NXT TakeOver: New Orleans (April 2018)

Original Airdate: April 7, 2018

From New Orleans, Louisiana; Your Hosts are Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, and Nigel McGuinness

Opening NXT North American Title Ladder Match: Adam Cole v Velveteen Dream v Lars Sullivan v Killian Dain v EC3 v Ricochet: This is to crown the inaugural champion, and is also Ricochet's debut. EC3 immediately bails to the outside to avoid getting hit, leaving everyone else to slug it out. Sullivan and Dain are the last two standing, so EC3 cheers them on from the floor, but that backfires when they decide to go after him instead. Ricochet responds by diving onto both big men with a springboard shooting star press out there, and he brings the first ladder into play, but Dream stops a climb effort. Unfortunately for Dream, he has trouble positioning the ladder, and Ricochet dominates him. He tries a springboard, but Dream manages to knock him off the ropes down to the floor, but Cole stops a climb effort, and hits a fireman's neckbreaker. Adam climbs, but here comes EC3 with a somersault necksnap, and Lars avalanches Cole. Lars then powerslams him, but misses a charge on Dain to end up on the outside, where Killian dives with a tope. Dain picks up both Dream and Ricochet for a slam, but Cole big boots them all down into a dog pile, and everyone slugs it out until Sullivan chucks a ladder at them all. Lars climbs, so Ricochet tries to sunset bomb him off, but Sullivan holds on. An assist from Cole, Dream, and EC3 does the trick, but Dain backdrops Ricochet onto a ladder before anyone can climb. Killian climbs, but EC3 bulldogs him off, and forms an alliance with Cole to dominate the field for a while - until Adam turns on him. Cole fires off superkicks at anything at moves, but Sullivan tips him off a ladder as he starts to climb. Dream starts giving everyone a turn at taking flying elbowdrops, but Sullivan doesn't want to play ball, so Dream gives him one off the top of a supersized ladder for not being cool! That allows Dream to climb, but EC3 has recovered enough to powerbomb him off, and right into a ladder propped up in the corner. EC3 climbs, but Cole is on his tail, and both guys end up scaling - EC3 able to bring Adam down with a cutter. That allows him to climb in peace, but only for a moment before Dain interrupts, hitting EC3 with a ladder assisted senton splash. Dain leaves him covered over with the ladder for a 2^nd rope pump-splash, and here comes Ricochet to hit Killian and Lars with big boots. That just annoys them, leading to the two big guys taking turns seeing who can chuck poor Ricochet across the ring farther. Dain wins that, then starts hammering on Sullivan, but a charge backfires when Lars slams him. Ricochet rushes in to climb, so Lars tips his ladder over, sending Ricochet moonsaulting down to the floor - right onto Cole and Dain to break his fall! That allows Ricochet to springboard dropkick Sullivan, and he puts EC3 on a ladder ahead of hitting him with a flying shooting star press. Ricochet has tremendous execution. He climbs, but Dream pulls him off, leading to a slugfest on a ladder planked between another ladder and the middle the rope, ending in Dream executing a rolling death valley driver on the plank. That was ridiculous. In a good way, though. Next spot sees Sullivan put Dream across a ladder planked between the apron and an announce table, then drop EC3 through it with a uranage off the apron. That's followed by Dain putting Ricochet across another similarly planked ladder, then putting Cole through the mess with a scoop sitout brainbuster off the apron. Sullivan is up first, and heads in to climb, but he's moving like he's covered in molasses, and Dain is able to meet him at the top for a slugfest. EC3 whacks them both with another ladder to stop anyone from getting the belt, but his own climb is interrupted when Cole meets him at the top of the adjacent ladder. A third ladder then gets set up beside them all, with Dream and Ricochet climbing, leading to a six way slugfest at the tops. Dream nearly snags the belt before Ricochet drops him with a neckbreaker, and Dain nearly gets it before getting dropped by Sullivan via a uranage. Lars, now left alone, climbs, but Ricochet dives in out of nowhere - landing perfectly right on Sullivan's back to ride him off the rungs! Ricochet climbs, but Cole tips him off, and grabs the belt for himself at 31:18. That's it? Kind of anticlimactic finish, to say the least. This was fun, but I honestly don't see what everyone has been making such a big deal about with it. Most of these multi-man ladder matches are about the same, and I didn't find this one particularly exciting and/or innovative. ***

