GDT: NXT TakeOver New York (5th April 2019) - FRIDAY SHOW!

[ColePens]

im really surprised by how much Meltzer liked Gargano/Cole. I thought something was just off about it. good match and some cool false finishes but yeah. I think the ridiculous amount of kickouts from Johnny did kinda spoil it for me

I'm very shocked if anyone DOESN'T give it 5 stars. The first 2 falls were wrestlers one-upping one another and putting on a clinic. Then the 3rd fall came and the sense of urgency turned into a brawl/desperation/do anything to win.

It is probably top 5 matches all time for me and the closest thing to HBK/Taker WM25 that had me literally on the edge of my seat, up out of my seat, hands in the air going "OMG", and at the end shedding a tear for how the Gargano/Ciampa story went full circle.

 

[HandsomeHollywood]

Only just finished the show now.
- I mostly enjoyed the show. I thought Velveteen Dream vs Matt Riddle was the match of the night. Very impressed by that and really loved the Bret Hart-esque finish.
- When Rowe did the first spot of letting up on Black in a "gotcha" type position, it was good. A very good way to underline the babyface vs babyface aspect. Then I think they took it too far. It wasn't necessarily a bad match, but I thought it was definitely overbooked.
- The women's match was a solid showcase. I'm not a huge fan of Sane or Shirai in NXT but thought they both looked good. Bellair looked great though. Her double KOD looked phenomenal and those double moves are hard to pull off. Popped for the Baszler win.
- Main event was good but a lot of standard NXT tropes present. Put over Gargano big and I'm glad the fans didn't totally turn and boo his win. It was a good match but it's not much more than what we're used to seeing out of NXT's main event scene. I wouldn't call it Gargano's best match. I preferred his matches with Almas and Black.
- Walter and Dunne was okay. I really don't see the need to have Dunne go move for move with Walter this early. I think it would have been suited better to be a glorified squash to really put over Walter. I hated the finish. Then again, I'm really not a big Pete Dunne fan.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

I have Gargano/Cole at ****3/4, not quite 5. Some of the false finishes at the end were too much lol.

 

[GKJ]

Dave said it was the best WWE match of all time...?

That sounds like 5+ stars to me

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Dave said it was the best WWE match of all time...?

That sounds like 5+ stars to me

That’s one man’s opinion

 

[HandsomeHollywood]

That’s one man’s opinion

Agreed. I like Dave as a reporter and as a sort of historian at times, but his opinion is often suspect.
I wouldn't even call it Gargano's best match.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Agreed. I like Dave as a reporter but his opinion is often suspect.
I wouldn't even call it Gargano's best match.

He seems to flip when you least expect. I’ve seen a lot of matches where I expected him to not like it based off his opinions on similar matches but instead he gives it a much higher rating.

Dave has the guys he likes watching and he’s more lenient on them. Gargano and Cole are those guys. That match wasn’t better than Gargano/Ciampa or Gargano/Almas imo, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

I personally loved Dunne/WALTER and that was my MOTN. It didn’t have to go through crazy wild false finishes, was hard hitting, told a story and was brutal. I loved it. No overbooked mess or anything. Two tough f***ers going in there and beating the hell out of each other, with one defending the longest modern era title reign in decades.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

I have Gargano/Cole at ****3/4, not quite 5. Some of the false finishes at the end were too much lol.

Those false finishes and UE intervening turned to crowd to Johnny's side and led to the moment the match was designed to reach.

Your critique is kind of dogmatic, IMO.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Those false finishes and UE intervening turned to crowd to Johnny's side and led to the moment the match was designed to reach.

Your critique is kind of dogmatic, IMO.

You could have cut 3-5 minutes and still accomplished the exact same thing and still had enough false finishes without overdoing it. They just overdid it imo.

Again, it’s just my opinion. You’re entitled to feel whatever you like about the match. At one point I literally couldn’t believe Gargano kicked out, and then they did the finish two minutes later or something. The crowd was already running high. You still accomplish the same thing with the UE interfering a couple minutes early and getting the crowd entirely on Johnny’s side.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

You could have cut 3-5 minutes and still accomplished the exact same thing and still had enough false finishes without overdoing it. They just overdid it imo.

Again, it’s just my opinion. You’re entitled to feel whatever you like about the match. At one point I literally couldn’t believe Gargano kicked out, and then they did the finish two minutes later or something. The crowd was already running high. You still accomplish the same thing with the UE interfering a couple minutes early and getting the crowd entirely on Johnny’s side.

To me, it achieved exactly what it set to do. You said it yourself, you thought Johnny was done.

Everyone knew he would win and yet, at the end, they made us doubt.

Honestly, Dunne/Walter was more like a Kurosawa film versus Gargano/Cole being like The Dark Knight. On pure "quality" value, sure, the Kurosawa film is a better example of the art of cinema, but The Dark Knight is very well-done too + has more "mainstream" appeal. There is not much money in a Dunne/Walter match, as good as it was technically and artistically. Not the same emotional roller-coaster.

At the end of the day, to me, wrestling is more about my entertainment than my understanding of the medium. I respect the opposite view though as I have it sometimes regarding other art forms (mainly cinema).

