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I knew that the NXT Championship match would be good. I didn’t know it would be the best NXT Championship match of all time.
It is safe to say that NXT is in fantastic shape for an amazing 2018. The talented roster always seems to find a way to reload. They even gave us a few unique surprises to add to the already amazing roster in Philadelphia. As usual, NXT Takeover: Philadelphia reminded me why I love being a wrestling fan. The entire night was filled with solid matches and ended with the main event we will be talking about for a long time.
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With all of this in mind after an instant classic, I present my list of the top five most surprising moments of WWE Takeover: Philadelphia:
John Cena's last PPV's name revealed by Kurt Angle? More details HERE
#5 So much talent is coming to NXT
One of the best parts of any Takeover is the moment they show the new stars in the audience. We had the official debuts of War Machine and Trevor “Ricochet” Mann. We had Candice LaRae making a major impact on the main event. And most surprising of all, EC3 was shown as well. I didn’t expect him to go to NXT right away or at all.
With these five talents alone, NXT is set-up well for the future. Ricochet and EC3 could be slotted right into the main event picture, Candice could jump to the front of the pack from the Women’s title and War Machine has clearly restocked the tag division. It never ceases to surprise me the quality of talent that constantly joins the “developmental” brand.
#4 The Velveteen Dream is a main event player
I think Velveteen Dream’s whole character is simply a case of messing with the audience. Going through a massive boxing routine pre-match, wearing ridiculous boxing trunks and having both attractive male and female assistants at ringside, it is all about creating an unpredictable character. And the crowd in Philadelphia loved him for it.
The match itself was an interesting but occasionally sloppy affair. The pace was fast and I think it leads to a few of the slip-ups we saw along the way. Ohno is a great veteran but Dream still is learning his craft. I am glad a place like NXT exists for a talented wrestler like the 22-year-old Dream. The crowd loves him and it is surprising how quickly his character got to this impressive point. It was important for him to have a big Takeover win on Sunday night. The Dream will hold the NXT title in the near future.
#3 Ember Moon retains
It isn’t very often that I am shocked when someone retains their title. Ember Moon certainly looked like an underdog going into her Women’s title match in Philadelphia. Shayna Baszler had been portrayed quite well as a scary heel who simply hurts and bullies her opponents. It seemed she was well on her way to becoming a dominant heel champion.
It seemed to be going that way as Baszler did her painful looking elbow stomp and Ember sold it as devastating for the rest of their title match. It ended with a very long sequence where Baszler twisted Moon’s arm in submission moves in very painful looking ways. It lasted for a few minutes until Ember shockingly rolled Shayna up quickly to retain. After Shayna’s post-match attack, I would think we would have a rematch in the future. But I am more than surprised to see Baszler lose so early in her career.
#2 Adam Cole is crazy
I cannot believe that Adam Cole did that chair spot. Seriously, what sort of guy thinks he should put his spine through that sort of potential damage with a backdrop onto the top of two steel chairs? It was one of many painful moments in a very creative Extreme Rules match between Adam Cole and Aleister Black.
Adam Cole surely took the bulk of the worst bumps in the match. Besides the brutal drop onto two chairs, he fell front first onto a ladder and was stomped through the announce table. If you add in the bloody cut on Cole’s hand, you get an unexpectedly tough Extreme Rules match. Black took a high-risk drop through two tables from the top rope as well.
The match was pretty much what you could get from a WWE style Extreme Rules match. It was creative, filled with lots of outside interference and quite painful looking throughout the twenty-minute encounter. I just hope Adam Cole gets a few days off from the WWE Performance Center. He is going to need it.
#1 The best NXT championship match ever
I certainly had decent expectations for the NXT Championship match on Sunday night. Andrade “Cien” Almas is a strong worker. Johnny Gargano might be one of the best wrestlers in the world and is also the most believable babyface wrestler since Daniel Bryan. I expected a good match. I didn’t expect an instant classic.
Seriously, how did these two amazing wrestlers put on that 30-minute classic? It had an incredible pace, dozens of believable finishes and nearly flawless wrestling. I haven’t heard a crowd so invested in a WWE match in years. They wanted that Gargano title wins so badly. We didn’t get it but we got arguably the best NXT Championship match.
