NXT HITS & MISSES 11/15: Final Takeover WarGames hype, Street Profits vs. Moss & Sabbatelli, Drew and Almas face-off, Moon vs. Martinez, Lars squash

Drew McIntyre pulled from Smackdown — Drew Galloway (art credit Matt Charlton & Sam Gardiner © PWTorch)

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This week served as the go-home episode before Takeover: War Games and it pretty much served its purpose. As with other go-home WWE programs where it seems to end on an exciting note, NXT played it safe this week with being relevant and consistent while offering the viewer a build up to this historic event. There weren’t any big finishes or exciting cliff hangers, just pure entertainment for the viewers waiting patiently for this Saturday. Most of the matches were short, but served some sort of purpose as it was either to prepare for Takeover or to showcase some of the talent that is currently present on the roster.

HITS

The Street Profits vs. Riddick Moss & Tino Sabbatelli: Overall, this was a very good match as it was both entertaining and fundamentally sound. Over the last couple of weeks, these two teams have been building up to a collision that surely did not disappoint. The Street Profits looked impressive as they showed excellent in-ring chemistry and continuity, exchanging moves while exciting the fans who were present. This is not to take away from Moss & Sabbatelli as they showed their brute strength that they are known for, but it was the Street Profits picking up the win as Dawkins planted a hard right hand across Sabbatelli knocking him out. Even though this match did not have any Takeover: War Games implications, it surely entertained the fans at Full Sail University serving as a strong introduction to this week’s episode.

Lars Sullivan vs. Raul Mendoza: This match was mainly a squash for Sullivan. Except for the early moments in the match, it was all Sullivan. With a series of hard-hitting body smashes in the corner, a powerslam, and vicious cross face hits, Sullivan ended this match with a Freak Accident to pick up the win. He was not done yet as he was about to inflict more pain on Mendoza only for Kassius Ohno to make the save. Sullivan and Ohno then had a heated stare down. Sullivan ended up laughing at his Takeover opponent before leaving the ring only to leave the viewer not knowing what to expect when these two titans clash this Saturday.

Ember Moon vs. Mercedes Martinez: I have to eat my words from last week because I did not believe this match would serve a true purpose. Boy, was I wrong. This was an excellent match, probably the best of the night as these two showed raw intensity in their battle. This was as much as a win for Martinez as it was for Moon as the former was impressive in the ring. She showed aggression in her moves and actions in this back-and-forth battle. Moon did not let down as she performed some awesome moves of her own while being fearless and highly competitive. In the end, it was Moon picking up the win with the Eclipse. But one has to tip their hat to Martinez as she proved that she will be a force to recon with later in the Women’s Division.

Drew McIntyre-Andrade “Cien” Almas’ Faceoff: In the final segment of the show, McIntyre made his way to the ring to voice his displeasure with Almas and Zelina Vega’s actions last week. He ridiculed his Takeover opponent for not being man enough to face him and hiding behind the words of Vega. Soon both Almas and Vega made their way to the ring to where the two men went head to head. McIntyre was getting the best of Almas until Vega attempted a high crossbody press on McIntyre only to be caught in mid air. This gave Almas the time he needed to get in a cheap shot and put McIntyre in a hammerlock DDT. The pair stood over the champion to close out the show surely setting up what will be a highly contested battle between these two foes.