NXT Takeover Brooklyn Review

Greetings Ladies and Gents! It is I, The Shaman of Animation back again with another wrestling review. This past weekend saw NXT in Brooklyn for its newest event: NXT Takeover Brooklyn (Original name I know). So without further ado, let's dive on in.

First on the card we have Tyler Breeze vs Jushin "Thunder" Liger

This was a very huge moment for the WWE for it marked the first time Jushin Liger stepped foot in a WWE ring. To those who don't know (I didn't until this event & a quick Google search), Jushin Liger is a very well known and renowned Japanese wrestle. He has wrestled all over the world in his near thirty year career, he's a revolutionized a lot of wrestling in the 90's, such as him innovating the shooting star press. Even though Takeover was my first time watching him in a match, I could definitely see his influence on the wrestling world as a lot of his wrestling arsenal and style can be seen in today's modern day wrestlers both in the big shows and in the indies. The match itself was a decent opener. Nothing fancy or with five star level, but it does its job as an opening match. Liger fans will definitely be happy seeing this match.

Next on the list, we have The Vaudevillains vs Blake & Murphy for the NXT Tag Team Titles

This was a pretty good, old fashioned tag match. It started a little slow, but it definitely picked up and became a lot more fun when Simon Gotch got the hot tag. The story of the match was that The Vaudevillains couldn't beat Blake and Murphy because the tag champs third party Alexa Bliss would interfere and caused them so the Vaudevillains needed their own third party to even the odds. In came Blue Pants.

Blue Pants is a comedy character that shows up in NXT from time to time

Blue Pants being on the side of The Vaudevillains helped tip the scale in their favor and because of this we have brand new NXT champs.

Third: Tye Dillinger vs Apollo Crews

This was where the show picked up some more

As you can read the picture up above, this match was the in ring debut of Apollo Crews. I've only seen one match and some highlights from this man in the indies when he went by the name Uhaa Nation. Seeing him here in this debut I can only say, holy hell this man is impressive. You won't see too many 6 foot and very muscular men doing standing enzuigiris, or a standing moonsault while still being a powerhouse wrestler like Apollo Crews. He got the win in his debut match. After watching him I can only wish him the best of luck in his WWE run.

Next: Samoa Joe vs Baron Corbin

This was a greatly booked match involving two big guys. The match was presented as two very unstoppable forces colliding with one another. Baron Corbin was a guy who didn't care what about the dues others paid to get where they were and only wanted to dominate everyone in NXT. On the other hand, you have Samoa Joe, the veteran, will get the young upstart to respect him. I've only seen Baron wrestle one match that was longer than five minutes. But he really delivered as strong as a performance as he could and he had a good match; and it should go without saying that Samoa Joe is a great performer. There was plenty of back and forth brawling and the way the teased Joe getting the rear naked choke until he eventually did and won the match was also well done.   

The first Main event: Bayley vs Sasha Banks for the NXT Women's title

Undoubtedly, the match of the night. The story and the drama to the match added so much to it. You have Bayley who's one of the Four Horsewomen of the WWE along with Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks who are changing the game for women's wrestling in the WWE; and while the latter three moved up to the main WWE roster and have "created change" in the Divas division (Yeah, I'll explain one day why the whole Divas Revolution on Raw is a crock), Bayley's never one the big one. She's considered the weak link in the Horsewomen, the one who's not good enough; and this match was pretty much a culmination of everything that she's worked so hard in NXT for.

The story that's built up to this match was great but the story told in the match was even better. Sasha Banks is an amazing heel (Bad guy for those who don't know), throughout the match, she was cocky, she mocked and talked smack to Bayley, she even took advantage of the injured hand of Bayley in the match (Classic Heel stuff).  

The in ring action was also amazing; these two girls were determined to put on a clinic and they did. They were pulling out corner suplexes, Sasha Banks did an over the top rope plancha, and of course that reverse Hurricanrana from the top rope by Bayley where I thought Sasha Banks broke her neck was incredible. The match ends with Bayley as the new NXT women's champion and her celebrating with the rest of The Four Horsewomen. This was not only match of the night but also a match of the year candidate in my opinion.

And Finally, The main event: Kevin Owens vs Finn Balor for The NXT Championship in a Ladder Match

Of course like any other Finn Balor Takeover match, the biggest highlight of the match was Finn Balor's awesome entrance in The Demon body paint. This match was not bad at all, but the problem with it was that it was a Ladder Match. Ladder matches have been very over saturated in the WWE these last several years, all the big spots that could be done in a ladder match nowadays has been done, so there's no real innovation to them. That being said, the two competitors gave everything they had. Kevin Owens was especially a little more intense that night than he usually is; and there was a funny little moment when Kevin Owens Superkicked Balor and there was a chant for The Young Bucks, this indie team that doesn't even work for the company. But overall, I enjoyed the women's match more than I did the main event.

Conclusion: You know, if you're a wrestling fan over the age of say 13, when you tell someone you're a fan of wrestling, you'll usually get a look from someone and you'll most likely be asked: 'Why do you like that fake stuff?' NXT Takeover Brooklyn was the show that reminded me why after all these years, and after watching the abysmal show that was last night's Summerslam, I continue to watch wrestling. It's fiction yeah, but it's fiction that gives you a world filled with larger than life, and sometimes very over the top and silly characters; and you have these people who in real life spend years learning and perfecting the craft of pro wrestling; and when these two elements are combined and done right, you're left with a product that just sucks you in and has you invested in it the stories (and the drama) told. And once again, if done right, seeing these stories have proper conclusions and payoffs will leave you feeling completely satisfied with the television you've watched.

If you haven't seen NXT Takeover Brooklyn or haven't seen anything NXT ever, do yourself a favor. Give it a watch. The Future is Now is not just some cheap tagline for NXT, it's nothing but the truth.

Til next time folks, I'm The Shaman of Animation. Take Care...