8 Ups And 2 Downs From NXT TakeOver: New Orleans

4. Fade To Black

Let’s give some love to Andrade “Cien” Almas and Aleister Black. If they had been performing at almost any other PPV, their NXT Championship match would have been the talk of the night. But they had to compete with a ladder match and a bitter blood feud.

Still, Almas and Black had a pretty damn good match, one that did not take a pause the entire way and featured some serious strikes back and forth. Almas really has come into his own as a main-event heel, while Black managed to balance playing the cool, calm Dutch Destroyer while also having to battle through the pain his opponent inflicted.

Almas had some callbacks to previous matches, which were nice touches, and he had fans buying some false finishes. He relied on his manager/valet to give him the advantage, but he showed he was capable of hanging with his challenger. Black was crisp and had the fans behind him.

Really good match from the two, and hopefully great things are in store for both in the next phases of their careers.