NXT Women's Title Match: Ember Moon v Shayna Baszler: Moon charges with a dropkick right at the bell, but Baszler sidesteps, and drops the champion with a punch so hard that Moon ends up on the outside. Shayna goes after her, but Moon is ready with a kick, and she dropkicks her challenger into the steps. Inside, Ember hits a flying double knee facebuster, but Baszler hides out in the ropes to avoid a crippler crossface. Baszler bails, so Moon tries running across the apron with a punt, but Shayna catches her foot, and sweeps her face-first into the apron. Baszler tosses her against the guardrail out there before rolling Moon in to cover for two, but Ember manages to avoid giving up her arm. Baszler responds with a high knee and a gutwrench suplex for two, and she stretches the champion in a Mexican surfboard. Moon escapes with a sloppy headscissors takedown, and a schoolgirl gets two, so Shayna throws another high knee for two. She goes for a sleeper, but Moon manages to snapmare her off, and a dropkick is worth two before Baszler gets the sleeper on anyway. Moon fights free before Shayna can ride her down in the hold, and throws a series of kicks to buy time, then suplexes the challenger down for two. Moon's offense has a major stutter problem. Half the time I'm not sure if she actually hit whatever she was going for. Springboard bodypress misses, allowing Shayna to go after the arm again, but Ember avoids her, and viciously stomps the challenger's arm for two. Moon throws a kick at the arm, but a trip to the top ends in her being tied in an inverted tree of woe, and Baszler dropkicks the trunk. Shayna's arm is still all kinds of messed up from the stomp earlier, however, so while the referee works to deal with Moon hanging in the corner, Baszler starts bashing her shoulder into the post to pop it back in. Unfortunately, that allows Ember to recover, and she knocks Shayna to the outside for an Eclipse on the floor! That leaves both women taking the count, but both manage to beat it in. Moon crawls over to try and finish her, but Baszler is ready with a chinlock/bodyscissors combo, so Ember swipes at the bad arm to escape. Baszler responds with a triangle choke, but ends up pinning herself, allowing Moon to use the momentum of Shayna's kickout to hit a powerbomb for two. Eclipse, but Baszler counters with the chinlock/bodyscissors on the way down! Moon desperately fights for the ropes, but Baszler keeps her on a short leash, so Moon tries leveraging back into a cradle, but ultimately passes out at 12:54. This told a great story, and I much prefer this type of match to all the overly choreographed, spotty stuff like the opener. *** ¼

Dusty Rhodes Classic Tournament Final: NXT Tag Team Title Triple Threat Match: Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly v The Authors of Pain v Pete Dunne and Roderick Strong: Authors/Dunne & Strong was the tournament final, but the Undisputed Era attacked both guys during the match for a no-contest, leading to this match being made for both the Era's title and to crown the winners of the tournament all at once. The Authors beat everyone down at the bell, isolating O'Reilly for a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo, but Cole saves at two. That gets Adam launched over the top, and the Authors put his ass through an announce table out there for getting in their business. Back in the ring, O'Reilly fights off Strong, but gets caught in a guillotine choke by Dunne, allowing Strong to return fire with a backbreaker. Uranage backbreaker gets Strong two, but O'Reilly hooks his own guillotine choke, then shifts it down into a triangle choke. That brings Akam in for the save, but O'Reilly hooks him into an anklelock WHILE holding Strong in the triangle, so Rezar responds by powerbombing Dunne onto him to break it all up. The Authors unload on Strong in the corner as things settle down into having tags enforced, and Rezar launches him with an overhead suplex. Kyle comes in to try and even things up, but Rezar release German suplexes him out of play, leaving the Authors to continue their cutting of the ring in half on Strong. Kyle comes in again to buy Strong enough time for a tag to Pete, and Dunne comes in hot on everyone. Tornado DDT on Rezar gets two, but a slugfest with Kyle ends in Akam clotheslining them both. AOP go for the kill on Kyle, but Strong dives in to save at two, and he works with Pete to go after Rezar's hand. Strong Olympic slams Rezar for two, but Kyle tries to stop Dunne from coming off the top onto Rezar, so Strong slams Kyle on the apron. That allows he and Pete to hit Rezar with a tandem move, but here comes Kyle. Dunne hits him with the Bitter End, but Strong comes in as he covers, hitting his own partner with an x-plex to allow a barely conscious O'Reilly the pin at 11:38. All action here, though I'm not sure I liked how they handled the turn, as there were plenty of points where Strong and the Undisputed Era guys were clashing throughout this, which doesn't really make sense if they were in cahoots all along. ***

