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#3 2017
NXT TAKEOVER: This was an excellent Takeover show filled with great matches, cool title changes, and an epic debut at the end. The night started off perfectly as Andrade 'Cien' Almas beat Johnny Gargano in a minor classic, a sign of things to come for both men. After that, SAnitY won the NXT Tag Team Championships from the Authors of Pain and Aleister Black kicked Hideo Itami's head off.
However, the match of the night might probably go to the women. Asuka and Ember Moon constructed a fantastic championship bout, one which was as good as anything else on the weekend. The Empress Of Tomorrow looked untouchable as she extinguished the threat of Ember Moon and the Eclipse with a sweet victory, her last in NXT before moving to Raw. It is worth viewing for the main roster-exclusive fans who don't know how good Asuka really is.
While Asuka and Ember had the best match, the best moment would come at the end. Following a hard-fought NXT Championship victory for Drew McIntyre over Bobby Roode, Adam Cole would run from the stands to attack him.
He was accompanied by the former ROH duo Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly, as a stable was born that night in Brooklyn. It was here, where the Undisputed ERA was born. Another tough act to follow for the main card.
SUMMERSLAM: The first few matches on this show were mainly poor including wonderful gems such as Big Cass vs The Big Show and the 8-second farce between Randy Orton and Rusev. The only saving graces from the first half of matches were the pair Women's title changes, as Natalya and Sasha Banks picked up gold by beating Naomi and Alexa Bliss respectively.
After the dire start, the show got better as Bray Wyatt faced Demon Finn Balor in a fun little match. But the show was stolen by the Raw Tag Team Championship match as Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose reunited to capture gold by beating Sheamus and Cesaro.
It was the ultimate feel-good moment that SummerSlam 2017 desperately needed. A fun US Title match followed as there were shenanigans galore when Shane McMahon officiated AJ Styles' victory over Kevin Owens.
Then came the two world championship matches. The contrast could not be any higher. On the Raw side, the Universal Championship was defended in a four-way brawl between the top four heavyweights in the company and on the Smackdown side, Jinder Mahal successfully defended the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura.
No prizes for guessing which match was better received. Brock Lesnar survived the chaos and retained his Universal title against Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe and Roman Reigns.
OTHER HAPPENINGS: The Barclays Center did get a few great moments on Raw and Smackdown, although they would all prove underwhelming over time.
Braun Strowman staked his claim for a one-on-one Universal Championship match against Brock Lesnar, in the aftermath of the fatal-four-way, by laying the Beast out. John Cena joined the Raw roster and would have a fun segment alongside Roman Reigns, The Miz and Samoa Joe on this show.
The best match on the show though would be between the new tag team champions Rollins and Ambrose, and the Hardy Boyz. This was also the night when Big Cass injured his knee during a Street Fight with Enzo Amore.
The post-SummerSlam Smackdown had the main narrative focusing on the United States Championship, as AJ Styles closed out his feud with Kevin Owens with a victory in a match officiated by Baron Corbin. We got a return and a debut on this show as well, with Shelton Benjamin joining the blue brand.
However, the moment of the night and possibly over both Raw and Smackdown belonged to the Glorious One. Bobby Roode made his main roster debut, three nights after losing his NXT title, to begin what would become the most average and uninspiring run from any former NXT Champion in the last three to four years. But hey, at least his debut was good.
