NXT Takeover: Chicago Review

The third NXT Takeover of 2017 took place at the AllState Arena just outside Chicago last Saturday evening. The last 2 Takeovers have been pretty good so far so, in one of the most boisterous crowds in the country, will that continue? Let's take a look.

The first match was Eric Young taking on Roderick Strong. Strong surprises Young by taking out his henchmen, Killian Dian and Alexander Wolff, at ringside. Strong then goes after Young but his momentum is stopped by a back suplex. Later on, Dian runs Strong over with a brutal running crossbody. Strong makes his comeback and hits a high knee, sending Young onto Dian and Wolff on the outside. Strong then rolls Young back inside and hits the End of Heartache to get the win. This was a good match and I was surprised that Young won, especially in the first match between the two. It seems that WWE are going to push him into the main event scene. Strong has the talent for it but I still feels that he needs to develop his character.
Winner: Roderick Strong (0 for 1)

The next match is for the United Kingdom Champioship as Tyler Bate faces the challenge of Pete Dunne. After some back and forth, Dunne gets the advantage after hitting a X-plex. Dunne comes close after a suplex into a sit down powerbomb and Bate reverses the Bitter End into a DDT. In the end, Dunne avoids an over the top rope suicide dive and rolls back Bate to hit the Bitter End and become the new United Kingdom Champion. The match was absolutely amazing to watch and so much better than their match at the United Kingdom Championship Tournament in January. This is a strong contender for match of the year and I can't wait for them to have a rematch in the near future.
Winner: Pete Dunne (1 for 2)

We now get the triple threat for the NXT Women's Championship as Ruby Riot and Nikki Cross challenge Asuka. The match goes at a steady pace to begin with with all 3 women being involved. Cross saves Riot a couple of times as Asuka hit a powerbomb into an anklelock then the Asuka Lock. Cross has a good chance to win with a solo magic killer but Riot breaks up the pin. In the end, Riot hits Cross with an overhead kick but Asuka hits her with a running knee. Asuka then pins both to win the match. This was quite a good match but I'm not a fan of Asuka pinning both women. It seems like a dick move to me.
Winner: Asuka (2 for 3)

The penultimate match is Hideo Itami challenging Bobby Roode for the NXT Championship. Itami has the early advantage before Roode hits a blockbuster. During the match, both guys get hurt. Roode with his shoulder, making it difficult to do moves such as the Glorious DDT; Itami with his knee, making it hard to do the GTS. Roode does bear the pain to hit a Glorious DDT but it only gets two. Itami hits the GTS but Roode rolls out of the ring. In the end, Itami goes for the GTS but Roode reverses it to hit 2 consecutive Glorious DDTs to get the win. I quite enjoyed this match and it would be nice to see them have a rematch. However, I suspect that WWE will do something different.
Winner: Bobby Roode (3 for 4)

The main event is a ladder match for the NXT Tag Team Championship as #DIY challenge The Authors of Pain. Highlights of the match include: Gargano doing a suicide dive through a ladder onto The Authors of Pain; #DIY splashing Akam and Razr through ladders on the outside; Paul Ellering stopping Gargano grabbing the belts and getting superkicked for it; Gargano getting uppercutted with a ladder; and Ciampia suplexing Razr through a ladder. The end comes when Ciampia and Gargano have their hands on the belts but Razr and Akam pull the ladder out from under them. They then pull them off and hit the super collider , climb up the ladder and grab the belts to win the match. Afterwards, Ciampia beats the fuck put of Gargano at the entrance way.

Although it was a little slow at times, this was a good match. As for Ciampia turning on Gargano, I thought it would happen at some point but I didn't think it would happen for a while yet. #DIY are the only team that could challenge them. TM-61 are out due to injury and it seems that Heavy Machinery are next up. However, they have had what 3 TV matches together and I think that it is way too soon for them.
Winner: Authors of Pain (4 for 5)

I thought that NXT Takeover: Chicago was a good event and the matches were generally good. It will be interesting to see where the Championship scenes will look like over the next few weeks and I'm quite looking forward to it.