WWE NXT Review // 21st February 2018

On 21st February 2018, WWE aired its 288th episode of NXT, filmed at Center Stage, Atlanta, GA on 1st February. Our main event was another TakeOver: Philadelphia rematch as Johnny Gargano put his NXT career on the line for another shot at Andrade Almas' NXT Championship. The show also featured action from Nikki Cross, Velveteen Dream, No Way Jose & Vanessa Borne aswell as a big announcement from William Regal. But was it any good?

Velveteen Dream def. No Way Jose // Pinfall

Velveteen Dream is a force of nature when it comes to controlling crowds that not even the one-man conga line that is No Way Jose can contend with as this Atlanta crowd is approximately 100% Dream fans. The match itself was far from the best thing either man has done but still an entertaining enough encounter to start the show. Dream won in about four minutes with the Purple Rainmaker diving elbow. I can't say I'm not just a lot bit excited about the prospect of Velveteen Dream vs. Tyler Bate, No Way Jose, look out for him in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal this year probably.

Post-Match: Dream got on the mic, announcing himself as Male of the Year, Competitor of the Year and Match of the Year, he then told Black, Asuka and Bate no one cares, he said his name was on everyone's tongue and if you can't see that, he doesn't have time for you. Asuka's gonna kill you, m8.

Andrade Almas and Zelina Vega hype themselves up for the big match later.

William Regal announces that in two weeks, the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic starts up again and that the winner of the Classic will also become number one contender's for the NXT Tag Team Titles and get their shot at TakeOver: New Orleans.

Nikki Cross def. Vanessa Borne // Pinfall

Don't ask me to explain why but the official photos for this match on the WWE website are actually from a completely different match between these two in case you're wondering why Borne's black and white singlet from the TV is black and red in the photo. Not exactly a long match but Borne showed a lot more here than in the Mae Young Classic suggesting she's developing well as a performer, especially in her movements where she portrayed a more confident, heelish character though it also helped her that she's working with one of the most beloved faces of the NXT roster in Cross. Anyway, reasonably standard little match with Cross working a hot comeback and getting the win with The Purge swinging neckbreaker (yes, it has a name now). The right woman won but I think we could be seeing big things from Borne.

Recap of Killian Dain confronting Aleister Black. They'll probably have a match soon.

Johnny Gargano is chilling out backstage with Candice LeRae, trying to psych himself up.

Shane Thorne tweets about wanting to win the Dusty Classic

Recap of Baszler vs Moon. Next Week: Baszler vs Sane.

NXT Championship vs. NXT Career // Andrade Almas (c) def. Johnny Gargano // Pinfall

Well it wasn't quite as good as their Philadelphia encounter but I'm starting to wonder if anything could be. The Title vs. Career stipulation worked wonders for this match as even more than normal, the crowd hung on every near fall as they saw Johnny's NXT life flash before their eyes each time. The match started quickly as Almas rushed straight in trying to use his size and power advantage to get a roll-up off the off, trying multiple pinning combinations but Johnny Wrestling doesn't go down without a fight. Of course, these two have worked each other so many timbecame less about heel shenanigans than two men just trying to fight for the thing that matteres that their chemistry is basically only rivalled in NXT by Bate and Dunne but also they play so well off previous encounters with moments like Gargano going for a second slingshot spear only to leap into a Fujiwara armbar from Almas coming off perfectly. Especially clever was deploying the LeRae-Vega beatdown/chase-off within the first quarter so that the match s to them most in the ring. There was some clever playing on expectations as Gargano attempted a Hammerlock DDT and at times, Almas locked to be trying for a GargaNo Escape, there always comes the point in long series' like this where the only thing the competitors have left to shock their opponents with is each other's movesets. The finish off the match will probably be the most talked about thing here as in the time-honoured tradition of the ref-bump, Almas accidentally hit a back elbow onto Drake Wuertz, sending him prone, as this happened Gargano locked in the GargaNo Escape, looking to hold it until the Wuertz recovered but while he had it held, in came Tommaso Ciampa who golf swung a crutch to the back of Gargano, this gave Almas a chance to hit the Hammerlock DDT for the pin. Everyone played this moment beautifully including Wuertz who gave a slow three count with a mix of pain from the bump but also apprehension knowing that he was damning Gargano to never again returns to these hallowed grounds. You may have guessed from the review thus far, I really liked this match, it was easily better than their second encounter and possibly as good as the first but it was never meant to be the best: Almas and Gargano's tale is a depressing one for the world of wrestling as it's a story of a man unable to exorcise the demons of his past and as a result, unable to move on or upwards. Stories of failure are hard to do without just disappointing the audience but as much as this was not the result they wanted, it continues to feel like the right one as the eventual encounter between Gargano and Ciampa feels bigger than any title and Almas continues to both mean more from holding the title and making the title mean more by him holding it. Goodbye Johnny, it's been fun. I hope they treat you well on whichever main roster brand they send you to but suffice to say, there's nothing more that we can say from down here around the yellow ropes than 'Thank You, Johnny'.

As Gargano is helped up the ramp for the last time by LeRae, Ciampa stands in the crowd waving goodbye to close out the episode. I don't think I can legally publish my thoughts on that man at the moment.

On The YouTubes

Velveteen Dream's interview is interrupted by a passing Tyler Bate, Dream tells him to give him some of his water so Bate crumples the mostly full bottle on his chest. Bit rude. Tyler looked cute with his glasses on his forehead.

Johnny Gargano walks through the backstage of Center Stage possibly for the last time. Just shut up, you're the one that's crying.

Finally...