 

[M.C.G. 31]

To me, it achieved exactly what it set to do. You said it yourself, you thought Johnny was done.

Everyone knew he would win and yet, at the end, they made us doubt.

Honestly, Dunne/Walter was more like a Kurosawa film versus Gargano/Cole being like The Dark Knight. On pure "quality" value, sure, the Kurosawa film is a better example of the art of cinema, but The Dark Knight is very well-done too + has more "mainstream" appeal. There is not much money in a Dunne/Walter match, as good as it was technically and artistically. Not the same emotional roller-coaster.

At the end of the day, to me, wrestling is more about my entertainment than my understanding of the medium. I respect the opposite view though as I have it sometimes regarding other art forms (mainly cinema).

Just to respond to the first point, I thought he was done to the point where it kind of took me out of it when he kicked out. I literally said “what the f***” and laughed. The ones before had me on the edge of my seat and the last one did it for me.

I think there’s doing it the right amount and overdoing it. They *just* overdid it imo, but I can see and appreciate why people think otherwise. I’m not hating, it’s just how I felt about that in particular.

 

[SeidoN]

if 2019 ended tomorrow, War Raiders v Blackochet would be my MOTY

 

[ColePens]

I want to hit the point home @Scandale du Jour made. Dunne/Walter was very old school wrestling. Slow, steady, great story, and all about hard hitting. It's not my cup of tea in the wrestling business but I really really really enjoyed the pace especially after the fast action/moves of the first two matches. I really needed that to pace myself through the night. To me, that's a solid 4* match. Nothing crazy special and nothing memorable for life.

But Gargano/Cole - YES. That was the Dark Knight on steroids. It was the Avengers on steroids. It was everything I love about wrestling and more. I think the story told from falls 1/2 where they were more just wrestling casually turned into a 3rd fall of desperation was brilliance.

In 5 years, I'll remember NXT matches like Cole/Ricochet, Gargano/Almas, Gargano/Ciampa, and I will most definitely remember Cole/Gargano. Dunne/Walter? I'll forget about that by the end of the year although it was very enjoyable.

 

[JackSlater]

I wouldn't be surprised if Meltzer rates the Cole/Gargano match higher than 5, as the first WWE match rated above 5 will get people talking about his rating system. It's just one guy's opinion though and shouldn't have any more stock put into it than say... Bob McKenzie's opinion on hockey matters. It was a really good match, though I agree with the thought that parts were overdone and I think that Gargano and Ciampa had better matches.

I also agree that I didn't like Dunne going move for move with Walter. Riddle really impressed me in ring, Velveteen Dream always brings good character work but still needs to be a bit refined in ring. I'm a fan of War Machine and hope that the team has a good run in NXT before the horrors of WWE tag team booking devour them.

 

[Big Poppa Puck]

Watched some of this.

Gargano-Cole was the best match I’ve seen since Omega-Okada at Dominion last year.

The tag match was really good too and Dream/Riddle wasn’t bad.

 

[Natey]

Just to respond to the first point, I thought he was done to the point where it kind of took me out of it when he kicked out. I literally said “what the ****” and laughed. The ones before had me on the edge of my seat and the last one did it for me.

I think there’s doing it the right amount and overdoing it. They *just* overdid it imo, but I can see and appreciate why people think otherwise. I’m not hating, it’s just how I felt about that in particular.

To be fair, we should hate any No DQ or Ladder Match etc that goes over 10 minutes then. You must just f***ing hate the original TLC matches, I guess?

 

[M.C.G. 31]

To be fair, we should hate any No DQ or Ladder Match etc that goes over 10 minutes then. You must just ****ing hate the original TLC matches, I guess?

What hoops did you jump through mentally to come to that conclusion?

 

[Natey]

What hoops did you jump through mentally to come to that conclusion?

If you're laughing about Gargano kicking out of a big move, how could you be okay with those guys getting up from their way larger bumps?

Or hell, even War Games if you want something in the NXT universe.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

If you're laughing about Gargano kicking out of a big move, how could you be okay with those guys getting up from their way larger bumps?

Or hell, even War Games if you want something in the NXT universe.

Yup. I hated all of those matches. You got me.

 

[Natey]

Yup. I hated all of those matches. You got me.

Ah, well then fair enough. My bad questioning you on that, good sir.

 

[SeidoN]

Gargano not only took multiple finishers and a tag team finisher, but proceeded to kick out of everything, job out a whole stable at ringside and go on to win. it was silly.

 

[Natey]

Gargano not only took multiple finishers and a tag team finisher, but proceeded to kick out of everything, job out a whole stable at ringside and go on to win. it was silly.

Yet people love Undertaker / HHH matches or even some Lesnar matches that are all finishers.

Wrestling is silly. It's supposed to be.

 

[JackSlater]

Eh I think that the final match was good, just beating Riddle/Velveteen Dream to match of the night, but the ending was a bit over the top. The excuse of basically "well it's wrestling" doesn't work for me as pretty much anything can be excused in that manner. This was by no means the most egregious example of an ending being over the top though, inside or outside of WWE.

 

[Sheppy]

Can we all agree that Baszler’s theme is top notch? Probably one of my favourite themes in the business.

 

[Sheppy]

Also, re-watched Cole/Gargano. 100% a 5 star match.