NXT TakeOver: Toronto (November 2016)

Original Airdate: November 19, 2016

From Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Your Hosts are Tom Phillips and Corey Graves

Opening Match: Bobby Roode v Tye Dillinger: They spend quite a while sizing each other up at the bell, until Dillinger simply decks him, and then sends him over the top with a clothesline. Back in, Tye does it again, then follows Bobby out for some chops out there. Whip into the barricade sets up a backdrop on the floor, then back in for a ten-punch count, but Roode manages to backdrop him over the top to get some breathing room. He follows out to send Dillinger into the barricade to take full control of the contest, and he works Tye over back inside. Neckbreaker, but Dillinger counters with a backslide for two, so Roode reverses him into the corner, and hits a swinging neckbreaker for two. Ten-punch, but Dillinger fights him off with an inverted atomic drop, and starts mounting his comeback. Kneelift and a short-clothesline setup the Tye Breaker, but Bobby bails into the aisle to avoid it. Dillinger drags him back in and tries again, but this time Roode is able to counter with a rotating spinebuster for two. Vertical superplex only gets Bobby two, so he decides to give Dillinger his own version of the Tye Breaker (certainly a more literal one), but gets blocked. Roode responds with a schoolboy, but gets caught using the ropes at two, and Tye schoolboys him for two while Bobby argues with the referee. Dillinger with a superkick for two, but Roode counters the Tye Breaker with a DDT, which Dillinger blocks - triggering a reversal sequence that ends in Tye applying a sharpshooter. Bobby gets the ropes, so Dillinger tries an inside cradle for two - reversed by Roode for two, and Bobby then quickly follows up with an implant DDT for the pin at 16:26. The parts where it was back-and-forth were fine, and it finished well, but Roode working him over was like watching paint dry. ** ¼

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament Final: The Authors of Pain v TM-61: Paul Ellering is suspended above the ring in a shark cage for this one. Akam starts out with Nick Miller, and immediately blitzes him in the corner, but misses a blind tag, and gets sent out of the ring with a dropkick from Shane Thorne. That leads to a brawl on the outside, and Shane hits a somersault senton off of the scaffolding supporting the shark cage. Unfortunately for him, he gets dropped on his head while trying to bring it back in, and the Authors cut the ring in half on Thorne. Akam misses an avalanche to allow the tag to Nick, and Miller comes in hot! He dominates both Authors, and a flying moonsault on Rezar gets two - Shane rushing back in to prevent double teaming. By, you know, double teaming. That all ends in a dog pile sequence on the outside, as Ellering tosses a metal chain down into the ring. Considering that happened just a couple of months ago, the officials REALLY had no excuse for not frisking Jericho at the Rumble last week. Shane manages to knock the chain away before they can use it, but quickly runs into the Last Chapter at 8:11. Decent enough, but nothing special. **

