WWE NXT Takeover: Philadelphia

Authors of Pain vs Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly

Really solid opener. The AoP haven’t really turned face, so they had a difficult job to work what is ostensibly a heel vs heel match, and they really pulled it off. Loved the initial mat work, felt a bit scrappier and less smooth, which works with the size and menace of the Authors. Fish and O’Reilly take control when Akam hurts his leg, and I really enjoyed the heat they work on the injury, with Fish dropping it over the ropes and O’Reilly taking him down with a chop block. The tag comes logically, as Fish loses his focus, and Rezar looks great when he gets in. Love his combo fallaway slam/Samoan drop, and his breaking an O’Reilly leglock on Akam by way of dropping Fish on top was terrific. There’s a melee and the AoP hit the Super Collider, but O’Reilly uses a headscissors to cause a collision, and gets a roll up for three to win.

The Velveteen Dream vs Kassius Ohno

The story to this match had Dream promising to knock Ohno out in 30 seconds, and I loved him hitting a big blow within those 30 seconds that actually put Ohno down. Of course, it didn’t finish him, and Ohno plastered Dream with an elbow as soon as he got up. From there, they wrestled a match, and it was fine. Dream controls a lot of the match, and I like how Ohno makes him earn any selling, kicking out at 1 when it felt right to do so, but still letting him retain control. Ohno’s offence looks better than Dream’s for the most part – his senton looks killer and the rolling kick feels like a real KO blow. Dream is still a bit sloppy offensively, and I hate that over-complicated Sister Abigail-esque DDT he does, but he’s got the presence and character stuff nailed down. A DVd and a hufe top rope elbow gets the win.

Shayna Baszler vs Ember Moon

Liked Moon’s strategy early on here, taking the fight to Baszler. She hits a really vicious looking dropkick and a great low tope early doors. When Baszler gets an opening, she really takes advantage of it, hitting some awesome looking short knees. Baszler is like a shark working over the left arm of Moon, really methodically working it over. Moon really sells the arm, even on offence, trying to protect it when possible. Baszler gets hit by the Eclipse, really selling it as a knockout blow, but Moon’s arm is too hurt to make the cover. The end is logically worked, as Baszler tries to hook in an armbar to finish off the mat, but Moon keeps fighting it off, preventing a full extension, before managing to roll up Baszler for the win. Enjoyed this

  

Aleister Black vs Adam Cole

Thought this was the weakest match of the night. I really like Black, have done since I first saw Tommy End live, but Cole is a guy who does nothing for me. There’s nothing he brought to this match that couldn’t have been done by any one of hundreds of generic indy wrestlers. That said, what really hurt this match was the layout. This became one of those hardcore matches where a lot of time is spent setting up props for the next big spot, making the match feel drawn out. Most of the hardcore spots looks good – Cole blatantly holding a chair in his face ready for a knee strike being the exception – and that kept the match a somewhat entertaining spectacle. Loved the big bump where Black got superkicked off the top through two ringside tables, and Cole eating a DVD on two chairs set up back-to-back was a sick spot. Black also got to maintain his aura, looking like a badass as he dropped his kendo stick at the start of a potential duel, instead opting to use his feet as a weapon. It’s just a shame the meat of this match was lacking.

Andrade Almas vs Johnny Gargano

This, for my money, is the best match in NXT history. I went into this with high hopes, having loved their Takeover match back in August, but this surpassed those expectations. One of my favourite things in NXT has been the development of Gargano as super-babyface. Four years ago, I saw him wrestle in a local leisure centre (incidentally, against Tomasso Ciampa), and sat there agog at one of the worst sequences I’d ever seen in a wrestling ring, as Gargano superkicked Ciampa – who didn’t sell and hit a jumping knee to Gargano – who didn’t sell and hit another superkick –and so on and so on. In this match, he puts on a clinic in how to sell, his body crumpling with despair when Almas is able to kick out of a certain fall or make the rope when the Gargano Escape is locked in (and the spot right at the end where Almas hooks his foot over the bottom rope is heartbreaking within the story). The offensive sequences by both men looked spot on, even down to how tightly Almas held a chinlock. It didn’t feel like a resthold, it felt like him trying to put Gargano out, giving him no room to breathe. There’s so many moments in the match that looked great, and worked as natural counters to what their opponent was doing – the missed cannonball that sends Gargano crashing to the floor, or Almas missing a mounted punch putting him in prime position to eat a superkick through the legs. What’s great is, though they hit some big bombs, the kickouts never felt like overkill, instead fitting into the fabric of the story due to how well they were used. For example, Gargano hitting a slingshot DDT onto the apron should be a killshot move, but it sent both men to the floor so, by the time Gargano had built up the energy to roll Almas back in the ring, enough time had passed to justify the kickout. By the end, both guys looked dead on their feet, before Almas hits the running knees on the apron and a hanging DDT to finally put Gargano down. If this isn’t top of my end of year list, then I’ll have watched some bloody good wrestling this year.