NXT: Takeover Chicago II - The Seceret of the Ooze

[Mr. Nerfect]

It would be really cool if there was an actual production/philosophy divide between Raw and SmackDown by that point in time.

[Jordan]

That was a fucking great show. I don't have a bad thing to say. Amazing finish to the main event, just so creative and sick. I loved Velveteen and Ricochet, that was brilliance, insanity, perfection for Ricochet and Velveteen is just so alive. The opening tag match was so fucking good I was just like oh man how is anyone going to top this. And what a great main event, wow that was just such a throwback to me but not a throwback at all, so innovative. Great card.

[Droford]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NXTTakeOver?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NXTTakeOver</a> had to do it! <a href="https://t.co/so8XAiNd44">pic.twitter.com/so8XAiNd44</a></p>&mdash; TheWokenClub (@thefosterclub) <a href="https://twitter.com/thefosterclub/status/1008164737912377344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Yo be honest I missed that live

[Sepholio]

Jeez so did I. I thought the blow was glancing and just not good contact but he missed by damn near 2 feet. :lol:

[Jordan]

Yeah an embarrassing spot, really bad. That aside this show was insane. Watching Ricochet and Dream was so obviously like... inspired by Kenny and Okada. So good.

[Emperor Smeat]

Missed this show last night but just finished watching a replay of it.

NXT Tag tile match was really good.

:lol: Dream mocking Hogan's entrance. Ouch at the suplex to the outside by Dream. Ricochet got some crazy distance with the Shooting Star Press. Fantastic match between Dream and Ricochet.

Feel bad for Cross-Baszler since another Women's title match that has the tough task of following a very hot TakeOver match. Decent match overall but Baszler's biggest problem is the lack of standout matches since she showed up. Think the one against Kairi Sane at MYC is still her only notable one.

NXT title match was a lot better than I expected. Last 5-10 minutes were really great.

:lol: at everyone ignoring Nigel getting knocked out. Gargano is lucky he didn't break his arm with the cross body spot onto the concrete. Ouch at Gargano getting tossed onto the steel steps. Ciampa taking off Gargano's wedding ring and spitting on it was amazing. One of the rare times where someone snapping became an instant badass submission machine. :lol: at the ending to this Street Fight match. :lol: show ending with "Fuck You Ciampa" chants.

Vic did a job good tonight but his style really lacks the passion Mauro has for calls. At times it felt like he was just calling a regular 205 Live show instead of a major event. Still way better than the drivel known as RAW's commentary.

[Jordan]

I thought Vic was great! He's not Mauro but nobody has passion like Mauro.

[Jordan]

I don't think that Gargano/Ciampa was as good as the last year but not by much and only because of the gimmick. But yet again, another stellar match. The first one was MOTY for me until Okada/Omega broke the mold.

[Droford]

Yeah an embarrassing spot, really bad. That aside this show was insane. Watching Ricochet and Dream was so obviously like... inspired by Kenny and Okada. So good.

I was really pissed off I couldn't get into their match cause of circumstances. It wss the weirdest thing I've ever had happen watching wrestling in almost 30 years. I was watching could tell they were putting on a he'll of a match and I was just sitting there..eventually got into the show but I think dream/ricochet was the MOTN from a pure wrestling standpoint from what remember. Ciampa/Gargano was a better story and all though.

Might have to go back and rewatch but it finally feels like a Takeover was underwhelming. I don't remember the last time that happened. They usually are either ok or better than expected. I'm worried it was just me and my shit affecting my viewpoint though ..

[Blonde Moment]

Wedding ring thing was great. Noid is right about Gargano reacting by going for a very "controled" wrestling move and not just murdering him seeming off though.

I think at that point when he discovered Ciampa did that to him it hurt him on such a deep level that he just went into a white hot rage. You might not remember what you did or how you were able to do it after but at the time you knew exactly what you were doing.

[RP]

I never once thought that exposed wood was coming back into play. I'm not sure what that says. But i'm gonna make a thread about it tomorrow. Never once did i see that ending.

[RP]

It's not the best match ever at all, but they made me forget about that exposed wood and the ending was wonderful.

[XL]

He's doing great work. I don't think it's real heat. I think it's an ironic response because people love Johnny and they know that Ciampa's trying to be an actual heel so they're playing along. But it's better than them ironically not.

If he starts banging Candice they could be a new version of Edge & Lita.

I thought the “We know the business” fans (AKA Super Smarks) advocated that fans “play their part” by cheering the faces/booing the heels regardless of how poorly WWE have managed those alignments. Now we’re saying that even when they do they’re doing it “ironically”?

[#1-norm-fan]

I don't know that it's possible to get "real" heat anymore in the sense Noid is talking about. But you can't really ask the fans to "play their part" either. They need to do whatever they are compelled to do and you have to force the compulsion you want on them somehow. Not sure how to accomplish that nowadays. People are gonna cheer the performers they like and not the character. The story doesn't mean shit.

[LibSuperstar]

TakeOver was pretty solid. I dug the Hogan tribute by Dream. Although the Women's Title match was underwhelming I liked the angle of Bazler retreating from Cross. The Street Fight was great. Gargano losing it after discovering his ring was gone was ace as was Ciampa coming back for the surprise win.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I thought the “We know the business” fans (AKA Super Smarks) advocated that fans “play their part” by cheering the faces/booing the heels regardless of how poorly WWE have managed those alignments. Now we’re saying that even when they do they’re doing it “ironically”?

If you're "playing your part" of course you're doing it ironically.

[Mr. Nerfect]

No one in that arena really hates Tommaso Ciampa. Well, actually, there are a couple of fans calling out that make me question...