NXT Takeover: Phoenix 1/26/19
Yours truly is currently in Phoenix, Arizona for Royal Rumble weekend, which of course includes the traditional NXT Takover! While the card only had five matches, it was a solid night with two title changes. Along with the event itself was the sheer excitement of being at the event live! Let’s take a look at what went down at NXT Takeover: Phoenix!
There was a video package before each of the matches that showed the story that led to the match. I’m gonna lump them all here. One of NXT’s greatest assets is definitely the production. These packages were amazing and did a really good job detailing the stories. I feel that even if you had not watched the product for a while, you would still have a very good sense of what was going on. A
War Raiders vs Undisputed Era-NXT Tag Team Championship
The War Raiders had a very intense, awesome Viking-themed entrance. Hanson and Rowe showed a lot of their agility, strength, and teamwork in this match. They were able to toss Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly around like ragdolls while also able to avoid their moves. There were quite a few nice dives to the outside and a few near falls. Ultimately War Raiders prevailed and are the new NXT Tag Team Champions. I think this was the perfect opening match. Just the War Raiders’ entrance alone really got the crowd into it.
Winner: War Raiders
Grade: A
Matt Riddle vs Kassius Ohno
The Original Bro and the Knockout had their rematch. It was okay for the most part. Kassius actually took advantage of the fact that Matt wrestles barefoot and stomped and bit on his toes. It looked like Kassius was going to win this one as he seemed to be doing more damage during the bout. The ending sequence was a bit strange though. Matt started to get Kassius in a hold but was raining down blows and Kassius tapped out. Myself and a few other fans were confused as to how/why Kassius tapped out when a hold wasn’t even fully applied.
Winner: Matt Riddle
Grade: C-
Johnny Gargano vs Ricochet-NXT North American Championship
The opening sequences of this match was insane! It was a display of pure athleticism as the two just repeatedly escaped each other’s grasp. Both Johnny and Ricochet got some big moves in, including dives to the outside and rope-assisted DDTs. On two different occasions, Ricochet trapped Johnny in his own Garga-No Escape. Johnny did a great job of showing just how desperate he was getting as nothing seemed to be able to put Ricochet away. The turning point of the match was when Johnny pulled up the mat on the outside to expose the floor. He suplexed Ricochet on the exposed floor before hitting him with a DDT inside the ring to capture the NXT North American Championship. I like this new Johnny Gargano who keeps tapping into that dark place in his mind. I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes now that he’s champion.
Winner: Johnny Gargano
Grade: A+
Bianca Belair vs Shayna Baszler-NXT Women’s Championship
Bianca actually let me down here. I wasn’t expecting her to beat Shayna, but I was expecting a better showing. For all of her undefeated booking, Bianca has shown her strength and power. Here she showed none of it. Shayna was the clear favorite for most of the match. There was a ref bump that allowed for Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir to interfere but Bianca quickly put them away. Shayna got Bianca in her chokehold and while it seemed like the EST might be able to power out, she eventually succumbed. Bianca has a lot of potential, but I think she needs a bit more polishing before she’s ready to hold the belt.
Winner: Shayna Baszler
Grade: C+
Aleister Black vs Tommaso Ciampa-NXT Championship
The main event match was a fairly good feud blow-off match. Aleister and Tommaso played a few mind games to start off. Tommaso then managed to get the upper hand by messing with Aleister’s knee. To his credit, Aleister sold this knee injury like a champ. He went for several kicks but was unable to complete them due to the knee buckling. Tommaso used the knee to really dominate the match and came away with Goldie intact. The match was a bit underwhelming, but I think the right person won.
Winner: Tommaso Ciampa
Grade: B+
After the main event, Johnny Gargano came out on the ramp and he and Tommaso posed with their belts. This made the crowd break out into DIY chants. There was a post-match brawl afterwards and we saw Triple H breaking up the participants. And then Velveteen Dream, Ricochet, and Aleister Black did their NXT farewells. We wish them all the best on the main roster. A-
This was definitely not the strongest of Takeover events, especially not on on the heels of NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool. I had a lot of fun attending live and that will probably cloud the experience, but I can definitely still see where it fell a little short. The two title changes were the right call in my opinion and I can’t wait to see what changes this will bring to the NXT landscape
Overall grade: B
-Wynter
