NXT Takeover Chicago Review
Roderick Strong Comes up on Top
Roderick Strong is a man that I have been watching on and off throughout the years. I have been able to sit back and watch several fantastic matches from him but as someone that has dipped in and out of the indie wrestling scene he wasn't ever really someone that I found myself completely drawn to. I could accept his brilliant in ring skills and potential to be something even bigger but there were a number of other wrestlers I found myself drawn to, overshadowing Roderick. Since arriving in the WWE/ NXT Strong has found himself in a strange position. Hardcore fans are more than aware of his work but the slightly more casual of fans were most probably sitting at home wondering who this guy was. Until last night I can't really say he had been given any work that made him truly standout and feel like a big deal or at least someone worthy of a big push. I have mentioned in previous posts that at the moment the NXT main event picture is pretty big. We have so many big main event stars all worthy of a title shot making the next champion rather unpredictable. Roderick Strong was one of the names slowly easing into that picture but still not quite there. The first time he really grabbed my attention since joining the NXT roster was during an episode of NXT a couple of weeks back when he challenged Hideo Itami in the main event with the winner of course going on to face Bobby Roode for the NXT Championship. Now, while he didn't walk away with the victory he had the spotlight on him and was finally able to really showcase more of his in ring capabilities and as a result he got people talking. Lets not forget that the videos the WWE made on him were a fantastic way to introduce him to fans and allow him to create a connection with the NXT universe. After the match had ended against Itami, Strong was once again attacked by Eric Young and the rest of Sanity setting up the opening match for this weekends NXT Takeover Chicago show. Again, I will admit that this wasn't the match I was most excited about. While these superstars remain two of my favourites in NXT today neither have been made to feel like a big enough deal for me to care as much for their singles match. However, they put on a fantastic opening match. Now, the overall performance of the night was massively strong and this match didn't feel like it lived up to the quality of the majority of the other matches we saw during the night. Roderick and Young did however work very well together and in the end we did get a really really good singles matches that opened the show well and left me even more excited for the rest of the show. Strong did pick up the win something I was expecting. Young can easily bounce back from a loss however it's key now that the WWE really focus on building Eric Young up and making something of him and the rest of Sanity. Personally, it doesn't quite feel as though there is space for them in NXT right now. They haven't been given the push they should have and it already feels like their next best move is to make the jump up to the main roster as soon as something strong enough pops up. As for Roderick, he really did establish himself last night. I don't believe he is a future NXT champion just yet but the WWE now have something to build on with him and it will be interesting seeing where they go from this point onward with him and Young.A New United Kingdom Champion is Crowned
One of the matches I was most excited for last night was without a shadow of a doubt the United Kingdom Championship match between Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne. While neither men have made frequent appearances on NXT the pair have a brilliant story to tell, fantastic in ring chemistry and the fans on board. I have previously spoken plenty about both these men and I was expecting nothing less than a top quality match. We have already seen what Bate and Dunne can do in the ring when they are pitted against one another; at the start of the year the two competed in the finals of the United Kingdom Championship tournament and delivered what was easily one of the best matches of the entire weekend. They raised the bar and made sure all eyes were on them and the British Wrestling scene. The then nineteen year old Tyler Bate did walk out with the victory and of course made history by becoming the first ever WWE United Kingdom Champion however, as I recently mentioned in a previous blog post the attention never faded from Pete Dunne, he did what he set out to do, make a name for himself. Since the tournament the world has been talking about him applauding him on not only his phenomenal in ring skills but his even stronger character work. This past Friday we saw him remain a strong talking point when he defeated Trent Seven to become the brand new number one contender and as so last night he went toe to toe with Tyler Bate once again for the WWE United Kingdom Championship. The two men didn't disappoint what so ever. Yet again they stepped in the ring and delivered pure gold. The crowd were completely invested in the action from the start and throughout and in the end we there was no denying the fact that this was one of the best matches of the night. It's hard to know what to say without sounding repetitive but these guys just killed it. There was story being told throughout the entirety of this match and its what really made the whole thing standout so much more. There most certainly wasn't one man working better than the other, both these superstars came out and made an impact. They worked their characters perfectly and had everyone on the edge of their seats not wanting to see the action end. This was easily the best pure wrestling match of the night. It was the kind of match kids in twenty years time will tell the world was the match that inspired them to become professional wrestlers. Watching this I myself was inspired. A completely captivating contest full of everything you could possibly ask for; great storytelling, amazing character work, and phenomenal wrestling. What more could you ask for? Pete Dunne did walk out with the win and crowned the brand new WWE United Kingdom Champion. Again, I wasn't surprised with the end result. Pete Dunne is one of the best things in wrestling and one of the most talked about men in the community. His championship win was inevitable and while Tyler Bate was a great champion I'm confident Dunne will take things to the next level completely. Watching this I did find it impossible to pick a side and I soon realised I would be happy with any result. Admitting a part of me was sad to see Tyler dethroned I'm fully aware that Pete Dunne is about to truly shake things up for the better.She Pinned Them BOTH!
