To the perpetual consternation of my fiancee and roommate, I am not much one for the holiday season. Even a few years of separation from my family have left me gun shy when the end of the year revs up and the holiday industrial complex is in the air. I don't want to make it sound like I'm pre Act III Ebenezer Scrooge, but I'm not Ferrell's titular Elf, either; I sort of let them happen around and to me, espousing the usual greetings and hoping for dope presents.
What I've come to realize this year is that my idea of a holiday is not a normal person's. Thanksgiving? Christmas? Halloween? Nice, and they have their place. But so far as I'm concerned, there were (at least so far) only two real holidays this year.
The Friday Black Panther came out and I took off work so I could catch the opening matinee to Wakanda, and this past Saturday night, when I was in attendance at Staples for the second iteration of Takeover: WarGames.
Spending the decade watching ugly castoff FCW turn into Tessa-Thompson-dating-Janelle-Monae NXT is either the most rewarded I've ever felt in my three and a half decade fandom as a pro graps enthusiast or it's so close as to make no real difference. Thanks to the benevolence of a friend, when NXT's premiere event finally got to happen within driving distance (the first one west of Dallas, period) I got to be on hand for the whole thing, and I'm going to tell you about it at some length. For the newly incoming, that's what separates these Best Coast Biases I will turn out from the usual NXT In 60 Seconds(es); the latter is more an amuse bouche to continue covering a workmanlike show that moves along the plot but you usually don't have to go out of your way to see--the BCB covers Takeovers at some length. In addition, this particular one will be a blend of the notes I took live (except for the main, more which about when we get there) and the ones I took once I was back in front of the tube and able to rewatch the broadcast.
Enough driving, though. Let's get to the fireworks factory.
It's a good thing we walked up to Staples right when they were letting in the attendees, otherwise we would've missed most of what will constitute the Thanksgiving Eve episode of NXTV. Spoilers ahoy!
Keith Lee made Fidel Bravo go splat in about the time it'll take you to read these two sentences. Grizzly Magnum, his version of the Divide, the Finisher Formerly Known As Ground Zero, seeyabye.
a) Keith Lee d. Fidel Bravo ("Ground Zero" -> pinfall)
Immediately following this, Lars Sullivan made some NPC go splat and finished with the Freak Intentional; post match he advised all that his opponent served as a warning and an example to everyone in the back--He Wants The Belt. He laid into this poor man with crossfaces, but Keith Lee made the save and Lars retreated to the back. Given the fact Lars' callup is imminent it'll be interesting to see what dynamics take place during their impending match, but it should be a fun Hoss Fight and my group and I finally got to check the "basked in Keith Lee's glory" box live, so hey!
b) Lars Sullivan d. Rando Calrissian (Freak Accident -> pinfall)
The main event for this week will be the Nikki Cross/Candice LeRae match; both women got large pops, and Candice got a new Tron without the pathos that her husband's now has. Nikki got her Finlay beating in the apron on, but when she tried to throw Candice back into the ring LeRae hit a modified 619 and gained control. She seemed to have the match won when she hit a second rope German suplex, but Nikki kicked out and then laughed, bringing forth the heretofore unseen in NXT War Candice, who almost got DQed twice for throwing hands in the corner then followed that up with a Muay Thai plum replete with knee strikes and a Curb Stomp within shouting distance of Reseda. Nikki survived, fired off a desperation DTH~! into the middle rope and got a rope hung neckbreaker for a hard fought victory; hopefully this leads to a rematch sooner rather than.
c) Nikki Cross d. Candice LeRae (rope hung neckbreaker -> pinfall)
Do you have a few minutes to talk about our Lord and Saviour, Based Haitch? I must say, having these seats for WarGames II: Violence Boogaloo made a fine card all the better.
What I've come to realize this year is that my idea of a holiday is not a normal person's. Thanksgiving? Christmas? Halloween? Nice, and they have their place. But so far as I'm concerned, there were (at least so far) only two real holidays this year.
The Friday Black Panther came out and I took off work so I could catch the opening matinee to Wakanda, and this past Saturday night, when I was in attendance at Staples for the second iteration of Takeover: WarGames.
