NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4 Recap & Results

Previously on NXT: The Street Profits beat The Mighty in a tag match, Kairi Sane absolutely destroyed Aaliyah to send a message to Shayna Baszler, Velvetten Dream was shown up by EC3 and Tyler Bate beat Roderick Strong in a one-on-one match.

Previously on NXT TakeOver Brooklyn: Peyton Royce defeated Sarah Logan, Pete Dunne and Wolfgang defeated Moustache Mountain, Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas defeated Johnny Gargano, SAnitY (Alexander Wolfe and Eric Young) defeated The Authors of Pain (c), Aleister Black defeated Hideo Itami, Asuka (c) defeated Ember Moon and Drew McIntyre defeated Bobby Roode (c). Wow has this roster changed since then.

Cold Open

We get a video package that hypes the main event of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa for the NXT World Title. While Blood//Water by grandson plays we get a bit of hype for every match tonight. I am excited as hell!

The Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong) (c) vs. Mustache Mountain (Tyler Bate and Trent Seven)

The Undisputed Era comes out first and are announced as The Undefeated Era. We are off to a great start! Mustache Mountain make their way to the ring in matching green trunks that leaves little to the imagination in the ways of the bulge.

This match wastes no time wasting no punches. These boys are off to a fast pace full of intensity. After about five minutes the match finds a bit of a groove when Tyler and Trent are able to hit a few double team moves on Undisputed Era for some near-falls.

Undisputed Era gets the upperhand on Trent Seven and cuts the ring in half for a few minutes. Tyler gets the hot tag if you can call it that and lights up both Kyle and Roddy. Then Tyler does an airplane spin AND big swing on Undisputed Era. That is such a show of strength! Then Tyler is able to hit a German suplex while being choked taking both champions out.

Bate gets taken out with a lariat and then gets worked over for the real heat portion of the match. Bate is being stretched out with Gory special submissions and leg and ankle attacks and holds. Undisputed Era put on their best Anderson impression by doing quick tags and working over one limb. Bate is doing all he can to fight off the champions to make the tag. Once he is inches away Kyle pulls Seven down but not long enough because the tag happens shortly after.

We just hit another gear in this match with Trent doing a dive to the outside and showing off his strength with a dragon sleeper suplex. After the nearfall the wrestlers let us absorb everything that just happened to the applause of the crowd.

I’m glad they let us absorb that because there is so much that happens after. So many moves and sequences that ends with a double submission on Mustache Mountain on the defensive. Tyler gets out of Kyle’s triangle hold by lifting Kyle up with one arm and dropping O’Reilly onto Roderick Strong and Trent Seven. The crowd is on their feet!

Tyler Bate is a human highlight reel and singly handedly DESTROYS the Undisputed Era. His flurry ends with a Tyler Driver ’97 to Strong and Roderick kicks out at two much to the dismay of those in attendance. Two “This is Awesome” chants so far in this match. Tyler and Roddy are fighting on the top rope and Bate fights Strong off. Kyle is able to take Tyler’s leg and smash it into the ring post. The commentary put over how Tyler has had his leg worked over and tweaked it a bit throughout the night. The heel hook by O’Reilly might be the death knell in Mustache Mountain.

Trent can’t stand to see his partner in so much pain and thinks about throwing in the towel. This brings back trauma I suffered from Survivor Series 94 when Owen convinced Helen to throw the towel in on Bret. Trent is tagged in and throws a hellacious clothesline on O’Reilly for a two count.

Seven tags Tyler back in for their finish and KYLE KICKS OUT!! The crowd has lost their shit. This match is out of control. WE ARE ONLY ON THE FIRST MATCH OF THE NIGHT!! I completely agree with Brooklyn. NXT, NXT, NXT. “Fight Forever” chant as Undisputed Era are fighting for their lives.

Kyle and Roddy are able to hit a succession of strikes that leads to a total elimination for a victory. F’n wow. That match was outstanding and is something I’m probably going to watch again when this show is over.

The War Raiders show up and lay waste to the Undisputed Era. Guess we have our next challengers.

EC3 and Dream’s video package is shown where they both have a confrontation in some crazy room/experience. This is the cheesiest 80’s movie feud of all time and it’s glorious.

EC3 vs. Velveteen Dream

Dream makes his entrance with a crown and tights that say “call me up Vince”. I love how everyone is behind The Dream. Velveteen is someone we will hopefully see for another two decades.

EC3 makes his entrance with THE MOST energy I’ve ever seen. He is so excited to be back in arenas. The man has worked so hard to get where he is and deserves to wrestle in arenas of thousands of people. Both of these men should be heels but they are so ridiculous and so f’n good that no one can truly boo them.

The match starts with a feeling out process and begins to show us that EC3 is wrestling like a heel while Dream is wrestling for sympathy. EC3 even does the spot where he crotches Dream on the ropes. Both men are throwing shade at each other by mimicking each others moves.

