NXT TakeOver: Portland

NXT TakeOver: Portland
Promotional poster featuring Johnny Gargano, Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, Adam Cole, Tommaso Ciampa, and Finn Bálor.
Promotion	WWE
Brand(s)	NXT
Date	February 16, 2020
City	Portland, Oregon
Venue	Moda Center
WWE Network event chronology
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NXT TakeOver chronology
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NXT TakeOver: Portland was the 28th NXT TakeOver professional wrestling event produced by WWE. It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's NXT brand division. The event aired exclusively on the WWE Network and took place on February 16, 2020, at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. It was the first NXT TakeOver to be held on a Sunday. This was also the last TakeOver event to take place before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which began affecting all of WWE's programming in mid-March. It also happened to be the final NXT event to take place outside of Florida, as the following episodes and Takeovers took place in Orlando, FL as a result of the pandemic.

Six matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Adam Cole defeated Tommaso Ciampa to retain the NXT Championship. In the penultimate match, Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic winners The BroserWeights (Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne) defeated The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) to win the NXT Tag Team Championship. In other prominent matches, Rhea Ripley retained the NXT Women's Championship against Bianca Belair, Keith Lee defeated Dominik Dijakovic to retain the NXT North American Championship,and Finn Balor defeated Johnny Gargano in the opening bout.

Production[]

Background[]

TakeOver was a series of professional wrestling shows that began in May 2014, as WWE's NXT brand held their second WWE Network-exclusive event, billed as TakeOver.^[1] In subsequent months, the "TakeOver" moniker became the brand used by WWE for all of their NXT live specials. TakeOver: Portland was scheduled as the 28th NXT TakeOver event and the first to be held on a Sunday—TakeOver events prior were all held on Saturdays. The event was held on February 16, 2020, at the Moda Center and was named after the venue's city of Portland, Oregon.^[2][3][4]

Storylines[]

The card will include matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters to build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines are produced on their weekly television program, NXT.^[5][6]

On the January 15 episode of NXT, Bianca Belair won a women's battle royal to earn a NXT Women's Championship match against Rhea Ripley at TakeOver: Portland.^[7]

On the December 18, 2019 episode of NXT, it was announced that there would be a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.^[8] The tournament began on the January 8 episode of NXT. At Worlds Collide, it was revealed that the winner of the tournament would receive a NXT Tag Team Championship match at Takeover: Portland.^[9] The finals of the tournament took place on the January 29 episode of NXT which saw The BroserWeights (Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne) defeat Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake and Zack Gibson) to earn a title match against The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) for the titles.^[10]

During the women's WarGames match at TakeOver: WarGames, Dakota Kai attacked her teammate Tegan Nox as Kai was coming out of her cage, thus turning heel. As a result, Kai was dismissed while Nox was ruled unable to compete.^[11] On the January 15 episode of NXT, Kai would eliminate Nox (who returned after a short hiatus due to a storyline injury) during the women's battle royal.^[7] Due to the animosity between Kai and Nox, the two faced other in a match on January 29 episode of NXT, which Nox won after attacking Kai with her knee brace.^[10] Later, a rematch between the two was scheduled and made as a street fight at TakeOver: Portland.^[12]

Event[]

Preliminary matches[]

The event began with Keith Lee defending his NXT North American Championship against Dominik Dijakovic. The match began hot when Lee performed a hurricanrana on Dijakovic to a massive ovation. The match became a hard-hitting affair from then on. Lee would later perform three Grizzly Magnums to Dijakovic on the outside that were heard all across the arena. Dijakovic would bounce back by performing a Superkick and a Springboard Swanton Bomb on Lee on the outside. After trading some near-finishers, Lee would hit a Spirit Bomb only for Dijakovic to land on his feet. Lee would then hit another Spirit Bomb for a close nearfall. Dijakovic would go on to perform a massive Super Spanish Fly for nearfall. Dijakovic would try to go for Feast Your Eyes, but his back gave out, allowing Lee to perform a Big Bang Catastrophe on Dijakovic to retain the title. After the match, the two showed their respect for each other.^[13]

The next match was the street fight between Tegan Nox and Dakota Kai. The two had used different weapons all throughout the match like chairs, trash cans, a laptop, and a cricket bat. In the end, Nox had given Kai a Shiniest Wizard, but she wasn't done yet. Nox had Kai propped up on a table with a chair wrapped around Kai's neck. Suddenly, Raquel Gonzalez made her first appearance in WWE since the Mae Young Classic, and slammed Nox through the table, allowing Kai to pin Nox for the win.^[13]

