NXT Takeover: Dallas Reax

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

- A. Alpha vs. Revival:
Scott Dawson is an enjoyable, natural heel. I think he'll be someone to watch in the years to come.

Jordan and Gable are smooth as always. Great work early.

The Alpha males are firing on all cylinders. I like it.

I like the idea of Wilder being the one to wear someone out with Dawson being the brawler.

That Revival double-team from the turnbuckles was scary.

I like how resourceful the champs are. They'll do anything to keep the gold.

Dawson's doing pretty well matching Gable's pinfalls.

Pretty solid match overall. A. Alpha are incredible, and The Revival are pretty good in their own right.

WHOA! JR's HERE! .... And Michelle Beadle...

It'll be interesting to see if Ibushi ends up joining the NXT roster. It certainly seems like he'll be part of the GCS.

- Corbin vs. Aries:
They're going right at it! No handshakes and streamers here.

Austin's tenacious, but he's got a big mountain to climb here.

Corbin's a solid antagonist. It's good to see him using his strengths to counter Aries instead of the match just being a showcase of moves.

Aries is resilient. His conditioning is amazing.

Pretty good match and win. I'm sure Aries is used to a faster pace and more MOVEZ. He's having to adapt to the WWE style.

It's always cool to see important wrestling names at the show. It sells how big of a deal the promotion/event is.

- Zayn vs. Nakamura:
Nakamura already carries himself like a star. He knows how to interact with a crowd.

Both men are impressive early. They've clearly got plenty of experience. That's a credit to the talent recruitment process.

I'm liking Shinsuke's offense and mannerisms already.

Sami's a game opponent. I'm interested to see what happens when Shinsuke works with less worldly performers.

Sometimes it's fun to watch two people just beat the hell out of each other.

Shinsuke's kicks tho. I hope we see him face Itami at some point.

This is really something. Nakamura's definitely living up to the hype, and Sami's pretty much a jack of all trades.

OH MY GOD WHAT A KICK to counter Sami's DDT.

Really great debut. Welcome to NXT and WWE, Shinsuke.

Yeah, they're not booing Stephanie because she plays a good heel on TV (although that's true).

- Asuka vs. Bayley:
I love the contrast between the scary warrior and the upbeat role model.

Good flurry to start things.

Both women are showing more comfortability in the ring.

SUBMISSION WRESTLING.

Bayley's got a lot of tools in her arsenal. She should be fine on the main roster when her time comes.

I like the agility we're seeing from the challenger.

Bayley's counter to the kneebar was GENIUS. I like the new wrinkles we're seeing in her game.

Bayley's a fighter, but Asuka's one of the best in the world for a reason. Good ending, and both performers were impressive here.

I kept expecting Asuka to run down and kick Bayley against the LED board. Can't wait for these two to go toe-to-toe again, and hopefully now we see more from Asuka as a character.

I was wondering how they'd have enough time to do Crews vs. Samson on this show. I'm a little surprised they didn't just put it on the Kickoff show or something.

OH MY GOD. Please tell me that means Roode and Eric Young are NXT/WWE-bound.

- Joe vs. Balor:
OH FUCK. First Jack the Ripper, now the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I'm digging Balor's entrance references.

Balor's bringing the fight to Joe.

This is already insane.

Joe's just a wrecking machine.

Balor's got some great intensity and tenacity. That will serve him well going forward.

Both men are very game competitors with a lot of experience.

He's the Samoan Submission Machine for a reason.

Oh, no. I hope we're not in for 1,000 finisher kickouts. ROH is in a different building.

Clever ending. A little anticlimactic, but smart by the champion.

More wrestling coming up.