The biggest positive from this event was that virtually every match was above average, with a couple being fantastic. The Triple Threat Elimination Tag Team Match will likely go down as a match of the year contender and at the very least, everyone should make it required viewing.
Beyond the fantastic action, there was plenty to take away from this event. Many are not-so-good and like always, we’ll count down five of those moments in this article. From an action by Asuka that should’ve been a disqualification, a mis-call by a ring announcer for the tag match, and camera operation that more than dropped the ball.
Without any more delay, proceed on to witness the botchiest and most outrageous moments from NXT TakeOver: Orlando.
#5 3MB reunion confirmed?
It’s not typical to highlight a botch from a completely separate promotion during these event recaps, but in this case it’s more than appropriate. (The now former?) Drew Galloway left Impact Wrestling when the big management change went down a few months back, simply because they dropped the ball in getting his contract to him promptly.
Let that be a lesson: there’s no reward for procrastination.
Also read: Drew McIntyre re-signs with WWE
Impact’s loss is apparently NXT’s gain because one of the big surprises of the night was when Drew was seen just before the main event, donning the McIntyre last name once again. Given that Bobby Roode also debuted before a Nakamura match in 2016 and is now carrying the NXT Championship, we can logically deduce that this run will be kind to The Chosen One.
#4 Ring announcer slip-up
The NXT ring announcer knew he messed up right after he said only the word “champion”, then immediately corrected himself. The Authors of Pain are in fact the current NXT Tag Team Champions and do not share the NXT Championship.
This might seem like a very minor thing to point out but considering how much Vince McMahon micromanages shows from backstage, this poor guy probably got chewed out from the Gorilla Position. Let’s hope for his sake that Vince skipped NXT to tend to the bigger show on Sunday. At least in that case he’ll save his scolding for another day or so.
#3 Damo deserves better
I guess it shouldn’t be a huge surprise that the extremely hairy Killian Dane received a chorus of “Shave Your Back” chants from the Orlando audience, but that’s probably something Sanity should be working to avoid. No disrespect to Matt Bloom but chanting those words didn’t exactly vault him to the main event or anything.
Sanity looked like way more of an imposing unit during this opening match. Dane even scored the winning pinfall, so kudos for him.
#2 That’s a DQ
If Ember Moon could’ve hit Asuka with her Eclipse off the ropes, she would’ve been able to capture the NXT Women’s Championship. Late in this singles Championship match, it appeared that the challenger was about to defeat the woman who is currently undefeated in NXT.
However, The Empress of Tomorrow took advantage of her surroundings by shoving the ref into the ropes. The man in stripes caused Ember to stumble, falling off the ropes and losing the match moments later.
Asuka ended up winning the match anyways, so Ember wouldn’t have gained the title regardless of if the disqualification was called. However, she would’ve at least been ruled the winner (sans a title transfer), which would’ve made a rematch for the belt more than certain.
With the decision coming off of a pin in the middle of the ring, there’s no real reason for her to get another shot anytime soon.
#1 Terrible camera work
The Authors of Pain withstood two of the greatest current tag teams on Earth in Orlando and we almost missed the entire ending. The above gif showcases Dash Wilder getting slammed into the guardrail followed by his partner Scott Dawson getting slammed into the bottom rope one after the other.
Somehow, both moves completely missed the broadcast.
Akam & Rezar set up The Revival for the Super Collider immediately after this, then scored the pinfall for the win. This will likely go down as being one of the best matches of the year, even though 2 of the final 3 moves were unseen by the at home audience.
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