Results, Recap, Review of WWE NXT Takeover: Orlando
On the eve of Wrestlemania 33 NXT took over Orlando with another Takeover special. Much like Wrestlemania this is NXT’s biggest night of the year. Before Takeover could even start there were some things that went down at WWE Axxess. William Regal announced that there will be new titles debuting for all the champions in NXT. Also at WWE Axxess No Way Jose was attacked by Sanity which left many questions about whether or not Jose would show up for Takeover or not. Before I begin with my thoughts here are the results of Takeover:
-Sanity defeated Tye Dillinger/Roderick Strong/Kassius Ohno/Ruby Riot
-Aleister Black defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas
-Authors of Pain defeated DIY and The Revival to retain the NXT Tag Team Titles
-Asuka defeated Ember Moon to retain the NXT Women’s Title
-Bobby Roode defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the NXT Title
The opening match of the night was Sanity against Ruby Riot, Roderick Strong, Tye Dillinger and originally No Way Jose. William Regal gave the three chance to find a partner and they did just that. Kassius Ohno showed up to help take on Sanity. This was a pretty intense match. I loved the dynamic of Ruby Riot and Nikki Cross joining their respective groups. The one thing I disagree with is Jose shouldn’t have been removed from the match and Ohno should have gotten a match on his own. I like Ohno but Jose is a homegrown NXT star who deserves to spotlight. One of the more interesting characters that I’ve seen debut in NXT is Aleister Black. He took Andrade Almas in a very competitive match but I really felt the chemistry was off in the match. I think Black has an amazing future in WWE so hopefully he can find someone to have better chemistry with.
The match I was looking forward to the most heading into tonight’s even was the Triple Threat Tag Team Elimination Match for the Tag Team Championships. All three teams are phenomenal in their own way. Personally I think all three teams are better then most of the tag team division on Raw or Smackdown. This was such a great match due to the history that all three teams have with each other. This was easily an early Match of the Year Candidate for WWE which begs the question what is next for the losing teams? The Revival and DIY have done everything there is to do in NXT in terms of accomplishments. Both teams needs to be on the main roster and start lighting a fire under both divisions. Going into tonight Asuka has held the NXT Women’s Title for a year and has remained undefeated. Ember Moon also has never been pinned or submitted during her time in NXT. The match started off a little slow but the intensity definitely picked up. Ember Moon definitely showed she belonged tonight against someone as tough and experienced as Asuka. It was a heel turn by Asuka that led to her victory over Moon. It makes sense because you can’t have two faces in a feud long term. I think this rivalry will continue for another few months.
The Main Event was for the NXT Championship between Shinsuke Nakamura and NXT Champion Bobby Roode. The match they had at the last Takeover was epic so they had a lot to live up to. Nakamura and Roode have really good chemistry because of their different personalities. The only thing I didn’t like about the match is they told the same story they did last time with Nakamura’s knee. I think working on a body part is great psychology but it should have been something different this time. Once I got beyond the whole working on the knee the match was really good. Now that Roode has defeated Nakamura for a second time it’s now time for the King of Strongstyle to move up to Raw or Smackdown. I know Triple H hates Wrestlemania and Summerslam because he loses some of his talent but there is only so far you can go in NXT. People like Nakamura, The Revival, and DIY are all ready and they deserve it. Takeover Orlando was better then then last Takeover. I think Triple H told his stars to let loose and make the main roster earn the recognition for Wrestlemania. I am going to give Takeover an 8 out of 10 due to the quality of matches and the storytelling. Triple H and his crew are doing a lot of things right and these Takeover events show that every time. Congratulations to the NXT crew on another wonderful Takeover show.
