WWE NXT TakeOver New Orleans: Highlights, Grades, And Analysis
Credit: WWE.com
NXT Women’s Championship
Ember Moon (c) vs. Shayna Baszler
Result: Shayna Baszler Wins The NXT Women’s Championship by submission
Rating: 4.0 Stars Out Of 5.0
Watchability Grade: A-
It isn’t easy to follow up an incredible ladder match that ranks among the most insane affairs we’ve seen in WWE, but these two ladies managed to do exactly that. Their encounter at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia wasn’t bad by any means, and it told a great, classic babyface vs. heel story despite a strange Philadelphia crowd.
However, you always knew that these two were capable of doing so much more, and that’s exactly what they did tonight. From a story-telling standpoint, this ranks among the best women’s matches in WWE that I’ve seen.
In their first match, the story was about how Shayna injured Moon’s arm, which is a move that she loves doing to all sorts of opponents. She even put Dakota Kai out of commission for months by stomping on her arm. While she tried to do this again to Ember, it was actually Ember who gave Shayna a taste of her own medicine.
But after that happened, Shayna started slamming her left shoulder into the ring post repeatedly, screaming as she did it. And why? To knock her shoulder back into place. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
I also loved how Moon was trying to put Shayna away as early as possible, using moves she normally doesn’t do, such as a Codebreaker. She did this because she knew she needed to put Shayna away as quickly as possible, knowing how devastating her opponent’s submission holds are.
The big spot in this match was Moon’s Eclipse to the outside, but the most impressive moves were Shayna’s seamless transitions into her submission holds. I can’t name many wrestlers in the world who have smoother transitions into a rear naked choke or guillotine, and Moon always had that right escape to them.
That is, of course, until Baszler countered an Eclipse into her rear naked choke finisher. Moon fought valiantly, but she eventually napped, unable to escape her grasp. She tried, but Shayna used her right arm to grab her hair to lock in the submission, since she couldn’t grab her left arm due to the injury. That was another brilliant touch, and kudos to NXT’s elite commentary team for pointing that out.
Shayna is the new champion as one of the best heels in the business, and this likely leads to a Moon call-up to the WWE main roster.