NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn (August 2015)

Original Airdate: August 22, 2015

From Brooklyn, New York; Your Hosts are Rich Brennan, Byron Saxton, and Corey Graves

Opening Match: Tyler Breeze v Jushin Thunder Liger: Despite the large venue and crowd, they still darken the stands, which is a nice change of pace from the main roster shows. Feeling out process to start, with Breeze trying to play mind games with the veteran, but getting schooled. Liger Bomb early on, but Breeze counters with the Supermodel Kick for two, and adds a legdrop for two. He grounds Liger with a front-facelock, but Jushin escapes, so Tyler hits a lungblower for two, then goes back to the facelock. Liger escapes again, and this time manages the rolling koppou kick, followed by a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. That sets up a flying splash, but Breeze lifts the knees to block, and a crucifix gets him two. Liger fires back with a forearm, so Breeze bails, but Jushin is on him with a somersault bodyblock off of the apron. In, the Liger Bomb ends it at 8:38. Not much to this one. It was watchable, but really just here for the novelty of seeing Liger. * ¾

NXT Tag Team Title Match: Blake & Murphy v The Vaudevillains: Blue Pants joins the challengers tonight, in an effort to counteract Alexa Bliss. Blake starts with Simon Gotch, and they trade wristlocks, with Gotch schoolboying him for two. Cross-armbreaker, but Blake fights it, so Gotch armdrags him into an armbar instead. Over to Aiden English for a running seated big boot for two, and he grounds the champion in an armbar of his own. Tag to Murphy, but a double-team ends in Aiden hitting a double-Japanese armdrag, and he grounds Murphy in an armbar. Okay, we get it, armbars are fun. A cheap shot from Blake puts English down on the outside, however, and the champs cut the ring in half on him. Man, that Alexa's got one heck of a tush. It's funny watching her walk back and forth in front of the apron, and following the men in the crowds eyes. Aiden manages to fight off a double-team long enough to get the hot tag to Simon, and Roseanne Barr the door! The champs try a tandem-superplex on English, but Gotch saves, and Aiden hits Murphy with a flying somersault senton for two. That brings Bliss onto the apron, but Blue Pants pulls her off, and we've got a chase! Blue Pants takes her out, but Gotch is distracted by the catfight, and Murphy is able to schoolboy him for two - only to run into the Whirling Dervish from English to crown new champions at 10:14. ** ¼

Apollo Crews v Tye Dillinger: This is Crews' debut. Dillinger does all sorts of flippy floppy stuff to evade Crews to start, but is stunned when Apollo responds in kind! That was pretty great, because the crowd didn't expect it at all, and it came off as a wonderfully hilarious surprise. Crews tries a springboard, but Dillinger dropkicks him out of the air, and hits a double-stomp. Cobra clutch, but Crews fights, so Tye tries a sunset flip, but Crews counters into a cradle for two. Dillinger throws a superkick for two, but another one is countered with an enzuigiri, and Crews hits a discus clothesline. Stinger splash and a jumping clothesline lead to a press-drop, and a standing moonsault finishes at 4:42. Just what it needed to be. * ½

Baron Corbin v Samoa Joe: Corbin gets destroyed in the opening moments, so soundly that he bails to the outside to regroup. Back in, Joe keeps coming with an enzuigiri, and a running dropkick sends Baron over the top. Joe tries following with a tope, but Corbin manages to block with a forearm, and he follows up with a series of corner clotheslines for two. Joe fires back with rights, and a sloppy takedown ends in him applying a half-crab. Corbin nears the ropes, so Joe transitions into an arm-trap crossface, but Baron gets the ropes anyway to escape. They spill to the outside, where Joe tosses him into the barricade, but Baron manages to wrangle him in a kneebar on the way back in! Joe makes the ropes, so Corbin hits a spinning scrapbuster for two, and a superkick follows - only for Joe to immediately respond with an enzuigiri! That leaves both men down, and the resulting slugfest goes Joe's way. Superplex, but Baron blocks, and blasts him with a big boot. Suplex-slam gets two, and a spinebuster gets two - only for Joe to counter the cover into the Coquina Clutch at 10:22. Not a classic or anything, but Joe was certainly able to get a lot more out of Corbin than most everyone else. ** ½

