WWE NXT TakeOver: Phoenix Results, Highlights, And Grades

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The Undisputed Era (c) vs. War Raiders For The WWE NXT Tag Team Championships

Result: War Raiders are the new NXT Tag Team Champions

Rating: Great, definitely worth watching, and it WILL get you hyped for the rest of the show. 

Hanson and Rowe make their entrance to the ring in fiery fashion, wearing “Viking” gear as they began their march to the ring flanked by a dozen other “vikings”. That entrance alone guarantees them victory, correct?

Meanwhile, the Undisputed Era made their typically cocky entrance, with Roderick Strong looking particularly excited for this TakeOver: Phoenix title defense of the WWE NXT Tag Team Championships. At the beginning of the match, the crowd is very much behind  the Undisputed Era, which comes as no surprise.

Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong attack War Raiders right when the match begins to try and get the upper hand, but they just couldn’t handle the War Raiders’ power. Rowe threw Hanson at both O’Reilly and Strong before Rowe gorilla pressed Strong back into the ring – and Strong ate another powerful move from Hanson.

The War Raiders got an early nearfall on Strong by throwing the tag champs around and working quickly, showing the NXT Universe that they are somehow almost as quick as they are strong.

O’Reilly and Strong finally got the advantage, working together to isolate Hanson in the corner with frequent strikes after Strong bent the rules a little bit to ground Hanson initially. The chemistry between the Undisputed Era’s best in-ring performers allowed them to maintain an advantage over Hanson, who found it difficult to evade KOR’s firm grip. (Mauro Ranallo compared getting out of O’Reilly’s grip to breaking a pistachio nut.)

Rowe tagged in and immediately turned the tables with his insane strength, shocking the announce team by absorbing a right-hand to the face from O’Reilly without so much as flinching. But once again, Undisputed Era used the numbers advantage to briefly overwhelm Rowe. Hanson tried to help out, but UE ducked the suicide dive.

Once again, O’Reilly got the upper hand on Rowe in the corner, attempting to lock in various submission holds. Though Rowe easily used his strength to get out of the predicament, he didn’t notice Strong’s tag, as Strong hit him with a massive backbreaker before bringing O’Reilly back into the ring.

Hanson kept begging for the tag, so Strong tried to wipe him off the apron. In all the chaos, the referee turned his back to Undisputed Era, who cheated to lock Rowe in the corner. But that didn’t last, as Rowe suplexed O’Reilly so hard that both men were sent flying outside the ring, Rowe crawled to Hanson’s corner, but O’Reilly and Strong took Hanson out before Rowe could make the hot tag to his partner.

KOR’s strikes started to come in hard and fast, but Rowe’s strikes were even more massive; he knocked O’Reilly lights out with a vicious knee to the face that would have made Shinsuke Nakamura proud.

At last, Hanson finally tagged in, dominating Strong with big-time strikes, high-flying offense, and one of the best-sold back-body drops in memory. Hanson even got the crowd HOT with an INSANE cartwheel to avoid O’Reilly that must be seen to believe – Percy Watson even compared his quicks to the 205 Live superstars’ athleticism. And thanks to Hanson’s in-ring work, the crowd got behind War Raiders for the first time in the match.

Strong and O’Reilly had a miscommunication that nearly costed Undisputed Era, but Strong was able to kick out at two again.

It didn’t take long for the match to break down, as all four men started hitting each other with huge moves, including a suicide dive from Hanson on Strong that nearly led to Rowe putting the game away with a pin on O’Reilly. And if the crowd wasn’t fired up before, they were surely going wild after that nearfall.

Hanson ascended the top rope for a MASSIVE splash that nearly spelled doom for the NXT Tag Team Champions, but Strong broke up the pin at the last second. So Rowe dispatched O’Reilly  and went for another big move, but O’Reilly got out of it. And with Hanson still on the top rope, Strong met him there for another thunderous superplex.

It looked like Undisputed Era would successfully retain the titles following a huge knee from the top rope by O’Reilly to Hanson, but Hanson somehow kicked out! Yes, Phoenix, “This is awesome!”

An Olympic slam from Strong nearly bagged Undisputed Era the victory, but Hanson found enough strength to kick out again; it’s going to take something special from O’Reilly and Strong to finally put one of these two highly impressive athletes away for good. And on cue, Hanson kicked out AGAIN.

After their amazing entrance and winning the crowd during the course of the match, War Raiders picked up a tremendous, satisfying NXT Tag Team Championship victory. I didn’t think they’d have it in them against the dominant duo of O’Reilly and Strong, but Hanson’s insane resiliency, kicking out of UE’s tag team finisher for the first time, and athleticism (he hit a handspring double back-elbow!) proved key.

War Raiders are ready to mold the NXT Tag Team Championships in their image, and the tag division is headed for an exciting 2019. Also, this was yet another awesome opening match from Undisputed Era, who are easily on the shortlist of the most prolific tag teams in the world; that’s why they were so loved by the crowd at the beginning of the match. But the War Raiders showed their own quality by getting themselves over on the strength of their own work, and they are an elite tag team.