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The first big spot after a back and forth open saw Corbin backdropping Crews over the top. He “hit” the ring steps on his way down. Corbin told him “you should have stayed in Ring Of Honor, small gyms”. Crews got back in, but got thrown right back out. Corbin then went to work on Crews when he got back in the ring for the next few minutes. Corbin was doing a lot of trash talking and then went to work on Crews’ back. … Crews made a comeback and Corbin tried to walk away. Crews went out and got him. Then did a moonsault on the apron, to Corbin on the floor. They headed back into the ring, where Crews went to work until he got caught in a Sidewalk Slam. Both men struggled to get up. Crews got a two with a standing moonsault after using an enzigiri to get out of End Of Days. … Crews went for a Powerbomb, but Corbin countered with End Of Days to get the pin.
That finish surprised me. A lot. It doesn’t kill Crews by any means, but I wasn’t expecting that as the ending. … Overall, it was a really good match.
We got a Sami Zayn promo.
Nia Jax was doing a promo when she noticed someone watching, it was Asuka. They faced off, Asuka smirked. Nia said she is going to take Bayley out.
We then got a Bayley vignette.
The fans were totally into Bayley. They sang would you be my girl. OK fans, calm down you are keeping them from starting the match. … Early on, Jax was using power moves on the champ, rag doling her. … Bayley kept fighting back, as she always does. Nia put Bayley on top and went to tossed her but got pushed off. Bayley hit a senton from the top and went for the cover but Nia pressed her off at one, and she hit the floor. Nia got a two with a Samoan Drop. She did two more and hit a leg drop. She went for the cover with just a foot on Bayley’s chest and the champ kicked out. Bayley is so good as a babyface underdog. Jax just started abusing her. She should have had her pinned, but Bayley kicked out again when Jax used two hands to pin her and didn’t hook the leg. … Finally, Corey called out the fans in England for signing for no F’ing reason. They are annoying as hell. … Jax took Bayley up for a Superplex but Bayley locked on a choke and held on for a while until Jax dumped her in the middle of the ring. Jax came in and Bayley went to lock it on again and did. Jax powered out again and slammed her down. Jax sold the choke before going back in and when she did, Bayley got it on again. Jax started fading. Bayley was awesome in locking it in. Jax fought hard to get out but finally had to tap. Bayley retains the NXT Women’s Title.
I loved this match. It was the female version of a Big Man-Little man match. Jax did a great job of staying on the offense and the champ did a great job of selling it. It made for a really great, different kind of women’s match. I loved it. And once again, Bayley hit a home run. She is awesome.
They are recapping Finn Balor and Samoa Joe and how we got to their Title match. There is a lot of time left for these two. Tear down the house fellas.
We have 10,079 fans at the arena.
Joe came out first, followed by the champion. He was in Demon makeup and a Mr. Hyde topcoat and hat. The crowd decided to realize they were at a wrestling show and chanted, “This is awesome” as the bell rang. They then did dueling “Let’s Go” chants.
Balor started hot but then Joe took over. He even hit a tope when Balor was a pretty good distance away on the floor. About five minutes in Joe got a two on a powerbomb and then went to work doing submissions, trying to get Balor to tap. On the plus side, the crowd is treating this like a match and not singing inappropriate songs. I like then better playing the role of wrestling fans. … This is so good. Balor got a two about ten minutes in after a somersault senton splash on the floor on Joe. They have a lot of fight in them. I don’t envy Rich recapping the blow-by-blow. I give up. About 15 minutes in, the crowd chanted the this is awesome. They got that right.
About 17 minutes in, Joe was going for the Muscle Buster from the top when Finn managed to get chop him off. He then hit the Coup de Grace for the win. As you expect, it was an excellent match.
After it ended, the ref handed Balor the belt. He preened for the crowd and took in their adulation. Balor went to leave the ring but then instead sit down in the corner Raven style, as a trainer looked at him and talked to him. He got back up and raised the Title again as the trainer and ref stood with him.
Overall, this was another excellent NXT Takeover event. Everyone worked really hard and every match was at least really good. NXT shows always deliver.
The crowd was a mixed bag. I loved their energy and when it was focused on wrestling, it was great. When they were singing love songs to Bayley as she was fighting for her life, not so much. Like I said, I love their passion. I just don’t need to hear them singing Beatles songs during matches. I get that they do that at soccer games, but this isn’t a soccer game. Food for thought (I hope).
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