WWE NXT TakeOver: The End Review

WWE NXT TakeOver: The End
June 8, 2016
Winter Park, Florida

Every beginning has an end... The NXT Championship is up for grabs when Finn Balor and Samoa Joe meet inside a Steel Cage!

Match 1: Tye Dillinger vs. Andrade Almas
Poor Tye Dillinger, you just know that he's already taking the L for this one before the match even started as the commentators just could not wait to hype up Andrade Almas. This match was really just a way to display the array of offense that Almas has and quite honestly, it worked. The crowd was eating up his moves and enjoyed watching Dillinger do everything in his power to derail this hype train. However, Almas is able to defeat Dillinger after running his knees straight into the face of Dillinger in the corner. Solid and pretty quick opening match that does a great job of starting off the night while nicely getting Almas over with the audience.  
Winner: Andrade Almas
Rating: **3/4

Match 2: NXT Tag Team Championship - American Alpha (c) vs. The Revival
This is the big rematch from their awesome match the two teams had back at the TakeOver event in Dallas during WrestleMania weekend. This match was just as solid as their first bout with everybody getting involved within the contest and more than doing their parts. The Revival really don't get enough credit for the way they work as dastardly heels. They're old-school and while they don't have the fanciest set of moves, they make up for it with their smart and rugged approach in the ring. Their style in the ring meshed well against American Alpha here and this made for a roller coaster of a match with nearfalls and awesome tag team wrestling to boot. Sweet finishing sequence where American Alpha looked to hit their Grand Amplitude finisher to score the win until The Revival were able to make it into a Shatter Machine to steal the win and their second NXT Tag Team Championship! Fun match in only the second match of the night and a rematch that certainly holds well against their first battle. After the match, The Authors of Pain come out to destroy both Chad Gable and Jason Jordan. Perfect booking to not only set up a future match between the teams but to also get the new guys in The Authors of Pain over as badass heels.
Winners: The Revival
Rating: ****

Match 3: Austin Aries vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Certainly the dream match of sorts here as two icons from the independent circuit go at it on the WWE stage. From the moment the bell rung, my eyes were glued to the screen for this one. These two are veterans of the game and really know how to build up the match from the very start. Loved the more methodical pace in the beginning with emphasis on grappling before the two took things up a notch soon after. The exchanges these two had looked like they were legitimately trying to take each other's heads off and the crowd was definitely eating it up. Austin Aries looked to have the match sealed but one missed dive to the outside cost him everything. Shinsuke Nakamura took advantage of the mishap and went to town. Kinshasha to the face of Aries spilled the end for him as Nakamura walks away the victory in an awesome match. All you have to do is look at the two names on the card and you know what you're going to get. This was certainly the case as both men were on the top of their game for this one. Fun stuff.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
Rating: ****1/4

Match 4: NXT Women's Championship - Asuka (c) vs. Nia Jax
This is Asuka's biggest test since winning the championship from Bayley a couple months prior to this as Nia Jax bullied her way to an opportunity for the gold. While Asuka certainly is a beast in her own right, she hasn't faced anyone with the size and strength like a Nia Jax. The two did a great job in telling that story throughout the match with Asuka giving everything she had but almost always falling short to the sheer power of Jax. It made for a very compelling watch as Jax was having her way with Asuka for the better part of the match. However, Asuka finally found an opening and demolished Jax with some brutal kicks to seal the win and retain the gold. Loved the finish and loved seeing Jax scream at Asuka before taking a brutal kick to the head. Even in 2016, Asuka was already a star at this point. 
Winner: Asuka
Rating: ***3/4

Match 5: NXT Championship - Steel Cage Match - Samoa Joe (c) vs. Finn Balor
Another rematch from the NXT TakeOver event in Dallas as the guys who main evented the show do so again inside a steel cage. First off... Finn Balor has the coolest entrances in the game. From the chainsaw at the Dallas TakeOver event to the dope cage-themed entrance here. Kudos for the creativity and getting me that much more psyched for the match. Evenly balanced contest throughout the match and never once did I have to question the two guys why they weren't able to exit the cage so easily since the opponent never made it easy. Loved watching the two beat the crap out of each other as they nicely utilized the steel cage to play a huge role in the match and the beatings they were dishing out against each other. Balor looked to escape the cage until Samoa Joe grabbed him from the middle rope and dropped him with a Muscle Buster off the rope to pick up the big win. Another great match for the night with another awesome finish to go with it. Steel Cage Matches can become so repetitive but these two did a great job of ensuring this wasn't one of your more ordinary ones. Two masters at their craft, what's not to like about it? 
Winner: Samoa Joe
Rating: ****

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
As usual, this was another fantastic NXT TakeOver outing. Every match delivered with the shining star going to the Austin Aries vs. Shinsuke Nakamura match. I have nothing else to say. If you don't watch NXT, then you're just flat out missing out on a ton of good stuff. 
Rating: 9/10