The first half of this week's episode was pretty standard NXT-by-numbers with some decent announcements of forthcoming matches and solid in-ring action. Then we got to Gargano vs Almas IV and it became amazing. This was easily the best NXT TV match of the year so far and another reminder of just how good all six performers (yes six, people don't give referees enough credit) are. Plus Percy Watson called the ring apron 'the hardest part of the mat' which is accurate because nothing on the mat is as hard as the metal ringposts. Everything's looking up for NXT in 2018, we have four great champions, a whole host of great performers vying for their spots and another Dusty Classic on the way. Blow a kiss, take a bow, Everything's coming up roses.

Written By Jozef Raczka // @NotJoeRaczka

WWE NXT Review // 31st January 2018 // Roderick Strong vs. Tyler Bate

On 31st January 2018, NXT aired its 285th episode of NXT, taped at Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, on 27th January before NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia. Our main event saw former WWE UK Champion Tyler Bate compete with Roderick Strong for a future shot at the title that Tyler lost. We also had in-ring action from TM-61, the Ealy Twins, Nikki Cross & Lacey Evans as well as interviews and 'exclusive footage' from the aforementioned TakeOver event. But was it any good?

We open on a flashy video package recapping the entire TakeOver event, if you didn't see it, expect to see each match recapped over the course of the show anyway.

Nikki Cross def. Lacey Evans // Pinfall

Quick. Squash. M8. Nikki Cross rushed straight at her opponent hitting a crossbody and pummeling her with strikes. Evans would send Cross out of the ring but Cross pulls her out and just keeps on pummeling, eventually Evans would cut off Cross and work a brief heat section till she misses a second rope moonsault until Cross is back on top, laying into her and hitting the Swinging Fisherman's Neckbreaker for the pin. It could have been a lot better but for the time given, both women looked good. Cross has probably become the most over part of SaNitY and hopefully, it won't be long before she's holding gold of her own.

We get video recaps of the four matches that weren't the main event. We also hear from Baszler who claims that she may have not got the title but looking at Moon after the match, she feels more like a winner, and Velveteen Dream who's happy that he won, I think.

Nick Miller & Shane Thorne def. Gabriel Ealy & Uriel Ealy // Pinfall

On their entrance, Shane Thorne jumped into the ring and looked like he had a little stumble, I was worried that he might be about to re-injure himself. Luckily, such fears were unfounded as the former GHC Tag-Team Champions flew right back into competition and literally too as Thorne, seemingly wanting to show people how fully working his legs are hitting a tope con hilo here and a corner cannonball there, Miller also hit a pretty bloody near-perfect moonsault. The Ealy twins haven't been working long and they didn't do much here of anything but they didn't do anything wrong so there's that, plus points here to Mauro for establishing that Gabriel has the right arm tattoo and Uriel the left arm tattoo so now we know. The finish came as they hit Thunder Valley double gorilla press slam for the pin. Not an amazing showing but in terms of reminding us what TM-61 can do, it went a long way.

Post-match: TM-61 are on the mic. They say that he documentary they showed the past two weeks told us who TM61 but they are now so much more, they are the mighty and The Tighty, Sixty-One. Also they don't kneel.

Video recap of Gargano vs Almas with the standard 'exclusive footage' which as always, is slow-mo and videos they'd put on their YouTube after, worth a watch anyway because this match is that good.

So EC3 was in the front row at TakeOver, so was Trevor 'Ricochet' Mann and War Machine. They'll all be on TV soon enough probably, especially as they were discussed here.

Next Week: Adam Cole vs Killian Dain & SAnitY vs Undisputed Era for the Tag Titles.

WWE United Kingdom Championship Number One Contendership // Roderick Strong def. Tyler Bate // Submission

There's not much to say here, it's not that this match wasn't good because it was, but there isn't really a story to discuss here. Both Bate and Strong are very capable of delivering astonishing matches and telling truly astonishing stories in the ring but this was quite simply two men who both wanted the same thing, roughly the same amount but quite simply in this instance, Strong came out on top. As a first-time singles encounter, this showed a lot of promise and some very good chemistry as both Bate and Strong have a similar combination of all-around athleticism and some of the sequences in this match were so well executed, it's hard to quibble yet at the same time, I couldn't help but feel that this was only as good as it needed to be, possibly hampered by being kept short with a TakeOver to film afterwards but certainly lacking a really hot stretch to push it into the upper echelons. The result was the right one, with Strong having worn down Bate's back enough that he couldn't hit the Tyler Driver '97 allowing Strong to hit the End of Heartache backbreak/stabber combination for the pin. The right person won as even though Bate and Dunne put on three classics, it's time to try some new combinations. Could we be about to see the first American UK champion? Let's see...

On The YouTubes

Pete Dunne shrugs off new UK Title Number One Contender, Roderick Strong. Typing or reading this lasts as long as the video.

Finally...

This didn't fully break the post-TakeOver curse, especially not in the same way as the superb Dunne v Gargano match from post-WarGames but it was still fun and it did just enough to suggest bright things are on the horizon in 2018.

Article By Jozef Raczka (@NotJoeRaczka)

NXT 279 Review // Pete Dunne vs. Tyler Bate

On 21st December, WWE aired its 279th Episode of NXT, filmed at Full Sail University in Winter Gardens, FL on 29th November. Our main event saw the third WWE match this year for Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate as Bate sought to regain the UK Championship. The card also featured Lars Sullivan [Dan Matha] taking on Roderick Strong for the last spot in the NXT Championship Number One Contender's Fatal Four-Way & a Tag Team Title match as The Undisputed Era's Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly took on SaNItY. But was it any good?

