Best WWE NXT TakeOver Events, According To Fan Votes

The current landscape of NXT is witnessing huge changes at a level unseen since the start of the TakeOver events. Triple H produced some of the best overall wrestling shows in WWE history with the NXT brand having their quarterly versions of PPV events. CageMatch has ranked quite a few TakeOver shows as among the greatest in WWE, often over the main roster shows.

Some events certainly stand out more than others due to the overall card or general positive memories from the night. Almost every card has a positive review, but only the best stand out at the top of the mountain. Each of the following TakeOver events have been voted the top to ever come from NXT via CageMatch.Net ratings.

UPDATE: 2024/05/08 20:00 EST BY ANDREW KELLY

The history of the NXT TakeOver events is an illustrious one for sure, with arguably zero bad shows in the entire run of the series. Even heading into the top 21 NXT TakeOver events of all time, the shows are absolutely jam-packed full of great matches, star-making moments, hot crowds, and a whole load of importance to the development of WWE’s next generation of wrestlers. Even when WWE entered the pandemic era, TakeOvers were one of the biggest highlights of a tough time for the company, which is reflective in the fan votes for many of these crowdless shows.

21 NXT TakeOver: Rival Created Two New Stars In WWE

Cagematch.Net Rating: 8.38

TakeOver: Rival was one of the most important events in NXT’s early history due to the results of the top two title matches. Kevin Owens’ destruction of Sami Zayn made him look like the most dangerous man on the brand, and his win of the NXT Championship was the first step towards a main roster call up which took place not long after.

Additionally, Sasha Banks’ victory in the brilliant Four Horsewomen fatal four way acted as her coming out party in NXT. Finn Balor vs. Adrian Neville was a top tier singles match which acted as Balor’s ascension as a singles star and Neville’s goodbye to the brand. The rest of the card was pretty average, but these two bouts were great.

20 Night One Of NXT TakeOver Stand & Deliver 2021 Had A Lot To Love

Cagematch.Net Rating: 8.40

In 2021, NXT TakeOver Stand & Deliver was held over two different events, and Night One was certainly the best of the two. Although the main event was nothing special, it was a good moment to see Raquel Gonzalez win the NXT Women’s Championship, and it was additionally great when MSK became the new NXT Tag Team Champions.

The match of the night came in the former of Walter vs. Tommaso Ciampa, who stole the show despite having a predictable outcome.

19 NXT TakeOver 31 Had A Stunning Main Event Title Match

Cagematch.Net Rating: 8.43

The show-closer for this TakeOver event between Finn Balor and Kyle O’Reilly was enough by itself to earn this rating for the whole show. It was a physical, hard-hitting clash which made fans forget that they were in a building with zero real fans in attendance.

The rest of the show was pretty middling but with nothing bad, as Damian Priest defended the NXT North American Championship against Johnny Gargano, Io Shirai outlasted Candice LeRae, and Santos Escobar beat Isiah “Swerve” Scott.

18 NXT TakeOver: War Games 2019 Delivered With Both Major Matches

Cagematch.Net Rating: 8.43

This was only a short card with four matches, but they were all pretty good. The Women’s War Games match had a great angle with Dakota Kai turning heel, and it made for a great battle from below for the babyface team. The men’s match had the surprise appearance of Kevin Owens, though the match overall did lack some structure, even though it was still good.

Elsewhere, Pete Dunne defeated Killian Dain and Damian Priest to earn a shot at the NXT Championship in a match which felt like a TV bout, and Finn Balor’s second NXT run continued in good form with a great match against Matt Riddle.

17 NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff 2019 Showed How Good The UK Brand Can Be

Cagematch.Net Rating: 8.63

NXT UK was an often ignored brand, but they did produce some spectacular shows and matches at times, and they had some strong TakeOver shows. The best of the bunch was TakeOver: Cardiff, headlined by an unbelievable war between Walter and Tyler Bate which was a match of the year candidate for sure.

Cesaro vs. Ilja Dragunov was great, as was the triple threat tag team title match, but the show was somewhat let down by Noam Dar vs. Travis Banks and Kay Lee Ray vs. Toni Storm which simply failed to live up to expectations.

16 NXT TakeOver: 25 Was A Big Milestone

Cagematch.Net Rating: 8.66

The 25th edition of NXT TakeOver was treated like a big deal, and it incorporated both new and old NXT, notably with Tyler Breeze returning to the brand for a decent match with Velveteen Dream for the NXT North American Title. The main event was notably fantastic as Adam Cole shockingly beat Johnny Gargano for the NXT Championship.