Spending the decade watching ugly castoff FCW turn into Tessa-Thompson-dating-Janelle-Monae NXT is either the most rewarded I've ever felt in my three and a half decade fandom as a pro graps enthusiast or it's so close as to make no real difference. Thanks to the benevolence of a friend, when NXT's premiere event finally got to happen within driving distance (the first one west of Dallas, period) I got to be on hand for the whole thing, and I'm going to tell you about it at some length. For the newly incoming, that's what separates these Best Coast Biases I will turn out from the usual NXT In 60 Seconds(es); the latter is more an amuse bouche to continue covering a workmanlike show that moves along the plot but you usually don't have to go out of your way to see--the BCB covers Takeovers at some length. In addition, this particular one will be a blend of the notes I took live (except for the main, more which about when we get there) and the ones I took once I was back in front of the tube and able to rewatch the broadcast.
Enough driving, though. Let's get to the fireworks factory.
 |
| Photo Credit: Raymond Rowe (seriously) |
It's a good thing we walked up to Staples right when they were letting in the attendees, otherwise we would've missed most of what will constitute the Thanksgiving Eve episode of NXTV. Spoilers ahoy!
Keith Lee made Fidel Bravo go splat in about the time it'll take you to read these two sentences. Grizzly Magnum, his version of the Divide, the Finisher Formerly Known As Ground Zero, seeyabye.
a) Keith Lee d. Fidel Bravo ("Ground Zero" -> pinfall)
Immediately following this, Lars Sullivan made some NPC go splat and finished with the Freak Intentional; post match he advised all that his opponent served as a warning and an example to everyone in the back--He Wants The Belt. He laid into this poor man with crossfaces, but Keith Lee made the save and Lars retreated to the back. Given the fact Lars' callup is imminent it'll be interesting to see what dynamics take place during their impending match, but it should be a fun Hoss Fight and my group and I finally got to check the "basked in Keith Lee's glory" box live, so hey!
b) Lars Sullivan d. Rando Calrissian (Freak Accident -> pinfall)
The main event for this week will be the Nikki Cross/Candice LeRae match; both women got large pops, and Candice got a new Tron without the pathos that her husband's now has. Nikki got her Finlay beating in the apron on, but when she tried to throw Candice back into the ring LeRae hit a modified 619 and gained control. She seemed to have the match won when she hit a second rope German suplex, but Nikki kicked out and then laughed, bringing forth the heretofore unseen in NXT War Candice, who almost got DQed twice for throwing hands in the corner then followed that up with a Muay Thai plum replete with knee strikes and a Curb Stomp within shouting distance of Reseda. Nikki survived, fired off a desperation DTH~! into the middle rope and got a rope hung neckbreaker for a hard fought victory; hopefully this leads to a rematch sooner rather than.
c) Nikki Cross d. Candice LeRae (rope hung neckbreaker -> pinfall)
Do you have a few minutes to talk about our Lord and Saviour, Based Haitch? I must say, having these seats for WarGames II: Violence Boogaloo made a fine card all the better.
After the opening video package, the show proper opened when Matt Riddle came out with his new Tron behind him and interrupted the announcers setting up the show. (Props to Mauro for noting the passing of Stan Lee in his opening remarks and Nigel yes anding him. I don't hate Percy but out of the three of them to interrupt, the King of Bros chose wisely.) The KOB fist bumped some fans on his way in and said while his match was scheduled to take place on Wednesday, since we're chillin' in LA (Foley alert! Foley alert!) why not do it now so he could knock out That Middle Aged Knockout Man in both of them? Kassius Ohno came out and called him too dumb to know when his match was supposed to be or that he wasn't ready for Takeover so ring the bell. Before I could finish the sentence "Well, this shouldn't last long" Riddle knee striked him and pinned him for what they're putting over online as the fastest win in NXT and Takeover history.
On the broadcast Mauro said it lasted as long as a Hollywood marriage in a great line. Live, we all had a great laugh and cheered the newcomer as he got on the turnbuckles for his post match celebration. Looking forward to a longer rematch, as was the case with the prior match, and it had nice echoes of the Dream/Ohno Takeover match that happened earlier in the year. That's what happens when you wear Sacramento Kings themed gear to Staples. You should know better by now, Kash.