NXT Tag-Team Championship: The Undisputed Era [Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly w/Adam Cole] def. SaNItY [Eric Young & Killian Dain w/ Nikki Cross] [c] // Pinfall

Fish and Dain to start, Fish kicks to the legs of Dain, ducks under the ropes, tags in Kyle, Kyle does the same shit, tag to Fish, Kyle ducks a strike from Dain, lays into him but Dain remembers he's a big lad and no sells their shit, tag to Fish who dodges under a lariat and jumps on Dain's back, applying a sleeper,Kyle comes in to help but Dain just bumps him away and throws off Fish before htting a lariat on Kyle sending him out of the ring and Fish follows, chilling on the outside, back in and a tag to Kyle who runs into a tag to Young and a gutbuster-knee drop combo, Young goes in for the attack but Kyle immediately tries to lock in an armbar, Young escapes, laying in with forearm palm strikes, Kyle slides out, Young chases him, ducking a roundhouse from Fish and punching him away, he slides back in after Kyle and straight away is back on top with strikes, he's whipped onto the apron but he hits a shoulder tackle, only for Fish to pull his leg out from under him sending us into an ad-break, back from the break and the heel team play quick tags beating down Yong in their corner, a slingshot senton earns Fish a 2 and they are immediately back on the corner kicks, Kyle keeps him from crawling back to his corner with an elbow-lock, Young manages to escape but is straight into a high knee, Kyle places Young on the turnbuckle but Young boots him away, he goes for a dive but Kyle roundhouses him straight out of the air, Young responds with a  swinging neckbreaker, he tries to crawl but in a dazed moment heads towards Fish instead of Dain giving Kyle time to make a tag instead, as Dain tries to join the fray anyway, the heels use the distraction to stomp the hell out of Young's back, Young throws Kyle out of the ring and low bridges Fish and crawls towards Dain but Kyle pulls him back, trying to keep him in the centre of the ring, Young kicks him away, crawls underneath and makes the tag to Dain, Dain runs insane throwing forearms with the force of a train, clotheslines Fish so hard he impacts his brain and drops a hot senton-dropkick move combo chain, he hits a michinoku driver on Fish onto Kyle for a 2, throws Fish aside, tag to Young, they set up for a powerbomb-combo, Fish low bridges Dain out of the ring but Young still hits the bomb, he forces himself up top for an elbow drop but Adam Cole comes from the crowd and knocks him off, a spinning kick and a forearm hit Young for a 2, Cole is playing coach in the corner when Nikki Cross comes in and hits an apron crossbody and repeatedly punches Cole in his face till the refs come and drag her away, Young lights up both men with palm strikes and hits a leaping neckbreaker for a 2, Dain on the outside picks up Cole but the baybay slides out, posts Dain but takes a tope suicido from Young for his troubles, back in the ring and Young is hit with a Leg Sweep-Jumping Kick Combo for the pin. NEW CHAMPION!

This was a good, fun match with both teams playing off each other well, even if the crowd were weirdly muted, they still brought enough energy to get them involved, especially by the end as Full Sail clearly adore Nikki Cross (and so they should). Beyond the frustrating booking where Young always seems to be the one taking the pin at the moment, this match lacked a certain excitement or invention that could really push it over the merely 'good' mark but certainly we know the ReDragon boys are capable of some spectacular tag work and I can't wait to see what they do next.

We get a Roderick Strong video package ahead of his semi-final match tonight.

We also get another hype-up video for Shayna Baszler.

Heavy Machinery are trying to lift Sabatelli & Moss' car so they can park there. The joint car owners don't like this and an argument starts out when Moss fucks up their catchphrase saying 'pork and weights'. Why do all their feuds revolve around their joint car ownership and what the fuck even is joint car ownership.

We get a recap of Sonya Deville defeating Ruby Riott last week, in a 360p backstage interview, Deville declares that she's going to beat Ember Moon for the NXT Women's Title next week.

As with Roderick Strong, so Lars Sullivan also gets a video package.

NXT Championship #1 Contender's Tournament Semi-Final: Lars Sullivan def. Roderick Strong // Pinfall

Strong is straight in with strikes but pushed away, he goes straight back but gets pushed to the corner, he escapes and continues striking, Roddy tries to go for a throw but I guess he's not, Strong enough, goes for more strikes but takes a clothesline and a grounded knee strike, ullivan hits a huge pair of forearms to the back, he splashes Strong on the ropes and ragdolls him for a 2 before immediately applying a big bearhug, Strong tries to slide out but Sully keeps it going, Strong escapes with a pair of bell-clappers and some forearms before hitting a single leg dropkick, an enziguri and some big slaps, this serves to make Sullivan extra angry and he charges but Strong dodges, catching Sullivan in the ropes, allowing Strong to hit some running forearms from all directions, Sullivan is sent out of the ring but comes straight back in, knocking down Strong with a double axe handle, Sullivan goes up top but Strong follows with a superplex for a 2, he hits knee strikes but Sullivan goes for a lariat, Strong dodges hitting an olympic slam for a 2.5, Strong is straight in with strikes and goes for the first proper backbreaker of the match but Sullivan says 'nahh' and slides out, hitting a pop-up powerslam and The Freak Accident for the pin.

This was way better than it had any reason to be with Sullivan having so quickly made his spin on the standard WWE 'monster heel' act incredibly entertaining, helped out by a performance by Strong that made him look ten times better. They couldn't help that the one down-side of Sullivan's position is it makes anyone beating him clean seem like it's never going to happen but if anyone can make him look beatable, it's Strong. Now the Number One Contender's match is set: Dain v Gargano v Black v Sullivan. This could be very interesting...

A recap of last week's Street Talk. 

