#3. War Raiders vs Ricochet & Aleister Black
The chants "Fight forever" and "This is awesome" are overdone cliches in the world of professional wrestling. They can too often be heard in a pedestrian run of the mill bouts and are frequently the result of groupthink, rather than a genuine reaction to the truly spectacular.
Both chants broke out during tonight's War Raiders vs Richochet & Aleister Black. Only this time things were much different. NXT TakeOvers have become synonymous with classic bouts, especially phenomenal opening tag team bouts, but this one truly stood apart from the others and fully deserved the "Fight forever" and "This is awesome" chants that broke out during the match.
The match featured superhuman like feats of wonder and awe. In jaw-dropping fashion, the 188-pound Ricochet picked up the 305-pound Hanson over his head, held him there for at least 8 seconds and then proceeded to throw him behind his head.
The gargantuan Hanson wowed with flips, a glorious handspun to a back elbow, suicide dives and even moonsaults. The 300-pounder moved with the fluidity and flexibility of a cruiserweight and showed agility never before seen by a man of that size. Hanson would later perform a top rope cannonball outside the ring in one of the most dangerous and beautifully executed high-risk manoeuvres of all time.
At the match's conclusion, the four men were given a standing ovation. War Raiders bowed to their defeated opponents, who are moving on to bigger and better things via WWE's main roster. Two NXT legends, Ricochet and Aleister Black, said their final farewell and very likely had their best ever match in the process. As the two men made their exit, the New York crowd chanted, "You deserve it." This time it wasn't a cliche. They were right.