NXT Takeover Chicago: Highlights & Honest Thoughts

Just last night the WWE's developmental territory, NXT took over Chicago for the second year in a row and what a night it was! A show you sure did not want to miss the night was full of must-see matches, fantastic storylines, and bouts worthy of a five-star rating. Setting the bar and giving the main roster talent a reason to swear the NXT guys and girls shone brighter than ever and in today's blog post we are going to be taking a look back at the highlight moments from last night's show. Now, throughout the week we are going to be paying very close attention to NXT Takeover and of course, Money in the Bank and later on in the week I will be uploading another post where I take a look at the six lessons we learnt from NXT Takeover: Chicago and tomorrow a full review of MITB will also be uploaded! For a now, any recent blog posts will be linked below including all of my Money in the Bank predictions! Don't forget I will be live tweeting throughout tonights pay per view and you can get involved as per usual by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria or by leaving a comment below telling me what you thought of last nights Takeover event!

Oney Lorcan's Back of Steel & Tag Team Wrestling Excellence

NXT has become just as much of a career elevator for tag teams as it is for women's wrestling. The brand is known for kick-starting a revolution in the WWE 's women's division however, the same argument can be made for its tag teams as it's here the duo's of the WWE are showcased with such excellence. Teams including American Alpha, The Revival, and AOP have delivered some of the best matches in recent tag team memory, starting their own revolution and last night The Undisputed Era along with Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch added their names to that list. Now, with these four names sharing a ring this match was always destined to be a must see but these guys took things to a whole new level leaving everyone at home stunned and the fans in the arena giving a standing ovation mid-match!

With Oney Lorcan landing smack bang on his back against the apron from the top rope I did wonder if Lorcan was literally trying to break his back especially considering he continued to put his back through it during the remains of the contest but what this spot alone showed just how far Lorcan and Burch were willing to go to get their hands on tag team gold. This is the first time these two had competed on a major stage for gold in NXT and they made sure to get everyone talking about them. The pair worked amazingly well together bringing speed, experience, and an edge to the table that really pushed the Undisputed era to their limits. Burch and Lorcan left the NXT universe at times convinced they were going to walk out as tag team champions swaying the audience and everyone at home in believing they had a genuine chance of getting the victory. They unsurprisingly didn't walk out as champions but far from loses. These guys established themselves as talents to watch on the roster while the Undisputed era gained even more momentum showing the world they are at the top of their game. Roderick Strong proved once and for all he is the perfect superstar to align himself with the O'Riley and Cole and it was evident from the get-go both him and O'Riley work amazingly well together, well enough to remain tag team champions after a tough, hard felt, contest.

This Isn't Over

Surprisingly, I did enjoy the NXT Women's championship match between challenger Nikki Cross and champion Shayna Baszler. Of course, compared to the rest of the matches we got last night this wasn't the best wrestling match but the women showcased their characters exceptionally well. We also have to note that Shayna Baszler really did show further improvements in the ring. She isn't the strongest wrestler in the world but each time we see her she is getting better and her future remains very bright and one to keep your eyes on. However, the star of this match was, of course, Nikki Cross. With the fans total support, the former SaNity member looked to walk out of NXT Takeover Chicago the new women's champion and she came close. A whole different kind of opponent to what she is used to, Baszler was put through her paces and Cross had won the battle of the mind games but it was Baszler, for now, had won the war. The closing moments were fantastic. Cross was once again highlighted as one of if not the best character work in the women's division. Smiling in the submission hold she decided to fade and pass out rather than tap out and it was both beautiful and haunting but was the total right move for her character.

 It wouldn't have made as much sense or suited her crazy persona to tap out to Baszler especially when we put the build into consideration but what this ending also did was indicate this feud is far from over and a possible re-match is on the cards for SummerSlam weekend. Cross showed she isn't afraid of Baszler and Shayna was unable to force Nikki to tap out or get a pinfall victory. A second clash between the two is possible in a no DQ match could be on the cards for August.

