NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II (August 2016)

Original Airdate: August 20, 2016

From Brooklyn, New York; Your Hosts are Tom Phillips and Corey Graves

Opening Match: Austin Aries v No Way Jose: Everything about Jose's entrance makes me feel like he would have fit in perfectly during the New Generation. Austin quickly takes him down in a waistlock, but makes the mistake of getting cocky, and it forced to hide in the ropes to fend an angry Jose off. Jose with a takedown of his own, so Aries bails to the floor, but Jose is right on him with a flying axehandle off of the apron. In, Jose cross corner whips him, but a Samoan drop off the top is countered when Aries drops to the floor and snaps Jose's throat across the top rope in the process. That's enough to turn the tide, and Aries puts the boots to him. Cross corner elbow and a bootrake setup a 2^nd rope flying elbowdrop for two, and Aries grounds him in a chinlock. Jose fights free, so Aries backelbows him back down, and adds an elbowdrop for two. He's really big on elbows, isn't he? An awkward reversal sequence ends in Jose tossing him over the top, and he unloads turnbuckle smashes on the way back in, then backdrops Aries. Short-clothesline, but Aries counters with a kneebreaker into the Last Chancery, so Jose fights for the ropes to escape. Austin stays on him with a spinning elbowsmash, but Jose counters into a TKO for two. Cobra-slam, but Aries manages to dump him to block, and he dives after him with a tope. Austin with a neckbreaker across the middle rope on the way back in, and a cross corner dropkick sets up a suplex, but Jose counters into a falcon arrow for two. Back to the cobra-slam, but Aries blocks again, and hits a crucifix driver. Another cross corner dropkick is worth two, and a sunset bomb is transitioned right into the Last Chancery at 10:41. Neat finish to a strong opener. ** ¾

Ember Moon v Billie Kay: Feeling out process to start, with Moon dominating some reversal sequences. Kay tries a hair pull to take control, and a forearm smash gets two. Headbutt follows, but Moon wins a criss cross with a springboard bodypress for two, so Billie hits a neat modified facebuster for two. Gory special gets botched (though they cover it up fairly well), but a second go works out better. Moon tries escaping, but Kay preemptively drops her down for two, so Moon hooks a schoolgirl for two. Moon starts mounting a comeback, and a handspring corner clothesline sets up the Eclipse at 4:33. That's a heck of a finisher. Lots of sloppiness here, and odd pacing, but not unwatchable, or anything. ¾*

Andrade Almas v Bobby Roode: This is literally the first time I've seen Roode, and I always thought he was black. Almas looks like he raided the warehouse and nabbed Randy Savage's gear from WrestleMania VII for this. Feeling out process to start, until Almas starts springboarding around, and sends Bobby to the outside with a headscissors. Almas tries diving after him, but Roode slides in, so Almas goes up instead - only for Bobby to shake the ropes, and knock him down! Bobby with a pair of corner whips to setup a hanging vertical suplex for two, and he grounds Almas in a nice looking chinlock. Give it to him, he made a fucking chinlock look good. Side suplex, but Almas escapes, so Roode tries going up to the middle rope, but ends up getting dropkicked to the floor. Almas follows with a springboard corkscrew bodypress, then rolls him in for another one for two! Wheelbarrow bulldog gets two, but a cross corner clothesline is countered with a lariat for two, and Bobby tries a German superplex, but Almas back flips onto his feet to block, and hooks a straightjacket suplex for two. Springboard moonsault hits the knees, however, and Roode tries a fisherman's suplex, but Almas counters with an inside cradle for two. Slugfest goes Almas' way with a spinheel kick, and a cross corner double knee sets up a DDT, but Bobby blocks. Almas responds with a big boot, but charges right into a rotating spinebuster, and the Glorious Bomb ends it at 10:23. This match felt like it was right out of 2004. Good outing, with both guys working well together. *** ¼

NXT Tag Team Title Match: The Revival v Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano: Scott Dawson starts with Ciampa, and they feel each other out, in a shaved head/beard supremacy showdown. Dawson ends up bailing to the floor to stall, and a reversal sequence on the way back in ends in Ciampa cracking him with chops. Tag to Johnny Gargano for some quick tandem offense, so Dawson passes out to Dash Wilder, but Gargano keeps control with a running dropkick for two. Armbar is escaped with a bodyslam to allow the tag back to Dawson, but he quickly misses an elbowdrop, and ends up armdragged into an armbar. The champs try double teaming, but Johnny is too quick for them, and Ciampa comes in to cut them off before they get too far. That ends the heels to the outside, and the challengers both go after them with dives. A double team allows the champs to tandem-side suplex Ciampa, and they go to work, cutting the ring in half with expert level tandem offense. Ciampa finally manages to dodge them both long enough to get the tag off to Gargano, and Johnny comes in hot! Neckbreaker on Dawson gets two, and a slingshot spear is worth two. Blind tag to Dash allows the champs to cream Johnny with another tandem move for two, but Ciampa gets a tag. He looks to put Scott away with a nasty looking bridging fujiwara armbar, but Wilder makes a save at the last possible moment. They go for the kill with a tandem-suplex, but Gargano runs in and spears them - allowing Ciampa to hook Dawson in a small package for a dramatic near fall. That was great. Another wonderful near fall follows, as the champs try for the Shatter Machine on Ciampa, but Gargano superkicks Scott, allowing Ciampa to somersault cradle Dash for the nearest of near falls. I mean, DAMN! That's finally enough to give the challengers control, and the running kneesmash/superkick combo looks to finish Dash, but Dawson helps his foot onto the ropes at the last possible moment! This is wild! Ciampa tries for a powerbomb, but Dawson pulls him to the floor for a trip into the post, and that's enough to allow Dash to clip the knee. With Tommaso down on the outside, the champs go right to work on it, and a kneebar ends Johnny's hopes at 19:10 - the crowd collectively groaning! But, in a good way! In a 'ah, damn, these guys I hate won' kind of way, as opposed to the 'ah, damn, these guys I hate to watch won' kind of way, like the main roster guys often get. The first two thirds of the match were really well worked (if a bit slow) but once they got into trading heart stopping near falls, this went to a whole 'nother level. ****

