WWE NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 2015 Review

Match 1: Jushin "Thunder" Liger vs. Tyler Breeze
Seeing the legend that is Jushin "Thunder" Liger on a WWE stage is awesome. The reception he received was simply incredible. Tyler Breeze isn't a joke, this guy just looks like a star and his cool New York entrance proves it. Having these guys open up the show is perfect, Liger was able to get in his signature moves while Breeze was able to show his disrespect throughout the match. However, Liger would get in the last laugh, taking selfies with Breeze's props and finally hitting a Liger Bomb in a WWE ring to secure the win! Would have been cool to see Breeze get the win but either way, it was a damn good opener and the crowd was absolutely hot from the beginning to the finish.
Winner: Jushin "Thunder" Liger
Rating: ***

Match 2: NXT Tag Team Championships - Blake & Murphy (c) vs. The Vaudevillains
Before the match, Alexa Bliss gets on the microphone and puts over the champs until Blue Pants comes out to the delight of the crowd. This is my first time seeing both of these teams so excuse me if I'm a tad bit confused about all this. Both teams are really great here, adapting to the size of a huge audience and made each tag and each cover mean something. The Vaudevillains avoid a couple close calls and are able to hit their Whirling Dervish finishing move to gain the victory and the straps. Another good match that didn't blow me away, but really made me more hungry for the rest of the card. Fun stuff and cool to see these guys win the titles. They look like they made an odd gimmick special and run away with it because they just ran away from Brooklyn with gold.
Winners: The Vaudevillains
Rating: ***1/4

Match 3: Apollo Crews vs. Tye Dillinger
As impressive as Apollo Crews looks, he just seems to have that generic babyface gimmick. But boy, this guy is a stud in the ring. Tye Dillinger isn't no joke either. They weren't given much time on the card but for what they had, they made it work. This is also Crews' debut match on NXT so it made sense, they just needed him to go out and basically display his moveset and try to get over with the audience. He accomplished this task and made it look easy in the process. Crews hits a standing moonsault on Dillenger to pick up the win on his birthday. Really impressive finisher and looks like a force that the rest of the roster has to deal with it.
Winner: Apollo Crews
Rating: **1/4

Match 4: Baron Corbin vs. Samoa Joe
They showed an awesome video package of their feud and like the others, this is my first time seeing Baron Corbin. This guy looks legit and can cut a good promo, he has the perfect opponent in Samoa Joe. Corbin has a huge frame and looks a bit green in the ring but even still, he looked good here against the veteran Joe. Action was stiff but never got out of hand, good enough to please the audience and have a nice match. Joe locks in the Coquina Clutch for the third time after reversing a pin from Corbin to secure the win as Corbin passes out. Just a good strong-style match with lots of punches and hard hits with a very fitting finish. Corbin takes the loss but has the out for it considering he never actually tapped out. Interesting to see where they go with Corbin and Joe after this.
Winner: Samoa Joe
Rating: **3/4

Match 5: NXT Women's Championship - Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bayley
This is the first of two main events of the night and Stephanie McMahon came out beforehand to put over the women's division. Bayley seems like the second coming of AJ Lee, she has a really cool entrance and the crowd seems to like her. But the crowd loves Sasha Banks, including myself. She just looks, walks, and talks like a star. The Boss looked dominant throughout the match, toying with Bayley and showing her dominance with trash talking left and right. Banks even pulls off the wrapping around Bayley's injured hand before pinning the same hand between the ring steps and the apron where Banks kicks the steps with Bayley's hand lodged in between. Awesome. Before Bayley can have time to recover, Banks jumps out of the ring and lands atop of her. More awesome. Banks looks to be even in more control as she locks in her Bank Statement finisher and stomps on the hand of Bayley before Bayley reverses it into her own Bank Statement! Banks is able to get a rope break and continues to be in control soon after. However, Bayley turns the tides and hits a hurricanrana from the top before hitting a second Bayley to Belly to win! Unbelievable, what a match! Told a great story from the beginning, Banks the bully, her focus on Bayley's hand, the incredible finish. Banks then congratulates Bayley along with Charlotte and Becky Lynch afterwards. This is a fine line between ****3/4 and a perfect *****. It was tough, but I feel like the ***** is more fitting after a quick thought. There really weren't any flaws and from start to finish, they had me locked in. Whatever your rating is, watch this. You won't find a better match than that in any women's division in any company.
Winner: Bayley
Rating: *****

Match 6: NXT Championship - Ladder - Finn Balor (c) vs. Kevin Owens
Chills seeing Kevin Owens make his way down the ramp and shout at the top of his lungs in the middle of the ring. Even more chills when Finn Balor makes an awesome entrance down to the ring with the crowd behind his back. It's on. The main event. The NXT Championship. Owens is such a cool heel, sitting down and reclining on a chair while all of this goes down. Really, what can I say about this match? You already know it's going to be good. You already know they're going to tear the house down. The rematch from last month's The Beast in the East is an even bigger one, a ladder match in front of a full Barclays Center. Ladder matches tend to get repetitive but I felt like this one was and felt more special. It was two guys going balls out and trying to make a statement with some innovative spots like Balor's Coup de Grace off the top of the ladder or Owens falling hard on a ladder set horizontally from the corner of the ring and on another ladder. Both guys were stars in their own rights here, especially Owens. Owens is such a boisterous heel, constantly screaming at Balor and mocking the crowd. He was definitely making the most out of his main event slot. However, it was Balor who got the last laugh as he was able to grab the title hung up and secure the win. If that was Owens' graduation match from NXT, what a way to go out. Good stuff all around.
Winner: Finn Balor
Rating: ****1/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Another strong NXT outing with two incredible main events. But aside from that, everything else was on point. From the production to the extremely hot crowd, two and a half hours went by in a hurry. This was my first real time checking out an NXT show and I was definitely not disappointed. Check this out.
Rating: 9/10