Good evening folks! WrestleMania weekend is in full effect, and it’s time for NXT TakeOver: Orlando. A number of big matches, every title is on the line, and even better and more exciting? New title belts! Though, for the record, I much prefer the NXT belts to the main roster (outside of the US and Intercontinental titles). But, in any case, NXT is home, in their back yard, and we are going to get rocked tonight. Buckle up folks, the thrill ride starts now!
Best Match of the night:
Any of them could probably get the nod, but the tag team title match was where it was at for me. The crowd was into it. The wrestlers were working their asses off. It had perhaps the most high spots of the entire evening. I enjoyed them all, but this one stood out.
Worst match of the night:
Folks, I hope to God you agree with this one, but for me, I couldn’t in good conscience put a single match here. Seriously, we got five matches in two hours, and they were all very good. Whoever scripted the evening and laid out the order of matches deserves high praise, because the show started hot, and just kept getting hotter.
Crowd Chants of the Night:
Ten! Ten! Ten!
Roddy! Roddy!
Shave your back
Ruby
NXT! NXT!
Psycho Killer
Johnny Wrestling
This is awesome
Holy sh!@
DIY
No one likes you
Asuka’s gonna kill you
Let’s go Asuka
Ember Moon
Nakamura
Bobby Roode
Star of the Night
Holy cow, how can I possibly think of only one?
Each and every one of the NXT stars tonight brought it. But a couple really brought it.
Tye Dillinger was on fire, even though he lost his match.
Ember Moon was impressive, though also in defeat.
Nakamura and Roode had an excellent main event, but still no.
For me, the stars of the night are the participants of the triple threat tag match. That was just an impressive match. Action packed, hard to keep up at times. So, there are six stars tonight.
Spot of the Night:
Roderick Strong either lands some stiff shots, or makes them look stiff as hell. Those knees….ouch.
Aleister Black, going for the dive outside, realizing it wasn’t there, and springboarding off the middle rope and into a meditating position. Crazy.
AoP using Gargano to stop Ciampa’s suicide dive. Ouch.
Gargano trying to monkey flip Rezar into the table. Then Gargano helped. Then The Revival did the rest, and Rezar was nailed through the table.
Gargano and Dawson doing DIY’s kick sandwich, followed by Ciampa and Wilder delivering Shatter Machine.
Dawson superplexing Gargano onto the rest of the combatants. Wow!
Jobber of the Night:
No such thing as a jobber on the NXT TakeOvers, it would seem.
Upset of the Night:
None. Anyone who won, deserved to win. Not an upset to be had here.
Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:
Kassius Ohno is pressed into service to replace the previously attacked No Way Jose. Was a nice way to add some excitement to things, and get Ohno onto the card. It’s a shame that we didn’t get Jose, but it was still a good match.
Botch of the night:
Nigel said, about Aleister Black: “This is a man to be reckoned with in Ring of Honor. Except, well, you know…we are watching NXT. Details….though I am extremely surprised that Nigel wasn’t told to correct that, nor did any of the other announcers correct him (which has happened before).
Commentary of the night:
I think Ruby might be as crazy as Cross!
I liked that line, but in all honesty, most of the rest of the evening was rather vanilla from the announce perspective. I am OK with it. That is what happens when 1-the matches are awesome, they dominate, and 2-when you take Graves off the show.
LOL Moment of the night:
Dawson, getting ready to be powerbombed, slumps to his stomach selling the beating. But he has time to fix his wedgie!
Noteworthy Moment:
Is there any doubt just how over Tye Dillinger is? Huge pop for him.
Nice TakeOver debuts for Ohno and Riot, even though they lost.
Nice one, victoriously, for Black.
Big pop for Edge and Beth Phoenix in the crowd.
I think I need the new NXT belts to grow on me. I was used to the old ones, and I haven’t gotten a good enough look at the new ones to pass judgement. At first glance? I’d say it doesn’t appear to be a massive difference, compared with other title re-designs.
Former WWE wrestler (and TNA as well) Drew McIntyre was shown in the crowd. So, we know he’s going to be back soon, I guess.
Bobby Roode gets the live musician treatment for his over the top entrance. He might be a heel, but the fans dig him.
Overall lowlights:
Seriously? No way. None. No lowlights.
Overall highlights:
Start with the first match. Through the main event. Seriously every match was good to great in my opinion.
After the final bell:
Honestly, this one was a really good…dare I say…great card.
From a hot opening match, to a worthy main event, and every other match in between. Strong debuts for a few new faces, and it all adds up to a really good show. The challenge now? How can WrestleMania one up this show? I mean, not that they have to, but the gauntlet was thrown down.
Results:
Sanity defeats Tye Dillinger, Kassius Ohno, Ruby Riot and Roderick Strong
Aleister Black takes out Andrade “Cien” Almas in his debut.
Authors of Pain eliminated DIY; Authors then eliminate The Revival and they retain their tag team titles.
Asuka retains against Ember Moon
Bobby Roode defeats Shinsuke Nakamura, retaining the title.
