NXT Takeover: Dallas

Legacy Review

NXT Takeover: Dallas

April 1, 2016 from the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in Dallas, TX

Commentary: Tom Phillips and Corey Graves

The first Takeover of '16 is coming a bit late in the year as WWE was syncing the schedule up with the main roster PPV calendar. This is taking place on the Friday of Wrestlemania 32 weekend. Unlike Brooklyn in '15 and all the future Takeovers this isn't being held a 15-25K seat large arena, but instead in the arena section of the same convention center Axxess was being held in, seating about 9000. I think they were still hedging their bets on how well Takeovers would draw, but NXT was the hottest thing in wrestling at this point so there was really no reason to worry.

 

Small personal note before we get going: I did attend Wrestlemania 32 weekend but this was the only show I wasn’t able to make (we did go to both Saturday and Sunday Axxess, the Hall of Fame, WM and Raw the Monday after). I was literally packing my suitcase while watching this show. The main reason was it would have been an additional hotel night and extra day off work. I’m a little disappointed I missed this show in person but not hugely because: 1. I could only afford so much, especially back then, and we were already staying 3 nights and going to everything else; B. I got to see everyone I wanted from NXT, including all the new signees, during the NXT TV taping (Saturday afternoon) and house show (Sunday morning) at Axxess, and even more up close and personal than I would have at Takeover, especially on Sunday when we were ringside for almost the whole show; and I suppose c. because we did make a Takeover in Houston the next year, and that just happened to be the first ever WWE produced War Games.

NXT Tag Team Championship: American Alpha def The Revival (c) in 15:11- This is the match that would kick off a 2016 where the NXT tag division would finally fully catch up with the rest of the brand after lagging behind for a long time and lead to a renaissance of tag team wrestling in at least one WWE controlled property. Dawson and Gable start. Lockup! The crowd chants Gable's name to Kurt Angle's music again. Clean corner break and Dawson gives Gable some light cocky playful slaps. The crowd doesn't like that and starts up the old "Which one's Dawson? Which one's Dash?" chant. The Revival respond by hugging. Dawson and Gable go into a very good extended amateur exchange. Gable works into a waistlock with a bridge for 2, then gets Dawson back with his own light mocking slaps! That sets the Revival off, everyone's in and we have a 2v2 standoff. Reset with no tags. Gable tries to work wristlock leverage. Dawson hits the ropes and hits some shoulderblocks and a hiptoss. Armdrags from Gable. Dawson runs into a double dropkick and rolls out. He tries to tag Dash from the floor but naturally the ref won't allow it. The Revival use the distraction to let Dawson get a huge eye rake on Jordan. Jordan clotheslines both heels. Alpha stereo backdrops and they work Dash's arm a bit. Dash hits a back elbow and tags. Big Dawson chop. He sets Gable up top. Gable fights him off, rolls over his back, and rolls Dawson up for 2. Springboard crossbody for 2. More armdrags and dropkicks. Gable goes for Dash too but he dodges the dropkick. Double suplex attempt from The Revival. Jordan comes in and saves his teammate. Alpha double dropkick. Double German suplexes! The Revival roll out while Jordan runs around Gable in a very Rick Steiner like fashion. Alpha slide out and we have a fight on the floor. The Revival are run into each other. Back in Dash gets a blind tag but Gable was ready for him. The Revival change tactics, lure Gable to the floor and he runs into a HUGE Dash clothesline. Quick tag beatdown on Gable from the champs. Dash puts on a cobra clutch type hold and holds Gable back from tagging. They isolate Gable again and Dawson puts him in a Gory special. Gable rolls into a cradle for 2. Another tag is cut off. Gable hits a double DDT! Dash sneaks underneath the ring and pulls Jordan down just as Gable was about to tag him! The Revival do a double team move where Dawson completely misses a kneedrop off the top. I think Gable fell too early. Dash covers but the ref catches that he's not the legal man and doesn't count while the crowd chants "You fucked up". Dawson swaps back in and soaks the chants in. The crowd switches to a "Botchamaina" chant, much to Dawson's amusement. Gable dodges and Dash crashes in the corner. Revival go to cut off the tag again, and after a crazy series of maneuvers and counter maneuvers Gable gets the tag to Jordan! Dropkick! Exploder suplex! The straps are down! Corner spear! Exploder to Dawson for 2. Jordan sets Dawson up top. Dawson tries to fight him off, then Dash grabs Dawson's foot and Jordan crashes to the mat. Dawson drops down, no flips remember, and stacks Jordan up with Dash holding onto Dawson's legs for serious extra leverage. Jordan still kicks out! Jordan blocks a slingshot suplex and rolls Dawson up. The kickout sends Jordan right into a Dash uppercut! Gable saves the pin! Dash tosses Gable out. Jordan tries a sunset flip. A Gable dropkick assists and Jordan gets 2. Jordan belly to belly! Dash saves Dawson from a corner spear. Dawson rolls Gable up for 2. Gable tries a hurricanrana but Dawson blocks it and drops Gable for 2. Gable reverses the roll up for 2. Gable small package for 2. Gedo clutch for 2. Bridge up/backslide spot. Gable gets a blind tag to Jordan. Corner spear! Alpha hit Grand Amplitude! That gets the pin and the titles! Fantastic match, even with that one bad botch and a bit of a sudden ending. They had 5 more minutes in them easily. American Alpha get a well deserved title win and were a tremendous team, but it's amazing watching the Revival's nonstop teamwork all around the ring. No one in tag wrestling was doing anything like that. I don't think anyone ever did before the Revival, not quite this way. Their reshaping of the tag team landscape was fully underway. And yes, I know the Young Bucks were catching mainstream fire around this point too, but their style was and is totally different. Still great, but very different. ****

