Hideo Itami vs Mustafa Ali
I was so excited to see Mustafa Ali getting a go in the NXT ring. He looked great in his solitary Cruiserweight Classic match and was unfortunate to lose. Not to mention, any time Hideo Itami kicks off an episode of NXT it’s bound to be a loaded episode.
Mustafa Ali looked pretty slick in the opening exchanges of the match before it was clear that Itami’s superior conditioning was giving him the edge. Itami took control of the match as Ali played the typical foreign heel. Ali went out for a breather when Itami gave him a sliding dropkick to the outside that looked brilliant. When Itami was in the process of getting his opponent back in the ring, Ali took advantage with a spinning neckbreaker.
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The youngster who’s been billed from Karachi, Pakistan, out on an impressive flurry on the offence including a unique move which I can only describe as a rolling thunder neckbreaker. At one point, he actually called Itami “an old man”. Bad idea.
An incensed Itami hit back and devastated him with a dragon screw leg whip and a series of devastating strikes, followed up with the patented dropkick into the corner followed by a running knee strike for the pinfall.
Hideo Itami def. Mustafa Ali
Interesting fact, we haven’t seen Itami use the GTS since his comeback.
We saw an excellent Bobby Roode promo package after this. Roode showed just how great he is as a heel and I’m so glad he left TNA so that he could show what he could do in the WWE. Of course, this video package was GLORIOUS.
The video package hyping the rematch between Asuka and Bayley was even better. It showed their journey since Bayley lost to Asuka in Dallas. It recapped Bayley’s journey from underdog to champion which was in contrast to Asuka coming off as an unstoppable force.
We see Carmella, Liv Morgan and Nikki Glencross backstage after this, getting ready to take on Alexa Bliss, Mandy Rose and Daria Berenato, the latter two of whom you may remember from Tough Enough.
Another video hype package followed this. As much as I wanted more action, these video packages were amazing. This one had shots of New York interspersed with a few NXT Superstars talking about how if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere and their upcoming matches in Brooklyn. No Way Jose and Austin Aries spoke about their matchups on Saturday. The Bobby Roode and Andrade “Cien” Almas match was also hyped. The tag-team champions, The Revival, also spoke. As did their opponents on Sunday, Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa.
We see a backstage shot of Alexa Bliss giving instructions to her tag-team partners for the evening, Mandy Rose and Daria Berenato.
We see William Regal in his office after this and he talks about NXT’s success in the last year and how this Back 2 Brooklyn will eclipse eclipse even last year’s show from the same arena. Then, surprisingly, Billie Kay interfered. She argues that this TakeOver couldn’t be the best one yet without her on the card. Even more surprisingly, Regal agrees and he schedules her to face the debuting Ember Moon.
