The Year in PPV- NXT 2015

You know how much I love NXT at this point, so why prolong the inevitable? This was a year in which NXT really came into the forefront as WWE's hottest commodity. Before, it was kind of this cool thing you'd hear about on the internet, but still somewhat of an underground secret. 2015 really turned WWE's developmental into its own brand.

So let's head to a historic night in NXT history with NXT TakeOver: Rival ...


1. NXT TakeOver: Rival

It feels like NXT makes landmark event after landmark event. The Rival event really showed how strong their product was at the time. You could have an opener in Tyler Breeze vs. Hideo Itami, a big brawl in Bull Dempsey vs. Baron Corbin, Finn Balor vs. Adrian Neville in a number one contender's match, and an NXT Tag Team Championship match with the Lucha Dragons trying to get their titles back from Blake and Murphy.

But this show really delivered with two great main events. First, Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Bayley, and Sasha Banks (NXT's Four Horsewomen) had a great Fatal 4-Way match for the NXT Women's Championship. And NXT's most personal story so far culminated in an NXT Championship match between Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. No words I say right now can do these two matches justice. Go watch them for yourself and see just how good fans of NXT had it at this very moment in time.

Highly Recommended


2. NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable

For the first time in 2015, I was a little underwhelmed by the NXT product. Not to say these matches were bad, but it was missing that major spark needed to make the show a must see event. The opening match was a number one contender's match, that was originally supposed to be a Triple Threat. Hideo Itami was scheduled to be in the match between Finn Balor and Tyler Breeze, but was written out with an injury...which he's still recovering from nearly a year later. Boy, you bet on the wrong horse if you thought Itami was going to be the breakout superstar of the year.

If that injury wasn't enough, Sami Zayn headed into his match with Kevin Owens already injured. But the match with Owens was used to write him off for the remainder of the year. It's nowhere near as good as the Rival match, but it's the ending that had people going nuts. Right when Owens is ready to level Zayn with a chair, SAMOA JOE DEBUTS!!!!! WOW!!!! I never thought I would ever see that and it made me pop like crazy when I saw it the first time. This night also had an awesome NXT Women's Championship match between Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch, showcasing just how great women's wrestling can be in the modern era. Ok, so there's a number of things that helped salvage this show for me.

Recommended


3. NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn

The night before SummerSlam, NXT held its first major televised event to not take place at Full Sail University. In front of a huge Brooklyn crowd, NXT came to play on this night. We saw a variety of matches and moments play out throughout the evening. From Tyler Breeze in his opening match with Jushin "Thunder" Liger, to the Vaudevillains challenging Blake and Murphy for the NXT Tag Team Championships, to the debut of Apollo Crews, to the smash mouth style match of Baron Corbin vs. Samoa Joe.

Then, we arrive at the main events. First, Sasha Banks and Bayley had one of the best women's matches I've ever seen in my entire life. It's an absolute show stealer. And, in a ladder match for the NXT Championship, Finn Balor tries to retain his championship against Kevin Owens, after winning the belt from Owens at the Beast in the East event in Japan. The ladder match was a really good way to close the show, but everyone was still focused on how amazing the women were that night. If only they had main evented the PPV.

Highly Recommended


4. NXT TakeOver: Respect

With a heavy pun intended, the theme of the night was that of respect. Most of the night was dedicated to the Dusty Rhodes Classic Tag Team Tournament. We had semi-final matches that saw Finn Balor and Samoa Joe take on Dash and Dawson, as well as the team of Rhyno and Baron Corbin vs. Jason Jordan and Chad Gable. The winners of those matches would face each other in the tournament final to take home a huge trophy that honored the late Dusty Rhodes. It was a fitting tribute for one of wrestling's greatest of all-time, especially since he had such a lasting legacy in NXT's success. It's a very big feel good moment for the show.

But the ultimate battle of respect on this evening was when two women main evented a WWE major event for the first time ever. In a 30-minute Ironman match, Bayley and Sasha Banks put on the performance of a lifetime in an amazing bout for the NXT Women's Championship. The work these two women put into this match is awe inspiring and some of the best face/heel work I've seen ever. This match did the impossible in topping their match from Brooklyn. I didn't think it would be possible, but they even further showed why the women's division was the best thing NXT had going for it in 2015.

Highly Recommended


5. NXT TakeOver: London

The year comes to a close with its first TakeOver event to take place outside the United States. The London crowd certainly brought a certain gravitas to the event that only certain crowds are able to do, but part of me was a little troubled by how things were booked. I remember being completely blown away by this event when I first saw it, but I think that's the initial effects NXT has on viewers. When you go back and re-analyze it, you start to pick up on certain things. For example, the entire booking for that NXT Tag Team Championship match would've pointed at Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady finally winning the straps, yet they don't. It was such a one-sided booking that I didn't know if it did a whole lot for Dash and Dawson in the long run. They're still a great team and the match was great, but the moment was primed for Enzo and Big Cass, so this felt like a missed opportunity.

Everything else on the card was solid, but a little unspectacular. A lot of the matchups didn't get out of second gear and felt very by the books. Still, the roster came to play to close out the year. Finn Balor and Samoa Joe put out a good main event for the NXT Championship, Bayley and Nia Jax put on a compelling match for the NXT Women's Championship, even Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews were able to pull out a nice upper midcard match. It's all fine, but you definitely had the idea that they were relying on the crowd to be invested. This is far from the best show they put on in 2015, but it's definitely not the worst.

Recommended


Thoughts: The roster in NXT is always solid and the matches are always pretty good, but there's still the opportunity for certain elements to shine more than others. Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, the tag teams, and the women's division were all at the forefront of the most compelling wrestling NXT offered in 2015 and kept my NXT experience from falling into a sophomore slump. NXT is still great and I don't see signs of that slowing any time soon. When these competitors get called up to the main roster, there will always be younger, fresher talent waiting in the wings to keep NXT going. And I like that quite a bit. The future is now and it's very bright for NXT in 2016.


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