The NXT Formula
By Scott Keith on February 18, 2020
Hey Scott
I watched the latest Takeover, obviously enjoyed it but something felt different… or too similar to put it another way.
You know you're guaranteed great wrestling, but is the formula now wearing thin? Let's be honest, you're more surprised now if a finisher actually finishes someone because you're waiting for the kick out. The Keith Lee match was a great example as you pointed out in your review it should have ended about ten minutes earlier than it did. And from there every match was the same.
I know it sounds ridiculous to complain when technically the wrestling is top notch (although having all these strong style submission wrestlers that never actually tap out making the multiple submissions in matches heatless is another issue) but you know what you're getting with Takeovers now and as good as what you're getting is… is this something they need to address or am I just nitpicking?
They need to address it. For example, the Cole-Ciampa match was way, WAY overdone with all the dramatic kickouts. Someone else on the comments put it best by saying it was like "Cole just shot Ciampa twice, one in the heart and one in the head, and he kicked out!" Portland was a super hot crowd, but New Japan experienced the same problem years ago, where fans were conditioned that EVERYTHING had to go 30 minutes, and they stopped popping for anything until the finish. So they had to readjust and did a bunch of flash finishes to re-train viewers that, yes, a Canadian Destroyer off the top rope and through a table COULD finish the match if it was at the 7:00 mark. I wish they'd do that with a Takeover main event soon, to be honest.
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