10 Wrestling Moments You Didn’t Know Were Totally Ripped Off
2. NXT
There is a simple formula to NXT's seminal awesomeness.
The brand has for years built trust within its ardent fanbase by presenting long-term character arcs within an ostensible sporting framework, in which wins and losses actually affect the trajectory of the performer and the complexion of the TakeOver shows. And, if it can feel slightly clinical at times, through its taped schedule, those TakeOver shows, state-of-the-art in action and rich in emotion and psychology, compensate for the patterned overarching narrative.
There is an even simpler formula to NXT's seminal awesomeness: Pro Wrestling Guerilla - niche comedy + tremendous production values = NXT.
The list of former PWG World Champions doubles as a William Regal scouting report: Kevin Steen, El Generico, Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, Roderick Strong, Ricochet and WALTER have all experienced huge success on the TakeOver stage. In addition, the lineage yields names that have experienced the great, the good, and the indifferent of main roster programming, from Bryan Danielson and AJ Styles to Claudio Castagnoli to Low Ki.
It's this latest chapter in TakeOver lore - the most critically acclaimed and unanimously beloved, tellingly - that is so evidently inspired by PWG's breathlessly entertaining output.
On the New York card, every male performer, with the exception of the Velveteen Dream, once starred in the low budget, high artistry confines of Reseda's American Legion Post building. There, the new chapter of pro wrestling was drafted and redrafted and written in a subjectively divisive burst of unregulated, boundless creativity.
The savvy Triple H aimed his target at the most objectively successful version of the presentation, and made the kill shot.