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WWE NXT TakeOver: XXV Preview/Predictions
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.
MCW “Jimmy’s Slamboree” June 1 Benefit w/ Tye Dillinger, G.O.D. ; Remembering Eric Chapel
*The Following Press Release Was Issued By Phillip Stamper*
MCWProWrestling.com – MCW recently lost competitor and friend Martin “Eric Chapel” Eason II. We extend our condolences to his family, friends, and fans.
View a special tribute at youtube.com/watch?v=IUI37sX615I. MCW will be announcing a special event for his family in the near future.
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MCW Pro Wrestling brings “Jimmy’s Slamboree” on Saturday, June 1 to the MCW Arena, 1000 Joppa Farm RD in Joppa, MD! Meet and Greet 5:30 pm, live event 7:30 pm!
This event features Shawn Spears (fka Tye Dillinger) and ROH World Tag and IWGP Heavyweight Tag champions Guerrillas of Destiny (Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga) and will benefit former MCW Heavyweight champion Bruiser and his battle with Leukemia.
Purchase tickets at MCWProWrestling.com. Show support on Facebook at bit.ly/mcwjimmys.
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Subscribe to our revised YouTube at bit.ly/mcwyoutube and see last week’s Flashback Friday with Samoa Joe vs. Roderick Strong.
Follow us online: facebook.com/mcwprowrestling, twitter.com/mcwwrestling, and instagram.com/mcwprowrestling!
Review – Daniel Bryan/Craig Tello – YES: My Improbable Journey To The Main Event Of WrestleMania
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
If anybody from World Wrestling Entertainment has had an up-and-down career in and out of the ring, it’s Daniel Bryan.
Elevated from “Indie Wrestler Comes To WWE” status in 2010 to an actual main event player in 2014, he went though a journey like none other.
His own “Cinderella Story” occurred between 2013 and WrestleMania XXX where he emerged an Undisputed Champion and married five days later to Brie Bella. It’s literally as perfect as one professional wrestler could dream of, especially one who didn’t fit the “corporate style” of what WWE traditionally spotlights.
How would this all translate in a book? With some help by WWE.com’s Craig Tello, we’d finally get that tell-all where Bryan describes his joyous upbringings and subsequent dream chase, with all the little things in-between.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 1/25/17: Femme Fatale Four-Way
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 1/25/17)
Femme Fatale Four-Way
– The Ember Moon-Liv Morgan match was set up last week as a friendly competition to see who’d “unofficially” face the NXT Women’s Champion coming out of NXT TakeOver: San Antonio. Moon was still undefeated, yet Morgan was the one to challenge her. The story was there at least. They exchanged some chain wrestling and rolled around in package pin attempts for a good 25 seconds. Morgan seemed to have improved a bit as she hit a huracanrana. Moon applied a crossface, though Morgan fought out of it with a pin attempt that took Moon’s momentum back. Morgan laid on a guillotine, but was taken and dumped over the top rope by Moon. A minute later, Moon Eclipsed Morgan to take the win. It’s obvious how Moon’s in a holding pattern until TO:SA, but it also helped Morgan here. She could use more of a gimmick than “tough Jersey girl.” It was enough to make us want more, but what we got was good. They shared sportsmanship after the bell to keep the friendship going.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 1/18/17: The Glorious Shiba Inu
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 1/18/17)
The Glorious Shiba Inu
– The opening video hyped the contact signing segment between NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and Bobby Roode. It pretty much wrote itself. Hopefully they’d so something to make this feud personal.