NXT Takeover: Rival Reax

Read on for my thoughts on last night's NXT special.

Kickoff:
Good words from Charlotte. She's got a future.

Rival:
I love the addition to Breeze's character. He's great. I hope there's further evolution of his character coming.

I liked Itami vs. Breeze. It was a little short, but it was good. Breeze is a perfect opponent for Itami to get further acclimation into the ways of WWE.

I KIND OF want to see Noelle Foley come to NXT as some kind of hardcore Diva. Maybe she could be the Beulah to Kevin Owens' Tommy Dreamer?

Sorry bout yo damn luck, Dempsey. I liked this just being a brawl instead of more of a wrestling match. I think they should have booked one fewer match for tonight so either this or Breeze vs. Itami could have had more time to breathe. I do wonder if this is a coverup for lack of skill from these two.

Corbin's growing on me. I'll need to see more from him in the ring, but he's got a cool aura about him.

I was a bit unimpressed with the tag team title match. I'd rather them be rough around the edges here than on the main roster, though. They're growing, and that's what NXT's for.

I'm excited for Solomon Crowe. I hope he impresses, given his reputation.

Nice stuff from Balor and Neville. I think Neville's getting more comfortable as a wrestler, which I like. He's in his element now. I wish him well on the main roster. I think they're just scratching the surface with him.

Good to see them shake hands after the match. Face vs. face and heel vs. heel is OK here and there.

I'm tired of the tendency that you have to have innovative moves just for the sake of them. It takes me out of the experience of watching the match because it's obviously not a competition anymore.

That was a pretty cool Women's Title match. They all did well. I think each of them can do good things on the main roster in time.

Sasha was just made as a heel. She's amazing. I hope she does some really good things as champion and carries that to the main roster as well.

$&*#ing awesome start to things. Owens is already ahead of a lot of performers as far as ring psychology goes.

Zayn is such a perfect underdog babyface, and Owens is a really good monster for smaller wrestlers to go up against. This is incredible.

HOLY #&$*!!! I knew Owens was agile for his size, but I didn't expect to see that from him. I'm salivating for this guy to tear it up on the main roster. Owens vs. Rusev? Owens vs. Big E? Owens vs. Ziggler? Owens vs. Cesaro?

Really good spot with the big powerbomb.

I really liked the ending. It was odd for Owens to become champion for that reason, but it worked if they're trying to add some realism in a post-UFC world.

More wrestling coming up.