WWE NXT TakeOver: Orlando 2017 Review

WWE NXT TakeOver: Orlando 2017
April 1, 2017
Orlando, Florida

It's the night before WrestleMania and NXT is ready to steal the show once again. Two big title matches headline this TakeOver event as Asuka puts her NXT Women's Championship on the line against Ember Moon while Bobby Roode defends his NXT Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura!

Match 1: SAnitY vs. Tye Dillinger, Ruby Riot, Roderick Strong & Kassius Ohno
With No Way Jose being attacked before the event, Kassius Ohno was recruited to take on SAnitY here in this opening match. What an odd collection we have here to go against Eric Young's crew but nonetheless, this one was still a fun opener. With Tye Dillinger being the leader of the pack to take out SAnitY, they did a great job early on of isolating him away from his team so the crowd could get hot for when he was tagged in. When that time came, the crowd loved it and Dillinger started cleaning house left and right. However. the numbers game would eventually catch up to him as Killian Dain was able to secure the win for his team in the middle of the ring when everybody else was laid out. A little too chaotic and seemed like there was no real point of having Nikki Cross or Ruby Riot in the mix since they barely saw any time in the ring. Regardless, a good opening match for what it was.
Winners: SAnitY
Rating: ***1/4

Match 2: Andrade Almas vs. Aleister Black
Aleister Black is new to the NXT realm and looks to make his mark against Andrade Almas in the second match of the night. While this match was really supposed to be a showcase for Black, it almost came off as the complete opposite. Crowd was receptive to Black's ambiance along with his cool entrance but they were almost more interested in seeing Almas give it to Black. The match here went on for about ten minutes and they made pretty good use of the time with some nice exchanges between the two along with the two showboating early on in the match to set the tone. Finally, Black was able to land his Black Mass kick to seal the win. Again, good match for what it was but definitely not what I was expecting. Was hoping for a longer bout between the two considering how damn good they are in the ring.
Winner: Aleister Black
Rating: ***

Match 3: NXT Tag Team Championship - Elimination Match - The Authors of Pain (c) vs. The Revival vs. #DIY
Whenever you see these teams listed in a match, you know you are about to get something good. And yes, they more than delivered here with the crowd absolutely eating it up. Loved the dynamic early on in the match with both The Revival and #DIY working together to topple the giants of The Authors of Pain. They've done a fantastic job in building up AOP as the beasts that they are and the other two teams in the match did a great job of demonstrating the struggle of even taking them out early on despite having the numbers advantage. Even by driving Rezar through a table and trying to submit Akam in the middle of the ring, both #DIY and The Revival were still unable to take them out of the equation. Tommaso Ciampa would eventually fall victim to AOP first and get himself and Johnny Gargano eliminated from the match. If AOP was going to drop the gold, it would be to The Revival. Despite The Revival putting up a solid fight, AOP still proved to be too much as they were able to score the win and retain the titles. Fantastic match that had no shortage of action. Main gripe would probably having #DIY get eliminated first before The Revival. The crowd was absolutely hot for them and once they got eliminated from the match, some of the steam they had gained from the match was seemingly lost. But damn, we don't give AOP enough credit to this day.
Winners: The Authors of Pain
Rating: ****1/4

Match 4: NXT Women's Championship - Asuka (c) vs. Ember Moon
At this point, they were still trying to get Asuka over as a heel as she takes on the white hot Ember Moon for the NXT Women's Championship. Asuka worked great as a dominant babyface but it was eventually time for her to switch roles and go against a worthy babyface in someone like Moon. Fun action in the ring with the two not being shy of being physical against each other. Loved watching their trash talk throughout the match, their banter really helped me feel like I was watching an intense match for a world championship. Great finish to this one with Asuka pushing the referee to Moon who was on the top rope. This caused Moon to crash hard and left an opening for Asuka to knock her out cold with a hard kick. If they wanted to get Asuka over as a heel, that was the best possible finish. Great match that would have benefited a lot more with a few more minutes. Regardless, sets up a rematch between the two down the road so the appetite is still there.
Winner: Asuka
Rating: ***1/2

Match 5: NXT Championship - Bobby Roode (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
This is their big rematch from January when Bobby Roode topped Shinsuke Nakamura for the NXT Championship in the main event of TakeOver: San Antonio. Definitely got the big-fight feel for this one with the two coming out to electric entrances. The new NXT Championship was debuted and looked a thousand times nicer than the older one. Roode was quick to work on the left knee of Nakamura early on and also throughout the match in hopes of eliminating that Kinshasa finisher. Match felt pretty similar to their last one, a bit dragged out and almost felt like they went a half hour just for the sake of it. However, that's not to say that the action in the ring was boring because it was far from it. Loved the physicality between the two and Roode works so great as that dastardly heel trying to be cerebral in every move. Despite Nakamura nearly scoring the win when Roode lost track of things by trying to bring the ring bell into the mix, Roode was still able to take out Nakamura with a Glorious DDT after getting some momentum from the top rope. Good main event match but like their first encounter, definitely a bit underwhelming.
Winner: Bobby Roode
Rating: ***3/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Another solid offering from NXT but definitely not the best by their own standards. While the main event was a tad bit disappointing, I think it's still worthy enough for me to recommend someone going back to watch. However, it was really the NXT Tag Team Championship match that stole the show and the main reason why one should go back and take a look at this show. Was I expecting a bit more? Sure, but then again that's just a testament to how high NXT has raised the bar. Their good is better than most people's great.
Rating: 8/10