NXT TakeOver: San Antonio

Lithium93_

The night before the Rumble, will NXT steal the thunder from the main roster, or will the main roster deliver something to rival it the night after.

Card is as follows.

Singles match
Roderick Strong vs. Andrade "Cien" Almas

Singles match
Eric Young vs. Tye Dillinger

Tag team match for the NXT Tag Team Championship
DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) (c) vs. The Authors of Pain (Rezar and Akam) (with Paul Ellering)

Fatal 4-Way match for the NXT Women's Championship
Asuka (c) vs. Nikki Cross vs. Billie Kay vs. Peyton Royce

Singles match for the NXT Championship
Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. "Glorious" Bobby Roode

Pentecost

I'm sure it'll be a decent show but compared to previous cards it's not great. Is Joe injured or just waiting to be called up?

Sirsok

Pentecost wrote: »

I'm sure it'll be a decent show but compared to previous cards it's not great. Is Joe injured or just waiting to be called up?

Exactly my thoughts, with exception of themain event, im not expecting any stand out matches....just hope the crowd make up for it. Wikl be worth it alone to see Nak and Roodes entrance

Itssoeasy

I wonder if the fatal four way is the WWEs way of getting the title off asuka for a main roster call up ? She could be not pinned and lose but still say she never lost.

DM_7

Strong v Cien Almas/La Sombra could be great.

Omackeral

Is this the first time Takeover will be main evented by two dudes using their real names?

jaykhunter

Not a great card but the main event should be whopper! What's Joe been up to?

Andersonisgod

Sirsok wrote: »

Exactly my thoughts, with exception of themain event, im not expecting any stand out matches....just hope the crowd make up for it. Wikl be worth it alone to see Nak and Roodes entrance

Not convinced at all that the main event will be a standout match. Nakamura has managed to sleepwalk through almost an entire year of wrestling and Roode is fine but nothing more. As someone else said online, this might be Nakamura's toughest challenge yet as he wrestles a theme song.

sky88

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Not convinced at all that the main event will be a standout match. Nakamura has managed to sleepwalk through almost an entire year of wrestling and Roode is fine but nothing more. As someone else said online, this might be Nakamura's toughest challenge yet as he wrestles a theme song.

Shinsuke has always sleptwalk even in new japan but he always brought everything to his big matches.

CastorTroy

Just remembered this is on tonight.

Nothing really jumps out at me, but I'm sure at some wil do great.

Loughc

This is kicking off at 1am Irish time in case anyone is wondering.

J. Marston

Itssoeasy wrote: »

I wonder if the fatal four way is the WWEs way of getting the title off asuka for a main roster call up ? She could be not pinned and lose but still say she never lost.

She might be just what Raw needs to spice up the stale as fúck Women's division. Let her come in and squash Charlotte or something.

LeeJM

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Not convinced at all that the main event will be a standout match. Nakamura has managed to sleepwalk through almost an entire year of wrestling and Roode is fine but nothing more. As someone else said online, this might be Nakamura's toughest challenge yet as he wrestles a theme song.

Awesome plagiarizing there AIG. You literally just wrote down word for word what Joe Lanza said on VOW this week.

ForeverYoung90

Bobby Roodes "Glorious" entrance has to be one of the greatest entrances ever imo.

Omackeral

LeeJM wrote: »

Awesome plagiarizing there AIG. You literally just wrote down word for word what Joe Lanza said on VOW this week.

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Not convinced at all that the main event will be a standout match. Nakamura has managed to sleepwalk through almost an entire year of wrestling and Roode is fine but nothing more. As someone else said online, this might be Nakamura's toughest challenge yet as he wrestles a theme song.

You must have missed the bolded part.

Andersonisgod

Omackeral wrote: »

You must have missed the bolded part.

Haha thanks, I couldn't remember who said it but I do know it was on my Twitter timeline thus I didn't take credit for it.

I know Lanza said it as a kind of jokey line but it does show that the standard of NXT has slipped when Roode, who is only over because of his theme, is headlining. The worry will be that Nakamura, in his year long comatose state, wont be able to drag anything more out of Roode than a distinctly average match.

SureYWouldntYa

I think it's unfair to say Roode is only over because of his theme song

Fair enough he's done nothing of real note in NXT, but the reason he has any hype behind him is because he's known from TNA, the theme song has just made him stand out more than say an Austin Aries or an Eric Young

His theme song on a homegrown NXT talent could have flopped completely

DM_7

Roode has also played up to that theme, he carries himself like he is something special.

SureYWouldntYa

Exactly, the whole shebang with his entrance would only suit someone who is, well, glorious and knows it

sky88

roode is good in the ring so i wouldnt be worried with the quality of match. im not expecting it to be great but it will be a good main event.

Andersonisgod

I think you'll see tonight lads in what'll probably have to be a long main event just how distinctly average Roode is. He's not bad, he's just nothing special. They could have given that theme and gimmick to about half a dozen guys in development and they'd be every bit as over as Roode is.

Omackeral

Andersonisgod wrote: »

I think you'll see tonight lads in what'll probably have to be a long main event just how distinctly average Roode is. He's not bad, he's just nothing special. They could have given that theme and gimmick to about half a dozen guys in development and they'd be every bit as over as Roode is.

Simply untrue. Imagine Steve Cutler with it. Nah.

Andersonisgod

Omackeral wrote: »

Simply untrue. Imagine Steve Cutler with it. Nah.

Haha I'm not saying any random guy but, off the very top of my head, Dillinger or Aries would have done every bit as good (maybe better in Aries case) as Roode has done with it. My point is that the song is over, the over the top presentation of the gimmick is over, when that bell rings the wrestler behind the gimmick isn't over.

thebostoncrab

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Haha I'm not saying any random guy but, off the very top of my head, Dillinger or Aries would have done every bit as good (maybe better in Aries case) as Roode has done with it. My point is that the song is over, the over the top presentation of the gimmick is over, when that bell rings the wrestler behind the gimmick isn't over.

