‘WWE Half-Time Heat’ Review
Welcome to this review of WWE’s Half-Time Heat, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have one $#@!&?! Match.
Match #1: (Main Event) Aleister Black, Ricochet & Velveteen Dream def. NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa, NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano & Adam Cole – Six Man Tag Match
The following is courtesy of WWE.com:
As the Big Game between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams headed into the break, all eyes turned to WWE Network for WWE Halftime Heat, which showcased the true gold standard in sports-entertainment, NXT. Streaming live from the WWE Performance Center, Halftime Heat’s historic return saw the team of Aleister Black, Ricochet & Velveteen Dream defeat NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa, NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano & Adam Cole in a thrilling Six-Man Tag Team Match. The Dutch Destroyer, The One and Only and the enigmatic Dream picked up the victory after Dream nailed Cole with the Purple Rainmaker elbow drop.
The veritable all-star match was packed with vendettas coming off the explosive events of last week’s NXT TakeOver: Phoenix, where all six Superstars came to blows in a fiery aftermath captured by WWE.com cameras. Tonight’s scene in Orlando tonight was no less enthralling. With WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels and Vic Joseph calling the action for what is believed to be the most-watched NXT match of all time, the two teams unleashed 20 minutes of all-out action.
The big moves came fast and furious. The fight spilled to the floor soon after the opening bell, setting off a series of spectacular aerials moves capped off by an astounding over-the-top dive by NXT’s Cheat Code that garnered chants of “This is awesome!” As all six competitors retook the ring, the tide turned repeatedly, with each team having three-on-one advantages at various points. However, after Ciampa and Gargano were thrown from the ring, Cole was left easy prey for a wild chain of events that saw The Dutch Destroyer hit Black Mass, Velveteen Dream hit the Dream Valley Driver and Ricochet follow up with a springboard 450 splash before Dream’s Purple Rainmaker snared the three-count.
My Take: 4.5 out of 5 – I don’t know if this was the smartest match ever wrestled, but it was a spectacle like few others. This thing was like a machine gun that got the trigger stuck in gum when it was already pulled and the bullets are ricocheting all over the place and…it was cool. It’s weird having Shawn Michaels calling a wrestling match, but that added to the fun. Anyway, you’ll get a heart attack watching this, so kiss your ass goodbye and enjoy a wrestling match that was more interesting than the actual Super Bowl apparently was.
Final Verdict: 4.5/5
This was a real blast that came out of nowhere to be one of the best things the WWE has done in years. This should become a yearly tradition, as long as Vince lets it be a pure wrestling event, rather than pre-Wrestlemania.
