Kick-Off Show
We join Charly Caruso, Sam Roberts, and Pat McAfee for the TakeOver Kick-Off Show panel! The trio talk-up the importance of tonight’s event and the significance of these Brooklyn shows.
We see the WWE.Com video analysing the scene of Aleister Black’s attack in the NXT parking lot – Who Shot Mr. Burns style. Charly asks Roberts and McAfee to weigh-in, and Sam says Black has warned the entire NXT roster with an Instagram post in which he said “I Am Watching You”. McAfee says Black has fallen from the pent-house to the out-house and he will come back with a vengeance. Roberts says Black will look to take-out everyone when he comes back, unless William Regal can figure-out who attacked Black.
We go outside to see Mike Rome with the NXT crowd, who are full of energy. Back with the panel and Caruso hypes the WWE Network, before they run down the entire card. They go back to the United Kingdom Tournament and show Moustache Mountain defeating The Undisputed Era, then the faction winning it back after Tyler Bate threw in the towel. We see a video of Cathy Kelly interviewing The Undisputed Era and asking them if they’re nervous to face Moustache Mountain. Kyle O’Reilly says they debuted one year ago and they will make more history tonight. Roderick Strong says they are only getting better and the story of The Undisputed Era is only beginning. Adam Cole gives props to Ricochet but says he won’t be winning tonight. The Undisputed Era are going from strength to strength. Back with the panel, Sam Roberts says Moustache Mountain is one of few teams who can beat The Undisputed Era, because they’ve already done it, and this could be the match of the night. Pat says Moustache Mountain are great, the best name he’s ever heard, but the Era have momentum right now. McAfee says Bate and Seven are the best team out of England since The British Bulldogs. Both McAfee and Roberts think Moustache Mountain will win the belts and defend them in NXT U.K.
The next match up for discussion is The Velveteen Dream Vs. EC3. Roberts reckons EC3 and Dream are the two most popular and promising stars in NXT today. McAfee says he believes EC3 will steal the show tonight. Roberts asks Pat how an athlete should respond to being thrown in a pool, the way EC3 did to Dream, to which he kinda rambles about John Cena’s movie Ferdinand and doesn’t answer the question. Charly asks if Dream and EC3 are even on the same page, do they even recognise each other, to which Roberts says he doesn’t believe they even think about their opponents. Roberts sides with Dream, while Pat says an easy win for EC3.
We see a video package of the Adam Cole and Ricochet rivalry. It’s a great video in which Cole talks about his debut one year ago tonight, and since then he won the first ever NXT War Games match and became the first-ever North American Champion. Pat McAfee reminds us that he and Adam Cole do not get along, to which Charly hilariously calls him “butthurt”. Ricochet then joins the panel for a little interview. Charly asks Ricochet how he’s feeling ahead of the match and if he feels any extra pressure, to which Ricochet says no. He says he has been training for this moment his whole life and he’s ready. Roberts asks Ricochet if he thinks he’s as special, or more, than Adam Cole. Ricochet says The Undisputed Era is special, they’re on another level that he isn’t, because he’s better than each of them. Pat says the North American Championship represents the U.S, Canada, Mexico, “and probably some other countries”, and a lot of those people don’t like Cole. He then calls Ricochet a “human joystick”. Ricochet says he wants to establish some prestige to the North American Championship, something Cole has not done.
We see Kairi Sane arriving at the arena earlier, then Shayna Baszler arriving with Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir, three parts of the MMA Four Horsewomen. We come back to the panel and Roberts says he fell in love with Sane during the Mae Young Classic. However, he thinks the loss in the final changed Shayna Baszler and she has been undefeatable. Pat says Baszler will be NXT Women’s Champion as long as she wants to be. Roberts says history disagree’s with Pat, but Asuka proves him wrong.
Tonight’s NXT TakeOver theme is “Made An America” by TheFever333, the band’s great debut album is available on Spotify and iTunes!
We see the full analysis video of who might have attacked Aleister Black again. While Tommaso Ciampa seems the obvious suspect, they should look for any babies in the vicinity. William Regal joins the panel and says he will have to work tirelessly to figure out who perpetrated the attack. He says this is the hardest thing of his career because he will have to fire someone he scouted and hired. Pat asks Regal how he’s doing because he seems flustered, and Regal says it certainly has cost him sleep and almost ruined tonight’s main event. He says he isn’t flustered but disappointed.
The last match to be talked about is the main event, the Last Man Standing match. The panel discuss how personal and vitriolic the rivalry has become. Pat says the referee has an easy job tonight because he simply has to count to 10. Roberts says Gargano will lose tonight because he is far too emotional. McAfee says the real winner tonight is the fans who get to watch. And with that we see one final video package and the Kick-Off Show is over. Enjoy the main card!
