WWE News: NXT Takeover match awarded with 5-stars

What's the story?

As reported by WhatCulture, veteran wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer has awarded a 5-star rating to a WWE match, for the first time since 2011. The match in question is the main event at NXT Takeover: Philadelphia between Johnny Gargano and Andrade "Cien" Almas.

In case you didn’t know…

Meltzer is well known for his star-rating system which rates matches on a scale of 0 to 5 (rarely even 6). Sometimes criticised for favoring NJPW over WWE in his ratings, it is still considered an honor by wrestlers to be rated highly by Meltzer.

The heart of the matter

Till now, only five matches in WWE have been given a 5-star rating by Dave Meltzer. The latest of these was the match between John Cena and CM Punk at the Money in the Bank PPV in 2011. The other matches, in chronological order, are:

Razor Ramon vs Shawn Michaels, WWF Intercontinental Title Ladder Match, WrestleMania 10, Bret Hart vs Owen Hart, Steel Cage Match, SummerSlam 1994, Bret Hart vs Steve Austin, Submission Match, WrestleMania 13, The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels, Hell In A Cell Match and In Your House: Badd Blood.

Now, a sixth match has been awarded a 5-star rating: the main event at NXT Takeover: Philadelphia for the NXT Championship between Johnny Gargano and Cien Almas.

Almas went on to retain his championship in an engaging match which had all the elements of an excellent wrestling match, including emotional story-telling and great in-ring psychology between the two talented youngsters. NXT has been consistently putting on amazing matches and outshining the main roster time and again and this is another example of the stellar talent available at WWE's developmental territory.

What's next?

Cien Almas went on to be one of the surprise entrants in the Royal Rumble 2018, the night after NXT Takeover and lasted an impressive 30+ minutes before being eliminated by Randy Orton.

Since he is still the NXT Champion, he might not be called up to the main roster anytime soon.

Author's take

Despite misgivings by some, Meltzer's ratings do command a certain respect in the pro wrestling industry. The NXT Championship match was praised by fans and critics alike for its engaging storytelling and definitely deserves to be given a 5-star rating.

---

Send us news tips at [email protected]