10 Overlooked WWE NXT: TakeOver Classics
Get hyped for Stand & Deliver with these gems.
Wednesday and Thursday evening will see the NXT crew will present Stand & Deliver, the latest in the TakeOver series of events.
While fans still won't be able to attend (at least in the traditional sense), another TakeOver - especially during a WrestleMania week - is certainly cause for celebration.
Some of the previous TakeOver shows have been near-flawless and often steal the thunder of whatever WWE show they are acting as a lead-in to.
So even though all eyes will be on the two-night WrestleMania, especially since they will be the first WWE shows open to fans in over a year, you can bet that the boys and girls from the black-and-gold brand will be giving it their all to have the best matches of the week.
And looking at the line-ups, any one of Walter vs. Tommaso Ciampa, Finn Balor vs. Karion Kross or Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly's Unsanctioned match have the potential to be the best bout we see across all four shows.
Of course, there could also be an unsuspecting 'sleeper' match that comes from nowhere and blows everyone else out of the water, something that has happened at TakeOver events before.
With so many classics in the TakeOver cannon, sometimes even truly great matches can get lost in the five-star shuffle.
So, to whet your appetite for Stand & Deliver, I've gone back and chosen ten TakeOver classics that are perhaps overlooked and are due a revisit.
10. Adrian Neville Vs. Tyson Kidd - NXT TakeOver
Let's kick things off with the main event of the very first NXT TakeOver event, the aptly-titled, erm, NXT TakeOver.
The show went down on May 29, 2014 and was headlined by Adrian Neville defending his NXT Championship against Tyson Kidd.
In the early days, the NXT TakeOver events were not the giant productions that they have since become. There were no elaborate entrances, few gimmick matches and they took place at the trusty Full Sail University, not in big arenas.
The emphasis was on the wrestling and there are not many better than Neville and Kidd if you want someone to give you a top-notch wrestling match that will end the debut show on a high.
Both guys are great, all-round hybrid athletes and this bout featured a beautiful blend of strikes, submissions, high-flying and storytelling.
Notable spots included Kidd going to hit The Man That Gravity Forgot with a sunset bomb from the second turnbuckle, only for Neville to backflip out of it and land on his feet, then nail Tyson with a pop-up Liger Bomb and, in a moment reminiscent of the mythical Tiger Mask/Dynamite Kid battles from the 80's, the two men went sailing backwards over the top rope to the floor when fighting over a suplex.
It was counter after counter and near fall after near fall but, in the end, Neville managed to hit a top-rope Frankensteiner, followed by the Red Arrow to retain.
The victor offered a handshake in the post-match but was given the cold shoulder by the loser, setting up future bouts between the pair.
Also well worth checking out from the debut TakeOver is Tyler Breeze's spirited Number One Contender match win over Sami Zayn.
Written by Lewis Howse
Features journalist for Cultaholic.com and script writer for the Cultaholic YouTube Channel.