NXT Women's Title Match: Asuka v Bayley: Winner gets a last name! With special guest referee Ed Leslie! Okay, not really. Feeling out process to start, with Bayley getting dominated, but suddenly surprising the champion with a series of quick cradles for a few two counts. Springboard bodypress gets blocked with a kick to the face, however, and the challenger takes a breather on the outside. The count forces her back in before she's ready though, and Asuka is right on her with a hip attack, then stretches her on the ropes a bit for two. She keeps abusing the hurt nose with a turnbuckle smash, then leaves Bayley draped over the middle rope after a kick combo for two. More turnbuckle smashes, but this time little Bayley reverses, and manages an exploder suplex to setup a seated backelbow and a seated hangman's clothesline for two. Backelbow in the corner dazes Asuka, and she misses another hip attack - getting snapped across the middle rope by her challenger. Bayley with a springboard bodypress for two, but a flying bodypress misses, and Asuka shines her wizard for two. Vertical superplex, but Bayley manages to counter into a tree of woe, and an elbowdrop on the prone champion is worth two. Slugfest goes Asuka's way with another hip attack, but Bayley quickly recovers, and blasts her with a running knee before she can follow up. Unfortunately for her, Asuka quickly takes her down into a submission, but Bayley counters into a bridging cradle for two - Asuka countering out into an anklelock. That was a nice sequence, though not quite as crisp as it needed to be. Bayley kicks her way out of the hold, so Asuka creams her with some kicks instead, but a spinning backfist is countered with a backslide for two. Second tries at the backfist goes better for the champ, but a roundhouse kick is countered with a sloppy takedown, and Bayley follows with an equally sloppy dominator for two. That didn't look great. Asuka pops up and immediately goes to the Asuka-Lock, but Bayley escapes, and hits the Bayley-to-Belly for two! I just spotted Sasha and Becky in the crowd, and they were going nuts for that near fall. Bayley looks for a follow-up, but Asuka is ready with the Lock again, so Bayley counters into a cradle for two. Asuka punishes her with a roundhouse kick, but Bayley keeps coming, so Asuka keeps kicking. One guess who wins that contest. And that's it for Bayley's night at 14:06. This wasn't quite on par with the Dallas match, but still fourteen minutes of good action, with no resting. *** ¼

Main Event: NXT Title Match: Samoa Joe v Shinsuke Nakamura: Feeling out process to start, with Joe utilizing his power to get Nakamura down, but almost trapping himself in a triangle choke before backing off. Just spotted Noelle Foley in the crowd as well (along with her literal clown boyfriend), which gives me the opportunity to again mention that I've been enjoying Holy Foley on the Network. It's stupid, but fun. Meanwhile, the feeling out process continues, until they spill to the outside, where Joe takes control. Back in, an avalanche sets up an enzuigiri, but Nakamura manages a quick kick to fight him off - only to miss a kneedrop off the apron, and crash land on the floor. Joe is right on him with a tope that gets two on the way back in, and an elbowdrop is worth two. A modified dragon sleeper wears the challenger down, but he makes the ropes, so Joe goes to a bow-and-arrow instead. Nakamura escapes, so Joe clips his knee to prevent some kicks, then plants him with a powerbomb for two, right into a Boston crab, which he shifts down into an STF. That isn't enough, so he shifts again to a crippler crossface, but Nakamura turns it into a cradle for two, then throws a quick enzuigiri before Joe can come at him. Short-knee sets up a roundhouse kick, but Nakamura is battered, and doesn't have a quick follow-up. He manages a kick combo as Joe recovers, but the inverted exploder suplex gets blocked, and Joe hits an inverted atomic drop to setup a big boot - only to miss a senton splash. Nakamura tries to hold his ground with a front-facelock, but Joe starts powering out, so Nakamura clips the knee to keep the bull down. 2^nd rope flying side kick connects, but a slugfest ends poorly for the challenger - only for Joe's spinning fist to get countered into a cross-armbreaker! Joe manages to keep his hands locked to block, so Nakamura shifts to the triangle choke - only for Joe to counter into a Texas cloverleaf! Nakamura gets the ropes to escape, so Joe tries the Coquina Clutch, but Nakamura blocks. Joe responds with a knee for two, and that's enough to get the Clutch on, but Nakamura has the ropes again. Joe decides to punish him with the muscle buster, but Nakamura gets uppity, and counters with a German suplex. Kinshasa, but Joe counters with a well executed snap powerslam for two. Back to the muscle buster, but it only gets two. Again, but Nakamura counters with Kinshasa for a dramatic two! 2^nd rope flying high knee sets up a second one, and that one is enough at 21:16. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I just don't see what the big deal is with Nakamura. Solid match, no question, but I didn't get into it as one should a main event level match. *** ¼

BUExperience: Even with a depleted roster, NXT still manages to produce one hell of a special, with strong performances up and down, and one really good tag match in the middle. Definitely check it out!

***