NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable (May 2015)

Original Airdate: May 20, 2015

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

Opening #1 Contender's Match: Finn Balor v Tyler Breeze: This was originally scheduled as a Triple Threat involving Hideo Itami, but Itami suffered an attack (kayfabe) in the parking lot before the show, and can't compete. I love that the camera wasn't just there, with everyone pretending it's invisible (like on the main roster), but rather there to interview someone, and this just happening to take place in the meantime. Adds a lot more realism, and reminds me of the days before Vince Russo forever (or seemingly forever) changed the way onscreen backstage interactions are presented. Feeling out process to start, and it's a wonder that Tyler can move around so smoothly with those enormous tassels hanging off his boots. That's got to add five pounds, not to mention tons of wind resistance. Balor blasts him with a dropkick during a criss cross, but runs into a springboard dropkick, and ends up on the floor. Finn beats the count back in, but Breeze is waiting with a neckbreaker for two, and a snapmare sets up a legdrop for two. Breeze grounds him in a chinlock, but Balor escapes, and wins a reversal sequence with a seated dropkick to carve out some breathing room. That allows him to dodge a charge in the corner, and another seated dropkick knocks Breeze to the outside - Finn going after him with a flying double-stomp off the apron! Back in for the Coup de Grace, but Tyler puts some distance between them to prevent Balor from jumping. Finn with the inverted 1916, but Breeze blocks, so Balor goes with a sling blade instead. He charges, but Tyler is ready with a Supermodel Kick for two. Beauty Shot misses, but so does a double-stomp, and Breeze sends him into an exposed top turnbuckle. That's enough to setup the Beauty Shot, but it only gets two. Finn bails to the outside as Breeze throws a tantrum, and he nails Tyler with a clothesline out on the ramp when Breeze follows. Finn comes flying off the entrance set while they're out there, and inside, he dropkicks him to setup the Coup de Grace at 11:05. Good stuff, once it got going. ***

Charlotte and Bayley v Emma and Dana Brooke: Bayley starts with Dana, and quickly hits a spinebuster before sending her into a clothesline from Charlotte via a slingshot! They double up on Dana, but fail to properly cut the ring in half, and Emma gets the tag. She tries to intimidate Bayley, but the hugger pushes back, so Emma bails to sucker her into a chase, only for it to backfire when Bayley hits both heels with a dropkick through the turnbuckles! She gets overwhelmed against both, however, and they cut the ring in half on her. Emma gets cocky and runs into an exploder suplex to allow the tag to Charlotte, and she's a salon of fire! Blind charge misses, and Emma heads up, but Charlotte rolls through a flying bodypress attempt, and shifts into the Figure Eight - and a beauty! Dana breaks it up, but Bayley takes her out with the Bayley-to-Belly, and Charlotte puts Emma away with the Natural Selection at 6:51. Energetic, but little else. Charlotte especially looked unsure of herself in her role as the house of fire, and there were some awkward bits as a result. * ¼

Baron Corbin v Rhyno: Rhyno dominates in the early going, and sends Baron over the top with a clothesline. He follows for some abuse on the outside, but gets knocked off the ropes as he tries to make a climb - falling all the way to the floor! That allows Corbin to take control, and a pair of cross corner whips get two. Baron works a cobra clutch, but both guys collide in the corner as Rhyno makes an escape, and we've got a slugfest! Rhyno gets the better of it, and he starts mounting his comeback. Rotating spinebuster gets two, and a sloppy belly-to-belly suplex sets up the Goar, but Corbin counters with a clothesline. End of Days finishes at 7:13. Really punchy-kicky. *

NXT Tag Team Title Match: Blake & Murphy v Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady: Something got lost in translation with Carmella on her way up to the main roster. Blake starts with Enzo, and tries shoving him around, but gets quickly schoolboyed for two. Bodypress gets two, and a nice standing dropkick is worth two. Tags all around, and Murphy tries sticking and moving with Cassady, but gets no-sold. Tornado DDT gets outright blocked, and Enzo tags in for a flying bodypress for two. He runs into trouble with Blake in the corner, however, and ends up getting clotheslined out of the ring following a double-team. Inside, the champs cut the ring in half, and a nasty (in a good way) powerbomb/lungblower combo gets two. That sound be a finisher. Enzo manages to block a vertical superplex from Murphy to set up a 2^nd rope flying DDT, and that's enough for the tag to Colin - Roseanne Barr the door! Empire Elbow on Blake gets two, and a sidewalk slam sets up Enzo for the Bada Boom Shakalaka, but out runs Alexa Bliss to attack Carmella at ringside, and Cassady gets distracted. That allows Murphy to hit him with a superkick, and Blake puts Amore away at 8:54. ** ¼

