WWE NXT TakeOver: Dallas 2016 Review

It is the night before the biggest event of the year and NXT looks to ignite the flame for the weekend with a card full of big matches and big names. Could Finn Balor successfully defend his NXT Championship against the white hot Samoa Joe?

Match 1: NXT Tag Team Championships - The Revival (c) vs. American Alpha
Opening up the show sees arguably the two hottest tag teams of NXT fighting for the straps. As usual, crowd is absolutely fired up for the show and definitely reminiscent of a Ring of Honor show. Fine match here that sees the two different styles clash in a very fast-paced match with The Revival doing their usual heelish tricks to score the victory by any means. However, Jason Jordan and Chad Gable were able to pull through and hit their Grand Amplitude finish to score the win and secure the NXT Tag Team Championships in a great start to the show.
Winners: American Alpha
Rating: ***1/2

Match 2: Baron Corbin vs. Austin Aries
As he made his anticipated debut to the WWE world, Austin Aries was attacked from behind on his first day by the big Baron Corbin. Always was a huge fan of Aries so seeing him inside of a WWE ring makes me really happy. I can easily recall going to my first Ring of Honor show back in 2010 and seeing this guy do his thing as the champion. Good match here in which Aries really showed how he is able to adapt to whatever style and whatever size his opponent may be. Corbin used his pure strength to get the advantage over Aries as Aries used his cunning abilities to strike back. Corbin almost hit his End of Days finisher but Aries was able to reverse it into a pin to end the match. Great match here and a big win for Aries as he manages to squeak out the win against the bigger opponent.
Winner: Austin Aries
Rating: **3/4

Match 3: Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Sami Zayn's return to NXT was trumped by the debut of the legendary Shinsuke Nakamura. The match was quickly made for TakeOver and the internet absolutely blew up. Could it quite possibly live up to the overwhelming hype? I think I need to start off by saying how epic Nakamura's entrance was and how loud the crowd got for him, they welcomed him with one of the biggest pops I have ever heard. Nakamura is certainly one of the best at toying with his opponents and putting the audience in a whirlwind and he did a great job of doing so here. Zayn was also great in his role and almost looked at Nakamura in disbelief of what was happening. But once they finally got the ball rolling, it did not stop. Really physical match here with some great exchanges, incredible reversals and cool spots that took us on a roller coaster of a ride. Crowd was on their feet for the majority of the match and they were absolutely hot for those exchanges and near falls. Nakamura was able to hit his patented Kinshasa to seal the win. What a match, what an atmosphere and what a way for Zayn to leave NXT with Nakamura quickly inserting himself as a big-name player.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
Rating: ****1/2

Match 4: NXT Women's Championship - Bayley (c) vs. Asuka
As much hype the WWE likes to bring to Shinsuke Nakamura, the same can be said for Asuka who is running through the NXT roster and earned her shot here against Bayley. Crowd is obviously still hot and they are hot for the champion in Bayley. Asuka is certainly a legitimate challenge to Bayley and her style is definitely something that is fun to watch and like bringing a legitimate challenge to Bayley, she also brings a certain legitimacy to NXT with her striking abilities. Enjoyed the story they were telling here with Bayley trying to hang with a stronger Asuka and Asuka doing her best to make a statement against the champ. Asuka was able to get Bayley on the ground and choke her out to win the match and the NXT Women's Championship. The crowd was shocked as the referee called for the bell after seeing Bayley fall unconscious. Great match here with a fantastic finish, physical from the start and had the crowd dropping their jaws by the end.
Winner: Asuka
Rating: ***3/4

Match 5: NXT Championship - Finn Balor (c) vs. Samoa Joe
The crowd is absolutely pumped for this one and Finn Balor may have just had the coolest entrance ever. The dude brought out a chainsaw which automatically makes his entrance twice as better. The match started fast and started with a brutal headbutt from Samoa Joe that saw him cut open his own head in the process. He looked like a bloody savage and while the match had to get stopped a couple times because of it, it certainly added a different layer to the match in the process. The headbutt from the beginning was a sign of things to come as they brought the physicality to the show here. Crowd was pretty split between the two but they certainly reacted to everything perfectly like every other match on the card. Balor was able to hit his Coup de Grace but was almost immediately locked into a Coquina Clutch. However, Balor was able to use the turnbuckles and flip the submission into a pin as the referee counted to three. Joe looked on in disbelief as he could not come to terms with the finish. Another great match for the night and a great finish that only means a bigger rematch for the two is in the air.
Winner: Finn Balor
Rating: ****1/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
What an amazing show and a phenomenal way to kick off WrestleMania weekend for the WWE. It's almost unbelievable how good the talent in NXT is and how great the audience is for these TakeOver shows. What else is there to really say? Great stuff all around and definitely check this out if you haven't already!
Rating: 9.5/10