Reviews

The John Report: WWE NXT Takeover XXV 06/01/19 Review

By John Canton • Published 1st June 2019
TJR Wrestling

This is the third NXT Takeover of 2019. It’s the only one that won’t be sharing the weekend with a major WWE PPV event. It’s a strong lineup as usual. Let’s get to it.

WWE NXT Takeover XXV
From Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut
June 1, 2019

There was an opening video package showing some highlights of the previous 24 editions of Takeover as we head into Takeover 25 tonight. Good stuff as usual from a WWE video package. Here’s that video.

There was also a video package about this Takeover event hyping up the matches.

There was a shot of the live crowd in Bridgeport looking excited about tonight’s show. The announce team of Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuiness and Beth Phoenix welcomed us to the show. Phoenix recently replaced Percy Watson on the announce team with Watson choosing to leave WWE.

Roderick Strong entered first alone without his Undisputed Era buddies since they have their own matches. The “Bro” Matt Riddle made his entrance to a pretty good pop. Riddle kicked his flip flops in Strong’s direction during his entrance.

Matt Riddle vs. Roderick Strong

Strong worked over Riddle with a knee to the ribs followed by a chop. The lights were turned off in the crowd and there was a spotlight on the ring. Riddle hit a few gutwrench suplexes on Strong. When Strong left the ring, Riddle hit him with a forearm to the face. They battled on the ring apron with Strong shoving Riddle back first into the turnbuckle and Strong drove Riddle back first onto the ring apron, which is the hardest part of the ring as Ranallo mentioned. Strong sent Riddle ribs first into the top rope. Strong hit backbreaker for a two count followed by punches. Strong slapped chinlock as fans chanted “Undisputed / Let’s go Bro” for both guys. Strong continued to work on the ribs, Riddle with punches and he got a rollup for two. Strong with a kick to the ribs followed by an Olympic Slam (hey Kurt Angle) for a two count. Riddle countered a backbreaker attempt and hit a brainbuster. Riddle with a jumping forearm followed by a jump kick. Riddle with two more forearms and an exploder suplex out of the corner. Riddle with a broton (senton splash) followed by a running penalty kick for two. Riddle worked over Strong with kicks to the chest. Strong with a ripcord knee, but Riddle came back with the Go To Sleep and a bridging German Suplex for a two count. Strong with boots to the face, Riddle got a kick and then Strong hit a step up enziguri while Riddle was on the top rope. Strong hit a perfect superplex for a two count.

They each tried for big moves, Riddle was favoring his back and Strong hit a jumping knee strong followed by three forearms to the face and a lifting slam for a two count. Huge “NXT” chant for that because that sequence from Strong was amazing. Riddle with a roundhouse kick, ripcord knee, Powerbomb and a final flash knee strike for the two count. Riddle up top with a twisting attack, but Strong got the knees up to the back. Strong with a knee to the face, backbreaker and a sitout Powerbomb got two for Strong. Boston Crab by Strong, then he turned it into more of a Liontamer and Riddle was able to get out of it. Strong missed a strike, Riddle with elbow strikes and Riddle went for the Bromission. Riddle picked up Strong in a Tombstone like position and hit a sitout slam for the pinfall win at 14:45. The move was called the Bro Derek apparently. Mauro said it, but it was hard to hear it at first.

Winner by pinfall: Matt Riddle

Analysis: **** That was awesome. It was an excellent choice for an opener. It was a hard-hitting match as expected from these two. Riddle getting the win was obvious since he’s an ascending star that’s probably going to be a main eventer soon. Strong was impressive even in defeat. That sequence where Strong was on a flurry on offense and nearly got the win is what really got the crowd going with loud reactions. Riddle couldn’t win with the Bromission due to the back injury he was selling, so going with something else worked pretty well. I liked the psychology of the match with the babyface Riddle finding a way to come back from the back injury to win.

Post match, Riddle celebrated the win. As I said, he’s going to be a main eventer in NXT soon.

There were commercials for WWE Super Showdown on Friday and WWE Shop.

Johnny Gargano was shown warming up backstage.

Shawn Michaels and Road Dogg were shown in the front row. They both work for the NXT brand now.

A video package aired to set up the NXT Tag Team Championships Ladder Match.

