I WAS SUPPOSED to only take a short break, but then I put my head down on the couch and well ... my short break turned into a long nap. 

   OH WELL.

  STORY OF MY LIFE, let's get on with this, yeah?

4) BOBBY ROODE VS HIDEO ITAMI
FOR THE NXT CHAMPIONSHIP.

   For lack of a better term, OH MY GOD. Where do I even begin? I'm just going to spew shit out and hope that it has some kind of a structure.

   I'll admit that I used to not get the Bobby Roode hype. Actually, it wasn't until Roode faced off against Nakamura that I started to notice Bobby. I felt horrible because the only thing I knew about him was that his theme entrance song is ... GLORIOUS!

   So before sitting down to watch NXT TakeOver Chicago, I did my homework. I went on YouTube and caught up on everything that Roode has done in NXT, and all I can say is: SHAME ON ME FOR SNOOZING ON THIS MAN!

  After not getting the appeal behind Roode, I have finally been converted a Roodeaholic? I say this because I'm about to make a bold claim here -- I sincerely think that Bobby Roode has been the best NXT Champion yet.

   Sorry Kevin, but Roode has made me a big fan. Bobby's one HELL of a champ that plays a massive heel, yet somehow I can't help but to smile when I see him in the ring. Maybe it's just me, but I really do feel like he's so happy to be out there.

   RANDOM ROODE SIDENOTES:

↠ His move "blockbuster" left me saying "whoa" because is it just me, or is it extra impressive and majestic when bigger/ taller people take flight?

   EX) Charlotte's moonsault. I don't know, but it's so satisfying to seeing tall peeps rocking those aerial moves.

↠ That sequence at the end when Roode hits two double glorious ddt's on Hideo, holy fek! It truly was a GLORIOUS sequence ... okay I'll stop.

↠ BOBBY ROODE IS SO EXTRA I HONESTLY CAN'T EVEN

↠ SORRY CHARLOTTE, BUT BOBBY'S ROBES ARE ON A WHOLE OTHER LEVEL

Okay, now onto Hideo Itami.

   Ya'll might hate me for this one, but I just wasn't entirely feeling him (before the match). I'm familiar with his work outside the WWE, and I'm a massive fan of it ... but I just haven't gotten enough of him in NXT and really, that isn't his fault.

   Poor dude has been out on injury for 2 / over 2 years? 

↠ I sincerely cringe at all the comments I always read on him that go something along the lines of "he's injured again." Why would someone even joke about that?

   I get that he got injured twice and very consecutively, but that's not his fault man.

LOOK AT THIS SCAR ON HIS SHOULDER AND TELL ME IT'S A JOKING MATTER:

   That is freaking deep my friends. It's not a "botched" surgical job or anything, it's probably a sign of how tough surgery must have been and how deep they had to cut.

   What I saw on that match made me a born again fan of his, but I'm still waiting for more of Hideo.

   This wouldn't be an honest rant if I didn't say that I read somewhere something that said "bobby roode vs hideo itami was basically triple h vs cm punk" 

   You can all kill me for this, but I have to agree. Before I even saw this comment, every time I'd see Hideo move in the ring, I kept remembering baby ECW days CM Punk.

   Kill me, but I think they move very similarly.  To me that just goes to show how advance Punk really was, but this isn't about him.

   What I do want to touch on is those CM PUNK chants when Hideo hit the GTS. 

   Aiy alright, so I've said it before that I never mind the CM PUNK chants because I'm a biased fan girl of him, but this was just pretty disrespectful.

   I get that Punk made the GTS famous, but he wouldn't have been able to even do so if it weren't for Hideo inventing the move in the first place.

   I don't agree with the whole PUNK stole KENTA's move since EVERYONE copies from someone at some point, but chanting Punk's name when Hideo used the GTS, that was painful to watch.

Hideo, I love you ... but don't fuck with Chicago because they will fuck you back, twice as hard.

Honestly, Hideo's slaps would knock me into a coma. 

   ALL in ALL, this match was freaking GLORIOUS and I left a massive fan of both men. Hoping that Hideo continues to prove people wrong and that he remains healthy.

