NXT Takeover: Brooklyn 3 results: New champions and new challengers

For the last two summers, NXT Takeover: Brooklyn has been one of the highlights of the year in wrestling, stealing the show on SummerSlam weekend and making stars of every wrestler to step into the ring in the Barclays Center. This third edition of the show was no different, and it may even have been NXT’s best Brooklyn show yet.

We saw two huge title changes, an even more shocking declaration of intent, and five top-shelf matches, including one of the best women’s wrestling matches you’ll ever see. It was a tremendous night for wrestling fans, and one that will be long and fondly remembered.

Drew McIntyre has had one thing on his mind ever since re-signing with WWE and joining the NXT roster at WrestleMania weekend earlier this year: winning the NXT championship. On Saturday, he finally got his chance to do just that, finally getting his hands on NXT Champion Bobby Roode.

And when he got his hands on Roode, he did his best to give the long-time champion the beating of his life, but Roode’s ring smarts and sheer skill kept him alive for a long time, repeatedly turning the tables on the huge Scotsman. He used every tool in his arsenal against McIntye, using the ropes and the champion’s advantage rules to stay alive when he was in trouble, and using his pure ability in the ring to hurt McIntyre at every opportunity.

In fact, Roode had McIntyre on the ropes, hitting a Glorious DDT that nearly won him the match, then hitting another right after his challenger kicked out -- but instead of going for the cover, he picked McIntyre up to hit another Glorious DDT. McIntyre struck back before Roode could lift him all the way up, knocking the champion senseless to set up his patented Claymore kick and finally winning himself the NXT Championship.

Ember Moon has held a massive grudge against Asuka ever since the NXT Women’s Champion cheated to beat her at NXT Orlando, then put her out of action and onto the injured list. So it was no surprise when she came absolutely flying out of the gates as soon as the bell rang, taking the match to Asuka and leaving the undefeated champion reeling.

Asuka regained control, though, and started working over the recently-healed left shoulder of Moon, putting her challenger through a series of agonizing submission holds to try and break her will. All that did was anger Moon, though, who responded by fighting her way up with Asuka on her shoulders, and hitting a rarely-seen teardrop suplex to flatten the champion and take control for herself.

That control was short-lived, though, when a sudden German suplex from Asuka bounced Moon’s head off the bottom turnbuckle in the far corner, setting her up for the Asuka Lock submission move. Moon was able to fight out of Asuka’s first two tries to put her away, and even tried to get Asuka with her own move at one point, but the champion worked over her left arm some more before going back to the Asuka Lock. Moon broke it by forcing Asuka’s shoulders down, and that started a back and forth, wide open stretch of the match that saw both women struggle to take full control of the proceedings.

Ember Moon finally managed to get the upper hand, though, and looked like she had the match won when she finally managed to hit her Eclipse move, a corkscrew stunner that’s taken out every other opponent she’s faced. Asuka somehow kicked out, though, then used the referee to block Moon’s second attempt. Moon kept pushing for the pinfall, but a crucial mistake let Asuka get her deep in the Asuka Lock, giving Moon no choice but to tap out, leaving Asuka still undefeated and still the NXT Women’s Champion.

Aleister Black has carved an incredible path through NXT since his debut a few weeks ago, using his intimidating Black Mass spinning heel kick to beat everyone that’s stepped in front of him — and to knock out Hideo Itami when the frustrated Japanese star refused to leave the ring when Black was due to have a match several weeks ago.

That moment set up tonight’s clash, and it was a brutal and hard-fought match between two elite strikers, with Black spending much of the match bleeding after an early exchange left his nose bloodied. He didn’t let that slow him down one bit, however, coming back with responses to everything that Itami threw at him -- and Itami threw a lot of offense Black’s way.