NXT Title Match: Andrade Almas v Aleister Black: They charge right into a slugfest at the bell, with Almas getting dumped, and hit with a springboard moonsault press on the outside by his challenger. Good sequence there, and it was nice to see someone do a moonsault press and actually CONNECT with it, for once. Inside, sunset cradles Almas for two, so the champ bails back to the floor, but Aleister is hot on his tail. He peppers him with shots out there, so Zelina Vega dives off the apron with a flying headscissors to send Black into the steps. That allows Almas to roll him in and cover for two, and he throws his challenger through the ropes and into the post. Almas with a rope-hung kneeling neckbreaker for two, and a rope-hung triangle choke leads to a missile dropkick for two. Almas grabs a chinlock, but Black fights out in the corner, so Almas tries a sleeper. Aleister manages to fight that off before it's fully latched on, so Almas tries an inverted tornado DDT out of the corner, but Black blocks. That leads to Almas shifting his weight, and hooking his challenger in a nasty looking rope-hung headscissors, but an attempt at a flying bodypress ends badly when Black boots him out of the air! That leads to another slugfest, dominated by the challenger again, this time using a kick combo. Aleister with a springboard moonsault press for two, but Almas blocks a sunset bomb, and hits a German suplex. Almas with a flying moonsault, but Aleister rolls out of the way, so Almas lands on his feet, and turns it into a standing moonsault for two. Didn't really stick the landing all the way, but neat nonetheless. Slugfest goes Almas' way with a spinning backfist for two, but a charge is blocked with a big boot for two by the challenger. That one went off the rails a little bit. Both guys stagger up and simultaneously throw big boots for a double knockout, and poor Vega must be losing her voice with the constant shouting from the floor. Black charges in the corner, but Almas blocks with a hiptoss into the buckles, then shoves Aleister over the top to thwart another springboard moonsault press. Almas quickly follows with a springboard corkscrew bodypress, immediately rolling Black in to try and pin, but Aleister kicks out at two. Love when guys hustle to get the opponent in to pin. Almas decides to grab the title belt, but it's a distraction to allow Vega to pop in, spiking poor Aleister's head into the mat with a rana. That looked insane. It only gets Almas two, however. Almas tries for the hammerlock-DDT, but Black counters with a cradle for two, and smacks the champ with the Black Mass! Cover, count, but Vega puts her mans foot in the ropes at two! Almas wisely rolls to the outside to buy time, so Black tries another dive, but Vega hooks his ankle, and he's left wedged in the corner. Almas capitalizes with a wild flying double stomp onto the hanging challenger, followed by a running double kneesmash in the corner for two! The timing on some of these spots is absolutely insane. Reversal sequence ends in Almas throwing a dropkick to block another Black Mass, and both guys spill out onto the apron for a slugfest. Almas wins that by shoving his challenger into a sitting position against the post, setting up a running double kneesmash against it. That leaves Aleister on dream street, and Almas drags him in to finish with the hammerlock DDT, but Black manages to backdrop him over the top to block! Black adds a wild somersault senton suicida, but as he's hustling the champion back in to cover, Almas manages to drill him with the hammerlock-DDT... for two! Great nearfall there, I seriously bought it as the finish. Almas argues the count (the 'shocked expression when a signature move only gets two' bit has become overused in recent times, but it's used to great effect here) while Vega tries diving in, but ends up hitting her man by mistake, allowing Black to pop off the Mass at 18:28! Great ending, as it wasn't just a cheap interference finish, as they literally spent the whole match building up Vega's constant interference, and it finally backfired on them. I like when matches build up to stuff, as opposed to just throwing a bunch of shit out there for the sake of getting it in. This was an excellent match, with both guys working very well together, and putting together multiple impressive extended sequences. A lot of it felt like a derivation of Almas/Gargano from the TakeOver: Philadelphia, but not so much so that it didn't feel like its own thing. **** ½

