This time last year, developmental was
kicking the main roster’s ass, overshadowing them on the biggest weekend of the
year. Now that the show is actually in Dallas, for the Wrestlemania festivities
themselves, can they make it two years in a row, in an even more significant
way, with all eyes on them?
NXT Takeover: Dallas is about half the
length of Wrestlemania 32 (a five-hour whopper of a show that will surely feel
about as long as it is), or roughly the same amount of time usually spent
faffing about on RAW. With less time and fewer stars, can NXT steal the
spotlight yet again, or will it crumble under the pressure?
The first thing to note about this event is
how different it feels to its main
roster equivalent. Take, for example, a Fastlane. The hype leading up to same
is nowhere near as well-built, or well-considered as that going into Takeover:
Dallas. Hell, even the vignettes that open the show, meant to further sell us
on what we’ve already committed to watching, are fantastic. There’s a real
sense that what happens tonight is about to change everything, as opposed to
just kill time before moving on to the next event.
We kick things off with a rousing tag team
championship bout, pitching current title-holders The Revival against newcomers
American Alpha. Some disrespectful slapping from both sides establishes the
tone early on – this is defiantly old-school, very technical style combat, as
the two teams’ names suggest. The tag side of things is very fluidly handled,
well thought out and weighted with consequence.
The fight is hard fought, on both sides,
each near fall completely devastating. In the end, though, it’s American Alpha
who steal the win, and the titles. They’re understandably ecstatic, as are a
suitably hot crowd who cannot get enough NXT by the sounds of it. Funnily
enough, this stormer of an opener actually sets the tone for the rest of the
show. The matches tonight are mostly fast-paced, energetic, and suitably rough
bouts (aside from an incredibly tense main event showdown).
Continuing in that vein are Baron Corbin
and Austin Aries, the former taking it to the new recruit in order to make his
in-ring debut particularly memorable. The fans are not happy when Corbin is in
control, pulling for indy hotshot Aries throughout and getting particularly
rowdy when he turns it around on The Lone Wolf. Corbin is in an interesting
performer in his own right; he looks a bit like Roman Reigns’ dirty, ex-con
cousin, but he wrestles much better than his appearance would suggest.
Naturally, though, he severely
underestimates Aries as an opponent, his attempt at the End Of Days turned on
him as he is rolled up and covered, Aries thereby turning his first match into
his first victory on NXT. Someone with whom the letters ‘NXT’ have become
synonymous is returning favourite Sami Zayn, whose time on the main roster was
cut sadly short thanks to an injury, but who has now come back to his old
stomping ground to give Japanese superstar Shinsuke Nakamura a proper welcome.
Takeover: Dallas is an incredibly strong
show across the board, but the Zayn/Nakamura match is arguably the strongest of
the night. It’s difficult to pinpoint just one element that makes it so fantastic,
but it’s one of those matches that, watching it, you just know is going to live
on in your memory forever. Starting with a thrilling vignette, seemingly scored
by Hans Zimmer himself, the atmosphere is heavy with intrigue from the
beginning.
Duelling chants echo around the arena, the
fans split between getting behind their favourite, Zayn, and marking out over
one of, if not, the most famous
wrestler in Japan. As it turns out, it’s easy to root for both of these guys to
emerge victorious here. It’s hard to imagine anyone more enthusiastic or warm
as a performer than Sami Zayn, but Nakamura has almost an overflow of
personality. He starts the match by just standing there, staring at his
opponent and making weird faces.
When the two finally do lock up, it’s as
though a bomb has just gone off. The pace is fast, energetic, loaded with
‘blink and you’ll miss it’ moments – basically, the ideal temperature for these
two particular men. This is arguably the roughest Zayn has ever been in the
ring, as he rises to the challenge of matching Nakamura’s strength tactics, the
two exchanging devastating forearm strikes until the Japanese man is left
bloodied and noticeably perturbed.
Neither can seem to quite best the other,
Nakamura’s usually devastating knees doing little to slow Zayn down, while the
Canadian struggles to hit virtually any of his signature moves. A “Fight
forever” chant erupts about two-thirds of the way through that, given the
quality and the amount of skill on show here, feels entirely justified. Zayn
goes for the DDT through the turnbuckle, only for Nakamura to kick him in the
head and, suddenly, it seems the fight may be lost.