Matt Riddle vs. Roderick Strong was hard-hitting, Shayna Baszler vs. Io Shirai was decent (though underwhelming as this was before Shirai had shown her star potential), and the fatal four way ladder match was glorious chaos. In truth, this event should probably be rated a bit higher than it is.

15 NXT TakeOver: Chicago 2018 Had A Violent Show Closer

Cagematch.Net Rating: 8.72

This was pretty much a one-match show with yet another thrilling and violent main event between Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano. The opening tag title match exceeded expectations, with Lorcan & Birch winning fans over, and Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream was good, but the event was let down by the two world title matches.

Shayna Baszler vs. Nikki Cross was short and underwhelming, and Lars Sullivan was not good enough to be challenging for the top title. His match with Aleister Black wasn’t necessarily awful, but it had botches and was far from the quality fans have come to expect from the NXT Title.

14 NXT Takeover: Philadelphia 2018 Had Some Tremendous Matches

Cagematch.Net Rating: 8.73

The main talking point from this event came from arguably the best NXT match of all time, wrestled between Andrade Almas and Johnny Gargano in a match for the NXT Championship. It was an absolute clinic, and made this show must-see. The rest of the event was very fun too, packed with top quality matches, as per usual.

Aleister Black and Adam Cole had a fun hardcore brawl, Ember Moon managed to topple Shayna Baszler, and The Undisputed Era outlasted the onslaught of the powerful Authors of Pain.

13 NXT Went On The Road For TakeOver: Brooklyn 2015

Cagematch.Net Rating: 8.73

NXT’s first ever on-the-road TakeOver event in a proper arena came with Brooklyn 2015. It felt truly special seeing the stars of NXT in front of a massive audience, and that alone elevated the show. There were several special moments such as the legendary Jushin Thunder Liger kicking off the show, and big title changes throughout the card too.

The most notable bout came with the match of the year contender between Bayley and Sasha Banks, which is still among the greatest women’s matches in professional wrestling history. It was emotional, violent, and red-hot. On paper and in execution it wasn’t as good as other events, but the significance of the show made it ten times better.

12 NXT Brought Back An Iconic Stipulation At Takeover: War Games 2017

Cagematch.Net Rating: 8.74

2017 hosted NXT’s first-ever War Games event, bringing back the popular WCW stipulation with a modern twist, and the anticipation was at a high. The War Games main event between The Undisputed Era, Sanity, and Roderick Strong & Authors of Pain lived up to the lofty expectations with a fantastic battle.

The undercard produced some strong matches too, with Ember Moon picking up the vacant NXT Women’s Title in a fatal four-way, and Andrade Almas shockingly dethroning NXT Champion Drew McIntyre. Aleister Black and Velveteen Dream also wrestled in a match which was peak sports entertainment.

11 NXT TakeOver: Toronto 2016 Had An All-Time Great Tag Team Match

Cagematch.Net Rating: 8.81

WWE booked a strong TakeOver: Toronto card during the weekend of Survivor Series 2016. CageMatch gave the show a great rating as an all-time NXT TakeOver special. Samoa Joe shocking Shinsuke Nakamura in the main event to win back the NXT Championship closed the show.

The semi-main event featured Mickie James coming back to WWE to challenge Asuka’s undefeated streak. DIY defeating The Revival in a 2 out of 3 falls match for the NXT Tag Team Championship stole the show as an all-time great tag match.

10 NXT Takeover: Brooklyn 4, 2018 Had An Iconic Main Event

Cagematch.Net Rating: 8.92

On the back of some very strong Takeover events, NXT blew it out of the park once again with the fourth annual Brooklyn event. The show was kicked off with a remarkable NXT Tag Team Title match between the Undisputed Era and Moustache Mountain, who wrestled a series of great matches with one another.

There were two big title changes on the show, with Ricochet and Kairi Sane winning the North American and Women’s title respectively, with their matches against Adam Cole and Shayna Baszler adding to a great show. This was also capped off with the third encounter between Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa, this time with the NXT Championship on the line, with the stakes raised. It could have been even higher if it wasn’t for a slightly sloppy match between Velveteen Dream and EC3.

