[Ozy_Flame]

Hey guys, had a great night at Takeover. Not much else can be said from what was provided by SuperMatt and Captain. I'll add to what was said:
- Opening match (non-televised) was Kairi Sane/Io Shirai vs. Jessamyn Duke and Shamina Shafir. Fun match, crowd was hot for Kairi.
- 2nd Opening Match: Street Profits vs. The Forgotten Sons. This match was way better than expected, great spots to the outside from both teams. Montez Ford is going to be a star. Jakson Ryker looked like a tank. Crowd started a bit quiet but heavily invested. Street Profits had horrible gear on, body singlets that wrapped around the neck and looked like candy canes. Ugh.

Crowd was insane for the Gargano/Ricochet match. That was just poetry in motion. I would say Ricochet was slightly more over, but the crowd went nuts when Johnny raised the title.

Riddle/Ohno . . . I actually skipped much of this match getting food, seems like it was an OK match. Crowd was sorta hot for Riddle, but loved booing Ohno. The toe-biting really set the arena off, I think Ohno has some serious heel potential, given his in-ring psychology and likeness to Jake Roberts during the height of his run.

Baszler vs. Blair was OK. I hate Blair as a character, so nothing much to say. Glad Baszler picked up the win.

Main Event: as Cap said, slower paced match that took more time to build. Last 10 minutes. Ciampa playing the ####### heel the whole time, crowd was on pretty good. I think people generally loved Black's effort in the match, but there was definitely a murmur that they knew he wasn't going to win this because of Gargano's win. Place went nuts when Ciampa exposed the concrete floor and took the bump.

After the match (possible non-televised): Velveteen Dream came up on stage and the crowd went nuts. Honestly I think he got the loudest reaction of the night. THere was a dust-up on the stage with Dream/Black/Ricochet/Cole/Gargano/Ciampa and the crowd was dying to have a six-man tag match but it didn't happen. Black, Ricochet and Dream came out and pumped up the crowd for about 10 more minutes. I think at least one of those guys is going to show up in the Rumble tonight, most likely Black IMO.

Also went to WWE Axxess and basically spent the entire afternoon watching NXT, NXT UK and Worlds Collide Tournament tapings. Ringside seats, I should be on the tapings in the elevated front row for the next few episodes haha. Great matches, although the tiny crowd didn't know how to handle the UK guys, it was kind of a shame.

So far through the weekend i have had way more run-ins and interactions with wrestlers than I ever thought possible:

- Most of the NXT guys were staying in the same hotel. This was just coincidence, but really cool to be around them quite regularly.
- Saw Walter/Barthel/Aichner the first night (as mentioned). Got a cheers out of Barthel.
- Taynara Conti kept bumping into us as they moved around the crowded bar.Definitely a stunning person in real life, loves her wine haha.
- Saw Robbie Brookside and Norman Smiley leaving the bar as we were going in
- Ran into Taynara Conti again the next morning in the hotel. Got a smile and a blush from her which was hilarious haha. I think she remembers who we were. Saw her again during brunch (she was with her girlfriends), then saw her again at the same bar last night. We basically just smile at each other now and I'm sure we'll run into her again.
- Chatted with Alexander Wolfe at a vegan thai restaurant (as mentioned). Super nice guy, very humble, was on his own. Saw him perform at the Axxess taping later and I think he saw us in the crowd and waved during his match.
- Saw JBL wandering aimlessly.
- Vic Joseph was pacing in front of Axxess on his phone. Dude is really tall.
- After Takeover we passed Dunne/Bate/Gibson/Drake/Flash Morgan Webster and I think Travis Banks just mulling about outside. Very dapper guys, all of them. Went into the pharmacy, for what I have no idea.
- Saw Dave Mastiff, Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey and I think Wolfgang getting late-night Frozen yogurt. Dave Mastiff was building a huge cone, it was hilarious.
- Saw Drew Gulak and Tony Nese get in an Uber, then later at the bar later they were there drinking. Gulak actually has a bit of a beer gut (or he was distended, not sure which haha).
- Matt Riddle was hamming it up with fans all night at the bar last night, super chill guy who is loving interacting with fans. Was wearing his sandles and had the whole bro thing going, it was great.
- Barthel/Aichner were also there, getting a #### ton of female attention and ignoring most of it. Seemed to really enjoy talking to the WWE referees who were also there.
- Had a good chat with WWE referee D.A. Brewer. was elated we recognized him and went up to chat with him. Said refereeing was the easiest job in the world and is lucky to have it. I complained we didn't get a six-man tag match after Takeover went off the air. He said "just wait, something is coming".
- I was wearing my NJPW gear, and Shane Thorne spotted it and was trying to make out the logo/design. I went up to him and said it's NJPW, but I'm a fan of NOAH and I enjoyed his work there. He was surprised and happy to hear it, and we complimented him on his Axxess taping win (oops, spoiler haha).
- Was using the can, and the Forgotten Sons were in there. As we were all leaving I said they had a great match at Takeover and they thanked me and said it was the start of something great. Jakson Ryker was especially appreciative of the whole thing, I think he's glad that he wasn't forgotten haha.
- Angelo Dawkins was just hanging out on his own, dude is huge in real life.
- Taynara Conti and Vanessa Bourne were dressed to the nines. Made eye contact again (this is a thing haha), and we are pretty sure Shane Thorne was trying hook up with her. She has RBF in real life so I didn't want to go say hi, looked like she could kill us haha.
- Fist-bumped Pete Dunne getting coffee this morning, he was checking out of the hotel already. Not sure what that means for tonight though.
- Also during the Axxess tapings, Chelsea Green made her debut and did the "hot mess" gimmick. We were the only ones in the crowd who knew what was going on, she gave us a wave during her match because we were the only guys who knew who she was haha.

Fully expect to see more today. Basically no WWE main roster folks, but NXT wrestlers seemed to be pretty accessible so no need to get their autographs at Axxess.

Hoping to run into Mauro Ranallo before it's all done and talk about late 90's Stampede Wrestling! haha. . . . Will post as well tonight or tomorrow after the Rumble.