10 Things That Prove January Is The Best Month For Wrestling

7. NXT Takes Over

Because any month that features an NXT TakeOver event is a good month, right?

Since 2017, January has seen NXT put on one of its TakeOver extravaganzas. And not just any TakeOver shows, but some of the very best TakeOvers seen since NXT began running these events back in 2014.

The January tradition of running a TakeOver card began in 2017 with TakeOver: San Antonio. That first show was headlined by Bobby Roode defeating Shinsuke Nakamura for the NXT Championship, although it was DIY losing the NXT Tag Team Championships to The Authors of Pain that stole the show on that night.

In 2018, TakeOver: Philadelphia gave wrestling fans one of the very best matches in NXT history, as Andrade 'Cien' Almas retained his NXT Championship in a 30-minute classic against Johnny Gargano. Elsewhere on that card, Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole, Ember Moon vs. Shayna Baszler, and The Undisputed Era's Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly vs. AOP all wowed.

Continuing the tradition of stunning January shows, this year's TakeOver: Phoenix was another stacked event which saw NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa successfully defend Goldie against Aleister Black, NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler submit Bianca Belair, Johnny Gargano defeat Ricochet to become the NXT North American Champion, War Raiders beat Kyle O'Reilly and Roddy Strong to become NXT Tag Team Champions, and Matt Riddle make his TakeOver debut by besting Kassius Ohno.

After all of this, wouldn't you know it that WWE has decided to push its next TakeOver special to February this year. But still, January has famously been a great month for NXT fans.

Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

See more from Andrew