NXT Tag Team Title Two-out-of-Three Falls Match: The Revival v DIY: Scott Dawson starts off with Johnny Gargano, and a reversal sequence ends in Gargano one-upping him with an Oklahoma roll for two. Dawson responds by cracking him with chops in the corner, so Johnny passes out to Tommaso Ciampa via blind tag, and a dropkick gets two on Scott. Dawson responds by raking the eyes and passing to Dash Wilder, and the heels are able to work Ciampa over with quick tags and tandem moves. Bulldog by Dash gets blocked, however, and Gargano gets the hot tag. He comes in with a fast overhead suplex on Dash, then bulldogs him INTO Dawson! Neckbreaker on Dawson is worth two, but Johnny falls prey to the Revival's peerless synchronization, and the Shatter Machine gives the champs the first fall at 5:06. Dash is eager to continue the beating, but an uppity Gargano schoolboys him for two, so Dawson comes in and hammers him good. Slingshot suplex gets two, and a drop-toehold/elbowdrop combo gets two - the Revival cutting the ring in half as they work Gargano over. The way they cut off tags is simply brilliant, and I have to commend them for it. Like, seriously, very few modern teams mastered the art of heel tag psychology, but the Revival are an exception. After frustrating Ciampa through a series of near tags, they nail Gargano with a bearhug/hangman's clothesline combo, but it only gets two. Dash tries a side superplex, but Johnny counters into a bodypress on the way down for two, and finally gets the tag to Ciampa! He comes in hot on Dawson, but a rocker dropper only gets two, and a distraction from Dash allows Scott a schoolboy for two. Ciampa responds with a three-alarm rolling German suplex, but a running knee is still only enough for two! The champs respond by shoving Ciampa out of the ring and dragging a limp Gargano back in to finish the easier target off with a spike piledriver, but Ciampa rushes to the top rope, and saves with a flying bodypress on Dawson for two! The near falls here are fantastic and believable! Dash comes back in, but quickly gets dispatched by Ciampa, and the Meeting in the Middle is finally enough to tie the score at 13:32! The dust settles on Dash and Ciampa in a slugfest, and the challenger gets the better of it, but fails to cut the ring in half, and Dawson gets a blind tag. He suckers Ciampa for a DDT, but gets countered with bridging fujiwara armbar - only for Scott to counter back with a crucifix cradle for two! Tag to Gargano to help Ciampa hit a modified flapjack, then adding a slingshot DDT for two! Vertical suplex, but Dawson blocks, and a German suplex/uppercut combo get two on Johnny! The tandem stuff here is just off the charts great! Revival pinball Gargano in the corner a bit, but he's a tenacious little monkey, and fights them off long enough to small package Dawson for two. A desperate Dash brings the title belt into the ring, then wisely sacrifices himself to Ciampa to prevent the referee from seeing it, and Dawson uses it to block a kick from Gargano! That was just beautiful! Scott capitalizes on the bashed foot with an inverted figure four, but a resilient Gargano gets the ropes to save himself! Dawson is bleeding a bit here, but luckily the referee doesn't stop the match with EMT bullshit, because I'm pretty sure the crowd would full on riot if he killed this groove. They try killing Gargano with their own version of Meet in the Middle, but Johnny dodges, and they collide! That allows DIY to hit their own version of Shatter Machine on Dash, but Dawson saves at a dramatic two! Again, the near falls here are all totally believable, and the crowd is buying them big. The heels sucker Johnny by switching off without a tag, but the referee busts them, so they move onto the next thing: clipping Johnny's knee. Dash gets into a pinfall reversal sequence with Johnny, but ends up caught in the Gargano Escape in the process! Of course, here comes Dawson to save, but this time Ciampa cuts him off with the bridging fujiwara, and we have new champions at 22:18! WOW! That was one hell of a match! That entire last fall was basically one extended hot tag segment, too. Bonus points for Dash subtly trying to bite his way out of the submission at the end, but getting blocked by Gargano's wristband. That's some next level shit. The tag team psychology here was just off the charts (from both teams, but especially the unbelievable heel sensibilities of the champions), the pace was practically non-stop, and they didn't need to rely on gimmicks or run-ins to tell their story, or engage the crowd. A brilliant match. *****

