The NXT Takeover event aired on WWE Network on Thursday night. It was a two hour event without commercials. The show took place at Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida and featured a mix of NXT stars along with main roster performers. Here's a rundown of everything that happened with some quick thoughts on all the matches.
Adam Rose d. Camacho The crowd loved Rose because they've seen him on NXT for a while. They chanted all his catchphrases. The Raw and Smackdown crowds don't react the same way to him. It was an easy win for Rose after five minutes of action.
The Ascension d. Kalisto & El Local in a Tag Team Title Match Even though they're heels the fans were into everything The Ascension. Kalisto & El Local look like they didn't really belong. In case you're wondering, El Local is actually Ricardo Rodriguez in a mask. The Ascension is ready for the main roster. No question about that.
Tyler Breeze d. Sami Zayn It's no surprise that this was a great match because Zayn is one of the best performers in WWE. He always has memorable matches. Breeze continues to impress. He's not as experienced as Zayn, but he held his own in there. He's got a strong persona already as the guy that takes selfie's. Breeze got the win after 16 minutes of competitive back and forth action. It was a #1 contender's match, so Breeze gets to face the NXT Champion in the near future. Zayn should be on the WWE main roster right now. No point in waiting. He's definitely ready. There was a Rusev segment with the lovely Lana. Mojo Rawley showed up to face off with him, but that wasn't very successful because Rusev destroyed him. The WWE Divas Champion Paige showed up talking about being Divas Champion. She's a former women's champion in NXT, so she also mentioned how important that title was too. The crowd liked seeing her.
Charlotte d. Natalya to win the vacant NXT Women's Title Charlotte had her father Ric Flair in her corner while Natalya had her uncle Bret Hart in her corner. Simply put, it's one of the best divas matches in WWE history. They wrestled a technical style match that went 17 minutes, which is longer than most diva matches. It's so refreshing to see WWE give that much time to women that deserve it. The crowd really believed in what they were doing and loved how even of a match it was. They even did a "this is awesome" chant towards the end of it. It looked like it could have ended a number of different times, but Charlotte was able to capitalize on a mistake to win clean. It's no surprise that Charlotte won because she's the younger competitor that's on the rise and Natalya was there to give her a great match. Hopefully this match opened the eyes of management and makes them realize that women deserve a chance to have longer matches. At least women as talented as Natalya and Charlotte do. Charlotte's future is incredibly bright as one of the most athletic women that WWE has ever had. When it was over, Ric Flair celebrated with his daughter. Natalya gave Charlotte a hug. Bret and Ric also hugged. Natalya raised Charlotte's hand as the winner. Flair was in tears as he hugged his daughter when it was over. It was a special moment. Prior to the main event, Tyson Kidd was wished good luck by his wife Natalya in the backstage area..
Adrian Neville d. Tyson Kidd to retain the NXT Title It was the best match of the night as these two men went all out for 21 minutes. It was the right mix of high flying moves, technical wrestling spots that made sense and due to their similar styles the chemistry was great. When it looked like one guy had the advantage, the other countered with a huge spot to keep the match going. When do you see spots like a side Russian legsweep off the middle ropes? It's rare, but Kidd did it at one point in this match. Then there was a spot where they did a suplex from inside the ring, held on and both of them went flying to the floor. Kidd kept on showing frustration on his face as he came close to winning multiple times, but he wasn't able to put Neville away. Neville was able to come back with a hurricanrana off the top rope and then he won with his Red Arrow off the top rope. After the match, Neville wanted a handshake. Kidd didn't want that, so he bumped him in the shoulder and walked away. That could be the start of a heel turn for him.
Summary It was a fantastic wrestling show with the Neville/Kidd, Charlotte/Natalya and Breeze/Zayn matches standing out as exceptional battles. If you're into over the top characters and really long winded promos then maybe NXT isn't the show for you. However, if you like wrestling for the great matches put on by spectacular athletes then this is a show you should watch if you haven't seen it. It's the second NXT special that you should go out of your way to see if you missed it. Anybody that appreciates great in-ring action will love a show like this one.