Christy St. Cloud is backstage with Tyler Bate, Bate talks about how he and Peter go way back, trading titles with each other, tonight is his night and he takes back his title.

UK Championship // Pete Dunne [c] def. Tyler Bate // Pinfall

These two have had an incredible year be it teaming up with or competing against each other and here's hoping this is the perfect capper to their WWE Trilogy. They feel each other out to begin before Dunne rushes in and immediately grabs Bate into an armbar before manipulating those finger joints, eventually Bate manages to do a flipping escape and locks in a wristlock of his own but Dunne manages to power him down and uses a head-clamp leglock before going back to the arm, Bate attempts to escape but is powered down by Dunne until he manages a superb release practically bouncing off his own head, Dunne is unimpressed with the flippy stuff and goes straight back onto the arm, slapping at the shoulder and elbow before getting Bate in a knee-assisted modified surfboard, Bate powers to his feet and hits a dropkick to escape but even this isn't enough to keep Dunne from attacking the arm as he pushes Bate's arms down, he tries to go for pins but Bate maintains a strong bridge, Dunne tries to use his full body weight to push Bate down but it's not enough so Dunne just kicks him in the stomach and retreats to the ropes for safety, Dunne pushes Bate over, trying to wrench and bite at the foot but Bate escapes as Dunne cartwheels away, Bate kips up and hits Bop & BANG for a 2, attempting to lock theankle, Dunne crawls to the ropes and as Bate separates, Dunne hits a big ol' forearm and chops him into the corner, Bate escapes with a knee lift release and a second rope diving uppercut to send Dunne out of the ring, Bate follows out into a forearm, Dunne drags him to the steps and goes to stomp the hand but Bate is wise to his tricks, dodges and instead stomps Dunne's hand, Dunne powers through and hits a low angle suplex off the steps, back in the ring and a penalty kick leads to a rear chinlock as Dunne puts more weight on Bate's shoulders, Bate crawls to the ropes but Dunne separates, kicks him in the back and pounds at it with forearms, Dunne wrenches at the nose and hits another forearm before stomping on a floored Bate's hand, one of Bate's fingers has popped out of place but he jams it back in, Dunne with no mercy hits a judo throw into a hammerlock and is back on the injured arm, stomping the elbow and kicking him to the ropes and back again until Bate's ear is bleeding, Bate calls for more kicks, Dunne obliges but Bate hulks up and hits an exploder, he drops running corner uppercuts till Dunne grabs him by the hair, he goes for an X-Plex but Bate flips out of it and hits a running shooting star press & a belly-to-back suplex for a 2, Dunne gets up with a forearm but Bate hits a rolling kick, he goes for the Tyler Driver '97 but Dunne manouvres into a triangle armbar, hammering Bate's head with forearms, Bate powers through into a powerbomb but Dunne doesn't let go of the triangle, Bate powers through again and traps Dunne's neck between the second and top ropes before whipping him upwards, on the ground and Bate picks up Dunne for a triple aeroplane spin covering for a 2, Dunne crawls to the apron but Bate climbs to the second rope and hits another exploder sending Dunne back into the ring for a 2, Dunne gets back up and kicks Bate in the head but Bate responds with a roundhouse and some head kicks of his own, Bate picks up Dunne who twists into a Bitter End for a 2.9, Bate throws Dunne to the corner, he flips over it and hits a step-up enziguri, Bate responds with a rebound lariat, Dunne with a clothesline but Bate with another clothesline, the two lads are down, from their knees to standing they just lay into each other chests with punches Bate dodges a shot from Dunne and lands a massive forearm but with the previously injured hand, on the apron and Dunne throws up Bop but Bate hits BANG, Dunne with a forearm, Bate with a rolling kick, back in the ring and Bate dives off the top rope into a forearm, Dunne goes for the X-Plex, can't quite get it so turns it into a sit-out powerbomb for a 2.9, Bate rolls out, Dunne follows and tries to throw Bate back in but he hits a rebound lariat onto the ramp, rolling back in, Dunne appears to be accepting a countout to avoid losing so to stop the count Bate hits a big ol' tope and rolls Dunne back in and hits the Tyler Driver '97 for a 2.99, he climbs up top and just about hits a spiral tap on Dunne for a 2, Dunne's elbow is now visibly bleeding as he sees Bate heading back up and heads up too, Bate powers into a super German suplex but Dunne flips out of it, hits a suprise Bitter End for the pin.

Holy shit-snacks everyone, this was just about as good as it gets. Over 23 minutes (presented as an early Christmas gift, without ad-breaks) these two put on a dramatic contest that not only cemented the legacy of Dunne and Bate as having put on the best trilogy of matches in WWE 2017, maybe only rivalled by The New Day vs The Uso series in terms of consistency. As a match, this was full of callbacks to the former two contests but it still managed to weave them in so seamlessly that I don't think you'd need to see the other two to understand it. The only real negative of this match is that it did perhaps feel a little flabbier than their outing in Chicago but outside of wider context, this was as good a contest as you're ever likely to see, especially on TV. Maybe they should just give the Main Event every week to the UK lads. I can't see anyone complaining.

On The YouTubes

Nothing to see this time. Make use of this and spend some time with your loved ones.

Finally...

I don't think I'm speaking with too much hyperbole when I saw this might be one of the best episodes of NXT. The Tag-Team Title match wasn't a classic but it was still a lot of fun, Strong & Sullivan delivered big-time and Dunne v Bate III was as always spectacular, not quite topping Chicago but easily matching if not bettering their UKCT Final effort. It's always a rare and refreshing thing to recommend watching an episode of NXT from beginning to end but here we are. Now let's hope they can stick the year's landing next week with the Number One Contender's Fatal Four-Way.