The Street Profits duo of Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins made their entrance first to a big pop. They are a very popular team. It’s their first Takeover as a tag team. The Forgotten Sons team of Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler were next with no Jaxson Ryker and the fans were booing them. The team of Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch were next. The last team was The Undisputed Era duo of Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish, who are heels, but the group does get cheered a lot too.

NXT Tag Team Championships: The Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins) vs. The Forgotten Sons (Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler) vs. Oney Lorcan and Burch vs. The Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish)

The Undisputed Era duo were in control early as they cleared the ring. Cutler was sent out of the ring as O’Reilly and Fish faced off with Lorcan and Burch with strikes by all four guys. Lorcan worked over O’Reilly with chops and O’Reilly kicked the leg of Lorcan to send him out of the ring. Dawkins on the apron, so O’Reilly kicked him to the floor. O’Reilly and Fish grabbed ladders from the aisle with Blake hitting a suicide dive onto the Undisputed Era. There were six guys brawling on the floor, so Dawkins went up top and hit a cross body block splash on them. Big pop for that. Ford and Dawkins set up a ladder that was way too short, O’Reilly and Fish stopped that climb and Blake took down that ladder to knock down the Undisputed Era. Ladder shot to the chest of Burch and Lorcan. Forgotten Sons with ladder shots to two teams and then Burch/Lorcan hit double German Suplexes on Forgotten Sons at the same time while a ladder fell onto O’Reilly. Ouch. Dawkins with a spinebuster and Ford with a Frog Splash on Lorcan. Blake was set up across a ladder, so Ford did a leapfrog splash onto Blake’s back on a ladder. Street Profits with a flapjack to Cutler on a ladder. Fish with a forearm to Ford and O’Reilly with a missile dropkick on Dawkins. Fans chanted “this is awesome” as O’Reilly and Fish hit a double team DDT followed by a suplex onto a ladder. Fish tried to climb up the ladder, but Blake gave O’Reilly a Powerbomb into the ladder to knock down Finish. O’Reilly took a lot of punishment in the first ten minutes of this match. He may have lost a tooth too. The referees around the ring all had gloves on, so there was some bleeding among the eight guys too.

Cutler tried to climb a ladder above O’Reilly, but O’Reilly slapped on a leg submission on a ladder rung and Blake tossed O’Reilly out of the ring. Fish with kicks to Cutler. Blake with a reverse DDT while Cutler hit a stomp off the ladder on the chest of Fish. That was a cool spot. Lorcan with a forearm to Cutler off the top while Burch had Cutler on his shoulders. Dawkins had Blake on his shoulders with Ford hitting a Blockbuster neckbreaker off the top on Blake. That was cool. O’Reilly tried to climb, but Jaxson Ryker showed up in the aisle. Ryker grabbed O’Reilly and gave him a Powerbomb into a ladder. Ryker with a Chokeslam to Burch. Ryker launched Ford over the top to the floor. Ryker with a uranage slam to Fish. Dawkins tried to climb, but Ryker tipped the ladder over to knock him down. Ryker whipped a ladder into Dawkins against the turnbuckle. Lorcan charged at Ryker, who gave him a back body drop into the ladder against the turnbuckle. Ford hit Ryker in the back with a forearm and then O’Reilly and Fish worked on Ryker. They were joined by Burch, Dawkins and Ford. The wrestlers in the match worked together and slammed a ladder repeatedly into the back of Ryker about six times, so Ryker crawled to the apron. O’Reilly and Fish hit Ryker in the head with a ladder to knock him down to the floor. Ford followed up with a tope con hilo (somersault dive) over the top rope onto Ryker on the floor. Ryker was back up, so Lorcan hit a dive onto Ryker on the floor. Fish and O’Reilly hit Dawkins with a ladder, but Burch dropkicked the ladder to knock Fish and O’Reilly down. Lorcan and Burch whipped Fish into the ring post. German Suplex by Lorcan to O’Reilly. Burch and Lorcan attacked everybody with ladders and they tossed a ladder onto the three Forgotten Sons on the floor. Lorcan and Burch set up a ladder for a climb, but O’Reilly and Fish stopped that, which led to two ladders getting set up. The two teams reached for the titles, then it turned into a slugfest and the Forgotten Sons shoved over both ladders leading to all four guys going down with Ranallo saying it was like a “Jenga tower collapsing.” Jenga rules! Blake and Cutler tried to climb a ladder, but Dawkins hit a Spear. Ford did a springboard attack off the top onto the ladder (so he jumped off the turnbuckle onto the top part of a ladder), he knocked Blake off the ladder with a punch and Ford grabbed the titles to win the match at 21:30. The crowd popped huge for the win.

