10 best matches at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn

The best matches at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn
Three blockbuster events - which were the best matches of them all?

NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn might have only been around for a few years, but in that short period of time, it has built up a reputation as one of the best shows on WWE's calendar. Every year since its inception, it has outshined SummerSlam, which takes place the next night. In fairness to the main roster, last year's SummerSlam gave TakeOver a run for its money, with its two outstanding tag team title matches and one of the best main events in its history.

This year, however, looks like it will be a no-contest. NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV will be better than SummerSlam from top to bottom, even with Aleister Black's catastrophically timed injury.

There's a reason why NXT's biggest show has gotten to where it is. Despite having only three editions up to now, it has a catalogue of matches that would stack up well against any pay per view collection in WWE history. As TakeOver: Brooklyn IV approaches, let's look back at the top 10.


#10 NXT Tag Team Championship: The Authors of Pain (c) vs. SAnitY (NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III)

Authors of Pain vs. SAnitY NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III
A chaotic changing of the guard.

This was a showdown between two of NXT's most dominant tag teams. It felt like it was going to be a war, and that's what it was. Like Roode vs. McIntyre later in the night, however, it's more notable for the debut of a future set of NXT tag team champions than the match itself.

The fight started before the bell even rang, which was a nice touch. Though he wasn't officially part of the match, Eric Young brought out a table from under the ring. After the bell rang, he surprised the crowd by entering himself into the match, since Killian Dain hadn't been tagged into the match beforehand.

After chaos descended over the ringside area, the Authors of Pain took control for most of the match.

The build to the climax began when the Authors of Pain tried to do a powerbomb/superplex combination to Eric Young off the top rope, but Nikki Cross grabbed onto his legs to save him. That's when Akam powerbombed Rezar by mistake.

A big elbow drop from Young resulted in a near-fall, with Akam saving his partner. A couple of dives later and everyone was laying unconscious outside the ring. That's when Nikki Cross and Paul Ellering got in.

With Ellering distracting the referee, Nikki Cross dived was caught by Akam, and both were put through a table by Killian Dain. Young and Wolfe then double-teamed Rezar and sealed the deal.

Then Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish spoiled SAnitY's victory parade!

#9 NXT Championship: Bobby Roode (c) vs. Drew McIntyre (NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III)

Bobby Roode vs. Drew McIntyre
A triumphant return.

While this match was good, it definitely felt like it shouldn't have main evented this show. The Roode-McIntyre feud felt a bit rushed, and the action didn't compare to some of the other matches on the night. The match is also remembered more for the debut of Adam Cole and the Undisputed Era afterwards than any of the action that took place in the ring.

Despite these negatives, it started off strong with great entrances for both competitors. The character work done by both was excellent as well, with McIntyre looking the completely confident challenger getting under the skin of the wily champion. That was the story throughout the match, as Roode avoided McIntyre's power as much as possible and used his cunning to gain advantages.

As the match wound down, the two exchanged some big moves - the Future Shock DDT, a powerbomb from the top rope, a Claymore kick, a flip to the outside from McIntyre, a spinebuster, two Glorious DDTs. Nothing worked. Eventually, McIntyre hit a second Claymore and got the pin to win the title.

Adam Cole would then make his infamous NXT debut and ruin the celebration.

#8 NXT Championship: Finn Balor (c) vs. Kevin Owens (NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn I)

Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn
A reckoning.

Finn Balor and Kevin Owens have met many times since this match, but neither of them has ever been as hot since. Finn Balor was far from the generic smiley guy he is now, but a focused competitor who could channel his demonic instincts. All of that focus would be against one of the most sadistic heels in NXT history in Kevin Owens.

Unfortunately, the crowd took the air out of this match at the beginning, as something else had obviously caught their attention. The slow pace in the ring added to that feeling.

Finn Balor found himself back inside, trying to scale a ladder, but Kevin Owens rammed his head into it. Finn Balor brought another ladder into the ring. Try as he might, however, Owens wouldn't let him have the advantage.

Things turned around when Finn Balor back body dropped Owens between the legs of a ladder that lay down on its side. Owens cannonballing himself into another ladder kept the momentum on Balor's side.

