This was the 2nd Ever Live NXT Special. The first one was a pretty great show, with a Match of the Year Contender. Let's see how this one compares! Much like every other episode/special edition of NXT, you can catch this on the WWE Network.......for $9.99.
WWE NXT Takeover
Winter Park, Florida 5/29/141.) Adam Rose vs. Camacho: **
We kick off the show with The Exotic Express, who actually came out from The Exotic Express itself, through the front door, into the building, and into the ring! The story here is that Camacho has been acting like a "lemon" (as Adam Rose himself would put it), becoming increasing annoying with Rose and his party goers. He even had a match against one of them on an Episode of NXT leading up to this. As far as this match goes, it was fine for what it was. Camacho got in some offense, but Rose was able to make a comeback & score the victory. Not much else to say really.
2.) NXT Tag Team Titles - The Ascension vs. Kalisto & El Local: **3/4
Kalisto was formerly known as Samuray del Sol on the independent scene, gaining the most notoriety while working for Dragon Gate USA/Evolve. Here he teams with El Local (aka Ricardo Rodriguez) to take on the destructive force that is Konnor & Viktor. While this wasn't anything spectacular, it was still a pretty decent match. Both teams got their chance to shine, plus the crowd being into both teams certainly helped. The Ascension were eventually able to hit The Fall of Man, and score the win to continue their reign of dominance.
3.) #1 Contender's Match - Sami Zayn vs. Tyler Breeze: ***3/4
Sami Zayn is coming off his incredible Match of the Year Contender against Cesaro from ArRIVAL, while the eccentric Tyler Breeze, with nicknames like "Prince Pretty" & "The King of Cuteville" has seen his stock rise a good deal since the last NXT Special. The winner of this one will become the #1 Contender to the NXT Title. This was a really good match. At point, it's hard for Sami Zayn to have anything less than a match that's really good, but Tyler Breeze really showed off what he can do. He impressed a lot of people, myself included, and convinced him that he's not just a "pretty face". These two guys worked really hard, and it resulted in a very solid back & forth contest, with a lot of near falls that excited the crowd. Just when it looked like Zayn had victory in hand, Breeze was able to snatch it from him and take the match, along with the #1 Contender Spot. Once again, really good match.
Up next, we get Lana & Rusev coming out. These two recent made their debut on the Main Roster, where Rusev had only just begun his path of the destruction. Lana praises Russia & President Vladimir Putin, while insulting America. It was the typical Anti-American Stuff that you've come to expect from these two. This leads to Mojo Rawley came out to defend America, but ended up getting his ass kicked by Rusev for his troubles. I feel like Mojo Rawley is slowing descending the Land of Jobbers (more on this in the next NXT Special).
4.) NXT Women's Title - Charlotte (with Ric Flair) vs. Natalya (with Bret "The Hitman" Hart): ****
After winning the WWE Diva's Title on RAW (and subsequently becoming a part of the Main Roster), then-NXT General Manager JBL forced Paige to give up her title. I really don't get why they did this. Couldn't they have just had Paige lose the title to someone. She could have easily been in this match, making it a Triple Threat, or she could have dropped the title beforehand. Vacating it just seemed unnecessary.
Anyway, a Tournament was held, and here we have the finals. WWE build this up as a clash between two of the great Wrestling Dynasties: The Flair's & The Hart's. Paige comes out before the match to officially give up here title and wishes good luck to the two ladies fighting for the title tonight. Charlotte & Natalya had a lot of expectation after the great Paige/Emma Women's Title Match from ArRIVAL. Not only did they meet those expectations, but they completely surpassed them. This match was awesome!!! From start to finish, this was wrestled incredibly well. Everything these two did just looked great, plus the atmosphere in general (both the crowd and Ric Flair & Bret Hart being at ringside) just felt special. After a grueling match, Charlotte is able to finally put away Natalya to win the NXT Women's Title. Both sides embrace after the match in a really cool moment. Definitely one of the best women's matches WWE has ever done.
5.) NXT Title - Adrian Neville vs. Tyson Kidd: ***3/4
Back at ArRIVAL, Adrian Neville defeated Bo Dallas in a Ladder Match to win the NXT Title. Since that time, Tyson Kidd was given a push (which was long overdue) towards the Main Event, leading us to this clash for the NXT Title. While I don't think it had a chance of being able to top the incredible women's encounter that proceeded it, this was a very solid Main Event Title Match. These two are both great wrestlers so it's no surprise that they put on a really good match. It's wasn't anything fantastic, but it was really entertaining pretty much the whole way through. The action picked up in the last several minutes, with the two going back & forth in an attempt to get the win, and it was definitely exciting to watch. Eventually, Neville was finally able to get the decisive advantage, hitting the Red Arrow on Kidd to score the win and retain his title.
After the match, Neville offered a hand shake, but Kidd declines in a very heel-ish manner, purposely bumping into him on the way out.
Overall: 8.0/10
This was a very solid show. I would put it on par with ArRIVAL as a whole. While this show didn't have the Match of the Year Contender like ArRIVAL did with Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn, Takeover was definitely the more consistent of the two. Not only did we once again get a great women's match, but it stole the show, taking Match of the Night for me. Everyone involved in that match deserves all the credit in the world. The #1 Contender's Match & The NXT Title Match were both very good matches that definitely delivered, and even the first two matches, while being on the average side quality wise, weren't that bad. It was an enjoyable night of wrestling, and you really can't go wrong with that. Another solid showing from NXT.
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