NXT Takeover Unstoppable had it’s great moments, and a few more flat moments that generally aren't associated with the product. The show provided six matches and a few new faces that will have fans talking for weeks about the future of the brand.
Finn Balor vs. Tyler Breeze
#1 Contenders Match
This match was originally intended to be a three way with Hideo Itami who has suffered a shoulder injury of sorts. WWE aired a video of Itami appearing to have been attacked in the parking lot. The video teased that it might have been Kevin Owens that was the attacker. It was announced that Itami would be out of the match and he had a torn rotator cuff. (That’s some pretty fast diagnosing!)
Breeze came out first to a new entrance involving models and cellphones. The entrance stage was different than normal and helped give this an even better look. It was the best entrance Breeze has ever had…and then Finn Balor came out. Balor went full demon with bat wings and spikes on his back. He also revealed a huge painted eye on his back. The entrance had fans in the crowd coming unglued. The two could have literally gone for a minute and the fans would have eaten it up after the Balor intro. This was certainly a high point for the show.
The match was pretty much back and forth. Finn landed a nice double stomp on Breeze’s back as he’s on the outside. He then tossed Breeze back in and sets him up for his big rocket kick, but Breeze catches him with a Supermodel Kick for a near fall. Breeze exposes a turnbuckle that Finn runs into and then gets caught by the Beauty Shot, and it would seem he will get the win, but Finn kicks out. Moments later we get the rocket kick bouncing Breeze off the turnbuckle and the double foot stomp from the top. Finn gets the win.
After Finn’s entrance it seemed impossible that he could lose. The Demon is undefeated, which is a cool concept because Finn Balor has lost a match or two. WWE could really do something cool with that. The match was just ok. It felt very much like they were going through the motions. There was not much of an in ring story here as they hit some cool spots and moved on. The turnbuckle Beauty Shot bump was a bit much for Finn to kick out of, so that probably caught many off guard. This match probably needed five more minutes to breathe.
Bayley and Charlotte vs. Brooke and Emma
Emma got some good early offense in and carried her teams end of the match. It was pretty clear that Dana could not keep up with the pace. Bayley executed a nice drop kick through the turnbuckle on Brooke and Emma. Emma was able to yank Bayley off the top rope and caused her head to land flat on the turnbuckle for a nasty spot. This gave Emma and Brooke the advantage, but they executed few moves of consequence. Charlotte caught the hot tag and made Emma and Brooke look foolish. Brooke really looked like she was a deer in the headlights when she was in alone against Charlotte. Charlotte hit the Natural Selection on Emma and her team got the win.
This was better than your average Divas match you would see on Raw because Charlotte, Emma, and Bayley are really good, but Dana was so limited that it hurt the dynamic of her being the badass heel. If NXT had plans of Dana and Charlotte down the road they better hold off for a long time.
Baron Corbin vs. Ryhno
This was a brawl from the word go and what many would have expected. They didn’t execute very many holds or moves. It was a lot of power shots, but for what it was it was not very stiff. Corbin gets the win and continues his heel push.
Enzo and Big Cass vs. Blake and Murphy (c)
NXT Tag Team Championship Match
Blake and Murphy bumped around a little for Big Cass early, but eventually they got Enzo cornered and beat on him for a while. Big Cass got the hot tag and took out everyone. Enzo still hadn’t gathered himself when Big Cass carried him to the top corner to execute a big splash on Blake. Alexa Bliss suddenly appeared and kicked Carmella from behind. Cass ran over to check on her while Enzo was still on the top rope looking out of it. Alexa knocked Enzo off the top rope for Blake to cover him for the win.
This match had a good story build and felt special at the start. Many thought Carmella was going to turn, but then again it seemed a bit obvious. Bliss had been showing signs of a turn as she was not getting over as a face. If NXT wants to give Bliss a chance to shine as a heel that’s ok, but the end of this match was a mess. Enzo was way overselling how beat up he was. The transition for Cass to leave him was not quick enough and it all looked really bad. This has been a good feud, but the ending of this match fell flat due to execution.
Sasha Banks (c) vs. Becky Lynch
NXT Women’s Championship Match
Becky had a whole new look dying her hair carrot orange and looking like she just came off the set of the Mad Max movie. The new look was pretty cool, but her wrestling shorts looked like Granny panties. Banks came out in some fresh gear with her hair looking as pink as ever. Banks has a great entrance.
They traded control through the early stages of the match. Becky tried to resist Banks from giving her the double knees in the corner so Becky gave her the double knees to her arm and then began the process of working over her arm and shoulder. That would be a continuing trend until Becky was able to inflict some damage to Sasha’s left shoulder. Lynch locked in her arm bar submission and appeared to have Banks in a really bad spot, but she was able to get to the ropes. Banks would later try to execute a dive from the ring onto Lynch on the outside, but Lynch caught her and slammed her into the steps.