Balor then hit the Coup de Grace and scaled the ladder. Owens got back to his feet, dragged Balor off the ladder into a powerbomb, and then collapsed to the ground himself. When he came-to, he climbed up. Finn Balor tipped the ladder and sent him into the turnbuckle.

After a powerbomb on the apron, Kevin Owens looked like he had the match won. Finn Balor entered the ring and tipped the ladder to stop his climb, but Owens landed on his feet and superkicked Balor in the face twice.

Owens set up one ladder upright and another resting on it and the turnbuckle, dragging Finn Balor up top. He couldn't connect with his suplex, however, and fell on top of the second ladder after Balor rammed his head into the first.

The climax came when Balor tried to grab the NXT title, but the ladder was off-center. Owens stirred, but was fought off. Since he couldn't easily grab the title, Balor hit a super Coup de Grace from the top of the ladder. This allowed Balor the time he needed to struggle up the ladder and grab the belt to retain his title.

#7 Aleister Black vs. Hideo Itami (NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III)

Aleister Black vs. Hideo Itami
A contest of hard kicks.

This was a battle between two premier strikers. One of them tried to demand the respect he felt he hadn't received after years of effort, while the other was a hot new arrival he wanted to make an example of. The atmosphere was kicked up a notch when Code Orange and Incendiary played Black to the ring.

The entrance played perfectly into the match because it was mostly a fast-paced, adrenaline-laden slugfest. At times, the match felt like a kickboxing contest, and that was a nice change of pace from what we typically see in a ring.

Black bleeding early on lent credibility to the hard impacts that fans knew both men could deliver. Itami started to take control during the middle of the match, sitting down in Black's signature post to crank up the mind games. Itami's control of the contest see-sawed back and forth throughout the middle, culminating with a super Falcon Arrow which resulted in a near-fall. It was, however, almost as damaging to Itami as Black.

That's when Aleister Black shot up and began his own mind games, staring down a disbelieving Itami. Both men exchanged a flurry of strikes, and Itami ended the affair with another Falcon Arrow for a two-count. He tried for Go to Sleep but failed. As he demanded respect from the crowd, Black got back to his feet. Itami charged and missed, and was met with a Black Mass. He fell for the three count.

#6 NXT Tag Team Championship: The Revival (c) vs. DIY (NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II)

DIY vs. The Revival NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn
A first disappointment.

The name is apt, because the revival of tag team wrestling began in NXT, and the rivalry of DIY and The Revival was the next step in the renaissance. Though this match doesn't match their classic at the following TakeOver: Toronto, their Brooklyn showdown still stands among the great tag team matches in recent years.

More notably, this was right off the heels of their epic encounter in the Cruiserweight Classic, and the first true milestone on the epic journeys of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa that led up to this year's main event.

The action started with some fast-paced technical wrestling, then spilled outside the ring with Gargano and Ciampa being feted by the crowd.

Both teams showed savvy and cunning, with The Revival performing a great sequence of tags while the wily Ciampa fought them off, only for Gargano to be dragged out of his corner. The Revival controlled the action from there, with a hilarious spot where Dash went into the ring to distract the referee, causing him to not recognize Ciampa's tag to Gargano.

When Gargano finally got the tag after a few more minutes of suspense, the crowd went wild. A slingshot spear from Gargano on Dawson resulted in a near-fall, with the crowd gasping in disbelief. A DDT looked like it would halt Gargano's onslaught, but another near-fall in a rollup told another story.

It was at that point that Ciampa tagged in again and rolled into an armbar, with Gargano halting Dash from assisting his partner. The crowd went unglued as the lock was held for an agonizingly long time, but Dash eventually managed to break it up.

Gargano rushed back in to halt a double-team attempt, and Ciampa rolled Dawson up, only for another two count.

The action unfolded at a blistering pace from there. A slugfest. A failed Shatter Machine. A superkick. Another near-fall rollup. A running knee from Ciampa. Gargano and Ciampa met in the middle on Dash and actually got a three count, only for the referee to notice his leg had been on the bottom rope and overrule it.

Dash destroyed Gargano's knee with a chopblock while Dawson rammed Ciampa into the post. A drop from the turnbuckle onto the knee worsened the pain. Eventually, Gargano would submit in a heartbreaking loss - a preview of the epic journey still to come.

