NXT TakeOver: New York

NXT TakeOver: New York
Promotional poster featuring various WWE wrestlers
Promotion	WWE
Brand(s)	NXT
Date	April 5, 2019
City	Brooklyn, New York
Venue	Barclays Center
Attendance	15,697[1]
WWE Network event chronology
← Previous Fastlane Next → WrestleMania 35
NXT TakeOver chronology
← Previous Phoenix Next → XXV

NXT TakeOver: New York was the 24th NXT TakeOver professional wrestling event produced by WWE. It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's NXT brand division, which at the time was a developmental territory for WWE. The event aired exclusively on the WWE Network and took place on April 5, 2019, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, as part of the WrestleMania 35 weekend festivities.

Five matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Johnny Gargano defeated Adam Cole in a Two-out-of-three falls match to win the vacant NXT Championship. Other matches on the undercard saw Walter defeat Pete Dunne to win the WWE United Kingdom Championship (also ending Dunne's historic reign at 685 days), Shayna Baszler retaining the NXT Women's Championship in a Fatal 4-Way match, Velveteen Dream ending Matt Riddle's undefeated streak and retaining the NXT North American Championship, and the War Raiders (Hanson and Rowe) retaining the NXT Tag Team Championship against Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic winners Aleister Black and Ricochet in the opening bout.

Production[]

Background[]

TakeOver was a series of professional wrestling shows that began in May 2014, as WWE's then-developmental league NXT held their second WWE Network-exclusive event, billed as TakeOver.^[2] In subsequent months, the "TakeOver" moniker became the brand used by WWE for all of their NXT live specials. In March 2018, it was announced that WrestleMania 35 would be held at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with the event's associated NXT TakeOver being held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on April 5, 2019. The event was in turn titled TakeOver: New York. It was the 24th NXT TakeOver event and was the first TakeOver named after the U.S. state instead of the host city.^[3]

NXT previously held a recurring subseries of TakeOvers titled TakeOver: Brooklyn, which were each held at the Barclays Center and were a support show for WWE's annual SummerSlam pay-per-view in August. Although TakeOver: New York was held at this same venue, it did not continue the TakeOver: Brooklyn name. It was also held in April as a support show for WrestleMania.^[4][3]

Storylines[]

The card comprised five matches. The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines were produced on their weekly television program, NXT.^[5][6]

In the fourth annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, Aleister Black and Ricochet advanced to the finals and defeated The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake) to win the tournament. This also earned them an NXT Tag Team Championship match against the War Raiders at TakeOver.

In the Classic, Johnny Gargano decided to team up once again with former friend and bitter rival, NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa, reforming #DIY. After losing to Black and Ricochet in the semifinals, Ciampa was about to turn on Gargano again, but Gargano was prepared and turned the attack around. On the March 20 episode of NXT, Triple H revealed that Gargano was supposed to face Ciampa at TakeOver for the NXT title, but those plans halted due to the real life situation of Ciampa needing neck surgery, thus forcing him to vacate the title. Triple H then stated Gargano would still be in the match, and The Undisputed Era's Adam Cole won a fatal five-way against Velveteen Dream, Matt Riddle, Aleister Black, and Ricochet to fight for the vacant title. Triple H also announced that, in order to get a definitive winner, the match would be a two-out-of-three falls match.

After winning the Worlds Collide tournament during Royal Rumble Axxess for a championship match of his choosing, Velveteen Dream defeated Johnny Gargano for the NXT North American Championship. Over the next few weeks, Dream had runs ins with Matt Riddle, who fantasized about what the championship would look like around his waist. After weeks of head games, it was eventually announced that Dream would defend the title against Riddle at TakeOver.

At TakeOver: Phoenix, Shayna Baszler retained the NXT Women's Championship against Bianca Belair by technical submission. During the match, Belair also had to deal with outside interference from Baszler's friends, former UFC Horsewomen Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir. This led to a match with Belair teaming with Io Shirai and Kairi Sane against the three women, and resulted in Shirai pinning Baszler. Belair, however, was not pleased as she wanted the pin and another shot at Baszler's title. During a match for a title shot at TakeOver, both Shirai and Belair were attacked by Baszler, who also choked out an assisting Sane. As she was leaving the building, Baszler was informed that, due to her actions, she would be defending her title against Belair, Shirai, and Sane in a fatal four-way.

Event[]

Preliminary matches[]

In the opening match, The War Raiders (Hanson and Rowe) defended the NXT Tag Team Championship against Aleister Black and Ricochet. Hanson and Rowe performed Fallout on Ricochet to retain the title.

Next, The Velveteen Dream defended the NXT North American Championship against Matt Riddle. Dream pinned Riddle with a roll up to retain the title.

After that, Pete Dunne defended the WWE United Kingdom Championship against Walter. Walter performed a Diving Splash on Dunne to win the title; this ended Dunne's record title reign at 685 days.

In the penultimate match, Shayna Baszler defended the NXT Women's Championship against Kairi Sane, Bianca Belair and Io Shirai. Baszler forced Belair to submit to the Kirifuda Clutch to retain the title.

Main event[]

In the main event, Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole competed in a 2 out of 3 falls match for the vacant NXT Championship. Cole performed a Last Shot on Gargano to win the first fall. Cole performed a second Last Shot on Gargano for a near-fall. Gargano forced Cole to submit to the Garga-No-Escape to win the second fall. Gargano performed a Slingshot DDT on Cole for a near-fall. Cole performed a Panama Sunrise on Gargano for a near-fall. Cole performed a Fairytale Ending on an announce table on Gargano. Gargano applied the Garga-No-Escape but The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish, Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong) appeared. O'Reilly attacked Gargano with an eye rake and Cole pushed Gargano into the referee. Fish and O'Reilly performed Total Elimination on Gargano and Cole scored a near-fall. Gargano performed a Back Body Drop onto Fish, O'Reilly and Strong on Cole and threw Strong into the ring post. Gargano performed a Superkick on Fish and a Tornado DDT off the ring apron on O'Reilly. Cole performed a third Last Shot on Gargano for a near-fall. Gargano forced Cole to submit to the Garga-No-Escape to win the third fall and the title.

After the match, Candice LeRae, Gargano's wife, appeared to celebrate with Gargano. Tommaso Ciampa, the former NXT Champion, appeared and congratulated Gargano. Gargano celebrated with LeRae and Ciampa as the event ended.

Reception[]

The event received widespread acclaim. Jake St-Pierre of 411Mania rated the event a perfect 10/10 rating. He described it by saying, "It's getting to the point where I don't know which TakeOver event stands out the most, but I'll be damned if New York didn't throw its hat in the ring with authority."^[7]

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter awarded, out of five stars, 4.5 stars for both the NXT Tag Team Championship and the North American Championship matches, 4.75 stars to the Walter-Dunne match, 3.75 stars to the Women's Championship match (the only match of the event below four stars), and 5.5 stars to the Gargano-Cole match, making it the first WWE match to break the five-star rating system. To date the Gargano-Cole match is the highest-rated WWE match by Meltzer.^[8]

The Gargano-Cole match would later win the NXT Year-End Award for Match of the Year.^[9]

Results[]

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic bracket[]

References[]

External links[]

• WWE NXT Official Website