The match hits it’s second gear after Dream DDT’s EC3 on the ramp and shoves EC3 into the ring post. Pretty sure someone in the crowd proposed or something because there was a large pop and a “Yes” chant when the match didn’t call for it.

Dream is able to work over EC3’s head and neck. After a neckbreaker Dream does more of a taunt than a true cover and only gets two. I know I said EC3 was wrestling like a heel but our boys just flipped the script and Dream is throwing water on EC3’s face and taunting the hell out of the 1%er. Mauro says the water is a callback to when Dream threw EC3 into the pool a few weeks ago.

EC3 hits his five moves of doom and goes for his 1%er finish but Dream counters into a roll up for two. This leads to a set of counters and EC3 is able to connect with a headlock driver. That only leads to a two count. The crowd isn’t making much noise, they are just respectfully watching.

Dream gets a two count after pulling the tights of EC3 and EC3 answers back with a double powerbomb that ends in a sitout pin for two. Some in the crowd is chanting “Velveteen” but not many in the crowd are. Both men fight up to the top rope and hit a superplex which takes both men out. EC3 crawls for the cover while selling the back of his head. This match is hitting it’s climax.

Dream is able to hit a superkick and a Dream Valley Driver for two. Both men are spent, the crowd is making noise, but not sustained noise like the last match. We are getting a lot of nearfalls but the crowd isn’t even counting along. These men are putting it all on the line, they are trying so hard, the crowd WANTS this to get them in their feelings but are just waiting for it to happen.

Dream hits a DVD on EC3 on the apron and then hits an elbow drop off the top rope while EC3 is still on the apron. EC3 is bleeding from the eye as the crowd is applauding for the winner.

Matt Riddle is shown as the newest NXT signing and he gets a pop and a “bro” chant. Pretty exciting.

Ricochet vs. Adam Cole (c)

It’s the Prettiest Possum in the Denny’s Dumpster vs. The One and Only.

Ricochet makes his entrance and as commentary puts over his journey through wrestling that’s spanned over 15 years, I can’t help but realize how special TakeOver not only makes matches, but moments feel. Main roster WWE is over saturated with content that nothing really feels SPECIAL much. There are a few moments but those are far between each other. NXT seems to do it at every TakeOver.

This match shows some tit-for-tat wrestling. Everything Cole can do Ricochet can do and vice versa. Commentary puts over how this match is based around jealousy. The jealousy Adam Cole feels towards Ricochet because Adam Cole is a champion but Ricochet gets the headlines. Ricochet feels Adam Cole is undeserving of the North American championship because Cole rarely defends it and when he does, he isn’t honorable about it.

As Cole slaps Ricochet in the head he tells Ricochet “You’re not special”. Ricochet tries to fight back but he can’t find a way to get an advantage. Cole is applying a headlock to cut off the air supply of Ricochet, which will tire Ricochet out and make him weaker.

Ricochet turns the match around with a timely placed elbow. He then gets to shine by showing off his abilities. A dive over the top rope, a springboard European uppercut, a phoenix splash. Mauro and Nigel say that Ricochet is a “cheat-code in a video game”. Ricochet goes to the well one to many times with a handspring back elbow attempt that Cole counters into a backstabber.

Both men are hitting big moves now. Ricochet goes for a springboard move and Cole goes for a counter with a superkick. Ricochet catches Cole’s foot and hits a discus clothesline. Ricochet then goes for an Asai moonsault and gets superkicked mid moonsault in a truly unbelievable spot. The crowd chants “that was awesome” which bleeds into a “this is awesome” chant. Ricochet kicks out after a suplex into a neck breaker combo by Cole.

As both men fight to their feet they land kick after kick on each other. It was a yay/boo spot but the crowd neither yay’d or booed. It was an ooh/OOH spot. That ended with a near fall, a standing ovation from the crowd and a “Mama Mia” chant. Cole goes for a knee to the back of Ricochet’s head but Ricochet is able to counter to set up for his 630. Adam Cole rolled all the way across the ring with a slimy smirk on his face. Cole pulls himself to his feet and Ricochet hits a leaping hurricanrana over the top rope to the floor. Cole gets thrown in the ring and hit with a 630. RICOCHET WINS. Ricochet is given the belt and says “This is just the beginning”.

The crowd loses their shit. I am floored. It’s crazy how a match can start and build and build. How it can have everyone watching fully invested and forgetting about everything that is going on at the moment. My heart is still racing from the energy that match and that crowd gave off. Great stuff.

NXT Woman’s Championship

Video package shows Sane beating Baszler to win the first ever Mae Young Classic. Then shows that Shayna beat Kairi on an episode of NXT. Shayna says she is a champion now and has grown since their first encounter and Sane hasn’t.

