#with a matching one for himself w the arrow pointing to logan

[pastorpresent]

everyone somebody calls dp3 logan 'the best wolverine' an angel gets it's wings<33

[yourslovinglecter]

The Duchess - Part 5

Summary: She hated him, for everything he had done to them, the damage he had caused, the suffering and pain he had left behind. She hated him… Didn’t she? Emilia comes face to face with the leader of the Saviours and is confronted with his true nature, which in turn has her questioning her own.

Warning/s: Eventual smut, slow burner, profanity/swearing, graphic descriptions of violence.

Pairing: Negan/OC

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

No gifs are made by me unless otherwise stated. All credit goes to the original creators.

Alexandria

The days seemed as though they passed too quickly and reaped too little in the way of rewards for them. The outlying areas had already been picked clean and each time they ventured out it was a little farther. Today it was her turn and usually she would have been accompanied by Daryl…

Rick had tried to persuade her to take someone else, but in the end what it boiled down to was that she just didn’t trust anyone else to have her back. Michonne was off doing whatever it was she did nowadays, Rick was needed at the compound and Carol had vanished. She was just fine with Logan trotting along at her side, she trusted him with her life and she was used to it being just them. They worked better alone.

Daryl had fit right in with them, he was so quiet when they scavenged that it had barely felt like he was there. With Logan to her right and Daryl to her left she’d felt safe… She wasn’t prepared to let anyone else try to bond with Logan so that they could scavenge together.

He didn’t exactly like strangers.

She snorted to herself as they worked their way through the undergrowth. That was the understatement of the year. He was damn unsociable was what he was. He hated strangers, men especially.

He would tolerate woman, but barely. Most of the Alexandrians found him intimidating, which was why she had the house furthest away from the others, alone, with a very large garden. They felt much safer knowing he was there as opposed to roaming around their picture perfect suburb.

Daryl and Logan had come to an understanding, they stayed out of each others way, respected each other, and Logan tolerated him because he kept Emilia safe. Rick… Well Logan didn’t like Rick too much, growled at him quite often, most likely because of his unpredictable emotions. But Rick trusted the beast with his infant daughter-who Logan had taken to immediately. He knew when someone needed protecting and no one was more vulnerable than Judith.

She’d been stunned herself when he’d taken the protective stance over her the first time, when the psychopaths with W’s carved in their foreheads had stormed the compound. He’d ripped a few throats out of the living that day and even she had been impressed when they’d found him surrounded by bodies with Judith playing in the centre.

Rick had trusted him ever since.

They didn’t get on, but she didn’t think Logan would ever actually like another male. Especially around her, he was protective to the extreme and refused to allow men near her for the fear of fighting for her affection.

She didn’t mind. If anything she was grateful, It had kept her alive.

She heard him panting somewhere to her right and the soft snapping of twigs under his paws. She couldn’t see him but she knew he was there, flanking her should she need him. She didn’t have a vehicle with her because he wasn’t after a big haul, she had gone on foot because today was about walkers and the loot they carried.

Everyone in todays world had weapons on them and that’s what they needed. She figured that out of every 10 walkers she killed at least one should have a knife. Something they could use to replenish the stores Negan and his men had ransacked.

Her bow was slung over her shoulders, the makeshift arrows sticking out of her backpack. She’d done archery as a child and quickly realised the most easily resourced and replenish-able weapon was one which solely relied on nature to create. She’d had a crappy handmade bow when she’d met Rick’s group. It wasn’t anything spectacular, it had been thrown together in haste from a dead ash tree branch which she’d whittled down with a hunting knife and some knotted string. It had done the job but certainly could have been improved upon.

Then she’d met Daryl, he’d shared her affinity for arrows but she disliked the crossbow, preferring instead to use her longbow. That was until Daryl had one day presented her with the weapon she favoured now.

He’d tried to give her some bullshit about how he’d happened to find it, but she knew full well he must have travelled over a hundred miles to the old abandoned hunting lodge she herself had passed on her way to Alexandria. She hadn’t dared enter it because it seemed someone had shut a whole load of walkers in there, she wasn’t about to let them out and face twenty on her own… But she was sure that’s what Daryl had done to get her the bow she now had.

