I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the upper deck and looking down at the hard cameras to my very slight right with the Titantron on my left.

A long recap of Takeover gets us going, of course.

Opening sequence.

Peyton Royce vs. Aliyah

Asuka asks who is left for her. This sounded much more heelish than her usual.

Heavy Machinery vs. Bollywood Boyz

Quick look at the Tag Team Title match.

Paul Ellering and the Authors of Pain are ready for whatever is next.

Long look at the NXT Title match. This runs nearly four minutes.

Bobby Roode says he did what he promised to do. The Glorious Era will continue.

We get a listen to the FOURTH official theme song of Takeover. The show was two and a half hours long and had as many official songs as Wrestlemania.

Oney Lorcan vs. ???

The “SI” chants break out and he just happens to have a song for us. Lorcan grabs the guitar and says he knows Vagabundo is the Drifter. Fans: “NO! NO! NO!” Lorcan wants him to drift away but gets stomped down in the corner before the opening bell. Oney is quickly sent to the floor and we take a break with Vagabundo having to adjust his mask.

Rating: C+. This was a lot of fun with the joke being out of the Juan Cena playbook. The fans ate it up and Lorcan somehow came off as a heel in the whole thing. I really hope this continues as the Drifter character was a big waste of time but him doing anything he could to stay in NXT is a great idea.

Post match Samson says he belongs here but a female security guard cranks on his arm and forces him out.

Results

Oney Lorcan b. El Vagabundo – Running Blockbuster

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Opening sequence.

Akam vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Dash Wilder

Back with the Revival nowhere to be seen (apparently they just left instead of merely backing away before the break), leaving Akam to put Gargano in a torture rack. Johnny escapes and slugs away to limited avail before the slingshot spear is good for two. Unfortunately he decides to look away for a second and turns back into a boot to the face.

Video on Aleister Black vs. Andrade Cien Almas.

Heavy Machinery vs. Jonathan Ordegen/Mike Marshall

Sanity vs. Ruby Riot/No Way Jose/Tye Dillinger/Roderick Strong is confirmed for Takeover.

Kassius Ohno vs. Elias Samson

Loser leaves NXT. They trade rollups to start before taking turns on the arm. Ohno gets the better of it, though sadly that means we have to look at his rather disturbing looking thighs. A backsplash gets two on Samson but they head to the apron where Ohno is sent into the post for a big crash onto the steps.

One last Takeover promo wraps up the show.

Results

Dash Wilder b. Johnny Gargano and Akam – Powerbomb to Gargano

Heavy Machinery b. Jonathan Ordegen/Mike Marshall – Dozovic slammed Knight onto Marshall

Kassius Ohno b. Elias Samson – Discus forearm

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We open with a Takeover package, as you would probably expect.

Opening sequence.

Ember Moon vs. Aliyah

We look back at Eric Young beating Tye Dillinger.

Eric says Tye made the wrong choice.

Asuka says that was tough and calls Ember a fool for calling her out. If Ember wants the next shot though, ok then.

Ember wants to dethrone the Empress and then Asuka will know who she is.

Tyler Bate vs. Oney Lorcan

Roderick Strong wants the NXT Title and his win on Saturday was step #1.

Package on the Tag Team Title change.

Video on Roode winning the NXT Title. HHH checked on Nakamura after the loss and Kassius Ohno told him it was a good job.

Roode says his era has begun. His celebration is next week.

No Way Jose vs. Elias Samson

Results

Ember Moon b. Aliyah – Eclipse

Tyler Bate b. Oney Lorcan – Tiger Driver 97

No Way Jose b. Elias Samson – Pop Up right hand

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Opening sequence.

Revival vs. Tino Sabbatelli/Riddick Moss

Elias Samson/Bobby Roode vs. Tye Dillinger/Buddy Murphy

Liv Morgan vs. Billie Kay vs. Ember Moon

As expected, Kay is the big crowd favorite but bails to the floor so the other two can slug it out. Well as much slugging as Morgan is going to do. Billie tries to steal a pin but gets caught in that rolling sunset flip to give Morgan some near falls. A double bulldog puts Kay and Moon down so Liv covers one but gets kicked out onto the other over and over in a clever spot.