As it dawns on the NXT fan favourite that
this is no ordinary opponent, Nakamura hits the Boma Ye and wins it, the fans
erupting almost instantaneously into chants of “Olè!” and “Thank you, Sami!”.
It’s a disappointing ending for Zayn, but he may be gearing up for a major
Wrestlemania moment tomorrow night, this match having been a warm-up for him, a
way to ingratiate Nakamura in with the NXT fans as their #1 takes a step back
and onto the main roster.
Speaking of which, if there’s one thing
Vince can’t seem (or doesn’t want to) get right it’s the women’s division. Not
such a problem for Triple H, who has created a female roster in developmental
worth tuning in for (and none of ‘em feature on Total Divas). Tonight’s title
match sees current champ, and another major
fan favourite, Bayley take on another Japanese newcomer in the form of the
seemingly unstoppable Asuka.
Six months in to her NXT tenure, Asuka is
undefeated and, according to some interesting vignettes prior to the match,
everyone is kind of terrified of her. But Bayley has worked hard for the
championship and she won’t give it up easily, as evidenced by this hugely
entertaining, and very colourful (both literally and figuratively – it’s like
watching two angry rainbows fighting at times) bout.
Asuka certainly lives up to her reputation,
but right off the bat Bayley is ready for her. The women’s champ may be cute
and sweet but she’s certainly not a pushover, laying into the newcomer at every
opportunity. A particularly shocking, standout moment, sees her locking in
Asuka’s own submission hold on her, to which Asuka responds with a
bone-crunching armbar. Somehow, Bayley manages to fight back valiantly.
She even withstands a devastating Suplex
into a second armbar just moments later, but the champ can’t quite power out of
the Asuka-Lock and she passes out in the Japanese woman’s arms, making the
newcomer the new champion, and the second Japanese victor of the night. What
should be an upsetting moment is given such strength and levity by the crowd
reaction, their enthusiasm for the women’s match, and the commitment of those
involved.
NXT isn’t done with Dallas yet, though, as
we’ve still got the Main Event to go. The build-up for this match, which sees
Finn Bálor defend his championship title against Samoa Joe for a second time,
following Takeover: London, has been nothing short of incredible. The
atmosphere is thick with anticipation as Bálor emerges, waving a chainsaw
around and gurning for the cameras (much to Joe’s annoyance).
He chucks the champ over the barricade
right off the bat, his face bloodied from the outset, which stalls the match as
medical staff rush to mop him up (again, much to the big guy’s annoyance). The
commentators consistently compare Joe to Godzilla and, even though he probably
has a few pounds on that kaiju monstrosity, it’s a fitting comparison given how
he seeks to completely dismantle Balor. This is the slowest match of the night,
but it’s because it’s the culmination of a lengthy feud, one in which the
correct time and attention has been taken to really sell it to us as fans.
This doesn’t feel like just any night, just
any match, it feels like the night, the match. Joe is intent on snatching
the title, pummelling the living daylights out of Bálor, but the Irishman is
unstoppable in his own way, powering out of a gruelling cross-face to land a
double footstomp. Joe responds in kind with a musclebuster, and he very nearly
wins with it too but Bálor isn’t willing to give in and he, to Joe’s shock and
disbelief, manages to come out swinging once again.
Although his tough exterior barely wavers,
as the fight drags on and Bálor refuses to cop to him, Joe begins to look
slightly nervous – particularly when the Irishman growls at him from the other
side of the ring. A stunning Coup De Grace is followed up with a Coquina Clutch
but Bálor powers out yet again, subsequently managing to roll Joe up to finally get
the pin and win. It’s a stunning, shocking, game-changing ending to the night
that closes Takeover: Dallas off in a remarkable way. Wrestlemania 32 - beat
that for a finish.
All joking aside, there really is something
tangibly different about NXT. The whole atmosphere is different, from the
super-hot, endlessly engaged fans to the urgent commentary, to, of course, the
quality of the storytelling, the matches and the booking. Where RAW, or even
certain PPVs, can feel bloated and saggy, not a moment of NXT air-time is
wasted. Everything feels relevant. It’s remarkably tight as a show in general,
there’s not an ounce of flab.
And NXT Takeover: Dallas continued that
fine tradition. There were no piss break matches, not a dud in the bunch, not
even a hint of a yawn. Every single second was strong. In all seriousness,
Wrestlemania really does have a hell of a lot to live up to on Sunday night.
@JoeyLDG
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