Austin Aries vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

[6.0] "I thought it was a good match, I didn't think the action was close to that of Nakamura/Sami as well as the crowd not being as into, I could be wrong. But I thought WWE tried to give it a dream match aura. But I liked Aries diving and smashing his face on the barricade."

[8.0] "Really a strange matchup that only could've taken place in the year-or-so long period when these two shared WWE contracts. NXT was truly where the best wrestled at this time, from young talent to veterans. 2 former world champions weren't on the main roster, they weren't even main eventing, they were on the mid-card on the developmental show and somehow didn't feel out of place. Black & Gold was magic."

[8.0] "Really underrated match in both men's careers as it turned out to be really good. Aries is always on point as it's a shame that he's his own worse enemy behind the scenes."

[8.0] "Was this the best match of Nakamura's career? No. Was it still great? Yeah. Both of these men are two of the best, and they were aided by a hot crowd to a great match at TakeOver."

[8.0] "Billed as a "dream match" in the buildup, this turned out to be a strong, hard-hitting bout that never quite reached the classic level it seemed to be aiming for. Both men delivered some great work, including a brutal Death Valley Driver on the ring apron. Nakamura picked up the win as he continued his path toward the championship. ****"

[6.0] "At the time of my first viewing I did not know about the dream match aspect of the match, so this might explain my rating. We can't really appreciate the talent of both wrestlers in my opinion, it just become another random match if not for shinsuke's overness."

[9.0] "This was a very good bout. Aries and Nakamura's skills shone brightly throughout the whole match. Great finish as the cherry on top. ****1/2"

[7.0] "An interesting match, with sheer knowhow and talent overcoming some quirks in form and style. The latter means that this takes some time to click, with Aries only half heeling during a de facto heat segment. The deeper they get though, the more that their talent shines through, building to a strong final third that culminates with Aries' memorable missed dive. Strong match that in history, captures a strange moment in time that'd soon be forgotten, but a compelling watch nonetheless. ***1/2"

[9.0] "Not quite as good as Nak/Zayn but honestly I still thought this was fantastic, good story of Aries trying to pull out bigger and bigger moves until it finally backfired and he ate an onslaught of offense to put him away. Two of the best workers in NXT, for my money, and they did great work here. I think they could do even better if given another shot."

[7.0] "Good game. Not much to report even if we could have expected better. The finish goes over Nakamura. (3*3/4)"

[8.0] "This seems to have become fairly overlooked since it isn't at the level of Zayn vs Nakamura, but it's still a pretty great match. There is nothing deep here, it's just a well wrestled, competitive matchup with Aries doing everything he can to try and put Nakamura away. Still worth checking out for anybody who has slept on it."

[8.0] "A great "dream match" showdown between two of the best at that time that lived up to the expectations. But it still left a window to be filled with greatness. The reason for that void might be because of the lack of credible selling by both combatants. Apart from that, their chemistry was excellent with stiff action and scintillating fan response for what these two did. Some of the spots were dangerously executed such as the Death Valley Driver on the apron and the follow-up misfired Tope Suicida by Aries. Nakamura winning made much sense as his momentum made him ready for title contention. 4 out of 5 stars!"

[6.0] "Two good wrestlers produce a decent match. No surprise. Nothing crazily exceeded expectations but it was good"

[7.0] "I didn't really feel this one. Am I just not a Shinsuke fan' Perhaps. It was decent but nothing more in my eyes. ***1/2"

[9.0] "I feel like it's one of the most underrated matches in NXT history. It's a shame Austin Aries hasn't become a main eventer in WWE."

[7.0] "Kind of funny looking back at how Nakamura was obviously outwrestled by Aries in this match. Maybe it was overhype, but you would've expected Nakamura to kick it up a notch with a great talent like Aries. Alas it was still a really good match, and maybe with some more time it would've reached that next level, ****."

[8.0] "Very intense match. Austin Aries competently worked on Nakamura's leg and neck. The duel could end after the death valley driver onto the apron. But one mistake has cardinally changed a situation and Nakamura has brought a match to a victory of with knee off of the second rope, reverse exploder and Kinshasa. My rating: ****."