Main Event: Unsanctioned Match: Johnny Gargano v Tommaso Ciampa: If Gargano wins, he is reinstated to the NXT roster. Tremendous heat here, before the bell even sounds. "The tension is palpable here in the Smoothie King Center" is a sentence that should never be uttered by anyone, ever. I miss the days before every arena sold their naming rights. Gargano wins the opening slugfest, and Thesz-presses his former partner down for mounted punches. Ciampa tries to dump him to the outside to buy time, but Gargano lands on the apron, and flings back at him with a slingshot spear to set up more mounted punches. Yeah, this Johnny kid is good and pissed off, I'd say. Ciampa tries to turn the tables in the corner, but Gargano's rage blows back at him again, and Johnny stomps a mud hole. Gargano with a cross corner whip and a clothesline to put Ciampa on the outside, where Johnny dives after him with a tope. Ciampa manages to gain control during a slugfest out there, but a whip into the rail gets reversed, and he ends up in the crowd. Gargano dives after him with a tope suicida over the barricade, and he goes to town with more mounted punches on the concrete. Ciampa shoves him into the rail to buy time, then drops him front-first across it, as I spot both Shane McMahon and Rock's mother and daughter in the front row. Didn't realize Rock's daughter was a fan, I guess. Like, I could see her tagging along with her dad, but wouldn't expect to see her make a trip out to catch a show just for the sake of it. Back to ringside, Ciampa pulls up the floor mats to try a suplex on the exposed concrete, but Gargano slips free, and superkicks him. Johnny throws him into an announce table as they continue their tour of ringside, then pulls him up onto it by the hairs on his chinny-chin-chin to try a piledriver (complete with a massive wedgie), but Ciampa goes low to block, and vertical suplexes Gargano off of the table and onto the floor. Wait, how did that second announce table break already? Was their a stiff wind in the building, or something? Perhaps set off by all the smark boners this match set off? Ciampa grabs a piece of the table and makes a plank that he side suplexes Johnny on, and he's just reveling in every moment of his former partners pain here. The referee here looks like John Cena's less jacked brother. Back in, Ciampa whips him hard into the corner, so Johnny tries to discus punch him, but Ciampa uses the momentum to counter into a side suplex. Texas cloverleaf, but Gargano pulls at the beard to block, so Ciampa stomps the shit out of him until he calms down, then applies the hold anyway. Gargano makes the ropes, but this is unsanctioned, so Ciampa doesn't have to let go, and he instead wrenches it on extra hard to be a dick. Gargano is able to force a break by using the ropes for leverage, so Ciampa hammers the crap out of him on the apron, and hits a running kneesmash. He steals a set of crutches from a plant at ringside, and is literally licking his lips as he brings the weapons into the ring to play with. Gargano manages to duck a few swings, and is able to knock Ciampa to the apron to loosen the crutch from his evil grasp. Johnny slugs away to try and knock him off of the apron, but Ciampa sweeps his feet from there, and tries to suplex him out of the ring, but Johnny blocks with an enzuigiri. He tries a slingshot DDT onto the floor, but Ciampa blocks, so Gargano uses a sunset bomb onto the floor that Ciampa exposed earlier on! Both guys crawl back in to go for the crutch, leading to a tug-of-war - won by Gargano when Ciampa's hand slips. Ciampa's 'oh shit' expression upon realizing that Johnny has the weapon free-and-clear is great. Gargano goes to town, but gets backdropped over the top on a charge, so he starts whacking him with the crutch from the floor instead! Gargano with a slingshot DDT for two on the way back in, as the announcers do a good job of getting over that while this match is about revenge, Johnny has a family, and needs that win so he can be reinstated. Gargano exposes one of the middle turnbuckles to try a snake-eyes into, but Ciampa slips free, and drops Johnny onto the apron. Johnny tries firing back with an enzuigiri from out there, but Ciampa cracks him in the jaw to block, then blocks the slingshot spear with a knee. Blue thunder bomb gets two, and a high knee to the back of the head is worth two. Project Ciampa, but Gargano slips free, and throws a series of forearms. Ciampa tries a tilt-a-whirl, but Gargano blocks, so Ciampa simply drills him with a clothesline instead. Back to the Project, but Johnny counters with an inverted rana (didn't quite get it, but what he did get still looked good), then down into a crippler crossface! Ciampa makes the ropes, but Johnny swats his hand off of them with his foot, so Ciampa goes to the eyes to force his little ass off. Ciampa removes his wrist tape to choke Johnny with, but Gargano blocks, and we have a slugfest! Both guys throw bombs while holding each other up, but as Johnny starts getting the better of it, Ciampa kicks him in the balls. He adds a shot with the crutch on the way to the Project, but it only gets two! Ciampa starts bad mouthing him, leading to both guys trading vicious slaps, with Gargano able to pop off a superkick on his way to a snake-eyes onto the exposed middle buckle. Another two superkicks look to finish, but Ciampa is up at two! He really drilled him with that last one, too. Gargano crawls his way to the top rope, but Ciampa goes after him with a knee up there, and he tries bringing Johnny down with a backdrop driver, but Gargano starts countering to a rana, so Ciampa counters back with the Project off the middle for two! Both men are tired and frustrated, and Ciampa decides to remove his knee brace and pads to allow him to use the exposed knee to go for the sure kill. It'll destroy him, but it'll also destroy Johnny, and that's all that matters to him. He charges, but Gargano whacks him in the knee with his own brace, then shatters the crutch to give him a sharp shard to finish Ciampa with. He stops short of stabbing him, however, as Ciampa looks to be begging off. Ciampa's eye is visibly swelling here, like "cut me, Mick" style. Johnny ultimately discards the weapon, and decides to take a seat next to his partner to try and make peace - so Ciampa swings the heavy brace at his head, but Johnny sees it coming and ducks into a crippler crossface! Ciampa still has the brace, and tries using it to escape, so Johnny uses it against him - putting the brace over Ciampa's face, and rearing back in a vicious manner for the submission at 37:02! What a great finish to a great match, damn. It's not every day you get to see two guys go nearly forty minutes at this level. I mean, not a single resthold, not a single moment where they were losing the crowd, or dropping the intensity - it's impressive. What a roll Gargano (my favorite wrestler in the world right now) is on. **** ¾

BUExperience: Are you kidding me? This is legitimately one of the best shows ever. The last two matches alone knock it into ‘all time’ territory, and that’s not even taking into account all the good stuff on the undercard. What are you waiting for?

*****