Jim Ross is in the crowd, hanging out with ESPN's Michelle Beadle. Remember her? Yeah, me neither until just now. Funaki is also in the crowd with....KOTA F'N IBUSHI! That's right, the Cruiserweight Classic was just around the corner. I really need to review that at some point. After that is an ad for the next NXT UK tour taking place in June. That's an NXT tour of the UK, not the brand NXT UK. They weren't around just quite yet.

 

Austin Aries def Baron Corbin in 10:43- This is the first of two big debuts tonight. Aries was one of early Ring of Honor's biggest stars (his 70+ minute 2 out of 3 falls match with Bryan Danielson is still possibly my favorite ROH match ever) and was also a big name in TNA for a long time. Corbin was still running with his heel "anti-indy guy" gimmick which was perfect for where NXT was. This feud started when Corbin lost a #1 contender's match on weekly TV, then after that took Aries out during Aries' initial unveiling because he was pissed at Regal. And the world, generally. Very mild and underwhelming pop for Aries. If I was being nice I'd say the crowd was saving themselves for the even bigger debut later. He charges and attacks Corbin right after the bell. Corbin tries to outpower him but Aries continues to lay in the strikes. 50/50 dueling chant for both guys. I think that's the most popular Corbin has ever been. Aries dropkicks Corbin's knee and tries to ground him. Corbin flips him over his back. An Aries discus punch sends Corbin to the floor. Aries double ax handle off the top to the floor. Phillips mentions Aries ending Samoa Joe's 645 day title reign, which was with the ROH World title and still the longest reign for that title to date. Corbin gets a hot shot and blasts Aries in the back of the head. Slow stomps lead to typical slow Corbin offense with lots of crowd playing. He tosses Aries into the post and covers for 2, then hooks on a Nerve Pinch of Match Killing +2 for a long while. Aries backs him into the corner to get out. Corbin pins Aries in the corner with tackles then pummels him with elbows. Cover for 2 and more trash talk. A knucklelock leads to a slow slugfest. Aries hits forearms and chops. Flying forearm. He beats Corbin down in the ropes and hits a neckbreaker in the ropes. Missile dropkick. Corner dropkick. Corbin falls to the floor. Aries under the second rope TOPE SUICIDA! But then he runs into a deep six on the floor! Corbin wants a countout and Aries barely gets back in at 9. He gestures for more. Corbin beats him down with forearms. He sets up for the End of Days. Aries flips out of it, rolls Corbin up, and gets a pin! Not the most spectacular debut. It seems obvious in hindsight, but Aries and WWE's corporate mentality didn't mesh well and his run would be short and unspectacular. It's also a Corbin match. **1/4

Little did we know it at the time, but that was also Corbin's big NXT finale. He would be a surprise entrant in the Andre Memorial Battle Royale at WM, and surprised everyone even more by winning it. He'd then be one of many NXT stars making their formal main roster debut on the Raw after, possibly the best Raw after WM to date. But I am a bit biased because I was in the crowd for it.