NXT Women's Title Match: Sasha Banks v Becky Lynch: Becky comes right at her to start, but messes up a magistral cradle (still gets two), and they do a reversal sequence that ends in Lynch sunset cradling her for two. Criss cross ends in Sasha trying a Thesz-press, but Becky ducks, and tries to Dis-Arm-Her, but Banks is in the ropes before she can. Becky's one of those rare girls who actually looks BETTER with wild hair coloring. She sends Sasha out to the apron with a dropkick, but takes a bump to the floor when she tries following, and Banks rolls her in for two. Sasha goes to work on the arm, but gets cocky, and Lynch is able to hook an inside cradle for two. Sasha puts her right back down, however, and slaps on a straightjacket to keep her challenger grounded. Becky tries to escape, so Sasha uses a lungblower to change her mind, but Becky keeps fighting. Sasha punishes her by aiming the double-kneedrop in the corner right at the arm, and she grounds her again - twisting the arm in ways it wasn't meant to be twisted! Cross-armbreaker is applied, but Lynch rolls it into a cradle, so Sasha shifts to a short-armscissors instead. Lynch back flips into another cradle for two, but Sasha hangs on, so Becky is forced to power to a vertical base in the hold, and slam the champ down to break! Becky launches her comeback, and a flying dropkick gets her two. She goes for a wristlock, but Banks targets the bad arm to escape, and hits a double high knee in the corner to setup a double low knee for two. Backslide, but Becky blocks, so Sasha tries an octopus hold, but Lynch dumps her to the outside to block. She follows to ram Banks' arm into the post, then in with a hammerlock-suplex! An inverted pumphandle suplex gets two, and a floatover suplex is shifted right into the Dis-Arm-Her! Nice spot there. Sasha is in trouble, but she gets the ropes to escape. She's frustrated, and Banks uses that to dump her to the outside - only to get caught while trying a tope, and rammed into the steps. Both girls are hurting, and nearly get counted out, but Becky gets her in. She goes up, but the arm slows her down, and Sasha brings her to the mat with a single-arm DDT - shifted immediately into the Bank Statement to retain at 15:28. Well paced, with some terrific spots, and great psychology that actually built to a finish, but also a good deal of sloppiness as well. *** ½

Main Event: NXT Title Match: Kevin Owens v Sami Zayn: Zayn is legit injured going into this, so don't expect much. Owens immediately stalls on the floor to frustrate his challenger, and he's in no rush to get back in, since a countout hurts Sami far more than him. Zayn, the former champion knows that all too well, and he goes after Kevin on the floor - attacking him and beating him all around ringside. He gives up the high ground in order to get Kevin back in, however, and Owens pounds him. Back to the outside, Sami reverses him into the steps, then throws him into another set of steps for good measure! He beats him into the front row, and follows for a brawl into the crowd. Owens tries a powerbomb on the exposed floor out there, but Sami holds onto the bleachers to block, and backdrops Kevin back over the rail to ringside. Into the ring, Sami hits the blue thunder bomb for two, and a half-and-half suplex is worth two! Tornado DDT, but Owens counters into a backbreaker - only to miss the Cannonball. That allows Sami to hit the exploder suplex into the turnbuckles, but Owens bails before Zayn can try the Helluva Kick. Sami follows for an exploder suplex on the floor to setup the Helluva Kick against the post, but Owens counters with a Pop-Up Powerbomb into the apron! That kills Sami dead, and the referee is considering stopping the match, but Owens won't allow it! He keeps attacking as multiple officials try and stop him, but the champ won't take 'no' for an answer - even as the referee stops the match at 10:00! He drags Sami in to finish him off, which draws William Regal in, but Owens takes him out in short order. Now good and pissed, he grabs a chair to really finish Sami off with, until Samoa Joe shows up (in his debut) for the save! The match itself was kind of a letdown, as it was basically half a match. It probably would have been a classic if Sami wasn't hurt, though. ** ¾  

BUExperience: Samoa Joe’s debut was really well handled and memorable, but overall this one ranks as one of NXTs lesser efforts thus far

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