NXT TakeOver: The End Review

Let's skip the formalities and head right into my thoughts on NXT TakeOver: The End. Or is it The End of the Beginning? That's what they decided to market it as once the show started. I was confused because I thought The End might have been hinting that NXT could be coming to an end (with the announcement of the upcoming brand split being an opportunity to move the roster up to the main shows), but the opening video package gave me more of an idea that this show could be the beginning of a new era in NXT, since some of our favorites like Finn Balor and Bailey could be on their way up to the main roster by the end of the Summer. So let's see if this is the type of show that can usher in a new era for NXT.

Andrade "Cien" Almas vs. Tye Dillinger

I'm still shocked to this day when I hear the reaction whenever Dillinger comes out. That man is so over with the NXT crowd that he hopefully gets some level of steam rather than being possibly the best jobber to the stars we've seen in decades. The crowd's reaction actually rubbed off on how they responded to Almas when he came out. An actual strong amount of boos to start, as they were really backing Dillinger, but the match itself worked them over to Almas' side by the end. Really good action for the amount of time they got and I'm really interested to see what they can do with Almas heading forward. He's got a charisma about him and a solid work effort, but I wouldn't put him in the main event division just yet. Why do I have the strangest feeling they may pair him up with No Way Jose?

NXT Tag Team Championship Match: American Alpha vs. The Revival

A lot of the same that happened in their match at TakeOver: Dallas works the same here. These are 2 of the best tag teams NXT has to offer and I love their chemistry together. The spots towards the end really picked things up in high gear, and I was absolutely blown away by the ending. I never imagined The Revival would pick the straps up again, making them the first ever multi-time champions for any title in NXT history. Good for them. And the post-match beatdown on American Alpha by these two mysterious big men has me wondering what in the world is going on. All we know is that they're destructive and managed by Paul Ellering. Just keep the words "Legion," "Doom," Road," or "Warriors" out of their name and we'll be fine.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Austin Aries

I was looking forward to this match the most heading into the show and I won't lie: I was a little disappointed. Not overly, but this just wasn't the wrestling spectacle I was expecting. They kind of worked themselves in a corner when they had these two debut around the same time. Nakamura is the biggest rising star in the company right now, but we don't want to see Aries' momentum sacrificed as a result. The match picked up the pace after a while and I was really getting into it, but then they had Aries lose very decisively. That just felt like the wrong call for me. Nakamura is going to be fine, but I wonder what they'll do to regain some credibility for Aries. He's one of the best wrestlers in the world, but a lack of momentum like this will snuff out his stardom in NXT quickly. Here's hoping they give him something good to do.

NXT Women's Championship Match: Asuka vs. Nia Jax

This was a match I'd waited months for them to touch on. On one side, the overly-dominate powerhouse of Nia Jax. On the other side, the unorthodox combat style of Asuka. It's a dream match for the Woman's Division. When it started, you saw very early on that Jax was dominating the whole contest. It was completely one-sided to the point where you had the sneaking suspicion that Asuka would pull a surprise win. I'm not too upset about that, but it's how they did it that needed work. The match felt like it ended abruptly and I could have honestly see them go on another 5 minutes. Jax is a dominant woman, but she's constantly losing her championship opportunities. I'm sure she'll bounce back, but my question is when (not if) she wins the NXT Women's Championship, will we be able to take it seriously? As for Asuka, I'm not sure if I like seeing her in feuds where her opponent actually stands a chance in beating her. That was part of the intrigue for her character early on. It was her offense that made her stand out so I'll need to see a few more feuds against different opponents. A rematch feud with Bayley, a feud with Alexa Bliss, and so on. If the booking staff can utilize her style with different types of opponents and she'll do just fine as NXT Women's Champion.

Steel Cage Match for the NXT Championship: Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor

I think this is the weakest of their 3 TakeOver matches (I can't judge the house show match where Joe won the title because I haven't seen all of it), but that's probably because I'm not the biggest fan of Steel Cage matches. For what it was, the cage stipulation was fine here in helping deliver a few key spots. It's fairly obvious that Joe was going to retain and we're on our last run with Finn Balor in NXT, so this wasn't too bad. Had this been the match where Joe won the belt, I'd be a little more won over. But it is what it is. And as for me, my focus was geared at the backstage moment they aired before the match, hyping up another appearance from Bobby Roode. Just sign him already and make him a thing in NXT!


Final Thoughts: Maybe not the right event to usher in a new era, but even the weakest NXT TakeOver events still have a silver lining here or there. NXT TakeOver: The End can get a solid Recommended for the Tag Team Championship match and the Steel Cage match. NXT continues to be entertaining, but this event shows there is definitely some fine tuning in the works to restore this show back to being the superior brand in WWE.


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