NXT TakeOver:

Dallas

NXT TakeOver: Dallas was a professional

wrestling show and WWE Network event in
the NXT TakeOver series that took place
on April 1, 2016, produced by WWE,
showcasing its NXT division, and was
streamed live on the WWE Network. It took
place in the Kay Bailey Hutchison
Convention Center in Dallas, Texas, as part
of the WrestleMania 32 weekend
festivities. It was the first show in the NXT
TakeOver series to be broadcast live on
the WWE Network during WrestleMania
weekend and first of 2016.[2] It was also
notable for Shinsuke Nakamura's and
Austin Aries' WWE debut matches and the
start of Asuka's record breaking reign as
WWE NXT Women's Champion. Also, this
was Sami Zayn and Baron Corbin's last
match in NXT.
 NXT TakeOver: Dallas

Promotional poster featuring various NXT

Wrestlers

Promotion WWE

Brand(s) NXT

Date April 1, 2016

City Dallas, Texas

Venue Kay Bailey Hutchison

Convention Center
Attendance 9,000 (sold out)[1]
WWE Network event chronology

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Roadblock WrestleMania 32

NXT TakeOver chronology

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London The End

Production

Background …
TakeOver is a series of professional
wrestling shows that began on May 29,
2014, as WWE's then developmental
league NXT held their second WWE
Network exclusive live broadcast billed as
TakeOver.[3] In subsequent months, the
"TakeOver" moniker became the brand
used by WWE for all of their NXT live
specials. Dallas was the ninth NXT
TakeOver event and the first to be held
during WrestleMania Weekend.

Finn Bálor, who was defending the NXT

Championship at the event, revealed his
original plan for his entrance involving
riding a horse, despite never have ridden
one. The horse would have played into the
Texan culture theme for Bálor's entrance
as the event was hosted in Texas. He
eventually scrapped the idea when he
learned that Triple H attempted a similar
feat, in which the horse kept bucking
during rehearsals, and those plans were
dropped.[4]

Storylines …

The card comprised five matches. The

matches resulted from scripted storylines,
where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains,
or less distinguishable characters that
built tension and culminated in a wrestling
match or series of matches. Results were
predetermined by WWE's writers on the
NXT brand, while storylines were produced
on their weekly television program,
NXT.[5][6]

At TakeOver: London, Finn Bálor

successfully retained the NXT
Championship against Samoa Joe. At the
same event, Baron Corbin defeated Apollo
Crews and declared his intentions of going
after the NXT Championship,[7] however,
Sami Zayn returned from injury at the
event also wanting a shot at the title.[8]
This led to a triple threat match between
Corbin, Zayn and Joe that took place on
January 27 episode of NXT to determine
the #1 contender for the NXT
Championship. The match ended in a no
contest after Corbin submitted to both
Zayn's Sharpshooter and Joe's Crossface
at the same time.[9] Zayn and Joe faced
each other in a #1 contender's match on
February 17 episode of NXT, where the
match ended in a draw after both men's
shoulders were pinned.[10] To resolve this
issue, Zayn and Joe faced each other in a
two-out-of-three falls match on March 9
episode of NXT, where Joe defeated Zayn
to become #1 contender for Finn Bálor's
NXT Championship at TakeOver: Dallas.[11]
NXT General Manager William Regal then
announced that Zayn would face NXT's
newest signing Shinsuke Nakamura at the
event.[12]

On the March 2, 2016, episode of NXT,

Austin Aries made his debut. However,
while walking down to the ring, Baron
Corbin attacked Aries. NXT General
Manager William Regal announced the
next week that both were scheduled for a
match at Takeover: Dallas.[13]

On the March 16, 2016, episode of NXT,

American Alpha defeated The
Vaudevillains to be the #1 contenders for
the NXT Tag Team Championship. They
would face The Revival, who recently beat
Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady to retain
the titles at Roadblock.[12][14]

After Bayley retained the NXT Women's

Championship against Nia Jax at
TakeOver: London, a women's battle royal
took place on January 13 episode of NXT
to determine the #1 contender for the
Women's Championship, which was won
by Carmella after she last eliminated Eva
Marie.[15] Bayley successfully retained the
Women's Championship against Carmella
on February 10 episode of NXT. After the
match, Carmella was given a post-match
beatdown by Marie and Nia Jax with
Bayley struggling to fend off until gaining
some unlikely assistance by Asuka, who
helped fend off Marie and Jax before
turning towards Bayley and the Women's
Championship, signifying a challenge for
the title.[16] After Bayley and Asuka
defeated Marie and Jax in a tag team
match on March 16 episode of NXT, NXT
General Manager William Regal
announced that Bayley would defend the
NXT Women's Championship against
Asuka at TakeOver: Dallas.[12]

It was announced on WWE's official

website, the pre-show panel would consist
of Renee Young, Hall of Famer Lita and
Mauro Ranallo from SmackDown,[17] and
the commentators would still consist of
Tom Phillips and Corey Graves.

