It’s Unfair to the Main Roster – NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4 Recap and Reactions – 8/18/2018
Do you have limited time that you can dedicate to “sports entertainment” this weekend? Skip the 8 hour Summerslam broadcast and watch NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4. About half way through this show, I was reminded of why I love professional wrestling. That’s how damn good this show was. It’s unfair to the members of the main roster to have to immediately follow these shows up. Then again, it was almost unfair to the rest of the NXT roster that they kicked off the show with an unbelievable tag team championship matchup. Let’s run through this thing.
The Undisputed Era (C) vs Mustache Mountain for the NXT Tag Team Championship
You knew it was going to be good. Half the internet expected it to steal the weekend. While I don’t think it was the absolute best of the night, it was pretty f***ing incredible. Tyler Bate does things that a man his size should never be able to do. At one point, he lifts Roderick Strong from a dead weight prone position into a German Release Suplex, all the while Kyle O’Reilly is on his back with a sleeper locked in. The dead weight lift is a John Cena show of strength staple, but Bate just did it with another 185 pounds weighing down on his back. How do you even train for that? The Undisputed Era stuck to their technical savvy in this one, focusing heavily on injured areas of their opponents and in the end would get the victory and The Undisputed Era retain the tag team champions. No rest for the weary though, as War Raiders were on the attack almost immediately after the match.
EC3 vs Velveteen Dream
This match was a nice breather post the chaos and excitement of the opening bout. Velveteen did not disappoint, as he came out clad in purple tights adorned with a simple statement across is rear end – “Call Me Up Vince”. These two work well together like they’ve been doing it for ages, even though Dream is still only in his early 20s. EC3 did seem a bit irritated that Dream kept clinging to his tights and exposing his ass a few times. And no, there are no tan lines. It was a quality match between two very talented guys on this NXT roster. In the end, Velveteen Dream landed the death valley driver and big elbow drop on the apron to put away the top 1%.
Adam Cole (C) vs Ricochet for the NXT North American Championship
This match was insane. And you know you’ve done something right in the ring when you see this gem on Twitter after you’ve finished performing.
Well @AdamColePro and Ricochet just ripped it up. #NXT
— Steve Austin (@steveaustinBSR) August 19, 2018
With Undisputed Era retaining, one might have made the leap that Adam Cole would be able to pull this one out. Both of these guys put on an absolute display of their talent. I did expect that the lingering Ricochet injury might come into play during this matchup, but it didn’t affect the outcome, as Ricochet landed the 630 Splash and the pinfall to become the new NXT North American Champion.
Shayna Baszler (C) vs Kairi Sane for the NXT Women’s Championship
This was the rubber match between these two. I’m not going to lie to you and act like I was completely invested here. Coming off those opening three bouts, I was completely worn out already, and we all know that Shayna isn’t exactly one of my favorites. That said, the closing sequence of this match was pretty great, as Shayna threw a kick into the InSane Elbow on its way down then went for the sleeper on the reeling Kairi, only to have Sane flip through it and get the pinfall while still in the hold. Kairi Sane is the new NXT Women’s Champion. Congratulations!
Tommaso Ciampa (C) vs Johnny Gargano in a Last Man Standing Match for the NXT Championship
If you’ve born witness to the first few chaotic nightmarescapes in this feud, you pretty much knew what you were getting in to here. I don’t know how they haven’t killed each other with some of the crazy shit they are doing in these matches. Percy got kicked in the chest at one point when Gargano threw Ciampa over the announce table (and nobody from the MMA world tried to kill him). The ending did not give you any sort of conclusion to the feud either, so expect them to have yet another battle in Los Angeles in November. Johnny Gargano had Ciampa handcuffed to the stage and went for the exposed knee strike, landing it, but flying into the gear cases and a table at the stage side. The referee would go into the count, and Ciampa merely had to roll off the edge of the stage to get to his feet, while we were told that early reports were that Gargano had dislocated his knee in the fallout. Long May He Reign!
Seriously. Watch this show.