WWE NXT TakeOver New Orleans: Highlights, Grades, And Analysis

Credit: WWE.com

North American Championship Ladder Match

(Velveteen Dream, EC3, Ricochet, Adam Cole, Killian Dain, Lars Sullivan)

Result: Adam Cole Wins

Match Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5.0

Watchability Grade: A+

You know a match is special when nobody has to do anything, and the crowd immediately starts chanting “This is awesome!” solely based on the crop of talent inside the ring.

This match was the perfect way to kick off the show, and it was beyond exciting. Like, this match alone is worth all the sleep I’ll lose this weekend/week from watching wrestling, because there’s a reason why six men received a “Fight Forever!” chant in a ladder match. Oh, and there was also a “Please don’t die!” chant at one point when Ricochet was hit with a rolling Death Valley Driver, courtesy of the Velveteen Dream, that even had Nigel McGuinness scared for everyone’s life.

The list of breathtaking spots in this match is endless, and it was both beautiful and scary at the same time. Ricochet stole the show with his insane athleticism, with everything looking even more seamless than it did when he was busy putting on classic singles matches outside of WWE in all sorts of different promotions.

Lars Sullivan and Killian Dain were hosses, too, but, for my money, EC3 was the MVP of this match for the insane bumps he took. He was hit by a rolling senton from Dain with a ladder on top of him, and then Dain followed that up with a Vader Bomb on Cole on top of a ladder. Yes, the same ladder that EC3 was under.

The dynamic between EC3 and Cole, as well as between Dream and Ricochet and Dain and Sullivan, was captivating. And it was the crafty Cole who ended up with the gold in the end, becoming the first North American Championship while also holding the tag titles with Kyle O’Reilly due to Bobby Fish’s injury.

This is indeed the Undisputed Era in WWE NXT.