NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn Review

NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn Review

Jushin "Thunder" Liger vs Tyler Breeze (***3/4)

This was a very fun little opener and a match I enjoyed a lot. Seeing Liger in a WWE ring was honestly surreal and I popped really hard for the selfie spot. Both Liger and Breeze had some pretty crazy spots in this match but ultimately Liger got the win. Not too long, not too short, just right. This match was really enjoyable.

Blake and Murphy vs The Vaudevillians (***1/2)

This was a match that I don't think many people expected to be amazing, but I guarantee they were blown away. Seeing Blue Pants come out at the start was great and this match was actually really good. The story was told well and you could really feel the emotion in the match with Aiden being cut off and desperate to make the tag. I loved the ending and I'm glad to say that I really like the Vaudevillians and I'm happy that they one. Even though I love BAMF.

Tye Dillenger vs Apollo Crews (**3/4)

This was a fine and simple debut for Apollo against pretty much a lifetime jobber now in Dillenger. Apollo looked really strong and it was a great debut for him. Not much else to say about this match.

Samoa Joe vs Baron Corbin (***1/4)

I was really impressed by Baron in this match. His main criticism since debuting has been that people think he was a one-dimensional wrestler, but this match showed that he is working hard to improve in the ring and get better. Joe managed to help him along to a fine match. I look forward to seeing Baron improve over the next few months.

Sasha Banks vs Bayley - NXT Women's Championship (*****)

To say that I loved this match would be one hell of an understatement. This is far and away my match of the year. The raw emotion and storytelling was done so beautifully well and it just pushed a great match to a classic. The whole match, you could feel Bayley's struggle and I really wanted her to win, even though I'm a huge fan of Sasha. The wrestling itself was done perfectly and that top rope reverse rana was absolutely nuts. The ending was great and I just haven't felt that excited about something related to wrestling in a while. It was 3:43 in the morning, yet I still jumped out of my chair with excitement. When Becky and Charlotte came down, I honestly started to cry tears of joy. Legit. I was crying. It was an incredible moment and by far the greatest women's match I have ever seen and the match of the year. It takes something really, really special to top matches like Shinsuke Nakamura vs Hiroshi Tanahashi from NJPW's G1 Finals, Zack Sabre Jr vs Roderick Strong from PWG's Don't Sweat The Technique and Daisuke Sekimoto vs Yuji Okabayashi from BJW's Ryugokutan, but there's not a doubt in my mind that this match deserves every ounce of praise it's getting. Incredible. Sasha put in a hell of a performance, but on this night, Brooklyn belonged to Bayley.

Kevin Owens vs Finn Balor - NXT Championship (****1/4)

Balor and Owens were tasked with having to go out after the match of the year to try and outperform them, which is just an almost insurmountable challenge, but they sure as hell gave it their best shot. Owen's heel work was dope as usual and Balor was fantastic, like always. There were some absolutely insane spots throughout the match and I cringed really, really hard when Owens' head bounced off of the ladder. Eek. In the end this was still a great match.

Overall:

This is 100% the show of the year ANYWHERE so far. We saw the debut of a legend, 3 solid undercard matches, and Owens-Balor was a great match but Bayley vs Sasha was a ***** classic. I was legit blown away by how amazing that match was, but I shouldn't have been because the NXT women always deliver. We all witnessed the greatest women's match ever last night and it will go down in history as the night Bayley finally overcame the odds and became the Women's Champion. Honestly, that whole match just restored my investment in wrestling. Kudos to both Bayley and Sasha.

Final rating:

9.25/10