It was a thing of beauty really, and as her shot had improved she’d outgrown the last one. He’d even found 6 accompanying arrows in the lodge, which she recovered and reused where possible, just as he did. This was a black compound bow, lightweight and deadly and she adored it. She had even been thinking of naming it… That was until Negan had come along swinging Lucille and ruining that thought for her.

She paused as she heard a shuffling noise ahead and crouched low, she instinctively sensed that Logan had stopped too as they listened. She knew what it was before she heard the gurgle because Logan had started his low pitched warning growl, the type of noise that if directed at you would set every nerve ending on your body alight with fear.

“Shh.” She whispered and he stopped immediately, accepting the signal for what it was. She would take this one. If Negan’s visit had proven anything to her, it was that she had lost her edge behind those tall walls, she needed the practice.

She shifted her bow from over her back and held it gently in her hands, knocking an arrow she held it with her forefinger as she looked through the trees, waiting for her target to appear as the noises got closer. More shuffling and simultaneous gurgles were now heard, which informed her that it wasn’t just one walker. Four maybe?

Her eyes saw movement ahead and she pulled her bow taught, the arrow beside her cheek ready to fly. She let them come closer, feeling the tension in her arm and loving the familiar ache in her shoulder, this was where she belonged.

Three, four… Six. There were six of them, one for each arrow she had. She knew Logan would be flanking them, lying in wait should she need him, so she wasn’t afraid.

She let her arrow loose and cursed as it hit the tree trunk beside the closest walkers head with a thunk. They knew she was there now and became more agitated, stumbling toward her faster, their rotting arms outstretched.

She breathed deeply as she concentrated her focus, automatically reaching behind her for arrow after arrow as they closed in around her. They fell one by one, no match for her speed until she reached behind her to grab an arrow and groped at thin air. Her eyes shot to the tree trunk where her arrow was firmly lodged and so she threw her bow over her head and one arm as she simultaneously bent toward her boot where her hunting knife was concealed.

The walker tripped over the body of one of the others and pulled itself to its uncoordinated feet. It fell toward her and its weight and stench overwhelmed her as she fought to hold it off, her hand pushed against it’s chest cavity which gave way, the rotting flesh congealing around her fingers.

Shit

Shit, shit, shit!

Skin was hanging from its exposed jaw as teeth gnashed at her and decomposing fingers stretched forward like tentacles, determined to reach her.

She heard that all too familiar growl and let out a sigh of relief as it turned to a snarl and teeth snapped as Logan leapt onto the walkers back and pulled him over, leaping off just in time and moving out of its reach. He was crouched low, his ears pressed against his skull and his lip pulled back menacingly as he snarled, drool dripping from his exposed teeth which were now coated with blood.

She didn’t waste any time and closed her hand around the handle of her knife, removing it from her boot as she lunged forward and lodged it in the walkers temple. It stilled suddenly.

“Good… Boy.” She panted, ruffling him behind the ears as he approached, licking his lips as he dropped the snarl and his ears pointed back up as the danger passed. He shook himself off and moved closer to her, accepting the hand which she placed on his neck for support.

She made her way around each of the bodies, first collecting her arrows, if for any reason she needed to run they were her priority over whatever the bodies may be carrying. Once she had dislodged the final one from the tree about 15 yards away she returned to the bodies to search them.

They were at varying stages of decomposition and unsurprisingly the oldest walkers had nothing on them of worth. There were two which looked a little more recent though and so she ran her hands over the chest of the first one, a male. Her lip curled upward in disgust but it had to be done, she found an old photograph of a young girl in his chest pocket and looked at it sadly for a moment, before returning it to its place. His pants pocket held half a pack of cigarettes and matches. She didn’t smoke but she’d bet men in Negan’s crew did. She put them in her pack and searched his other pocket which yielded a small swiss army knife. She opened each mechanism one by one to check for rust and found none, it was perfect. Almost useless against walkers of course, but she was sure Negan and his men would appreciate it. She put that in her pack too.

