We are LIVE… sort of? What we REALLY ARE? Is 73 hours away from the start of NXT: Takeover Brooklyn. This is our Go Home show for NXT's next supercard.
RECAP!
We recap Balor and Owens. We recap Bayley vs. Becky Lynch. Which got top billing in the recap here, which was nice. Hit the music!
IN RING!
After NXT's theme we welcomed by Rich to Full Sail University as the crowd chants NXT. Regal's music hits. He talks about Takeover in Brooklyn (Sad Panda Full Sail boos) – He says he's out to have a contract signing for the Women's Championship match. Bayley is out first. Mostly cheers for Bayley. Some boos for Banks, though a lot of Boss fans front and center. Banks has her "BOSS" stamp, which I'm glad she's using it. Sasha briefly pauses to exchange dirty looks with Bayley Girl. Crowd chants for Bayley, and four dudes chant for Sasha. Bayley grabs the mic. Says she's been here before, but THIS time is different. Everyone knows it. Even Sasha knows it. Mixed reaction for that. Bayley signs. Sasha's turn on the mic. Lets Bayley know that she's good, but not as good as she is. Good promo. She gets heat by saying there is a REASON Takeover is in Brooklyn. Sasha stamps the contract. Bayley grabs the mic and says she knows how these things end and wants a fight. Sasha responds that Bayley is not good enough for that. That Charlotte and Becky were threats… Bayley is NOT. And there is a reason Sasha is on Raw and Smackdown and Bayley isn't. (Ouch… – these comments really seem to hit Bayley hard who has managed to work up some tears. Sasha walks out after calling Bayley a loser. Bayley stews in the ring, and then figures "Screw it". She attacks! Thesz Press on the ramp. Fists and brawling commence. Eventually referees hit the scene and pull Bayley off Sasha.
OVERVIEW!
Really good segment. Banks is crazy over, and it'll be really interesting to see how Brooklyn's crowd handles this match. I could see a 50/50 split, easily. Despite Banks best efforts to stay heel… which she DOES do brilliantly.
HYPE!
Apollo Crews hype piece.
IN RING!
Tyler Breeze is coming out. His opponent is in the ring. Breeze has his fuzzy cape AND a Jushin Thunder Liger styled mask. He puts it on the ring post. Tyler's opponent is in the ring already, and he's gonna have a bad time! Short work. Supermodel kick wins it for Breezus. He puts the mask on his downed opponent. He cuts a post match promo. Talks about how much he looks forward to facing him this Saturday. Stands him up. Hits the Beauty Shot. Does a 3 count by himself.
OVERVIEW!
Squishy squishy. Breeze wins easily. Cuts a decent promo to get us all geeked up for his match with JTL.
IN RING!
Hype Bros are out first for this 8 man tag match. Next are Enzo and Cass. Huge reaction for Zo and Cass. Of course. Their opponents are out too. Jesse Sorensen is one of them. Graves' disdain for the NY/NJ (and MOJO) connection is great. Zo gets in, and Zo ends up getting himself in some trouble. Hot tag to Cass. Team No Entrance is about to have a bad time. Broski Boot! Spinning sidewalk slam from Cassady! Air Enzo splash. Chalk another one up for the… GOOD GUYS!
OVERVIEW!
Squash-tastic. Got the four faces some offense and they talked about the 8 man tag that's going down in Brooklyn, but will be televised in a week.
BACKSTAGE!
Dash and Dawson and Gable and Jordan are watching. Each team sporting some matching jackets. Mechanics are lovely 80s style. Jordan and Gable in tracksuit warmup type jackets. Simple promo about how much better they all are than the team we just saw in action. Gable even gets everyone to join in on his tag line! Gable's best… day… EVER!
IN RING!
Joe's music is already rocking. Joe's opponent is in the ring already. Run Steve Cutler. RUN! Well he comes out with boots and fists… Gets backed off by the ref. Charges in. STO in the corner. Cutler gets up. Joe jumps and locks in the Coquina Clutch. Ball game. Joe is leaving and then… BIG BOOT!! Corbin is out destroying Joe. They brawl up around the announce table. Get back to the ring. Joe starts a comeback. Hits the ropes… END OF DAYS! Whoa… that was nice. Corbin stands tall and screamy over Joe. Fun little brawl there. So you're saying, Corbin has a chance?
HYPE!
Next week we get ready for the NEW AND IMPROVED Bull Dempsey.
IN RING!
Blake and Murphy's music is not as awful right now. Still grating. Their opponents are already in ring. Its Dawkins and Fulton. Blake starts off. Does ziggler's hair taunt because the crowd is chanting something about barbie towards him and his strangely blonde hair. Blake eats some offense for a bit, but eventually with some shenanigans Blake and Murphy get on the offensive. Murphy and Fulton get hot tagged in. Sawyer hits some nice offense. Including a nice delayed spinning gut wrench slam. But? He misses a corner charge. Running Vertical+Frog Splash+3 Count = Blake and Murphy winners. Celebrate, but they are interrupted by the glorious piano of the Vaudevillains. They say they have something to say, but Bliss is having NONE of that… slap to Gotch. Slap to English… She turns to walk back. English is like "AS…WE…WERE… SAYING". She turns around and nails both them… AGAIN!!!
(TANGENT ALERT!) Full Sail chants "We want Blue Pants", and I couldn't agree more. Blue Pants could be a perfect fit. For those that don't know Leva Bates does tons of cosplay type stuff for her shows, and maybe you weren't sure, but Blue Pants is an X-Men uniform. Back to the ring.
Blake and Murphy's music hits as they taunt and Bliss channels all her rage while screaming at the Vaudevillains. Gotch is furiously talking with English who is much more composed… like "We got this". They're going to have SOMEONE with them in Brooklyn. Looking at how during all the matches announced involve most of the known women's roster.
IN RING!
Owens out with a ladder. He starts talking about the main event. He mentions Brooklyn, crowd boos. Starts chanting "Brooklyn Sucks", and this takes him on a little tangent. He talks about how hypocritical the Full Sail crowd is. Calls them on all their BS. As someone who rolls his eyes at Full Sail regularly? I'm enjoying this. He says how they want NXT to succeed, but when it sells out a 13000 seat arena they boo because "I DON'T GET TO WATCH IT LIVE!" He says he's going to beat Finn and in front of a crowd that deserves it! He says it will be "Fight Owens Fight". It WILL be "Destroy Owens Destroy", and it WILL be "Climb Owens Climb". Says he's getting back what should still be HIS. THE NXT CHAMPIONSHIP. Lights go out. Finn's music hits, and lights come up and Finn is sitting on the top turnbuckle staring down Owens. They brawl. Finn drives Owens out of the ring. Says at Takeover he's gonna win the NXT Championship (He meant retain) – but more importantly he's going to kick Owen's ass and shut his mouth!
OVERVIEW!
Really solid go home promo. Owens showed how great he can be on the mic. Cuz its so natural and he can easily go off in different directions. Though he his anti Full Sail promo could easily push him to further face reactions, especially in Brooklyn. Either way this was fun and effective. These two gonna have a helluva match in 3 days!
TOO LONG! DIDN'T READ?!
This was the bow on everything leading to Takeover. No match went longer than five or six minutes. It was all predictable, too. The segments were good. Especially the show opening contract signing and show closing promo. Really looking forward to Brooklyn which I'll be attending LIVE! Enjoy Takeover and this crazy awesome weekend of wrestling!
I'll see you when I see you!