#5 NXT Championship: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II)

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Samoa Joe NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn
A desperate quest to take the big man down.

Hot off the heels of his classic debut at NXT TakeOver: Dallas, Shinsuke Nakamura earned a title shot against Samoa Joe, the man who'd ended Finn Balor's record run as NXT Champion. NXT did a great job with the backstage scenes to make this feel like even more of a huge battle. Nakamura's spectacular live violin entrance amped the atmosphere up even further.

Both men exchanged light offense and played mind games with each other to open the match. There was a near count-out outside the ring as Joe slowly began to take advantage. Nakamura seemingly injured his knee when attempting an attack on the apron, and Joe took his opponent down with a suicide dive afterwards.

From there, he worked a slow, systematic decimation of his opponent with the fans clamoring for Nakamura to make his comeback. Every time Nakamura looked to get on a small role, Joe would find a way to smash him back to the ground. A marvelous little striking contest was the best example of this.

Nakamura pulled an Asuka and tried a flying cross armbar, but wasn't able to lock it in. Samoa Joe eventually transitioned into a cloverleaf. Nakamura got to the rope, but Joe answered back with two attempts at the Coquina Clutch, then followed up with a knee as Nakamura charged him, and then locked in a third Clutch. Nakamura got his foot on the rope. Not to worry - Joe eventually got the Muscle Buster. When Nakamura kicked out at two, the Barclays Center went nuts.

Joe attempted a second muscle buster, but Nakamura escaped and hit the Kinshasa, for another two count, keeping the suspense intact. After a short sequence, Nakamura hit a second Kinshasa and became NXT Champion, to the delight of the Brooklyn crowd.

#4 Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade "Cien" Almas (NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III)

Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade
A foreshadowing.

Though this was eventually superseded by their TakeOver: Philadelphia classic, this first encounter between the pair put them both on the map as main event contenders in NXT. For Almas, it was the signal that his turnaround was complete. He exploded to the NXT Championship only three months later. For Gargano, it was the first in a string of high-profile, well-fought losses that, following the breakup of DIY three months earlier, cemented him NXT's most sympathetic character.

This was a fantastically technical match between two great wrestlers. Gargano showed his fire and Almas showed his dominant, "Tranquilo" ice to try and get inside the head of his opponent.

The action picked up when Gargano dived outside the ring and hit Almas with a slingshot DDT, only for a two count. When he went for a slingshot spear, Almas caught him and slammed him into the canvas, then hit a tornado from the top rope for a near-fall of his own.

Both men beat the crap out of each other with multiple big moves. Gargano put Almas in the Gargano Escape, with Brooklyn clamoring for him to tap, but he instead reversed it into a powerbomb to the turnbuckle. After a double knee strike into the corner, Almas still only got a two count on the fallen Gargano, to his own shock.

Gargano had one last rally in him, only for it to be cut short when Zelina Vega threw a DIY shirt into the ring. He looked at it in shock and disbelief, with pain flooding into him. Almas took advantage of the distraction, hit the Hammerlock DDT, and walked out the victor.

With Almas smiling in triumph and Gargano's attention fully riveted on the DIY shirt afterwards, it was a harbinger of great things to come.

# 3 NXT Women's Championship: Asuka (c) vs. Bayley

Asuka vs. Bayley NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn
A spirited farewell.

This was the official beginning of a new era in NXT, as it was Bayley's emotional final match on the yellow brand. After Asuka defeated the beloved Bayley for the title in Dallas in April, a rematch was inevitable. A storyline injury delayed it to the appropriate place - Brooklyn, in the Barclays Center, where Bayley won the title a year before. Could she overcome the odds again and exorcise the juggernaut that was Asuka? Asuka claimed Bayley couldn't, that she didn't have what it took.

Dueling chants made this contest hot as soon as the bell rang. Cory Graves had the line that best described the contest: "I don't know how you solve Asuka. No one has done it yet." For every line of attack Bayley pursued, no matter how aggressively, Asuka had a devastating answer. Just when Bayley looked like she would be gaining an advantage, Asuka would change the equation.