Tag Team Titles: DIY vs. TM61

Clever spot and Gargano shoving Miller into the pin for the save made it better. Project Ciampa gives us another near fall and the fans are WAY into the Aussies. Miller and Gargano slug it out in the middle of the ring with Johnny getting the better of it. Thorn is knocked to the floor and the running knee/superkick combo retains the titles at 18:18.

We get the big post match show of respect.

Recap of Nakamura vs. Joe.

NXT Title: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Samoa Joe

Nakamura is defending and this is inside a cage. The champ takes him down by the leg to start but they grapple up against the ropes with neither being able to get much of an advantage. Joe gets taken into the corner for Good Vibrations so he sends Nakamura hard into the cage to even things up.

Replays wrap it up.

Results

Revival b. Tino Sabbatelli/Riddick Moss – Shatter Machine to Moss

Tye Dillinger/Buddy Murphy b. Bobby Roode/Elias Samson – Tyebreaker to Samson

Ember Moon b. Billie Kay and Liv Morgan – Eclipse to Kay

DIY b. TM61 – Running knee/superkick combination to Miller

Shinsuke Nakamura b. Samoa Joe – Kinshasa

NXT Title: Samoa Joe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

We look back at Peyton Royce and Billie Kay walking out on Daria Barenato a few weeks back.

The Aussies laugh at Daria until she comes up to demand a fight with one of them next week.

#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Tye Dillinger vs. Eric Young

Still no Sawyer Fulton with Sanity. Young goes right after him to start but gets clotheslined down for his efforts. Left hands in the corner (ten of them of course) have Eric in even more trouble. The Tyebreaker is loaded up but Nikki Cross comes in for the DQ at 1:20.

Tye fights off Sanity until Damo comes in to lay him out.

#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: No Way Jose vs. Andrade Cien Almas

Jose grabs a headlock to start before slapping on an airplane spin to take us back in time while still having some fun. The announcers try to get Gravy over as a nickname for Corey as Jose knocks Almas down a few more times. A pop up right hand gets two but Almas kicks him in the face and hits his arm trap DDT for the pin at 3:54.

#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Roderick Strong vs. Elias Samson

Billie Kay vs. Daria Barenato next week.

#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Oney Lorcan vs. Bobby Roode

The fourway is Roode vs. Dillinger vs. Almas vs. Strong.

Results

Shinsuke Nakamura b. Samoa Joe – Kinshasa

Tye Dillinger b. Eric Young via DQ when Nikki Cross interfered

Andrade Cien Almas b. No Way Jose – Arm trap DDT

Roderick Strong b. Elias Samson – Sick Kick

Bobby Roode b. Oney Lorcan – Inverted DDT

Opening sequence.

Liv Morgan vs. Peyton Royce

Video on Andrade Cien Almas turning on and beating up Cedric Alexander.

Video on the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Apparently Paul Ellering will be in a cage above the ring during the finals.

Elias Samson vs. Nathan Cruz

The jobber, as the fans refer to him, grabs a wristlock to start but is quickly kneed in the head. A jumping elbow gets two with Elias pulling him up at two, only to finish with the neckbreaker at 2:29.

Ember Moon, Liv Morgan and Aliyah are ready for Royce and Kay, particularly in a six woman tag. It would have to be better than Liv talking as she sounded really, really bad here.

Video on DIY vs. Revival.

Andrade Cien Almas vs. Cedric Alexander

Cedric switches things up with a stomp to the chest and even more chops to take us to a break. Back with Alexander losing a brawl and getting kicked in the face for two in the corner. Things settle down with something like a Kimura keeping Cedric in trouble, followed by a triangle choke of all things over the ropes.