 

Shinsuke Nakamura def Sami Zayn in 20:07- New Japan legend Nakamura is another face we never, ever expected to see in a WWE ring, but here we are. The generation of Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi, and to a lesser extent Katsuyori Shibata (the New Three Musketeers), is generally credited with literally saving New Japan from dying due to a bad case of Inokism. This is his first match since his classic with AJ Styles at Wrestle Kingdom 10 back in January. Both Styles and Nakamura gave their notice to New Japan literally right before that show, with Styles having his big WWE debut later in the month at the Royal Rumble, bypassing NXT entirely. Full disclosure: with apologies to Tetsuya Naito, Kota Ibushi and a couple of other guys, Nakamura is my favorite Japanese wrestler of all time. Nakamura's face appearing on the tron alone before the prematch video gets a massive pop. Zayn comes out first and gets a bit of an extended entrance because it was widely assumed this was his NXT finale since he was booked in the IC title ladder match at WM. Nakamura's first NXT entrance is nothing short of electric. Pure charisma right off the bat. The only reason his music isn't being sung is because no one had heard it yet. His entrance alone gets a holy shit chant. Both guys take their time and let the crowd do their dueling chants after the bell, soaking in the atmosphere. They slowly walk to the middle of the ring to a huge "YES" chant. Zayn goes to lock up. Nakamura ducks and struts away! Classic. Lockup for real. Clean rope break and Nakamura does his classic head to the belly and arm wobble, then gives Zayn the "come on" gesture. Knee to the gut from Nakamura. Zayn avoids kick swings. Graves mentions Nakamura was the youngest IWGP champion ever, getting the IWGP name drop in. They go into an arm wringer tradeoff to let things settle in a bit while the crowd chants "both these guys". Zayn hits some armdrags. Nakamura takes refuge in the corner and Zayn gives him the "come on" gesture! Nakamura does with knee strikes and a kneedrop, followed by some more back and forth mat arm work. Zayn back elbows out of a hammerlock. Nakamura knee and kick combo. He goes for good vibrations. Zayn lifts his leg up. Nakamura spins a kick with the other leg and drops Zayn! After a leverage fight Zayn hits a suplex. Forearms and heel kick for 2. Forearm exchange. Nakamura sits on the top rope. Zayn forearms him to the floor! Nakamura kicks Zayn on the apron. Strut and he hits the running apron knee. Kneedrop on the apron! Back in Nakamura gets good vibrations, then puts Zayn on the top rope for the roll back running knee. Cover for 2. Zayn tries to block a back suplex, flips over, suckers Nakamura in, pulls the top rope down and Nakamura goes to the floor. Zayn tope con hilo! Back in Zayn hits a crossbody off the top for 2. He lifts Nakamura for another suplex but Nakamura knees him in the head! He pummels Zayn with ground knees. Zayn catches Nakamura running and plants him with a Michinoku Driver! After that is a very long very New Japan like extended exchange of forearms that completely exhaust both men and drives the crowd to another level of crazy. Nakamura is bleeding from the nose. He sees the blood and pounds Zayn down in the ropes with forearms, knees and stomps. Hard chest kick. "King of strong style" chant. Nakamura runs into a Zayn clothesline! With a 360 sell. Second clothesline. Nakamura counters a backdrop with another knee. Zayn goes for another clothesline. Nakamura flips around into an armbar attempt! Zayn locks his fingers to keep it from being applied. Nakamura changes gears and works Zayn into a triangle choke! Zayn rolls over and kicks to get out. Rapid fire punches from Zayn and now he angrily pounds Nakamura down against the ropes with his own stiff stomps. Koji clutch! After a fight Nakamura rolls Zayn over for 2. Enzuguri with a great delayed Zayn sell and both guys are down. "Fight forever" chant. Zayn elbows out of a suplex. Nakamura running one foot dropkick. He dodges a flash Helluva kick! Inverted exploder! He loads up for the Boma Ye. Sorry, Kinshasa now. Zayn dodges it! Blue thunder bomb! Nakamura kicks out! He rolls out to the floor. Zayn goes for his corner dive DDT but dives right into a Nakamura kick! That gets a holy shit chant. Nakamura goes up top. Zayn fights up to him. Fight on the top rope. Headbutt from Nakamura. He kicks Zayn down. Nakamura runs into Zayn's corner exploder suplex....no, Nakamura blocks it and elbows out! HUGE elbow to the back of Zayn's head. Knee off the second rope to the back of Zayn's head! KINSHASA! That gets the pin! What a debut. What a sendoff. What a match. These guys worked together like they'd been doing this with each other for years but, as the story goes, they'd literally never been in a ring together before the match started. Add in the crowd and atmosphere and it doesn't get any better. *****

