NXT Takeover: Philadelphia Review
NXT Takeover: Philadelphia 27/01/2018
Announcers: Mauro Ranallo & Percy Watson
Venue: Wells Fargo Centre
Location: Philadelphia, PN
NXT Tag Team Title Match: The Unidsputed Era (Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reily) (c) Vs The Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar) with Paul Ellering
First match of the night and we got a really good tag team title opener. Both teams come out to a a good reaction and Kyle playing air guitar on the title is great because it reminds me of Hollywood Hogan BROTHER!! It was interesting to see how the crowd would react to these two teams as they have both worked predominantly as heels. Undisputed are using their quickness and superior mat wrestling to work over Akam's left knee which becomes the main story of the game. Akam uses his power to get away from Undisputed long enough to make the HOT TAG to Rezar who does a great job of cleaning house. Really impressed with AOP in this match in a rare instance of playing the babyface role and the crowd was really getting into it with dueling teams. In the end AOP go for the super collider but Akam's knee buckles and O'Reily manages to reverse out of it sending Akam into Rezar knocking him out of the ring and getting a sneaky roll up on Akam for the win. Both teams look great coming out of this and I feel it must be time for AOP to move up to the main roster and dominate!
I WANNA HANG WITH WAR MACHINE!!!
The Velveteen Dream Vs Kassius Ohno
This was a fun match between a hot young up-and-comer in Dream and a veteran in Ohno. Dream has boxing shorts with pictures of himself and Ohno continuing his theme of channelling his inner Rick Rude. On the pre-show Dream had said he would knock out Ohno in 30 seconds so the fans counted until Dream knocked Ohno down and he celebrated like he had legit knocked him out. Funny stuff! Stiff shots throughout from both guys and it was a little sloppy in places but that can happen with two guys who haven't worked together alot. Dream gets the win following his Rolling Death Valley Driver/Purple Rainmaker combo. The potential for Dream is limitless right now but Ohno seems really directionless right now. Maybe they just need to stick him on the main roster and see what happens.
NXT Women's Title Match: Ember Moon (c) Vs Shayna Bazler
This was quite an interesting match that I think worked really well for what should be the first of several encounters between these two. Moon looks heavily fired up looking to take bully Bazler down a few pegs. Bazler takes control of the match and stomps on Moon's hand the same way she did to Dakota Kai a few weeks ago. Bazler is working over the arm hard and it plays against Moon big time when she hits the Eclipse but makes the arm far worse and is unable to take advantage. Bazler took advantage locking Moon in an armbar. Moon is trying to get out of it in various different ways but Bazler keeps locking it back in. The crowd is really behind Moon at this point and pops huge when Moon manages to get a pin on Bazler putting her entire body weight on the shoulders. After the match Bazler goes nuts attacking Moon putting her in her choke hold multiple times. Like I said this feels like a good first encounter in a rivalry which should put both women even more over than they already are and with Bazler having the belt.
Extreme Rules Match: Aleister Black Vs Adam Cole
Gosh golly what a match this was! The crowd was into this from the moment these guys came out to the finish of the match. There was alot of really cool and brutal looking creative weapon spots and also some blood that added an extra dimension of brutality to this match. Vicious Kendo Stick and chair shots as well as a Black going through two tables and Cole going through the announce table. Just as it looks like Black is going to get the win Fish & O'Reily come out to attack. It looks like they are going to help Cole win until Sanity show up to make the save and Killain Dain flies over the top rope onto everyone. That guy is crazy good! Cole hits Black with a superkick and grabs a chair going for the kill but instead eats a savage looking Black Mass for the win. Incredible match both of these guys are superstars and hopefully the next time the face each other is for the NXT title!
TROUBLE! TROUBLE! TROUBLE!
NXT Championship Match: Andrade 'Cien' Almas with Zelina Vega (c) Vs Johnny Gargano
WOW WOW WOW!! An early match of the year candidate? You bet your ass it is!! These two already had two MOTY calibre matches but this was one was even better. Worthy of main eventing any show of any promotion on the planet. This match deserves five stars and 10 out of 10s and should be watched by everyone. I seriously cannot gush enough about this match! The pacing was perfect and the action was just flawless. The crowd was 100% behind Johnny Wrestling but was still in awe of everything that Almas was doing. Gargano is the perfect babyface underdog who can just keep taking an ass kicking but still keep on ticking. There was several times I and the crowd thought Johnny was going to win but just kept getting closer and closer. Zelina Vega gets involved helping Almas and he hits the Hammerlock DDT but still Johnny kicks out at two! Vega tries to get involved again but instead is foiled by Gargano's wife Candice LeRae. Again Johnny looks like hes going to win from a leaping DDT but only gets two! The finish sees Almas blast Gargano with the Hammerlock DDT draping off the top rope for the win. This match had me so emotionally invested and one of those matches I will always look back on as a reminder as to why I love wrestling so much. Although fans were disappointed Gargano didn't win both guys came out of this looking amazing. Hopefully Almas's next defence will be against Aleister Black after his victory earlier in the night. As for Johnny Gargano....well once again just like in Chicago as the end credits symbol shows up Johnny is attacked from behind by his old partner Tomasso Ciampa. It looks like we are finally getting the long delayed Gargano Vs Ciampa feud we have been waiting for!
And that's it for my thoughts on NXT Takeover: Philadelphia! A fantastic show with a main event I will remember for a long time! What did you guys think of the show? Let me know in the comments! THANK YOU ALL!!
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