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WWE NXT TakeOver: XXV Preview/Predictions
Photo courtesy of Deviantart.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
All Elite Wrestling grasped the wrestling world after their first Pay-Per-View last week, topped off with a Five-Star Rhodes Brothers match, Awesome Kong, a tag team classic between The Young Bucks and Fenix/Pentagon Jr. and of course, Jon Moxley (the former Dean Ambrose of WWE fame) at the end.
Anybody who looked to WWE for an answer was left hopeless on Raw and SmackDown, side for a surprise mention by Sami Zayn on Raw.
The only true competitor with WWE’s name is its NXT brand, spearheaded creatively by Triple H. The 25th TakeOver event celebrates all that has happened before while also giving us another five-match standout card to feast on.
The essence of TakeOver is the heart of NXT itself – it’s where the up-and-comers showcase their true potential. Who knows where we would be if we didn’t get Zayn-Shinsuke Nakamura, Bayley-Sasha Banks, Johnny Gargano-Adam Cole and The Revival-#DIY, amongst other countless memorable bouts? It’s matches like those that have elevated NXT to the bar that has been set for wrestling expectations in 2019.
TakeOver has become more than a live event. It’s a movement. Beyond that, it has happened in America, United Kingdom, Canada and other places. It has brought NXT to the conversation of actual world domination.
Triple H’s formula to build stars, sign big names, focus on wrestling and characterization is one for success. It’s hard to believe there have been 25 TakeOvers, but we don’t think anybody will disagree that NXT can make 25,000 more TakeOvers for all we care.
ROH 15th Anniversary Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
From the Murphy Rec Center in Philadelphia, Pa. to Sam’s Town in Las Vegas, NV., Ring Of Honor has undergone plenty in its 15-year history.
It was only appropriate that the face of the “old times” that hadn’t gone to World Wrestling Entertainment, Christopher Daniels, would get his last chance at the ROH World Championship, a belt that alluded him his whole career.
It was also right that the current Champion was Adam Cole, Bullet Club leader, which represented the “new school” ways of ROH.
Of course this show will be regarded as “the one where TK O’Ryan got hurt,” but there was plenty of happiness to go around the card as well.
Notes In Observance – ROH Wrestling 3/6/17: Party Favors
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 3/6/17 On FITE TV)
Party Favors
– Backstage, the foursome of The Briscoes, Jay Lethal and Bobby Fish each took turns to say mean things about Bullet Club. Such insults included the outrageous labeling of them as “fake” and “t-shirt sellers.” Such daggers we got over here. Anyways, what made this memorable for us was Lethal’s labeling of their unit as “The Dream Team,” since they each targeted different BC members. Fish spoke about wanting to end ROH World Champion Adam Cole “if he chose to.” We’ll guess that Cole retained at Manhattan Mayhem?
Notes In Observance – ROH 2/27/17: Less Handshake, More Finger Break
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/27/17 On FITE)
Less Handshake, More Finger Break
– With the focus on Christopher Daniels and his quest to become an ROH World Champion, the opening video wasted no time to remind us of his journey, as it culminated with his defeat of Jay Briscoe in the ROH Decade Of Excellence Tournament Finals. It was all “15 years in the making,” you know. It was good to see Daniels in this kind of light, as his recent underdog gimmick makes ROH World Champion Adam Cole and his Bullet Club stand as good foils.
Notes In Observance – ROH Wrestling 2/22/17: Man Up, Daniels
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/22/17)
Man Up, Daniels
– The opening video focused on the Ring Of Honor Decade Of Excellence Tournament and its “eight pioneers” that fought it out to lead down to the two that were left – Jay Briscoe and Christopher Daniels. The main story was that they stood in each other’s way of a World Title shot. This was a great video intro, actually went the way of those classic “NBA On NBC” intros that Marv Albert used to do. You tell us that doesn’t work.
