10 Best NXT TakeOver Matches Of 2017

2. The Authors Of Pain Vs DIY Vs The Revival (Orlando)

Scott Dawson Rezar Johnny Gargano
WWE.com

The Usos, The Bar, The New Day and The Shield will justifiably gobble up most of the praise for 2017's tag team wrestling renaissance, but none of those quality quartets can lay claim to WWE/NXT's best tag team match of the year.

A mind-blowing festival of action, drama and pathos, The Authors Of Pain built on their January title victory with another worthy effort against the two teams the audience desperately wanted to see restored at the top of the tag team tree.

The Champions even survived brief complicity between fierce foes #DIY and The Revival. Kicking off an incredible sequence, Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder collaborated first on blasting Rezar through a ringside table. The smash of his body going through the wood seemed to awaken a logic in the duos, and the four went next for Akam. After Rezar recovered to save his partner from a double submission, the pair were blasted with Meet In The Middle, Shatter Machine and a series of dives between the mixed combos.

Entering rarified air from a booking perspective, a superplex on Ciampa from Dawson onto the other six bodies on the arena floor brought the match's middle section a close when #DIY were promptly pinned at the 20 mark. Without anymore flies to swat, The Authors Of Pain took just four and a half more minutes to dispose of The Revival. It's perhaps the best-constructed multi-man match in company history.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett