My Prediction for NXT TakeOver New Orleans was sustained excellence, and that is exactly what we got. From the demolition derby of the ladder match to the brutal and brilliant storytelling of the main event, this one was terrific top to bottom. This, as they chant, is wrestling.
Adam Cole vs. EC3 vs. Killian Dain vs. Lars Sullivan vs. Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream in a ladder match to determine the inaugural NXT North American Champion
Images: wwe.com
This was incredible. An amazing opener, in which everyone pulled all the stops, and even Lars - the weakest worker of the bunch by a mile - did fine work. The match dealt head-on with the fact that EC3 and Adam Cole have basically the same gimmick and had Ricochet's first move in a televised WWE match be a springboard shooting star press to the outside. It had humor and violence, and showed just how superloaded NXT is with talent on the eve of the next big raid by the main roster.
I predicted a Ricochet win, but instead we got an Adam Cole win. This would prove to be a minor theme of the night.
Ember Moon vs. Shayna Baszler for the NXT women's title
In this one, my prediction was spot on: This was the great match Shayna needed, and a respect garnering performance. The "putting the shoulder back in place by hitting it with the corner post" thing was incredible, and Shayna came off as the absolute badass she is while Ember showed she can be as brutal as needed, and only lost the match when she lost consciousness.
Shayna is going to be a great heel champ, and I hope we get a Nikki Cross feud before the inevitable Kairi Sane feud. Unless Nikki is headed to the main roster, which would also be fine by me. Ember will probably be in the main roster next week.
The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly) vs. The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar) vs. Roderick Strong and Pete Dunne
I mentioned the possibility of bringing in a fourth member of Undisputed, but I didn't think it was going to be Strong turning on Dunne and deciding not to be tag champ in order to join the faction he rejected. The story of the match had Cole eliminated fairly early and O'Reilly doing spot work while the other two teams put in most of the effort. Until Strong turned, of course.
Pete Dunne posted this pic on twitter, making me think we're headed for a UK vs. Undisputed Era feud, and I am very much here for it.
Andrade "Cien" Almas vs. Aleister Black for the NXT title
This was a very good match, because both of these guys are very good at wrestling. And Black going over felt right. That said, even writing this so soon after Takeover ended, it is entirely overshadowed in my mind by the match that followed it.
It was not as good as either guy's match in the last TakeOver, which is an incredibly high bar, but still. I was slightly disappointed.
All that said, very good match, and I am looking forward to Black's reign.
Johnny Gargano vs. Tomamaso Ciampa, unsanctioned
This was the match of the night, as expected. It didn't have the athletic sparkle of the previous match, what with Ciampa still selling the knee injury, but in storytelling terms, it was fantastic. It's amazing how a feud that didn't have a single match since it started many months ago was able to maintain an ungodly amount of heat.
The crowd's hatred of Ciampa was visceral, was was their love for Johnny. And the end? With Johnny unable to hit Ciampa on the end with the crutch, deciding to sit next to him in the same pose they first sat in at the end of their Cruiserweight tournament match, Ciampa trying to doublecross, and Johnny seeing it coming, and getting him to tap out using the knee brace? I mean, wow.
It's not always easy to be a fan of wrestling. And specifically a fan of WWE. The company can be embarrassing, infuriating. But then you get a night like this, where superb talent gets a true opportunity to shine