NXT TakeOver: London (Reviews & General Discussion)

[Dagger Dias]

On December 16th WWE held the latest TakeOver event for its NXT brand. NXT TakeOver: London, which took place in London, England. WWE continues to deliver solid shows every single TakeOver and this one was another excellent night, just as was expected when I sat down to watch the event. Let's take a look at the matches.


Asuka VS Emma (with Dana Brooke)
What an opener. I hope that the girls from the main roster were watching. The half who can't wrestle could learn a thing or two here. Asuka is the future of NXT's Women's division after Bayley's inevitable promotion. That seems quite likely at this point. I expected a pretty good match here but the two girls delivered one of the best matches of the night. A very close 2nd, with only the main event being better.

Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson (c) VS Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady (with Carmella) [Tag Team Match for the NXT Tag Team Championship]
Great match, but the result had me scratching my head. WWE has now missed out not one, but on two MASSIVE opportunities with Enzo and Cass. They should have won in Brooklyn and they dang sure should have won here. One can only hope they are either on their way to the main roster or that they will win in Dallas next semester. I liked it other than the result. The upside is it made the champions look like a bigger deal to defeat the most popular team on the brand, so there's that.

Apollo Crews VS Baron Corbin
This one got a bit boring. I like Crews so I was hoping he'd win. Corbin getting this win concerns me. He still has work to do before I could ever see him as a threat. Not anything great, yet still terrible.

Bayley (c) VS Nia Jax [NXT Women's Championship]
Oh goodness, this was my least favorite match of the night. Bayley saved it from being awful, however Nia Jax cannot wrestle and I don't get what anyone sees in her. She should never have gotten this title shot. The Alexa feud got rushed, ending way too soon. We should have gotten an Alexa VS Bayley rematch here instead. I'd predict Asuka gets the next title shot and takes the belt so Bayley can go up to Raw.

Finn Balor (c) VS Samoa Joe [NXT Championship]
This was the best match of the night. Finn's entrance was great as always, I enjoyed the route they took with that this time around with the hat and the video that played before he entered the ring. The match itself was really good and met all expectations.

Overall Thoughts
Not the best TakeOver (R Evolution and Brooklyn were better) but still a fun show that you should check out if you missed it. Bayley having a better opponent, Crews winning against Corbin, and Enzo & Cass winning the Tag Team Championships are what I would have changed about the event. Watch the NXT Championship match and Emma VS Asuka for sure. The crowd were good with all their creative chants, clearly they had a blast attending this show. You can't go wrong with a TakeOver event, and this show proved that just as much as any of the other TakeOver shows have.



What did you think about this show? Did you like it? Why or why not?

What would you have changed about the event or its results?


Discuss!

 

[Jack-Hammer]

1. Asuka vs. Emma - I thought this was a strong opener from the ladies and it didn't hurt that the crowd was super into it. Emma looked better here than she has since before she made it to the main roster before being sent back down to NXT. Asuka has a great natural energy about her and it's helped her connect with fans already. The match was well worked, told a good story and I like how they sorta set up a little bit of a mini emotional rollercoaster with what looked like a series of cheap finishes only for Asuka to come out with the win via submission about the 15 minute mark. I don't know how well Asuka really understands English, she has some understanding of course, but I don't see her going far on the main roster without a solid working knowledge of it. ***1/4

2. NXT Tag Team Championship - Dash & Wilder vs. Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady - A highly entertaining tag bout with a great clashing of styles. Again, the crowd was highly invested here and both teams worked their asses off in combining good storytelling with action. Some would say that the tag team picture is NXT's weak link but, at the same time, many of those same who say that are mostly into tag matches comprised of mostly spots, no storytelling and little to no selling. There were a couple of great near falls here, especially with Cassady & Enzo hitting the Rocket Launcher late in the match. I figured the babyfaces were gonna come out with the win here, but Dash & Dawson managed to hit Enzo with the Shatter Machine for the win at around the 16 minute mark. ***1/2

3. Apollo Crews vs. Baron Corbin - While this match didn't have the energy of the previous two, I still thought it was a pretty good outing and the best I've seen from Corbin thus far. Corbin continues to improve in NXT and that's what he's primarily there for. Both men got in a lot of offense and it was a pretty even bout, though I was a little surprised to see Crews not only lose, but lose clean to the End of Days. I wasn't disappointed with it really but, at the same time, it was obvious that Crews was slowing himself down pretty significantly for Corbin to keep up; I'm wondering if Triple H has had any pressure being put to him via Vince to push Corbin. ***