In fact, at one point it looked as though Itami had the upper hand and had Black all but beaten, especially after a Michinoku driver off the top rope followed soon after by a Falcon Arrow. That set Black up for Itami’s Go To Sleep finisher, but Black had just enough left in the tank to fight out of it and start landing shots of his own — shots that culminated in the Black Mass, leaving Itami unconscious on the mat once more, and leaving Black victorious once more, and with little left for him to do in NXT but challenge for the NXT Championship.

The NXT Tag Team Championship match pitted two teams of absolute monsters against each other, with the cold calculation of Paul Ellering’s Authors of Pain defending their titles against the psychotic manipulation of Eric Young’s Sanity. Akam and Rezar wasted no time in assaulting their challengers, starting a brawl that took a long time to sort out before the bell could even ring to start the match.

Young had a big surprise up his sleeve, though: when the match finally did start, he stepped into the match instead of Killian Dane. Dane and Alexander Wolfe had been brawling with the Authors for weeks, with Young completely absent until helping his allies jump the champions last week. Ellering would have had his men preparing to face Dane and Wolfe, so Young coming into the match threw a big spanner in the works.

The Authors still dominated much of the early going of the match, isolating the much smaller Young and working him over — but when he finally got a tag in to Wolfe, the wild German madman completely changed the complexion of the match for a brief spell, suplexing both of the bigger Authors and nearly winning the match on his own before the champions took control again.

The numbers game got the best of the Authors, though, with Nikki Cross keeping them from executing a two-man superplex on Young by holding his leg, giving Sanity the chance to work their way back into the match after Akam accidentally power bombed Rezar on his own instead of sending Young down with him as intended. Their numbers came into play again, with Cross diving off the top rope, only to get caught by Akam — who was promptly put through a table by an on-rushing Killian Dane while the referee was distracted.

That opening was all Young and Wolfe needed to work over Rezar, and one flying elbow from Young later, Sanity were the tag team champions in shocking fashoin.

The NXT universe has been buzzing with joy ever since Johnny Gargano returned to action, coming back from the beating he suffered at the hands of his former #DIY tag team partner Tommaso Ciampa after losing their match against the Authors of Pain at Takover: Chicago. But on Saturday night, it was Andrade “Cien” Almas earning himself the right to party with a big win over the fan favorite.

The two went back and forth trading absolutely huge moments — a whiplasah DDT wasn’t enough for Gargano to put Almas away, a huge tornado DDT couldn’t keep Gargano down, Almas had to fight to get out of the Gargano Escape submission, a buckle bomb and bronco buster weren’t enough to stop Gargano, and on and on it went.

In the end, it was Almas’ manager Zelina Vega who made the difference, interrupting Gargano’s efforts to set up his finisher on a downed Almas by throwing a DIY shirt in his face. Gargano recoiled when he saw what was on the shirt — straight into a stiff shot from Almas, setting him up for a hammerlock DDT. It was a much-needed win for Almas, and a sign of a bright future for the young Mexican star at long, long last.

There were two big celebrations tonight, when Sanity and later Drew McIntyre both won their respective title matches — but none of those proud men were able to celebrate for long. That’s because Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly, two recent NXT debutantes, interrupted Sanity’s celebration with a massive beating — then coming out to face down McIntyre, setting him up for a shocking attack from Adam Cole.

Fish and O’Reilly came out of the crowd to attack them, uniting for the first time in NXT as reDRagon, one of the more decorated tag teams outside of the WWE in the last several years. They cleaned house on Sanity and the Authors of Pain, making a major statement of intent to the entire NXT Universe, one followed up loudly by their assist for Cole, who has been one of the most highly-decorated singles wrestlers in recent years, including a wildly successful stint with the Bullet Club.

It’s clear that Cole and reDRagon see themselves as a force to be reckoned with in NXT. Cole has set his sights on McIntyre’s NXT Championship, and it appears that Fish and O’Reilly are ready to square off with Sanity for the Tag Team Championships. They’re ready to change the landscape of NXT — and it’s going to be fascinating to see just what they have in mind.