It really is no secret that I haven't been the worlds biggest fan of Asuka's championship reign. No one can deny the fact that she is a fantastic in ring performer. She is without question the most dominant women in NXT history and since arriving on the scene we have seen her take part in some truly fantastic matches. Her title reign has seen Asuka step in the ring with some of the best the NXT women's division has to offer from Bayley to Nia Jax to the likes of Emma, Billie Kay and Peyton Royce. This past weekend Asuka was set to once again defend her title this time in a triple threat against Nikki Cross and new comer Ruby Riot. Now, Asuka has been apart of the NXT Women's division for quite some time now and she still remains undefeated.We have seen her face off against some of the toughest women on the roster and to this day no one has been able to knock Asuka off her throne. During Saturday's show both Ruby Riot and Nikki Cross looked to do just that however the night only saw another two more flailed efforts and by the end of the night Asuka was still holding onto her NXT Women's Championship. Now, the match originally was booked as a fatal four however, after Ember Moon suffered an injury at the hands of the champ changes were made and a triple threat was made official instead. The moment it was announced Ember would no longer be competing in this match I knew for sure that the title would not be changing hands. Ember Moon will most certainly be the women to dethrone Asuka, the signs are all there and the WWE have made it clear however, the time just isn't right and its obvious that the WWE want to really build something up here. We already have the makings of a strong story but in order for an emotional connection to be there and for the fans to care enough they need to take more time to build that story and get the fans on team Ember. The first time in doing that was for Asuka to take her out of the fatal four way (tick) the next move? Make an even bigger impact at NXT Takeover Chicago (tick). The women's championship match this past Saturday wasn't as strong as it could have been but it was good. Each one of the competitors was able to standout at some point and they were all over with the live crowd. It was one of the more predicable matches of the night and with the girls having to go on after Dunne VS Bate they were going to struggle regardless. However, the match was decent and more importantly the seeds were planted in further for the future Ember Moon VS Asuka match. We saw Ember watch the match from a distance and from then on it was made even more clear what the future plans for these two women were. Now, the closing moments of this match really were clever. With Asuka pinning both Nikki and Ruby there was further emphasis made on just how dominant Asuka is. The WWE are doing a fantastic job building Asuka up and while I may not be the worlds biggest fan I have to say that right now there is no one more dominant than the NXT Women's Champion.
A Glorious Victory for Bobby Roode
I hate to say it but I really wasn't very excited for the NXT Championship match between Bobby Roode and challenger Hideo Itami. The more I thought about it the more it did make sense and the more I grew to the idea however, my feelings remained the same, this wasn't the match I was most looking forward to what so ever. I did still expect a solid championship match and I tried my best not to let the predictability of the bout ruin anything. In the end I was proven right. Hideo and Roode delivered a very strong championship match. There was a decent story being told, the wrestling was solid and the crowd grew more interested as the time went by and watching from home I can honestly say I was entertained. This of course wasn't the match of the night, I have already touched on the fact that quality of Pete Dunne VS Tyler Bate was so high that topping it was always going to be difficult and Roode VS Itami just didn't top it in my opinion. However, this was a decent championship match and was actually far better than I personally expected it to be, plus its safe to say that this was one of the better matches of the night, certainly in my top three. Again, this was a predicable one. I was one hundred percent expecting to see Roode retain and so his victory came as no surprise. Itami for me did have the stronger performance during this match. I found myself even more interested in and captivated by his work but lets not take anything away from Roode, he once again has a solid performance and he remains the man that honestly does feel like the rightful champion. Looking at the night as a hole however and he did get a little lost, there were simply other superstars that stood out more than he did. If way take an even bigger look at the next few months we should expect to see names such as Roderick Strong, Kassius Ohno and Drew McIntyre edge closer to a title opportunity but with the main event picture so big its going to be interesting seeing how we get to the point of crowning one of these men the new number one contender.
