NXT: Takeover Toronto occurred Saturday night and man, what a show it was. NXT on the WWE Network is one of the best wrestling shows out there and for good reason. Too often in wrestling today, companies want to over complicate things with over dramatic storylines that border, and often fall, into ludicrousness. NXT strips back some of the nonsense that has become commonplace in wrestling today and brings it back to basics.
Match #1-Bobby Roode vs Tye Dillinger
Before the match even starts, we get Booby Roode’s entrance and man was it a trip. A choir is on stage singing his theme song. Was it silly? Yes. But it also played into the over confidence his character has. A perfect meld of song and performer.
Shinsuke is a force of nature. The natural charisma this guy has is amazing. One fear I would have if he joined the main roster would be Vince McMahon giving him some sort of stereotypical gimmick, especially with Nakamura not quite being gifted on the mic due to the language barrier. That would be a shame because without saying much, you instantly like this guy and want to see him succeed. His entrance alone, while nothing like the great entrance he had during Takeover Brooklyn, was still a sight to behold.
The ending was a bit of a downer with Joe winning but at the very least it sets up another rematch between the two. I had hoped with a Joe loss we’d be seeing him move to the main roster with either Raw or Smackdown but I’ll settle for having him on a show that can showcase him in the right way.
Winner and new NXT Champion-Samoa Joe
Loser-Dixie Carter
Final Verdict:
This was a great show. From top to bottom, you will be entertained. While other Takeover specials have done better in the ring, this show was still great to watch. A bad NXT Takeover is still better than most main roster events and that’s saying something. Watch the replay of NXT: Takeover Toronto on the WWE Network and watch the latest episodes of NXT on Wednesdays on the WWE Network.
