by Hanley! » Feb 01, '18, 3:55 pm
It was very well deserved. I didn't expect to be saying this any time soon, but I thought it was probably better than anything on Wrestle Kingdom 12. And that's saying something, because that was a fantastic show and I particularly loved Okada vs Naito and the four way match for the Junior Heavyweight title.
Gargano is probably second only to Styles when it comes to in-ring abilities in WWE, and he's far and away the best baby face on their roster. I could see this really being his year, with a great feud with Ciampa in the works and the possibility of another title shot towards the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Almas has turned things around too. His original presentation was so bad in NXT, so I'm glad that he's managed to get over again and is working at such a high level as champion. The chemistry between these two guys is off the charts and between that and the usual high quality storytelling in the Takeover main events, this was destined to be great. The only way the match could have been better is if Gargano had won, but I can accept that it's not his time yet.
I'm glad to see Meltzer recognising a Takeover match. I usually have a lot of time for his rating system, and I appreciate that he's picky with the matches that he gives a five star rating. But there are a couple of NXT matches that were unlucky to miss out (Neville vs Zayn comes to mind) so I'm glad this one is getting the plaudits it deserves.
I'm happy for the wrestlers involved too. You just know that wrestlers (and WWE wrestlers in particular) don't give a fuck about Meltzer's ratings until they earn a 5 star match. They'd have to mark out at that though, no matter how cool they try and play things.