Takeover: New Orleans Reax

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

- Ladder match:
Haha. I like EC3's strategy.

Oh I'm fine with the two big lads facing off.

EC3 is already standing out.

We've been waiting to see Ricochet do this in a WWE ring for a LONG time.

Good work so far.

I'm liking the action from everyone.

I like Lars' pure strength.

Dain can bruise people AND fly. I like it.

I LOVED Lars just throwing a ladder on everyone.

Lars adds something unique here. Good work.

Wow. Lars looks like a beast needing that many people to powerbomb here.

Lots of ladder madness here.

Oh GOD that big ladder's going to destroy someone.

Funny stuff between EC3 and Cole.

I'm loving this a lot.

Dream is making his mark here. Everyone's delivring.

Good GOD what a powerbomb bump.

Funny Vader Bomb spot.

Ricochet's taking some serious beating here.

WWWOOOOOWWWWWWWW that ladder moonsault. I see what the hype is about.

Lots of carnage here. Holy shit.

Might as well have everyone up there going for the title at once, right?

That was really impressive.

- Ember vs. Shayna:
Oh, I'm already loving this. Such a fun contrast.

Shayna is VICIOUS.

Ember is definitely game. If she loses here, I'd like to think she's headed to Raw or Smackdown.

Ember is tenacious.

Ember is looking great here.

OH MY GOD that spot in the ringpost to reset her arm.

OH MY GOD THAT ECLIPSE! That was massive!!!

Both women are absolutely warriors here.

WOW that Eclipse counter. This is just unreal.

Incredible match. Ronda's got her work cut out for her.

- Cole/KOR vs. Authors vs. Dunne/Strong:
Cole's definitely in trouble here.

I'm already loving this.

I love the Authors. It's refreshing to see a mastadon team in a world of flippy superkickers.

Cole is going through some real punishment on this show.

I'm loving how these styles are coming together.

Nice submissions in this one.

I loved powerbombing Dunne onto KOR to break the submission. It's good to be a mastadon!

The Authors are vicious. Can't wait to see them face The Bar.

This is wild!

This match has everything you could want from a physical standpoint, and still feels like a fight.

These guys are going to war!

I'm impressed by everyone here.

Strong and Dunne are an awesome team.

Dunne vs. KOR could be a bearnburner.

Well.... that was an odd ending after all the fighting they did. Hell of a match, though.

- Post-match:
Weird as hell.

This should be a fun combination. It just seems a little out of the blue.

- Almas vs. Black:
A little surprised this isn't closing the show, but Gargano vs. Ciampa should be a hell of a match.

Aleister is EXPLODING into him.

Almas is already on defense. Damn.

I was just about to say Zelina needed to help her man if he was going to keep the title.

Good to see Andrade's mean streak on display.

Almas is in his element now.

Aleister is driven. He's got a lot going for him.

Andrade is staring to figure his challenger out.

This is pretty nice.

I'm liking the Almas/Vega pairing.

Clever spot with the championship.

Almas looks good here, but it's going to be bad if he can't win with Zelina's help.

This is pretty solid!

Nice ending. I hope Andrade and Zelina are either heading to Raw or Smackdown or facing McIntyre soon, because it's pretty much only down from here.

- Gargano vs. Ciampa:
I loved Tommaso's entrance. As good as he was as a face, he's in his element as a vicious heel.

This is a FIGHT. I love it!

Gargano is making the most of this opportunity. He's on a mission.

I'm liking the feel here.

Ciampa can dish out a lot of punishment, but Johnny seems to be able to take it.

Ciampa's out for blood. Damn.

I love the crutches spot.

OH MY GOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDD THAT POWERBOMB!!!!!!!!!!!!

I loved the tug of war spot. These two are great together.

Johnny finally getting revenge.

I'm loving this from both men.

I hope both men have big careers ahead of them. This is something else.

Johnny has some serious drive.

I mean, this is a damn BATTLE. They're beating the hell out of each other.

Loving the GargaNo Escape spot.

This is at another level. Mania's going to have a tough time topping this match.

Johnny is surviving an insane amount of punishment.

The physicality here is off the charts!!

How is either man going to make it out of this????

That teased piledriver would have been absolutely brutal. Scary stuff.

The Super Project Ciampa should have done it. This is getting a little over-the-top as far as what both men keep getting up from.

JESUS. Johnny teasing something absolutely sick there.

Wow. This is a big moment.

Absolutely AMAZING finishing sequence. We're going to be talking about this one for a long time.

More wrestling coming up.