Here are my own 10 Thoughts on NXT Takeover: Fatal Four Way, which aired live on the WWE Network (which you can get for only $9.99!) on Thursday 9/11/14:
1. The Ascension losing their tag titles to The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto & Sin Cara) was not a surprise considering they are about to be called up to WWE full-time, so this match wound up coming up a little flat for me. I am not sold on The Ascension becoming sensations after being called up to WWE, but at least it gives The Usos new opponents to work with (though I could watch The Usos vs. The Wyatts for a full year straight and not get sick of them because they match up extremely well and have great in-ring chemistry).
2. I honestly think that Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady have a chance to become something really special whenever they get called up to WWE. While I am not saying they will end up being at their level, I do see a little bit of the HBK and Diesel dynamic at play with Enzo and Big Cass, and I also think Amore has tons of charisma. I love everything about his ring entrance, the way he sells the words he speaks (BADA BOOM, REALEST GUYS IN THE ROOM!), and of course, they have the hottest catchphrase in NXT right now. If you don’t get it, then you are S-A-W-F-T SAWWWWWWWFT! As Enzo Amore would say, you can’t teach that, and I think he and Big Cass can be huge breakout stars.
3. As for the Hair vs. Hair match itself, I thought it was a little underwhelming to see Sylvester Lefort escape the HAIR REMOVAL BUCKET OF DOOM, but at least the Marcus Louis visual was pretty funny when they got around to showing his mostly BAWLD head.
4. The crowd was absolutely INSANE for KENTA when he came out, and of course WWE had to take all of that great organic reaction and name recognition and turn it into another awful NXT renaming. Gone is KENTA, and here comes Hideo Itami, fine.
5. As for the segment with KENTA/Itami and The Ascension, it was a little bizarre to me to see the most dominant tag team in NXT history get punked out in this spot. I am sure someone else who is a singles wrestler could have been used instead, and I would have preferred that. I did like that the crowd chanted KENTA afterwards instead of HIDEO ITAMI, so hopefully they keep that up.
6. I like both Mojo Rawley and Bull Dempsey, but it made sense for Bull to destroy Mojo here since they are building him up as an intimidating throwback brawler. Rawley can always pull a John Cena like rebound and say he wants a rematch, after all, he doesn’t get hyped, he STAYS HYPED!
7. The Women’s Championship between Bayley and Charlotte was good, but it was nowhere near the level of Charlotte’s match with Natalya last time around. Bayley plays the underdog well and there was really nothing wrong with how they laid out the match, but I think it lacked a little intrigue. Throwing Sasha Banks into the mix and making this a Triple Threat scenario is a solid idea moving forward, so at least that’s something to look forward to.
8. Tyson Kidd was outstanding in the main event. FACT.
9. I really thought Tyler Breeze was going to steal the win when he had that second opportunistic moment that would have been a perfect crescendo for a Breeze victory.
10. With points 8 and 9 said, the Sami Zayn-Adrian Neville dynamic was absolutely palpable at the end of the match, and I LOVED the finish. Everyone thought Sami Zayn was going to win the NXT Championship after that Helluva Kick to Tyson Kidd, and when Neville pulled the referee out of the ring, I thought it was a brilliant move. After all, don’t we all REALLY want to see a Zayn-Neville one-on-one title match? I sure do.
BONUS THOUGHTS!
11. Overall, this was a good show with a GREAT ****1/2 main event match.
12. Renee Young, Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton did a very solid job on commentary. One day, I hope Renee Young is the voice of Raw.
13. NXT is quickly becoming must-watch programming, even more so that Monday Night Raw. I also highly recommend the Monday Night War series on WWE Network, which has been outstanding.
14. No Vaudevillains on the show? Boooooo!
That’s all from me — CB.
