10 Greatest NXT TakeOver events of all time
This Saturday, WWE marks the thirtieth NXT TakeOver event with another high-quality card. NXT Takeover has become one of the most popular and consistent pay-per-view events of WWE's calendar year. Since 2014, NXT has hosted 29 different TakeOver events. After the first four shows took place at Full Sail University, NXT took the event on the road with the first Takeover out of Florida taking place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.
NXT traditionally uses TakeOver as a blow-off for some of their biggest rivalries and deliver some of the best matches and memorable moments in the brand's history. At the very first TakeOver, Charlotte Flair had a breakout performance with her father, Ric Flair in her corner. She won the NXT Women's Championship in a classic match against Natalya, who had her uncle Bret "The Hitman" Hart in her corner.
At Takeover: R-Evolution, Sami Zayn capped off an eighteen-month journey with NXT to win his first title and defeat the longest-reigning NXT Champion at that time, Neville. Their encounter was a Match of the Year candidate. After the match, Kevin Owens debuted betrayed his best friend and new NXT Champion, power-bombing him on the ring apron in a shocking heel turn.
With so many different events taking place over the past six years, it has become difficult to determine which NXT TakeOver was the best. In this article, we will take a look at the 10 greatest NXT TakeOver events of all time.
#10 NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn (2015)
The first NXT TakeOver event to take place outside of Full Sail University will kick off our list. On Aug. 22, 2015, The Barclays Center crowd in Brooklyn was hot from the start. Before the main card, Enzo Amore and Big Cass had every fan on their feet for Amore's usual diatribe on the mic. Then in an unprecedented opener, NJPW legend, Jushin Thunder Liger, defeated NXT stalwart, Tyler Breeze, in a clash of styles and generations. The fans became unglued as Full Sail favorite, Blue Pants joined The Vaudevillians as they bested Murphy and Blake to win the NXT tag titles.
On this night, the NXT roster didn't have to work for a crowd reaction. Even the two weakest contests from NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, Apollo Crews vs. Tye Dillinger and Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin, were able to get a response. Both were well-worked bouts but shorter than the others on the card. This night hit its crescendo with the double main event.
NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn closed as "The Demon" Finn Balor successfully defended his NXT Championship in a Ladder Match against former champion, Kevin Owens. This fun and hard-hitting ladder match was a good main event, but it failed to live up to the high standard of the match that preceded it.
In what many call the best women's match in WWE history, Bayley finally defeated Sasha Banks to win the NXT Women's Championship. For over eighteen minutes, these two ladies delivered a pitch-perfect story of an underdog, Bayley, overcoming the confident champion in Banks. The champion's brutal onslaught made the challenger's eventual comeback an engaging journey for the WWE Universe.
Banks and Bayley brought out a level of emotion from the crowd unseen before in a WWE women's match. WWE still replays the ending with Bayley, Banks, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch in the ring together to this day. This one match will make NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn an event to be remembered for years to coming.