1) Matt Riddle d. Kassius Ohno (knee strike -> pinfall)
The first big dissonance between Being There Live and rewatching the broadcast came with the 2/3 falls Women's World Title match; it did move very quickly and even live I was a little saddened that they didn't get another 10-15 to work. The story was so simple even a child who'd never seen them fight before would get it, but given the talent and character work of the women involved, it was still worth every minute. NXT just has this mastery of little subtle things, all the way down to Drake Younger refereeing this match after he'd refereed the Riddle/Ohno Vine; since that match was "unscheduled" he was waiting to referee this match before the interruptions and knee strike "disrupted the format". Shayna immediately enlisted her henchwomen the moment she was in trouble -- perhaps surprised by Kairi coming within half a second of jumping her at the bell and keeping the advantage afterwards -- and their interference set up her choke out first fall; Kairi was short term successful fighting off three women to gain the second fall and it would've been a defining moment had this been a regular one fall match. Her Insane Elbow/plancha combo was the first true Mamma Mia of the night to the point where the audience was chanting three things at once and I hope that moment doesn't get subsumed by the craziness that came later as the card progressed.
I should also note that for the promotion most derided for having fans that won't play along with the narrative has over the past year seen both Shayna and Ciampa have gotten over as despised championship level heels. People respect them enough to cheer in some small pockets but that love say, Velveteen Dream was getting earlier this year is wholly absent.
Another tip of the cap to God's Production Team; even when Kairi was firing off spear after spear the cameras were close enough to the action that you could see the welts on her back from where Shayna had spent the first two falls mollywhomping her. Dakota Kai coming out to murk Jessamyn Duke with the Yakuza kick means she's out of storyline purgatory by maybe not being able to still truly face Shayna but being wholly unafraid of hew newly appearing friends, and the skinny jean clad Io Shirai clearing the outside forces with her signature moonsault was a moment that should be made into a GIF that should be sold on stamps. Live, so many people thought that second Insane Elbow had finished that you could hear a palpable roar in the crowd as the three count started; due to being on the southwest side of the ring I think I had a better vantage point than most for Shayna's counter crucifix cradle. That was the best and most innovative finish I've seen in years, maybe ever. As noted elsewhere, after all the harping she did post-Brooklyn about how Kairi didn't beat her, she beat herself (remember, Kairi countered the Clutch with a pinning and winning predicament) in true scumbag heel fashion she succeeded in the exact same manner. It's part and parcel of being scummy: it is fine to do but Io's moonsault help you if anything even remotely similar happens to you. This is presumably the last time they clash one on one before they're both main roster employees, but the trios tag that seems imminent as a result of the third fall should be damn good if Duke & Shafir are as quick studies as their boss. Io's moonsault for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert, though.
On the broadcast Mauro said it lasted as long as a Hollywood marriage in a great line. Live, we all had a great laugh and cheered the newcomer as he got on the turnbuckles for his post match celebration. Looking forward to a longer rematch, as was the case with the prior match, and it had nice echoes of the Dream/Ohno Takeover match that happened earlier in the year. That's what happens when you wear Sacramento Kings themed gear to Staples. You should know better by now, Kash.
1) Matt Riddle d. Kassius Ohno (knee strike -> pinfall)
The first big dissonance between Being There Live and rewatching the broadcast came with the 2/3 falls Women's World Title match; it did move very quickly and even live I was a little saddened that they didn't get another 10-15 to work. The story was so simple even a child who'd never seen them fight before would get it, but given the talent and character work of the women involved, it was still worth every minute. NXT just has this mastery of little subtle things, all the way down to Drake Younger refereeing this match after he'd refereed the Riddle/Ohno Vine; since that match was "unscheduled" he was waiting to referee this match before the interruptions and knee strike "disrupted the format". Shayna immediately enlisted her henchwomen the moment she was in trouble -- perhaps surprised by Kairi coming within half a second of jumping her at the bell and keeping the advantage afterwards -- and their interference set up her choke out first fall; Kairi was short term successful fighting off three women to gain the second fall and it would've been a defining moment had this been a regular one fall match. Her Insane Elbow/plancha combo was the first true Mamma Mia of the night to the point where the audience was chanting three things at once and I hope that moment doesn't get subsumed by the craziness that came later as the card progressed.
I should also note that for the promotion most derided for having fans that won't play along with the narrative has over the past year seen both Shayna and Ciampa have gotten over as despised championship level heels. People respect them enough to cheer in some small pockets but that love say, Velveteen Dream was getting earlier this year is wholly absent.