We continue the arm work with a Fujiwara armbar until Alexander gets his foot on the ropes for the break. Alexander finally gets back up and sends Almas outside for a big flip dive, only to get caught in a powerbomb for two. The running double knees in the corner is countered into a Lumbar Check. Almas gets to the rope though and grabs an arm trap DDT for the pin at 17:03.

A long video on Samoa Joe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura wraps this up.

Results

Liv Morgan b. Peyton Royce via DQ when Billie Kay interfered

Elias Samson b. Nathan Cruz – Swinging neckbreaker

Andrade Cien Almas b. Cedric Alexander – Arm trap DDT

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Opening sequence.

Shinsuke Nakamura thinks Austin Aries will bow down to the king next week.

Tye Dillinger vs. Buddy Murphy

Elias Samson vs. Austin Aries

Revival vs. Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa

Results

Austin Aries b. Elias Samson – Last Chancery

Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa b. Revival – Small package to Dawson

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Last week, Eric Young called himself a world class maniac who is so glad to finally be here in NXT.

Balor wants Samson tonight.

American Alpha vs. Corey Hollis/John Skyler

Alex Riley vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Alexa Bliss vs. Rachel Ellering

Bayley vs. Nia is official for next week.

Finn Balor vs. Elias Samson

Just regular Finn here and his shoulder is taped up. Feeling out process to start until Balor knocks him to the floor and takes us to a break. Back with Balor holding an armbar and the fans saying it NEEDS MORE COWBELL. Samson fires off some forearms but Balor just blasts him in the face a few times. Some running chops in the corner put Samson on the floor for a baseball slide. The Sling Blade sets up 1916 for the pin on Samson at 7:47.

Results

American Alpha b. Corey Hollis/John Skyler – Grand Amplitude to Hollis

Shinsuke Nakamura b. Alex Riley – Kinshasa

Alexa Bliss b. Rachel Ellering – Sparkle Splash

Finn Balor b. Elias Samson – 1916

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Asuka vs. Eva Marie

We see some clips of Samoa Joe winning the title last week with the Muscle Buster. They only showed about thirty seconds total.

Joe says his win was inevitable and no more words are needed.

Revival vs. Matt Lee/Jeff Parker

Hype Bros vs. Blake and Murphy

Post match the Revival comes back out and jumps the Hype Bros.

Carmella vs. Aliyah

Aliyah was in a battle royal recently but is probably most well known from Breaking Ground. Carmella snapmares her to start but Aliyah takes over with a seated full nelson. A middle rope leg gets two and this is almost all Aliyah so far. Carmella comes back with a hurricanrana out of the corner and a Bronco Buster, followed by the leg crossface to make Aliyah tap at 3:19.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Elias Samson

Results

Asuka b. Eva Marie – Spinning kick to the face

Revival b. Matt Lee/Jeff Parker – Shatter Machine to Lee

Hype Bros b. Blake and Murphy – Hype Ryder to Blake

Carmella b. Aliyah – Leg crossface

Shinsuke Nakamura b. Elias Samson – Kinshasa

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We open with a recap of Takeover as you might guess.

Phillips and Graves welcome us, clearly from Takeover.

New correspondent Catherine Kelly tells us what we can expect, including Apollo Crews vs. Elias Samson, which was a dark match at Takeover.

We see a video on American Alpha winning the Tag Team Titles, followed by Jordan (nearly in tears) and Gable talking about what it means to win the titles on the biggest weekend of the year.

We recap Elias Samson getting pinned by Johnny Gargano a few weeks back. Post match Samson beat him down until Apollo Crews made the save.

Recap video of Aries vs. Corbin.

We see Finn Balor retaining the NXT Title over Samoa Joe.

Balor says he escaped and survived Joe again.

Joe has nothing to say.

We see Samson singing a song to Crews but backing away from a fight.

No Way Jose is coming.

Elias Samson vs. Apollo Crews

Video on Zayn vs. Nakamura.

Nakamura says strong style has arrived.

Results

Apollo Crews b. Elias Samson – Toss powerbomb

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