NXT TakeOver: The End (June 2016)

Original Airdate: June 8, 2016

From Winter Park, Florida; Your Hosts are Tom Phillips and Corey Graves

Opening Match: Tye Dillinger v Andrade Almas: Feeling out process to start, and Tye controls a reversal sequence with a sunset cradle for two. He tries to work the hand, but gets hit with a low dropkick during a criss cross, and Almas sends him to the outside with a rana. He tries to dive out of the ring with a spinheel kick, but notices Tye moving, and catches himself on the ropes instead, in a cute spot. He keeps getting cute with some flippy floppy stuff, but Dillinger catches him with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, and then whips him into the corner. It's all fun and games until someone tilt-a-whirls. Side superplex, but Almas blocks, and tries a 2^nd rope flying moonsault - Tye moving, so Almas landing on his feet, and immediately shifting into a standing moonsault. He tries a handstand in the corner, so Tye superkicks him in the head to end that, and covers for two. Tye Breaker, but Almas escapes, and hits a handspring pele kick, then wheelbarrow bulldogs him. Running double kneesmash in the corner finishes at 5:18. Fun opener, though I'm not a big fan of the ultra flippy floppy style as a general rule. ** ½

NXT Tag Team Title Match: American Alpha v The Revival: The champs are channeling the Steiner Brothers with their look tonight, and I love it. Feeling out process to start, with the challengers playing mind games. They manage to take control of Chad Gable, but Chad manages to catch Scott Dawson with a pair of headscissor takedowns, and a tag to Jason Jordan results in dropkicks being thrown! Jordan holds Dawson in an armbar, so Scott goes for the knee and tags - leading to Gable coming in to prevent a double-team, and a fast and furious slugfest resulting. The champs win that with stereo anklelocks, but Revival manage to bail out before being forced to tap. An impatient Jordan tries to drag Dash Wilder back in, but gets eyeraked, so he quickly takes it back to the mat, and controls with a takedown. The champs cut the ring in half on Dash, but he goes to the eyes again, and tags. Dawson tries an uppercut on Gable, but gets countered with a backslide for two, and a double-underhook cradle gets two. The challengers try a double-team, but Chad comes off the top with a flying clothesline on both, and Jordan runs in for stereo dropkicks to clean house again. They manage to get Gable alone long enough to hit a tandem hotshot to take control, and a drop-toehold/elbowdrop combo gets two. Revival cut the ring in half on Gable, until Chad manages to catch him in a neat armbreaker while hanging on the ropes, and they spill to the floor. Gable quite nearly makes the tag, but Dawson makes a last second save, and the challengers execute a bearhug/flying legdrop combo for two. Gable escapes another combo to finally get the tag, and Jordan comes in suplexing everything that moves! He goes for the kill on Dash, but ends up in the wrong corner, and a flying sunset flip/lariat combo gets two for the challengers. The champs come back with a bridging German suplex/dropkick combo for their own two count, and we've got a full on brawl now - Roseanne Barr the door! Gable gets Dawson in the anklelock, but Dash saves with a well placed uppercut, and Scott schoolboys Chad for two! They try a powerbomb/flying clothesline combo to finish, but Gable catches a flying Dawson with a belly-to-belly suplex in mid-air! It only gets two when Dash saves, however, and Wilder tries a rollup, but Jordan tags in. The champs go right for Grand Amplitude, but are quickly thwarted - Jason hit with the Shatter Machine at 15:55. I didn't like this quite as much as the balls-to-the-wall Dallas match, but it was still really good tag wrestling - combining modern style with old school mentality. *** ¾

Shinsuke Nakamura v Austin Aries: Feeling out process to start, but Nakamura trying to tie him up in a submission early, but Aries not intimidated. Austin manages a corkscrew legwhip to take Nakamura down, and he goes to work on the leg. Corner dropkick to the knee and a 2^nd rope corkscrew elbowdrop get two, and Aries applies a cravat. Nakamura looks to escape, so Aries preemptively strikes at the knee, then hits a slingshot somersault senton splash. 2^nd rope flying elbowdrop gets two, and he works a chinlock for a bit. Would a leglock of some sort have been too difficult? Nakamura escapes and throws a kick combo, and he unloads a series of knees - now completely ignoring the injury. Inverted exploder suplex, but Aries blocks, so Nakamura goes back to the kicks - only for Austin to duck a roundhouse, and schoolboy him for two. Backslide is blocked, so Austin dumps him to the outside instead, and dives after him with a tope - rolling him back in and hooking the leg for two. Aries wants to go up, so Nakamura surprises him with a triangle choke out of nowhere, but Austin has the ropes. Nakamura responds with a forward-falling suplex, but Aries counters Kinshasa with a kneebreaker into a side suplex. He shifts that combo right into the Last Chancery (what a stupid finisher name), but Nakamura has the ropes. Aries comes at him with a 2^nd rope flying rana, and a cross corner dropkick sets up a 450 splash, but Nakamura dodges. He goes for the knees in the corner, but now Aries dodges. He tries a vertical suplex out of the ring, but Nakamura lands on the apron, and they engage in a slugfest out there that ends in Nakamura hitting an enzuigiri. He tries a charge on the apron to finish Aries off, but gets caught in a death valley driver on the apron for his efforts! That leaves him on the outside for the count, but he's stirring, so Aries tries another tope - only to miss, and hit the rail! Nakamura rolls him in with a 2^nd rope flying Kinshasa, and an inverted exploder suplex sets up another Kinshasa at 17:03. I know I'm in the minority here, but I just don't 'get' Nakamura thus far. The match was fine, but it was trying to be too many things all at once, and I really hated the psychology, with Aries going back to the knee over and over again, but Nakamura totally ignoring it. ***