Another tip of the cap to God's Production Team; even when Kairi was firing off spear after spear the cameras were close enough to the action that you could see the welts on her back from where Shayna had spent the first two falls mollywhomping her. Dakota Kai coming out to murk Jessamyn Duke with the Yakuza kick means she's out of storyline purgatory by maybe not being able to still truly face Shayna but being wholly unafraid of hew newly appearing friends, and the skinny jean clad Io Shirai clearing the outside forces with her signature moonsault was a moment that should be made into a GIF that should be sold on stamps. Live, so many people thought that second Insane Elbow had finished that you could hear a palpable roar in the crowd as the three count started; due to being on the southwest side of the ring I think I had a better vantage point than most for Shayna's counter crucifix cradle. That was the best and most innovative finish I've seen in years, maybe ever. As noted elsewhere, after all the harping she did post-Brooklyn about how Kairi didn't beat her, she beat herself (remember, Kairi countered the Clutch with a pinning and winning predicament) in true scumbag heel fashion she succeeded in the exact same manner. It's part and parcel of being scummy: it is fine to do but Io's moonsault help you if anything even remotely similar happens to you. This is presumably the last time they clash one on one before they're both main roster employees, but the trios tag that seems imminent as a result of the third fall should be damn good if Duke & Shafir are as quick studies as their boss. Io's moonsault for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert, though.
2) Shayna Baszler d. Kairi Sane 2 falls to 1 to retain the NXT Women's World Championship
Johnny Venom, Johnny Scumbag, Johnny Takeover. He's going full on Spiderman 3 without making me regret having purchased a ticket and it's great to see, and it was all in the entrance even before Incendiary's first chord for Root Of All Evil rang out in LA -- yellow lettering of the last name on the Tron quite like certain ex tag partners, his preening and "they still love me" to the camera despite the fact there were clearly several front row fans displeased with him, the Marvel: Punisher font used for Johnny Takeover on his tights. The actual last thing he did before Aleister showed up was request the Black Mass, about which bow howdy. It's been less than five times but every time I see him live I remain impressed to the point of borderline scared with Black's strikes. The "usual" strikes look like death and his knee strikes look like they should be an option for Death Row prisoners choosing how they wish to leave this Earth. His entrance is An Event. After the past two Takeover's where somebody got into Johnny's head and made him make dumb choices that made him end up eating offense, this match's early run showed him doing the same and turning Black into Gargano almost while almost turning Johnny into...forgetting his name...it's a six-letter word for ghetto gutter during a garbage strike. It'll come to me. Anyway, Johnny's absorbed it into his bloodstream, right into the wave he gave after mocking Aleister by doing his pose mid-ring. He was astute enough to drill a single leg dropkick and turn a tope suicida into a DDT in two great athletic moments, but that was nothing compared to a sequence that turned out to be the end of Act II that looked like ballet for :20 with the counters and fluidity before ending in a Gargano rewind rana and huge pump knee for Black that put them both on their back on the mat. Johnny pulling up Aleister with his own boot before doing the DIY pose before going for the basement superkick was such a great moment and yet immediately bettered by Black getting into position and yelling "Gimme your best shot!" and yet that was immediately bettered by Johnny lowering his kneepad (yup, from You Know Who) and got off his and his ex's finisher in succession yet failing to win. That crazy ass knee strike to counter another suicide dive could've ended the match and who would've complained? It bore more than a passing resemblance to a certain sequence in a first round Cruiserweight Classic match, for those of us who remember that far back. Johnny putting his head in position to set up Aleister's lift pre-Mass only to use that as bait for a rollup to set up his Escape, another great moment--and then Black took it into hyperdrive with four consecutive strikes which in my notes all have the word FUCKING in the middle of them and that made me turn the word "oh" into an all-caps, two syllabled, bolded and italicized and underlined 72 point font -- the tornado knee strike which drew a big gasp from the crowd, Black dropping his kneepad to deliver a pump knee to a larger gasp, and then the Black Masses that ended the affair with the awesomely chilling "I absolve you of your sins" between them. After the pump knee he kept Johnny up with his foot, something I had to see on the broadcast; after the first Mass he took a subtle step forward just to keep him upright to deliver the next one. To paraphrase the last wrestler I loved for combining awesomeness, meanness, and violence in the same package: if Aleister Black decides to charge you for air, you keep your bill paid. Black punctuated things by uncharacteristically yelling at the camera while standing over Johnny's body post-match, even doing the Are You Not Entertained? before they threw to the next segment. Somebody's ready for his title rematch! I had the same reaction live I did on the modern-day equivalent of Memorex: whoooooooooooooooooo shit!
