June 20, 2018
Allstate Arena, Chicago, IL
Commentary by Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness and Percy Watson
Opening Segment
Singles Match: Dakota Kai vs. Bianca Belair
Belair launches herself at Kai to start off the match, in Chicago. Kai evades her to hit a dropkick off the ropes. Quick cover gets her nowhere. Strong kick to the chest of Belair, as Belair was sitting on the mat, and another quick pin for a 1 count.
Delay suplex by Belair, even bouncing Kai’s legs off the top rope to get her back up before slamming her. Doesn’t get her the pinfall. Belair clubs Kai in the upper back and gets a 2 count. She follows it up with a modified abdominal stretch, elbowing Kai in the kidneys as she stretches her out. Then, Belair digs her nails into Kai’s flesh on the mid-section. Backbreaker to finish that combination.
Another delay suplex, this time Belair holds Kai for much longer and bounces her legs off 3 of the 4 sides of the ring. Fans are impressed as Kai escapes and gets a quick 2 count. Belair is pissed and tries to follow up with a splash. Kai lifts her knees up and defends herself. Belair charges at Kai in the corner. Kai escapes and hits her with a step up enziguri. Kai’s got an opening.
High kicks to the chest and head of Belair. Running kick to the head! Another. 1-2- Belair barely kicks out but she is visibly in pain.
Kai ascends to the top turnbuckle. Belair charges at her. Kai jumps over her. Belair tries to whip Kai with her hair; Kai misses a punch of her own. Belair lifts her laterally on her shoulders, then slams her face down on the mat. 1-2-3.
Winner: Bianca Belair via pinfall in 5 minutes
One cool point for Belair who has taken the momentum gained by those promos a few weeks ago, and made it matter by getting two big wins in the past few weeks. Her display of strength on those delay suplexes really impressed the crowd. She is being built up as a contender for the Women’s Championship.
Highlights of the Ricochet vs. The Velveteen Dream match, from Takeover: Chicago, are shown. Following this were backstage interviews after the match with both stars.
Ricochet is asked what’s next. He says NOLA is where he showed a little. Tonight, he showed he’s not just a cool flip. The spotlight no longer belongs to Dream, but him.
Dream is asked where he goes from here. Dream over in Chicago, he says.
Second Segment
Highlights from the nXt Women’s Championship match between Shayna Baszler (c) and Nikki Cross are shown. Baszler is interviewed, alongside her Four Horsewomen friends, Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke. You know how you defeat chaos? You suck the air out of it and put it to sleep, says Baszler.
Highlights from the nXt Championship match between Aleister Black (c) and Lars Sullivan are shown. Following the match, Black is congratulated and begins to be questioned, but Black says he can’t talk right now. He walks away.
Third Segment
Highlights from the nXt Tag Team Championship match between Undisputed Era (c) and Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch are shown. Post-match, Lorcan and Burch are interviewed in the locker room. Burch says this is 25 years combined to get to nXt, blood and sweat to get to this first Takeover. They left it all in the ring.
Lorcan says it was the biggest match but also the biggest loss of their careers.
Highlights from the Chicago Streetfight between Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano are shown. So many moments packed into this one. A must-see if you haven’t yet.
Final Segment
EC3 gushes about how great Takeover: Chicago was, except it was missing the Top One Percent. EC3 will be on 100% of Takeovers moving forward. He also says he’ll face everybody!
Tag Team Match: War Raiders vs. The Mighty
TM61 has now officially become The Mighty, and changed their ring attire to black and white pants.
Thorne & Miller throw their jackets at Hanson and Rowe, and attack. It takes a few moments for the referee to get control and call for the bell to start the match. Rowe with a belly to back suplex on Miller to start. Crowd chants “WAR” off the tag. Hanson and Rowe execute a few double team manoeuvres on Thorne.
Miller attacks Hanson on the apron. This distracts Rowe and Thorne surprises him with a 2 count pinfall attempt. This allows The Mighty to gain the advantage. They execute a few quick tags to isolate Rowe from his corner. After a near fall, fans clap, hoping for Rowe to get back to his feet. He does and he punches Miller off the apron. Thorne gets chucked into the turnbuckle and Hanson’s tagged in.
Power moves from Hanson, including power slams to take out War Raiders. Cartwheel into a clothesline by Hanson and fans really embrace that. He tags in Rowe and they get the chants going again. Rowe lifts Thorne, lets go of him and Hanson catches him for a power slam. 1-2- Miller interrupts the count!
Miller’s tossed to the outside where Hanson slams into him with a dive through the ropes. Rowe with a 180 slam and a knee to the head of Thorne. He picks him up for the guillotine leg drop by Hanson. 1-2-3.
Winners: War Raiders via pinfall in 7 minutes
One cool point for War Raiders for the consistency of their double team moves and their willingness to sacrifice their bodies to hurt their opponents. With the win over The Mighty, who continue to show signs of evolution as heels, War Raiders don’t have very far to go before it will just be them left in the division to take on Undisputed Era.
JCool gets his first 5/5 predictions result, but I’m certain many of you do too. Everything moved in a logical direction last Saturday, but the actual match quality and entertainment level exceeded expectation. Love when that happens. The road to Brooklyn will start in the next few weeks. Looking forward to reading your cool point suggestions and comments on tonight’s nXt show.
Peace!!
Follow @JCoolLOP
By the way, it’s a great time to get in on the writing action yourself by visiting the LOP Columns Forum . It’s been rebooted, with a fresh look, and plenty of opportunities to make your mark and meet a lot of great people. Visit today!
