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 In the two years I've been watching wrestling (I know, I'm a baby), I've watched NXT nearly every week. It fascinated me from the beginning - the idea of a show where you would watch wrestlers learn to work in WWE, develop a character, and either get passed on up to the main roster or see them get cut loose. I fell in love with the goofy gimmicks, the low-budget backstage promos, and the shockingly solid in-ring action I saw every week. When I started watching NXT with TakeOver Fatal 4-Way, it was already far beyond the "developmental" label it had been originally given, with wrestlers like Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn, and Charlotte impressing me far more than most of the main roster. It wasn't surprising, then, that as the next two years went by and the NXT roster continued to grow with some of the greatest wrestlers in the world, NXT became far more than a minor league. It was a touring brand in its own right, geared towards a loyal audience that sold out everything from minor Florida house shows to massive, fifteen-thousand seat arenas. But it's easy to forget that, in the end, NXT is a division that exists to serve the main roster. The goal is still to develop wrestlers, whether completely green or seasoned veterans, to become the next generation of WWE Superstars(tm). And, with Smackdown suddenly going live and the brand split returning, WWE now finds itself with the need for two hours worth of new main roster wrestlers. It's not hard to imagine what this might do to NXT. This card may not look like much on the surface. None of these matches are a Nakamura/Zayn, or even a Bayley/Asuka in terms of individual importance. But this is likely to be the last major NXT show for some of these wrestlers. While the sky isn't falling on NXT - there have been more house shows announced, and NXT TakeOver Brooklyn has finally been announced and goes on sale this week - what NXT looks like two months from now is likely to be very, very different from what we see tonight. Personally, I'm excited to see what's next (especially if it includes the phrase "NXT Champion No Way Jose"). But, for now, let's celebrate the potential end of an era. Tonight's Card  There's a recap episode of NXT covering the build to TakeOver here that you may prefer: http://network.wwe.com/video/v785209483?contextType=wwe-show&contextId=wwe_nxt&contentId=182618732 NXT Championship Steel Cage Match Samoa Joe (c) vs. Finn Bálor  What feels like the longest feud in NXT history (though, counting main roster, it's certainly not as long as Owens/Zayn) is finally coming to, well, a title-worthy end. What began as a partnership, including a tag-team tournament win, dissolved into a bitter hatred. Samoa Joe felt slighted that he was not given a championship opportunity by GM William Regal after the tournament, and instead took matters into his own hands, turning heel on Finn and knocking him out with the Coquina Clutch on like literally four episodes of NXT TV in a row. And, well, it worked: Joe got his title shot in London, and lost. After London, with no clear number one contender, Joe, Sami Zayn, and Baron Corbin fought for the right to face Finn. And, once again, Joe found himself given an opportunity to take the title. Which he proceeded to lose, along with what appeared to be a couple pints of blood. Fast forward a few weeks to what seemed like just another meaningless title match on just another house show, when suddenly: https://twitter.com/TheFansPodcast/status/723333399709138945?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Joe won. With a clean pin. On a house show. Ending the longest NXT Championship reign in history. After another house show resulted in a locker room-clearing brawl between the new and former champions, a final match was declared: the first cage match ever in NXT. To quote WWE.com: "According to Regal, the decision to turn the bout into a Steel Cage Match was done to ensure the safety of NXT fans and guarantee a definitive conclusion to the rivalry." NXT Women's Championship Match Asuka (c) vs. Nia Jax  This is the first NXT event since TakeOver: R Evolution back in December 2014 to not feature Bayley. The former NXT Women's Champion (and Rowdy Ringsports's 2015 Champion of the Year) lost the title to Asuka two months ago in Dallas. Any hope of a rematch was scuttled after after Bayley's brutal defeat by Nia Jax on an episode of NXT TV left her unable to compete in a number one contender's match for the Women's title. Nia Jax then beat out Carmella and Alexa Bliss to become the new contender, and she seems more than ready for Asuka. While Nia Jax is no one's favorite women's wrestler, this battle of Asuka's talk poo poo get kicked style and Nia Jax's ridiculous strength and power should be interesting to watch. NXT Tag Team Championship Match American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable) (c) vs. The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder)  The Revival are mad. They lost the titles in a spectacular match in Dallas, and they want revenge. Over the past two months, they've been loving with every tag team from The Hype Bros to Ciampa & Gargano, but they've mostly stayed back from the new champions, waiting for their rematch. American Alpha are the hottest tag team in NXT, and will certainly turn in another stellar performance. But I don't think an upset victory by their challengers is completely out of the question, given The Revival's ability to work an opponent's limb into dust, potentially neutralizing American Alpha's power. And, uh, also because American Alpha is one of the most sure-bet callups to the main roster since Enzo & Cass (though, then again, it still somehow took E&C like a year to make it to Raw). Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Austin Aries  Do I need to sell you on a Nakamura match at this point? Really? Did you not watch the last TakeOver? Or any major New Japan card of the last two years? While Shinsuke Nakamura's matches since Dallas may not be MOTY contenders, he's always a blast to watch in the ring on NXT TV. He also has a love of No Way Jose that may rival my love of No Way Jose, which is saying something. You know the creepy-rear end shrine you imagine in your head when Rovert talks about female wrestlers that he likes? That's the shrine I actually have for No Way Jose. Anyways, I'll say this: I'm excited to watch Nakamura strong style all over Austin Aries's dumb face. Aries is mad that everyone loves Nakamura and isn't paying attention to him. Waaah. Maybe him and Baron Corbin should form an anti-smark-darling tag team on the main roster. While Aries's match on TakeOver wasn't exactly a barn-burner (I mean, he was facing Corbin), he's had several good matches on TV since then, and I think these two could put on a great match. Andrade "Cien" Almas (FKA La Sombra) vs. Tye Dillinger  Yes: less than a year since he unmasked and left CMLL for NXT, La Sombra is finally debuting. He's been on NXT's higher-profile house shows for several months (as Manny Andrade), including a dark match in Dallas. I know very little about him, other than that people are loving hyped for this guy's debut. And, hell, either way, I'm hype to see Tye Dillinger return to TakeOver! The last time he was on a TakeOver card proper (and not a pre-show taping or dark match) was Apollo Crews's debut in Brooklyn. He lost there, and he'll almost certainly lose here, but I'm gonna be chanting "Ten! Ten! Ten!" to myself alone in my apartment, and I hope you'll all be chanting along with me. Though, let's be honest, there's gotta be a spot where Almas gets everyone to chant "ˇDiez! ˇDiez! ˇDiez!", right? --- NXT TakeOver: The End... starts at 8pm ET/5pm PT, with a preshow special starting a half hour earlier at 7:30 ET/4:30 PT. The preshow will feature Corey Graves, Renee Young, and Lita. There will be a Triple H live interview on Facebook at 10:15 following the show: https://www.facebook.com/wwe/photos/a.63953746442.86152.7175346442/10153810305931443/?type=3&theater Also airing on the Network tonight after TakeOver is Breaking Ground: Reloaded, which is apparently a special featuring stars from the first season of Breaking Ground. So if you liked that, check that out, I guess! abraham linksys fucked around with this message at 21:47 on Jun 8, 2016 |
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Jun 8, 2016 15:13
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In Memoriam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRKpzNllBgw
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Jun 8, 2016 15:20
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This show is gonna rule.
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Jun 8, 2016 15:41
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Shame my internal body clock won't let me watch it live. Hopefully it's good anyway so it gives me something to watch on thursday.
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Jun 8, 2016 15:43
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abraham linksys posted:Also airing on the Network tonight after TakeOver is Breaking Ground: Reloaded, which is apparently a special featuring stars from the first season of Breaking Ground. So if you liked that, check that out, I guess! I am almost as hyped for this as I am for Takeover
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Jun 8, 2016 15:44
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"Five! Five! Five!" -me to this op I wasn't really that pumped tbh since i've just been watching in the background the last few weeks but now that the day is here I'm pretty stoked
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Jun 8, 2016 15:51
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This show will be good.
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Jun 8, 2016 15:51
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The End is here? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIMuTop-wrw
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Jun 8, 2016 16:41
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Oh poo poo this is tonight? I cancelled the network the day after mania, and they've been sending me emails about money in the bank but I thought this was still a few weeks off. Guess WWE gets $10 from me tonight!
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Jun 8, 2016 16:41
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Sockser posted:Oh poo poo this is tonight? I cancelled the network the day after mania, and they've been sending me emails about money in the bank but I thought this was still a few weeks off. Guess WWE gets $10 from me tonight!  although I knew when this was and wasn't 100% sure about resubbing for it, but I wanna see AJ/Cena too so that pushed me over.
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Jun 8, 2016 16:58
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gotta work late tonight so ill be missing a good portion of it but will prolly just end up watching tomorrow morning :<
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Jun 8, 2016 17:07
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NXT is bad.
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Jun 8, 2016 17:08
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RacistGuidingLight posted:NXT is bad. I agree that everything since the last takeover has been mediocre to bad. This looks like a fun if probably obvious card though (see also: all 90-100% sided predictions in the predictions thread). I don't know what's gonna be left to do at Brooklyn and would even bet that they just have all the call ups back on for a fun night
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Jun 8, 2016 17:18
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ugh I forgot to mention BABYMETAL, THE OFFICIAL THEME SONG OF NXT TAKEOVER THE END in the op anywhere https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvD3CHA48pA
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Jun 8, 2016 17:29
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Rooting for Tye Dillinger.
