15 Ups & 6 Downs For WWE NXT In 2019

1. TakeOver: New York

The best NXT TakeOver of all time? The WWE pay-per-view of all time? The best company match of all time?

That all three questions could be answered with an emphatic "Yes" even without consulting Dave Meltzer's star ratings for (arguably) objective confirmation of the last speaks to the unfathomably high standard of another TakeOver for the ages. Wrestling often relies on perfect storms rather than pre-planned sunny spells, but the hurricane that blew through NXT shortly before this show should have blown the whole house down, rather than simply the roof off.

Tommaso Ciampa's injury shelved not just the Champion but the payoff to a three-year angle that would ultimately crown Johnny Gargano NXT Champion. Adam Cole stepping in as a late replacement reframed the narrative entirely, but the two did what the two do and went on to have what many (your writer included) considered the match of the year, and some the greatest ever.

And it was far from a one-match card. Though none of them knew it at the time, the pulsating and artful opener between The War Raiders and Aleister Black/Ricochet was the NXT swansong for all four on a brand they clearly adored. Matt Riddle and Velveteen Dream rose to the challenge of turning an easy-going hero into a heel and making underdog babyface out of the coolest f*cker on earth before rectifying everything at the end, all for the good of the North American title. Shayna Baszler asserted her authority over the entire Women's Division yet again in a multi-person high spot war, whilst Pete Dunne's surrender of his UK Championship to Walter was the best moment of his 685-day reign since the first.

This was, by any standard, a complete masterclass.