There is no Loster

There was a general theme of last nights NXT Takeover show; no one really felt like the loser of their match. Everyone raised the bar, stood out, and had one heck of a performance but one of the biggest standout stars of the night was without a shadow of a doubt the Velveteen Dream. No on pushed that idea of there being no true loser better than the Dream. From the get-go, he had a strategy and an advantage when it came to mind games. Dressed half a little like Hulk Hogan (I still don't really get that part) but sporting pants that looked very similar to the Prince Puma gear (Richocet's former Lucha Underground character) we were given another reason to love the Dream. This was such a  clever move to make and a real mind game card he knew would get fans talking. It's little moves like that that really allow Velveteen to standout on a whole new scale but as the match progressed he showed the world yet again why he is the future of the WWE

Now, it's evident the company are high on Richocet and he is most certainly destined for a brilliant NXT and WWE career long term, but it was again the Velveteen Dream for me, who I couldn't take my eyes off. The match did have a slower start than I expected and I did, in fact, worry I wasn't going to like the contest. This was the match I was most excited about but I felt early on it was to spot festy and spots were too perfectly timed if that makes sense. However, it didn't take long for me to realize I was in fact completely invested. Another concern of mine was the two didn't have great chemistry and it was little forced on Ricochet's behalf but once these two really got going it was clear this was a match worthy of a five-star rating in my opinion and a great story was being told. The action was non-stop, the spots were well executed, and the Dream proved he is just worthy of the hype Richocet receives. I wasn't surprised to see the King get the win but let's remember the Prince is coming for that throne and I really do hope we see him score a big victory soon!

So Close yet so Far Away

I mentioned both in my prediction post and on twitter last night that Lars Sullivan is someone I really have become a major fan of. I believe he is worthy of this push he has gotten and I really do hope he is taken in the right direction and has a brilliant long-term WWE career ahead of him full of amazing things. His NXT Championship match last night against Aleister Black proved this once again. With Black possessing more experience and intensity this was anyone's game especially with Sullivan owning such brilliant strength and power. The challenger spent a great deal of time in control of this match dominating Black from the get-go. Blocking the Black Mass and receiving two before taking the pin, he proved himself once again and after this performance, I don't know how anyone can say a bad word about him. The title did change hands and it was clear Black had his biggest and most difficult challenge in Lars Sullivan since becoming champion but this was yet again another excellent contest! I also want to mention this was far better than I was expcting it to be.

Match of The Year? 

Where do we begin? Now, before we get started, I want to say that I will be taking an in-depth look at this match at a later date so keep an eye out for that but can we just agree that this is quite possibly one of the best if not the best street fight of all time and a sure contender for WWE match of the year. As of right now, I haven't had a look at the general opinions and ratings for this match but I personally would give this more than five stars. It has everything you could ask for. An excellent story between two superstars with a big history and fantastic chemistry. Throughout the match, we saw just how personal this rivalry was and I'm not sure if I'm the only one that felt this but there was a similar vibe to this to the recent fight between Sami Callihan and Eddie Edwards were it felt like the two were trying to kill each other. Come the end I genuinely felt as though there was nothing left for these two to do and it couldn't have been done better.

From the moment we saw Candice tell Johnny to "kick his {Tommaso Ciampa} ass" just before her husband went out to the ring all the way to those closing moments, this felt like a must see main event. It felt like a rivalry and a match wrestling fans will be talking about for many many years to come. There is no reason not to believe this will go down as legendary work. The action was so

brutal, so barbaric, and so intense and I was left genuinely hooked and invested throughout the entire contest. Using their entire surroundings Gargano and Cimpa put on a fight of the ages and the booking was done incredibly well. The two just didn't want to give up, they both kept feeling as though they had to take things to the next level, make their former friend suffer that little bit more and as a result of that Gargano made one of the worse decisions of his career. Instead of letting Ciampa leave in a stretcher he wheeled him back to the ring giving and less than five minutes later Gargano had slipped up and Ciampa used the exposed ring to his advantage and scored the win. 100% the right move, Ciampa needed this win and the way it was booked was so smart, so well done and I have no bad words towards this one on one!

And that was NXT Takeover: Chicago two! What a night. The main roster talent has a tough almost impossible task of topping what we saw last night with so many matches in my opinion worthy of a five star if not more rating. The night was stronger than expected and I really enjoyed the entire show from start to finish. As always, any recent blog posts will be linked below and you can get involved and tell me what you thought of last nights show by leaving a comment below or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria.

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