Hello again everyone! Welcome to another TakeOver Nutshell! This time, on WrestleMania Saturday (is that a thing? I think it might be? If not, it is now!), it’s time for what I expect should be another awesome TakeOver. We have an exceptional card ahead of us this evening-Shayna Baszler looks to become women’s champion; Aleister Black aims to dethrone Andrade “Cien” Almas; Undisputed Era looks to defy odds and retain the tag belts; six men battle to become the first ever North American title holder; and closing out the show, Johnny Gargano faces Tommaso Ciampa, seeking retribution and reinstatement. Are you ready? We have a fabulous five set of matches, so let’s crack open this Nutshell!
Best Match of the night:
This might be the hardest one to determine tonight. All five matches were exceptional, but let’s narrow it down.
The tag match was very good, with an unexpected and stunning ending. Perhaps my only regret here is that the match seemed a bit shorter than I’d have liked.
The women’s match was very good. I might have wanted it a bit longer, but both women looked strong.
The North American title match? Some folks I’ve seen call it one of the best ladder matches they’ve ever seen. I consider that high praise, and pretty spot on.
Gargano and Ciampa was just an all out battle. Brutal, no holds barred, emotional and a great story. I think this one was on par with Johnny’s last TakeOver main event…
Worst match of the night:
And the winner here is….are you freaking kidding me?! Tonight, we got five fabulous matches. Zero chance we got a worst of the night here.
Crowd Chants of the Night:
This is awesome
Bruiserweight
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Aleister
Let’s go Almas/Aleister
NXT! NXT! NXT!
A$$hole
You suck
Johnny Wrestling
F you Ciampa
Mamma Mia
You’re a wanker
You deserved it
fight forever
Star of the Night
This is going to be a long list. Like, way too hard to pick one.
Adam Cole, for winning the North American title.
Velveteen Dream for an amazing match. Really, all the ladder match participants.
Black and Almas. Not quite as great as Gargano/Almas in Philly…but it was really, really good.
Gargano and Ciampa…wow.
Spot of the Night:
Plenty to choose from in the ladder match. Sullivan dropping Dream on a ladder looked supremely painful. But seriously, take your pick, there were tons of awesome spots in this match.
Purple Rainmakers. Plural. From the top of the ladder. Dream may not have won the match, but his future is brighter than ever.
Ricochet is exciting to watch too…
Seriously, just watch the entire match. Like, 98% of the spots could land here. Amazing ladder match.
Having already survived a grueling ladder match, you had to figure Adam Cole wasn’t going to be good for much. NXT writers made sure to keep him out by having the Authors put him through the announce table in the opening minutes of the tag match. We didn’t see much from him again until the match was over.
Vega went to get involved one too many times, and as she leapt off the top rope, Black ducked and Almas caught her, allowing Aleister to deliver Black Mass and capture the gold.
Gargano’s power bomb of Ciampa on the exposed concrete.
Jobber of the Night:
It’s TakeOver. We got five awesome matches. There wasn’t a jobber to be found.
Upset of the Night:
Probably a lot of upset folks at the Roderick Strong turn. None more so than Pete Dunne.
Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:
It will be really hard to top this. Over the course of Undisputed Era’s time in NXT, they made overtures to Roderick Strong. Before WarGames, they wanted him on their team and instead, he partnered up with Authors of Pain to fight Undisputed Era. Now, tonight, he’s one half one one of the three tag teams vying for the Dusty Cup and the NXT tag team titles. And, with his partner hitting The Bitter End, gold was in sight.
So Roderick did the unthinkable. Instead of turning in November, he turned now. He ran in, stomped on Dunne, hit a back breaker on his partner and dragged a limp Kyle O’Reilly on top of a stunned and limp Dunne. Just like that, Undisputed Era retains, and they have a new member.
Botch of the night:
Nothing
Commentary of the night:
Nigel, I know I wear glasses, but what the Hell just happened?
LOL Moment of the night:
Nothing to report
Noteworthy Moment:
First North American champ crowned.
New women’s champ.
New NXT champ
Shockingly, the tag team champs retained.
And, of course, Johnny Wrestling is back.
Overall lowlights:
I am personally bummed that Roderick Strong turned. I liked him as a face, and I liked him and Dunne as an odd couple tag team.
Really did not want to see Johnny give Tommaso a wedgie on the announce table. I don’t think the fans wanted that either.
Overall highlights:
Every. Single. Match. I don’t know how they do it, but every TakeOver seems to one-up the previous one. It’s not easy to do, but each and every TakeOver I’ve seen seems to just consistently deliver five superb matches. It’s impressive and a testament to the Superstars and support staff involved in the WWE’s junior brand.
This was just an excellent card.
After the final bell:
On Strong stabbing Dunne in the back and joining Undisputed Era…if I had to place a bet, I am going to guess that Strong versus Dunne happens a bunch, and with the UK title on the line, perhaps that is how Roddy gets gold (and the Era adds another title)
Otherwise, an exceptional card delivered on every level. We expect a few stars (Moon, Almas) to graduate to the main roster, but it will be very interesting to see if they have others moving up.
Regardless, this one was a great show.
Results:
Shayna Baszler defeats Ember Moon, becoming new NXT women’s champion
Adam Cole climbs the ladder, outlasting five others to become the first ever North American champion.
Undisputed Era retains (and wins the Dusty Classic) when Roderick Strong turns on Pete Dunne to help Undisputed Era.
Aleister Black overcomes Zelina Vega and defeats Andrade “Cien” Almas to become NXT Champion.
Johnny Gargano outlasts Tommaso Ciampa, making his former friend tap out. As a result, Johnny is reinstated.
