Ranking Every NXT TakeOver From Worst To Best
7. Philadelphia
Andrade 'Cien' Almas and Johnny Gargano came of age as characters in a TakeOver main event that completely reimagined the quality bar of an event that had teased breaking the scale for years. Dave Meltzer's star ratings to matter loads to many but they matter a lot to some, and the pair earning the first perfect score for the company in a decade a half helped enhance what had already been an evocative and exceptional main event.
Reborn under the guidance of Zelina Vega, every slick and sick assault from Andrade landed on the crowd with the same force they appeared to strike ultra-sympathetic Challenger Gargano. The man that had lost just about everything was about to win the show's top prize until he fell marginally short. Tommaso Ciampa's post-match attack was somehow crueler than the actual defeat.
Elsewhere, Adam Cole announced himself as the future steward of the whole brand in a brutal Extreme Rules match loss against Aleister Black, Ember Moon squeaked past Shayna Baszler while expertly marking her own cards for a future loss, and Velveteen Dream continued his inexorable rise with another strong showing against Kassius Ohno.
NXT had raised the bar, and it wouldn't ever be lowered again.