Kairi Sane vs. Shayna Baszler (c)

Kairi enters first and all I say to myself is “come on Brooklyn sing like pirates!”. They don’t sing. I will make it my mission that we as wrestling fans start singing like pirates.

As Shayna walks the aisle, commentary puts over how she has gotten more vicious and brutal the longer her title reign has gone. All Four Horsewomen of UFC are in the crowd watching the match. It’s weird that three of them are in NXT right now and if the much hyped Four Horsewomen of UFC vs. Four Horsewomen of NXT match happens the UFC squad will have a NXT history.

Both girls start the match by showing their submission prowess. Sane is not backing down and bringing it all against Baszler. Shayna loses her composer and shows more emotion than she has ever shown in a match. Kairi is unleashing something Shayna never expected and Baszler is trying to find a way to gain control. Shayna does this by drop kicking Kairi mid leapfrog. Sane was kicked in the leg but landed on her damn head. Shayna smells blood in the water and grossly attacks Kairi’s leg.

For real its gross. There are some leg submissions and attacks that have me looking away and cringing like it was a torture porn movie. The crowd is making grossed out noises, the commentary.. you can hear it in their voices, its uncomfortable as shit to watch. Manipulating joints, twisting ankles and putting Kairi’s foot toe first on the ground and stomping it.

I get lost in the match for a bit as Kairi’s adrenaline kicks in and she lets out a primal scream to Shayna. Shayna hits Sane but Sane just keeps screaming and limping. She is giving her last effort, Sane’s leg is almost unable to carry weight and Sane finishes her shower of strikes with an Insane Elbow attempt. Kairi’s leg is hindering her though and Shayna has time to hit a top rope gutwrench suplex. After the nearfall we get a yay/boo spot.

Sane is able to hit a big spear on Shayna and hits an Insane Elbow to Shayna’s back. Sane is going to do it again, she hops on one leg to the top rope but Baszler rolls out of the ring. Sane has NFLTG and dives off the top rope to the outside on Shayna. Sane uses all of her energy to jump off the top rope one more time for one more Insane Elbow. Kairi goes for the pin as the crowd counts along “1…2…OHHHH” Shayna kicks out. First time anyone has ever kicked out.

Kairi goes for her Anchor submission but Sane needs to use her leg to bridge the submission. Shayna is able to get her rear naked choke finish on. Kairi fights and fights to get to the ropes and when she does the crowd loses it.

Kairi lets out a scream again and is able to hit an Alabama Slam. Sane goes for an Insane Elbow but Shayna gets her foot up. Shayna attacks quickly and applies the Kirifuda clutch but Kairi rolls on top of Shayna and Baszler gets pinned for three!!! Kairi is the new champion!

This match was outstanding. The crowd was 100% behind everything that happened. There was so much sympathy for Kairi. The cringe spots, the technical wrestling, the strikes and emotion. The eruption from the crowd at the finish. That is something special right there. TakeOver Brooklyn women’s matches are almost the pinnacle of women’s wrestling.

NXT World Heavyweight Championship

Last Man Standing

Video package starts with Johnny saying his everything is to be the NXT champion. Ciampa says Gargano’s fairy tale is over. Gargano says all he could feel is anger, hatred and suffering and that’s why Tommaso won. Johnny said he interfered in the title match between Black and Ciampa because Tommaso knew how much that title meant to Johnny and winning it would twist the knife even more into Gargano. 

Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa (c)

So this is their third time wrestling. Each match has been deemed Match of the Year quality. The pressure for these two men leading into this match must be immense. We are going to be for a whole ass treat.

Johnny is wearing a vest with his normal logo but with teeth and a Venom eye. It symbolizes that he is more fierce than ever, he is more focused than ever and he is more dangerous than ever.

Ciampa still has no music and it’s wonderful. NXT crowds know how to play along as well and boo the hell out of the man. It’s one of the better entrances going right now. Not only boo’s but “asshole” and “fuck you Ciampa.” I would like to be near Ciampa in the dead of winter cause dude is a hear magnet.

Johnny jumps Tommaso during the introductions and we are off to the races. It appears Johnny’s trunks are Spider-Carnage inspired. Carnage is a villian in the Spider-Man comics and Spider-Carnage is a version of Carnage. Spider-Carnage has enough goodwill to subdue the murderous tendencies in Carnage. That leads me to think that when Johnny said he lost because of the hatred that consumed him the last time he wrestled Tommaso, he has now embraced and contained that hatred.

Since the bell has rang neither men have been in the ring. This is a fight that involves weapons and strikes and disregard for the opponents well being on all accounts. The battle to the announce tables and Johnny looks at the crowd before administering more punishment to Ciampa. Tommaso is able to take that moment and hit Gargano with an air raid siren through the announce table. The same move that Ciampa hit Johnny with when they first broke up as at team. You know they hate each other too because they didn’t even remove the monitors from the tables.

