WWE NXT TakeOver: Respect - 7 Major Talking Points
1. THIS Is What A Revolution Looks Like
For the first time in NXT history, a women’s match was the main event. Furthermore, it was the first ever Ironwoman’s match in WWE history, as Bayley and Sasha Banks pulled off an outstanding 30-minute contest.
If you’re looking for a contest that has a ‘big match’ feel to it, this is it.
Banks and Bayley tore the house down with a myriad of impressive maneuvers, masterful storytelling, excellent ring psychology, and intense emotion. The Full Sail audience were certainly showing respect towards the women throughout the match, with such chants as ‘women’s wrestling’, ‘iron woman’, and ‘this is awesome’ (the latter of which took place before the wrestling even began).
But it was the post-match celebration that really drove the whole ‘respect’ theme home. The entire NXT roster came out to thank both Sasha and Bayley. As Sasha was getting up, she was given a standing ovation from everyone in that building, and was given a bouquet of flowers by Stephanie McMahon, before she started crying. Meanwhile, Triple H entered the ring and gave Bayley her own bouquet of flowers, symbolic of his thanks for her effort and his respect for their accomplishments.
THIS is how you demonstrate a revolutionary idea: not only were the women in the main event match, but they demonstrated that they can put on just as good of an Ironman match as their male counterparts.