Owens vs Balor was outstanding.

[prophet]

Spoilers, duh.

Brilliant match. Absolutely flipped when Balor hit his first Bloody Sunday and again when he won the title - what a brilliant time for him to get the win, too. Though somebody needs to explain to me why a random Cena tag match was the main event - surely they must've known the Japanese people would have rather had Balor main event?

I enjoyed Jericho/Neville too - some great sequences throughout and I remain impressed with how Jericho manages to keep himself in such good condition (albeit he was a bit sluggish) despite such long absences - miffed that he got the win, like. Enjoyed the Diva match too and Brock was Brock which is always wonderful.

Good show!

[Messiah]

Yea, Balor/Owens should have main evented but the show at its core was still just a live event so it's not that big of a surprise Cena main evented.

Balor/Owens was great though. I preferred it over the second Cena/Owens encounter. Cena/Owens probably etches it out due to the awesome finish of Owens winning clean. Owens is the best heel in years and has filled the gap that CM Punk left - someone you can put anywhere on the card and will turn anything you give him into gold. This was Balor's best match in the WWE for sure.

[Hanley!]

I dunno if I'm just living up to my reputation, but I wasn't hugely impressed by either match.

Well maybe that's not fair. I liked Balor/Owens. But I don't think that it really hit that fifth gear that you'd want it to, given that there was going to be a title change. When the finish came I don't think it felt like the huge climax that it should have. I liked the match, but it seemed like a good match from a regular episode of NXT, and not on par with some of the better Takeover matches for example. I definitely don't think it was on par with either of the Owens/Cena matches.

So far, I'm liking Balor's abilities in the ring, but he hasn't convinced me that he's one of the very best in the WWE, let alone the world in general. I'm not sure if his abilities were slightly overstated by people in the past, or if he just hasn't quite found his groove in WWE yet. He's very good, but I'd hesitate to call him great.

Neville/Jericho I actually found a little disappointing though. There were a couple of cool spots, but it was quite slow for a Neville match. Jericho seemed a little sluggish. I don't really blame him either, I mean he is retired now. And for his age and for someone who's retired, he's keeping in pretty good shape. He just can't quite keep up with someone like that anymore.

I'm a little disappointed Jericho got the win too, but not surprised. I think even though it was aired live on the WWE Network, this was still primarily treated as a house show. That's why a random tag team match was the main event, and it's why someone like Jericho would be chosen to go over. He was going to be the more known, more popular figure in Japan, so they're just giving the fans what they want by having him win. It makes sense.

[Daz]

I dunno if I'm just living up to my reputation, but I wasn't hugely impressed by either match.

Well maybe that's not fair. I liked Balor/Owens. But I don't think that it really hit that fifth gear that you'd want it to, given that there was going to be a title change. When the finish came I don't think it felt like the huge climax that it should have. I liked the match, but it seemed like a good match from a regular episode of NXT, and not on par with some of the better Takeover matches for example. I definitely don't think it was on par with either of the Owens/Cena matches.

So far, I'm liking Balor's abilities in the ring, but he hasn't convinced me that he's one of the very best in the WWE, let alone the world in general. I'm not sure if his abilities were slightly overstated by people in the past, or if he just hasn't quite found his groove in WWE yet. He's very good, but I'd hesitate to call him great.

Neville/Jericho I actually found a little disappointing though. There were a couple of cool spots, but it was quite slow for a Neville match. Jericho seemed a little sluggish. I don't really blame him either, I mean he is retired now. And for his age and for someone who's retired, he's keeping in pretty good shape. He just can't quite keep up with someone like that anymore.

I'm a little disappointed Jericho got the win too, but not surprised. I think even though it was aired live on the WWE Network, this was still primarily treated as a house show. That's why a random tag team match was the main event, and it's why someone like Jericho would be chosen to go over. He was going to be the more known, more popular figure in Japan, so they're just giving the fans what they want by having him win. It makes sense.

I'm with you on this sir. I thought it was a really, really good match, but it didn't quite hit the next level I was hoping for. I'd have like to have seen Owens get a little more in the closing stretch because it was a bit Balor heavily towards the end, and I started to feel a little bit deflated because you knew he was going over at a certain point, and they never really tried to sway that.

As far as Finn's abilities go, I don't think he's quite as explosive in WWE/NXT as he was elsewhere. He's working a lot smarter and keeping his repertoire quite limited to familiarize people with his schtick. I think now he's champion and is likely going to be working some more varied matches, you'll see a little more out of him.

[VaderBomb]

What a huge win for Balor. I marked out big time. It was the perfect time for Owens to drop the belt and it couldn't have been done more fittingly in Japan. Great stuff.