   ALSO, WTF HOW IS BOBBY ROODE 40?????

  GRADE: 10 / 10!!

5) DIY VS AUTHOR'S OF PAIN
FOR THE TAG TEAM BELTS.

   Oh god, here's what I've been most eager to get to ... but also dreading only because of that ending that still tears my heart open to think about.

DISCLAIMER: I APOLOGIZE IF I DON'T TALK ABOUT THE AUTHOR'S OF PAIN OR THE MATCH IN GENERAL TOO MUCH I MEAN WTF CAN I SAY THAT HASN'T ALREADY BEEN SAID? IT'S A 6 STAR MATCH IN MY BOOK + EVERYONE, EVERYONE WAS SPOT ON IN IT. 

   Right off the bat:

↠ MATCH OF THE YEAR (FOR ME).
↠ MATCH OF THE NIGHT (FOR ME).
↠ WTF MOMENT OF THE YEAR
↠ HEEL TURN OF THE YEAR
↠ HEARTBREAK OF THE YEAR.

   Forget JeriKO, forget Golden Truth ... this fucking gutted me. A WEEK before this event, I started reading up on all these comments and articles that hinted at a split between DIY

   I didn't want to believe it because, WHY WHY WHY? I just adore them too much. Honestly, the New Day is still probably my favorite tag-team ever, BUT SO IS #DIY!

   The New Day makes me laugh, but #DIY? They keep me entertained, off my seat, emotional, happy, proud, ugh.

   Somewhere along the match, Nigel McGuinness referred to this as "THE FINAL CHAPTER" and dead ass cringed and felt my heart beat faster because I thought, "what is the rumors are true?"

   So I lived in constant fear through out the match, waiting for it to happen and then it fucking did. It fucking did and just when I had forgotten about it, IT HAPPENED.

   You guys, I cried.

   I cried,

I am crying,

I will cry some more later.

Before I get onto the emotional gut wrenching heel turn on Ciampa, let me get to this:

↠ THIS IS AN ICONIC LADDER MATCH MOMENT FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS. I DIDN'T KNOW THIS WAS GOING TO BE A LADDER MATCH (OR SO BETTER, I FORGOT). SO WHEN I HEARD, I WAS SO HOPING THEY'D GET THEIR MOMENT TO DO SOMETHING ICONIC.

WELL THEY DID! (SORRY I'LL STOP THE CAPS LOCK).

↠ THIS MOMENT ... hello darkness my old friend. 

↠ I've said it before and I'll say it again, Johnny Gargano is a monster baby face. I say "monster" because he's got that Shawn Michaels acting skills where his face is such an expressive canvas that it can bring people to tears.

   I mean, I was already crying but when the camera zoomed up on this particular face, I lost it even more:

   He looked so shocked, like his didn't even want to believe that his best friend Tommaso would do such a thing.

   ↠ Then this part, is it just me or was Johnny still trying to hug his former, best friend?

↠ Is this what Ciampo whispered to Johnny or is this just someone's edit? I saw Ciampa post the same words on a tweet, so I'm curious.

↠ Something I found on tumblr:

MY THOUGHTS ON THIS SPLIT:

↠ I am really fucking heart broken that they were split up, but I have faith that someday they'll be put back together.

   I see it like a "DX" type of thing, except here, I fully love Ciampa + Gargano equally. 

   I rather seem them as friends, but now we're going to see them as enemies and Ciampa is one hell of a fucking heel. If you're not familiar with his heel work in ROH, please go to YouTube and educate yourself on the matter.

   Regardless, I am invested in these two 100% and now I am anxiously awaiting to see what kind of violence these two will bring.

   ↠ EVERYONE AT CIAMPA:

↠ Something to help alleviate the pain but not really:

↠ ALRIGHT SUCKERS,

TIME TO WRAP THIS UP.

ALL IN ALL, I fucking loved NXT TakeOver Chicago. It's been my favorite PPV and dare I say, the best so far.

   As always, give me all your full in depth rants or tiniest of small ramblings that you found amusing.

   I'll be doing ONE more post on RANDOM shit I want to point out, so stay tuned for that one too.