NXT TakeOver: Respect (October 2015)

Original Airdate: October 7, 2015

From Winter Park, Florida; Your Hosts are Rich Brennan, Corey Graves, and Byron Saxton

Opening Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament Semifinal Match: Finn Balor and Samoa Joe v The Mechanics: Balor gets taken out right away, but Joe punishes Dash Wilder over it. Scott Dawson lends a hand to cause Joe to miss a charge, and the Mechanics work him over in the corner, as Balor recovers and gets onto the apron. Dash misses a charge to allow the tag to Balor (despite Dawson's best efforts to cut it off), and Finn gives Dash a receipt by dropkicking him off the apron before turning his attention to Dawson - dropkicking his ass out of the ring. Balor dives after both with a somersault plancha, and a running dropkick into the corner sets up the Coup de Grace on Dawson, but Dash rushes back in to clip the knee, and the Mechanics go to work on the leg. They cut the ring in half with tenacity, but Dawson gets knocked out, and Dash gets overwhelmed, allowing the hot tag to Joe! He hits a quick senton splash and a powerslam on Dash for two, and a uranage follows. Muscle buster kills Dash, and Balor tags in to put the cherry on top with the Coup de Grace at 9:05. Hard work all around, and great tag team psychology from the Mechanics. ***

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament Semifinal Match: Jason Jordan and Chad Gable v Baron Corbin and Rhyno: Jordan starts with Corbin, and manages a few takedowns, but gets dumped to the floor. Back in, Corbin continues to throw power moves to try and counter Jordan's holds, and he passes out to Rhyno - Jordan able to take him down into a waistlock for two. Tag to Gable for a slingshot sunset flip for two, but Rhyno LAUNCHES him into the corner for some punishment, so Chad starts sticking and moving again. Bridging northern lights suplex gets two, and Gable starts working the arm, but gets dumped to the outside again. Tag to Corbin, who abuses Chad on the floor before rolling him in, and cutting the ring in half. Rhyno misses a flying splash to allow the tag to Jordan, and he's passing out dropkicks like they're going out of style - Roseanne Barr the door! Gable tries a bridging German suplex on Corbin, but Rhyno saves at two, so Jordan tries a suplex on Rhyno, but gets Goared! That allows Corbin to hit Gable with the End of Days, and we're done at 10:26. Corbin as a tag wrestler is a much better fit than as a single. His act was tailor made to come in and hit a few big moves then leave, before getting totally exposed like he does when working ten minutes by himself. **

Dana Brooke v Asuka: This is Asuka's debut. She offers a handshake to start, but is quickly rebuffed by Brooke. Asuka smirks at the disrespect before schooling her with a hammerlock, but Dana elbows her way out. She makes the mistake of disrespecting her again (is she unaware of this event's title?), and Asuka spanks her again. She grounds Dana in a fujiwara armbar, but Brooke gets the ropes, and bails. Asuka follows to continue the beating on the floor with a flurry of kicks, so Emma gets involved, allowing Dana to nail Asuka on the way back in. Dana with the handstand bootchoke, and she grounds the newcomer in a bodyscissors, but Asuka counters into a kneebar. She takes Dana up to a vertical base in the hold before snapping off a German suplex to rattle her, so Emma tries interfering again, but gets rebuffed. Asuka with the Asuka Lock to finish at 5:32. Not a great match, but Asuka looked impressive - crisp and dangerous. Brooke isn't really the right opponent to showcase her against, but she's the right one to sacrifice to her, and that's what matters. **

Tyler Breeze v Apollo Crews: Feeling out process to start, until Apollo throws a dropkick that sends Breeze to the outside. Tyler tries a vertical suplex on the way back in, but Crews reverses to a hanging version (with a looooong delay) for two. That was impressive. Breeze fires back by schoolboying him out of the ring (never seen that before), and he manages to send Apollo into the LED screened ring apron. Back in, that gets two, and a corner whip is added for two. Lungblower gets two, so Crews tries to press-slam him when Tyler goes up top, but gets countered into a sharpshooter. Crews manages to power into the ropes to escape, and he catches a bitchy Breeze with a jumping clothesline. Tyler slugs him in the corner to try and cutoff the comeback, but Crews escapes a ten-punch, so Breeze reroutes with a rana. Apollo throws an enzuigiri to get some breathing room, but Tyler just won't take a hint, and nails the Supermodel Kick for two! Springboard dropkick (poorly executed) sets up a flying bodypress, but Crews counters with a powerslam for two - leaving both men down. This time Apollo is able to follow-up with the press-drop, but Tyler lifts the knees to block the standing moonsault, then cradles him for two. Breeze with a pair of cross corner forearms, but a third one is countered with a big boot, and Crews adds a spinout powerbomb for the pin at 9:45. I really liked the story they were telling here, with Breeze throwing everything in his arsenal to try and hold down the powerful Crews, and constantly cutting off his comebacks. ***