She patted down his legs, disappointed to feel he had nothing else on him. She rolled him over just to make doubly sure. He was heavy and the more she’d gotten used to moving bodies, the quicker she’d realised where the term ‘dead weight’ had come from. She patted down his back and smiled as his shirt rumpled over something tucked into his waistband.

“Bingo.” She whispered as she pulled the shirt up to reveal a handgun tucked into his pants, she removed it and checked for ammo, half a clip.

Elation filled her and she looked up and grinned at Logan who was watching her with interest, his head tilting sideways when she spoke.

“We got something boy.”

She placed that in her bag, making a mental note to ask Rick about it. She wasn’t good with guns, she preferred her bow and knife and as such knew very little about them. She had been at a disadvantage here when this had all began, many Americans had a working knowledge of firearms but being from England she knew next to nothing, hell she’d never even touched one before she’d arrived in the land of the free.

She considered the footwear before she moved away and decided she didn’t like the thought of his foot decomposing in them and so left them where they were and moved onto the next one.

It was female, probably not much older than her from what she could tell. Probably hadn’t been a walker for more than a week. Emilia sighed as she dropped her head in sadness, her eyes lit upon the bite mark on the woman’s shoulder, guessing that was probably how she met her end.

Which was precisely why she kept her own shoulders covered when outside the walls, her jacket wasn’t exactly army standard in material strength but it would most certainly buy her more time to kill a walker trying to take a chunk out of her shoulder than nothing at all would. Logan’s cold wet nose nudged at her neck and she let out a soft huff of laughter, appreciating his attempt at uplifting her mood.

She felt so awful doing this. Looting the dead. But as Daryl had told her, they wouldn’t be needing anything they were carrying anymore.

With this thought at the forefront of her mind she removed the gold necklace which held a wedding ring, judging by the size and thickness it had belonged to a man. Emilia glanced down at the woman’s hand and saw the matching ring on her finger. She removed that too along with the simple single jewelled engagement ring which sat behind it.

“I’m so sorry…” She whispered, shaking her head as she put the jewellery in her pocket and zipped it up.

She looked at the woman face again as she patted her down, finding nothing else of value. She wondered where she had come from, she didn’t look as though she had been dead for very long and the speed which the walkers travelled she couldn’t have come from very far… Maybe she’d had a base or a group with supplies?

Emilia looked up at the sky, she estimated she had five, maybe six hours of sunlight left. Whilst she hadn’t expected to be away from home overnight, it could pay off for them. She licked her lips and flinched as her sore wound made itself known. She had seen how The Saviours acted and that was when they had plenty of supplies to take, she didn’t want to think about what would happen if they didn’t meet Negan’s quota.

“What do you say Logie? A couple of nights out in the wild for old times sake?” She looked at her companion who woof-ed softly in agreement. She knew he couldn’t understand her, but sometimes she really felt as though he did. She smiled at him and hoisted her pack over her shoulder, slinging her bow over her head and arm so that the wire rested diagonally on her sternum.

They walked for hours, taking out every walker they crossed. Usually she wouldn’t bother, but now they were desperately scavenging any supplies they could get and every little bit mattered. She’d collected a man’s wristwatch, a large hunting knife with a serrated blade and a couple bullets. Unfortunately no other guns.

The sun was starting to hang low in the sky so she dedicated her last couple of hours before darkness fell to finding them shelter. She had been hoping for some kind of building but she wasn’t that lucky, instead when light became scarce she settled for a small clearing in the trees and set up a perimeter, using industrial strength rope she’d brought along with her to wrap around the trees in a circle at shin level. Then she repeated these steps at stomach height and again at neck height, never once did she cut the rope, instead she just repeatedly wrapped it around the trunk, using the tension and her own weight to make it taught. When she was done she wrapped the remaining around the largest trunk and tied one of the strongest knots she knew, of course taught to her by Daryl.

Most of the skills she knew now had been taught to her by him, knots, tracking, making better arrows…

She tried not to think about him.