Article By Jozef Raczka (@NotJozefRaczka)

NXT TakeOver: WarGames Review // SaNItY vs. The Undisputed Era vs. Roderick Strong & The Authors of Pain

On 19th November, WWE aired NXT TakeOver: WarGames, live from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The evening's main event was a writer who does play-by-play's worst nightmare, a War Games match between current NXT Tag Team Champions SaNItY, current upstarts The Undisputed Era and the intriguing team of Authors of Pain & Roderick Strong. In a card also featuring Drew McIntyre defending his NXT championship against Andrade Almas, singles encounters from Lars Sullivan & Kassius Ohno and Aleister Black & Velveteen Dream and a Women's Title Fatal-Four Way. Even without the promised Ab-Off between Johnny Gargano & Shawn Michaels, this is still one of the strongest cards on paper that NXT has produced but, as always, was it any good?

We open on a video package, cutting between clips of the competitors, War Games matches of old and also footage of Franklin Delano Roosevelt declaring war on the axis after Pearl Harbour. I bet FDR would love to know that his words upon the death of thousands are effectively being equated with a few lads being paid to throw each other at metal.

Lars Sullivan def. Kassius Ohno via pinfall // 5:45

What better opening than a couple of big lads hitting each other? This match takes place in the left ring, immediately, they run at each other with Sullivan powering Ohno to the corner, Ohno hits an elbow and a boot and another elbow, out in the ring and they run the ropes with Ohno going for a shoulder tackle but Sullivan shakes it off before hitting a tackle of his own, on the ground, he hits knees to the back, knocking Ohno out of the ring, Sullivan follows hitting a diving shoulder tackle off the apron and dropping Ohno back onto it with a Gorilla Press, back in the ring and Sullivan hits an Irish whip but Ohno retorts with a boot and an enziguri, he kips up into a clothesline from Sullivan, whipped to the ropes, Ohno flips over, hits a boot, runs back in straight into a pop-up powerslam from Sullivan for a 2, Sullivan goes up top for a diving headbutt but Ohno dodges, Ohno lays into Sullivan with boots and elbow including two rolling elbows to the back of the neck and a cyclone kick for a 2, on the floor, Ohno hits somps and boots before a standing senton but Sullivan is up at 1, on their feet and the two lads trade elbows with Ohno getting the better and hitting a Death by Elbow, he goes for a second but Sullivan catches him with a Freak Accident for the pin. This was exactly what it needed to be, it was a short sprint with two big lads doing big lad things to each other. Ohno made Sullivan look like the monster they want him to be but managed to push Sullivan further than anyone else so far which kept him looking resilient. No one expected in his first TakeOver match for Sullivan to deliver a mat classic but what we got was a fun, energetic opener. More of this, please.

Some of our beloved UK Lads, Tyler Bate, Trent Seven, Mark Andrews & Wolfgang are front row. But where's Peter, James, Joseph, Jordan & Tucker? Did they not get an invite?

The Undisputed Era are backstage discussing plans when William Regal comes up to them, apparently to tell them the rules of a War Games match. Did no one think to brief them more than an hour ahead of time?

Aleister Black def. Velveteen Dream via pinfall // 14:45

Can we all just take a moment to live in Black and Dream's Dirty Dancing tribute? Now we've done that, let's get into the match as it's a corker. Black makes his entrance through a series of candle-lit alters in what now seems to be the pyro budget, Dream makes his dressed as seven people, each of them from a cooler version of the future, his special tights with his and Black's face on are the greatest thing, this match takes place in the right hand ring, Dream taunts Black telling him to say his name as the crowd chant it, lock-up to begin with as Black controls the action, he goes for a strike but Dream dodges directly into a wristlock, Dream tries to power into a headlock but Black gets in a hammerlock into a grounded rear armlock, attempts for a rear chinlock but settles into a front face lock, Dream powers to his feet and whips Black away only to end up back in an octopus stretch, Black transitions to a pin for a 2 before going straight to a standing armbar, on their feet and the two men trade strikes with Dream using his power advantage to get the better of the encounter, with Black on the ropes, Dream goes for a clothesline but Black uses the ropes to throw Dream out, Black runs to the ropes and does his fake-out moonsault full-lotus but Dream is immediately back in the ring and Swayze crawling towards Black, in an attempt to mess with Black, Dream goes into a full lotus but Black knows what's up and starts Swayze crawling at Dream, seriously, if this isn't resolving with a Live Sex Celebration on NXT, there is no justice in the world, I can't say enough, how much I want these two just to fuck and make up, Dream goes for an Oklahoma roll but Black gets a massive arm drag with Dream back up with a short-arm lariat, he keeps Black down with ground and corner strikes, he knocks Black out of the ring and hits his own fake-out tope, rolling backwards through the ropes which is brilliant, Black stuns Dream off the ropes, slides in, Dream sets him up for a Death Valley Driver but Black elbows out into a SUPERKICK for a 2, grounnd and pound keeps Black down, Dream picks up Black into a neckbreaker for a 2, transitioning into a camel clutch chinlock, Dream picks up Black into a Cross Rhodes set-up but Black once again elbows out, Dream manages to tie Black up in the ropes and asks him again, what's his name, Black responds with a kick to the face so Dream full palm slaps him, Black hits a lariat, some swift kicks, sweeps the leg, knee strikes, throwing in a corner forearm and a springboard moonsault for a 2, Black picks up Dream by his chin with his foot but Dream grabs the leg, powering him to the corner but Black powers out with a big double foot stomp, immediately back up and Dream tries again for a Death Valley Driver but Black again escapes lighting him up with kicks, running for him, Dream grabs Black and hits the Deagth Valley Driver for a close 2, Dream picks up Black, setting up for a Super Death Valley Driver, Black flips out of it, going for a powerbomb but settling for just kicking his leg out of his leg, hitting a knee strike for another good 2 but Dream is back up, back in the Cross Rhodes set up, Dream hits a twisting reverse DDT for a 2.9, Dream goes to hit a Purple Rainmaker but Black gets a foot up, knocking Dream back into the ropes, caught up, Black takes advantage hitting a knee strike, Dream responds with a SUPERKICK, Black decides enough is enough and gets one last knee strike and a Black Mass for the pin. Well, I really don't know what to say here beyond throwing unanimous praise at this. Yes, the spot with Dream falling into the ropes out of a reversed Purple Rainmaker was contrived but I really can't find anything else to criticise. What's great is that they didn't try to make this over-complicated. The build-up to this match has been perfectly paced, showing the contrasts between the two men and the match itself was a minimalist delight. There was no over-booking here, just two men out to prove who is better and in the end, Black still had to acknowledge Dream like he wanted because when he needed to, Dream stepped up. If you'd told me a year ago that the guy who didn't win his series of Tough Enough doing a Prince gimmick would have my favourite non-title singles match of the year, I would probably call you insane but here we are. Don't expect this to be the last time we see these two compete because there's magic here*.

