The Best Match From Every 2021 WWE PPV

On paper, this is easily the starkest snapshot of WWE's PPV calendar from 2021.

Having just regained his NXT Championship from Finn Bálor at NXT TakeOver: Stand And Deliver after a separated shoulder forced him to relinquish during the previous August, a seemingly unstoppable Karrion Kross implored General Manager William Regal to send every challenger he had to offer and Blackpool's finest obliged.

For more than 25 minutes, Kross, Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano, Kyle O' Reilly and Pete Dunne tore each other (and the Capitol Wrestling Center) apart, but no one could solve the NXT Champion on this night.

Unfortunately, less than eight months later, WWE President Nick Khan's fingerprints are all over this contest. The TakeOver Era of NXT made one final stand two months later, but the ensuing reboot to NXT 2.0 led to a wave of departures, including 80% of the bout's participants. Cole and O'Reilly left for greener pastures, Gargano became a free agent in December and the NXT Champion was horrendously fumbled beyond recognition before his inevitable release in early November. Even Regal himself was relieved of his backstage role earlier this month.

Even as the last man standing, Pete Dunne's prospects look increasingly dismal the longer he hangs around. Granted, his appearances on WWE Main Event suggest an impending call to either RAW or SmackDown, but given Vince McMahon's track record with the NXT roster and brand at large, slumming it in a crowbar-based feud with Tony D'Angelo might be as good as it gets going forward.