Winners and NEW NXT Tag Team Champions: The Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins)

Analysis: ****1/2 It was an outstanding ladder match full of huge moments and I think the right team went over in the end. O’Reilly took a beating throughout the match including possibly a lost tooth or at least a bloody mouth. All eight guys bumped their asses off to put on a show here and they didn’t do anything too crazy, but there several bumps where guys were thrown into ladders, which leads to a rough landing. The Street Profits were the right pick to win since they were the most popular team and it was a big deal when they grabbed the titles. Along with O’Reilly, I thought Ford was the best performer in the match because they set up his spots really well and he stood out with his athleticism, including the final spot to grab the titles.

After the match and some replays, The Street Profits went into the crowd with their titles to celebrate with the crowd. It was a solo cup party.

A commercial aired for WWE 24 about Ronda Rousey that will premiere on WWE Network on Monday after Raw.

There was a shot of Io Shirai warming up backstage with Candice Lerae saying she was there for her.

Velveteen Dream vs. Tyler Breeze is next and they get a video package for their North American Title match.

Tyler Breeze made his entrance for his first NXT match in several years. He got called up to the main roster, didn’t do much there and he’s back. Velveteen Dream entered with the NXT North American Championship around his waist.

NXT North American Championship: Velveteen Dream vs. Tyler Breeze

Dream was wearing shiny gold pants and some necklace as well. Breeze hooked the arms of Dream into a backstabber double knees to the back. Breeze with a clothesline that sent Dream out of the ring. Dream with a punch to block a dive and a double axe off the top. Dream’s jewelry came off. Dream hit a Lionsault off the middle ropes. Breeze left the ring and he drove the left leg of Dream into the ring post. Breeze with a forearm smash off the apron onto Dream on the floor. Breeze went for the attack to the floor again, but Dream stopped him with a punch to the face. Back in the ring, Breeze slapped on a single leg crab submission on the left knee. When Dream got out of the hold, Breeze hit a dropkick that sent Dream over the top to the floor. Breeze followed Dream out of the ring and Dream hit a superkick. The referee was counting, Dream told him to stop and Dream drove Breeze’s head into the announce table about five times. Dream grabbed the cell phone at ringside and put the title in front of Breeze’s face as he filmed a video or took a photo. That time-wasting allowed Breeze to recover with a superkick (or a supermodel kick). Back in the ring, Dream hit the Dream Valley Driver for a two count. Dream went up top leading to Breeze rolling to the apron. Breeze with an enziguri kick to the head. Breeze up top with a cross body block, Dream turned it into a cover and got two. Dream tried a DDT, Breeze got out of it and hit another supermodel kick for a two count. The fans chanted “This is gorgeous/Velveteen” for the two guys. Breeze hooked the arms of Dream, but Dream drove him back to the turnbuckle. Dream with a boot to the mouth, but Breeze hit a dropkick to counter a leaping attack. Dream hit a Dream-DT (his version of a DDT) for a two count. Breeze was bleeding from the left ear. They were both down for about a minute.

Dream went up top and Breeze tripped up Dream on the top rope. Dream tossed Breeze across the ring, but Breeze came back with a knee strike to the face. They teased a Tombstone spot with multiple counters, Breeze sent Dream into the corner, Dream avoided a dropkick attempt and Dream hit an Unprettier (shoutout Christian) for a two count. That’s a move that Breeze uses. Dream went for the top rope elbow, but Breeze avoided it and Breeze hit a supermodel kick against the turnbuckle. Breeze hit the Unprettier for a two count. Dream with a small package. Breeze hit a Beauty Shot (spinning heel kick) that he used as his finisher in NXT a few years ago, but Dream rolled out of the ring to the floor. Breeze was frustrated by that. Breeze went into the ring and told the referee to stop counting because Breeze wants to win the title. Dream tried to attack with the title, Breeze took it away, then the ref had the title, so Dream went back in with the Dream Valley Driver and then the Purple Rainmaker by Dream (top rope elbow) got the pinfall win at 16:20.

