Kyle Reviews NXT TakeOver: Toronto

Photography courtesy of  WWE.com

WWE NXT TakeOver: Toronto | 11.19.2016 

Another NXT TakeOver is in the books and it delivered more than I had expected. Going into the show, social media buzz for NXT was at an all-time low. Most of the chatter I saw was more about how NXT was getting low numbers at house shows and how lackluster the shows on the WWE Network have been. I honestly didn't know what to expect other than a solid TakeOver, but we got a great one instead. It was great all-around and was very easy to watch. That's what most people look for when watching wrestling. Also, kudos to the folks in NXT as well as the crowd for being on fire throughout majority of the show. They added so much to the matches with "Ten" chants and singing along to Shinsuke Nakamura's beautiful theme song. 

Tye Dillinger vs. Bobby Roode

As expected, this match opened the show. There was a local choir singing Roode's "Glorious" theme, which was neat. Toronto was singing along with the choir. The song is just so good, it's hard for the crowd to boo Roode especially when this is all taking place in his homeland. Tye Dillinger came out next and he didn't have anything too fancy for his entrance. The "Ten" chants were heard throughout this entire show, might be the next "what?" chant. Bobby Roode and Dillinger got dueling chants for the entirety of the match. Roode tried his absolute hardest to get the crowd to turn on him, it just didn't work. Dillinger did the classic ten punches in the corner and for each punch the crowd chanted "ten". It was a very clever spot, I dug it. Roode worked on Dillinger for a lot of this match. Tye got a nice comeback in, nothing that stuck out to me. Bobby did a pretty good Spinebuster, not Arn Anderson-levels though. On a side note, Dillinger is 35 years old and Roode is 39. I just figure I would point that out. These guys aren't getting any younger. RAW and SmackDown can certainly benefit from having either of these men. We got several false finishes, they were very believable. The crowd at one point gave these two a standing ovation. Dillinger went for a Sharpshooter in tribute to Canadian Hero, Bret Hart. Easy way to pop the crowd, good spot. Roode eventually got out of the submission hold. Toronto briefly chanted "Fight Forever", which is just scary imagining Roode wrestling forever.. no offense. Bobby Roode ends up connecting with an Impaler DDT and gets the pin to defeat Tye Dillinger. 

Winner: Bobby Roode via pinfall 

Match Rating: 3.25/5

Dusty Classic Tag Team Finals: Authors of Pain vs. TM61

Absolutely no hype for this match. I assume these two teams weren't supposed to be in the finals, but got in due to the injuries suffered by other wrestlers in the tournament. I didn't really like this tournament and expected so much more, but it is what it is. Authors of Pain come out first, crowd boos a little bit. TM61 comes out and gets no pop from this previously fired up crowd. This was probably the low-point of hype from Toronto's crowd aside from maybe the ending of Joe/Nakamura, which I'll get to later on. Paul Ellering gets put into a cage that ends up being ascended above the ring. The cage gimmick made me feel like I was in the late 80s and early 90s. The match was fine, nothing too exciting really. Authors of Pain constantly kept looking up at Ellering for instructions on what to do next, which I thought was a nice touch because the team isn't used to having Ellering gone from ringside. Shane Thorne of TM61 did a Diving Senton Bomb off of the pillar that was holding up the crane for the cage. The crowd went nuts and died again soon after. Fans clearly aren't invested in these two teams. There was a point where Akam and Rezar of A.O.P are just getting tossed around, which expose their monster characters. Authors of Pain end up winning this match. The Rhodes Family(except Cody Rhodes and Brandi) come down to present the trophy with William Regal and Triple H. A pretty lame match, but I will say that TM61 gave Authors of Pain their best match to date. It just wasn't a good one. These two teams certainly have the potential. TM61 are great workers, but lack character. Authors of Pain lack a bit of both.

