‘NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable’ Recap – Samoa Joe Saves the Day
Well, it happened. Following months of rumors, reports and rebuttals, Samoa Joe showed up at NXT’s TakeOver: Unstoppable on Wednesday night, bringing an abrupt end to Kevin Owens’ second consecutive main-event mauling of Sami Zayn and signaling (perhaps once and for all) that WWE is serious about controlling indie wrestling as well.
Make no mistake, signing Joe – one of the most decorated and dominant independent wrestlers of the past decade – is a major coup, and a pretty decent surprise: On Tuesday, NXT’s driving force, Triple H, downplayed chatter that the Samoan Submission Machine would turn up at TakeOver. But what it might symbolize, especially in light of the recent signing of Sesugh Uhaa, the rapid rise of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn and reports that Destination America was canceling TNA wrestling (on the night Joe, arguably its biggest star, walked down the NXT ramp), is that WWE now holds all the chips. Or at least the overwhelming majority of them. That might seem hyperbolic, but, hey, this is wrestling.
Sure, there are still competitors and talented outliers on the fringes, and, as of yet, no official word on TNA’s fate, but if it were to go under, it would surely free up other big names – ones WWE now appears willing to snap up as is. After all, they’re already selling Samoa Joe T-shirts, which suggests at least a tacit acknowledgement of his history and accomplishments, and his deal reportedly will allow him to continue booking dates elsewhere. In short, he will not be developed in the WWE style. He is a finished product, a brand, the very definition of a high-priced free agent, and more of his kind will almost certainly follow. WWE has always had the leverage, and, with the success of NXT and the Performance Center, they’ve now got the platform. All that had been missing was a desire to go all in. Samoa Joe staring down Kevin Owens on Wednesday night certainly indicated that desire is growing by the day.
So what will Joe actually do in NXT? For starters, he’ll definitely butt heads with Owens, who backed away from a confrontation last night. The sight of the scurrying champion was an unfamiliar one for those who have watched him decimate the competition (and John Cena) since arriving at Full Sail, but it definitely sets the stage for these two brawlers to come to blows. And that, in a nutshell, is what TakeOver was all about: It was an exceptionally scripted event that hit all the right notes (including a few high ones), but ultimately focused on advancing storylines.
Injuries to Zayn and Hideo Itami certainly forced the issue; the former’s maladies (both real and story) were woven into his shot at revenge against former friend Owens, the latter’s resolved via a preshow parking lot assault (probably at the hands of K.O.) that left him out of the triple-threat to determine the No. 1 contender for the NXT title.
In the case of Zayn vs. Owens – which, it should be noted, began with the champ coming to the ring in a John Cena T-shirt, a truly next-level heel move – Sami certainly got off his share of offense, but was felled by a brutal Pop-Up Powerbomb on the ring apron that left him incapacitated. There were doubts going in about how much punishment Zayn would be able to take in this match, but he worked hard and controlled much of the action – and while it would be nice to see these two guys go at each other at full strength, Zayn will presumably now get time to heal in real life. And, thanks to Samoa Joe, he’ll also get another shot at Owens – since their match never officially ended.
Itami – scheduled to compete against Finn Bálor and Tyler Breeze – will reportedly be out for 6-8 months thanks to a shoulder injury, but if it really was Owens who took him down, well, then he’ll eventually get his chance to settle the score with the champ. But it’s Bálor who should get first crack, after defeating Breeze in a back-and-forth match that featured a pretty solid spot on the ramp, stiff Supermodel kicks and a high-impact Coup de Grace finisher (and a pair of excellent ring entrances). As far as TakeOver openers go, this one was definitely a cut above – but with Itami out of the equation, it felt like the intensity had been taken down a notch. And I’m not really sure why they’re giving the Demon another shot at the strap, especially after Breeze’s development in recent months. Still, NXT’s storyline advances: Case in point, Bálor’s win now makes it four guys on the roster itching to get their hands on Kevin Owens.