Post-match, Black sits next to Dream. On the mic, Black tells him 'Enjoy your infamy, Velveteen Dream' before dropping the mic. He said his name, HE SAID HIS NAME!

SaNItY are backstage and Regal gives them the War Games rules talk as well. This really feels like something they should have sorted earlier.

Asuka, Funaki & Finn Balor are front-row for this match. Wonder how they got such good seats...

NXT Women's Championship // Ember Moon def. Kairi Sane and Nikki Cross and Peyton Royce via pinfall // 9:59

Kairi Sane enters to new music that is even more piratey, if this doesn't result in Paul Burchill becoming her manager then what the fuck are we doing here? Peyton enters with Billie who tells her on the ramp she has to do this alone, Peyton looks piss scared without Billie, she's a damn angel, we're back in the left ring for this one, Percy has a mild meltdown trying to remember which TakeOvers Moon lost at and which she just couldn't compete at because of injury, he needs a lie down the poor lad, so the match starts as everyone begins hitting everyone else, Royce seems to be in control early, Moon tries to fight back hitting a single-leg dropkick but she can't fend off all three, the actions spills out onto the floor, everyone is flying around with Sane hitting a big flying forearm, Moon levelling Sane and Royce with a tope suicido and powerbombing Cross on the floor, Sane and Moon are back in the ring, Moon goes for a low thrust kick but Sane catches the leg and hits a double hand baseball swing, chopping Moon to the corner, she hits a corner spear but Royce grabs her into a reverse tarantula before she can pin, Moon hits a superkick to the back of Royce, Royce rolls out of the ring as Sane rolls up Moon for a 2, Royce is back in and Moon leapfrogs Sane as she spears Royce, Sane hits a spinning backfist, heads up top, Moon tussles with her on the top rope, going for a superplex but Royce hits Moon with a German making this a Tower of Doom, Royce covers Moon for a 2, she then covers Sane for a 2, they all brawl in the centre as Cross returns to the fray and hits a Nikki Crossbody on all three, she then positions Sane in the tree of woe and throws Royce out, beating down Moon, she goes for the Swinging Neckbreaker on Sane but Moon breaks up a pinfall attempt, Moon goes up top but Cross takes her out and hits a draping neckbreaker sending Moon out of the ring, Royce back in and she hits a Ooouuuoohhh Fisherman's Suplex on Cross but Sane breaks it up and hits an Insane Elbow on both of them but Moon throws her out, in the centre of the ring, Cross and Royce brawl as Moon climbs to the top and hits a double Eclipse, Royce rolls out as Moon covers Cross for the pinfall. NEW CHAMPION! I predicted this match would either be great or a fucking mess, it basically ended up being a bit of both. Structurally speaking, this was standard multi-person fare with a combination of one-on-one encounters and various linking together of each person's best moves but the major problem was that they got just shy of 10 minutes in which to do it all, lending proceedings a very rushed feeling. Yet everything that everyone got in was good with Sane working hard to make an impression and show she belongs there to an audience who you can't guarantee are familiar with her, even if when she was required to break up a pin, she was a little late on trying to break up a pin at one point but everyone seemed to be ready to cover for each other. This was good, it wasn't great and really, it had the potential to be great but it needed more time. But clearly there wasn't any, it's not like we have a 36 minute main event coming up...

After the match, Regal comes to the ring to hand the title to the new champion but before he can, Asuka hits the ring. She insists on being the one to award the title to Moon. This isn't how Asuka was meant to hand her title over to someone but if she had to do it this way, this was how it should be done.

Giving Regal enough time to run backstage, Mauro Ranallo tries to sell us on the WWE Mattel Shark Cage playset that we all want for Christmas.

Having been bought some time by Ranallo, Regal makes it backstage to explain the rules to the Authors of Pain, Paul Ellering & Roderick Strong. Can you imagine if he hadn't done so to Paul Ellering? Entrant in the first War Games match Paul Ellering.

Kevin Owens is front row, repping some Undisputed Era swag, Samoa Joe is also front row in a different area just looking generally swag.

