So over the last couple years since I have gotten back into wrestling, I have been watching the NXT pay per view which usually happens the day before a big WWE pay per view. NXT is essentially the farm team for the WWE. Last night was NXT Takeover Philadelphia.
Wow. What a great card. This is what I think NXT does really well. First of all, their Pay per Views clock in at just over two hours each, which makes them easily digestible. Their primary announcer is Mauro Ranallo, who I think is the best wrestling broadcast announcer today, just edging out Corey Graves. Nigel McGuinnes is the usual colour commentator for NXT, and is also awesome, but he missed last night?s event. NXT tends to focus less on promos, and more on in ring performances. NXT tends to put out really good events.
Last night, the two final matches were crazy good. First was the extreme rules match between Aleister Black (who I expect to be called up to the WWE shortly), and Adam Cole. Overall, just a really solid match with no slow points or down spots. Then came the main event between Johnny Gargano and Andrade Almas, which tore the house down. This match clocked in at over 30 minutes and was nearly flawless. Expect match of the year consideration for this one. The last 10 minutes of the match were moves, counters, near falls, crowd freak outs and perhaps 3 moments where I expected the match to be over. It was epic.
One thing that I noticed right away when I started to watch the NXT Pay per Views, was that you don?t need to be familiar with the roster to get into it. The focus is good solid in ring performances. If you are a wrestling fan, you should be watching. If you are a wrestling fan and haven?t seen the match between Gargano and Almas, do yourself a favour and watch it. You won?t be disappointed.