With NXT Takeover: Chicago in the books, and another performance that puts the main roster on notice in less than 24 hours, we saw a lot of ups and very few downs. Here are 6 things we learned from NXT Takeover: Chicago. (Results at the bottom)
1. Roderick Strong is over.
Not over, like he’s done. Over as in the crowd loves him and connects with him. Since his NXT debut he was just kind of “there” and I didn’t care much for him. He had solid matches, but there’s a lot of guys that have solid matches. Then they connected him with the fans. They opened up the curtains on Strong with some excellent video packages and vignettes. At first I was annoyed because it felt like they were rehashing Dillinger vs Sanity, but tonight showed that Strong is no Tye Dillinger. In fact, he’s seemingly a few steps ahead and, for the time being, has vanquished Eric Young.
2. The next “horsewomen” are beginning to be seen.
While no one has dominated NXT like Asuka has, TakeOver showed me that NXT has found their next wave of women. They have the Beckys and the Sashas. They have the solid staple that will lead the NXT Women forward into the future, into the woman’s revolution. Ruby Riot and Nikki Cross are two of the best they have right now. While the match felt a little off and some of the timing missed, it’s developmental and they’ll pick it up. They sure can go, though. Riot and Cross look like stars, they feel like stars, they are dedicated into their characters and we have yet to see them miss a beat. As they keep feuding each other, they’re going to make each other become those top women in NXT. Hopefully Ember Moon follows suit when she’s healed up.
3. Bobby Roode can make you care about anything.
Nothing against Hideo Itami though. I enjoyed his work before NXT as Kenta and I enjoy his work in NXT. Itami has missed a LOT of ring time with injuries the past 18 months and a lot of us just didn’t feel a need to care as much this time around. I wasn’t really looking forward to the title match, to be honest, but Roode had my interest. Roode sold the feud, the angle, and got me interested. Did I think it would be a good match? Absolutely. Did I think it would be as good as it was? Absolutely not. I felt like it would be a filler. I feel like Bobby Roode is just going to get filler feuds until Roderick gets the green light (or until Adam Cole debuts, if he signs). While I like Itami for the most part, Roode proved that he can make you care about anything, draw your interest into it all.
4. Pete Dunne is MONEY
If you have been going around and bad mouthing the UK talent that the WWE has brought together, you’re wrong about them. Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate put on, what could very well be, the match of the year. Everything about it was perfect. Point blank. PERFECT. Pete Dunne is money though. The “Brusierweight” is everything you’d want a heel to be. He’s sort of like a British Kevin Owens, and look at what Owens has been doing since he signed! The man is on fire and needs to be taken to the moon with a few others. He’s the new UK Champ, he’s the PROGRESS World Champion and he could easily be NXTs best heel since Owens.
5. Authors of Pain are a different breed.
When AoP debuted, they were kind of boring… okay, okay, they were REALLY boring. Someone had the idea to call up Paul Ellering and bring him in to manage. Okay, we might be getting somewhere. Fast Forward to the Dusty Tag Team Tournament and they are getting into their niche, feeling their characters and beings. More importantly, they look to be in even better shape than before and they’re having decent matches with every team.
Fast Forward and you get to see how much the two have improved. How drastically they’ve changed from being two monsters who squash guys into being two monsters that can tell a story and have pretty impressive athleticism. The shark cage match with TM-61 was really good, and then they ran into the likes of The Revival and DIY who helped show how impressive these two monsters really are. They are a different breed and have an amazing future ahead of them
6.Family means nothing to some people.
NXT TakeOver, if you’ve not see it yet, saw Gargano and Ciampa lose their tag title ladder match. A match that they could have easily won against AoP based on their quickness alone, and they lost.
“It’s ok. We’re still family”
The fateful last words you can see the lips of Ciampa telling Gargano before he lost his mind and beat the hell out of his “Family”. Ciampa unleashed hell on Gargano with various kicks to the head and throwing him into anything he could. The show ended as Ciampa climbed onto the announce table and gave a “White Noise”, that would make Sheamus jealous, off the announce table and down 10 feet through a couple of folding tables that were set up. EMT’s arrived to put Gargano on a stretcher as Ciampa sat on the announce table, just staring down at him
Triple H clearly doesn’t care about the money they can still make with #DIY, instead he cares about the story they can tell, the matches they can have, and the money waiting for everyone as the “Ciampa Betrayal” plays out. If you’re not excited for NXT this summer, then you may want to check your pulse.
NXT TakeOver Chicago Results:
Roderick Strong d. Eric Young via pinfall
Pete Dunne d. Tyler Bate(c) via pinfall
Asuka(c) d. Ruby Riot and Nikki Cross via double pinfall
Bobby Roode(c) d. Hideo Itami via pinfall
Authors of Pain(c) d. #DIY via retrieving the tag team titles from above the ring.
@RealCrazyBill