NXT Women's Title Match: Asuka v Nia Jax: Asuka tries to shoot for the leg early, but that doesn't go well for her. She tries a waistlock into a takedown, but can barely wrap her arms around the sizeable challenger. They trade wristlocks, as Asuka desperately tries to seize an advantage, but Jax casually headbutts free, and launches her across the ring by the hair. Ouch! Asuka tries to up the ante with kicks, but Nia shrugs that off, and smacks her around in the corner. Asuka suckers her into an octopus hold, but Jax powers out, and delivers a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Backbreaker submission follows, but Asuka strikes her way free, and dives onto her challenger with a guillotine choke. Unfortunately for her, Jax easily powers into a counter with a vertical suplex for two, so Asuka tries a fujiwara, but Nia powers out of that as well! Asuka keeps coming with a triangle choke, but now she's just pissing Jax off, and gets powerbombed into the turnbuckles, and hit with a running kneesmash. Note to self: do not annoy Nia Jax. Asuka is just totally at a loss here, but doesn't quit trying - tenaciously striking with kicks until Jax slows her down again with a bearhug. Asuka tries a sunset flip, but Jax easily blocks, so Asuka shifts to a kneebar instead - finally getting some traction with that! Unfortunately, Jax gets the ropes, but Asuka succeeded in staggering the monster! She goes at her with more kicks, but Jax fights back with a spinebuster - only to miss a legdrop! That allows Asuka to shine her wizard, and a 2^nd rope missile dropkick follows. Asuka with a series of spinning backfists to setup a hip attack for two, but a roundhouse kick is countered with a powerbomb for two - only for Asuka to counter the lateral press into the fujiwara! Nice! Jax escapes, though that would have been a terrific finish. Asuka lands the roundhouse kick, and adds a spinkick for good measure, but Jax is still alive! Another series of kicks finally knocks her out, and Asuka covers to retain at 9:10. Well, that was certainly different than every other Asuka match I've ever seen. A very simple, yet very effective match, as they told a great story here. *** ¼

Main Event: NXT Title Cage Match: Samoa Joe v Finn Balor: Balor is evasive, so Joe goes for the door, but Balor cuts him off (yeah, no shit - you haven't even made contact yet and you think your fat ass is gonna outrun him?), and Joe pounds him. Good strategy there, as Balor was being evasive with locking up, so Joe made him come to him. Finn manages to nail him with a jumping forearm smash during a criss cross, and a cross corner chop follows, but Joe pulls him down as he tries to climb, and hiptosses his batoot into the cage. Joe with an enzuigiri in the corner to setup a seated big boot for two, and he tosses him into the cage again. This has one isn't flowing so well thus far. Joe goes for the door, but Finn fights that off and tries for the door himself, so Joe German suplexes him back in for two. Both guys climb, and Joe manages to win an exchange with an enzuigiri off the cage for two, but a spear misses - the champ crashing into the cage. Balor pins him between the ropes and the mesh to setup a few charges, punctuated with a running dropkick. He climbs, but stupidly does so right where Joe is stuck, and ends up getting himself crotched on the top rope. That was rather dumb on Balor's part. Like, why not just run over to the door? Given how battered Joe was, and the fact that he'd have to get out of the ropes and all the way across the ring, he'd never stop him! Joe with a uranage, but the muscle buster is countered with a sunset flip for two, and Finn adds the pele kick. Balor climbs, but Joe is hot on his tale, so Finn brings him down off the top rope with a sling blade for two. Another sling blade sets up a running dropkick, but Joe dodges, and hits a senton splash. Muscle buster follows for two, but a crucifix powerbomb into the cage is blocked, and Balor hits another sling blade. Pair of running dropkicks setup the Coup de Grace, but it only gets two. I like Balor a lot, but I really dislike how he can only set that move up with the same sequence, no matter how many times he's done those moves during the match already. Finn tries 1916, but Joe counters to a sleeper, so Balor runs the ropes to back flip out, and punctuates it with a double-stomp. Balor climbs, and gets all the way up and over, but Joe pulls him back in for a muscle buster off the top rope to retain at 16:05. What, no Coup de Grace off the top of the cage? I kind thought half point of booking this match was so we'd get to see that one spot, but I guess not. The match took a little while to get off the ground, but good stuff once it did. *** ½

BUExperience: It’s really hard to find much to complain about with a show where all but one match is at three-stars or higher – and the one match wasn’t shit, either. A really good show by any scale, albeit missing the usual four-star affair that usually puts these things over the top

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