Winner by pinfall: Velveteen Dream

Analysis: ***1/2 That was pretty good with a creative finish where Dream tried to get the title involved because he was frustrated by not being able to put Breeze away and then that ended up helping Dream get the win. In other words, Dream outsmarted Breeze. The important thing that happened here is that Breeze reminded us that he’s a very good wrestler especially when he gets time to have a match. There were plenty of good nearfalls for both guys, but I didn’t like that Dream was selling the knee early and then they totally forgot about it.

After the match was over, Dream had the phone in his hands and was trying to take selfies. Breeze celebrated by holding the title in the air. Dream gave Breeze the phone back. Breeze didn’t let Dream leave. The fans chanted “selfie” for them. Breeze took the selfie with Dream. It was shown on the video screen by the entrance.

Analysis: I guess the post match selfie is like doing a handshake after a match. Neither guy is really a heel, so that’s fine.

A commercial aired for Super Showdown this Friday, June 7.

A video aired for Damien Priest, who used to be known as Punishment Martinez.

The video package aired for the NXT Women’s Championship match.

Io Shirai entered first as the challenger. Shayna Baszler was next as the NXT Women’s Champion. They stood in the ring for the championship introductions.

NXT Women’s Championship: Shayna Baszler vs. Io Shirai

Shirai sent Baszler out of the ring followed by a dropkick that knocked Baszler down. Back in the ring, Baszler pulled Shirai off the ropes, kick to the arm and then Baszler stomped on the left elbow of Shirai. When Shirai tried a rollup, Baszler hit a clothesline. Baszler wrenched on the left arm of Shirai. Baszler with an arm wringer followed by a hard kick to the back for a two count. Baszler tried another arm stomp, but Shirai moved out of the way and Shirai hit a German Suplex. Shirai let go of the pin attempt because of the arm injury. Good job of selling by her. Shirai with a double axehandle to the face followed by a 619 kick by the ropes and Shirai hit a springboard dropkick for two. Baszler with a forearm, but Shirai took her down with a Crossface submission. Baszler powered out of it into a slam. They went over to the turnbuckle where Shirai hit a dropkick to the butt leading to Baszler bumping over the top to the floor. Shirai went up top and she hit an impressive moonsault onto Baszler on the floor! Ranallo was screaming in excitement and it looked so impressive. Back in the ring, Shirai with a missile dropkick followed by a double knee attack into the turnbuckle. Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir went to the ring to support Baszler. Candice LeRae showed up with a kendo stick to attack both heels. LeRae with a cross body block on Duke and Shafir on the floor. Back in the ring, Baszler got an inside cradle for two. Shirai with a palm thrust to the face. Shirai went up, moonsault, but Baszler moved and Baszler with a Kirifuda Clutch submission, which Shirai turned into a two count. Shirai tried a cradle, but Baszler slapped on the Kirifuda Clutch again. The fans were going crazy cheering “Io” to get out of the hold and Baszler continued to apply the Kirifuda Clutch. Shirai tapped out to give Baszler another Takeover win at 12:15.

Winner by submission: Shayna Baszler

Analysis: ***1/4 Good match that felt like a replay of some other Baszler matches where she retained at Takeovers in the past even though fans wanted to see somebody else get the win. Shirai sold the arm injury very well, I liked her comebacks a lot and then the finishing sequence was well done. I picked Baszler to retain just because I know how much they like her as champion. If they do this match again, I’ll pick Shirai to get the title.

After the match, Shirai had a kendo stick and she attacked Baszler from behind. Shirai hit Baszler repeatedly with the kendo stick. Shirai went up top and hit a moonsault on Baszler. McGuinness called it poor sportsmanship while Ranallo said they drove Shirai to do this. LeRae handed Shirai a steel chair and Shirai went up top with a moonsault with the chair onto the chest of Baszler. That was impressive. Post match, Shirai hugged LeRae and they went to the back. There was a shot of Baszler’s back and you could see welts from the kendo stick shots. Fans chanted “you deserve it” at the heel champion Baszler.

Analysis: That post match angle will likely mean another match is coming between them where it might be a stipulation match and Shirai could win the title there. They could have had Baszler cheat more in order to make us feel sorrier for Shirai.

There was a commercial for a WWE Network special following Triple H during WrestleMania week and it airs after Takeover.

A commercial aired for NXT UK Takeover Cardiff on Saturday, August 31. Same day as AEW’s All Out show with UK Takeover airing several hours earlier since it’s in Wales.

