Ranking Every NXT TakeOver From Worst To Best

10. XXV

Finn Bálor Samoa Joe
WWE

The task of having to follow what many fans have called the greatest match in company history was a bold one for Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano to undertake, but oh how they managed it as the Undisputed Era leader finally took his place atop the brand.

Going to the same lengths as their New York scorcher, Champion and Challenger exercised enough restraint early on to inform an explosive all out war as the tensions mounted. Crucially, Cole did this one alone - on a night where his UE troops failed to win, he managed it. Order had at last been restored.

Roderick Strong's bruising back-smashing loss to Matt Riddle was the highlight of another pant-p*sser of an undercard that saw Kyle O'Reilly enter in one of the solo showings of the year in a match featuring seven other men. Street Profits winning the vacant Tag Team Titles in a ladder match put Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins over as money players so impactfully that they were transplanted onto the main roster within weeks.

Though Velveteen Dream and Tyler Breeze couldn't quite live up to dream match expectations, Shayna Baszler and Io Shirai absolutely f*cking did as the first foreshadowings of the Challengers eventual heel turn came following a soul-crushing loss.

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