NXT TakeOver: Dallas was a major professional wrestling show in the NXT TakeOver series that took place on April 1, 2016, produced by WWE, showcasing its NXT developmental brand, and was streamed live on the WWE Network. It took place in the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas, during the weekend of WrestleMania 32. It was the first show in the NXT TakeOver series to be broadcast live on the WWE Network during WrestleMania weekend and first of 2016.
Apollo Crews defeated Elias Samson
This match was recorded on Friday, but aired as part of NXT's TV taping the following week. I would have been pissed off if this match opened the show for the Takeover special. Samson and Crews have next to no chemistry with each other and Samson has a LONG way to go before anyone takes him serious on that show. Good grief that was a hard match to watch. I can't believe that they gave those two guys that much time on an ENTIRE episode of NXT to go at it. Wow, that was such a damn waste.
I guess Crews got called up to the main roster as a pat on the back for putting up with this shit.
American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable) defeated The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) (c) Tag team match for the NXT Tag Team Championship
Four of NXT's homegrown talents that WWE didn't manage to raid from other promotions and worked their way up to this spot from nothing. The Revival (For the record, I HATE that name for their team by the way...) are throwback to the old school tag teams like Arn and Ole Anderson and gave a lot of tag teams on NXT a run for their money with pure dominance in the ring, surprising a lot of fans with their success on multiple occasions after winning the NXT Tag Team titles. Tonight was American Alpha's night (not too crazy about their name either but whatever). Jason Jordan and Chad Gable were two guys who scratched and clawed their way to the top for this moment and they deserved every ounce of this glory.
You guys knew I was pissed off when they didn't capture the win during the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, but I'm glad to see that they finally won the big one here. This match was a wonderful display of athleticism for both teams with the crowd easily won over by American Alpha.
Maybe now people can quit saying that they need Kurt Angle to get over... Please, they don't need ANYONE to help them get over. I'm looking forward to seeing them dominate the tag division for a long time.
One thing I'm glad to see in this match is that WWE subtly erased the tired and true pattern to their tag team matches.
Austin Aries defeated Baron Corbin Singles match
An A for effort for Aries doing everything in his power to make Corbin look good and this match not to look like a flop in his debut. After the buzz and excitement from the tag team match to kick off the show, this match sucked all of the air out of the building and not in a good way.
Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Sami Zayn Singles match
I think we can all agree that this is an easy Match of the Year candidate. After spending the past year working with Ring of Honor talents, I was confident that Nakamura would adjust to American wrestling style for the most part, but I was worried that WWE would try to "bastardize" his offense on NXT like they did KENTA and Devitt to an extent. I'm happy to see that they didn't change a thing. From the second Nakamura made his trademark flamboyant entrance, I knew we were in for something special here tonight. Great match from bell to bell. Nakamura is going to be a star for a LONG time if he keeps doing stand out performances like this on the regular.
To be fair though, it's hard NOT to have a great match with Nakamura. You can ask anyone who fought him in Ring of Honor in the past year that question.
Asuka defeated Bayley (c) - Singles match for the NXT Women's Championship
This match was literally the female equivalent of the Nakamura vs. Zayn match. The main roster Divas will put up a good showing at WrestleMania two nights later, but their performances don't even come close to what Asuka and Bayley did here. Asuka winning was the right decision to maintain her aura of invincibility, but I can see why people were upset that Bayley lost. Bayley's been riding a lot of momentum and hype since NXT Takeover: Respect, but here's the thing, she really doesn't need the title to be successful at this point. She's established herself as a role model and an icon for this generation of women's wrestlers. More importantly, she's going to get a rematch at the next Takeover special, so why are you whining about it? I just thought it was messed up that Bayley lost against the first "real" threat to her title, but that was the corner that NXT's bookers and writers put themselves in and I don't feel sorry for them in the least.
Finn Bálor (c) defeated Samoa Joe - Singles match for the NXT Championship
I didn't understand why did Finn retain here when they were acting like Samoa Joe is going to get another shot, but who would care now that he's lost clean to Finn TWICE now? I can understand their frustration with the doctors trying to wipe all of the blood off of Joe's face, but fans need to understand that this isn't indie promotions where guys will continue wrestling with their eyeball hanging out of the socket like Vader or Daniel Bryan until the match is over. WWE has a reputation to protect - like it or not.
Closing Words
This is going to be a tough act to follow, but the main roster should be used to being overshadowed by the talent in NXT by now.
In terms of wrestling, the title matches delivered and Nakamura's debut was amazing. If I had any complaints about this show it's that they did all of their high profile matches back to back with little to no breaks in between to catch your breath. WWE did a bad job of keeping fans in the know on when the show officially started on the Network as I heard about 3 different start times on Friday, which sounded like WWE were trying to compete with Ring of Honor's live event that same night.
As with everything great about NXT, I just hope that they follow through with the strong start and don't allow what they did good here lose the magic with lackluster booking later.
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