Crews dodges and Corbin flies to the floor. Back in Crews does a takedown and lays in some ground and pound while the crowd chants "botchamania" for Corbin's fall earlier. Corbin rolls out again and Crews tackles him on the floor. Apron moonsault! Crews clotheslines in the ring. But he runs into a Corbin deep six! Cover for 2. Corbin sets up End of Days. Crews flips through it and hits an enzuguri! Standing moonsault! Cover for 2. Crews goes for the toss powerbomb he'd been using lately but Corbin grabs the top rope to block it. End of Days! Corbin gets the pin! Despite the fact they clearly wanted to push Crews hard when he signed it's hard to argue the right guy didn't win. Corbin is slowly but steadily improving in all aspects of his game. It's another disappointing Takeover performance from Crews in what was becoming a pattern. Crews moved down to a midcard guy after this to hone his craft a bit more and wasn't booked for the next Takeover, but then was a surprise main roster callup on the Raw after Wrestlemania. **1/4

Video package for Sami Zayn, who's returning from injury next week. Earlier tonight, Nia Jax was promoing and was interrupted by Asuka staring at her. Fuck her up Asuka, fuck her up.

 

NXT Women's Championship: Bayley (c) def Nia Jax in 13:16- For the first time since the very first Takeover there's a non-4 Horsewoman in the women's title match. Jax debuted the week after the last Takeover and had been getting the huge monster push, muderizing everyone in her path. Fortunately I don't think she had injured anyone for real. Yet. Needless to say, London loves Bayley. The chants in this match are legendary. Bayley is in dodge mode early. She tries a crucifix into a roll up but Jax scoops her up and tosses her into the corner. More dodges with some hammy kicks and back elbows. Jax grabs a waistlock and tosses Bayley across the ring. Bayley lays in some forearms. Jax shrugs them off and hits a shoulderbreaker. Cobra clutch from Jax. Bayley fades then fights out. Jax spins her around and hooks it on again. After Bayley hangs on for a bit Jax lets go and tries a short clothesline. Bayley ducks. Dragon sleeper while on Jax's back! Jax backs into a corner. Bayley hits leaping back elbows in the corner. Jax lifts her onto her back. Bayley fights free and hits a dropkick to the knee. Jax goes down to one knee. Bayley hits a series of back elbows off the second rope but Jax won't go down. On the last one Jax pushes her down in midair. She goozles, but Bayley uses it to hook in a triangle choke! Jax lifts her up and sets her on the top rope. Bayley fights her off. Senton off the top! She covers, but Jax's kickout sends her all the way to the floor. Back in Jax hits the pop up Samoan drop, which has been her finisher. She takes her time on the cover. Bayley kicks out! Another Samoan. A third one. A legdrop. Cover with one foot. Bayley kicks out again! Jax hits avalanches in the corner and tosses Bayley across the ring. Legdrop on Bayley's arm, then THREE legdrops to the back of Bayley's head. Two hand cover. Bayley kicks out again! Bayley uses the ropes to slowly get back up. Another avalanche. The ref checks on her. Jax sets Bayley up top and sets up for a super Samoan drop. Bayley hooks on a guillotine! She gets Jax in the center of the ring! Jax hits a spinebuster. Another guillotine! Another spinebuster! Another guillotine! Jax goes down to a sitting position! Bayley cranks back hard. Jax fights and fights but eventually she has no choice but to tap out! Simple and pretty effective big man vs little man formula. It's got a bit of a Sting vs Vader vibe to it. Of course Bayley is Sting no problem, but we'd learn over the following months and years that Jax is no Vader. ***1/4

 

NXT Championship: Finn Balor (c) def Samoa Joe in 18:22- Like the Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn feud earlier in the year this is feeding off these guys' real life, non-WWE history, saying a 10 year friendship has been fractured. After they managed to coexist long enough to win the Dusty Classic, Joe asked Balor for a title shot. He was quickly cockblocked by GM William Regal, who said they need to go through a process to determine a #1 contender. Later on weekly TV Joe said screw your process and laid Balor out. In addition to being mad at Regal Joe also thought Balor was dodging him. It was a very organic, logical and realistic turn. Balor demanded the match and here we are. This is the show we get the awesome Jack the Ripper themed Demon entrance, being in London and all. Feeling out start with Joe getting a couple of takedowns. Dueling chants with a 50/50 crowd. A Balor dropkick sends Joe to the floor. Baseball slide. Apron PK. Balor rolls Joe in and Joe rolls right back out the other side. Balor follows and stays aggressive. Shotgun dropkick into the steps. He sets Joe up on the steps and goes for a double stomp but Joe dodges. Uranage on the floor! Joe pounds away back in the ring. Balor counters with forearms. Joe floors Balor with a forearm. Avalanche/enzuguri combo in the corner. Forearm slugfest. Joe tackles Balor and does a chop/kick/kneedrop combo sequence for 2. More corner jabs and a running boot scrape in the corner. Joe breaks out a Mongolian chop and European uppercuts. Balor tries to come back and charges but Joe gives him an inverted atomic drop and big boot. Balor dodges a senton. Corner enzuguri from Balor. He tries to leap off the apron but Joe pushes him to the floor. Joe TOPE SUICIDA! MAMMA MIA! That was like a scrawny QB getting killed by a 280 pound linebacker. Joe rolls Balor back in and covers for 2. Powerbomb from Joe for 2. He holds onto the legs and transitions into a Boston crab, then a crossface. Balor reaches for the ropes so Joe grabs the other arm and pulls it back. Balor twists and gets a foot on the ropes. Balor ducks a short clothesline. DDT! Flying burrito forearm. Signature running corner chops from Balor. Joe hits a back elbow counter. He goes up to the second rope but Balor knocks him to the floor with an enzuguri. Tope con hilo! Double stomp to Joe's back for 2. Rapid fire strikes from Balor. Slingblade! John WOOOO....no, Joe dodges! Senton! He sets up for the muscle buster. Balor just manages to squirt free and rolls Joe up for 2. Pele kick. Both guys are down. Kudos to the refs tonight for staying on count when the crowd is counting one number ahead. Crazy UK crowd. Back and forth slugfest. Joe blocks a Pele kick. Coquina clutch! Balor escapes to the corner. Joe blocks an apron kick, drags Balor back in and hooks the clutch on fully. Balor rolls out and hits Joe with a double stomp! Both guys are down again. Balor is up with a slingblade! John WOOOOO dropkick! A second one! Joe won't go down! John WOOOO to Joe's back! Now he's down. Balor goes up top. Joe gets up and tries for the muscle buster again. Balor blocks that and both guys are up top. Balor chops Joe down. Coupe de Gracie! That gets the pin! Hell of a match. This had a very indie/New Japan/non-WWE feel to the way it was laid out, especially the finish sequence, in a very positive way. As Balor celebrates Joe stares daggers at him while being helped out. This isn't over. ****1/2

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Another good Takeover to close the year out, but one that doesn't get remembered as well as other ones, possibly because of the lack of title changes or big debuts. The crazy London crowd bumps it up a notch. As 2015 comes to an end NXT is unquestionably the hottest thing in professional wrestling (the Bullet Club/Elite/Omega vs Okada fueled rise of New Japan as a legitimate international force was still a little bit down the road). 2016 will see them take that growth and continue to build on it to even more heights, and bring in a lot more big names we never thought we'd see in a WWE ring.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: A-