3) Aleister Black d. Johnny Gargano (back-to-back Black Masses -> pinfall) in the Match of the Night
3) Aleister Black d. Johnny Gargano (back-to-back Black Masses -> pinfall) in the Match of the Night
About the only way Dream's H2 trolling could've gone any better was if they'd cut off his theme post "Velveteen Dream" voiceover and started blaring "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" over the PA instead. Another 10 points for GPT, as even prematch you not only got to notice the V earrings the challenger wore to the ring, but the champion playing Linus to the Big X's security blanket as well as maybe the best piece of production of the evening: a shot from the first ring into the second of #14 holding up his filthy lucre as he does mid ring with his Smeagol smile only to reveal just a couple steps away from him Dream taking off his shades to view the Big X in his first title opportunity. Dream also held up his weightlifting belt in response to Ciampa before pointing to the title and yelling "I want that!" I hate Ciampa in kayfabe as I am supposed to but I'm not about to sit here and tell you that Manson ripoff theme doesn't slap. If you think babyfacedom has softened the Dream, let me point you to his handlessly riding Ciampa from behind before paintbrushing the back of his head before the match was even two minutes old. They had the crowd so invested from the outset that even a simple thing like Ciampa gaining the Hollywood headband Dream was wearing and Dream getting it back were moments, just like the multiple times they both laughed at each other before resuming hostilities. The reason I fell in love with Dream, as did many others, was his willingness to bump like a lunatic for our sins and he did so about eight times here. Dream off the top to the floor, taking the brace enhanced Knee Trembler in the corner, neckbreaker across the top rope, another braced Trembler with him hung out to dry over the Spanish announce table; another thing NXT's mastered the main roster and writers would do well to remember more often, showing us and not telling us C*amp* is a sadist. Dream reversing a suplex to send them both over the top rope was another near death experience, and #14 hurting his already injured knee on the Project -- perhaps weakening it further with all his Trembler spam -- set up the final run after Ciampa had lifted the pads ringside. Who knows if the champ throwing something at Mauro was planned or not after Mauro was within his hearing range and said on the broadcast maybe the sick SOB deserved the punishment of getting bodily harmed with Dream's tackle over the announce table, but it was another great moment in a night full of them: no one saw that and thought "Well, clearly, Mauro's in the wrong there." and it came on the heels of a nearfall series so well done I thought I was going to have an arrythmia. Dream used it to set up the Dream Valley Driver but ended up hitting it on two layers of padding, something a bunch of us couldn't see live. It got lessened as well because when Dream went up for the Purple Rainmaker somehow the entire building knew he was going to hit it and we all bought and took out a lien to buy it again -- it was around this time a couple years ago Almas upset McIntyre for the Big X so who could help our "...holy shit, they're actually going to do it". Another thing it took the broadcast to see: post-kickout, #14 rolled towards the ropes and apron, so when Dream immediately went for the suicide version of the Rainmaker -- as he had earlier this year in separate Takeovers to mixed results against Ricochet & EC3 -- C dodged it and finished Dream off with the Orton DDT into the steel ring divider. The broadcast got muted twice in the last 90 seconds; that'll happen when #14 retains. All of C*amp*'s post-match work, from his mannerisms to his words to his crawl over to Dream and kiss on the cheek before his wave and yelling "Dream Over" while clutching the belt are why he's one of the best doing it today. If this was the worst match on the show...and you could just as easily make the claim it was the best...I mean...
4) #14 d. Velveteen Dream to retain the NXT World Heavyweight Championship (draping DDT -> pinfall)
And then...it was time.
I didn’t
even bother taking notes for this live though I think at one point God made out with
me? The best character note pre Match Beyond here was that for the second straight year the leader of the Era made sure to take up both rings to get in a full on ADAM COLE, BAY BAY!, though I did like the Raiders' "we've got money but we spend it at RenFaire" helmets and all the faces putting on some war paint to bring back warm and fuzzy memories of Sting's Squadron. Something I didn't notice live but the broadcast put over huge was Ricochet taunting Cole almost the entire way in and afterwards with the North American championship. Despite the fact the match was in its opening five minutes, he hit a double springboard European uppercut because a) he's Ricochet and b) fuck you, that's why.