Her rope wall wouldn’t stop regular people, but she had Logan for that. It was just enough that she could get a couple hours of shut eye without worrying her face would be chewed off in her sleep. She doubted anyone would find her out here anyway as she refused to light a fire, she didn’t need it for food as she was currently chewing on half a granola bar and she most definitely didn’t need it for heat.

She looked down in amusement at the 50kg beast who was draped over her legs, making her lose all feeling in them but also warming her with his hot belly. She was being watched with large amber doe eyes and she laughed at his expression, when drool began pooling on her leg she wrapped up her remaining granola bar and opened her pack, feeling out for the large can of dog food.

His head lifted immediately and his ears perked up as he watched her pull the can open and stick her fingers inside.

“You can’t eat the whole tin.” She warned him, holding it slightly out of his reach as she fished around for roughly a quarter serving of the can. “We don’t know how long we need this to last.”

She offered her hand out with the measly portion and his large rough tongue descended on her open palm, swallowing the offering down in almost one gulp. She wiped the drool on her jacket once he had finished licking the residue from her fingers and returned the can to her pack.

“Sorry pup.” She said as she caught his pleading eyes and placed the pack behind her to rest on. A large muzzle rested itself on her shoulder as his hot breaths tickled her ear and she knew she was forgiven. She wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes, trying to forcefully evict the image of Negan which seemed to appear there at every opportunity.

When she awoke it was to the sound of Logan’s growls, by the weight on her chest she deduced he hadn’t actually moved off her yet so she peeled one itchy eye open and tried to see through the darkness.

She raised her hand to his neck and began gently stroking his fur, calming and quietening him so that she could hear whatever it was he was growling at. His head was up and looking behind her, she couldn’t move to try and see what it was without dislodging him which would make a whole lot of noise considering his size. Almost as though he knew what she was thinking and really didn’t like it, he quietly readjusted himself to lay fully over the top of her, his head descending so that she was now laying on her back, face first into his throat and had a mouth full of fur. He was so long and large that only her shins and boots stuck out from beneath him, but in this darkness that wouldn’t be seen.

She thought about shifting him but decided against it, he had made the choice for her and was pressed against her fully, shielding her from whatever it was. She listened as carefully as she could but her hearing was somewhat muffled by the 50 kilograms of canine which sat atop her.

Then she heard it, voices.

Part 6

A/N: Thank you so much for everyone who has liked, reblogged and commented on this story so far! For something I began writing months ago to myself I’m so please others are enjoying it. 

Tag list: @negan–is–god  @negans-network @aeiflegonphoenix @monizzle96

If you would like to be tagged just drop me a comment and i’ll make sure you’re added to the list. 

[wrestlingwiththoughts]

NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III (August 20 2017)

The first thing I saw coming out of the Atlantic Center - Barclays Center stop was a group of fans posing for some pre-roll footage for WWE or a local news show’s use. Chanting “NXT” and posing in mock menace, the crowd was only of interest to me because they blocked the sidewalk and my path to join two friends at Don Chignon for a pre-show meal and cocktail. 

Last week, I attended Evolve 91 and PROGRESS NYC at a youth recreational center in Corona, Queens. This week, I attended TakeOver: Brooklyn III at the Barclays Center, which is as different from the Elmcor Youth Center as the temperature was in the two buildings on two different August evenings. However, the similarities are worth a chuckle. At both shows, there were fans who were just a little socially awkward, who tried a little too hard to start chants that would go nowhere to prove that they know all about the wrestlers. At both shows, cameramen had spotters clad in black who had to make sure that the camera operators would be able to travel around the ring and film everything. At one point, there were technical difficulties at the Barclays Center that was only different than the technical difficulties an independent wrestling show might suffer by dint of scale. And I’m sure that fourth row floor seats at the Barclays Center wouldn’t have been that much better than fourth row floor seats at the Elmcor Youth Center.

