NXT Takeover: Philadelphia Reax

Read on for my thoughts on last night's WWE Network special event.

-- Kickoff:
- Dream accepts award:
A little surprised to see that win rivalry of the year. It was pretty good, though.

Velveteen does his role pretty well.

- Black awards:
Glad to see Aleister honored like this.

Good stuff.

- Bate award:
The UK title might as well be the NXT midcard title at this point. That's not a bad thing, though. The action has been good.


- Dunne on the panel:
I would watch the hell out of Dunne vs. Brock. I admire his resolve!


- Vega on the panel:
Zelina is great at this.

OOOOOHHHHH Vega going in on Joe might not end well for Andrade. It was badass, though.

-- Takeover: Philadelphia:
- Fish/KOR vs. Authors:
Oh how I love the dominant powerhouses.

I liked Kyle countering into what he's good at.

I'm loving this.

Oh, Akam's going to regret showing a weak spot.

I'm so glad to see Fish and Kyle here. I hope the sky is the limit for them.

I love how these two sides work together.

This is really hard hitting. I like it.

I love the power and the tenacity on display here.

This is AMAZING. Just a damn battle.

Nice ending. The Authors looked like stars in defeat.

- War Machine watching:
I'm guessing we're getting them facing Akam and Rezar before the Authors head to Raw or Smackdown.

- Dream vs. Ohno:
Oh my God. Velveteen's insane. I love it.

Funny stuff.

I like Dream's intensity here.

Velveteen isn't just here to play. He's going for the win.

Both men doing well here.

Dream working pretty hard here.

Kassius is a fighter. I like it.

Pretty good win for Dream!

- Ember vs. Shayna:
Baszler's not wasting any time! I like this.

There's an interesting contrast between these two that makes for a pretty good match.

Baszler's just out to maim her. I like it.

Moon does her role pretty well.

Nice story of Ember not being able to capitalize due to the work on her arm.

I hope Shayna kills the trainers, too.

Moon showing some real werewithal here.

That armbar is lethal!!

BAH GAWD SHE'S GONNA PULL HER ARM OUT OF THE SOCKET.

That was nice.

- Post-match:
That loss is just going to fire Shayna up even more, I think.

- Ricochet in the crowd:
This really makes the show look like a big deal. I like it. 

- Black vs. Cole:
This could be one hell of a war.

I like the mindgames going on here.

Cole plays his role really well.

Haha Black doesn't need a kendo stick to smash Cole.

This is going well.

I'm disappointed Adam gave the crowd what they wanted.

This is already pretty wild.

They're definitely going all out with the weapons.

Pretty good battle going on here.

This is brutal.

Nice superkick to the chair spot.

OH MAN. I thought Cole might have him after the table bump.

Damn. This is crazy.

One hell of a running knee. Damn.

I was wondering who was going to even things up for Black here. This makes sense.

GOOD GAWD WHAT A DIVE FROM KILLIAN.

This is pretty great.

Awesome ending.

- EC3 in the crowd:
OH MYYYYYYY. Very glad to see him here, but I can't say I didn't want him in the Rumble.

- Almas vs. Gargano:
Nice start.

I'm loving the chess match here.

Both men showing how good they are here.

OUCH. That missed cannonball.

Almas is getting more comfortable as a worker. I'm glad to see it.

Pretty solid work here.

Gargano works really hard. Good work.

Nice counter to Gargano's head scissors.

Both men delivering here.

God DAMN what a superkick to Almas in the turnbuckles.

I'm very impressed here.

Johnny's giving him everything he's got!!!

Both men really delivering. Johnny's a soldier.

Wow. Johnny taking all kinds of abuse here.

Gargano lookin like Superman here.

This is one hell of a battle. Both men really pushing their limits here.

Zelina probably just saved the title there.

Hahaha good work from Vega with the hurricanrana.

WOW. I think the hammerlock DDT should have ended it. That was a beautiful match.

OK, I do like the Candice/Zelina spot. They're going to wrestle at some point, right?

Nice use of Candice and Zelina.

I'm enjoying this a lot. Both men working really hard.

One hell of a big ending sequence. I liked all of that.

- Post-match:
BIG babyface moment for Johnny.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Ciampa you magnificent evil bastard.

That was amazing. One hell of a show start to finish.

More wrestling coming up.