Event

Preliminary matches …

The first match saw The Revival (Scott

Dawson and Dash Wilder) defend the NXT
Tag Team Championship against
American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad
Gable). Jordan and Gable executed "Grand
Amplitude" on Dawson to win the titles.
Next, Austin Aries faced Baron Corbin. The
match ended when Corbin attempted the
"End of Days" on Aries, but Aries countered
the move and pinned Corbin with a roll-up
to win the match.

Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn after their match

After that, Sami Zayn faced Shinsuke

Nakamura. During the match, Nakamura
applied a cross armbreaker on Zayn
however Zayn escaped. Zayn applied a
Koji clutch on Nakamura, but Nakamura
countered the move into a pin for a near-
fall. Nakamura attempted a "Kinshasa" on
Zayn only for Zayn to perform a "Blue
Thunder Bomb" on Nakamura for a near-
fall. In the end, Zayn attempted an
exploder suplex into the turnbuckles on
Nakamura, but Nakamura countered into a
"Kinshasa" off the middle rope, followed by
a second "Kinshasa" to win the match.

The fourth match saw Bayley defend the

NXT Women's Championship against
Asuka. The ending saw Asuka apply the
"Asuka Lock" on Bayley. Bayley passed out,
which meant that Asuka won the title.
Main event …

In the main event, Finn Bálor defended the

NXT Championship against Samoa Joe.
The match was repeatedly stopped in
order for medical personnel to treat Joe,
much to the chagrin of the fans in
attendance Who initially chanted "Let Joe
bleed" which progressed to "PG Sucks"
and finally "F*ck PG". Joe began bleeding
near the onset of the match. Joe
performed a muscle buster on Bálor for a
near-fall. Balor performed a "Coup de
Grâce" on Joe and attempted a "1916", but
Joe countered and applied the "Coquina
Clutch" on Balor. Balor used the ring ropes
to bridge into a pin on Joe to retain the
title.

Reception
The event received acclaim from both
critics and fans and is widely considered
to be superior than the WrestleMania 32
event held two nights later. Rick Foster
wrote for wrestleview.com: "This is the
most fun I have ever had attending a
wrestling event ... While the wrestling is
exciting and crisp, it’s the storylines and
characters that you come back for." With
fans being "more excited about this NXT
special than WrestleMania itself", the
atmosphere was "electric" in the arena.
Foster rated Nakamura-Zayn as one of the
"standout" NXT matches of all time.
Despite being "unfamiliar on Nakamura's
work over in Japan", Foster "realized that
he really is a big deal" when Nakamura
"oozed charisma from walking down the
ramp all the way to every move he
executed." Then as Bayley-Asuka followed
Nakamura-Zayn, it "took a little bit for the
crowd to get into the" women's match,
which "wasn't bad at all". Foster praised
Bayley as "an unbelievable face to watch
live." Next, the "fun main event" was a
"bloodbath" disrupted by doctor
stoppages, and "Joe not being intimidated
by Finn Balor’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre
inspired entrance added a nice little vibe
for what was to come." Joe was further
highlighted as a "wrestling powerhouse".
Also, Aries-Corbin was described as "fine",
while the tag title match was described as
a "fantastic hot opener", with American
Alpha having "tremendous look and
character". Foster felt "it was exciting to
see raw emotion from a tag team for a
change." Lastly, Foster concluded that NXT
"is no longer developmental" as it has
morphed into a "full-fledged brand third
brand for the WWE."[18] It was also noticed
that Kota Ibushi had appeared in the
audience during the event.
James Caldwell of Pro Wrestling Torch was
so impressed by Nakamura-Zayn that he
rated it 10 stars out of 5. Highlighted was
the story of "Zayn having an edge wanting
to defend his home turf knowing he was
facing one of the top stars in the entire
world". Meanwhile, the wrestling "was as if
New Japan's product teleported to a WWE
ring". Caldwell then declared that
Nakamura should main event
WrestleMania 32 as he was at a
"completely different level than everyone
else; the rest of the roster is just living in
Nakamura's world". The main event was
the second highest rated at 3.5 stars; Balor
retaining was "surprising", and the "no-win"
"blood situation definitely affected the
match". The women's match was rated
3.25 stars, and "Asuka as the dominant,
Awesome Kong-like women's champion is
a great follow-up to Bayley’s title quest
story in the division". The tag match
"delivered the desired result" and was
rated 3 stars. Lastly, Aries-Corbin featured
another "surprise ending" while "Corbin
looked good" in the match rated 2.25
stars.[19]

