5 Reasons to Watch NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn

Rob Wolkenbrod

WWE.com

Why should you watch this Saturday’s NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn live special from Brooklyn, New York?

This Saturday will feature WWE NXT’s latest live special in NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn. The show will take place at the Barclays Center in front of over 13,000 people. This will be NXT’s largest show, attendance wise, by far.

As of this writing, it looks like we have the entire match card set for the show.

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Here’s how it looks:

NXT Championship Match (Ladder Match)
Finn Balor (c) vs. Kevin Owens

NXT Women’s Championship Match
Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bayley

NXT Tag Team Championship Match
Blake and Murphy (c) vs. The Vaudevillains

Tyler Breeze vs. Jushin “Thunder” Liger

Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin

Apollo Crews’ NXT Debut

This card has a ton of potential as you can see above. There’s a debut, a one-time-only appearance and even a ladder match. But are these the reasons to watch NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn this Saturday on the WWE Network?

Check out why we think you should watch NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn by clicking below.

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One Night Only Appearance

Part of the spectacle that is NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn will feature a special one night only appearance of New Japan Pro Wrestling legend Jushin “Thunder” Liger. He will face Tyler Breeze, who demanded for a big opponent at the show. Liger’s appearance will be his first ever in a WWE ring.

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No one could have expected an international name as big as Liger’s coming to the show. The announcement came out of nowhere and stunned all wrestling fans, even NJPW and ROH. The two companies have a talent exchange where their wrestlers can appear on each show. This makes the Liger appearance on WWE TV even more unprecedented.

Given that this show is in Brooklyn and how NXT fans who attend shows are mostly “smarks,” Liger should get a big reaction. It will be a great moment for his illustrious career.

This is also huge for Breeze, who has been in limbo for awhile on NXT. It’s arguably the biggest match of his career and a big rub, signaling what management thinks of him.

The match between Liger and Breeze should be something special. Can they put on a bout that steals the show at TakeOver?

Next: Another Kind of Debut

Apollo Crews Arrives

Besides Liger, we are also set to see the NXT TV debut of Apollo Crews. You might also know him as Uhaa Nation from his time in Dragon Gate.

Crews was signed earlier this year by WWE and reported to the company in April. Weeks later, he received his first vignette, which did not include a name or debut date. However, a few weeks ago, we finally found out his name of “Apollo Crews” and that he will debut at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn.

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Crews has been working multiple NXT live events and reportedly impressing officials. He even worked a dark match before the NXT TV taping back in June. Given Crews’ arsenal of moves and athleticism, the positive reviews shouldn’t be a surprise.

As for his debut at TakeOver, no details were given on who he will face. This likely means he’ll defeat a resident NXT jobber like Elias Samson or Steve Cutler.

While he won’t face anyone special, Crews will give fans a preview of what to expect of him for the months and years to follow. Who knows, maybe he’ll even be in the NXT Championship picture sooner than later.

Next: Rise or Fall

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You’ll Witness Baron Corbin’s Rise or Spiraling Downfall

An underrated story going into NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn is Baron Corbin, who will be facing Samoa Joe.

Corbin has been a consistent member of NXT for about a year. He began as a face and was well over with the fans after squashing numerous jobbers in seconds. He had the size, the look and the presence. The former NFL player was basically a stereotypical WWE Superstar.

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However, the lust wore off as Corbin continued to squash jobbers in seconds. Fans saw he wasn’t doing anything else and didn’t show much improvement in the ring, so they turned on him after he “won” a lackluster feud with Bull Dempsey.

NXT responded by turning him heel. Since then, he has defeated Rhyno and a plethora of low-ranking talent. This includes defeating one each of the past four weeks. It seemed to be a way of building him up for Joe, who he even cut a promo on. This was rare for Corbin to do.

Now that Corbin is facing his best and toughest opponent since coming to NXT, we are going to finally see how WWE really feels about the Lone Wolf.

If Corbin defeats Joe, he’ll have a ton of momentum and possibly move towards an NXT Championship challenge. He may be closer than ever if Finn Balor defeats Kevin Owens to retain the title.

In other words, the sky’s the limit for Corbin.

However, if he loses to Joe, all the build he received for nearly a year will be thrown away. He did take a pin to Neville in an NXT Championship number one contender’s match but that was very early in his career, so it didn’t effect him. Plus it wasn’t on a live special.

Corbin getting pinned at the biggest live special of them all could mean WWE isn’t as high on him in NXT. This of course isn’t factoring in Vince McMahon, who loves people like Corbin based on the description above. He could still have a future in WWE but a loss will put him flat on his face with nowhere to go. He would need another near-year long build to regain his status as this dominant heel.

NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn will determine Corbin’s fate. Will WWE put their faith in him by defeating Joe?

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Bayley’s Time to Shine

Sasha Banks will be defending her NXT Women’s Championship against Bayley at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn. Despite how big this match is, many assume that Bayley will win this match and become champion. This is given Sasha’s increasing role on main roster shows like Raw and SmackDown.

Bayley last competed for the NXT Women’s Championship at NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way last September. She would lose this bout to Charlotte, the the champion at the time. However, this was arguably Bayley’s standout match that really put her on the map.

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Unfortunately for her, she slid down the pecking order in the coming months. Women like Sasha and Becky Lynch passed by her in title opportunities, with the former winning at TakeOver: Rival in February. This left Bayley feuding with the likes of Emma and Becky in the months between.

Now with Sasha, Becky and Charlotte all on the main roster, Bayley should get control of the NXT women’s division with a win over Sasha at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn. She’ll get to do this by showcasing her talents in the biggest match of her career. Can she rise to the occasion, put on an excellent match and grab the reigns of the women’s division?

Next: Ladders!

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Ladder Match!

The main event of NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn will feature Finn Balor defending his NXT Championship against Kevin Owens. This bout has an added twist, though, because a few weeks ago, the ladder match stipulation for this was announced. It will only be the second match of this kind in NXT. The first one was at NXT TakeOver: ArRival and featured Adrian Neville defeating Bo Dallas for the NXT Championship.

Now comes this ladder match on NXT’s biggest show ever. Given how talented Owens and Balor are, they should put on a show.

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While Balor has said he has no experience in ladder matches, it’s quite the contrary for Owens. He had a big ladder match when he was in Ring of Honor at the Final Battle 2012 iPPV. He defeated El Generico (now Sami Zayn) to retain the ROH World Championship.

Can Owens come out on top in his first ladder match in WWE? Can Balor retain his NXT Championship and win his first ever ladder match?

Are you looking forward to NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn?

You can follow Rob Wolkenbrod on Twitter @RealRobWolkey. If you would like to send a report from a live event, email us at trebor5227@yahoo.com.

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Rob Wolkenbrod

Robert is an editor, writer, and video editor. He covers the San Antonio Spurs for Forbes and the Toronto Raptors for Hoops Habit.