No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn!!!

The Superstars and Divas of the WWE took over the Barclays Center this past weekend for an unprecedented Summerslam weekend that featured three sold-out shows, NXT Takeover, Summerslam, and Monday Night Raw. I was lucky enough to attend Summerslam live, and finally got caught up watching the other two events.

NXT TakeOver

For those of you unfamiliar with the NXT brand, it is the "developmental" territory for WWE, and I use that term loosely. Long story short, NXT takes talent from the WWE Performance Center, athletes from all walks of life, and teaches them the in and outs of the wrestling business, while providing content for the WWE Network. However, WWE COO Triple H had bigger visions for it. Hunter brought in independent wrestling darlings, like Kevin Owens, Hideo Itami, Finn Balor, and Samoa Joe to create WWE's own version of Ring of Honor, a popular indy wrestling company. I don't even think Hunter could've predicted that NXT would've sold out 13,000 seats in the Biggest City in the world. 

NXT Takeover Brooklyn did just that, and the fans who paid to be there in attendance weren't disappointed. From the undercard matches that were featured on this Wednesday's NXT show, featuring hometown hero Enzo Amore, to the pay per-view quality Takeover special, Barclays Center was rocking. NXT fans are some of the most passionate and vocal fans in the whole wrestling industry and that didn't change, moving the show out of Full Sail University for the first time in history. 

The show was headlined by a double main-event with the NXT Women's Championship being defended by Sasha Banks against Bayley and the NXT Championship being defended by Finn Balor in a ladder match against Kevin Owens. 

Sasha and Bayley tore the house down in one of the best women's pro wrestling matches I've ever seen. The two women told a great story, with Bayley becoming victorious with a Bayley to Belly after hitting a reverse hurricanrana. Becky Lynch and Charlotte joined Sasha and Bayley in a scenario similar to the infamous Curtain Call at MSG almost 20 years ago as the three women bid farewell to NXT, leaving Bayley as the champion. The women's revolution at NXT was natural, not forced down the fans' throats like WWE is doing on their main roster. In NXT the Divas made people pay attention and care about their matches, not by coming up with a manufactured tagline and Stephanie McMahon.

Another NXT competitor probably had his last match for the promotion, as Kevin Owens lost his rematch against Finn Balor. It is clear that Balor is also ready to get called up to the main roster as well, but the growth of the NXT brand is what is likely holding him back. This is where a problem could arise for WWE. NXT is a developmental brand, with the main goal being to create WWE Superstars. If they want NXT to become a third touring brand, they have to walk the fine line of keeping stars on the roster to sell tickets without holding onto guys for too long.

Summerslam

The Biggest Party of the Summer returned to the New York area for the first time in eight years, after starting a tradition of being held at the Staples Center. Being their live I thought it was a great show, but I could see how fans watching at home could feel like the four-hour show dragged a bit. 

John Cena and Seth Rollins had an excellent match for the WWE and US Championships. Jon Stewart, who was a special guest host for the show, interfered in the match teasing hitting Rollins with a chair before hitting Cena with it. Seth hit Cena with a pedigree on the chair for the win. The Brooklyn crowd was pro-Rollins, serenading John with "John Cena Sucks" to the tune of his theme song, and gave Jon Stewart a "Yes" chant for hitting Cena with the chair. The chants started as a serious hatred toward Super Cena, but now become a fun thing to start at shows, with women and kids responding with "Let's Go Cena".

Undertaker and Brock Lesnar closed out the show with a rematch that was much better than their original match at Wrestlemania 30, in which Undertaker suffered a concussion. 'Taker, making a rare appearance outside of Wrestlemania made the "match too big for Wrestlemania" feel special. The screw job finish left a sour taste in fans' mouths, and it was sort of a cop out for WWE. They had to keep Brock strong, while also having a reason for the likely rubber match at Wrestlemania 32 in Dallas. I've said it before, but there is nothing like seeing the Undertaker's entrance in person, and is something every wrestling fan has to experience at least once in their lives, even though the opportunities to see him are thinning out.