I've been saying the same thing since day one re: Austin Aries. The song suits him and his Greatest Man That Ever Lived persona even more than it does Bobby.

PTH2009

Is Bobby Roode endorsed by Ric Flair or something as he wears a similar robe to the ring ???

Didn't Aj Styles wear a robe too for a short while in TNA ???

Omackeral

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Haha I'm not saying any random guy but, off the very top of my head, Dillinger or Aries would have done every bit as good (maybe better in Aries case) as Roode has done with it. My point is that the song is over, the over the top presentation of the gimmick is over, when that bell rings the wrestler behind the gimmick isn't over.

The OTT gimmick is over just as much because of how Bobby carries himself. He's believable in the role. Always found Roode to be extremely popular regardless of any extras anyway. From Beer Money to the IT Factor, whether heel or face, I'd say he was always over. I think you're being really harsh on him. He gets good heat and is well able to go in the ring too. To say he's not over is disingenuous, much the way people used to say the it was the YES chants that were over and not Daniel Bryan.

Omackeral

PTH2009 wrote: »

Is Bobby Roode endorsed by Ric Flair or something as he wears a similar robe to the ring ???

Didn't Aj Styles wear a robe too for a short while in TNA ???

Sure Ric Flair robbed the whole gimmick of Buddy Rogers, right down to the Nature Boy nickname.

PTH2009

Omackeral wrote: »

Sure Ric Flair robbed the whole gimmick of Buddy Rogers, right down to the Nature Boy nickname.

Ah ya he did the stealing baxtard

DM_7

Great chance for Nigel, replacing Corey.

Can't believe how good Corey was for NXT after how poorly he was received as a wrestler. Will be missed but Nigel started very well in the UK tourney.

Andersonisgod

Omackeral wrote: »

The OTT gimmick is over just as much because of how Bobby carries himself. He's believable in the role. Always found Roode to be extremely popular regardless of any extras anyway. From Beer Money to the IT Factor, whether heel or face, I'd say he was always over. I think you're being really harsh on him. He gets good heat and is well able to go in the ring too. To say he's not over is disingenuous, much the way people used to say the it was the YES chants that were over and not Daniel Bryan.

I don't want to sound like I'm being overly harsh on him, he's gotten a great gimmick that he can just step into and instantly be over. Would I say that he's the weakest NXT Takeover headliner ever? I'd say he's right up there with Bo Dallas for that particular honor. The comparison with Bryan is misleading, Bryan was a heel who was told to celebrate victories in an over the top and irritating manner, over the course of 18 months he went from that to being one of the most popular guys on the WWE roster in the last 10 years. His connection with fans certainly goes beyond chanting "yes" whereas I'm not at all sold that fans that cheer for Roode would do the same if "Glorious" were not his theme song. Daniel Bryan was the incredibly unlikely journey of one of the most naturally likeable wrestling personalities all the way to the top of the industry. Roode is a guy who probably reminds Triple H a bit of himself and who has lucked out in landing a ready-made gimmick that was almost impossible to fail in.

DM_7

DM_7 wrote: »

Great chance for Nigel, replacing Corey.

Can't believe how good Corey was for NXT after how poorly he was received as a wrestler. Will be missed but Nigel started very well in the UK tourney.

Delighted for Nigel.

Met him at an IWW show around 10 years ago and honestly the nicest wrestler I've ever met.
Hope he does well.

Jerichoholic

Deleted User wrote: »

Delighted for Nigel.

Met him at an IWW show around 10 years ago and honestly the nicest wrestler I've ever met.
Hope he does well.

Yeah, he deserves a break. Graves seems happy he's there too.

Jerichoholic

Ember not great at taking her lines from the headset.

WinnyThePoo

Ember Moon having a mare

CastorTroy

Not watching til tomorrow but is Nigel doing commentary on the main show? Strange if that's the case, bringing him in for Takeover without some weeks on the weekly show.

CastorTroy

CastorTroy wrote: »

Not watching til tomorrow but is Nigel doing commentary on the main show? Strange if that's the case, bringing him in for Takeover without some weeks on the weekly show.

No. Todd Phillips, Graves and Percy Watson but will take Graves place after tonight.

WinnyThePoo

I'd like to see Almas vs Nakamura in a match. Talented guy.

johnnysmack

Percy Watson, the David otunga of nxt

Andersonisgod

WinnyThePoo wrote: »

I'd like to see Almas vs Nakamura in a match. Talented guy.

You can, on NJPW World.

Anyway, hot take: Gargano is the best face in this whole company.

sky88

Gargano could get the crowd behind him daniel Bryan did

That was great with Rollins

J. Marston

Peyton is gorgeous.

B.A._Baracus

J. Marston wrote: »

Peyton is gorgeous.

I'd rather some Asuka myself :pac:

J. Marston

The Aussie girls were shrieking so much during that match.

RollieFingers

Bobby Flair in all his glory!

sky88

Two amazing entrances

WinnyThePoo

Nakamura is such a star ! WWE really doing some great production work

J. Marston

Wonder what Shinsuke is up to tomorrow night?

WinnyThePoo

Hopefully selling his knee injury

sky88

I think that was a very good takeover as it didn't have much buzz coming in.

Jerichoholic

What a match, saved an otherwise poor show. Nakamura needs to be winning the damn rumble tomorrow after that.

J. Marston

My immediate thought was "Oh he's in the Rumble!" but nah, they're not going to put him in after that much selling of an injury.