10 Interesting Observations From Attending NXT TakeOver: Back To Brooklyn Live
GLORIOUS!
After months of hype, NXT TakeOver: Back To Brooklyn is in the books. The brand's largest and most significant show of the entire year once again emanated from a sold-out Barclays Center, drawing a crowd the same size as that of the following evening's SummerSlam. This is the one weekend a year when NXT gets the chance to truly go toe-to-toe with WWE, and from a business standpoint, it did just that.
The show was headlined by a dream match pitting Samoa Joe versus Shinsuke Nakamura - two men who have been among the best in the world for a long time, and whom many thought would never wind up in a WWE ring. The fact that they headlined the show proves that they made it, and the fact that 14,000 screaming fans were there to see them promises even better things in their futures.
The show also came from my backyard, which meant that I would be able to attend it - and the rest of the weekend's wrestling festivities - without spending a WrestleMania-level fortune (or without having my brother spend it - hey, I'm just a writer). Being in Barclays Center for TakeOver - right in the thick of some of the most passionate fans in wrestling - was a special experience, to be sure.
Here are 10 observations from attending TakeOver: Back to Brooklyn live:
10. "The Perfect 10" Is Back
Prior to the start of the TakeOver special, two matches were taped to air on NXT television this coming week. In the first, Tye Dillinger - who hasn't been seen on NXT TV since he was beaten by Oney Lorcan nearly two months ago - took on former Tag Team Champion Wesley Blake.
The loss to Lorcan was the second straight for Dillinger (he also fell to Andrade "Cien" Almas at TakeOver: The End), forcing him to question his talent - was he still a 10? How would he reclaim what he once had?
Thankfully, it wasn't an issue on Saturday evening. Dillinger showed everything that, after more than a decade in and out of WWE, finally made him a crowd favorite. With an electric Brooklyn crowd behind him, Dillinger hit Blake with the Tye-Breaker, pinning him for the three count. With any luck, everyone's favorite narcissist is back to his old tricks, and his slump is over.