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Jun 8, 2016 17:40
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Golashes posted:I agree that everything since the last takeover has been mediocre to bad. This looks like a fun if probably obvious card though (see also: all 90-100% sided predictions in the predictions thread). Nakamura and aries are pretty much the only ones left that I can conceive having a title run... so yeah, gonna be some slim pickins edit: poo poo remember like six months ago when everyone was talking about a secondary title for NXT because there was so much talent? Yeeeeeeeeeeah
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Jun 8, 2016 18:13
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speaking of, I think nakamura and aries is probably going to be match of the night unless as and revival have another great one
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Jun 8, 2016 18:26
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Rooting for the Revival for some reason. (YEAH)
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Jun 8, 2016 18:49
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Ostentatious posted:speaking of, I think nakamura and aries is probably going to be match of the night unless as and revival have another great one 100% Although I am looking forward to seeing finn and joe in a cage. I think they can have a really cool monster blow-out fight that'll surprise a lot of people who are bored with the feud. The length of their feud didnt' bother me at all. I loved the days of the year and a half long NWA/WWF feuds. The only thing that irritated me about their feud was that the matches themselves got real boring and almost rote. We'll see though. I also think Asuka will be able to pull a good match out of Nia, who has been improving a lot anyway.
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Jun 8, 2016 19:02
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I hope that Andrade Almas doesn't wear a stupid hat.
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Jun 8, 2016 19:10
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the best thing on this card is babymetal
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Jun 8, 2016 19:30
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Tye/Andrade gonna have the match of the night with Revival/AA coming in second. I hope Aries goes full blast tonight in his match with Nakamura. but I'm not gonna get my hopes up. I hope Paul cuts a promo at the start.
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Jun 8, 2016 19:36
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It's going to be kind of funny when the dangerous, climactic ~steel cage~ title match has less blood than the borderline meaningless Dallas title match but, whatever, this should be a really entertaining card.
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Jun 8, 2016 19:58
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wheres bayley?
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Jun 8, 2016 20:02
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Golashes posted:I agree that everything since the last takeover has been mediocre to bad. This looks like a fun if probably obvious card though (see also: all 90-100% sided predictions in the predictions thread). At this point I only watch the Takeover specials, and the odd weekly show if it gets rave reviews Very rarely does one get rave reviews
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Jun 8, 2016 20:07
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Bard Maddox posted:the best thing on this card is babymetal That said, I'm looking forward to most of the card. triplexpac posted:At this point I only watch the Takeover specials, and the odd weekly show if it gets rave reviews You've seen No Way Jose, right?!?
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Jun 8, 2016 20:15
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Tr33 posted:wheres bayley? She died on the way back to her home planet (California)
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Jun 8, 2016 20:16
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i haven't watched nxt for the past several months but i guess i'll watch this
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Jun 8, 2016 20:23
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where the hell is No Way Jose
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Jun 8, 2016 20:41
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Hey, could anyone in this thread who goes hard, all day all night, say YEAH
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Jun 8, 2016 20:56
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I'm actually kind of underwhelmed by this card but I am curious if Tommy or Moose show up. It wouldn't exactly be a surprise at this point, but if Tommy goes straight after Joe rather than just squashing somebody irrelevant then I'll definitely be intrigued for the next Takeover. Or whatever they call it next time.
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Jun 8, 2016 20:59
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Jenny Angel posted:Hey, could anyone in this thread who goes hard, all day all night, say YEAH YEAH
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Jun 8, 2016 21:01
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yeahhhhhhhhhh
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Jun 8, 2016 21:24
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YEAH
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Jun 8, 2016 21:29
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OKAY!
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Jun 8, 2016 21:29
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YEAH
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Jun 8, 2016 21:30
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I know more matches on the slammiversaey card than this one
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Jun 8, 2016 21:35
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There's nothing on this card that's like blow me away amazing but there's a lot on this card that I'm interested in seeing what they do with it. La Sombra's debut should be cool, Asuka/Nia is interesting, Nakamura is always worth watching, and the main should be solid. I expect some sort of surprise with the way they've hyped this up as THE END, so hopefully there's some fire behind that. I'm basically going to two screen this and LU tonight. Give me all the wrasslin at once.
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Jun 8, 2016 21:41
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Grozz Nuy posted:I'm actually kind of underwhelmed by this card but I am curious if Tommy or Moose show up. It wouldn't exactly be a surprise at this point, but if Tommy goes straight after Joe rather than just squashing somebody irrelevant then I'll definitely be intrigued for the next Takeover. Or whatever they call it next time. I wish they'd had a Tyler Breeze-focused event before his ill-fated call up. They could have called it NXT: Makeover.
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Jun 8, 2016 21:45
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Triple H gonna do a live interview after the show: https://www.facebook.com/wwe/photos/a.63953746442.86152.7175346442/10153810305931443/?type=3&theater
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Jun 8, 2016 21:47
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