So, I was glad that we were in the arena’s upper bowl in seats that had clear sight lines of the entrance ramp and the ring. The only obstacle to a good view would be my fellow fans in the row before ours who would stand up to record everything on their phones. I don’t know if the WWE tried to pretend that this was a full house, but there were many empty seats across from me on the hard camera side even by the main event. It corroborates reports that the secondary market for TakeOver tickets has fallen through the floor. 

Before the show started, they played a backstage interview segment where Renee asked Becky Lynch and Bayley who they thought would win the NXT Women’s Championship match. Lynch received her usual cheers, but the crowd was surprisingly vocal about their dislike for Bayley. I’m surprised that the crowd has turned on Bayley, but character stagnation and character assassination will turn even the easiest going babyface into someone that the crowd hates. I suppose that Bayley can turn back, but it’s disappointing to see Bayley’s potential so thoroughly squandered.

The pre-show had an aborted No Way Jose vs. Lars Sullivan match, a perfectly acceptable Peyton Royce vs. Sara Logan match, and a surprise appearance from Tyler Bate, Trent Seven, Wolfgang, and Pete Dunne. The cheers for Bate and Dunne were genuine because the match was unannounced, and the match told a fun story about how Bate and Dunne Were evenly matched. Therefore, Dunne and Wolfgang focused their attack on Trent Seven to eliminate him from the match. With Seven out of the way, Dunne and Wolfgang could work over Bate at length and even use a blind tag to allow Wolfgang to hit a swanton bomb that took Bate by surprise and score Wolfgang the victory. There were two separate “This is Progress” chants during the match, which amused me. A friend asked me if Dunne would attack Wolfgang after the match, and I responded that he doesn’t have a reason to be a dick for no reason, which is some kind of impressive logic trap. 

1. Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade Cien Almas w/Zelina Vega

I hadn’t realized that they had added lyrics to Johnny Gargano’s entrance theme, which is an unfortunate choice. The crowd loves Gargano, while no one clapped for or booed against Almas; the “Johnny Wrestling” chants supported Gargano, and that Almas was wrestling Gargano was irrelevant to the fans early. There was one “Los Ingobernables” sign by the entrance ramp, and I wondered if I were the only one who appreciated the fact that both Tetsuya Naito, leader of Los Ingobernables de Japon, and Almas, former leader of Los Ingobernables, have really energetic music that belie their “tranquilo” attitudes. Gargano looked to use his speed to take Almas off guard with some crisp mat wrestling early in the match, but Almas kicked out at one. Gargano and Almas combined a little bit of everything, from American independent mat wrestling to lucha libre to Japanese strike exchanges into some really great sequences; Gargano’s La Mistica transition into the Garga-No Escape that then led to Almas rolling through and powerbombing Gargano was one of the hottest moments for an energetic crowd. I also respected the fact that Almas worked on Gargano’s left arm throughout the match, and Gargano was smart enough to adjust his position so that he would use the right arm when he and Almas hit their double clothesline spot. They say that there is a great woman behind every great man, so Zelina Vega seems to be taking a shot at becoming the great woman behind Almas by interfering on Almas’s behalf during the match. After Gargano hit a pair of superkicks and threw Almas into the second turnbuckle like a lawn dart, Vega threw a “#DIY” shirt at Gargano, which distracted him long enough for Almas to stun him and hit a hammerlock DDT to score the victory. This was an incredible opener, and it was a great reminder that, even if the card looks underwhelming on paper, TakeOver shows are usually great in the ring. And, as I commented to my friend, the build to the eventual Tommaso Ciampa and Gargano feud will be incredible.