NXT Championship // Andrade 'Cien' Almasdef. Drew McIntyre (C) // 14:56

Let's give it up for the costume team tonight, first, we had Ohno wearing another delightful variation on the Orlando magic gear, then Dream's tights, now in this match alone we have a great white and navy motif with co-ordinated short gii-style robe for Almas and McIntyre with a tearaway black kilt like the emo kid who's joined The Bar. There was also a match they competed in. Almas slapped Drew before the bell because he ain't shit, off the bell they lock-up but Drew immediately powers Almas to the corner, clean break and Drew does it again, Almas slaps him because once again, he ain't shit, this angers Drew but Almas slides between the ropes to stop him, he hits a clubbing overarm to get Drew low enough to headlock, Drew lifts up Almas trying to throw him off but Almas just flips out and locks back in, running the ropes, Drew takes down Almas with a well-timed shoulder, thrown to the ropes, Almas goes tranquilo but Drew doesn't care for this tranquilo nonsense so kicks him out of the ring, Drew lays into Almas before throwing him into the ring, Almas distracts the referee as Vega goes to hit a hurricanrana into the steps but Drew catches her and puts her on the apron, Almas goes for a distraction tope but Drew catches him with a forearm, back in the ring and they trade strikes and standing switches, Drew goes for a tackle but Almas dodges and Drew posts himself as Almas hits a GTR for a 1, he immediately goes into a rope hung armbar holding it for 4, back in and he covers for a 2, back on the arm with a fujiwara bar, pushing Drew to the corner, the big man escapes with a suplex throw, a short-arm lariat and a belly-to-belly, Drew goes up top hitting a diving axe handle and goes for a kip-up, Almas back up goes for a rana but Drew catches him into a Celtic Cross, Almas hits a dropkick to the corner, goes for double knees but Drew blocks but not enough to stop a spinning reverse DDT that would make Naito proud for a 2, Almas picks up Drew for an El Idolo hammerlock but Drew isn't having that, he picks up Almas, Almas goes for a reverse rana but Drew hits back with an Alabama Slam for a 2 but Almas is back in with a springboard dropkick sending Drew out of the ring, Drew catches Almas in a powerbomb predicament but Almas manages to hit a rana with the injured shoulder into the ring-post before heading back up top and hitting a godly moonsault to the outside, rolled in and the champ is pinned for a 2, Almas heads back up and Drew follows but gets crotched, falling into the tree of woe, Almas hits a double stomp and another double knees for a 2, going for El Idolo again, Drew turns into a sit-out powerbomb for another good 2, a slap by Almas, headbutt by Drew, a sunser flip earns Almas another 2 but Drew picks him up for a Futureshock DDT for a 2.9, carried up top for a super Celtic Cross, Almas worms out, dropping Drew to the corner, hitting yet more double knees to the back of the head for another very good 2, some brutal grounded strikes as Almas rolls out and poses with the title allowing Vega to roll in and hit a spiked low rana on Drew, Almas hits the El Idolo for a 2.9, Almas is shocked that wasn't enough and Drew manages to hit a Claymore but Vega gets Almas' foot on the ropes,Drew goes for another Claymore but misses and Almas crotches him on the ropes, hitting a Tower of London set up El Idolo, he bloody crucifies Drew for the pinfall. NEW CHAMPION! Well, I haven't been so pleased to say 'I was wrong'. It seems possible considering the selling of the arm injury that this was a last-minute decision to write off Drew for a while to let his arm heal up but either way, it's nice to have a truly surprising result. A lot of people, myself included, assumed this was just a filler match till Drew could face Adam Cole and that even though it was the right time to capitalise on Almas having stolen the show every time since last Dusty Classic, I never thought they would. It's also worth noting, this was not just the right decision but also the best NXT Title match since Joe and Balor stepped into a Steel Cage at TakeOver: The End. The ending was peculiar as the near fall off Vega's spike rana was perhaps stronger but in terms of saving face, giving Drew a kick out there maintains his momentum for when he returns. I've been waiting for the Drew McIntyre we all loved from the indies to come to NXT and with this match, he announced he's here. Almas and Vega as a unit have some of the best chemistry of a manager and client in recent years and their in-ring acumen is just as good. On top of that, at just shy of fifteen minutes, it felt right. Not everything has to be an epic and this used its limited time far better than any of the twenty minute plus title matches the past year has seen. More of this as well please.

WarGames Match // Undisputed Era def. SaNItY (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe & Killian Dain) and Authors of Pain & Roderick Strong via pinfall // 36:37

