NXT Takeover: Brooklyn IV Review 08/18/2018

Hello Misfits! It’s the Wrestling Classic here with my NXT Takeover: Brooklyn IV. WWE returns to Brooklyn and the Barclays centre to takeover the city for Summerslam weekend. NXT Takeover’s never let us down and always give the following main roster PPV a run for their money. I expect no difference tonight from this event. The card only has five matches. All of the matches are worth getting excited about and have the potential to steal the show. All of the championships are on the line. The rubber match between the Undisputed Era vs. Moustache Mountain for the tag team titles is tonight. Velveteen Dream and EC3 fight to settle their differences. Ricochet and Adam Cole fight for the North American Championship and to earn a victory to call themselves the best NXT has to offer. Shayna Baszler defends her Womens Championship against Kairi Sane to kill her hype. In the main event we get another chapter in the Gargano/Ciampa feud as they face each other for the NXT Championship in a Last Man Standing Match. Lets see how it went.

Image via WWE.com

NXT Takeover: New Orleans comes to us from the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, NY.

– Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuiness and Percy Watson are on commentary for this event.

NXT Tag Team Championship
Undisputed Era (Kyle O’ Reilly & Roderick Strong) (C) def. Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven)
in 18:06 by pin fall
This was the perfect match to kick off the show. I feel like I’ve been saying that for almost ever Takeover event. These two teams started fast and never slowed down. This is the third match between the two and both of the previous times the titles changed hands. They first changed hands during the UK tournament when Moustache Mountain defeated The Undisputed Era. Undisputed regained the titles back on NXT and this is their rematch. There moments I thought either team could win. They did a great time showcasing the strength of Tyler Bate in this match. They created drama by teasing us with Trent Seven possibly throwing the towel in the match. They had near falls and moments where it seemed like it was over but it wasnt the case. Tyler Bate was on fire at one point taking out both guys alone. Kyle and Roderick played it as the smarter tag team focusing on Bate’s injured legs and calling their spots. The match ended when Strong came in a caught Bate with a flying knee allowing the Undisputed Era to hit Total Elimination for the win. This was a helluva match to open the show and keep the crowd hot. After the match the War Raiders (formerly known as War Machine in ROH) attacked O’Reilly and Strong foreshadowing the future.

Velveteen Dream def. EC3
in 15:03 pin fall
Velveteen came out in a Biggie Smalls inspired gear with a vest that resembled a coogie sweater and crown. The tights also said Notorious Dream and “Call me up Vince” on his ass which I got a chuckle out of. I think its cause I dont watch NXT every week, normally missing weeks at a time, that it still feels weird for me to see EC3 in NXT. Dream even as a bad guy is over as hell with the fan. Thus far, he has put on good match after good match on NXT Takeovers. This match slowed down the pace compared to the last one. Dream was in control for the first bit of the match after hitting EC3 with a DDT on the metal ramp outside the ring. EC3 kept fighting back which frustrated Dream which lead to a call back to the beginning of their feud when Dream threw water in EC3’s face. EC3 got the momentum and kept getting near falls until Dream caught him with a super kick and death valley driver only to get a near fall. It came to an end with Dream hit the death valley driver on EC3 on the apron and followed it with a purple rain flying elbow drop. Dream got his first big win on a NXT Takeover event. This match was great and every Takeover we see that Velveteen Dream might just be ready for the main roster.

– They show Matt Riddle in the crowd which gets a huge pop. I like how they made it a thing where we look forward to see which new signing is sitting in the crowd at a NXT Takeover.

NXT North American Championship
Ricochet def. Adam Cole (C)
in 15:11 by submission
This match. Wow. They aired a video package prior to this match which really did a good job at telling the story going into the match. This had to be my favourite match of the night. The main event was great but this match was something else. I think taking into consideration that I am both a Adam Cole and Ricochet fan, I was just so much more invested because I didn’t mind either guy winning. I think I was still rooting for Cole but I was cool with Ricochet winning. If this North American title is supposed to be compared to the IC title as the belt for the workhorses, both of these guys are suitable champions. There were so many moments in this match that I loved. The match started up slow and technical and then picked up to fast-pace nonstop action. Once these two picked up the pace it didn’t slow down. The One and Only started pulling out all the stops with moves such as the 619, shooting star press and phoenix splash only for a near fall. There was this spot where Ricochet blocked Adam Cole’s super kick only to be caught with one while he was mid air which was absolutely beautiful to see. I actually dont think I’ve ever seen that before. They traded an awesome series of punches and kicks that ended with Cole almost getting a near fall again. Ricochet came back and hit this unbelievable hurricurana to Adam Cole to the outside. Ricochet hit a 630 splash for the win. Ricochet deserved that victory and I totally see Adam Cole changing his focus on going after the NXT Championship. I absolutely loved this match. If you missed this definitely go watch it.