Johnny gets up before ten and Ciampa starts running his knee into Johnny’s face. Tommaso tells Gargano “We aren’t done yet, not by a long shot.” Johnny fights off with a chair and I realized that every move in this match has meaning. Everything adds to the story, no wasted movement.

Ciampa applies a sleeper to Gargano which is a smart thing to do in a last man standing match. Gargano gets up to his feet and Ciampa decides to stick to that idea. As another sleeper is put in on Johnny, Gargano fights out and is able to lawn dart Ciampa into a chair that was set up in the corner.

As Ciampa climbs to his feet Johnny sets up two tables. Perfect timing too because there has yet to be a “we want tables” chant. Johnny sets up one table and then puts another one upside down on top of the first one, it looks dangerous as hell. Nigel says that makes the table much more of a hard surface adding more impact to the move.

Ciampa fights out of the suplex attempt that would have put him through a table and hits a few German suplexes to Johnny. Ciampa starts attacking Johnny with a chair as commentary says this is very hard to watch.

Tommaso hits three consecutive Project Ciampa’s and sits down on a folding chair while the referee counts out Johnny Wrestling. Gargano is struggling but he sees Tommaso sitting in front of him and the fury that built gave Johnny the energy to land a superkick.

We get to the obligatory yay/boo spot of the match. The yay/boo goes from punches to knees and kicks to actual moves back to punches and ends at a double clothesline. Both men get up at one and then we get more back and forth. That ends in another clothesline and this time both men aren’t able to get up until nine.

The fight spills to the outside and Johnny starts getting his ass thrown into the guard rail and hit with a butterfly suplex facebuster onto the stairs. As the referee counts the camera catches the table in the background making me think that Johnny is getting up here. Which he did.

Ciampa gets some rope cutters out and peels the apron back like he did in the previous match with Gargano. As Ciampa peels back the padding in the ring to expose the wood. I can’t help but notice that WWE has some very good boards or the ring. Ciampa goes to grab Gargano and Johnny blasts Tommaso in the face with a fire extinguisher. Johnny introduces a crutch into the match. A crutch is a form of symbolism in this match because that weapon has followed these two throughout their entire feud. It’s a crutch that Tommaso broke over Johnny’s back upon Ciampa’s return from injury.

Johnny breaks the crutch over Ciampa and Tommaso is on the run. They get over to the exposed part of the ring again and Johnny hits a DDT on the wood. Ciampa gets up at nine. Well he doesn’t get up as much as rolls to the outside and stands on his feet.

Johnny is relentless though and hits a series of dives and punches. Nigel says “no one is safe at ringside” and Gargano goes for a superkick on Ciampa but Johnny kicks a WWE employee in the face. Ciampa slams Johnny’s face into the announce table and runs Johnny’s wrestling ass through the barricade. Then covers Johnny in everything around, from the ring bell table, to the knocked out employee, to ringside chairs. Johnny fights to his feet at nine.

The next call back are handcuffs. Ciampa pulls them out attempts to handcuff Gargano to the ring post but Johnny fights off Ciampa by slamming Tommaso’s head to the ring post. Ciampa has one hand in the cuffs but is able to fight off Johnny to keep his hands free.

They fight over by the table set up, Tommaso is on the apron and Johnny grabs some hair out of Tommaso’s chin, then superkicks Tommaso through the two tables. Ciampa gets up by using the f’n broken crutch. This is such a layered story. This is so intense, they are in the process of topping all of their previous works of art.

Ciampa starts walking up the ramp as Johnny follows. Johnny kicks the crutch away from Ciampa and starts throwing a bevy of punches. Johnny throws Ciampa into the same video screen that Ciampa threw Johnny into when they first broke up. A GargaNo Escape and Tommaso taps out. Doesn’t matter though its last man standing. Gargano is able to handcuff Ciampa to a metal structure and just goes HAM on Ciampa’s head.

Tommaso says “Johnny I’m sorry.. I’m sorry..” Gargano says “It’s too late for sorry now” and continues to kick Ciampa in the head while yelling “YOU DID THIS”. Ciampa keeps saying “Johnny I’m sorry.. I’M SORRY!” Johnny looks to the crowd and Gargano stares at Ciampa while Ciampa stands up on his own feet. Johnny keeps staring at Ciampa and does not except the apology. Gargano runs at Ciampa and hits a knee to the face of Ciampa. Johnny hit it so hard he runs through Ciampa and flies off the stage. As the ref counts Johnny can’t get to his feet and Tommaso ends up rolling off the stage while still handcuffed to the structure. Ciampa wins…. the crowd boo’s.. I sit here stunned. We are witnessing history. A feud that will be talked about for years. I feel blessed.

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