There was a shot of Stephanie McMahon at ringside. She’s rich. Britt Baker, who is Adam Cole’s girlfriend and now works for AEW, was a few seats away. It’s nice of WWE to get her good seats even though she works for AEW.

It’s main event time. The video package aired for the NXT Championship match between Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole.

Adam Cole made his entrance with Josiah Williams (he does Wrestle N Flow videos on Youtube and WWE recently hired him) joining him doing a rap on his way to the ring. Johnny Gargano got a big pop as the NXT Champion with a big smile on his face. They stood in the ring for the championship introductions.

Analysis: Their first match this year was my WWE Match of the Year so far and I rated it five stars out of five. Let’s see if they can top it.

NXT Championship: Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole

There was some mat wrestling early along with counters and then Cole bailed to the floor for some stalling. When they went back in the ring, Cole worked over Gargano with a forearm. Gargano with a running hurricanrana takedown, they each went for moves on the floor and Gargano hit a running dive onto Cole. Gargano kicking the arm of Cole followed by a double stomp off the apron onto the left arm of Cole. Gargano with a legdrop on the left arm of Cole. They battled by the turnbuckle with Cole avoiding an attack followed by a kick to the back of the leg of Gargano. Cole with a dropkick to the right knee of Gargano. Cole worked over the right knee of Gargano. Normally wrestlers work on the left side of body parts, but Cole is going for the right knee here. Cole went to the turnbuckle and hit a dropkick to the right knee of Gargano. Cole with a dragon screw leg whip on Gargano’s knee. Cole went for an attack off the middle ropes, but Gargano dropped him with a Powerbomb. Gargano with a forearm followed by a belly to belly suplex, rolling kick and a step up enziguri. Gargano off the middle turnbuckle with a tornado flatliner for the two count. Gargano with a kick to the head followed by a Spear off the apron for a two count. Gargano was selling the right knee injury.

Gargano set up Cole on the top rope. Cole tried the sunset flip, but it didn’t work, Gargano jumped off with a back elbow drop attempt and he went right into a Backstabber double knees by Cole to the back of Gargano. When Gargano tried a move, he favored his right knee and Cole hit an enziguri kick followed by a burning hammer into a knee in the face for a two count. Cole went to the middle ropes, Gargano avoided an attack, each guy got a superkick, Cole got another superkick and Cole jumped off the turnbuckle right into a superkick by Gargano. The fans chanted “NXT” as both guys rolled to the floor. They did a double superkick spot on the floor where they each landed on the floor. The referee took his time to start the ten count. When they got back in the ring, Gargano hit a slingshot DDT for a two count. Cole tried a chop block, but Gargano avoided it and hit a dropkick to the back of the head. Cole bailed to the floor again. Gargano to the apron and Cole kicked him in the right leg. Cole with the Ushigoroshi (suplex into the knee) on the floor. Back in the ring, Cole with another Ushigoroshi for a two count. Cole with an elbow to the right leg. Gargano pulled down Cole off the top rope by the left arm. Gargano slapped on the Gargano Escape submission on the left arm. Cole got out of it by grabbing the right leg of Gargano and slapping on the Figure Four Leglock submission. Gargano wrenched on the left arm of Cole to turn the Figure Four Leglock and Cole grabbed the bottom rope to break it. It’s about 20 minutes into this match.

