NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III Results: Highlights, Analysis, and Grades

credit: wwe.com

Aleister Black vs. Hideo Itami

Result: Aleister Black defeats Hideo Itami via pinfall.

Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars

Aleister Black’s entrance is something you must see to believe. It’s dark and heavy, but you can’t take your eyes off it. This time around, NXT gave him the live entrance and made it even better.

From the start, Itami and Black literally looked to kick each other’s heads off. Itami’s moves may have been the stiffest, as he bloodied the Dutch star just minutes into the match. Commentary can’t address the blood, but Mauro Ranallo “speculated” a “broken nose.”

This match remained hard-hitting for the next 10-15 minutes. Maybe one of the highest-caliber of these kind of matches you’ll see in the WWE in 2017.

Black did all this with blood down his face. He worked a terrific match, hitting a devastating Black Mass to get the win. A NXT Championship opportunity should be in his future. If not, a main roster spot. No, not in the Cruiserweight division.

For Itami, it was his best match in NXT, even beyond his bout with Bobby Roode in May. It will be difficult to speculate what he does next, but he’ll remain around the picture.