4. NXT Women's Championship - Bayley vs. Nia Jax - Personally, I enjoyed this match a helluva lot because it told a great story, classic David vs. Goliath stuff. Bayley's presence most certainly made this match enjoyable because...well she's Bayley. She knows how to help tell a great story and fans are genuinely invested in her; if she wasn't as popular as she is, this match would probably have bombed despite the good storytelling. At the same time, to be fair, there's really only so much that can be believably done in a lot of these sort of matches. When you consider the size difference and the fact that in the VAST majority of circumstances that women aren't as physically strong as men, it does put a limit on what sort of things can happen; after all, look how many people gripe about wrestling pairings that aren't "believable" in the first place. Nia Jax is around 6'0" and weighs around 275 pounds whereas Bayley is around 7 inches shorter and around 2.33 times lighter; she's not gonna be tossing Nia Jax around in body slams or taking her to Suplex City. There were several times I thought Jax had the win but they kept the scrappy, fiery underdog aspect of Bayley front & center and the crowd ate it up. Scoring the win via a modified Guillotine Choke was a nice touch. ***1/2

5. NXT Championship - Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe - A great physical outing that had a lot of back & forth action. For me, I didn't really expect Balor to drop the title and I'm not sure that many others did either; I don't think Balor drops the title until around the time he heads to the main roster, which may be around WrestleMania time. At any rate, a hard fought that kept me entertained. ***3/4

Final Thoughts - While I don't personally feel there were any all time classics on this card like there were on some others, this still may have been among the most well balanced of the NXT TakeOver specials. There wasn't any filler and everyone involved in all the matches, win or lose, came out looking like stars. NXT excels in a LOT of areas, but one of its most consistent charms is that, in most cases, all the wrestlers involved in a program are elevated even if they lose and NXT TakeOver: London was no different.

Grade: A-

 

[Messiah]

It was better than the last 2 Takeover's in my opinion, not a bad show but they do need to develop more characters in NXT since all of them are on the main roster now.. 2 diva matches on the show was unnecessary. Bayley and Nia Jax was good enough, Emma and Asuka felt like a filler, and it kicked off the show to.

 

[Stan Hansen]

I thought every match served its purpose outside of the Women's Championship match. Bayley is great but Nia Jax was awful. I see a lot of praise for her in that match but I don't get it. She was slow, unathletic and boring. Far and away the worst match of the evening. Even Bayley and her being incredibly over couldn't save that one.

I love Apollo Crews and everything the man brings to the table. He has future WWE champion all over him.

Finn vs Joe was awesome from the entrances all the way through. A great match from two great pros.

 

[JoeMallard]

It was better than the last 2 Takeover's in my opinion, not a bad show but they do need to develop more characters in NXT since all of them are on the main roster now.. 2 diva matches on the show was unnecessary. Bayley and Nia Jax was good enough, Emma and Asuka felt like a filler, and it kicked off the show to.

You just don't like that the past two Takeover women's matches are praised more than any Nikki match all year...
That Nia Jax(yawn) vs Bayley match seemed more like filler than Asuka vs Emma.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

I was in attendance at Wembley Arena on Wednesday, and had a thoroughly enjoyable night. There wasn't a bad match all night (the worst being one likely to air on NXT tv next week, Elias Samson v Bull Dempsey) and the rest all delivered.

As for the crowd, I've been lucky enough to attend the Raw after Wrestlemania five times, and whilst the Miami '12crowd (Daniel Bryan/the return of Lesnar) still remains the hottest wrestling crowd I've been part of, this leaps into second place, above the heavily praised crowd in New Jersey '13 (Ziggler cashing in MITB); normally the adoption of football (soccer) chants at wrestling annoys me as they don't tend to work in my opinion, but at TakeOver: London most of them did, particularly for Enzo & Big Cass ("ooooh Enzo Amore, oooh Enzo Amore" and chanting for Big Cass to the tube of the Beatles' 'Hey Jude') - in fact my personal favourite chant of the night was in that match - a duelling chant of "which one's Dawson? which one's Dash?"

Loved Finn Balor's 'Jack the Ripper' inspired entrance - WWE actually putting some effort into a UK show rather than just sticking ref phone boxes and black taxis on stage like they do at every Raw.

Check out NXT next week, the four-way tag match is fantastic with the crowd behind Gable and Jordan in a HUGE way.

One thing I did notice: traditionally, wrestling in the UK is very much seen as something only children should like. People like me still constantly get the whole, "don't you know it's fake?" and "haven't you grown out of that yet?" (I'm 32 and have been watching since Summerslam 1990); as such, even when WWE was a very adult product in the late 90s and early 000s, at UK events there was still a massive amount of children at shows; at NXT TakeOver: London, I didn't see a single kid, the youngest I saw must have been about 16. Not sure what my point is, but it's an interesting dynamic. It made NXT feel much more like a Ring of Honor show than a Raw or Smackdown, also helped by being in the smaller Wembley Arena than the awful (IMO) O2 Arena which holds 6-8k more. Hopefully next time they are back in London, they will stay away from the O2.