9 There Were No Fans For The Great NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day 2021

Cagematch.Net Rating: 8.97

One of the more recent NXT shows to hit a home run saw TakeOver: Vengeance Day 2021 get a high rating. Finn Balor defeating Pete Dunne in a hard-hitting NXT Championship match closed the show in grand fashion.

The Dusty Rhodes Classic culminated with MSK and Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez respectively winning the male and female tournaments. Johnny Gargano vs. Kushida and Io Shirai vs. Mercedes Martinez vs. Toni Storm added stellar depth to the loaded card.

8 NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 2017 Debuted The Undisputed Era

Cagematch.Net Rating: 8.98

The TakeOver: Brooklyn events became known as the top NXT show since it was the first place NXT expanded into larger venues. Adam Cole’s made his debut to close the show after Drew McIntyre defeated Bobby Roode for the NXT Championship.

Other strong matches on the night included Asuka vs. Ember Moon, Andrade vs. Johnny Gargano, and Aleister Black vs. Hideo Itami. NXT had another outstanding event to receive an impressive rating from the CageMatch members.

7 NXT TakeOver: Chicago 2017 Saw The Rise Of Two UK Stars

Cagematch.Net Rating: 9.03

The importance of TakeOver: Chicago 2017 gave NXT hot matches and storylines moving forward. Pete Dunne vs. Tyler Bate stole the show with an all-time great match for the NXT UK Championship. The end of the night is remembered for Tommaso Ciampa turning on Johnny Gargano after they lost a ladder match main event to Authors of Pain.

NXT’s card depth was incredible here with the singles world title matches of Bobby Roode vs. Hideo Itami and Asuka vs. Ruby Riott vs. Nikki Cross being secondary to the other attractions.

6 NXT TakeOver: Portland 2020 Was NXT’s Last Before The Pandemic

Cagematch.Net Rating: 9.03

The final NXT TakeOver event, before the pandemic changed their schedule took place in Portland. Adam Cole defeated Tommaso Ciampa in a memorable main event when Johnny Gargano turned heel on his long-time frenemy.

An outstanding card featured Finn Balor vs. Gargano, Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair, Keith Lee vs. Dominik Dijakovic, Dakota Kai vs. Tegan Nox, and The Broserweights vs. Undisputed Era all hitting home runs. This was the last TakeOver which truly felt like a “TakeOver”.

5 NXT TakeOver: R Evolution 2014 Put NXT On The Map

Cagematch.Net Rating: 9.11

The excitement for NXT may have been at its peak for the TakeOver: R Evolution 2014 event. A long-term storyline paid off to perfection when Sami Zayn finally defeated Neville for the NXT Championship. However, the show ended with Kevin Owens attacking Zayn after the former debuted earlier in the show.

Charlotte Flair defeating Sasha Banks in a singles match and Finn Balor debuting the Demon King persona to team with Hideo Itami to defeat The Ascension were the other high points of the night. It was no doubt the best Full Sail TakeOver show.

4 NXT TakeOver: War Games 2018 Was A Blast

Cagematch.Net Rating: 9.13

NXT bringing back the War Games match from WCW started a great annual tradition of the team cage matches.

Pete Dunne led his team of faces to overcome the dominance of Undisputed Era in the War Games match. Aleister Black vs. Johnny Gargano and Shayna Bazler vs. Kairi Sane were the other standout matches on the great night of action.

3 NXT TakeOver: Dallas 2016 Had A Special Debut

Cagematch.Net Rating: 9.20

The first NXT TakeOver event to join WrestleMania weekend came in 2016 in Dallas. NXT outdid WrestleMania 32 when TakeOver: Dallas 2016 overshadowed the bigger show the following night.

Finn Balor used the Demon King persona to retain the NXT Championship against Samoa Joe. The show-stealer was Shinsuke Nakamura’s debut against Sami Zayn, which was an instant classic. Other great matches included American Alpha vs. The Revival and Asuka vs. Bayley in title matches.

2 NXT TakeOver: New Orleans 2018 Had Multiple Five-Star Classics

Cagematch.Net Rating: 9.53

WrestleMania 34 weekend saw NXT stealing the attention with an epic card at TakeOver: New Orleans 2018. The CageMatch audience showed nothing but love with the all-time great NXT rating of 9.54 for the event.

Johnny Gargano finally got revenge on Tommaso Ciampa in the main event after half a year of build. The show-stealing bout was the ladder match opener with Adam Cole becoming the first NXT North American Champion. Aleister Black winning the NXT Championship from Andrade was another classic to make for an unforgettable night.