The live experience was slightly ruined by a couple of drunks trying to yell at the guys in the cages who were yelling at each other for GPT's benefit but that all ended once Hanson got in the ring after Kyle, continuing their contretemps from Wednesday's match where KOR cheated to beat him and give the Era the advantage here. Noted on the announce was the fact the Era seemed to have their lineup set and the faces didn't, but that didn't matter once you had a land monster doing cartwheels into clotheslines, running back and forth across the ring a handful of times to deliver corner clotheslines to increasingly loud pops, and then making himself the base for Ricochet to leap off of with a Shooting Star Press. [For those of you keeping track, our Ricochet, WTF?! counter or RWTF is now at 2.]
Roddy came in throwing heat -- at one point doing rolling urange backbreakers to set up the End of Heartache -- and he and Kyle effectively did a Demoliton Decapitation on Ricochet. Then Rowe jumped in and also did some "a guy that big should not also be that quick, that is crazy" stuff like an around the world gutbuster on Kyle, a Busiaku knee on Cole, and then powerbombing Roddy while front slamming Kyle at the same time! As someone close to us would go on to note, Roddy got his ass kicked in this match. All the Era took turns going into the cage, with Cole geting lawn darted into it by the Raiders which fired up a round of NXT chants.
Fish had to be the last out for the Era, since he was to execute using his lock to keep Dunne locked in and throwing away the key towards gorilla before hitting ringside, whipping some Era branded chairs in and making the crowd go cringe cringe flinch a la We Will Rock You. To be fair, I give Kyle's chair guitar once they fully gained the advantage a .67 La Parka. Dunne was trapped after his countdown ended and in the ring Roddy hit a superplex, Fish hit a super Falcon Arrow (!) and Cole used this opportunity to mock Dunne as well as get himself over (bay bay!) and like most things in life, it worked until it didn't. Referees got Dunne free with bolt cutters, he introduced kendo sticks, trash cans, and tables. [RWTF went to three as he hit a huge Steamboat press off the top, maybe with a springboard to wipe the Era out.]
All the faces had Singapore canes, the Match Beyond begun, and hey, would you look at that? It's Ass Whoop O'Clock! After being punished for spray painting, Dunne put O'Reillys arm on the steel divider and stomped it down, Roddy died off camera somehow before getting X-Plexed onto Kyle. O'Reilly somehow recovered from that and even managed to learn from last year and moved when his chairshot missed and ricocheted (heh) off the top rope, only for Hanson to kick it in his face.
Then Rowe slammed Hanson onto Kyle, who was on the partition, then Roddy ate a springboard lariat + German suplex combo with Fish saving his quasi replacement. Then somehow the Era regained control. Fish & Kyle picked him apart and laid out Rowe with sandwich buzzsaw kicks; Ricochet ate a combo gutbuster into Backstabber by Strong & Cole. Roddy got flung into the cage by Dunne and immediately bounded back into a release German, then went after Fish's bad leg, then O'Reilly went after Dunne's bad leg. The Era formed a wall but when Roddy left to help Kyle turn his hold into a double submission it meant a 3 on 2 advantage for the faces, who countered by sending Ricochet from the first ring to the second as one of the Raiders bieled him over [that's four].
Ricochet hit a mecharana on Kyle [this is somehow not five] as Dunne hit an avalanche Falcon Arrow on Strong. To quote my notes at this point verbatim: this is the craziest goddamn thing I've ever seen in my life.
My notes and I might as well have broken out the Bachman Turner Overdrive.
All the faces had Singapore canes, the Match Beyond begun, and hey, would you look at that? It's Ass Whoop O'Clock! After being punished for spray painting, Dunne put O'Reillys arm on the steel divider and stomped it down, Roddy died off camera somehow before getting X-Plexed onto Kyle. O'Reilly somehow recovered from that and even managed to learn from last year and moved when his chairshot missed and ricocheted (heh) off the top rope, only for Hanson to kick it in his face.
