NXT tends to steal the show during Big 4 PPV weekends, and tonight’s WWE NXT TakeOver New Orleans figures to follow suit. The card is stacked, the themes are excellent, and the crowd is hyped for the stories that are about to be told. Follow along with us as we review the show live.
WWE NXT TakeOver New Orleans has big shoes to fill. Because two months ago, NXT TakeOver Philadelphia was one of the best wrestling shows of the year. Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas earned the WWE’s first five-star review from the Wrestling Observer News’s Dave Meltzer since John Cena vs. CM Punk in 2011. The all-out match between Adam Cole and Aleister Black continues to go underrated, too, and those were just two of the great matches on that memorable night.
But tonight’s show might be even better. “Cien” is on fire, and his NXT Championship defense against Black will be filled with plenty of drama. Almas already has two exceptional title matches under his belt against Drew McIntyre and Gargano, and this battle with Black should be no exception. The build to this match has been intense, as it is Black’s first opportunity at the NXT Championship after being robbed by the Undisputed Era prior to TakeOver: Philadelphia.
The NXT Women’s Championship match is a repeat of a bout that took place at TakeOver: Philadelphia, when Ember Moon defended the title successfully against the menacing Shayna Baszler. But her win came at a great cost, as she suffered an arm injury. Will Moon be able to survive Baszler this time after a somewhat fluky victory two months ago?
There are two additional title matches with a bit of show-stealing potential. Pete Dunne and Roderick Strong have put together some ridiculously good tag team wrestling ever since being paired together, and it’s been remarkable to watch the chemistry between them. Can they pull off the upset in a Triple Threat match with the Undisputed Era (Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly, as Bobby Fish is out with an injury) and the Authors of Pain?
NXT debuted its North American Championship as sort of a “mid-card” title, but there’s nothing “mid-card” about the six men in this ladder match. Ricochet, EC3, Killian Dain, Lars Sullivan, the Velveteen Dream, and Adam Cole are six of NXT’s most talented wrestlers, and any one of them could be an excellent inaugural North American Champion.
All four of these matches will be fantastic, but there’s one match that stands out above the rest. It is perhaps the best-built match of the entire weekend (though some will understandably make the case for Cody vs. Kenny Omega) and is packed with raw emotion.
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano. If you’ve been keeping up with this feud, you know that words can’t do it justice. But maybe this hype package can.
Either way, we are headed for an awesome night, so bookmark this page and follow along with us live. I’ll be handing out grades for all of the matches and offering some commentary on exactly what transpired during each of these highly-anticipated encounters.
NXT TakeOvers always deliver, so be sure to tune in tonight at 8 p.m. ET on the WWE Network.
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.
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.
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.
Credit: WWE.com
NXT Championship Match
Andrade “Cien” Almas (c) with Zelina Vega vs. Aleister Black
Result: Aleister Black Wins By Pinfall With The Black Mass After “Cien” Catches Vega
Rating: 5.0 Out Of 5.0 Stars
Watchability Grade: A+
Andrade “Cien” Almas’s title win over Drew McIntyre at NXT TakeOver: WarGames was fantastic, and his NXT TakeOver title defense in Philadelphia was the WWE’s first five-star match from the Wrestling Observer News’s Dave Meltzer since John Cena vs. CM Punk at Money in the Bank 2011.
Even though Almas lost, he once again delivered in a huge way, capping off a title reign that helped turn him into a star, which included a nice appearance in the 2018 Royal Rumble just one night after he defeated Gargano.
Black and Almas worked at a fast pace, with Black determined to vanquish Almas after all of the big talk and beatdowns from El Idolo. He started off the match hot, and Black’s athleticism and quickness always stand out.
Zelina Vega was desperate throughout the entire match, interfering at every possible occasion. She hit Black with multiple hurricanranas, but it was her interference that ended up costing her client. Because after Almas nearly had Black beat with a Hammerlock DDT, Vega perched on the top rope with the intention of hitting Black with a crossbody. Black, however, moved out of the way, and Vega jumped right at Almas. She didn’t knock him down, because Almas caught her in his arms. That didn’t actually help him, because it left him defenseless.
