10 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE NXT TakeOver
7. Sasha Banks Vs Bayley Was The Best And Most Important WWE Match Of The 2010s
The 2010s was the decade in which WWE addressed a years-long identity crisis on-screen and secured deals that protected its finances for life off, but neither of those stories combated the reality that the market leader was the biggest heel in the market.
Vince McMahon luxuriated in being disliked at times, but that negativity and needless needle flowed underneath his entire company like the toxic mood slime in Ghostbusters 2. Never was this more apparent than in the women's division, which, by 2015 was both a half-baked Divas division holder and an under-serviced in-ring presentation. A tag match pitting The Bellas against Paige and Emma was allotted just over 30 seconds of a three-hour Raw in February, and the surge of momentum behind a #GiveDivasAChance trend forced Vince McMahon to reply on Twitter. NXT between 2014 and 2016 made enormous, industry-changing strides to change that perception, and Sasha Banks Vs Bayley at TakeOver: Brooklyn was as integral a part of that change as Stone Cold Steve Austin and Bret Hart were to ushering in the Attitude Era and rise of 'The Rattlesnake' at WrestleMania 13.
Like all historic moments, it rules and it rules hard. It had to - as usual, the bar was way higher for women, and in stealing a show designed to highlight just how awesome NXT had become, the Women's Championship became one of the most prestigious in all of wrestling.
It's perhaps a leap to suggest a Women's Revolution on the main roster wouldn't have happened without this contest, but's absolutely fair to consider this proof of concept when none should have even been required.