April 1, 2017
Orlando, Florida – Amway Center
Commentary: Tom Phillips, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson
Welcome to our live coverage of NXT Takeover: Orlando
HHH did a voiceover while a shot of the crowd was shown, welcoming everyone to Takeover: Orlando. A video promo aired before cutting to the set. No pyro, but a much larger set than any NXT Takeover special has ever had before. A really cool set, better than the RAW and Smackdown sets used each week. The show also has spotlights everywhere.
Sanity vs. Tye Dillinger/Ruby Riot/Roderick Strong/Kassius Ohno
No Way Jose was attacked by Sanity earlier in the day at Access and has been replaced by Ohno. Kassius has new ring gear and is wrestling with a jersey on instead of skin-tight singlet — Thank You WWE! Very back and forth match with lots of hot tags. Dillinger is extremely over with the crowd. Sanity won in just under twenty minutes when Killian Dain hit his finisher on Dillinger and scored the pinfall. Fun opener and fast-paced.
Beth Phoenix and Edge were shown in the crowd and got a good pop.
Aleister Black vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas
Almas came out first to an ok crowd reaction. The arena went dark and Aleister Black was ‘raised’ from the floor like corpse coming out of coffin. He angrily stared at the camera while fog filled the entrance before making his way to the ring. The set screens showed dimly lit candles everywhere. Once Black got in the ring he sat cross-legged and put his hands in a meditative pose. Cool entrance. The lights came back on and the crowd cheered.
Almas tried to show off early on. Black countered by doing a back-flip off the middle ring rope, landed and immediately sat back down cross-legged and with palms face upwards in another meditative pose. Almas continued to show off before getting met with a spinning heel kick that sent him out of the ring. Black did a moonsault off the top rope to the floor while the crowd chanted NXT. Action moved back into the ring and Almas gained the upper hand, locking in several submissions. Black escaped each submission and Almas scored a very near-fall, questionably a three-count. Almas seems to be working very stiff in this match. Nigel McGuinness called NXT “ROH” on commentary, very embarrassing. Aleister hit a high knee that left Cien near catatonic. Black raised Almas up and hit a spinning kick, called “The Black Mass” to score the pinfall in ten-minutes. Aleister set in the ring cross-legged again and stared angrily at the camera. I think this was a fantastic debut, as Aleister black already has a defined character and had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand.
This
— HEEL TEM (@HEEL_TEM) April 2, 2017
NXT Tag Team Championship
The Authors of Pain (c) vs. DIY vs. The Revival
The Revival entered first followed by DIY. Both were well-received by the crowd in the Amway Center. Paul Ellering lead The Authors of Pain to the ring to some boos from the crowd. Very back and forth back and fast-paced, similar in structure to the opening bout. AOP used Gargano’s body as a weapon against the other two teams at one point.
The Revival and DIY teamed up and to work against The Authors of Pain, powerbombing Rezar though a table and locking a double-submission on Akam. AOP endured and suffered each team’s finisher. Good action and Good story of Revival and DIY working together to try to defeat AOP. Dawson suplexed Gargano off the top rope onto all the teams on the ground at ringside. Authors of Pain hit The Last Chapter on Ciampa in the ring and scored the pinfall to eliminate DIY. The crowd chanted “Bullshit” after this.
It took the power of both #TheRevival & #DIY… but @Rezar_WWE has gone THROUGH the TABLE! #NXTTakeOver pic.twitter.com/aMiucxXAOC
— WWE (@WWE) April 2, 2017
The Revival scored several near falls but eventually fell victim to the double powerbomb letting AOP pick up the win. The live crowd booed heavily but in my opinion this was the right decision. DIY and The Revival are both ready for the main-roster so it makes sense here for AOP to pick up the win.
NXT Women’s Championship
Asuka (c) vs. Ember Moon
Ember made her entrance to a good reaction. Asuka was very over with the live-crowd and the Announcers put over that she was the longest reigning champion in NXT, period. There are dueling “Let’s Go Asuka” and “Let’s go Ember Moon” chants in the crowd. The two trade moves to start the match. Moon seems unfazed by Asuka’s winning streak and Asuka seems overly confident. Moon hit a good cross-body from the top rope to Asuka on the floor during the match. Moon overpowers out of a sleeper-hold by Asuka in the ring.
Moon went to the top rope for the Eclipse but Asuka sent the ref into the ropes, causing her to fall. Asuka hit a kick to the head and scored the 1-2-3. The announcers put over that Asuka was only able to win via cheating and that Moon deserved another shot at the title. Makes sense if the goal is to call Asuka up around the draft in June, as opposed to this week’s RAW/SmackDown. Some good suplexes from both ladies in this match.
Drew McIntyre was shown in the crowd before the match.
NXT Championship
Bobby Roode (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Shinsuke came out with new ring gear (red and black stripes) to a huge pop. Two women playing pianos played the Glorius theme at the entrance. Very nice! Roode’s theme then hit after they finished to a huge pop.
These two traded cocky mannerisms with one another at the start of this match. This match was paced very differently from the rest of the card, much different pace and more restholds. The live crowd was engaged none-the-less though and clapped throughout the match. Both guys hit their big spots and scored many near falls. The story being told is both are giving it everything that they have.
Roode got frustrated and grabbed the ring bell from Tugboat’s son, the ringbell guarder. The Ref took the ringbell from Roode who ate a suplex from Nakamura. Nakamura signaled for his finisher but Roode reversed it into a spine-buster for a near fall. Roode hit a brainbuster from the top rope to finally KO Shinsuke and score the pinfall. Good match but not overly memorable. I would speculate Shinsuke will head to the main roster along with DIY and The Revival.
Solid Takeover event, the highlight of which was the Tag Title Triple Threat.
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