Following this was the match between Johnny Gargano and Finn Bálor. During the match, Gargano attacked Balor and landed a Slingshot Spear for a nearfall. Meanwhile, Gargano attempted a Slingshot DDT, then Balor got away and landed a knee. In the end, after Gargano hit a shotgun dropkick to Balor into the barricade, Balor recuperated and gave Gargano a shotgun dropkick of his own. Balor then followed this up with a Coup de Grace and a 1916 for the victory.^[13]

Then came the match for the NXT Women's Championship that pitted defending champion, Rhea Ripley, against the challenger, Bianca Belair. In the end, Ripley hit Belair with the Riptide to retain. Suddenly, Charlotte Flair, the 2020 Women's Royal Rumble winner, attacked Ripley and Belair, accepting Ripley's challenge for an NXT Women's Championship match at WrestleMania 36.^[13]

The penultimate match was The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) against the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic winners, The BroserWeights (Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne), for the NXT Tag Team Championship. This match was filled with many high-risk spots and physical double-team action. Near the end, Riddle ran in and accidentally gave Dunne a spear. O’Reilly and Fish then capitalized by hitting Dunne with Chasing the Dragon for a dramatic nearfall. Dunne fought out of High Low and tagged Riddle in. Riddle tossed O’Reilly into Dunne's Enzuigiri to give Riddle and Dunne the victory and the titles.^[13]

Main event[]

The main event was the long-anticipated NXT Championship match between Adam Cole and Tommaso Ciampa. Not long into the match, Cole performed a Wheelbarrow suplex on Ciampa to the broadcast table neck-first. Eventually, Ciampa countered an elevated Panama Sunrise and hit a top-rope Air Raid Crash on Cole for a nearfall. Ciampa then gave Cole two powerbombs onto the Spanish announce table. Following a superkick by Cole and a massive lariat by Ciampa, Ciampa hit Project Ciampa on Cole for another nearfall. Cole later went for a suicide dive, but Ciampa caught him with a rocket launcher toss. Cole then hit a Draping Piledriver and a Kneecap Brainbuster for a nearfall. Cole then hit The Last Shot, but Ciampa rolled out before he could make the cover. Ciampa then gave Cole another Air Raid Crash onto the ring apron, but Cole followed up with the Panama Sunrise onto the floor. As Cole was getting back into the ring, Ciampa surprised him with a Willow's Bell and then hit the Fairytale Ending for a jaw-dropping nearfall. Soon after, the rest of the Undisputed Era interfered, but Ciampa took out every member with a slingshot corkscrew plancha and fought them off. Cole, however, delivered three superkicks and a second Last Shot for a dramatic nearfall. Cole then shoved Ciampa into the referee and hit a low blow on Ciampa, but Ciampa bounced back with a low blow of his own and hit a Fairytale Ending, but there was no referee to count the pinfall. Suddenly, Johnny Gargano came back and told Ciampa to use the NXT Championship as a weapon, only for Gargano to pull it away. After a few seconds, Gargano swung around and struck Ciampa in the head with the title, turning heel to the shock of everyone in the audience. Cole then covered the unconscious Ciampa to win the match and retain the title.^[13]

Aftermath[]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, WWE moved many of their upcoming shows for Raw and SmackDown, including WrestleMania 36, to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida with no fans in attendance. NXT's events were exclusively held at their home base of Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. This change began with the March 13 episodes of SmackDown and 205 Live. The WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony was also postponed.^[14][15] NXT's next event, TakeOver: Tampa Bay, had also been postponed, but was eventually canceled; matches scheduled and planned for the event were moved to episodes of NXT, beginning April 1.^[16] From March 21–26, WWE pre-taped several episodes of their weekly programs for future broadcasts, including WrestleMania (which was taped on March 25 and 26 and then airing on April 4 and 5).^[17] In August, Raw and SmackDown's shows were moved to a bio-secure bubble called the WWE ThunderDome,^[18] while in October, NXT's events were moved to the Performance Center where its main arena was reconfigured as the Capitol Wrestling Center, which was similar to the ThunderDome.^[19] In July 2021, WWE resumed live touring for Raw and SmackDown,^[20] but NXT remained at the Performance Center, although with COVID restrictions lifted and full crowds in attendance.^[21]

Results[]

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic bracket[]

References[]

External links[]

• WWE NXT Official Website