Marshall's NXT Takeover: Chicago II Review

Another Takeover, another card that looks like it could be a blinder.

NXT Tag Team Titles - Undisputed Era vs Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch

Well, this was awesome. Lorcan and Burch have been a sneaky great team for a while but they absolutely cemented themselves here. This was given all the chance in the world to succeed and it certainly did that. Both teams looked great and the crowd was fully invested throughout. There were some great near falls and they did a good job of making me believe that the challengers could win. An excellent way to kick off the show, setting the stall out for the rest of the show. ****1/2

Ricochet vs Velveteen Dream

This match ended up being a different beast than I was expecting. Both men started off quite slowly and then played a game of one-upmanship that became increasingly more entertaining. They stole each other's moves and tried to show that they were better than the other man. Velveteen Dream tells a story like very few others, and Ricochet is just unbelievable. These two could be wrestling over the WWE Title in a few years. ****1/4

NXT Women's Title - Shayna Baszler vs Nikki Cross

The match itself wasn't really anything to write home about here but the story they told was enough to help it through. Cross played her craziness to an almost pantomime level but it worked here, and it was believable that Baszler would be taken aback by it. In the end, Baszler choked out a smiling Nikki Cross, which is pretty apt. ***1/2

Keith Lee is in attendance. Bask in his glory.

NXT Title - Aleister Black vs Lars Sullivan

Well, this was a step-down. It wasn't bad but it felt like Sullivan wasn't ready for the big singles match. There was a noticeable botch on a Black Mass attempt too which didn't help. All in all, it just felt like another match. **1/2

Street Fight - Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa

I'm not going to lie, I went into this match with a bit of worry. I thought that the stipulation was too similar to their previous match and I was concerned that they wouldn't be able to tell a different enough story. I was wrong. Dead wrong. This was outstanding. Before I get to the match I would like to express how lucky we are as wrestling fans to bear witness to two feuds as close to perfection as this and Okada vs Omega. The story they told here was spot on. They built on what came before and advanced it, with Ciampa being an amazing, violent asshole and Gargano feeling that he needed to lower himself to Ciampa's level to win. The visual of Ciampa removing Gargano's wedding ring, spitting on it and throwing it away was awesome and provided the perfect reason for Gargano to snap. Having Ciampa win in the way he did was the right call too. It was violent, it was gripping, and it was another incredible match in this wild year. I eagerly await the rubber match. *****

Overall Grade - A

This was another great NXT show. Sure, the NXT Title match was below the standards that we expect at this stage but there were still three matches that hit the **** barrier, and the main event was another feather in both men's wrestler of the year cap.