WWE NXT TakeOver Respect Review

Samoa Joe and Finn Balor defeated Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson in a semifinal match in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic

Joe brawled with Wilder then Dawson and then Wilder got the heat on him. Balor took the hot tag and ran wild for a bit. Dawson took out Balor’s leg and he and Wilder got the heat on him. Eventually, Joe got the hot tag and ran wild on Wilder.

Finish: Joe hit the Muscle Buster on Wilder, then Balor hit the Coup D’Grace on him and pinned him. Joe kept Dawson from breaking up the pin.

★★★¾

Baron Corbin and Rhyno defeated Jason Jordan and Chad Gable in a semifinal match in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic

Fans chanted “Corbin sucks” to the cadence of “New Day rocks.” Jordan wrestled with Corbin for a bit. Corbin tagged in Rhyno, Gable tagged himself in. The fans sang “Gable” to the tune of Kurt Angle’s WWE theme. Jordan came back in and worked Rhyno’s arm. Then Gable came back in and worked it. The fans kept singing his name. It’s clear why – he’s awesome. Corbin tagged in and got the heat on Gable. Rhyno tagged in and did likewise. Then it was Corbin’s turn again. You get the picture here. Rhyno missed a splash off the top and Jordan took the hot tag. He hit a couple moves, tagged in Gable, then Corbin regained the upper hand and planted Gable. Gable turned the tables and hit a bridging German suplex, but Rhyno broke up the pin.

Finish: Rhyno hit the Gore on Jordan, Corbin hit End of Days on Gable and pinned him.

Very good match. Gable and Jordan have a ton of potential.

★★★★

Asuka – Dana Brooke (w/Emma)

The two women chain wrestled for a little while, then Asuka got the upper hand. Emma helped Dana turn the tables and then Dana got the heat on Asuka for a bit, but Asuka regained the upper hand before too long.

Finish: Dana submitted to the Asuka Lock

I would be completely fine with it if they fired Dana Brooke tomorrow. This ended up being a solid match because they let Asuka carry it. It was pretty clear Dana’s not in her league.

★★¾

Apollo Crews defeated Tyler Breeze

Early on, it was a back-and-forth match, but Breeze got the upper hand after shoving Crews into the video board on the side of the ring. Breeze then got the heat on Crews. Crews tried to use his strength to come back a couple times, but Breeze countered everything he did. Crews caught Breeze coming off the top and hit a powerslam and then a gorilla press. He then went for the standing moonsault, but Breeze got his knees up and turned it into a small package.

Finish: Crews hit Breeze with a powerbomb and pinned him

There were a couple small screw-ups, but otherwise, this was a great match. Crews could be next top guy in WWE after John Cena. He’s the total package: he’s got the bodybuilder look Vince loves and he can flat-out go in the ring.

★★★¾

Samoa Joe and Finn Balor defeated Rhyno and Baron Corbin to win the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic

Balor and Rhyno started slowly before Corbin tagged in. Corbin tried working Balor’s leg but Balor countered. Joe entered the match and beat up Corbin. Corbin eventually countered and he and then Rhyno got the heat on Joe. Corbin tagged back in and continued getting the heat on Joe before Joe countered and tagged in Balor. Balor gained the upper hand, but Rhyno took out his leg behind the ref’s back. Corbin got the heat on Balor until Balor countered with a swingblade and tagged in Joe. Joe ran wild briefly before a distraction by Corbin gave Rhyno enough time to regroup and hit the Gore. Rhyno went for the pin, but Balor broke up the fall.

Finish: Balor took out Corbin and Joe regrouped and hit the Muscle Buster on Rhyno. Balor then hit the Coup d’Grace and pinned him.

By this point, I had seen this match twice already. It was good, but I didn’t need to see it again. Do something more back-and-forth here so Joe and Balor can carry it.

★★★¼

Bayley defeated Sasha Banks in a 30-minute IronMan Match to retain the NXT Women’s Championship

The match started out back-and-forth with the women feeling each other out and trying to gain the upper hand. Sasha and Bailey tried rolling one another up to score falls, but nothing worked. Then we saw more back-and-forth action until Bailey went for a hug and Sasha made her pay for it. It looked like Sasha was about to gain the upper hand, but Bailey turned the tables on her and again, the match went back-and-forth.

Fall: Sasha poked Bailey in the eyes unbeknownst to the ref, rolled her up, and pinned her. Sasha leads 1-0.

After the first fall, we saw more back-and-forth action.

Fall: Bayley hit Bayley-to-Belly and pinned Sasha. Match tied 1-1.

Sasha threw Bayley into the steps and then got the heat on her.

Fall: Sasha threw Bayley out of the ring and then into the LED board at the top of the ramp. Bayley was counted out. Sasha leads 2-1.

Sasha threw Bayley back into the ring and continued to get the heat on her.

Fall: Bayley rolled Sasha up out of nowhere and pinned her. Match tied 2-2.

There was a little under twelve minutes left here. Sasha went for the double knees to the back, but Bayley moved out of the way and started making her comeback. Bayley took control for a bit but then Sasha regained control. The crowd chanted “This is awesome,” “This is wrestling,” and “Women’s wrestling.” I really wished this crowd would shut up.

The women brawled on the outside. Bayley hit Bayley-to-Belly on the floor, but Sasha kicked out after Bayley rolled her back into the ring and went for the cover. Bayley hit Bayley-to-Belly off the second rope, but the rolled almost all the way to the ropes before Bayley could go for the cover and Sasha got her foot on the ropes. It looked like Bayley rolled her over there and put her feet on the ropes. It looked fake. Bayley should have realized where she was in the ring. Psychology, guys, come on. Don’t make the babyface look like an idiot. The crowd chanted “This is awesome.” The crowd was wrong.

Bayley went for the reverse huricanrana, but Sasha rolled out of it and hit Bayley-to-Belly. Bayley kicked out. Sasha went for the Banks Statement, but didn’t have it fully locked in. They sold it like she did. Bayley attempted to counter, but Sasha got her back in the hold. Corey Graves, playing JBL here and being the only one actually paying attention, noted that Sasha didn’t have it fully locked in. A gold star for you, Corey.

Fall: Bayley broke the hold and slammed Sasha’s hands into the mat. Sasha hit the backbreaker, which Brennan called the Banks Statement. According to Wikipedia, that is the first half of the move and then it’s supposed to transition into the submission hold. Whatever, it’s confusing. Anyway, Bayley pretty much no-sold the backbreaker and transition hold of her own, to which Sasha submitted with about four seconds left. Bayley leads 3-2.

Finish: The clock ran out and Bayley won 3-2.

The match was good, but not great. Bayley and Sasha can definitely go, but a pretty good-sized portion of this match was filler. This kind of match can’t be easy to pull off, so credit both women for doing what they did. But with all the talent in NXT, I go into TakeOver specials expecting a great main event. This wasn’t that.

★★★

Overall

The worst match on this show had Dana Brooke in it and was still a pretty good match. The tag matches were all good matches; my biggest problem with the Championship was that it followed much the same pattern as the two prior matches. As bad as the main roster commentary is, though, the commentary in NXT is miles worse. Rich Brennan makes me miss Michael Cole. So do yourself a favor and watch this show on mute.

★★★½

Twitter: @KSchroeder2325

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com