Without his arms available and his mobility restricted, Almas was vulnerable, and Black took advantage with the “Black Mass” to capture his first NXT Championship after a long journey to the title. And Vega costed Almas when he had the advantage in the match. She was his downfall due to her desperation, even though she also helped by interfering and being the motivational voice in his ear throughout. Note that she never, ever sat still at ringside.
I can’t wait to see how Black’s title reign unfolds, and it will be interesting to see what the future holds for Almas. Could he get called up?
Two other big spots from this match were Vega putting Almas’s foot on the rope after the first Black Mass, as well as Almas countering the Black Mass by hitting an absolutely picture perfect dropkick to the back of Black’s head.
Credit: WWE.com
Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa
This Is An Unsanctioned Match With No Disqualifications. If Gargano Wins He Is Reinstated. If Ciampa Wins, Gargano Is Banished From NXT Forever.
Result: Johnny Gargano Wins By Submission With A Knee Brace Crossface
Rating: All The Stars, 7.0 Out Of 5.0 Or Whatever
Watchability Rating: A++, Or You Are Doing Yourself A Disservice If You Don’t Watch
NXT TakeOver: New Orleans is one of the greatest shows WWE has put together from top to bottom, and this match just might be the greatest match in WWE history. The build was perfect, the crowd was hot, and the two wrestlers in the ring are two of the very best there are. They had every reason to fight, they know each other perfectly well, and they did absolutely everything right. This was the match of the year on the show of the year, and I feel extremely blessed to have watched it live.
I mean, let’s just run down all the insane things that happened in this match.
- Ciampa calls Gargano a piece of garbage and exposes the concrete on the outside by removing the padding. Later in the match, he attempts to hit a package piledriver on the apron, but Gargano powerbombs Ciampa into that same concrete.
- Gargano is fired up throughout the match from start to finish. He does brutal things to Ciampa to match him blow-for-blow, going after the injured knee with a crutch and even exposing the turnbuckle at one point. He’ll hit Ciampa with a lawn dart at that turnbuckle.
- Gargano throws Ciampa over the announce table and sends all the announcers scrambling. Ciampa will later hit Gargano with a vertical suplex off the table.
- Early in the match, Ciampa steals crutches from a fan at ringside wearing a Johnny Wrestling shirt.
- Ciampa is locked in the Gargano Escape but won’t tap. Instead, he rakes Gargano’s eyes, and Mauro Ranallo calls him a “sadistic son of a bitch”.
- ALL THE NEAR FALLS. And they are all well-done.
- They are joined together at one point when Ciampa tries to handcuff Gargano with athletic tape. It’s just so poetic.
- The crutch plays a huge role in this match from start to finish. There’s a tug of war over the crutch. Gargano hits Ciampa in the head with the crutch before smashing him with a DDT, and Ciampa gets several big shots in with it, too.
- But the best crutch spot is at the end. Gargano breaks the crutch in half and is about to hit Ciampa with it. He can’t bring himself to do it. He just can’t, and it’s the perfect callback to their Cruiserweight Tournament match. They stare at each other for what feels like an eternity, and you can’t help but feel the goosebumps. Just when you start to second-guess everything you ever know, Ciampa goes for a cheap shot. Earlier in the match, Ciampa tore off his knee brace to expose his knee to inflict maximum damage on Gargano without a care for his own health. Gargano first puts Ciampa in the Gargano escape but ups the ante, putting him in a crossface with the knee brace. And that’s how he wins
Next: WrestleMania 34 Staff Predictions
Every move mattered. Every nearfall had you on the edge of your seat. Everything made you care, and you learned so much about both of these performers as the story came full circle.
This match had everything. It had a hot crowd, an announce team that was fully invested and knew how to tell the story, and two of the greatest and most creative performers in the world today. It was brutal. It was beautiful. It was smart. It rewarded the fans for having paid attention to this feud and their careers over the years with all the callbacks to their DIY days.
It was everything we want wrestling to be, and, again, I’m lucky to have been able to watch this match and review it.