10 Thoughts on NXT Takeover: Dallas (Asuka vs. Bayley, Baron Corbin vs. Austin Aries, Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor)

10 Thoughts, Reviews, Top Story

JT on NXT logo

  1. American Alpha look sweet in their new track suits, while the Revival are looking fired up in their old school bowling team sort of way. Excellent opening match with both teams working their asses off, setting the bar pretty high for the matches to come.
  2. Next up we’ve got Baron Corbin vs Austin Aries, and Corbin has a ridiculous new jacket. While unable to make Corbin any more interesting, Aries did at least manage to carry him to a decent match.
  3. Sami Zayn vs Shinsuke Nakamura has a real big match feel, and the crowd is on its feet for the duration. Nakamura truly has a unique type of charisma, a natural rock star without having to play air guitar on the way to the ring.
  4. Hard hitting, highly entertaining debut for Nakamura, with Zayn looking strong in defeat. The King of Strong Style is a fantastic addition to NXT, and it won’t be long before he joins Sami on the main roster. If you only watch one NXT match this year, make it this one.
  5. Bayley vs Asuka had a lot to live up to, considering Bayley’s classic battles with Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch. After starting out with some nice chain wrestling, both women picked up the pace and put on a fantastic match that felt like it could have gone either way.
  6. Bayley is the first opponent who has been able to go blow for blow with the Japanese sensation, and showed the heart that has made her a fan favorite as she passed out rather than submit to the Asuka lock. Five star match.
  7. Bobby Roode is shown looking intense in the crowd as Samoa Joe makes his way to the ring for the main event, which means they must have moved Crews vs Sampson to the pre-show, or the post show, or an alternate universe where somebody actually cares about that match.
  8. Joe gets busted open early, and he’s really bleeding pretty heavily. While a couple of ref/medical stoppages slowed the pace of the match slightly, this was more than made up for by a bloodied Joe stalking and pummeling the champ.
  9. Surprising win from Balor after Joe dominates for much of the match, and much like the Sami Zayn draw matches this finish makes Joe look a little dim.
  10. With the exception of the Aries / Corbin match (which wasn’t bad) all of the matches tonight were at least four star, which is an impressive achievement for any WWE show. With the addition of Nakamura and the likely signing of Roode and Ricochet, the future for NXT is looking bright indeed…
JT is a hot air balloonist, writer and tattoo aficionado. He writes about movies, science, music, video games, action figures and professional wrestling.