NXT Takeover: Rival - 11th February

cian68

Zayn to disappear for a while to sell his injuries and Owens to get a package from William Regal.

thebostoncrab

Emotionally the main event was whopper, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that the 4 way was the match of the night.

Reganio 2

Sirsok wrote: »

Anyone else think murphy looks like a certain mean mark callous

All I could see was the Lucha Dragons vs the Jerry Lynns.

Great show. Wonder how long before Vince has a say in it with it getting popular can't imagine he is happy with something on his product getting race reviews and him having nothing to do with it.

The ovation Balor gets is incredible just screams main show. The fact he gets so much time for his entrance shows how much they rate him in my opinion.

On that note to I think Zayn needs new music, it just dosnt work for a heated rivalry and main eventer, imagine wrestlemania 17 Austin comes out the glasses shatters amazing, out comes The Rock *do do do happy music* just puts a downer on it for me.

rovert

They moved the booking forward to call up Zayn to the main roster. Zayn will apparently miss tomorrow's NXT taping for a WWE Live Event tour of Abu Dhabi.

Officer999

Nxt continues to beat Raw and Smackdown in terms of quality and entertainment. Loved it

Agent Coulson

Balor vs Owens as the opening match at WM for the NXT title?

rovert

What a World we live in:
https://twitter.com/HulkHogan/status/565716799367692290

Looper007

Well those three Main events delivered and some

I have to give Balor/Neville the MOTN and MOTY so far in WWE. Excellent edge of the seat stuff. Balor looked a star tonight.

Owens/Zayn was storyline gold and I was legit worried for Zayn near the end. Owens looked a monster and killing machine at the end, Vince that's how you book a heel and face. Zayn selling was amazing and he really along with Bryan the best underdog babyface in the business today. It reminded me of the booking of 80's wrestling in NWA/ Crockett era.

The Diva's were excellent and really put on the best diva match I ever seen . Bayley looked like a legit ass kicker in the match. Becky put on her finest performance in WWE so far and Sasha winning was amazing

the opener was fun. Breeze and Itaomi gel well together.

the two short matches were rubbish though.

rovert

Ageyev

On the NXT Takeover replay of the Charlotte apron spot you can hear Triple H shouting "shut the LED lights down!". Just if anyone's a trainspotter for this stuff.

Women's match surprised me, didn't think it would be that good but it was great (I don't like multi- matches in general).

Kevin vs Sami had an intensity to it I don't think we've seen on NXT before. At least not since the Cesaro match but this was quite different.

rovert

Z-Pak!

https://twitter.com/WWEDocAmann/status/565735278518992896

Garseys

Ageyev wrote: »

On the NXT Takeover replay of the Charlotte apron spot you can hear Triple H shouting "shut the LED lights down!". Just if anyone's a trainspotter for this stuff.

Women's match surprised me, didn't think it would be that good but it was great (I don't like multi- matches in general).

Kevin vs Sami had an intensity to it I don't think we've seen on NXT before. At least not since the Cesaro match but this was quite different.

Balor had a huge audible for the Red Arrow reversal spot, you can hear him yell hit it to Neville. The ring mics probably picked it up.

Lord TSC

Well, that was all levels of awesome.

Palo Alto

I thought Balor/Neville was quite disappointing, I didn't think they fully clicked on the night; there were far too many rest holds at the start too.

I also think he should have won with the stomp to the head and have Neville kick out of the one to the abdomen, it looked more devastating.

Was pleasantly surprised by how good Breeze/Itami was, happy to see Breeze get in such awesome submissions.

Great show overall and loved the ending to the main event!

rovert

Palo Alto wrote: »

I thought Balor/Neville was quite disappointing, I didn't think they fully clicked on the night; there were far too many rest holds at the start too.

I also think he should have won with the stomp to the head and have Neville kick out of the one to the abdomen, it looked more devastating.

The match didn't really blow my mind. I largely focused on Balor. Bryan ain't wrong here:

https://twitter.com/bryanalvarez/status/565765838561480705

Lord TSC

Balor/Neville started off slow but I think that was done for a reason; it allowed them to build up to the ending, rather than starting on a high and struggling to go anywhere from it. I actually thought it was good ring psychology, and made the fans hungry for bigger moves as the match went on. Also, as a midcard match, it couldn't be the two tearing strips out of each other for 15 minutes, cause that would have taken away from Zayn/Owens doing the same; the latter match needed that physicality a lot more than Balor/Neville did.

Palo Alto

I agree with that, I was just surprised that the match lacked the fluidity I was expecting. Their NJPW match was much better in this regard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZt01rQmZm4

thebostoncrab

That figure 4/boston crab submission was something else, maybe it has popped up somewhere else previously but I'm surprised I've never seen it done before. Such a simple idea but it looks sick!

Angron

thebostoncrab wrote: »

That figure 4/boston crab submission was something else, maybe it has popped up somewhere else previously but I'm surprised I've never seen it done before. Such a simple idea but it looks sick!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmK08Lqkh3Y

Isn't it just the figure four deathlock that TJ Perkins uses/used?

