On the road to Chicago. With “NXT” seemingly increasing the number of Takeover specials, it means that we’re going to have less time between the specials, which means less TV. Some of those TV shows were taken care of tonight as NXT taped its shows all the way up to “Takeover: Chicago”.
May 3rd Episode:
* Killian Dain with Eric Young defeated Danny Burch. Danny tries to fight early, but Dain pulls him off the top rope and attacks. After a running senton and a running flying elbow, Burch fights back, but gets hit with a running dropkick & the One Winged Angel for the win
* Tucker Knight and Otis Dozovic destroy two unnamed jobbers. The jobbers are barely taller than the top turnbuckle and weight maybe 130 each. Heavy Machinery are super over. After the match, Heavy Machinery cut a promo saying they love having a good time and hitting the buffet between weight sessions. In the ring, they’ve devoured some appetizers, but they want the main course – NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain. Tucker says they’re getting hungry, and it’s time they ate
* Sonya Deville (Daria Berenato) defeated Lacey Evans (Macey Estrella). Decent match. Sonya wins with a running step up knee
* Aleister Black defeated Cezar Bononi. Cezar gets in some shots on Black before Aleister hits several stiff shots and the Black Mass for the win
* Hideo Itami defeated Roderick Strong to become the new #1 contender to the NXT Title. Great back and forth match lasting around 15 minutes. At one point Strong catches Hideo outside the ring and throws him into the apron. They trade chops and punches before Roddy hits a knee to the face for a near fall. Hideo ducks a punch and hits the GTS for the win. After the match, Hideo picks up Roddy and raises his hand. Roddy gets an ovation from the crowd until SAnitY runs in and attacks him 4-on-1, with Dain hitting the One Winged Angel and EY hitting the wheelbarrow neckbreaker to leave him laying
May 10th Episode:
* Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford defeated Dylan Miley and HoHo Lun. Dawkins and Ford were introduced as “Street” something, but I couldn’t catch it. Dylan dominates until tagging HoHo, who then takes the pin. Miley then kills Hoho after the match
* Drew McIntyre defeated Sean Maluta in another stiff Drew match. Drew got busted open under his eye at some point. He hit the running kick for the win. After the match, Kayla Braxton interviews Drew on the ramp and says he’s caught the attention of Wesley Blake. Drew says it doesn’t matter, but next week, Blake can have his undivided attention in a match
* Kassius Ohno defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas. Thea Trinidad was sitting in the corner at ringside watching Andrade closely and making sultry faces at him. Good, hard hitting match. Ohno has new Orlando Magic gear. Ohno hits the rolling boot for a near fall. Ohno misses a moonsault from the top rope. Andrade hits the double knees, but Ohno reverses the La Sombra attempt. Ohno kicks out of a pin at one and fires up, hitting Death by Elbow for the win. Thea looked on disgusted at Andrade after the match
* Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa are out. DIY says they never had a fair, one on one rematch for the titles and challenge NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain at Chicago. Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss interrupt. The crowd gives them nuclear heat when they try to talk. Ciampa tells Tino it’s really hard to hear what they’re saying. Tino says the tag team division has changed. Riddick and Tino bury the entire division and continue to get booed out of the building. They say the line starts behind them. Ciampa says if there was a line, they just crossed it and attack Tino and Riddick
* DIY defeated Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss. Tino and Riddick control the match until Ciampa gets the hot tag to Gargano. They run wild and hit Meet in the Middle on Riddick for the win. After the match, William Regal comes out to name a challenger, but is interrupted by Paul Ellering, saying they only survived Orlando because it was 4-on-2. Ellering says DIY’s blood will be on Regal’s hand. Regal announces DIY vs. Authors of Pain in a Ladder Match at Takeover
May 17th Episode:
* NXT Champion Bobby Roode is out. He says everywhere he goes he’s hearing about Hideo Itami. He admits Hideo knocked him out while he was standing here minding his own business in a $5000 suit unprovoked. He says it will never happen again. At Chicago, he’ll be in his gear ready to take care of business and make an example out of Hideo. Roode says he was here, then gone, then back, then got hurt, and he didn’t even realize Hideo was still employed. Meanwhile he’s taken NXT to new heights. The crowd is just booing this promo and heckling Roode. Roode says he beat Shinsuke Nakamura twice and he tucked the violin between his legs and left NXT. He says at least Shinsuke accomplished something here, but Hideo failed in NXT. Hideo comes out, but Regal stops him with security. Hideo clears security and jumps Roode, but security stops him again. Hideo hits a GTS on all the security, then Roode jumps him, but Hideo hits a GTS on him as well and leaves Roode laying
* A Battle Royal to name a #1 contender to NXT Women’s Champion Asuka ends in a no contest. It came down to Ember Moon, Ruby Riot and Nikki Cross. Nikki attacks Ruby, Ember then goes after Nikki. Ruby tries to dump Ember after she hit Nikki with the Eclipse. Asuka runs down and knocks Ember off the top rope, then throws Ember out of the ring. Ember essentially did a suicide dive and nailed the guardrail with her shoulder. Asuka nails Nikki and Ruby with kicks and the refs throw the match out. William Regal announces a Fatal 4 Way between Asuka, Ember, Nikki and Ruby for Takeover. Ember slammed the guardrail with her shoulder and was crying as referees and medics helped her to the back
Order of elimination: Victoria Gonzalez, Bianca Blair, Rachael Ellering, Sonya Deville, Lacey Evans, Kimberly Frankele, Candice LeRae (to massive boos), Aliyah, Liv Morgan, Billie Kay, Peyton Royce
Opinion: If there’s one thing NXT can do, it’s put together a major show in a hurry. The previously taped episodes of “NXT” (including the one that aired tonight) already laid some of the groundwork for Chicago so it’s nice to see everything being put together in a hurry like this.
Are you looking forwad to “Takeover: Chicago”? Which match has your interest? Let us know in the comments below.