Tag Team Gold
Where do I begin? I think we are all days later still trying to deal with the after effects of that epic NXT Tag team championship match. Now, I just like everyone else was expecting this to be a killer of a match but boy did these four superstars bring it. If you read my NXT Takeover Chicago prediction you will know that this was the match I was most looking forward to. The tag team work over in NXT has been so so unbelievably strong over the past couple of years and this was a match we all knew was going to be on to add to the growing list of phenomenal NXT Tag team championship matches. This time round however the division was looking to make history as the titles were not only being defended in a ladder match but for the first time in NXT history the tag team division would be main eventing a takeover show. I don't think anyone can argue the fact that this match should have been the main event. While I do like tradition and I believe that the main championship should close a show when you look at the build up, look at the card and see what the overall night looks like its perfectly clear that no other match should have been placed in the main event picture. It was this match that felt the biggest and most important and with the majority of fans anticipating this match the most there was no question that DIY and the Authors of Pain were the men most suited for the NXT Takeover Chicago main event.
Of course these guys didn't disappoint in the slightest. The match was just as good as I was expecting it to be, in fact, even better. The two teams brought something completely different to the table and while I was confident that the Authors of Pain would be retaining there was a lot more to this match and throughout it my opinions changed more and more in regards to exactly which team would walk out with the gold. Now, I have already mentioned that I believe the WWE United Kingdom Championship match between Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne was the best pure wrestling match and I stick by that however the match of the night was without a shadow of a doubt the main event. The stunts, the wrestling, the character development, the storytelling, everything was just perfect. I cannot fault it at all. It connected with everyone. It was one of those matches that reminded me why I'm such a big wrestling fan. It was beyond entertaining, I was emotionally invested and while I would have
loved to have seen DIY reclaim the NXT Tag team championships the Authors of pain had the match they needed to have. They finally proved a point and this was without a shadow of a doubt their best performance to date. Of course Johnny and Ciampa out wrestled them but AOP were able to keep up with them perfectly well. They were dominant and had the fans watching them very carefully. Sure they still have a long way to go but I have to admit that I'm personally really growing to love these two.Now, I am going to be writing about this match in full later on in the week so keep an eye out for that over the next couple of days. Of course for now we have to touch on those closing moments of the show. After failing to capture the NXT Tag Team Championships it was an emotional night for DIY. At first I believed that this would be the last time we would see DIY in an NXT ring, there little farewell, however, Tommaso Ciampa had other ideas and in a shock ending to the night Ciampa turned on his tag team partner in a beat down to close the show. I know some expected the pair to split but I was honestly hoping to see them make their way up to the main roster to work as a tag team over on Smackdown live within the next month so a part of me was disappointed however, the turn was done so well that I can't complain. There was real emotion watching this and the events really tied in perfectly with what we had seen already during the tag team match. This was a fantastic way to close the show and really did demonstrate just how effective building up a tag team can really be. The division was put on a pedestal on Saturday and I have to say that the NXT Takeover Chicago main event was the match of the entire weekend.
Honestly, I really enjoyed the show this past Saturday's NXT Takeover Chicago event. Three matches stood out amongst the lot, the main event, the WWE United Kingdom Championship match and the Bobby Roode VS Hideo Itami all of which you can expect to read more about later in the week in another blog post. For now, you can let me know what you thought of the show by leaving a comment bellow or by dropping me a tweet over at @TezangiVictoria.
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