Then Rowe slammed Hanson onto Kyle, who was on the partition, then Roddy ate a springboard lariat + German suplex combo with Fish saving his quasi replacement. Then somehow the Era regained control. Fish & Kyle picked him apart and laid out Rowe with sandwich buzzsaw kicks; Ricochet ate a combo gutbuster into Backstabber by Strong & Cole. Roddy got flung into the cage by Dunne and immediately bounded back into a release German, then went after Fish's bad leg, then O'Reilly went after Dunne's bad leg. The Era formed a wall but when Roddy left to help Kyle turn his hold into a double submission it meant a 3 on 2 advantage for the faces, who countered by sending Ricochet from the first ring to the second as one of the Raiders bieled him over [that's four].
Ricochet hit a mecharana on Kyle [this is somehow not five] as Dunne hit an avalanche Falcon Arrow on Strong. To quote my notes at this point verbatim: this is the craziest goddamn thing I've ever seen in my life.
My notes and I might as well have broken out the Bachman Turner Overdrive.
The Raiders hit a two man pop up powerslam on Cole with Fish saving with an Era chair, then speared Rowe through one of the tables that'd been set up on the north wall atop the steel partition. A Strong knee strike sent Ricochet into an O'Reilly triangle, but Kyle was on a table and Hanson flew from one ring to the other with a splash. Roddy saved with a trash can, and the Era went to what must've been Plan I at this point; lure Ricochet to the top of the cage to knock him over, thus making the white hats forfeit the match.
This failed in s p e c t a c u l a r fashion, and what occurred next will probably be in NXT highlight reels until there aren't highlight reels. A seven man Tower of Doom combining sleepers, tandem one armed powerbombs, back superplexes, superduperplexes, and what the hell, a couple of corn dogs! Nigel called it an avalanche of humanity and he wasn't lying; it was great as down the stretch there were as many actual calls for the action as there were just awed chuckles by the entire announce team being that close for the spectacle that was unfolding before them.
Hey, speaking of spectacles.
Remember when I said that the Era's "Plan I" failed? It failed because Ricochet was the one man who avoided that Tower, and it left him atop the cage. As my friend Sean said, this is why they didn't put a roof on the cage; as I saw someone say online, Ricochet's like the little Yakuza guy on that episode of the Simpsons who hasn't started fighting the mob yet; you know he's going to do something and you know it's going to be good.
R.I.P. RWTF scale
2018-2018
You died as you lived; balls out
This failed in s p e c t a c u l a r fashion, and what occurred next will probably be in NXT highlight reels until there aren't highlight reels. A seven man Tower of Doom combining sleepers, tandem one armed powerbombs, back superplexes, superduperplexes, and what the hell, a couple of corn dogs! Nigel called it an avalanche of humanity and he wasn't lying; it was great as down the stretch there were as many actual calls for the action as there were just awed chuckles by the entire announce team being that close for the spectacle that was unfolding before them.
Hey, speaking of spectacles.
Remember when I said that the Era's "Plan I" failed? It failed because Ricochet was the one man who avoided that Tower, and it left him atop the cage. As my friend Sean said, this is why they didn't put a roof on the cage; as I saw someone say online, Ricochet's like the little Yakuza guy on that episode of the Simpsons who hasn't started fighting the mob yet; you know he's going to do something and you know it's going to be good.
R.I.P. RWTF scale
2018-2018
You died as you lived; balls out
Again, to quote my notes directly: DOUBLE FUCKING MOONSAULT OFF THE FUCKING CAGE ARE YOU GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKING SERIOUS?!!!?!?!?!?!?!?
I should've been done with this 15 minutes ago. I had to see it that many more times. I say this with all the seriousness I bring: unless I get
Alzheimer’s I will remember being in the crowd for that for the rest of my
life. Add onto the craziness of one of my stunt doubles flying backwards through the air, doing a flip, then continuing through the air and doing another flip, the fact that it's appeared to me all the dozens of times I've seen it at this point that the second rotation came in tighter than the first because the other match participants, if it's possible, were too close on the catch of providing a base. It looked like he could've literally landed in the center of the first ring had the second rotation matched the first. Thanks to Mauro's call, I'm sure Mamma F'n Mia ECW styled shirts will be on the way. Yeah, show the replays. Show all the goddamn replays.
