NXT Takeover Chicago did everything it needed to do, and more. This was a magnificent display of professional wrestling at its best, which at times brought our minds back to the glory days of late ‘90s WWE. We also witnessed a very bold show, experimenting with an unconventional card structure and a more than unexpected main event.
If I were getting ready to compete at Backlash tonight, I'd certainly be mindful of the shadow that Takeover is hovering over me. Just how good was this show? Here are 10 questions that might help us decide:
#1 Should that opener have been a gauntlet match?
The match involving Roderick Strong and Sanity was probably the right choice for an opener. The programme between these guys had been thrown together relatively late on after Strong failed to become the Number One Contender for the NXT Championship, and all of the other matches had titles at stake. This was a very solid opener that got the crowd enthused, but not to the point of exhaustion, which is exactly what you should be looking for in a curtain jerker.
While watching the match unfold, however, one thing came to mind quite early on. As far as I knew, this was being billed as Roderick Strong Vs. Sanity. In fact, we mostly ended up with a one on one match between Strong and Eric Young. As a result, this felt more like a conclusion to the feud as opposed to the beginning of it. If the point of this feud is for Sanity to use the numbers game to make Strong’s life, hell, why did they only have Young work the match, and why did Strong end up getting the win?
One thing the WWE could have done here was put Strong in a gauntlet match, where one individual faces all of his opponents one at a time. Strong running the gauntlet would have worked on several different levels. Firstly, they would have been able to showcase the other Sanity members rather than just the veteran Eric Young. Secondly, you would have drawn some real sympathetic babyface reactions for Roderick Strong in the process. The fans were obviously behind Strong here anyway, but it's hard to imagine that they wouldn't have been even more vocal if the odds were stacked against him.
Perhaps the main reason why this should have been a gauntlet match was that it would have given NXT an excuse for Sanity to get the win. If there’s one thing WWE can learn from their experiences with the Wyatt Family, it's that dangerous, psychotic gimmicks don’t work as well if the guys keep on losing important matches. Having Strong win the first two matches, and then narrowly lose to Young at the end would have ticked all boxes. Instead, we got a pretty decent opener that could have done more.
#2 How prestigious is the UK Championship now, after that classic?
Minutes after the United Kingdom Championship match ended, the legendary Stone Cold Steve Austin tweeted his approval along with thousands of wrestling fans all over the internet. This match was special, and in hindsight could maybe have been higher up the card. It must have been such a motivation for these two to go out there on an NXT Takeover show and try to raise the prestige of UK Championship belt as high as they could. The question is, just how high did they raise it?
There’s an old saying in pro wrestling, ‘it’s not the title that makes the man; its the man that makes the title’. Last night in Chicago, both Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne certainly made the title, and with it, their careers. The match was a delight from start to finish.
Both men utilised their different styles expertly well, had a good old fashioned British mat-based technical match-up but weren’t afraid to add in bits and pieces from outside their usual arsenal too. The result felt right as well. Tyler Bate was an excellent choice for being the first ever UK Champion, but it is time for somebody else to try and do more with it. There are high hopes for Pete Dunne amongst UK Wrestling fans, and let’s hope he can take the belt and the WWE UK scene to the next level.
One thing’s already for sure, though, there are going to be plenty of guys around the WWE wanting to get their hands on Pete Dunne to try and replicate, or preferably surpass, some of last night’s magic. This is what you need when you’re trying to introduce a new championship belt, and let’s hope the matches for it continue in the same vein.
#3 Should the UK Championship be a regular feature of NXT?
So, what does the WWE do with the UK Championship now? Having the special series on the WWE Network is one thing, but there’s always the risk that a lot of the audience won’t bother to tune in to what is a secondary show, even if it is instantly available. Sure, many people would have loved the match between Dunne and Bate last night, but will that be enough to tempt hordes of wrestling fans over to the Network show on a regular basis?
One option for WWE would be to make the UK Championship more of a permanent feature of NXT. WWE have historically had at least two belts on their shows, with the US title now a feature of Smackdown Live, and the Intercontinental Championship on RAW. Seeing as though NXT is still growing from strength to strength, why not have the UK belt as the secondary prize on Wednesday nights?
This would give the roster a bit more to focus on because, at the moment, those who are not directly competing for the NXT Championship are a little bit in limbo, going from feud to feud with not a lot of outcome. One could imagine a very strong feud forming between Pete Dunne and Drew Mcintyre, for instance, that would give the Scotsman something to do while he’s waiting for the Itami and Roode rivalry to finish.