NXT Women's Title Match: Asuka v Mickie James: I think James might look better now than she did in her first run. Mickie avoids some kicks by forcing a collar-and-elbow lockup, but neither can get the advantage, and it ends in a stalemate. Feeling out process is dominated by the champ, but Mickie hangs with her, and manages a seated dropkick to send Asuka to the outside. Asuka is insulted by James' offer to hold the ropes open for her, however, and she dominates her challenger on the mat on the way back in. But, again, Mickie hangs with her, so Asuka throws a hip attack to send James to the outside, then mocks her by offering to hold the ropes open as well - then blasts her with another hip attack when she's climbing in. Asuka with a flying hip attack off the apron, but James dodges, and hooks a headscissor takedown out there. She tries a kick combo, but Asuka catches her foot, and drops her with a release German suplex on the floor! What a bitch! Back in, Asuka gleefully pounds on her, and a cross corner dropkick is worth two. Asuka stretches her on the ropes, but another hip attack is dodged, so Asuka punishes her with a kick combo. Great job selling those by James. Mickie manages a half-crab counter to a big kick, and she shifts into the muta-lock to block Asuka from making the ropes! Asuka powers through and gets them anyway, so they slug it out - Mickie ducking the spinning backfist, and smacking the champ. An enraged Asuka charges, but James is ready with a neckbreaker, and she starts throwing clotheslines. Asuka tries a 2^nd rope flying bodypress, but Mickie moves, and delivers a flapjack. Flying seated senton gets two, but Asuka counters a DDT into a cross-armbreaker - James in the ropes to save herself before it's fully applied. Mickie fights her back with a kick to the head for two, but Asuka counters the DDT into the Asuka-Lock - Mickie countering into a cradle for two. Asuka then counters back to the Lock, however, and James taps at 13:03. Really good match, with tons of effort from both women, and much more hard hitting than what we're used to seeing from this division. I didn’t think they’d be able to follow that tag match, but they knocked it out of the park! *** ½

Main Event: NXT Title Match: Shinsuke Nakamura v Samoa Joe: Nakamura pops him with a kick before the lights even come up, then throws a few more for good measure, but Joe absorbs the blows, and starts slugging. Nakamura responds in kind, and snapmares Joe over for a kneedrop, then bootchokes him in the corner until the challenger bails. Nakamura follows for a brawl out there, and they spill onto the crowd for a bit before bringing it back into the ring. Joe pops him with an enzuigiri to setup a bootchoke of his own, and Nakamura is bleeding from the mouth after that one. Joe delivers a uranage and an elbowdrop for one, and a cool double-kneebreaker begins a pattern of abuse to the leg. Nakamura fights back with some kicks, so Joe dumps him to the outside for a tope, but Nakamura manages to avoid getting abused with the ring steps. Nakamura manages to fight him off with a kick combo on the way back in, and he delivers a leg lariat, and a leg-feed enzuigiri. He's running around and delivering kicks literally seconds removed from being in supposedly debilitating pain. That's a big, big blemish on this match already. Again, I don't see what the big deal with Nakamura is. He tries a front-facelock, but Joe bodyslams his way to freedom, then adds an inverted atomic drop and a senton splash for two. Joe with a powerbomb into a Boston crab, and he shifts it down into an STF, then into a crippler crossface - Nakamura countering into a cradle for two. He tries for a cross-armbreaker, but Joe counters that into a cradle for two, and snaps off a powerslam for two. Enzuigiri knocks the champ out of the ring, but Nakamura fires off his own enzuigiri to block being dragged back in, then dives in on his own terms with a 2^nd rope high knee. That leads to a slugfest, and Nakamura is again using the bad leg like it's at one hundred percent. Inverted exploder suplex, but Joe counters with a vertical suplex, so Nakamura counters back with a German suplex. That sets up Kinshasa, but Joe dodges, and Nakamura hits his knee in the corner. Hey, the knee! Remember that? Muscle buster, but Nakamura counters with the Kinshasa for two. Another one, but Joe counters with the Coquina Clutch. Nakamura looks to fight out, so Joe releases early, and delivers a wild three-alarm rolling suplex - the first alarm a German, the second a dragon, and the final a straightjacket! It only gets two, though. He goes for the kill, but Nakamura manages to blast him with Kinshasa to the back of the head - knocking a now bloodied Joe out of the ring in the process. Nakamura mercilessly follows out for another Kinshasa, but Joe kicks at the knee to block, and delivers a uranage onto the steps. Right back in for the muscle buster, and we have a new champion at 20:07! Good finish, but I really hated the lapses in psychology throughout this one. ***

BUExperience: Had the main event been a little bit stronger, this would be an all-time show. Even as is, it’s still a very good one anyway, with one absolute classic in the form of a brilliant tag team title match, a very strong effort from the women, and nothing bad. As usual, NXT delivers.

****