After the match they handshake and hug it out. Nakamura leaves while the crowd gives Zayn a "Thank you Sami" and ole chant for what would turn out to be his last NXT match while Zayn visibly fights off tears. Torch passed.

 

NXT Women's Championship: Asuka def Bayley (c) in 15:25- Steph is in the crowd and gets booed before the match. She's used to it and laughs it off. Asuka is 6 months into her NXT run and is still undefeated, and frankly no one's even come close to beating her. Bayley is holding down the fort for the Four Horsewomen in NXT, the other three are in the triple threat Diva's title match at WM, the match that would introduce the modern WWE Women's championship, finally getting rid of the Divas name for good and ditching that stupid butterfly belt. Commentary makes a point throughout this match to say "women" instead of "divas". After intros the crowd serenades Bayley like the London crowd did at the last Takeover. Asuka swings an exploratory kick, kicking off dueling "Asuka's gonna kill you/Bayley's gonna hug you" chants. Lockup and basic start. A forearm rocks Bayley. Reset. Bayley ducks a kick but runs into a shoulderblock. Long speed/counter/dodge run that leads to a stalemate. Asuka hits some hammy kicks. Forearms. Hip attack! Bayley dodges an apron hip attack and hits a clothesline. Back elbow off the second rope for 2. Bayley buddy elbow. Crossbody off the top for 2 (that Asuka started falling for well before Bayley was on her). Kneedrop and sliding back elbow. Asuka tries to grab a Fujiwara armbar! Bayley gets a foot on the rope. Corner beatdown from Asuka. Bayley dodges a kick gets Asuka into the tree of woe. Springboard elbow drop. Bayley hurricanranas Asuka off the second rope for 2. She locks in a guillotine, the move she took Nia Jax down with the last Takeover. Asuka stands up but Bayley grapevines her body, refusing to let go. Asuka goes down...then slips free and puts Bayley in an ankle lock! Bayley uses it to flip Asuka to the floor. She shakes her ankle off. Flying headscissors through the ropes to the floor! Back in forearm shots only wake Asuka up. Asuka misdirection dropkick. Dropkick off the second rope. Chest kicks. Bayley hits a punch. Asuka responds with a knee to the face and shining wizard for 2. Leg takedown from Bayley into a jackknife cover. Asuka's right back up with forearms. Bayley catches a hip attack and hits a Saito suplex. She ducks a kick but Asuka's second swing hits. Both women are down and use the ropes on opposite sides of the ring to stand up. Simultaneous dropkicks. Simultaneous forearms. Asuka hits an open hand slap, ducks a punch, and goes into rapid fire strikes. Bayley grabs a kick and hooks on a kneebar! She drags Asuka away from the ropes and plants the knee on the mat. Kneebreaker into a dragon screw. Another dragon screw. She calls for the Bayley to Belly. Asuka flips into an armbar! Bayley tries to counter out but Asuka uses it to switch to a Fujiwara armbar! Bayley rolls over and gets a 2 count. Kick ducks and Bayley small package for 2. Asuka Lock! No, Bayley blocks it! Bayley suplex and sliding clothesline for 2. She stretches out Asuka's arms with the same hold that won the Ironman match with Sasha Banks. Somehow Asuka escapes. Bayley ties her hair and goes to finish it. Asuka blocks the Bayley to Belly! Spin kick! Suplex into an armbar! Into the Asuka Lock! Bayley tries to fight it being applied but Asuka cinches it in and spins Bayley into the middle of the ring. Bayley fights and struggles back to her feet. Asuka gets her down again! Bayley goes out and the ref calls it! New champion! Bayley's reign ends at 223 days. Asuka's win gets a mixed reaction, but only because everyone loves Bayley so much. She'd be fine with the crowd after. In the annals of great NXT women's title matches I think this one is sorely underrated. They followed the Zayn/Nakamura masterpiece as well as they possibly could have. ****1/4

We have one last surprise left tonight: Bobby Roode is ringside! There's another big name free agent coming in soon.

