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

Credit: WWE.com

NXT Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Match

Undisputed Era (Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly) vs. Authors of Pain (Rezar and Akam) vs. Pete Dunne and Roderick Strong

Result: Roderick Strong Turns On Pete Dunne, Hits Him With The End of Heartache and Covers Him With O’Reilly So Undisputed Era Retains

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5.0 stars

Watchability Grade: A

Adam Cole just won the North American Championship in a grueling ladder match that featured some of the most intense spots of the year, and he was backstage getting treatment, attempting to avoid defending the NXT Tag Team Titles with Kyle O’Reilly (Bobby Fish is legitimately injured) due to the damage he’s taken.

But William Regal, as per Mauro Ranallo, is out with an illness. And Adam Cole always has a plan to unleash shenanigans. And Roderick Strong is in this match. So something’s got to give here.

And he did have a plan indeed.

This match was absolute chaos, and Ranallo constantly remarked that this seemed more like a chaotic singles match than anything else. The Authors of Pain were taking bumps like crazy, Pete Dunne had a sick hot tag, Adam Cole basically died (the blood is on your hands Mr. Regal!) from a table spot after already taking damage earlier in the night, and Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong treated us to some incredible grappling.

But the real story here was Roddy. It was always going to be Roddy. Why else did he want to join this tournament? Why else did he keep talking about how badly he wanted the tag titles? Cole, Fish, and O’Reilly offered him an opportunity to join the Undisputed Era, and he finally took it. He didn’t turn on the Authors of Pain at WarGames.

Instead, he turned on a man who trusted him in Pete Dunne. A man whom he fought side by side with. And when Dunne had O’Reilly beat with a “Bitter End”, he turned on Dunne to join his brothers from Ring of Honor, hitting Dunne with the “End of Heartache”. He then put O’Reilly over Dunne to score the victory, joining the Undisputed Era.

This is the beginning of Strong’s journey to true stardom in the WWE.