Random Thoughts on NXT Takeover Phoenix & WWE Royal Rumble 2019

One of my biggest regrets I had about my writing last year was not giving NXT enough attention. I really don’t understand why that is because I absolutely love NXT. That is why I will be doing Random Thoughts on every NXT Takeover event from this day forth.

I’m going to start off with NXT then follow up with the Royal Rumble. Of course this is a spoiler filled review, so please look away now if you want to avoid spoilers.

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Random Thoughts on NXT Takeover: Phoenix

 

NXT Tag Team Championship

The War Raiders def. Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reily © via pinfall to become the NEW NXT Tag Team Champions

Awesome match. Perfect opener which told a good story where the heels came close to winning multiple time, but War Raiders managed to come back to get the win. The kickout of the high/low was a big spot since the champs usually win with that (as Ranallo mentioned), yet the match continued. I didn’t expect a title change to happen because I thought they would be built up some more, but there’s nothing wrong with it because War Raiders are a great team.

Both of these teams could slot in well on the main roster. No doubt about it. I know Triple H has expressed that he wants to keep some acts in NXT around for a long time, so maybe Undisputed Era will stay there all year. I don’t know. I enjoyed this match a lot.

Rating: ****1/2

 

Matt Riddle def. Kassius Ohno via submission

It was a decent match with some moments. I didn’t think it was as good as I thought it was going to be. Riddle’s selling is fine and I like his offense. I just think the match was hurt by Ohno not coming close to winning. Ohno’s there to put the younger guy over and we knew that. They could have done more to make Ohno look stronger. The finish was rare for WWE. It’s fine because it fits Riddle’s character. Most of us assumed Riddle would win, which is what happened, but I think they could have made it look like Ohno had more of a shot to win. Riddle has a bright future in NXT. I can see him winning a title within a few months. No idea where Ohno goes from here.

Rating: ** ½

 

NXT North American Championship

Johnny Gargano def. Ricochet © via pinfall to become the NEW NXT North American Champion

Outstanding. Yet another five star match from Gargano. It was an incredible match as expected. Ricochet’s athleticism was on full display while Gargano used his great technical wrestling skills to keep coming back for more. It was no great to see Ricochet showing his full arsenal of movies because we had only gotten a taste of it previously. There’s still more that he can do, but he did more in this match than any WWE match he’s had so far. The story had a similar feel to when Daniel Bryan won the WWE Title because that led to his heel turn. In this case, Gargano did something cheap (suplex on the floor) to get the win because he knew he couldn’t beat Ricochet without doing something cheap like that. This match will be remembered later in the year as one of the best matches of the year. I’m happy Ricochet had a match at this level in WWE while Gargano proved again that he is one of the best in the world.

Rating: *****

 

NXT Women’s Championship

Shayna Baszler © def. Bianca Belair via submission to retain the NXT Women’s Championship

Good match with the champ finding a way to retain again. Belair did well in this match, which was the biggest match of her career since it was her first Takeover match. Like most Baszler matches, she focused on Belair’s arm and dominated most of the match. I thought Belair could have sold the arm injury better. The spot with the ref getting bumped when Belair had the win is a way to set up a rematch since Belair can say she had the match won. The finish was done well as Baszler continues to dominate the women’s division in NXT. There could be a rematch down the road with Belair possibly becoming the next champion. Her future is bright.

Rating: ***

 

NXT Championship

Tammaso Ciampa def. Aleister Black via pinfall to retain the NXT Championship

That was a lot of fun with some great moments along the way. It would have been a better match if they shaved off 5-7 minutes because I think it went a bit too long. I understand why they got that much time because Ciampa worked over the left leg for an extended period, which set up Black’s comeback. That spot where Black hit the Black Mass and couldn’t cover was well done. Black was put over strong even in defeat because it took Ciampa hitting the Fairytale Ending four times to get the win. I expected Ciampa to win and the match ending up as a four-star match is what I thought it might be going into it. The defeat, as well as appearing in the Royal Rumble match makes me believe that this is Aleister’s NXT farewell. I’m sure he’ll be a hit on the main roster, providing that Vince believes in him and gives him a fair chance.

Rating: ****

 

Overall show rating (out of 10): 8.5

It was an excellent show as usual from NXT with the five star Gargano/Ricochet match as the standout. Two other matches were above four stars, so that’s great too. The other two matches were solid as well. As far as predictions go, I didn’t expect Gargano and War Raiders to win their titles although it’s certainly fine with me because they are awesome at what they do. I don’t really question NXT booking that much. It’s a great show on a consistent basis and it has been that way for many years now.

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Random Thoughts on WWE Royal Rumble 2019

 

WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship

Asuka © def. Becky Lynch via submission to retain the Smackdown Women’s Championship

I thought this was a great opener with Asuka going over clean via submission. I didn’t think it would end clean like that because of how popular Lynch is, but it is nice to see a clean finish to really put over Asuka in a big way in her first major title defence. I thought the first part was a bit slow, but then they really picked up the pace and had an exciting final few minutes where it looked like either woman was going to win. I predicted that this match would end via double disqualification or double count out, but I’m happy with Asuka winning because I’m a huge fan of hers. Does having this match on early suggest that Becky will appear in the Rumble later on? Only time will tell.

Rating: ****

 

WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championship

The Miz & Shane McMahon def. The Bar via pinfall to become the NEW Smackdown Tag Team Champions

The match was slightly above average with a slow start leading to a clever finish. Shane’s SSP looked pretty good for a 49-year-old guy that never really does the move that often. Sheamus and Cesaro did their job well in terms of setting up the key spots, controlling most of the action and coming close to winning a few times. I expected the title change, I’m all for it because I love the partnership between Miz & Shane. I don’t think Miz and Shane will be long term champions. I think it’s more likely that Miz turns on Shane leading to a title change in the near future and then they’ll have a WrestleMania match against each other.