NXT Women's Title Match: Sasha Banks v Bayley: Sasha makes fun of Bayley's polka dots (worn in tribute to the recently deceased Dusty Rhodes) to start, and that proves to be a big mistake! Bayley blitzes her, and a springboard elbowdrop gets two. Sasha tries fighting her off with a schoolgirl for two, but Bayley keeps coming, and the springboard armdrag sends Sasha to the outside. Banks stalls, so Bayley follows her out for the through the post dropkick, but gets nailed on the way back in. She manages to dodge the double-kneedrop in the corner, then block a superplex, so an annoyed Banks knocks her off the top rope, all the way to the floor! She beats the count in, so Sasha slugs her down, and tries a headvice. Bayley gets uppity, so Banks calms her down with a straightjacket instead, but Bayley again avoids the double-kneedrop. That just serves to piss Sasha off, however, and she beats her challenger down, then gives her the double-kneedrop off the TOP ROPE to teach her a lesson! It only gets two, and Banks is enraged. She goes after the bad wrist of her challenger, taking her to the outside, and ramming it into the steps a few times. She then nails Bayley with a somersault plancha, and back in, it's worth two. Sasha keeps working the wrist, but an attempt to springboard off the top sees Bayley shove her - Banks bumping all the way to the floor! Bayley has nothing to follow-up with, however, and the resulting slugfest damages her wrist as much as it hurts Sasha. Bayley fights through the pain as she unloads in the corner, and an exploder suplex into the turnbuckles sets up the Bayley-to-Belly, but Sasha blocks. Bayley with a rollup instead, but Banks counters into a single-arm DDT, then immediately transitions to the Bank Statement! Bayley goes for the ropes, so Sasha starts stomping the bad hand while applying, but that loosens her grip, and Bayley is able to reverse! Sasha gets the ropes, so Bayley pops off the Bayley-to-Belly, but it only gets two! A superplex version looks to finish, but Sasha fights her off, and dives with a 2^nd rope flying double high knee for two! Banks tries her own superplex, but Bayley is able to counter with an inverted rana off the top, and that's enough to daze Sasha for the Bayley-to-Belly to finish at 18:17! And then afterwards, Charlotte and Becky Lynch come out, and all four women raise each others arms in a kayfabe breaking curtain call before going up to the main roster. The match was good, but the wrist work never ultimately went anywhere, which was a big negative. *** ½

Main Event: NXT Title Ladder Match: Finn Balor v Kevin Owens: Owens trash talks to start, and tries going for the ladder, but Balor starts punching him in the head to stop that particular effort, and puts him down with a dropkick. Finn with a pair of cross corner chops, but he runs into a backelbow during a criss cross, and Kevin drops a senton splash on him. He goes for the ladder again, but Balor keeps him inside of the ring, as a fight breaks out in the crowd to distract everyone. Man, those seemed to happens every week during the Attitude Era, but it's a rare occurrence these days. Fucking Brooklyn. Owens tries a powerbomb, but Balor counters with a double-stomp, so Owens dumps him into the corner for the Cannonball. Pop-Up Powerbomb, but Balor counters with the sling blade - only for Kevin to bail before getting hit with a corner dropkick. He rushes up the aisle for the ladder, but Balor knocks it away from him, and drags it towards the ring himself. That leads to a tug-of-war, and Finn ends up getting the worst of it - Owens sandwiching him with it against the apron. They spill into the crowd, where Owens tries a powerbomb, but gets backdropped back over the barricade. Finn follows with a springboard dive, but gets caught, and sent absolutely FLYING into the announce table! I mean, FUCK! Owens grabs the ladder, but Balor comes diving off the announce table with a flying dropkick to knock it away from him, then gets the ladder into the ring for the first time - only to have Owens pull it right back out! Finn responds with a somersault plancha to calm his ass down, and he makes the first climb attempt of the match, but Owens pulls him down, and throws him into the ladder. The way they’re fighting to the death over control of the ladder is excellent, and something lost in a lot of modern ladder matches. Kevin tosses Balor out of the ring and climbs, but here comes Finn back in - Owens forced to abandon his attempt and stomp the champion. Balor manages to dodge a flying ladder, however, and the pele kick knocks Kevin silly - only for Finn to run into a clothesline. Owens starts beating him with the ladder, and slams the champ onto it to setup a senton! Finn still has some fight left in him, so Owens tries a powerbomb onto the ladder, but gets countered with a backdrop onto it! Balor climbs, but Owens quickly pulls him down, and throws him into a corner-leaning ladder for a Cannonball - Finn dodging. He quickly capitalizes with a running dropkick to setup the Coup de Grace, but even though he hits it, Kevin stops a climb attempt by powerbombing the champion off the ladder! He climbs, but Balor tips the ladder over, so Kevin takes him to the floor for the powerbomb into the apron that fucked Sami Zayn up, but Finn escapes. He tries a Coup de Grace off the apron, but Owens rolls out of the way, and kills him with the powerbomb into the apron! Wild sequence there! Kevin staggers in for a climb, but Balor manages to tip the ladder again - only for Owens to land on his feet, and blast the champion with a superkick! This one is just a war! Finn just keeps coming anyway, so a frustrated Owens delivers another superkick, then drags Balor's limp body up the ladder. Once all the way up, he tries a fisherman's buster down onto another ladder, but Balor manages to knock him down onto it with a headbutt - in a SICK bump for poor Kevin! That was downright nasty! Kevin is somehow not dead after that, so Balor adds a crazy Coup de Grace off the ladder to polish him off for reals, and that's enough at 21:38. This was absolutely tremendous! Most modern ladder matches are great spot shows but little more than the sum of their spots. This one had every crazy spot you could ask for, but it was all held together with psychology and selling, not just crazy bumps. A must see! *****

BUExperience: The main event and the women’s match are enough to carry this on their own, but coupled with a solid undercard, and a great ‘big show’ feel throughout, this one is an easy winner

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