NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III Review 08/19/2017

Hello Misfits! It’s the Wrestling Classic here with my NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III review. I’ll be the first one to admit that I have not been watching NXT on a weekly basis these past couple of months. However, that is all about the change because of tonights show. Although, I miss the weekly show often, NXT Takeover’s never let you down. The card is usually smaller and every match gets time to tell a story. Yes, everyone may not be able to make the card but the stories that matter do. This particular Takeover we get Asuka defending her Women’s Championship and undefeated streak against motivated Ember Moon. The dominant tag team champions the Authors of Pain defend their tag titles against the even more dominate Sanity. The dark ass kicking Aleister Black takes on his toughest challenge yet against a Hideo Itami who has something to prove to the world. In the main event the “Glorious” Bobby Roode defends his NXT World Championship against the “Chosen One” Drew McIntyre. There was also a ton of rumours that a certain popular independent star had signed to NXT and was making his debut BAY BAY!

Image via WWE.com
NXT Takeover: Brooklyn comes to us from the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, NY.

– There was an awesome video package to open the show. Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson and Nigel McGuinness are our commentary team of the night.

Andrade Cien Almas w/ Zelina Vega def. Johnny Gargano
in 13:30 via pinfall
This was a solid opening match and Gargano’s first big match as single star on a Takeover since his split from Tomasso Ciampa. This is also in the first match with the rebuilding of Andrade Almas with Zelina Vega in his corner. In my mind Almas needed this victory more than Gargano because Gargano is already over win or lose. The match started off slow but picked up mid way through and didnt slow down. Both guys were working with their A-game right off the bat though. The match was really suspenseful because I actually had no idea who was going over. I think I should credit the fact that I havent watched NXT in a while for that. I liked the whole finish with Almas cheating to beat the lovable to Johnny Wrestling to get heat on himself. I also liked how Vega threw a DIY shirt at Gargano just as he was about to have the match in the bag to distract him to help Almas pick up the victory. It told a great story and they used Gargano’s angle with Ciampa to help earn Almas a victory. Great way to kick off the show. Almas needed that win and that great performance; Gargano proved that he’s a top guy, even in loss.
Rating – ***1/2

– The camera pans to the sky boxes to reveal Kurt Angle and Daniel Bryan are watching the show. The Iconic Duo are talking Bryan’s ear off while Strong and in conversation with Angle.

– Corey Graves came out to commentate or the next match.

NXT Tag Team Championship
Sanity w/ Nikki Cross def. AOP w/ Paul Ellering (C)
in 12:00 by pinfall
Holy crap. Nikki Cross was taking bumps left, right and centre. I guess Saturday is for the boys eh?…okay even I know that was a lame dad joke that probably killed the entire trend. I loved that the AOP wore special entrance attire once again for their Takeover match. This was a very good match that not only exceeded my expectations but also gave us a surprise title change. Maybe the Authors get the call up and are the attackers of the Fashion Police. Credit to Wolfe here, he stepped up big time and came out of the match looking way better than ever before. He’s been in the background a bit due to Dain being in the group. Very good work by all and I like the angle of the booking as Eric Young outsmarted Ellering. It was like Young was always one step ahead of Ellering. This was the first time we saw the numbers game get the best of AOP as well. This was a great match that kept you entertained throughout the entire thing. There was no point in the 12 minutes where there wasn’t hard-hitting action.
Rating – ***1/2

– After the match, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly beat EVERYONE down. Fish and O’Reilly hit Chasing the Dragon on Young. McGuinness sounded like he loved being able to called that spot again. Everyone was expecting the Adam Cole debut but not this and thats what made it so special. Its great to see a boy from my hometown making a huge impact in NXT in Kyle O’ Reilly. This is what NXT does thats missing on the main show…things happen that you least expect.

– Good Ol’ JR came out to commentate or the next match.

Aleister Black def. Hideo Itami
in 12:40 by pinfall
This is Hideo’s chance to redeem himself after failing to defeat Roode at the last Takeover and Black may be the best opponent to prove himself against because Black has been on reign of terror on NXT. Black had a great entrance featured with the live band playing music for him as he made his way to the ring. They both have a strong style like style of wrestling. I knew going into this we were going to see a lot of kicks and stiff looking moves. They waste no time, as both attack with kicks and are lighting each other up. Itami since returning has shown a lot of attitude and we saw it here too when he mocked Black with his sitting pose. I think its pretty cool to see this side of Itami these days. Black got colour in this match and was bleeding from his nose. I guess it must of been from one of the knees or kicks. It really added to match. Black did this awesome asai moonsault which is something that is visibly astonishing to see from a guy of his size. At one point you saw the darkness takeover Aleister and it was a great way to show the turn of momentum in the match. Overall the match was very back and forth. It ended after Black hit a brutal looking black mass kick on Itami when he was spending too much time taunting Aleister for respect. Black continues dominating and earning W’s on NXT. This made me wonder whats next for Itami.
Rating – ***3/4