[10.0] "In my opinion this was better than Nakamura vs. Zayn. Austin Aries had an absolute beautiful performance here. Some great limbworking and brutal looking slots. Had Shinsuke sold better, this would've been a 5 star classic. ****1/2"

[8.0] "A really good match as you'd expect with two amazing wrestlers like these. The moves and wrestling was great but my main issue was definitely the selling or lack of it by both Aries on his ribs and Shinsuke on his legs at first after Aries worked them and then later following the move on the apron. Good match though but could have been better had the selling been better ****1/4"

[9.0] "fantastic match i feel it should have went about 20 minuets but 17 was close enough i loved the heelish play by aries these are my two favorites today and they did not disappoint ****1/2"

[7.0] "Very good match, ruined by an awful crowd. Seriously, fuck Full Sail. Aries was amazing here, working over Nakamura's neck and legs. Shinsuke looked like he didn't really want to do very much here and well, he didn't. It was a good match after all was said and done, but the crowd really ruined it for me. They weren't into the match, they just wanted to have fun and get themselves over. *** 1/4"

[8.0] "I went in expecting a 5 star classic. But this was really a B level effort from Shinsuke. He did not even sell the leg much. Aries was great throughout and did his best. That last bump on the railing was SICK. The finish was superbly done. Although this wasn't a complete effort, such is the talent of these two men that 70% effort from these guys still manages a good match."

[8.0] "Nice stiff match these two had, with the 2nd half of the match being fantastically good. I still find Aries to not be working to his full potential at times, but for the talent he has it wasn't surprising for him to have a great match with somebody as good as Nakamura. Very good! ****"

[6.0] "I didn't like this match. I mean, I expected something like the Zayn Nakamura from Takeover Dallas. But I felt like Nakamura was on half energy level. Aries was good, but I have seen a lot of betetr matches from Nakamura"

[8.0] "Great match but could be better if give more time to them. They performed a little of their moveset but still has a very good match. Still waiting for Shinsuke to show off what he really capable of."

[9.0] "Aries vs. Nakamura, unsurprisingly, ruled. The back & forth in the beginning was great, both men are REALLY charismatic, and that truly showed. They were great with their facial expressions & little mannerisms. I loved Aries' work on top, his performance in this match was really great, I thought. Had Nakamura sold Aries' leg work (he completely no sold it), this could've been even better than it actually was, but that is a minor complaint, as this match was still totally great. ****1/4"

[9.0] "Sure it's not Nakamura vs Sami Zayn, but the hot crowd and the atmosphere were at the top. Aries suffers from an injury and it's easy to see how he had to protect himself. Great match, Nakamura offensive was enjoyable and there were bumps and great moments. The crowd gave it a big boost, as if this was a special match. ****1/2"

[9.0] "Almost all aspects of the ideal. It does not match the previous match with Sami, but too bad. Yes, many hoped for the best, but is unlikely to remain frustrated because this match was at a high level."

[9.0] "In my opinion this was Match of the Night for NXT Takeover the End. The build up to the match was very good. Their were tons of amazing spots in this match such as the suicide dive by Aries, the 450 splash by Aries, and the Kinshasa (I hope I spelled that right) by Shinsuke. Overall a great match and I think it was better than Zayn Vs Nakamura."

[8.0] "This was a really good match but never reached that GREAT level for me. I will say it was MOTN for me though. Good storytelling with Aries & Nakamura. Didn't really like that Nakamira no sold the Aries leg work though as that kept me from really seeing this as a great or even better match. The finish was really good with Aries going one move too far that ended up costing him big. Good match but not great. (***3/4)"

[7.0] "This match was built up as a "Dream Match" and really didn't deliver on that. A very slow and dragging opening few minutes that even cooled down a red hot crowd really didn't help the match, and once it started to pick up (around the Triangle spot) it felt like it was TRYING to be a classic, and kinda failed. This match tried to recreate Zayn vs Nakamura, and while it wasn't bad, it definitely failed. ***1/4, perhaps ***1/2 because the crowd was really hot."

[9.0] "Absolutely fantastic match. It lived up to its hype for me. I enjoyed this very much. Great psychology all around and great wrestling. A great showing for both guys. The only flaw is that the leg work on Nakamura wasn't done enough or sold enough, but still an entertaining match. ****1/4"