Results, Recap, Review of WWE NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia
Tonight was the start of a monumental weekend in WWE with NXT Takeover Philadelphia kicking off the weekend. The intro to the Takeover was incredible with Paul Heyman as the narrator. I feel like Philly is Heymans town with how historic ECW was to the town and the wrestling industry. Takeover’s are always very special and tonight proved to be no different. Before I begin with my thoughts here are the results of NXT Takeover Philadelphia.
-Undisputed Era defeated The Authors of Pain to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships.
-Velveteen Dream defeated Kassius Ohno
-Ember Moon defeated Shayna Baszler to retain the NXT Women’s Championship
-Aliester Black defeated Adam Cole in an Extreme Rules
-Andrade “Cien” Almas defeated Johnny Gargano to retain the NXT Championship
The opening match of the night was for the NXT Tag Team Titles between challengers Authors of Pain and the Undisputed Era. I really enjoyed the psychology of this match with Fish and O’Reilly focusing on Akam’s leg throughout the match. I thought this was a really good old school tag team match with great storytelling, psychology and an upset win. I think this was the Author of Pain’s last match in NXT. They won it all and done it all during the time in NXT. It’s time for them to move up and move on to the main roster. The opportunities are endless for AOP and I can’t wait to see what awaits them. Following the tag match, there was an intriguing match between Kassius Ohno and Velveteen Dream. Ohno came about wearing Rocky Balboa themed gear and Dream wore gear similar to what boxers would wear. This was a very different match and it had some rough spots but overall it was a great filler for having absolutely no build up whatsoever. I will be curious to see where Ohno and Dream go from here.
One person who has been built up is Shayna Baszler who were first saw in WWE last year in the Mae Young Classic. Shayna has not been in NXT very long so the fact she is already getting a title shot tells me she is either being fast tracked to the main roster or she’s going to be the next longterm champion of the Women’s Division. I think by the time WWE Performance Coaches get done Shayna she is going to be one of the best performers in the Women’s Division. I was actually really shocked that Ember Moon retained due to how fast they built Shayna up. I thought the match was lackluster in the sense that they didn’t do much but I think it accomplished what it needed to. One match that I didn’t was going to be lackluster was the Extreme Rules match between Adam Cole and Aliester Black. This match went to the extreme for WWE’s standards and both men pushed each other to their limits. I personally think that Adam Cole took way too many unnecessary risks during this match but I think he was out to prove that he is willing to do anything for the fans and the company. He definitely deserves to be in the spotlight and hopefully going towards Wrestlemania he’s put in the spotlight more.
The Main Event was between NXT Champion Andrade Cien Almas and his challenger Johnny Gargano. Before Almas won the title he had defeated Gargano on two separate occasions this past summer. Almas is coming off a very shocking title win in November where he defeated Drew McIntyre. This match was the most incredible matches I’ve witnessed in a very long time. I think this match is going to be hard to follow not only for NXT but the entire WWE for the rest of the year. This match is going to go down as one of the greatest matches in WWE history. Even though Almas won the match and kept the title it was nothing compared to ovation that Gargano got after the match. He got a standing ovation on his way back but before the show could end Tommaso Ciampa made his return by hitting Gargano in the back with a crutch. I have no doubt that Ciampa will take on Gargano at Takeover New Orleans during Wrestlemania weekend. I am also making the prediction that Almas will be taking on Aliester Black for the NXT Championship at Takeover New Orleans. Until then get ready for the Road to Wrestlemania.