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament Final: Finn Balor and Samoa Joe v Baron Corbin and Rhyno: Finn starts with Rhyno, and tries to pull off a quick upset with a schoolboy, but it only gets two, and Rhyno tags out. Baron towers Balor, and looks to easily dominate a test-of-strength, but Finn sticks and moves with a dropkick, then passes to Joe. Joe unloads with a series of jabs, and a snapmare sets up a kneedrop for two. More jabs, and a charge is countered with a spinebuster for two, and Baron unloads with mounted punches for two. Over to Rhyno for a belly-to-belly suplex for two, and he slaps on a chinlock as they cut the ring in half on Joe. Joe fights Corbin off in the corner to get the tag off to Balor, and he comes in hot, but gets his bad knee (from the first match) clipped by Rhyno, and Baron bashes it into the post a few times. I thought it was strange that they were seemingly doing the heat segment with Joe, when Balor was selling the knee. Baron with a spinning scrapbuster for two, but he forgets all about the knee, and runs into a sling blade. Tag back to Joe, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on! Joe with a senton splash on Rhyno, and a uranage, but Corbin attacks, and Rhyno hits the Goar - Balor saving at two! Corbin tries taking him out with the End of Days, but gets countered with a DDT, so Rhyno takes him out. Back to Joe for another Goar, but this time a boot to the face blocks, and the muscle buster/Coup de Grace combo finishes at 11:10. Good ending sequence, but not spending half the match destroying Balor's knee felt like a huge missed opportunity, and hurt the overall performance. * ¾

Main Event: NXT Women's Title Iron Woman Match: Bayley v Sasha Banks: Most falls in thirty minutes here. Feeling out process to start, with both girls mirroring each others offense in the early going. They start trading cradles until Sasha smacks her with a dropkick, but Bayley fires back with a pair of Japanese armdrags for two, then grounds her challenger in an armbar. Banks escapes and tries a lungblower, but Bayley hangs onto the top rope to block. Bayley-to-Belly, but Sasha blocks, and suckers Bayley into feeling sorry for her - bouncing the champion's head off the mat as she goes in for a hug. Cold blooded! Sasha with a corner whip, but Bayley fires back with some takedowns, and a dropkick sends Banks to the outside to catch a breather. Bayley follows her out for a dropkick through the buckles, then gives her a second one as Sasha tries running. Inside, Bayley hits a one-handed bulldog for two, but gets her eyes raked, and Sasha schoolgirls her for the first fall at 8:32. Banks beats down the blinded Bayley, but a turnbuckle smash gets reversed, and Bayley adds a few more for good measure.

Ten minutes in, and Sasha manages to reverse Bayley into the corner, but the champ counters the double-kneedrop with a hotshot into the top turnbuckle, and the Bayley-to-Belly evens the score at 10:53. Banks bails to the outside, so Bayley follows for another through the post dropkick, but this time Sasha is ready - catching her, and whipping her into the steps! Back in, that gets two, so Sasha tosses her back to the floor for another pair of trips into the steps! Inside, it still only gets two, and the Boss is clearly frustrated. She decides to punish Bayley by dumping her to the outside again, and takes her up the aisle - throwing her into one of the LED boards near the entrance set for the countout at 14:13. She then ups the ante, stealing Izzy's (a Bayley super fan child at ringside) headband, and mocking her hero until she cries. Don't know if that was staged or not, but given how hard the poor kid is crying, probably not. That's some crazy old school heel behavior that you don't see anymore in the corporate era. Bayley makes it back in before losing another fall, and Sasha covers, but only gets two. Banks actively mocks Bayley as she puts the boots to her, but gets a little too full of herself while applying an elevated crab, and Bayley counters into a cradle to even the score again at 17:22. That took everything she had though, and now she's managed to really piss off the Boss. Banks drags her limp body into the corner for the double-kneedrop, but Bayley manages to move, and she starts throwing axehandles. A sloppy takedown gets two (not sure what they were going for there, but that wasn't it), and Bayley adds a 2^nd rope flying backelbow for two, followed by a tree of woe for two.

Twenty minutes in, and Bayley keeps the rally going with a rana off the top, but Sasha slips free, and hits the double-kneedrop for two! She tries her own tree of woe, but takes too much time showboating, and ends up running into the post as she charges. That sends Banks to the outside, and Bayley follows her out - smashing the challenger's hand into the steps a few times. Inside, it gets two. Sasha makes a desperate charge, but Bayley sidesteps, and the Boss ends up on the outside again. Bayley rams her hand into the steps again, then dives off of them with a flying clothesline! With six minutes left, she tries to bring Banks back in, but Sasha sends her into the steps to block, and she rolls in. The referee counts, but Bayley looks to beat it, so Banks strikes with a tope - only to get caught with a Bayley-to-Belly on the floor! The champ quickly rolls her in for a cover, but Banks kicks out at two! Bayley muscles her to the top turnbuckle for another try at the rana, but Sasha knocks her off, so Bayley pops back up for a Bayley-to-Belly superplex! Cover, count, but Sasha is in the ropes! Inverted rana off the top looks to finish, but Sasha lands on her feet (kinda), and hits a belly-to-belly for two - then immediately transitioned into the Bank Statement! Uh-oh! Less than two minutes remain as Bayley claws for the ropes, but she can't get them! She tries to reverse, but Sasha denies her, and keeps wrenching it on - less than a minute on the clock! Bayley escapes with forty seconds left, so Sasha tries a lungblower, but Bayley counters into a vicious armbreaker for a submission at 29:58 - kicking Banks in the head until she taps! Some notable sloppiness, but the drama was off the charts (this played better in the more intimate Full Sail location than the big arena in Brooklyn), and they kept a great pace for a half hour. ****

BUExperience: An entire show built around tag team and women's wrestling? What sorcery is this?

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