Cole continued the offense by driving the right knee of Gargano into the mat. Cole stomped on the right leg of Gargano. Gargano kicked Cole out of the ring, Cole to the apron and Gargano with a DDT. Gargano went for a suicide dive, but Cole moved and hit him with a superkick to the face! Gargano went crashing to the mat. That was a great spot that also looked brutal. Cole jumped off the apron with the Panama Sunrise sunset flip into a piledriver on the floor. Cole sent Gargano back in the ring for a two count. Best nearfall of the night with Ranallo being shocked that Gargano kicked out. The fans chanted “Mama Mia” quoting Mauro’s famous phrase. Cole went for the Last Shot knee, but Gargano moved and Gargano wanted the Gargano Escape. Cole slapped on the Gargano Escape submission, the crowd was going wild and Gargano got back up leading to a Last Shot knee of his own for a two count. Great nearfall there too leading to “NXT” chants. They got “fight forever” chants. Cole came back with three kicks to the face, but Gargano bounced off the ropes with a clothesline. Cole with a superkick, Gargano with a superkick and a Reverse Rana by Gargano. Cole hit the Last Shot knee to the back of the head for one…two…and no! Cole was frustrated that he couldn’t put Gargano away, so he grabbed a chair from under the ring. The referee left the ring and told Cole he can’t bring the chair into the ring. Gargano went for a suicide dive, Cole moved and Gargano took down the referee Drake Weurtz, who is a former wrestler. Gargano avoided a chair shot and superkicked the chair into Cole’s face. Gargano sent Cole in the ring, he did a cover, but there was no referee to count. Gargano sent the referee back in the ring. Cole signaled for the Undisputed Era guys to come out, but there was nobody. Cole hit a move where he drove Gargano’s head into the mat that was almost like a piledriver and that was good for two as the referee tried to get back up. That meant that Cole faked calling out his buddies in order to hit a move. Smart heel! The crowd chanted “This is Awesome” for them. Damn right. Cole tried the Last Shot knee again, but Gargano collapsed to the mat before Cole could hit the move. Gargano was playing possum because he slapped on the Gargano Escape submission. Cole elbowed Gargano in the right knee to get away. Cole with two kicks to the right knee. Cole went for the Panama Sunrise, Gargano escaped and Gargano was hurting due to the knee, so Cole went for it again. Cole hit the Panama Sunrise followed by the Last Shot knee to the back for the pinfall win. New NXT Champion is Adam Cole! It went 31:54.

Winner by pinfall and New NXT Champion: Adam Cole

Analysis: ***** It’s another five star out of five performance from Johnny Five Stars (I think he’s earned that name after having so many five star matches at NXT Takeover shows) and Cole delivered again too. My scale stops at five stars. I don’t go above that. It’s tough to go over every amazing spot in the match because there were so many. Gargano sold the right knee injury so well the entire time, which is something they kept going back to during the entire match. The ref bump didn’t hurt the match at all because it told the story that Gargano could have won if the referee was there to count the pin, but the referee was down due in part to the heel Cole trying to cheat to win. The entire match was great although when I think back to the last 10 minutes or so, they really went to that next level where it made you feel like this was a special match because that’s what it was. I liked the finish with Gargano collapsing, then he was playing possum and Cole managed to come back to hit his two signature spots to win. Is this match better than the NXT Takeover New York match? It might be. It’s hard to compare, but I think I like this one more. I’m sure it’ll be a tough decision in the year-end WWE Johnny Awards in just under seven months from now.

After the match, Cole was joined in the ring by his Undisputed Era teammates Kyle O’Reilly, Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish, who had his left arm in a sling. O’Reilly and Strong put Cole on his shoulders. The Undisputed Era posed in the ring to celebrate the start of the Adam Cole as NXT Champion era…bay-bay! That was the end of the show.

Analysis: I picked Cole to win because I think with Gargano, the story really was about winning the title for the first time. He didn’t need a long title reign. With Cole as champion, they can do a third Takeover match if they want or push Matt Riddle to the NXT Title picture. They have more options with Cole as champion, so I’m perfectly fine with it.

This event had a run time of 2:38:44 on WWE Network.

Final Thoughts

It gets a 9 out of 10.

It was an excellent NXT Takeover show, which has become the norm for these events. The standout matches were the main event and the ladder match. The other three matches were very good too, especially the opener, but I think the two I mentioned really helped make this show feel special. Go check out Gargano vs. Cole and the Tag Team Title Ladder Match if you missed it.

I gave last week’s AEW Double or Nothing show an 8.5 out of 10. That means I liked this show a bit more because it was better from top to bottom, but it was also shorter with less filler and they had more storylines going into it. I loved Double or Nothing too, so don’t be hating on me because I rated this higher. I think we’re pretty spoiled that we got two amazing wrestling shows on back to back to Saturdays. Do I think Super Showdown will be at this level? Absolutely not. Good luck to the main roster. That card just isn’t that great.

Here are my rankings of NXT Takeover events so far this year on the 1-10 scale:

NXT Takeover New York – 10

NXT Takeover XXV (Bridgeport) – 9

NXT Takeover Phoenix – 8.5

Thanks for reading. My contact info is below.

John Canton

Email mrjohncanton@gmail.com

Twitter @johnreport

Personal Facebook and TJRWrestling on Facebook