Some other random notes from the show:

The Brooklyn crowd has had enough of the never-ending Randy Orton and Sheamus feud, but the guys turned them around by the finish

The New Day could be one of the most over guys in the company. WWE is putting effort into making the tag team division important again

Roman Reigns is the biggest heel in the company. Teaming him with Dean Ambrose didn't fool the fans who booed every time he was in the ring. This led to one of the funniest moments of the night, when Reigns was selling the fans started a "Roman's sleeping" chant. Two thirds of the Shield and Wyatts have great chemistry from their 2014 feud.

The Divas match had no heat, despite the great match the night before at Takeover

Kevin Owens and Cesaro had a great match but the crowd just wasn't into it being in the death spot before the main event.

Raw 

Raw was the third and final part of the Brooklyn trilogy and left the WWE Universe wanting more. The shocking returns of the Dudley Boyz and Sting, who will both compete in title matches at the September Night of Champions pay per-view bring new blood into the title pictures.

Jon Stewart's reasoning behind costing Cena the belt made perfect sense, saying he didn't want Cena to tie Ric Flair's record 16 championship reigns. However, when Nature Boy came out to give Cena his blessing Stewart realized he made a mistake. A vengeful Cena came out and sent the retired Daily Show host packing with an AA.

No big shock, but Paul Heyman cut a great promo that made perfect sense of the Summerslam finish. Heyman said the timekeeper panicked, thinking that Brock would tear Undertaker's arm off in the kimura. A challenge was issued for the rubber match, but I'm sure you're going to hear Heyman gloat about how his client BROOOCKKKK LESNARRRRRR made the Undertaker tap out at Summerslam plenty of times before Wrestlemania 32.


This concluded an exciting 72 hours at the Barclays Center. Hopefully WWE sees the opportunity to make Summerslam a week-long extravaganza like Wrestlemania, and doesn't wait 8 years to return to the Tri-state area again.

The Jaws of Life

The right fist of linebacker IK Enemkpali has changed the fortunes of the 2015 season for Gang Green. After an argument over $600 that quarterback Geno Smith owed the linebacker for a plane ticket to a charity event he wasn't able to attend because of a family emergency, IK did something I wish I could've done at certain parts of last season. cold-cocking the third year QB in the locker room. As a result of the punch, Smith needed surgery to repair a broken jaw and could miss the first month of the season. Enemkpali was subsequently released by the Jets and signed by our old friend Rex Ryan in Buffalo the next day.

Geno Smith, entering his make or break year in New York, was reportedly impressing the new coaching staff in the early stages of training camp before the incident. Now, backup Ryan Fitzpatrick will take the reigns of the Jets offense, a playbook he should be familiar with, playing with offensive coordinator Chan Gailey for 3 seasons in Buffalo.

Geno made headlines a week earlier for practicing to boos by the Green and White faithful during a practice at Metlife Stadium. Now, most Jets fans gets their wish by seeing what kind of Fitz-magic the bearded QB can bring to our loaded offense. I for one was curious what Geno could do this year under a new system. After nine seasons in the league we already know what Fitzpatrick's ceiling is, only breaking the 3,000 yard marker three times in his career (along with a 123/101 TD/INT ratio in 96 games). Smith has had his ups and downs as Jets quarterback, and with the addition of Brandon Marshall along with a second season with Eric Decker, the expectations haven't been higher.

Looking at the bright side of things, the Jets have some winnable games in the first quarter of their season, facing the Browns, Colts, Eagles, and Dolphins, with a bye week after their Week 4 trip to London. If Fitzpatrick can at least split those first four games then Gang Green could still recover from this road bump, and have the extra week to decide of Fitzy has impressed them enough to keep the starting QB job.  Matt Flynn was brought in on Wednesday to give Coach Bowles a second veteran option to go along with fourth round pick Bryce Petty, until Geno can come back.

How Geno Smith rebounds from this will be very telling of his future in New York. Smith's lack of maturity has gotten him in trouble before, and he has said the right thing following this. However, the fact that he was wearing eye black while throwing a ball in his backyard shows that the kid just doesn't get it. Getting fired by the Jets might be the best thing that ever happened to Rex Ryan, since the perception of the Green Tent Circus now keeps Todd Bowles awake at nights.