Lynch then tossed Banks back in the ring and climbed to the top. Banks recovered before Lynch could do anything and slammed her to the mat and secured the Bank’s Statement. Lynch tapped and Banks retained. Lynch got a huge amount of crowd support post match. She really came out of this strong. Her hair gives her a very unique look. A star was certainly born in defeat.
This was a wrestling match in every sense of the word. Fans were treated to two stars telling an in ring story. Lynch was trying to rise up from being a contender to Champion and Banks was trying to prove why she is the Champ. It was well booked and both competitors worked hard. When the WWE Divas can produce matches like this fans will start taking them more seriously. This would prove to be the best match of the night.
Kevin Owens (C) vs. Sami Zayn
NXT Championship Match
NXT aired a video package showing the history between these two. It was an excellent way to prep for the match and set the stage for something epic. Zayn was out first and the crowd went nuts for him as usual. Owen came out wearing a John Cena U.S. Champ shirt. Nobody does classic heel like Kevin Owens.
As bell rings Owens quickly exited the ring. Zayn followed him out and the two began brawling and that’s basically what this was, a brawl on the outside of the ring. Zayn executed a Blue Thunder bomb and numerous overhead head and shoulder suplexes. The best of which was one he did to Owens on the outside. Owens took a ton of bumps and for the most part Zayn dominated the match.
With both men on the outside Zayn went diving at Owens and got caught. Owens executed an Apron Power Bomb and Zayn went limp. An extra ref came to check on Zayn and soon more refs were out and so was the trainer. It became odd when the refs were keeping Owens off Zayn. Owens continued to strike Zayn with some blows, and put him back in the ring. The refs continued to try to keep Zayn off and even William Regal came down to confront Owens to stop him. Owens head butted him sending him to the floor.
Owens went to get a chair and use it on Zayn. Just as he was about to swing it some strange music hit. Owens actually followed through with one awkward chair shot to Zayn who was already laid out as out came Samoa Joe. Joe hit the ring and had a face down with Owens who backed off and left with his belt. The crowd went crazy for Joe and Owens actually came back out and teased entering the ring, but did not as we cut off air.
Sami Zayn is clearly hurt. He was a few pounds heavier than he normally looks and that’s likely because he’s not been able to work out and work in the ring since getting injured. He worked an absolutely great match with Owens for what it was as the emotional setup with the video package and just their feud in general had the place in a near frenzy. Yet, the ref stoppage finish seemed poorly placed. It probably worked as an ending if they hadn’t done it for their last match on the previous special.
NXT overbooked this finish a bit because they wanted to protect Zayn and keep the mega push for Owens going, but it probably was ok for Owens to just get the pinfall. Especially if Zayn is headed to the DL for a long period of time, which looks like it will be the case. It also seemed awkward for everything to stop on an obvious spot like that and just come to an end. Joe’s arrival was what many fans wanted, but the lack of any exchange between him and Owens was conservative to say the least. It was a good moment that should have been so much better.
If you watched this special you should have picked up on one thing for sure. Kevin Owens is getting the biggest push of any Superstar since CM Punk. NXT aired a video package to hype his Zayn match on the pre-show that was him attacking Cena. They had him appear to be the guy who attacked Itami. They had him take out Zayn. He cut a promo on John Cena and Zayn.
The WWE is investing in Kevin Owens and rightfully so. He’s a refreshing heel who really truly acts like he doesn’t just want to flip face. He’s not mean to be cool he’s mean to be mean. That real hate that he’s generating with fans will only further help other faces get way over. That’s how real money is drawn. When you combine that with him getting clean wins and doing what he says you are building a strong Champion. This is in contrast to Rollins who is portrayed as fearing everyone and running all the time.
A few other things that happened on the show of note was the Uhaa Nation getting a big ovation when he was shown on screen watching the show. Stephanie McMahon was sitting ringside with the Mountain from Game of Thrones. It’s unclear if this was just PR or he’s going to give wrestling a try. Eva Marie was shown sitting ringside and promoted as being a star of Total Divas. Thankfully no matches for her were announced.
As far as an overall show this was not the best Takeover special by far. NXT has done much better, but they were hampered by two key injuries and they have set a high bar for themselves with their previous outings. The two hour format is fine, but they probably needed to drop one match. In this case it should have been Ryhno Corbin, which would have been fine on a taped show since it was obvious that Corbin was going over anyway.
The show was still very entertaining. The women again stole the show. If you are a fan of traditional solid story telling matches than make sure you see the Banks Lynch match. It was an excellent happening.
NXT continues to be WWE’s hot brand and despite this show not being their best they continue to outshine the main roster with their freshness and overall hard work. The bar is getting raised every week.