NXT Takeover: London

WWE NXT Takeover: London
December 16th 2015

From London, England. Our hosts are Rich Brennen, Corey Graves, and Byron Saxton. This is courtesy of Hulu, and NOT the WWE Network, which I've happily been unsubscribed from for about a month.

-Just like in Brooklyn, the lights go up to reveal Triple H in the ring, ready to soak in the adulation. He cuts a heated promo, putting over how important it was for him to be in London despite Roman Reigns kicking his ass. Wow, this is more continuity than we usually get on weekly WWE main roster television.

Asuka vs. Emma (with Dana Brooke)
As you could probably guess, the London fans are totally jazzed to be at this show and give Asuka a megastar reaction. They aren't so smarky that they can't boo Emma during her entrance. Bell rings and Emma barely dodges a roundhouse kick. Emma  avoids a drop-kick, but Asuka reverses her hammerlock. Emma throws an elbow but gets twirled into a nice armbar. Asuka nails a leaping "hip attack" off the apron and licks her fingers for the camera. Dana Brooke distracts long enough for Emma to drop-kick Asuka off the ring frame. Asuka gets beaten down for a few minutes (while the fans sing her name to the "Ole" tune) and makes a spirited comeback. Emma cuts her off to a "This is wrestling" chant. Dana Brooke's smack-talking seems to revive Asuka, who counters with a missile drop-kick. Asuka goes into a kicking frenzy but Emma blocks and applies a jackknife cover for 2. Asuka lights Emma up with strikes and nails a running Hip Attack for a near fall. Emma stays alive with the Dil-Emma and Butterfly Suplex into the turnbuckles. Running splash by Emma gets a believable near fall. Asuka reverses into an Ankle Lock and follows with a German Suplex! Emma takes a Shining Wizard but kicks out! Emma bumps Asuka into the ref, allowing Dana to hand a leather strap to Emma. Asuka fights for the strap and the referee wakes up to see her with it. Emma sneaks in a cover, but Asuka reverses into the Asuka Lock! Dana distracts the referee while Emma taps. Just when I start to think Emma is going to pull off the cheap victory, Asuka nails a roundhouse kick for the win at 14:45! Wow, I was expecting a pretty-good-to-solid opener, not a balls to the wall competitive match with a bunch of interesting false finishes thrown in. Great way to start the show, ***1/2.
Winner: Asuka