Ranking Every NXT TakeOver From Worst To Best
2. Dallas
Dusty Rhodes famously spoke fondly of emotion being pro wrestling’s key driver, and ‘The American Dream’ would know - a decent wrestler but incredible worker, Rhodes was so sublime at what he was good at that it didn’t matter a jot what he couldn’t quite do as well.
As was TakeOver: Dallas, the first WrestleMania weekend for his beloved brand since his passing. A season finale of sorts for the NXT that became the hottest promotion in the world without even being a promotion, Dallas was a card that contradicted one of his all time legendary promos - from the developmental brand lurking behind the main roster, the view was changing.
Shinsuke Nakamura’s debut was a Moment (TM) WWE couldn’t come close to conjuring up one night later in front of a pretend 100,000 people. His debut already confirmed the brand as a destination wrestling location, but his infectious charisma and immaculately tweaked (and ONLY tweaked) promotion was confirmation of exactly what this proving ground had become - as if the work itself wasn’t doing the talking already.
‘The King Of Strong Style’ had an instant epic with Sami Zayn, made all the more impressive by what they’d been surrounded by. The Revival and American Alpha meshed styles with mesmerising mechanics and grace. Bayley and Asuka battered each other whilst breaking the hearts of every attendee in reminding them of life’s cruel natural order. Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe ingeniously worked around a worrisome blood stoppage to craft an entirely unique main event. Baron Corbin and Austin Aries were also there.
More of a cultural checkpoint for wrestling than just a supershow, this was all things to all eras of NXT in a manner that surely would have made the ‘Son Of A Plumber’ proud of all his “NXT kids”.