NXT TAKEOVER: 36

WWE NXT TAKEOVER: 36

Cameron Grimes vs. LA Knight
Went on for too long & LA Knight isn't very interesting with his work on top, but the fiery, explosive comebacks by Grimes + the awesomely energetic atmosphere carry things - AAAAND also while LA Knight's overall work isn't very interesting like I mentioned, he/they kinda make up for some of it by busting out some big, dumb moves here n' there, so by the end of it, it actually has been pretty damn fun. It's a pretty good match. **3/4

Dakota Kai vs. Raquel Gonzalez
I thought that this was a really strong match w/ some nice storytelling. Kai was owning Gonzalez for most of it with her slick counters & nice kicks, but every time Gonzalez got her hands on her, she was ragdolling her like a boss. A couple of awkward moments, but those didn't take anything away from the good shit that was going on. ***

Ilja Dragunov vs. WALTER
You know what you get when these two collide, and as usual, it was some really good stuff. They did "the usual" between them, but also brought a bunch of new cool things to make it feel fresh enough. WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov always guarantees the kind of pro-wrestling where everything looks & sounds as violent and uncomfortable as possible. And it's awesome. I would put this on par with that last big NXT match of theirs. There is really no real reason for me to not call it straight-up great, but it's the same gut feeling I had with their last match where it's like one of the best "very good" matches of the year. ***3/4

Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly
The first fall was done quickly, but my goodness was it bad while it lasted. Just awful indy strike sequences galore. Then comes the 2nd fall w/ the street fight gimmick; I really would like to say that I appreciated Kyle's selling of the ribs, and I truly did in some moments, but for the most part, it just felt SOOOO damn cartoony & over the top. It's definitely mostly because of how uninteresting the mid-section work by Cole actually was. Then the final fall continued the trend of the match sucking, as most of it is classic WWE/NXT melodrama community theater awfulness combined with awful looking offense all around. Hell yeah baby. The most positive thing I can say about this whole thing is that at least the duration of the match was bearable, because knowing NXT you'd expect it to go like 40+ minutes looking at the wrestlers involved + the stipulation & gimmick attached to it. Very nice. That & Kyle's cool selling of Cole's waistlock save this from being a complete DUD. *

Karrion Kross vs. Samoa Joe
Good to see one of my all-time favorites in Samoa Joe back in the ring, but man he didn't look all that good out there. Then you add in the factor of Karrion Kross being uninteresting in general, and you got yourself a very meh match. It's always a feat when you make a sub-15 minute match feel like it's at least 20. *1/4