2.  NXT Tag Team Championship match: The Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar) (c) w/Paul Ellering vs. Sanity (Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe) w/Nikki Cross and Killian Dain

I still can’t tell Akam and Rezar apart, so I hope that they do something to differentiate them at some point. It’s also possible that I just need to pay closer attention. It’s hard to find an emotional connection to a match that features a monster tag team that destroyed fan favorites like American Alpha, the Revival, and #DIY and an aggressively discordant faction like Sanity. In the end, Wolfe’s surprising performance and Nikki Cross’s enthusiasm ringside led me to root for Sanity. Because Wolfe looks like a second tier villain on a good season of Justified, it’s easy to forget that he’s actually a good in-ring wrestler. Young, who looks like he would also fit in Boyd Crowder’s gang, is an experienced tag team wrestler, so it almost made sense that he would insert himself into the match in Dain’s place. Dain, of course, would make all of these seem sensible later in one of the most impressive moments of the night when he hits a crossbody splash on the Author of Pain who had caught Nikki Cross after her dive from the top rope to the floor, sandwiching Cross between the Author and Dain and driving all three through a table. They protected Cross as well as they could in that spot, and it eliminated one Author to allow Young and Wolfe to double team the other Author and win the titles. The match exceeded my admittedly low expectations, and Cross played a major role in investing me into Sanity for the match. I also like the idea that Young outsmarted Ellering by announcing that Wolfe and Dain would wrestle and changing the line-up at the last moment by inserting himself into the match. The thrill of that victory was short-lived, however, when Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly, reDRagon, appeared from the crowd to attack Young and Wolfe, hitting their finisher Chasing the Dragon on Young. reDRagon’s surprise appearance and declaration of intent gave the crowd another boost and made me enthusiastic about the future of tag team wrestling in NXT. I’m curious how Corey Graves contributed to the televised experience as a guest commentator.

3. Aleister Black vs. Hideo Itami

I had very high expectations for this match because I wanted to see Black and Itami have a stiff, strike-heavy, faux-MMA style match. At first, I was disappointed to see Black once again absorb so much offense from Itami without responding, but then I started thinking about his entrance theme, which was ably performed by WWE’s musical guest for the evening, Code Orange. (For tonight, at least, Code Orange is the new performer for Black’s theme.) Black, through his theme, challenges this opponents to do their worst:

“No man is ever truly good No man is every truly evil I do the things you never could And we won't ever be equal No man is ever truly good No man is every truly evil I do the things you never could And we won't ever be equal You point your finger and play the victim So take your best shot Release the pressure You perpetrate your propaganda And now I'm calling you out”

(Black’s theme, “Root of All Evil,” is a great half a song.) Itami, beset by bad luck and worse health, probably feels like a victim of circumstances. He took his best shot at Black and tried to wear Black down with kicks, chops, a top rope Falcon Arrow, and a second Falcon Arrow. He tried to wear Black down on the mat with a long chinlock sequence when his strikes couldn’t finish Black. Then, Black called him out with the Black Mass roundhouse head kick, and Itami was down for the three count. It was a hard-hitting match, but Black’s matches have lacked drama because he absorbs damage until it’s time for him to hit the Black Mass to end the match. I joked when they announced that Jim Ross would be the special guest announcer for this match that they must be trolling him after he had such a hard time distinguishing wrestlers and pronouncing names at the New Japan Pro Wrestling G1 Specials.

4. NXT Women’s Championship match: Asuka (c) vs. Ember Moon

Part of the live experience is seeing wrestlers who don’t emerge from backstage during their entrances get into position on the stage while the rest of the crowd is supposed to be paying attention to the recap that’s played on the big screens. Similarly, I was fascinated by the little production touches throughout the show, like the fact that the camera operator has to stand on a ladder in order to film the commentators in their talking head segments between matches or the fact that a member of the production staff has to remove Percy Watson’s and Nigel McGuinness’s chairs before those segments and replace them immediately after. 

Similarly, watching them shuttle guests to the front row seats for their promotional appearances was fascinating to me. I wonder how long Lynch, Sasha Banks, and Bayley can trade on their history as the Four Horsewomen of NXT (Charlotte was conspicuous in her absence for understandable reasons). The fact that the crowd booed Bayley would show that lifespan of the warm and fuzzy feelings of those memories is not as long as you would think. 