 

NXT Championship: Finn Balor (c) def Samoa Joe in 16:22- After losing to Balor at the London Takeover Joe had a feud with Sami Zayn, recently returned from injury, over the #1 contendership. After a couple of controversial matches Joe clinched another Takeover title shot by defeating Zayn in a two out of three falls masterpiece of a match that took up literally an entire hour long weekly TV episode, to this day possibly still the greatest regular TV match in NXT history. Balor makes his Demon entrance with a chainsaw, possibly the same one that Dean Ambrose made a central part of his upcoming match with Brock Lesnar at WM. Both guys stay in their corners after the bell. Joe charges, hits some shots and tosses Balor out. Balor pops right back in. Joe shrugs him off and throws him out again. Joe's bleeding like crazy, they collided right at the start and it busted Joe open above his eye. Balor pops in again and tosses Joe out. Tope con hilo! The ref pulls Joe aside as he's dripping blood and it's, unfortunately, the PG era. Joe tosses Balor over the barricade! I think that was to give the ref time to work on Joe. He's covered in blood. Joe shoves the ref away. Balor comes up with a springboard forearm off the barricade. Again the ref tries to wipe Joe's face and Joe pushes him away again. Balor hits forearms, Joe stiff slaps and corner punches. Balor tries to dodge but eats an apron kick. JOE TOPE SUICIDA! MAMA MIA! And the match stops again to clean Joe up. "Let them fight" chant. Joe throws Balor back in the ring but the ref stops Joe from getting back in and the medical staff comes in to work on him. Joe's annoyed. The crowd's more annoyed. Finally Joe gets cleared and we're on again. Balor jumps but runs into a uranage! Joe's still bleeding quite a bit. He stretches Balor's arms out. Corner elbow and enzuguri for 2. ANOTHER blood stop to huge boos. "Fuck PG" chant. We're on again and Joe hits a back elbow. Corner beatdown, boot scrapes and a running boot. Big chop and Balor's up on the ropes in muscle buster position. Balor leaps down into an inverted atomic drop. Big boot and chest kicks from Joe, followed by a kneedrop. More kicks. Balor hits a dropkick to finally get some space. There's more blood cleanup but the match doesn't completely stop as the ref counts both guys down. Forearms and a flying forearm from Balor. He chops Joe all around the corners. Joe gets on the top rope but Balor kicks him down to the floor. Basement dropkick. Apron PK! Back in Joe blocks a slingblade and hits a belly to belly suplex! Cover for 2. Another corner beatdown. Balor slingblade! Joe dodges the John WOOOO dropkick and hits a senton for 2! Powerbomb for 2...into a Boston crab, then Joe transitions into a crossface. Balor rolls over and hits a double stomp! Slingblade! John WOOOO! Balor goes up top. Joe punches. Balor tries to fight him off. Enzuguri! The muscle buster hits! Balor kicks out! That was a very, very believable near fall. Joe is shocked. Both guys are up with forearms and exchange strikes. Balor Pele kick! Both guys are down. Balor gets up at 8 all kinds of fired up! Slingblade. John WOOO. Coupe de Gracie! But Balor doesn't cover, he wants more! He hooks Joe up for Bloody Sunday. Joe counters into the coqina clutch! Balor gets to the corner, climbs up, does the Bret Hart flip and gets the pin! Joe is stunned beyond belief he lost that way. All the stopping for blood cleanup kept the match getting into any kind of a groove for a while even if the blood on Joe helped, but once they were able to really get going that stretch run was a thing of beauty. ***3/4

Despite two straight Takeover losses Joe would continue to hound Balor, and finally on April 21 struck gold in the unlikeliest of places: a house show in Lowell, MA, ending Balor's title reign at 292 days, the longest NXT Title reign to that point.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- NXT came to Wrestlemania weekend for the first time looking to steal the whole weekend, and they sure as hell did just that, aided by a nuclear hot Wrestlemania weekend hardcore crowd. This is definitely among the best of the best in Takeover history.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: A