And somehow the white hats ended up scattered and splattered in Ring 1, the Era splattered and scattered in Ring 2, and the crowd went from buzz to cheering to standing O as they staggered to the middle, replicated a vintage Survivor Series poster by going face to face x4 across from each other, and breaking out into a hockey fight. the Raiders hit Fallout after this, somehow. The tag champs Totally Eliminated Rowe. Hanson bowled through a tandem clothesline and hit a double handspring back elbow (maybe the WTF scale should've been for him). Ricochet double springboard off into a Cole superkick. Cole hit both versions of the Last Shot, missed another, then Dunne gave him the Bitter End and Ricochet flew off -- presuming the top, but maybe he climbed up to the rig, who the fuck knows it's Ricochet, and both champions got an arm over Cole -- last year's winner -- to win this year's.
Oh, yes, my people.
THAT...was a Goddamn Motherfucking Thing.
And somehow the white hats ended up scattered and splattered in Ring 1, the Era splattered and scattered in Ring 2, and the crowd went from buzz to cheering to standing O as they staggered to the middle, replicated a vintage Survivor Series poster by going face to face x4 across from each other, and breaking out into a hockey fight. the Raiders hit Fallout after this, somehow. The tag champs Totally Eliminated Rowe. Hanson bowled through a tandem clothesline and hit a double handspring back elbow (maybe the WTF scale should've been for him). Ricochet double springboard off into a Cole superkick. Cole hit both versions of the Last Shot, missed another, then Dunne gave him the Bitter End and Ricochet flew off -- presuming the top, but maybe he climbed up to the rig, who the fuck knows it's Ricochet, and both champions got an arm over Cole -- last year's winner -- to win this year's.
Oh, yes, my people.
THAT...was a Goddamn Motherfucking Thing.
5) Pete Dunne, Ricochet & War Raiders beat the Undisputed Era in the second WarGames (Bitter End --> 450 splash --> Dunne & Ricochet duel pinfall Cole)
I failed as a human being at this point, because I only had one standing ovation to give.
This answers the question "how do you set up a potential title for title Ricochet/Dunne rematch", as well. It was that kind of match.
Somehow, they all walked away from this. The babyfaces took a post air curtain call in the ring and on the ramp. Bobby Fish got helped to the back by refs but considering there haven't been any reports of him reaggravating his old injuries or incurring new ones since the show ended, let's hope no news is good news on that front.
P.S.: Pete Dunne co headlined his first NXT main event, co won his match, then flew back to Birmingham (England's) and welcomed his firstborn into the world before Sunday ended. DECENT WEEKEND FOR PETER DUNNE.
This answers the question "how do you set up a potential title for title Ricochet/Dunne rematch", as well. It was that kind of match.
Somehow, they all walked away from this. The babyfaces took a post air curtain call in the ring and on the ramp. Bobby Fish got helped to the back by refs but considering there haven't been any reports of him reaggravating his old injuries or incurring new ones since the show ended, let's hope no news is good news on that front.
P.S.: Pete Dunne co headlined his first NXT main event, co won his match, then flew back to Birmingham (England's) and welcomed his firstborn into the world before Sunday ended. DECENT WEEKEND FOR PETER DUNNE.
Hit My Music: The fact that that might not have been the best Takeover ever just goes to show just how much uncut Colombian level stuff black and yellow is slinging out at this point. But it was the first Takeover on the West Coast -- the first one as a result I was able to attend live -- and for the quality of work all the way around it will hold a very, probably the most very, special place in my heart for as long as I remain a fan of the graps. You know it's special when even while it's happening you objectively know it's the best show -- wrestling, entertainment, whatever else you want to throw into the gumbo -- the best show you've ever been in the house for. And half an hour after it's done, on the ride home, you're still smiling.
To everybody who participated in the production, from the techs to the cameramen to the agents, commentators, and ring crew, let alone every man and woman who gave of their bodies just so I could have an unforgettable Saturday afternoon...dayenu.
And I'll see you in a couple months for the next one.
As certain great grapplers used to say, follow that. (Spoiler alert: they're gonna. I don't know how...but they are. They are NXT. It's what they do.)
To everybody who participated in the production, from the techs to the cameramen to the agents, commentators, and ring crew, let alone every man and woman who gave of their bodies just so I could have an unforgettable Saturday afternoon...dayenu.
And I'll see you in a couple months for the next one.
As certain great grapplers used to say, follow that. (Spoiler alert: they're gonna. I don't know how...but they are. They are NXT. It's what they do.)
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