Because Asuka debuted after Banks, Charlotte, and Lynch had moved on from NXT (her first match was against Dana Brooke at NXT TakeOver: Respect, which was headlined by the 30 Minute Ironwoman match between Bayley and Banks, the last match involving the Four Horsewomen), Asuka doesn’t have the same connection with fans that Banks, Lynch, Charlotte, and Bayley have. The crowd’s unsure reaction to Asuka’s victory over Bayley to win the NXT Women’s Championship at TakeOver: Dallas made that clear. That said, the NXT crowd connected to Asuka through her swagger (no one, not even Banks at her peak, could match the sense of cool that Asuka projects during her entrances), ferocity (not even Lynch could match the violence that Asuka could unleash), or dominance (not even Charlotte or Banks could project Asuka’s sense of invincibility). 

The crowd was even split between Moon supporters and Asuka fans. Moon attacked Asuka from the bell, and Asuka had to regroup outside the ring. The action is incredible and too quick for anyone to realistically recap. It was best to let the match wash over you and take part in the spontaneous and loud dueling chants for the two women. Asuka targeted Moon’s surgically repaired arm, and the two trade incredibly stiff strikes to the crowd’s delight. This sums up the crowd’s reaction when Moon hit the Eclipse:

As a fan of Asuka, I was overjoyed when Asuka kicked out from the Eclipse and kicked out again after a Moon superkick. I was cheering my lungs out when Asuka had trapped Moon in the Asuka Lock and when Asuka forced Moon to finally submit in the middle of the ring. There is enough wiggle room from controversy to justify one more rematch since Asuka shielded herself from a second Eclipse by cowering behind the referee, but the way Moon soaked up the appreciative applause from the crowd after the match seemed like a conclusion for Moon in NXT. Meanwhile, I can continue to enjoy Asuka as the unbeatable champion. This was the match of the night, followed closely by Gargano vs. Almas, and I joked to my friend that it wouldn’t be an NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn show if they didn’t put the wrong match in the main event slot. Bayley vs. Banks should have been the main event of TakeOver: Brooklyn, and the Revival vs. #DIY should have been the main event of TakeOver: Brooklyn II. This should have been the main event of TakeOver: Brooklyn III. It was magnificent.

I also really enjoyed the little touch of Asuka staring at and taunting Lynch, Banks, and Bayley throughout the match. Seeing Asuka confront her predecessors in NXT put the entire match in context.

5. NXT Championship match: Bobby Roode (c) vs. Drew McIntyre

A surefire way to make me lose interest in a match is to trot out the NYPD to escort the nominal face in the match to the ring. I’m sure getting the NYPD Emerald Society to play the bagpipes for McIntyre’s performance seemed like a stroke of genius, but all it did was to make me (and a few other black and brown fans in my section) sit down and not care about McIntyre. Combined with the emotional fatigue after the Asuka vs. Moon match and Roode’s match style, which can be charitably called methodical, and I was more disengaged than bored during the match. It’s not as if the last match had completely worn the crowd down; Samoa Joe received very loud “Joe!” chants during his brief appearance ringside to promote his championship four way match at SummerSlam 2017. Roode’s match style gives the crowd very little to chew on, and McIntyre’s hard-hitting style could only provide so much flavor to the match. As the match began, the fans behind me waxed poetic about TNA”s short period when that company approached greatness, reminiscing about the heyday of the X Division and cursing Hulk Hogan for his perceived role in the company’s decline. McIntyre popped the crowd with a tope con hilo that Roode failed to catch him on, and it led to a pretty good closing section highlighted by Roode’s backstabber (my friend asked if he hit a Codebreaker, to which I replied that it was a Roode-a-bager because my Dad joke game is strong), McIntyre’s Future Shock DDT, Roode’s Glorious DDT, and the Claymore. I liked that Roode was hoisted on his own petard by trying to hit more than one Glorious DDT to ensure his victory, which allowed McIntyre to recover just long enough to hit the Claymore to win the match and the championship. It was a fine match, but it will be overshadowed by Asuka vs. Moon, and it would be remembered mostly for the post-match attack by reDRagon and a debuting Adam Cole. 

This was a really enjoyable show, and it proves once again that TakeOver shows should not be underestimated and that wrestling shows have a sweet spot about two and a half hours.