GDT: NXT Takeover Phoenix (26th January 2019)

[GKJ]

Fun times, although I was a little burnt out by the end. I thought the match order was a little curious. I would have bet money that Riddle/Ohno would open the show as the tag match was a hard act to follow. I certainly would not have put the women's match after Ricochet/Gargano.

Unfortunately we missed the tail end of the backstage melee. I was telling my buddy how NXT typically sets up another angle at the close of the show, almost like a Marvel mid-credits scene. After Gargano came out, we started making our way up the exit but Dream's music hit. We stuck around for the beginning of the brawl but left once it went backstage. Unfortunately we didn't stick around for the curtain call. Buddy seemed to enjoy it, even without Dream wrestling my buddy was instantly a fan based on the in house reaction. Atmosphere was pretty good although several upper deck sections were tarped off. For WarGames they were able to sell more seats.

During the pre-show, somebody behind me yelled out "Who wears short shorts?" and I yelled out "Pat wears short shorts" which got a reaction from him.

I'm glad I procrastinated on seats. Got decent ones a few nights before as I can only assume they had reserved them for friends/family and they went unclaimed.

I did that in Brooklyn this year and got decent seats, last row on the floor looking at the stage and on the end, but I'm also short (I tell people I'm 5'7"). But when Adam Cole superkicked Ricochet doing the quebarada, I had a perfect view of that.

 

[GKJ]

Observer Ratings

Undisputed Era vs. War Raiders ****1/2
Riddle vs. Ohno ***1/2
Ricochet vs. Gargano ****3/4
Shayna Baszler/Bianca Belair ***
Ciampa/Aleister Black ****

 

[SeidoN]

surprisingly harsh ratings imo. I had

Tag Titles - 4.5
Riddle/Ohno - 3.5
NA Title - 5
Womens Title - 4
NXT Title -4.5/4.75 (I was originally torn about giving it a 5, but I rewatched and decided it was a slight step down from the NA Title, but not much)

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Meltzer’s broken hand made it hard for him to write the proper amount of stars for Gargano/Ricochet, clearly.

 

[Paris in Flames]

f*** him if he thinks Ciampa/Black was only a half star better than Ohno/Riddle.

I have Black/Ciampa hovering between 4.25 and 4.5 tbh.

Also Gargano vs Ricochet was a 5 star match and if you say otherwise you're wrong.

 

[Serac]

In what world is Gargano/Ricochet not 5 stars ???

 

[Scandale du Jour]

In what world is Gargano/Ricochet not 5 stars ???

If only it were in the Tokyo Dome...

 

[GKJ]

I thought Almas/Gargano was better but not by a lot, it was also 10 minutes longer.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Almas/Gargano was 6 stars

 

[Paris in Flames]

Almas/Gargano is the pinnacle of North American wrestling.

 

[ColePens]

Just saw that wasn't given 5 stars. So f***ing stupid. That's why Dave does get called out because 100% if that was in NJPW - it was given 6 stars.

But at the end of the day, it's just a person giving ratings. That's a 5* match. And because i'm still irate, HBK/Taker at WM25 is also 5*. f*** Dave.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Just saw that wasn't given 5 stars. So ****ing stupid. That's why Dave does get called out because 100% if that was in NJPW - it was given 6 stars.

But at the end of the day, it's just a person giving ratings. That's a 5* match. And because i'm still irate, HBK/Taker at WM25 is also 5*. **** Dave.

"Dave" is not the end all be all of ratings. We should not take his opinion so seriously. Him not giving the match 5 stars is ridiculous, but that's "Dave". Probably did it to spark discussion and generate traffic.

 

[GKJ]

Just saw that wasn't given 5 stars. So ****ing stupid. That's why Dave does get called out because 100% if that was in NJPW - it was given 6 stars.

But at the end of the day, it's just a person giving ratings. That's a 5* match. And because i'm still irate, HBK/Taker at WM25 is also 5*. **** Dave.

Dave will tell you that if you have a match he rated 4 3/4* as a 5* that you basically agree.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Ricochet vs. Gargano = 5 star

 

[CHGoalie27]

Just saw that wasn't given 5 stars. So ****ing stupid. That's why Dave does get called out because 100% if that was in NJPW - it was given 6 stars.

But at the end of the day, it's just a person giving ratings. That's a 5* match. And because i'm still irate, HBK/Taker at WM25 is also 5*. **** Dave.

f***ing really.