You could also inject some new talent into NXT and give the better British performers more of an opportunity to get themselves over on a bigger stage. And you wouldn’t have to just involve British wrestlers either. We currently have a Canadian as US Champion, for example. It’s definitely something the company should consider, but I’d imagine after last night, fans are going to want to see this belt defended on NXT again.
#4 Is ‘play-by-play’ commentary dead in WWE?
Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate had the night of their careers at NXT Takeover. Not only did they steal the show, but they also had their match called by Jim Ross, the greatest wrestling commentator of all time. Even now, almost 20 years since the end of the attitude era, hearing Jim Ross commentate on a match propels you back to your childhood when your love of pro wrestling transcended everything else in life.
One of the many reasons why fans used to love JR was his ability to deliver play-by-play commentary that followed the action and added another layer of believability onto the storytelling. If there are indeed many things the WWE just doesn’t do as well anymore, one of them is undoubtedly the commentary. Michael Cole, perhaps unfairly, has become the scapegoat for this.
We associate modern day commentators with using their air time to either plug other WWE related content, or have petty bickering matches between themselves, rather than calling the action. When I saw JR come out for this match, I was hoping it was going to be called appropriately. But even with his involvement, the commentary still felt too ‘PG-era’.
This is not a criticism of JR. We all know, if it were still WWE’s style, he would have given a fantastic running commentary on the action in the ring from bell to bell. The sad truth is that this just isn’t what WWE is about anymore.
Being such a large publically traded company means you need to always have one eye on marketing and PR reputation. This is why things are so restricted and controlled at the commentary table in 2017. Even JR is not bigger than that, apparently. It was great to hear the legend; however, it’s just a shame that we now live in different times.
#5 Should Asuka remain undefeated in NXT?
After the announcement of Ember Moon’s injury, it became fairly apparent that Asuka was going to retain her title. The women had quite a lot to contend with last night, one thing being the predictability of the result, the other, having the follow that incredible UK Championship bout. The match itself was solid, even for someone who isn’t the biggest fan of Triple Threat title matches. However, without Moon, the whole thing felt more like a continuation of the Nikki Cross and Ruby Riot storyline, with Asuka thrown into the mix.
Having the champion retain was the right decision though. This proves that if something is predictable, it doesn’t mean it’s bad. Riot and Cross are doing great things lower down the women’s division pecking order at the moment, but neither are ready to defeat Asuka. That being said, is there anyone in the division at the moment who could?
You’d imagine sooner or later that Ember Moon will be the one to end the undefeated streak and take the NXT Women’s Championship away from the Empress of Tomorrow. But one thing the WWE might consider is having this unbeaten streak carry on a littler longer.
In fact, there’s a very strong case to be made for keeping the streak intact indefinitely. Imagine how important Asuka’s call-up to the main roster would be if she were coming off the back of almost two years as NXT Women’s Champion, never losing a championship match in the process. This is certainly a risky move, as it might undermine the other women on the roster, but honestly, apart from Amber Moon, nobody else feels like a worthy opponent at the moment.
If they do want to utilise this Asuka championship run to its full potential then maybe this is the way to go. If they want her to drop it to somebody, however, NXT have quite a lot of work to do, convincing us that their next chosen one is ready to carry on Asuka’s great work.
Also read: 5 Botches, slip ups and outrageous moments from NXT Takeover: Chicago
#6 Could the show have done with another couple of matches?
For the past few weeks, I have been mentioning how stacked and loaded the NXT roster is currently looking. I assumed this would result in having several different matches featured on last night's Takeover Show. Instead, we were left wondering why some of the other featured talents were not included. There is a buzz around the NXT product at the moment, mainly because there are so many male and female competitors that are sparking some interest.
#7 Should you always send the fans home happy?
In an unprecedented move by WWE, the tag team championship match ended up filling the main event spot. After seeing three championship matches take place, it came as a little bit of a shock to see this, but it was ultimately the right decision.
What this says to me, is that NXT gives WWE the opportunity to think more outside of the box. Traditionally it's the main title that goes on last unless you’re having a one-time legend vs. legend match like John Cena Vs. Rock at Wrestlemania 28, or Goldberg and Lesnar at last year’s Survivor Series. This is how WWE like to do things, as they will always stick closely to that hierarchy of championship belts where the tag titles normally find themselves at the bottom.
However, it was the conclusion to this match that provided the shock of the night. As soon as I realised this match was going to close out the show, I just assumed we would would see the second title change of the night. The old Vince McMahon adage that ‘you should always send the fans home happy’ was playing in my head throughout.
