NXT TakeOver: New York Review

NXT TakeOver: New York took place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Every Championship is on the line and the card looks awesome so, let's take a look.

The first match is for the NXT Tag Team Championship as the team of Aleister Black and Ricochet challenge The War Raiders. There's a lot of respect shown by both teams in the early going and it becomes a very back and forth contest. There was a cool bit where Ricochet catches Hanson in mid air and hits him with a fall away slam. War Raiders come close when they hit a clothesline/German suplex combo but Black breaks up the pin with a double stomp from the top rope. Black hits Rowe with the Black Mask, which is followed up by a shooting star press from Ricochet; but Hanson pushes Black onto Ricochet to break up the pin. In the end, War Raiders hit Ricochet with Fallout to get the win. Afterwards, they all shake hands and hug.

This match was fucking phenomenal with so many amazing spots. Black and Ricochet teaming up seemed like an unusual choice but they work really well together and we get to see them again when they challenge for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships at Wrestlemania.
Winners: War Raiders (1 for 1)

Next is a match that I was really looking forward to watching: Matt Riddle challenging Velveteen Dream  for the North American Championship. Early on, Riddle tries to go for submission moves such as the Kimura but Dream manages to avoid them and get the advantage after stamping on Riddle's bare feet. Riddle gets back into it and continues to get Dream to submit. Dream hulks up and goes on to hit the Dream Valley Driver. However, when he goes for the Purple Rainmaker, Riddle tries to put him in the Bro-Mission then almost wins it after hitting the Floating Bro. Riddle then puts Dream in the Bro-Mission. However, Dream manages to reverse it into a roll up and pins Riddle to get the win. Riddle's reaction was like: "What the fuck?! I lost?!", which was awesome then he fist bumps Dream as a sign of respect.

This was a really good match and I felt sorry for them as they followed a phenomenal tag team match. However, they managed to keep the crowd engaged and I really hope they have a rematch in the near future.
Winner: Velveteen Dream (2 for 2)

We now get the United Kingdom Championship match as WALTER challenges Pete Dunne. Early on, Dunne punches WALTER. He doesn't take that well and hits Dunne with 2 brutal Flair Chops to get the advantage. He goes on to almost fold Dunne in half with a Boston Crab. Dunne uses his agility and speed to get back into the match and comes close after an impressive sit down powerbomb. After Dunne damages WALTER's fingers, he hits a rolling crucifix pin for 2. Dunne hits the Bitter End but WALTER kicks out at 2. In the end, Dunne is sent across the ring with a top rope power bomb. WALTER follows that with a splash to get the win and end the 685 day reign of Pete Dunne. This was a really good match between the two. I'm about 8 weeks behind on NXT UK so this was the first time I've seen WALTER and I'm quite impressed. He is quite agile for his size and his Flair chops are so brutal, he should be arrested for attempted murder. Dunne has had an amazing reign and hopefully it means he will get called up to the main roster.
Winner: WALTER (3 for 3)

The penultimate match is for the NXT Women's Championship as Shayna Baszler faces the challenges of Bianca Belair, Kairi Sane and Io Shirai  in a Fatal 4-Way Match. Highlights of the match include: Sane catching Belair's air kiss and throwing it for Shirai to bat away; Baszler using Belair's hair against her; Belair pressing Shirai onto Baszler and Sane on the outside; and Belair hitting the KOD on Baszler. Shirai hits the Asai Moonsault on Baszler but Sane breaks up the pin; then Sane hits Baszler with the Insane Elbow and Shirai breaks up the pin. Belair hits an awesome KOD on both Shirai and Sane; but when she goes for the cover, Baszler grabs her and gets her to tap out to the Kirifuda Clutch to retain the Championship. Even though I was surprised that Baszler won, I thought this was a really fun match.
Winner: Shayna Baszler (3 for 4)

The main event is a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match between Adam Cole (Bay Bay!) and Johnny Gargano for the vacant NXT Championship. After some back and forth, Cole hits the Last Shot to the back of Gargano's head to get the first fall. Cole almost gets the winning fall after another Last Shot but Gargano manages to just kick out. Later on, Gargano manages to get Cole to quickly tap out to the Garga-No Escape to take it to sudden death. Both guys come close to winning, a highlight being Cole hitting a beautiful straitjacket German suplex and then a Canadian destroyer.  The match goes to the outside and Cole hits a Fairytale Ending onto the Spanish announce table. Gargano puts Cole in the Garga-No Escape but the rest of The Undisputed Era interfere and take out Gargano when the referee gets "accidentally" knocked out of the ring. Gargano manages to just about survive and takes out The Undisputed Era. Cole seizes on the opportunity and hits another Last Shot but Gargano amazingly kicks out. In the end, Gargano avoids the Last Shot and gets Cole to tap out to the Garga-No Escape and become the new NXT Champion. Afterwards, Candice Le Rae and Tommaso "Fuckface" Ciampa come out to help Gargano celebrate.

Wow. Just wow. The first two falls were really good and I was surprised for a minute that Cole tapped out, making it a tie game. I then realised that he did it to save energy. The last 5-10 minutes of the match were absolutely brilliant with Cole and The Undisputed Era throwing everything but the kitchen sick at Gargano but nothing they did worked. I got quite emotional when Gargano won and I think the last time I felt anything like that was when #DIY won the NXT Tag Team Championship at TakeOver: Toronto. I'm so happy for Gargano winning and completing his redemption.
Winner: Johnny Gargano (4 for 5)

NXT TakeOver: NewYork was an amazing show. All of the matches were really good with 2 of them being contenders for Match of the Year. I feel sorry for Wrestlemania as I do not think they can top this.