Joe is King – NXT TakeOver Toronto Recap

Live from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario Canada, NXT TakeOver Toronto did not disappoint.  There is a new NXT Champion (the first ever two time NXT champion) and new Tag Team Champs.

Samoa Joe vs Shinsuke Nakamura for the NXT Championship

The build to this match was fantastic, and it was a great one.  It felt like a PPV Title Match.  Samoa Joe eventually hit the Muscle Buster for the win to become the first two time NXT Champion.  I feel like Joe is in some sort of purgatory.  They don’t necessarily need him on the main roster, because where would you put him?  They don’t need another heel that they’ll poorly utilize.  Shinsuke on the other hand could be headed to the show, which would explain the title loss.  I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if we see Shinsuke on one of the main shows within the next week, maybe even tonight in Toronto.

Mickie James vs Asuka for the NXT Women’s Championship

If there is one thing I can say about Mickie James, she displayed no ring rust in this one.  That said, this was the Asuka show all the way.  I don’t expect her to drop that belt for quite a while, probably not until TakeOver San Antonio or TakeOver Orlando for Rumble or Mania weekend respectively.  This was a good match, not wildly memorable or anything, but it worked.  Asuka retains the title with the Asuka Lock.

The Revival vs DIY for the NXT Tag Team Championship

I’m a pretty hardcore Revival mark, but this match went exactly like it needed to.  The four men put on what will undoubtedly be the match of the entire Survivor Series weekend.  The Revival played their role perfectly, and Tomaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano are your new NXT Tag Team Champions.  Just a fantastic match.  I highly recommend giving it a once over.

The Authors of Pain vs TM61 for the Dusty Rhodes Trophy

This wasn’t a bad match by any means, but I’m a little disappointed with the outcome.  Paul Ellering was in a cage hanging over the ring, which was weird, but he was still barking out orders from the cage.  The AoP had to win this one clean, with no tricks or anything, but I still think letting a heel team win the trophy is a bad call.  They’re not going to show it any respect.  Triple H did make an appearance, coming out to present the trophy.  It was quick.

The Perfect 10 Tye Dillinger vs The Glorious Bobby Roode

This was another great one.  An entire choir took to the stage to sing the Glorious Domination theme song as Roode kicked off the evening in Toronto.  This was a homecoming for both of these guys, Roode actually from Toronto and Dillinger from Niagara Falls.  I really expected Roode to lose, mostly because I think it would make his gimmick more fun if he lost all the big matches, but he hits one hell of an implant DDT on Tye and picks up the pinfall.

So how’d we do with our predictions:

I didn’t clean sweep this one like I did Hell in a Cell, which is a bummer, but we both went 3 for 5 on this one.  I got Joe winning the championship, he picked correctly in the Authors of Pain win.

All in all it was a good show.  NXT is hurting a little bit.  People aren’t really talking about NXT like they were previously with Bayley and Balor at the helm of the ship.  That arena was still full and everyone in there loved it.  What did you think?