Omackeral

Palo Alto wrote: »

I thought Balor/Neville was quite disappointing, I didn't think they fully clicked on the night; there were far too many rest holds at the start too.

I also think he should have won with the stomp to the head and have Neville kick out of the one to the abdomen, it looked more devastating.

Was pleasantly surprised by how good Breeze/Itami was, happy to see Breeze get in such awesome submissions.

Great show overall and loved the ending to the main event!

100% agree. Was something he doesn't usually do, which fits in with the whole deep, dark Balor alter ego.

Itami vs Breeze was a great opener. High tempo match, both with a good showcase and both with great opposing charisma. The GTS would have been great to see on Breeze as he could moan about his mmmgorgeous face being targeted.

I'm a Baron Corbin fan but I didn't enjoy his match with Bull. They didn't utilise the no DQ stip well at all, for either Corbin or Dempsey. Could have used it to give Bull revenge or have Corbin go on to another killer level. Bit of sloppyness in this bout too.

Tag match was botchamanis fodder unfortunately. I liked Blake and Murphy's little tweeks in their entrance. Still seem a bit green.

Did'nt get a chance to watch the Diva's yet.

Main event was a masterclass in story telling. Would like if Owens held on to his powerbombs and did a double or triple but maybe that can be used in the future.

Enjoyable show.

mrkiscool2

Brilliant...just brilliant. I'm running out of ways to describe how good NXT is. It is, without a doubt, the best show in the world right now. When you see how bad Smackdown and Raw can be vs just the absolute perfect booking on NXT it's hard to believe it's the same company running it.

For me both Balor/Neville and the Diva's Fatal-4Way get match of the night. Neither of them were as good as the RR triple threat but that's fine too. Loved the pacing in the Balor/Neville match. Started out really tentatively, slow, methodical and then just picking up steam as it went on. That's how you book a match right there, the longer it went the more invested I became. Amazing

Can't say much about the fatal-fourway that hasn't already been said. Pump-handle suplex, bayley suplexing everyone (the german suplex to Becky was a thing of beauty) and the off the top rope Belly-to-Bayley was awesome. Only criticism is that Sasha has to move those hands up more for the crossface. The pin was great but she needs to be locking that in better.

Zayn/Owens was fantastic! Made Ownes look like a beast without having Zayn looking like a helpless eejit (only Cena could take a beating for a whole match and still look good). He got in some nice offence and the 5 minutes before Owens powerbombed the crap out of him was great. Can't wait for Balor/Owens now!

Apart from that Hideo/Breeze was quite good (stop teasing the GTS damn it!) , loving the viciousness of the kicks. Breeze looked really good too! The tag match was all sorts of awful, the 4 minutes when there was pinning combination after pinning combination looked fcuking terrible, especially as you could see the guys moving to help with the pin. Silly. Corbin and Dempsey was meh, nothing bad, nothing good. Middle of the road. Enjoyable though!

Overall the show gets 8.5/10

Machismo Fan

Bálor/Neville and the womens four way were great. Would've preferred more match before the angle kicked in with the main event but obviously they're building toward the rematch. Breeze/Itami was a good opener. I like Breeze. Baron Corbin is rubbish.

Lord TSC

So when is Balor expected to get his title shot? Presumably Zayn disappears for a short while and we get Balor/Owens?

Ageyev

https://twitter.com/FightOwensFight/status/565922006445469696?p=v

Hangballlouie

Ageyev wrote: »

https://twitter.com/FightOwensFight/status/565922006445469696?p=v

I know kayfabe is dead but I find these posts on Twitter stupid tbh. He's supposed to be a heel. Just like a few weeks ago when Cena congratulated HHH for some award he received right after he sacked his three mates on RAW.

I'm probably wrong in a lot of people's eyes but the Twitter account is in Steens characters name so he should stick to it IMO.

Ageyev

Tbf Owens did say in promos and at the contract signing that winning the belt meant more money and he was about supporting his family which plays on the real life/kayfabe element.

Sirsok

Hangball Doughboy wrote: »

I know kayfabe is dead but I find these posts on Twitter stupid tbh. He's supposed to be a heel. Just like a few weeks ago when Cena congratulated HHH for some award he received right after he sacked his three mates on RAW.

I'm probably wrong in a lot of people's eyes but the Twitter account is in Steens characters name so he should stick to it IMO.

In fairness he did say he was going to win the title to provide a better life for his family..... So it ties in with the character

Palo Alto

Eh, he does. He has expressly stated his motivation for what he does, to provide a better life for his family.

It's 100% in character.

Omackeral

If you think about it, Owens is 'smart' more so than he is heel. He got the title 2 months to the day of making his debut. It's just business. Said it himself, better money, better life for his wife and 2 kids i.e. his family. Something admirable about it actually. I noticed they cut the family part out of subsequent promos and made it sound just like a better life (presumably for himself) but I could back his motives actually!

Hangballlouie

Ageyev wrote: »

Tbf Owens did say in promos and at the contract signing that winning the belt meant more money and he was about supporting his family which plays on the real life/kayfabe element.

I get that and I know he said that but he looked like a beast last night and this humanises him and gives him sympathy IMO. Look ultimately it doesn't matter but I just think these small things can be important.