The climax of the match began when Asuka locked Bayley in the Asuka Lock. It was then that Bayley did the unthinkable and escaped from the hold, with the Barclays Center going nuts. She then did what she couldn't do in Dallas and reversed into the Bayley-to-Belly, but only got a two count.

As Asuka got up, Bayley charged, only for Asuka to catch her into a flying Asuka Lock, only for Bayley to escape again, only for Asuka to drag her back to the floor, only for Bayley to reverse it into a pin, which forced Asuka to break the hold!

No problem - the champion just responded with a massive kick to the face. Bayley got right back up, slapped Asuka in the face, and got a spinning back kick for her effort. After another kick, Asuka knocked Bayley out, pinning her to retain the championship.

After a hug between the two competitors, Bayley exchanged more hugs with her fellow Four Horsewomen, thanked the fans, and left the Barclays Center, putting NXT behind her forever.

#2 NXT Women's Championship: Asuka (c) vs. Ember Moon (NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III)

Asuka vs. Ember Moon NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn
A triumphant swan song.

This match felt like a big deal far before the bell rang. With the otherwise unstoppable Asuka pulling a fast one to retain her title against Ember Moon at TakeOver: Orlando, and then going on to intentionally injure her fiercest rival, it felt like the stakes were elevated even more.

The action started off hot right away, with Ember Moon attacking Asuka with lightning strikes. The champion would quickly settle things down, however, and slowly go to work on her opponent's previously injured arm, removing it from the equation for the contest.

But Ember was determined, so instead of using her arms, she would use anything at her disposal. She would use her leg strength to reverse an Asuka Lock into a slam, or a roll-up, or just hit a lariat with her good arm. She even attempted to use Asuka's own finisher against her.

The action got even more intense when Asuka and Ember traded strikes and big moves. The climax came when Ember Moon actually hit the Eclipse on Asuka, which had been built up for months as the one move the record-breaking champion was afraid of.

When Asuka kicked out, the Barclays Center erupted in pandemonium. Ember Moon did too. She tried her best, but her trump card was a dud. Asuka played possum after a hard-hitting superkick, locked in the Asuka Lock, and retained her title, leaving NXT undefeated.

#1 NXT Women's Championship: Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bayley (NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn I)

Sasha Banks vs. Bayley NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn
An era-defining match.

There was never any doubt.

No matter how good any other match might be worked, this one is unlikely to ever be topped in the Brooklyn anthology. It was the culmination and payoff to one of the best feuds not only in NXT history but of the past decade.

The match itself was also one of the decade's most important because it proved that women's wrestling could indeed headline major shows. When all was said and done, this match felt like it should have main evented that night, not the Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor match for the NXT Championship.

Sasha Banks' spectacular entrance amplified the big fight feel even further before the bell even rang. Her arrogant posturing once the bell rang amped it up even more. In fact, the entire match was centered on this. The arrogance of The Boss was on full tilt. Bayley needed to stay true to herself and fight through the pain.

After some methodical action, things got more intense when Sasha Banks exploited Bayley's previously broken hand, tearing its protective brace off, smashing it on and between the ring steps. Bayley eventually bought herself some time by sending Sasha Banks outside the ring.

Sasha Banks nearly got counted out, and that heightened the suspense even more because she would have still retained her championship despite the loss. After Sasha returned to the ring, an exchange followed that nearly saw Bayley hit the Bayley-toBelly, but it was ultimately countered into the Banks Statement.

Bayley nearly got to the rope and Sasha kicked at her injured hand, sending the crowd into a frenzy. It grew even louder when Bayley reached for the rope with her other hand, Sasha rolled her back, and Bayley countered into the Banks Statement!

Sasha got her foot on the rope, but soon, Bayley hit the Bayley-to-Belly, only for Sasha to kick out at two and send Brooklyn into an even bigger uproar. The to tussled on the top rope. Sasha would eventually shove Bayley to the mat hit a Meteora, which was only good for a two count.

The two tussled on the other turnbuckle. Bayley hit a top rope modified hurricanrana, followed up with a second Bayley-to-Belly, and finally won the NXT Women's Championship.

Afterward, the Four Horsewomen gathered around in celebration, in what became the most iconic image in NXT history, with Bayley and Sasha making amends, realizing the monumental achievement they'd just accomplished together.

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