Ladies and Gentlemen, I sacrifice my saNItY for you as I attempt to provide play-by-play on this, so after Kurt Angle became Roman Reigns, I'm glad to see that Roderick Strong has become an Author of Pain, tactical Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle outfit and all, it will be Roddy, Young and Cole to begin, Cole tries to avoid violence early on but Young and Strong rush at him before fighting each other to get a shot at him, Strong hits a backbreaker on Young as Cole tries to hide atop the cage, Strong and Young follow him up and they team up to try and take him out, Cole drops down and crotches the two of them on the ropes, he sends Strong to the other ring and hits Last Shot on Young, Cole keeps his attention divided between the two men, Cole maintains control hitting a suplex and a neckbreaker on Strong, Strong fires back with slaps and a clothesline before Young comes back into further slaps and knees from Strong, as Strong is in control, in come the first team and it's the ReDragon lads, straight in and straight on top of Strong and Young, the Era easily beat down the two faces, further strikes and submissions follow till the second team come in, there's a bit of a problem where the lighting team can't decide if the Authors of Pain or SaNItY are in, turns out they meant AoP and the two head in with their faces like murder babies to rescue Strong from an O'Reilly knee bar, they then begin attacking the other three men, throwing the entire era into the other ring and then Young into the era before Strong joins in, hitting an assisted swanton onto the other four, O'Reilly and Young are positioned in the corners before AoP pick up Fish and Cole and hit corner valley drivers onto all of them, after the lighting snafu, now SaNItY are actually into the match with Wolfe rushing to the ring with a retractable truncheon as Dain pulls out all sorts of weaponry that happens to be under the ring, as the match is officially underway at this point, we also get two referees, there are two rings so it makes sense, Wolfe throws Germans on everyone and drops Fish into a bin, Dain spends forever making sure the door is locked, couldn't just get someone on the outside to do it? He swallows the key because he's hardcore like that, Dain goes after both Authors hitting a front dropkick senton combo followed by a top rope crossbody, Cole grabs a Kendo stick and goes for the big fuzzy one but Dain isn't fucking about and tosses it away, Fish tries to help but Dain just knocks him down and hits a Michinoku driver on Cole onto Fish for a 2, Dain throws O'Reilly at the walls before hitting the fallaway slam/Samoan drop combo on Cole and Strong, Dain and Rezar do big lad things in between the ropes, Dain hits a running crossbody but Rezar gets him in a powerslam for a 2, if you'd been wondering 'when is everything going to go to shit', now, everyone seems to punch everyone, ReDragon hit Chasing the Dragon on Strong, they go after Dain, Wolfe comes into even it out but is taken out with a chain-assisted armbar from O'Reilly, Young saves his German friend with a top rope elbow drop to break up the pin, AoP hit a Super Collider, catching Dain in the middle, Young unleahes punches on everything he can and hits a big death valley driver on Rezar onto Akem but Strong and ReDragon break the pin, Strong goes backbreaker crazy with Lumbar Checks, knees strikes and every possible form on a backbreaker before an olympic slam on Dain, he goes for the pin but a superkick from Cole breaks that up, Cole heads to the middle of the two rings, Strong and Young follow him and duel over who gets to hurt Cole again, a double tower of doom spot follows as Cole sits above the wreckage, till both AoP members go for him, they pull him down to one corner as they set up two tables, for some reason Wolfe stops them from going for Cole allowing him to escape up top but Wolfe avalanche Germans Rezar, I think, through the tables, at this point I think all of SaNItY are bleeding, even Sawyer Fulton (Goodbye Sawyer), Young gets a top rope neckbreaker on Akem, Cole does his best impression of Mario in Water World along the top of the cage, Dain hits a clothesline on O'Reilly before positioning him a few feet in front of the corner with a bin, he just about hits the coast to coast but O'Reilly quite uncomfortably well sells going limp, Cole seeing a pile of people below goes to do something but takes too long posing and Strong is up top to hit a superplex off him onto everyone, Strong covers Cole for a 2.9, Dain and Akem brawl, AoP hit the Last Chapter on Dain, O'Reilly and Fish wear down the AoP with strikes and sleepers before hitting Total Elimination on Rezar, Wolfe takes down O'Reilly before they hit the elevated neckbreaker on Fish, Cole takes out Wolfe and it comes back down to the three men that started it, Cole and Strong trade Strikes, Strong is thrown into the cage wall by Young as Cole goes for Young with the kendo stick, Young holds up a steel chair but Cole hits a Shining Wizard, sending the chair into Young's head for the pin. This was a lot better than I expected with everyone delivering strong performances. War Games is such a crazy match that no one goes into it expecting a story, just a large amount of sweaty men trying to twat each other in the heads and that's what we got here. It started quite slowly with it lacking much in the way of excitement until the Authors came in but we knew it couldn't go from 0-60mph immediately. More urgently, the action got so big and so impressive that Cole hitting a Shining Wizard onto a chair for the pin felt like a bit of an anti-climactic ending. But it gave us a lot, even if at 36 minutes, it was perhaps a tad self-indulgent, it delivered strong action with Strong (appropriately) and Wolfe coming off as the real stars of the show. While Young and Dain seem to be often the focus of the men's side of SaNItY, Wolfe has really been the breakout star for me. One other thing to highlight, it was really nice to have a match with a cage where there were no random run-ins, swerves or betrayals. Some times, the simplest booking method is the best.

On The YouTubes

Lars Sullivan talks about how tonight was only the beginning and how he dominated unequivocally, emphatically and categorically. Big words from a big lad.

Velveteen Dream is happy that Black said his name.

Ember Moon considers her win to be a dream come true and the reward for all her hard work, she also gaurantees now she has the title, it'll be hard to get it off her. Let's see who steps up...

Zelina Vega and Andrade Almas did not hate to say I told you so when it comes to him winning the title. Now, to celebrate.

In some less cheery news, Drew McIntyre appears to have injured his arm during the match. He vows to come back for  his title once he's healed.

SaNItY help each other to the back and appear to have been hit so hard that their reality is now monochrome.

According to Adam Cole, he told everyone this is their era and now, they runs this place.

                                  

And to end this bumper edition of On the YouTubes, here's an interview with Triple H. Listen out for around 8:03 for HHH calling Drew McIntyre - Drew Galloway, ha, hilarious, BotchaMania am I right, Lads?

TakeOver specials rarely, if ever these days, don't deliver and this one on many fronts almost overachieved. With one near-classic, two superb matches and two good-to-very good ones, it was a top-to-bottom card of sheer entertainment and at only five matches, it didn't outstay its welcome. It's a cliché by now to look at whatever bloated cross-promotional card the main roster is putting on the day after a TakeOver but in this instance, I really wouldn't want to be forced to follow this. If you are lacking for time, skip the bits between matches but don't miss this, it's good. 

Article by Jozef Raczka (@NotJozefRaczka)

*If you thought I was kidding, I'm not. I am genuinely invested in Black and Dream.