Rating: ***

 

WWE Raw Women’s Championship

Ronda Rousey © def. Sasha Banks via pinfall to retain the Raw Women’s Championship

The match was all about submissions with some moments in there where it looked sloppy. There were a few times where I thought Banks may have been hit too hard in the head and the referee was checking on her repeatedly. They managed to get through the match just fine. Rousey ended up getting the pinfall win, which is rare for her because she usually wins by submission. The outcome did not surprise me at all because Rousey is likely going to WrestleMania as the Raw Women’s Champion.

Interesting moment after the match where Sasha held up the Four Horsewomen’s sign at Ronda. It’s is something to build to in the future with Banks, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and Bayley teaming up at some point against Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke. We don’t know when it might be, but at some point in the next year (if Rousey sticks around) or later.

Rating:***

 

Becky Lynch wins the 30 Women Royal Rumble

I thought it was a great Royal Rumble with the final sequence really standing out. The women at the end did such a great job of telling a story with Lynch taking Lana’s spot and ultimately finding a way to get the job done. Some more thoughts point form style:

• It was interesting how they didn’t bring back some women from the past and instead chose to feature NXT stars which is something that I completely agree with. Some of them looked like they belonged just fine while others looked like they were out of place a bit. Kairi Sane and Io Shirai being the standouts.
• I’m happy Natalya was the one that lasted the longest by staying in there for nearly one hour. It’s smart to have a veteran like Natalya because she is a leader in the division that was easy for everybody to work with. Flair was in there for a long time as well.
• The final three sequence of Lynch, Flair and Jax was the right call. The way Jax was eliminated was pretty clever even if it was cheap by the babyface Lynch. It fit the storyline. I’m happy about the Lynch win. I’m sure the majority of you reading this are happy too and that’s a great thing. Becky is easy to root for while the fans love her, so it’s the right call by WWE. She’s a great choice. I said all along that it would be her or Flair and I still think we’ll get Rousey vs. Flair vs. Lynch at WrestleMania. Maybe Flair gets the Smackdown Women’s Title from Asuka and Lynch chooses to challenge both women. I don’t know how it’s going to go, but Rousey vs. Lynch vs. Flair remains the plan as far as I know.

Rating: *** ½

 

WWE Championship

Daniel Bryan © def. AJ Styles via pinfall to retain the WWE Championship

That was such a hard match to rate because technically they did a good job, but the crowd was dead for most of it. That’s not a good sign when it’s a WWE Title match. I liked the psychology of Bryan working over AJ’s left knee and then Styles working over the left leg. It just didn’t connect with this crowd likely because it was tough to follow the women’s Rumble. I think WWE made a mistake by booking just a regular match for them here when it should have been a street fight or something that made it feel different than a regular match. I also think going 24 minutes was too long. Shave of 5-7 minutes and it would have helped a lot. The win by Bryan was expected although I didn’t predict he would have help. It fits his character as a heel champion.

Erik Rowan returned to help D-Bry, so maybe the Bludgeon Brothers duo is finished or perhaps Harper will join Rowan when he comes back. It’s a good idea idea because it gives Bryan some backup for his rants as the champion. Bryan was also briefly in the Wyatt Family with Rowan about five years ago, so that could be mentioned too.

Rating: ** ½

 

WWE Universal Championship

Brock Lesnar © def. Finn Balor via submission

I enjoyed that match a lot. It felt like a sprint kind of match where they went at a fast pace because it was on the short side and that meant they could go right into some exciting spots. The start was great with Balor moving quickly and Lesnar had a tough time stopping him. When Balor hit the somersault dives onto Lesnar it looked like he could win the match. I didn’t really think he was going to win, but at least he looked competitive. The finish was a bit of a surprise with the Coup de Grace leading to the Kimura Lock for the win. I thought Balor would get to the ropes, but I’m okay with how it ended. Lesnar did a great job of selling. I know some people hate Lesnar because of his push and that’s understandable although when you look at his performance, he did very well here. Balor did awesome as well. The post-match attack by Lesnar suggests that a rematch could happen at Elimination Chamber.

Rating: *** ½

 

Seth Rollins wins the 30 Man Royal Rumble

It was a solid Rumble that had the right guy going over, so I’m not going to complain about that. I didn’t love the way it was booked because of the story of Rollins on the floor for like 15-20 minutes. I get why they do it that way to build sympathy for the guy by making it look like he overcame a lot to win, but I don’t think it’s necessary. That’s a spot WWE does in regular matches occasionally. I don’t like it in a match like the Rumble. I think some of the comedy things they tried with the likes of Titus O’Neil and No Way Jose didn’t really work. I feel bad for some of the others that were barely in there. The NXT surprises were well done and they got some offense in, so I liked that. I think Aleister Black had a very good showing. Rollins and Strowman was fine for the final two since Strowman was dominant in the match. I thought Drew McIntyre could have been at the end too because he was out earlier than I expected. I’m happy with the Rollins result, though, so it’s cool with me.

Rating: *** ½

 

Overall show rating (out of 10): 7.5

I enjoyed the show. The women had a good showing, especially the likes of Asuka, Charlotte Flair, Natalya, and Becky Lynch. Lesnar/ Balor was great, there’s room for more, and both Royal Rumble matches were enjoyable. This show went on for five hours. That’s way too long. Less is more.