NXT Women’s Championship
Asuka (C) def. Ember Moon
in 14:50 by submission
I strongly believe that the much was really good but it was great because of the stories going into the match. Asuka hasn’t been defeated since debuting in NXT and has been the NXT Women’s Champion longer than anyone else. They really played into the story of her having a streak. If we learnt anything from Undertaker Wrestlemania matches from 2005-2014 when WWE really started focusing on Undertaker’s Wrestlemania undefeated streak is that matches that involve a streak being broken are always just a little bit more entertaining. It is something the main roster folks didnt take advantage of when Charlotte was on a undefeated PPV streak on Raw last year when they just had Bayley beat her with barley any build. There was a build here though. Ember has faced Asuka before and failed. Then she missed her second chance due to an injury. However, this time she was more motivated than ever to end Asuka’s streak and made us believe that she actually could with just great story telling building up to the match. This match was entertaining as hell and had you on the edge of your seat. There was even moments when Asuka would be stomping on Ember but smiling at Becky. Sasha and Bayley who were sitting at ringside. It was almost as if they were building towards her call up and that she was going to lose here. Asuka smartly focused on Ember’s previously injured arm, which Ember sold greatly. The story here is that Moon was seemingly moments away from ending Asuka’s streak and winning the title but Asuka had to cheat to win and Moon was the first person she had to do that with. Asuka near the end out of desperation used the referee as a shield and even rolled up Moon while pulling her tights. The referee deserves a raise or bonus because he caught the tight pulling which is a rare occasion in wrestling. In the end Asuka made Moon tap after many near falls for Moon. This was a tremendous effort from both ladies, much better than their last match. They kept a great pace the crowd was invested. This was Moon’s best match thus far in NXT in my opinion. It makes you wonder if either one of these women are getting called up soon. It also makes you wonder who will dethrone the empress. Possibly the winner of the Mae Young Classic?
Rating – ****1/2

NXT Championship Match
Drew McIntryre def. Bobby Roode (C)
in 22:25 by pinfall
The entrances for both men were tremendous. Drew McIntyre had the NYPD I believe, come out playing the bagpips prior to his music hitting. I thought this was a cool little addition to his entrance and made me reminisce about the late great “Hot Rod”, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. They used snippets of Drew’s previous “Broken Dreams” theme during his first run with the company in the video package, so I loved that theme. It made me wonder if he’d come out to that previous theme but instead they went with this new one he’s using which is okay. Its crazy how getting released from the company, reinventing himself and returning more jacked and with facial hair made a huge difference for McIntyre. Roode came out in glorious fashion, in a stunning red robe. There wasnt too much added to his entrance but his entrance is already spectacle without all the extra glitz and glamour. The fans were singing a long and Roode soaked it in. He even looked like he had a little bit of a Ric Flair strut going on. Prayers and good vibes still going out to the Nature Boy. The two former TNA Impact World Champions were about to tear in down here in Brooklyn. This match started off with a bunch of back and forth action with chops and what not. The match was given more time. Therefore it didn’t kick off at the pace that most of the other matches on this show did, but slowly built up to the climax. Which caused this match to feel slow and overly long compared to the other matches on the card. They had a story to tell and they told it but its pace was clearly different compared to the rest of the show. It almost felt like they lost the crowd mid way through but won them back when they started working towards the finish at the end. Drew did an awesome highspot dive over the rope which Mauro sold like it was the greatest thing ever but it did kind of look like he didn’t get all of it. There was many times where Roode looked like he outsmarted McIntyre which his sneaky ways, ring awareness and ability to pull Drew in when he needed to regain the upper hand. There were the near falls at the end but Drew pulled a Lio Rush. After getting hit with two Glorious Bomb and nearly three, he came back to life, hit Bobby with a head butt and a claymore for the win. The finish did feel a little weird with McIntyre getting a third or fourth wind but it worked. I wonder if this is a signal that Roode’s time on NXT is coming near an end or if they’re just trying to stack the NXT roster to try to regain the hype it had during its glory days. This was a solid match but felt a little less great because its pace compared to the rest of the matches on the card.
Rating – ***3/4

– After the match, reDragon appears on the apron. The crowd is going wild. McIntyre turns around and Adam Cole attacks him. Fish and O’ Reilly hold up McIntyre and Cole super kicks him.  Cole momentarily picks up the NXT Championship and looks at it. Fish, Cole, and O’Reilly stand over McIntyre’s fallen carcus. ADAM COLE BAY BAY!! This was freaking awesome and the Brooklyn crowd was hot for this angle and Adam Cole. Its great they decided to do this here in Brooklyn in front of the hardcore wrestling fan crowd compared to Full Sail or a different city. I think we all expected it but they made us feel like it just wasn’t going to happen but when it did, it was just too sweet. I marked the fuck out…no lie.

Final Thoughts
This was a solid show as expected. It wasn’t overly booked, over stacked and the emphasis was all on the stories being told rather than anything else. There was also surprises and more than one match that had you sitting on the edge of your seat. It’s almost silly to recommend to people to watch NXT Takeover events. Thus far with their track record with these shows, it should almost be expected that you should be watching it when you get the chance. The weekly show may struggle but they go all out on these Takeover events and always make it a challenge for the main roster to follow it the next night. This show made me want to tune into NXT this Wednesday. This almost felt like the beginning on a new chapter for the brand. If that was their goal, they succeeded. If you haven’t checked it out..do it now. It’ll always be remembered as the night, Drew McIntyre won the NXT Championship and the night Fish, O’Reilly and ADAM COLE BAY BAY invaded NXT.
Final Rating – 9/10

What were your final thoughts on NXT Takeover: Brooklyn? What final grade would you give the event? Where would you rate it on a scale of ten? Do you agree with my review? Leave your comments, opinions and thoughts below in the comments section.