NXT Takeover: Philadelphia Review and Reactions
An average Start to the night
We kick things off with some tag team action as Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reily defended the NXT Tag Team Championships against my personal faves in the Authors of Pain. Now, we all know that the tag division is very strong and for the past few years now they have been delivering time and time again so the bar is extremely high; did this match reach the expectations and the bar that has been set? Personally, I don't think so. It was a solid match but for me, it could have benefited from having extra ten minutes. It was an important one for Fish and O'Reily who had the spotlight without Cole by their side but more importantly, it was key in giving Undisputed era some extra momentum. I do believe that because AOP is so dominant the Fish and O'Reily should have had a more difficult task in defeating the former champion with the end result focusing on O'Reily reversing Akam into a hurricanrana and rolling him up for the three count. The match was kept rather basic and simple with the Undisputed era attacking the left leg of Akam the whole time. We did get a little touch of storytelling but as a whole, the match was rather simple. A solid start to the night and while I was, of course, backing Authors of Pain the right booking choice was made and I'm looking forward to seeing what the next chapter has coming up for AOP.It's all about the Velveteen Dream
Velveteen Dream. Boy is this guy good. From the moment his music hit fans where cheering his name and up on their feet giving the NXT star some love. A character so infectious and a wrestler so skilled Dream is right at the top in the eyes of the fans and his performance last night only made things better for him. Personally, I was worried about this match. I never doubted for a second that the Velveteen Dream and Kassius Ohno could deliver a stellar of a match but with both pretty much in need of some momentum I was concerned about the end result. However, within seconds of the match starting that was forgotten. Dream had previously mentioned that would beat Ohno in thirty seconds so of course, the fans started counting from the on start of this match and while things started strong for Dream after he delivered a heck of a blast to his opponent but it wasn't long before the veteran in Ohno hit back with a devastating forearm. From then on what we got was a back and forth contest that kept us all highly entertained. While Dreams character is so out there, so unique and so in your face, his wrestling ability is just fantastic and with this guy, it truly is the little details that stand out. From his change in ring gear that backed the build-up to this match, to how he carries himself to the sheer brutality of his moves set. The fans have latched onto him massively and with both stars delivering such a strong performance, they both showed exactly why they're fan favorites. Sure there were a few messy moments in the middle of the match and mistakes by both stars but Dreams strong finished got him over and yet again was a believable ending to a strong strong match for Dream and Ohno.
Moon Out-Smarts the Queen of Spades
I have to say that the next match was rather disappointing for me. Shayna Baszler is still rather fresh in the world of pro wrestling and this is something that is still pretty evident. She did, however, prove to be a new kind of challenge for the champ in Ember Moon. With Moon gaining early control of this match it was clear Ember's advantage would come from out wrestling Baszler who quickly was able to change the pace locking Ember in a brutal armbar. What I did really like about this match was how different it was on top of the unpredictability. While Moon hasn't been champ for long Baszler has been very strong and dominant since arriving on the scene making sure to leave an impact wherever she goes, however here in this match she needed to be on her A game and it was in those final moments that a rookie mistake led to her missing out on the biggest victory of her career. The champ being able to outsmart Baszler was a key and smart ending to the match allowing Moon to retain however not damaging the momentum of Baszler too much. I was disappointed with the lack of wrestling we saw from Shayna but this was smart booking at it's finest. The injury she inflicted on the champ very early left for a great story to be told and the blindside attack after the match added to the story and feud between these two women.NXT Goes Extreme
The match I was honestly most looking forward to last night was the extreme rules match between Aleister Black and Adam Cole. A solid build up between two of NXT's most must-see stars made this one to watch before with a promising outcome on the cards. From the get-go, Black was able to outsmart the cocky Adam Cole and stay on top keeping the pace of the match on his side until Cole was able to use a Kendo stick to gain the advantage. It was here that things really did switch up and what we got was a match that showed exactly how extreme Rules matches in this era should be done. It wasn't long before everything from chairs, ladders, trash cans and tables were added to this match. Cole's hand was bloodied rather early on and after being attended to by the trainers it didn't take him long to regain control of this match after a superkick into a chair led Black falling back onto two tables. With Cole throwing everything at Black and still not being able to put him away he relied on the assistance of O'Reilly and Fish to capture the victory however the surprise involvement of SAnity put a dent in Cole's plan and with the numbers now even Black found the time to regain some momentum, head back into the ring and deliver the black mass to get the victory. Once again, brilliant booking. This was for me the most fun and exciting match of the night. Everything from the smart barbaric moments between the two stars to the involvement from the Undisputed era to Killian Danes killer tope suicide through the ropes made this one heck of a match and early year favourite for me.What a Freaking Match!
And finally the main event. This is what an A* match looks like. Hands down the best WWE match of 2018 so far this was a contest that raised and set the bar for everything to follow this year. With the two stars already having competed in a brilliant match-up previously we all knew these guys were capable of delivering one epic championship match and that is exactly what we got and more. The heart of Gargano was the key focus here. The champ from start to finish threw everything at the challenger bu Johnny Wrestling just would not go down without a fight and so so much more. Staying passionate and focused the announce team compared his story to former champion himself Daniel Bryan with their journeys and WWE stories being highlighted as very very similar. I could have watched this match go on forever and as Mauro put it perfectly at the end of this match you could not have asked for more out of this bout. You genuinely could see both Almas and Gargano put absolutely everything into this match. Almas yet again proved exactly why he has always deserved that top spot and while it would have been amazing seeing the fan favourite in Gargano get the victory Almas more than showed he was a worthy champion and deserved to keep hold of that title, however, after a match of this scale there really didn't feel as though there was a loser. This was a contest between two fantastic modern day pro wrestlers and this is for sure set to be a match we talk about in years to come and topping it will be very very difficult. We had everything you could possibly ask for from involvement from Zelina Vega, gripping action, phenomenal wrestling, counters that left you speechless, Candice Le'Rae, and an ending you couldn't even be mad at. To top things off Tommaso Ciampa made a shock appearance just as the show as going off air attacking a worn down Gargano leaving fans desperate for the next chapter of their story!What a show! Raising so so high the guys of RAW and Smackdown LIVE have not got an easy job topping NXT Takeover Philadelphia and in all honest, I don't think they can do it. NXT has done so amazingly well and I don't see anything raising to the level of Gargano and Almas anytime soon.any recent blog posts will be linked bellow and as per usual you can get involved and tell me what you thought of NXT Takeover Philly by leaving a comment bellow or by dropping me a tweet over at @TezangiVictoria.
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