Notes In Observance – ROH Wrestling 2/15/17: Boys Among Real Men
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 2/15/17)
Boys Among Real Men
– Hangman Page came out, his return still fresh on everyone’s minds. His opponent was in the ring in the form of Matt Sells. What a jobber name that was. Mark Briscoe was also on commentary for what it was worth. Sells was apparently in his hometown and was greeted with a shove into the ring post. One Rite Of Passage later and it was over. Post-match, Page grabbed a noose and ROH World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks came down. Superkick party. They gestured to the stage and ROH World Champion Adam Cole/”The American Nightmare” Cody walked to the ring. Chants of “Cody”/”Welcome home” were rampant. Cody kissed the canvas and played the crowd for a too-sweet with the Champ. He got the streamer treatment and addressed the warm reception before he deceptively turned on the fans for being “11 years too late.” Great heel work as always. Crowd chanted “Dusty” at him. Cody called out Jay Lethal and referred to him as the “Doorman Of ROH.” Lethal stormed out and came onto the apron. Some taunts and saliva later, Lethal charged at Cody, which commenced a beatdown. Bobby Fish came out for the save, an apparent hype for the main event, where he/Lethal would team against Cole/Cody. More of the ROH Cavalry came down, aka Jay White/Alex Shelley/Lio Rush. Not such a bad lead-in to commercial. Apparently that tag main event was set for now. Fish weaved around Cody, but got caught flush with a superkick from Cole. The Cody/Cole dynamic was almost comparable to the now-defunct Jeri-KO. Wonder if that was on purpose. For the first time ever, a man was too-sweeted in the eyes, as Cody did it to Fish. Lethal/Cody were tagged in simultaneously and went at each other’s heads. Lethal Injection on Cole changed the momentum, but it was Cody who was legal. It came to a point where all four men were exhausted and traded forearms. Lethal hit the most underwhelming tope on Cody ever. It was almost like a light nudge. The big story laid in the finish, as Fish had Cole dead in the armbar. Cody was unable to get it broken up, so the Champ had no choice but to tap out. A smart decision, especially based on that they needed to build Fish up as a threat for that World Title shot he gets at Manhattan Mayhem on Mar. 4. Not the most enlightening of matches, but Cody was great here and Hangman does his Hangman thing.
Notes In Observance – ROH Wrestling 12/28/16: Reach For The Sky
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 12/28/16)
Reach For The Sky
– The opening video replayed highlights from Ring Of Honor’s United Kingdom “Reach For The Sky” tour, with flips to go around. Given that this was ROH’s first time in the UK after a decade, it was good to see them highlight British Pro Wrestling’s best. More on that below. This was a “Best Of” episode, but was first-run material that featured Will Ospreay’s TV debut, as he fought three times in three nights.
Notes In Observance – ROH Wrestling 12/21/16: An Honored Champion
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 12/21/16)
An Honored Champion
– The opening video recapped Final Battle 2016, so an immediate sigh of relief came about, since this promised new television that wasn’t a glorified repeat. The package played up the event’s biggest occurrence (no, not Broken Matt Hardy’s onscreen appearance) in Kyle O’Reilly’s big victory as he defeated Adam Cole to win the ROH World Championship. After all, the guy did it as he laid in thumbtacks. That has to be a first somewhere.
Notes In Observance – ROH Wrestling 11/16/16: Good Ribbing
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 11/16/16)
Good Ribbing
– The opening video highlighted the big ROH World Television Championship main event to take place between Hangman Page and Champion Bobby Fish. We saw a separate promo clash where Page took pride in his attack on Fish’s ribs and looked for the final key in Bullet Club to have all of the ROH gold. Fish wasn’t intimidated and eager to show Page that he simply was on another level. They did a good job with this match build, as this was one of the better storylines.
Notes In Observance – ROH Wrestling 11/9/16: All Hail The New Kingdom
Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows, Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 11/9/16)
All Hail The New Kingdom
– The Toru Yano-“Unbreakable” Michael Elgin match was odd to say the least. Between Yano’s comedic cheap tactics and Elgin’s serious demeanor, something didn’t gel here. There was a subtle backstory that Elgin looked to get revenge on a countout loss against Yano in the G1 Climax Tournament that cost him two points, but this bout was more about hijinks, turnbuckle pad headshots and general silliness for us to care. It also seemed weird for Referee Todd Sinclair to simply let it go on and not even reprimand Elgin or Yano for their actions. Some decent near-falls towards the end, but even those were anticlimactic. Elgin’s win with use of the exposed steel, lariat and Elgin Bomb was fine for his “revenge” angle, but forgettable. A time killer if there ever was one.
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