NXT TakeOver 36 - Ranking the buildup to every match

#4 Karrion Kross vs. Samoa Joe for the NXT Championship (NXT TakeOver 36)

Are you ready for #NXTTakeOver? You have 5 days to prepare THREAD ⬇️ 1️⃣ @WWEKarrionKross defends his #NXTTitle against @SamoaJoe this Sunday at 8/7c on @peacockTV in the U.S. and @WWENetwork elsewhere! #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/gY5JPPqXsg

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) August 18, 2021

NXT TakeOver 36's likely main event will see Karrion Kross defending the NXT Championship against the returning Samoa Joe. This bout will mark Joe's first wrestling match since February 2020 and his first NXT match since 2016. The journey to get to this point has been quite compelling, both on TV and off of it.

Samoa Joe was released from WWE on April 15 following WrestleMania 37. At the time of his release, he served as a color commentator on the RAW brand. Just two months later, Triple H brought him back into the fold with Joe returning to NXT on the June 15th, 2021 episode.

He came back to the brand in order to serve as the special enforcer for General Manager William Regal. Joe immediately went face to face with the NXT Champion.

You can't stop them. You can only hope to contain them.@WWEKarrionKross and @SamoaJoe are tearing the CWC apart ahead of #NXTTakeOver. #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/yveJnKYAQD

— WWE (@WWE) August 18, 2021

Tensions built between Samoa Joe and Karrion Kross until the July 13th episode of NXT, where Joe was the special guest referee for Kross's title defense against Johnny Gargano. Kross defeated Gargano, but after he felt like Joe was working against him, the champion choked the veteran out after the match. This attack set in motion a series of events that took us to NXT TakeOver 36.

Samoa Joe wanted revenge, but Kross avoided him and instead attacked Regal in the parking lot. The following week, Joe stepped down as an enforcer and got Regal to sign a contract to put him back on the active roster. He also signed a contract for a NXT Championship Match against Kross at NXT TakeOver 36.

If this was just down to the buildup that fans have seen on the black-and-gold brand, this contest would rank higher among the buildups. But Kross' main roster run so far has significantly lessened the impact of the leadup to his NXT TakeOver 36 bout. Kross' losses to Jeff Hardy and Keith Lee have taken his undefeated aura and made fans less interested in this feud.