NXT Takeover: San Antonio Review - 6 Big Talking Points

1. A Fantastic Main Event (In Isolation)

This was Shinsuke Nakamura's best WWE match since his near-perfect bow at TakeOver: Dallas.

Incredibly rich in storytelling, the mind games played early factored into the finishing sequence. Nakamura was frustrated by Roode's exaggerated, Americanised stalling and his vicious bait and switch tactics in what was an absorbing and unique culture clash. This narrative thread needled through the fabric of what was a match as psychologically sound as it was vicious.

Roode's performance deserves much of the credit; knowing he faced a far greater threat than Tye Dillinger, he substituted cheap evasion tactics with despicable feigned head injuries. As glorious as it was, it wasn't quite perfect. Nakamura was an act so antithetical to WWE this his signing was greeted with incredulity. Would WWE allow him to transplant every organ of his alien life form act to its heavily regulated and homogenised stage?

Almost. As Nakamura revved up to smash Roode with a Kinshasa, in the otherwise stunning second act, he agonised over Roode's stalling tactics, showing frustration that he wasn't in the proper position. Bluntly, that pretense of sportsmanship would not have stopped him in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Granted, modification is required. But the uncomfortable truth is that Nakamura was better there than he is here; although, this jarring sequence aside, this match represented an awesome return to that peerless form. Nakamura did channel his old NJPW self, by landing a series of pithy kicks to Roode's head before succumbing to the match-defining injury - and that injury angle was so well-acted that it equalised any notion of incongruity.