As much as fans would have liked to see Hideo Itami win his first NXT title, the real pop of the night was bound to come from seeing DIY win the belts in their ladder match. In fact, it was a very different kind of conclusion to the show than a lot of people were anticipating.
In a sideways move, The Authors of Pain retained their titles, to a chorus of boos, and DIY was torn apart by a heel turn. The cynical side of me wants to say that this ruined the show overall. All of the matches leading up to it were fantastic, with the right results, and all that needed to happen was for new tag-team champions to be crowned. We would have all gone our separate ways, talking about how much we loved the show. Instead, the WWE seemed more interested in sending fans home with a big talking point, which didn’t feel quite as good.
#8 Will we regret not having DIY on the main roster?
So maybe I am overly critical of the ending to this show. After all, people will be talking about the heel turn quite a lot over the next few weeks, and it injects, even more, intrigue into NXT overall. It’s rare that Takeover shows give you a reason to tune into the next edition of NXT later in the week, but this one certainly has.
One consequence of this, however, is that we’re probably not going to be seeing DIY compete as a tag team on the main roster. Because NXT is still the developmental brand, you rarely see heel and face turns occurring as part of the content. If you’re getting ready to showcase someone on the main roster, you want to give them enough time and space to develop their characters without having to change things up too often. Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa are now going to have to work as singles guys again, which, if done poorly, could delay their promotion up to RAW or Smackdown.
Also, DIY would have been a brilliant addition to the main roster tag team scene. I would have personally liked to have seen them on Smackdown, as the tag team picture on Tuesday nights is looking a bit thin. Having DIY end a long championship reign of the USOs, for example, would have made for great television, and a feud between them and American Alpha would be a great way to elevate the Smackdown Tag Titles to where they need to be.
That being said, both men have shown they are capable of working well as singles guys, and we do have a nice rivalry between the two of them to look forward to over the coming months. It’s just a shame we won’t be able to cheer on the DIY team on Monday or Tuesday nights in the future.
#9 Why didn’t Takeover get many ‘CM Punk’ chants?
The WWE likes to blame a small number of troublemakers everytime they hear the CM PUNK! Chants during a WWE show. It’s really quite frustrating that they never seem to acknowledge, or at least adequately consider, what the real underlying causes of the chants are. Typically, you will hear them during a HHH, Stephanie or Vince McMahon segment on RAW, as fans know these are the people who resent Punk the most. You will also tend to hear them during a rather lacklustre match that the crowd aren’t emotionally invested in.
By that logic, the less you hear of the CM PUNK! Chants, the more the fans are obviously enjoying themselves. This is why NXT Takeover Chicago can be viewed as such a strong show. Chicago will always be the place there the Punk chants are heard the loudest, but thinking back, there was probably only one time throughout the whole show where we did hear it. Even then, this was in reaction to Hideo Itami’s GTS move on Bobby Roode, a finisher that wrestling fans naturally associate with Punk.
This probably won’t be much of a talking point when it comes to analysing the show, but I think it certainly warrants mentioning. For a WWE show to go by in Chicago with hardly any mention of their hometown hero is very impressive.
#10 Will Backlash measure up?
Having NXT Takeover shows feature on the same weekend as main roster PPVs is an ingenious move by the WWE. Firstly, it keeps the NXT product relevant and tempts more people to tune in than would perhaps have done if the shows were left to fend for themselves. Another thing it does is it put pressure on the main roster show to deliver. After all, guys on RAW or Smackdown do still need to prove to management that they deserve to be on the main roster and can put on better wrestling than the guys still in developmental.
The NXT roster should be looking to Backlash competitors for inspiration and motivation, for example. But occasionally, it's the superstars who are still developing that end up making the weekend a success.
Perhaps the biggest success story for NXT came a few years ago when its Takeover show in Dallas arguably beat Wrestlemania 32 in terms of enjoyment factor. This was when the company seriously had to look at who they were able to call up to the main roster, as in theory, this should not have happened.
Therefore, whenever we see a Takeover show, we will inevitably think about how the Sunday night event is going to measure up, and whether the tried and tested guys will put on a better performance. Backlash does have its work cut out this evening. For example, assuming Randy Orton Vs. Jinder Mahal is going to main event, do you think the fans will care about that match as much as they cared about the result of the NXT tag-team ladder match?
Perhaps Backlash can learn a thing or two from NXT Takeover Chicago and put the match that fans most care about on last, which will either be Nakamura Vs. Ziggler, or Kevin Owens Vs. AJ Styles.
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