First live experience of NXT but would definitely recommend to anyone

 

[Azane]

The Audience was like a damn orchestra that night, they added as much to the event as the performers did, and it really made the night feel special to see how the crowd was into everything that happened. Save.. The.. Bailey.. Save.. The.. Bailey.. was my personal favorite.

To the post above, I think I noticed 2 children that looked low Teens, but ya, it was definitely a grown up crowd.

I almost fell asleep on Corbin Crews, but the stakes seemed pretty low in it, compared to the rest of the card, everything else was a B+ or better.

The way Bailey did the David vs Goliath with Fat Tamina was great, Nia actually came out looking better while Bailey looks like the Daniel Bryan of Women's wrestling. Don't get me wrong Nia still looks like all she can do is power move squash match.

Aska and Emma did feel like Filler, but the match was ridiculously good, and it sets up Aska as next for Bailey, and you have some more Dana Brooke getting destroyed by Aska payoff. There's also some chance for Aska vs Fat Tamina being setup from that one backstage moment.

I'm very impressed at how nXt keeps pulling off this quality of wrestling, while cycling their roster through promotions to the main shows.

 

[MTL722]

Asuka vs. Emma - Best match on the card, hands down. Asuka really made me a fan after this match. Never saw her before NXT, wasnt impressed with her match vs Dana Brooke, but I now blame that 100% on Dana. They gave Asuka a real dance partner in Emma and these girls shined in a surprisingly long match

Dash & Dawson vs. Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady - This match had me feeling 2 different emotions. I love Enzo and Cass and have high hopers for them on the main roster. After that passionate promo from the two of them the week before, I really thought they'd come out on top. However, I am glad they lost. Hopefully this means that their time in NXT is coming to an end. (The "Who is Dash, Who is Dawson" chant was PHENOMENAL)

Apollo Crews vs. Baron Corbin - Surprised by the Corbin win. Im not an Apollo fan, yet. I see the potential, but I just dont see what all the hype was about. Also, I call him Apollo Creed every time I discuss him. Corbin has my attention. Love his finish and he's starting to grow on me. Not sure of his main roster potential tho.

Bayley vs. Nia Jax - I dont know the popular opinion on this match, but I just didnt enjoy it. The fans were more entertaining. Hate the leg drop finish, especially after seeing it like 10 times in this match alone. Blows my mind that she doesnt use the sit-out powerbomb. Hogan regrets that being his finish. Nia will as well. I preferred Bayleys match with Alexa Bliss from a couple weeks before this. Thats who should be Bayleys nemesis right now. Not Eva/Nia

Balor vs. Samoa Joe- Ill keep this short. Solid main event match. Exactly what I expected from these two. Would like to see it again with some sort of wrinkle. Not sure of Balors future in regards to NXT, but if he's leaving soon, drop the belt to Joe and we can have Joe V Zayn at the Wrestlemania Takeover

First time Ive preffered a main roster PPV over an NXT Takeover. Nothing against NXT tho, both were very solid shows. London deserves either Wrestlemania or Summerslam, their fans are a joy to listen to

 

[NotoriousWWE]

Hmmmmm, it was interesting.
The opener for me was match of the night. Joe and Balor are amazing but their match never really intrigued me to the point I couldn't take my eyes off the screen whereas Emma and Asuka really did. Phenomenal! Emma is so underrated man, had she had a proper main roster debut she could definitely be a top talent. Understand the issues with the Corbin match but he HAD to win. He needs to pick up a few wins now as he's the next top heel in NXT and the 'monster' if that's a way of putting it. Back to the opener, Emma needs to drop Dana Brooke, she's just annoying and not in a good heel way.
The thing that NXT/HHH does so well is make every single Takeover event feel SPECIAL. Like an actual PPV. Reminds me of the early PG days when the good times were coming to an end in WWE. Different stages, unique entrances (woooow at Balors), every match actually being entertaining and title changes that you actually feel like the winner has accomplished. Sometimes I feel bad knowing people pay over $30 for a PPV and miss these takeover events that they can get for $9.99. All in all, push Emma, bring up Enzo/Cass, make Zayn/Balor the next feud and actually have it legit like they respect but dislike each other and have fans pick sides. Your closest thing on NXT to a Rock/Austin feud tbh. Good show. 7.5/10