Weekly Recap and the Build to Takeover: Brooklyn
Welcome all to the Wrestling Fix. This will be my weekly article with a slight recap of NXT weekly show, plus some thoughts and opinions of where I think the program will be heading toward the next Takeover in Brooklyn. Though most NXT weekly shows are slow builds, and showcase some “jobbers”, I will try to focus on the main superstars and a possible few standouts.
The program starts off with Heavy Machinery vs two jobbers, Lars Sullivan and Victor Andrews. The match starts slow and lets Lars show off his power for a bit, until Andrews tags himself in, and Heavy Machinery makes quick work of him. At the end of the match, Lars attacks Andrews, and leaves him lying flat in the ring. Initial thought on Lars, is with more seasoning, he could be a great fit (for Sanity?) with his intensity.
Speaking of Sanity, aside from Heavy Machinery and the Moss-Sabbatelli team, are there any other tag teams in NXT that could challenge Authors of Pain? I left out TM61 because of their injury, but this is easily the worst division going in NXT by far.
Next segment brings out, what I think is the most vanilla wrestler in NXT, Roderick Strong. Now for some, the back story of his childhood and rough upbringing might have helped connect them more with Roddy, but it’s not working for me. He comes out to address the crowd and thank them for their support, and talks about wanting an NXT Championship shot. Needless to say, the Glorious one is not far behind. Bobby Roode’s music hits and he walks out slowly, while fake crying to Strong’s sob story. Roode then proceeds to crush him on the mic like only he can, saying how it was nice that Strong finally started to win matches, has a marginally hot wife, and a kid who was somewhat normal (as if Roode ammo against someone, this was setup on a tee for him). Roode tells Roddy that he shouldn’t play the Bobby Roode “lottery” and walks off to end the segment. I hope this isn’t the matchup for Takeover: Brooklyn, but I will address that later.
A women’s showcase is up next when Sarah Logan (who?), yes Sarah Logan’s music hits. First glance and you could see some potential, in her look alone. Then, the music for one of the members of the “Iconic Duo” hits, and Peyton Royce enters, accompanied by Billie Kay. These two could potentially be big, when their inevitable call up to the main roster happens (Just don’t break them up!). While this ends up being an easy match for Peyton, she did display a nice move-set (big spinning heel kick, STF, double suplex into a Death Valley Driver). And again, with a little more seasoning, I think Sarah Logan has a shot as well.
After a quick recap of Andrade “Cien” Almas’ loss to Cesar Bononi, a match between Oney Lorcan and new heel Hideo Itami begins. Hideo’s entrance shows his new no nonsense attitude and his aggression in the ring seems to suit him better, for his new character. Although losing some interest from the universe, or not gaining it fully back due to his previous injuries, I think this change could actually be the best move for Itami’s career, and I hope it gets him back to where he once was. This hard hitting match goes back and forth, until Oney chops Hideo a couple times and Itami taunts him. Oney then crushes Hideo with slaps and uppercuts and lands a nice diving somersault onto Itami, from the corner to the outside. Itami eventually rolls in and fakes an injury with his leg, then returns the hard slaps to Oney, and performs the “Go to sleep” not once.. Not twice.. BUT three times! Hideo then tries to pick up Lorcan for the fourth GTS, but Kassius Ohno’s blubbery ass comes to stop the beatdown. The two exchange a shove each (to heighten their feud) and Itami leaves the ring, with the ref throwing the match out. No winner in this one, even though Lorcan was knocked out and the match should have been called then.
Last, the “main event” is up, and I use that term very, very loosely. I don’t know in what world this is ever a main event, but it is here, as we have No Way Jose, in his return match; square off against Killian Dain of Sanity. Dain debuts a new theme song, which seemed to be a mix of Sanity’s theme and an Irish song blended together. I wish WWE would stop trying to just blend songs together. He would have been better off just coming out to Sanity’s theme, but regardless the match goes on. To me, this pairs one of the worst talents in NXT (No Way Jose), against a guy who isn’t far behind him in the talent department, but shockingly, Dain looked somewhat impressive in this one and comes up with the easy win.
This brings me to my thoughts on Takeover. First, thankfully Takeover doesn’t happen in Full Sail anymore. Is there a worse crowd going? They are so unoriginal and bite off every other crowd, it’s pathetic. They make it hard to sit through some of these shows sometimes. Finally, here are my ideal matchups for Takeover as of now…
NXT Championship — Bobby Roode vs Drew McIntyre vs Aleister Black
NXT Women’s Championship — Asuka vs Ember Moon vs Iconic Duo
NXT Tag Championship — Authors of Pain vs (probably Heavy Machinery but best option is..) Sanity
UK Championship — Pete Dunne vs Tyler Bate (rematch?)
And these last two are wishful thinking, but here’s hoping it happens….
Singles match — Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa
Singles match — Roderick Strong vs (mystery opponent…. Adam Cole Baybay!!!)
With this being the last of the trio of Takeover’s in Brooklyn, I hope they go out with a bang, and what better way than with a card similar to this?
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