Winners: Authors of Pain w/ Paul Ellering via pinfall

Match Rating: 2.25/5

#DIY vs. The Revival (c) - 2/3 Falls for NXT Tag Team Championship 

Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa have made quite the impact since arriving in NXT, fantastic workers. The Revival are easily the best tag team in professional wrestling today. Both teams already had an excellent match against each other at TakeOver: Brooklyn II, so I went into this knowing this would be another incredible bout. Dash and Dawson both wore black and pink in tribute to Bret Hart, nice touch. Gargano and Dawson started this match. Dawson gets outclassed by Gargano at first. Dawson regroups with Dash. Revival tag in several times and get the heat on Ciampa. Gargano gets the hot tag, excellent stuff. Gargano is so damn great with his facial expressions. He reminds me of Bryan Danielson a bit. He is easy to sympathize with and really adds so much drama to matches. Storytelling is sort of a lost art in wrestling, so it's great when you get to see it. Ciampa gets taken out and Revival gets the first fall on Gargano after connecting with the Shatter Machine. That move looks so basic, but it looks so painful every time Revival does it. Dash and Dawson tag several times while getting the heat on Gargano. Johnny eventually gets the tag to Ciampa, but the referee is distracted and doesn't see it. The crowd is absolutely livid, such a great spot. Toronto was buying into all the near-falls and submissions. Ciampa finally gets the hot tag from Gargano, it was decent. Gargano's hot tag was better. Ciampa connects with three German Suplexes and a knee, stiff stuff. Tommaso's knees always look stiff, love his style. DIY end up doing a Double Superkick to pick up the second fall on Dawson for the second fall. We get some great false finishes, best of the night. Ciampa, at this point, is just on fire. You can really see that he is giving it his all. Toronto chants "NXT" while the four men catch their breath. Revival does a cool tag spot where an Uppercut leads into a Bridging German Suplex. One of the titles get involve. Gargano goes for a kick, but Dawson holds up the title and Gargano accidentally kicks the title. His ankle gets injured from this. Dash puts the ankle lock onto Gargano's injured ankle. Johnny sells this so perfectly. This is where he really shines. His facial expressions really had many convinced that he was going to submit. He ends up getting to the bottom rope to break the submission hold. DIY connects with their own version of the Shatter Machine, which popped the whole entire crowd. Both members of DIY end up getting both members of The Revival in submissions. Revival tried to hold on and keep other from submitting, but failed as both men tap. Excellent visual and finish to this match. This is easily my favorite tag team match in the last ten years. These four men put on a clinic and put on the best match ever to happen in NXT. Tremendous storytelling, great spots, and fantastic energy throughout. If you for some reason have not seen this match yet, go watch it after you finish reading my review!

Winners and NEW NXT Tag Team Champions: DIY via submission

Match Rating: 5/5

Mickie James vs. Asuka (c) - NXT Women's Championship

Asuka needed an opponent to face at this event. With no other woman on the roster ready to face her, Mickie James got the call and made her return to WWE. Physically, she looked great. In the ring, she looked great. Mickie was showered with "Welcome back" and "You still got it" chants. I'm not really sure why the crowd chanted "You still got it", Mickie only stopped wrestling for a short period of time due to pregnancy. Also, Mickie James is only two years older than Asuka. The match itself was good. Asuka was finally put up against someone that looked similar in stature and strength. The two worked a technical style, great stuff. Asuka at one point retreated to the outside, which is different from the norm. The commentary made sure to point that out. Corey Graves and Tom Phillips did a great job all night. Mickie held the ropes on Asuka, but she decided to go under the ropes. Later in the match, Asuka held the ropes for Mickie and the same thing happened. Asuka did a brutal looking German Suplex outside the ring to Mickie, looked sick. Mickie made it back in before the ten count. Asuka ended up putting Mickie James in the Asuka Lock to get the victory. I enjoyed the match a lot. After, Mickie tried to shake Asuka's hand. She held the title up instead and the crowd booed. She has gotten cocky now and seems to be leaning toward a heel turn. Great character development for her, loved it. 

Winner and STILL NXT Women's Champion: Asuka via submission

Match Rating: 3.5/5

Samoa Joe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (c) - NXT Championship

Joe comes out with a look of determination on his face. Nakamura comes out with violinists following him to the ring. I'm pretty sure that they weren't really playing the violin, it looked poorly done. The entrance still looked cool, always gives me goosebumps. This match was certainly better than the previous one at TakeOver: Brooklyn II. They started off exchanging blows and brawling into the crowd. They get back into the ring. Joe works on Nakamura's knee for a long portion of the match, but Nakamura clearly doesn't even sell it. It took me out of the match for a while. Shinsuke even used that same knee multiple times after to deliver some blows to Joe, just bad stuff. Joe gets hit with a Kinshasa, but no pin as he rolls outside. The referee and Nakamura follow Joe on the outside. Joe distracts the referee and low blows Nakamura. He does a Uranage onto the steel steps, throws Nakamura in the ring, and connects with a Muscle Buster. Nakamura gets pinned and the crowd just goes absolutely silent. It was such a strange moment. I didn't like the booking for this match, but it was fine for what it was. It was better than their last match, but nothing special.

Winner and NEW NXT Champion: Samoa Joe via pinfall

Match Rating: 3.5/5

Kyle's Final Thoughts

Good show overall and thought the booking was good for the most part. The Revival and DIY put on an all-time classic wrestling match that could be considered a Match of the Year contender. Asuka seems to be turning heel, not sure what she does next. I expect The Revival to be moving up to either RAW or SmackDown. With The Authors of Pain winning the Dusty Classic, it would make sense for them to be put in a program with DIY. That has potential, but we'll see. Obviously expect Joe and Nakamura to have another match for the NXT Championship, which I really have no desire for. It really sucks saying that too because I think both men are great workers. Definitely check this show out!

Thank you for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed. I highly appreciate all feedback and tips. I am trying my best to deliver the best possible content and analysis. 

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