NXT Women’s Championship
Kairi Sane def. Shayna Baszler (C)
in 13:35 by pinfall
This had to be Shayna Baszler’s best match as of yet and it was truly Kairi Sane’s shining moment. It was the Pirate Princess facing off against the Queen of Spades. This was also in a sense a rubber match. Kairi Sane had defeated Baszler in the past to win the inaugural Mae Young Classic and Shayna defeated Sane on an episode of NXT. The Four Horsewomen were shown in the crowd. I speculated that they may interfere or get involved but that wasn’t the case. This was more of your technical and mechanical match compared to the first three matches we had. Baszler really worked on Kairi Sane’s knee and ankle to wear her down. Baszler also kicked out after getting hit with Sane’s flying elbow drop. Baszler looked like she had the win when she had Sane in her finisher but Sane barley made it to the ropes. The second time Baszler tried to get Sane into her submission finish. Sane reversed it into a pin getting the victory out of nowhere. This was a fun match that told a great story. Kairi Sane has really grown on me and I’m glad they built to this moment of her becoming champion. I’m looking forward to see what happens next for Shayna Baszler. Congratulations to Kairi Sane. Ahoy!

Last Man Standing Match
NXT Championship
Tomasso Ciampa (C) def. Johnny Gargano
in 30:40 by being the last man standing
Another chapter was added to the Ciampa/Gargano rivalry and this time it was a last man standing match. What was supposed to be a triple threat involving Aleister Black ended up being another singles match between Ciampa and Gargano due to an on air attack while in reality recovering from a groin injury from a live show. This time the stipulation of the match was a Last Man Standing Match. These kind of matches can be tricky and majority of the time pretty bland. There arent moments where you can expect near falls or feel like someone is going to tap because the stipulation is to have your opponent down and out unable to get up before the ten second count. However, this being Tomasso Ciampa and Johnny Wrestling, it worked because they have had us invested into their story and these two working together have impeccable chemistry as opponents. This match had great drama, great heat, great throwbacks, and it even included that moment again where Gargano teases a moment of forgiveness, but his anger got the best of him. Of course that was his ultimate downfall as Ciampa survived due to Gargano’s mistake and ultimate desire to end his former friend. This was match had so many great moments. The super kick to the timekeeper by Gargano leading to Ciampa trying to bury Gargano with stuff including the timekeeper himself was one of those moments I won’t forget anytime soon. Both men at different times went through a table but answered the count. There were some brutal chair shots including this one time when Ciampa ran with the chair into Gargano  driving him through the barricade. They exposed the wood under the ring again. Gargano blasted Ciampa with a fire extinguisher. There were callbacks to their last matches like the DDT on the exposed wood, the introduction of a crutch and the use of handcuffs. They eventually ended up back up the stage where this entire rivalry started when Ciampa turned on Gargano in the first place. Garagano eventually handcuffed Ciampa to the stage where it looked as if there was no way for Ciampa to fully stand up once he was taken out. Johnny hit him with a couple of super kicks while Ciampa apologized. The match came to a finish when  Johnny Wrestling pulls down his kneepad and delivers a huge running knee that ends up sending himself off the stage in the process and the ref starts to count them both down. Gargano injures his knee, but Ciampa manages to stand up before the count of 10 to retain the belt and win the match. This was great storytelling and another great match in their series of matches. It might be my least favourite of the three but thats saying a lot because it was still REALLY GOOD. At some point we are going to see Gargano snap but when does it happen. Also when will Ciampa get whats coming to him? When Aleister returns? This was great and left you with more questions than answers.

Final Thoughts
I didn’t expect anything less from NXT Takeover. This show absolutely delivered and it always does. I’m starting to appreciate these five match cards considering Summerslam is a card with nearly 15 matches on it. NXT Takeover goes by fast and that is because it is enjoyable from start to finish. I definitely would say watch this to everyone. Also if youre someone who isn’t that satisfied with the current product on the main roster, check out NXT. These are the stars of today and the future. Summerslam is going to have to be filled with twist, turns and really good wrestling to follow this up.
Final Rating – 9.5/10

What were your final thoughts on NXT Takeover: Brooklyn IV? 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.