Kyle Johnson of the Wrestling Observer

wrote an article focused on Baron Corbin
and the two events he wrestled on that
week: NXT TakeOver: Dallas and then
WrestleMania 32. While WrestleMania had
more "spectacle", TakeOver: Dallas was
"miles ahead" in terms of "delivering a
satisfying, intelligently-put-together
professional wrestling show". Positives for
NXT's event included "a crowd that was
frenzied from start to finish" and "four
incredible matches featuring numerous
stars who were fully and completely over".
A tag title bout that was "white hot" and
Nakamura-Zayn "in a match that had some
claiming to have seen the face of god
himself" were among these four matches.
The fifth match, Aries-Corbin, was "quite
good for the story it was trying to tell". with
Corbin noticeably improving to be
"completely natural and right at home" in
the ring being "proof positive that the
[developmental] system can work in
creating talents from scratch". Ultimately,
the "weekend marked another significant
milestone in the growth of NXT as a
brand".[20]

Ravi Sinha of IGN India also compared

TakeOver: Dallas and WrestleMania 32,
and endorsed the "excellent" NXT event as
the "obvious" winner despite "a fraction of
the budget". While WrestleMania "felt long"
and "wasn't amazing", TakeOver: Dallas
had the best match of the two events
("and perhaps of the year"), due to its "pure
wrestling and story-telling" strength, and
was further boosted due to three "great"
title matches and "a strong undercard
match" in Aries-Corbin where Corbin
played a "no-nonsense jerk" well. The tag
title match was "full of solid tag team
action to get the crowd pumped"; the
women's title match had "great drama" and
"raw emotion on display"; while Joe's
bleeding in the main event made it feel
"real" and "dangerous".[21]

Nick Schwartz of FoxSports.com wrote

that "the 20 minutes of near-perfection" of
Nakamura-Zayn even outshone the
"magnificent spectacle" and "amazing
moments" of WrestleMania 32. While
Schwartz praised Zayn as a "tremendous
wrestler", it was Nakamura that was
highlighted for his "charisma, his effortless
style, his technical acumen", and having
for "elevated" Zayn. Although Nakamura
was completely new to WWE, Schwartz
said that he "instantly became one of the
biggest stars in WWE."[22]

Aftermath
As he retained the championship, Finn
Bálor went on to surpass Neville as the
longest reigning NXT Champion. On April
21 during a live event in Lowell,
Massachusetts, Finn Bálor lost the NXT
Championship to Samoa Joe, ending his
reign at 292 days.[23]

Baron Corbin wrestled at WrestleMania 32

for his main roster debut; participating and
winning the Andre the Giant memorial
battle royal. Kyle Johnson of the Wrestling
Observer noted that Corbin's win was
"overwhelmingly cheered" despite him
being a villainous character and winning
by eliminating "a 20-year veteran" in Kane.
Corbin's win also resulted in an "NXT"
chant, which Johnson credited as "not
merely a win for Baron, but a win for NXT
as a whole".[20] For the same event, Nick
Schwartz of FoxSports.com wrote that
Shinsuke Nakamura had been so
captivating during TakeOver: Dallas that
fans chanted his name during the
WrestleMania main event between Triple H
and Roman Reigns.[22]

Results
No. Results[24] Stipulations Times[25]

American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan) Tag team match for the
1 defeated The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott NXT Tag Team 15:11
Dawson) (c) Championship[26]

2 Austin Aries defeated Baron Corbin Singles match[27] 10:43

3 Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Sami Zayn Singles match[28] 20:07

Singles match for the NXT

4 Asuka defeated Bayley (c) by technical submission 15:25
Women's Championship[29]

Singles match for the NXT

5 Finn Bálor (c) defeated Samoa Joe 16:22
Championship[30]

(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

References
1. Middleton, Marc (April 9, 2016). "WWE
NXT Takeover And HOF Attendance,
Asuka To Tokyo, WWE Programming
Expanding In Russia?" .
wrestlinginc.com. Retrieved April 27,
2016.
2. Melok, Bobby (December 19, 2015).
"NXT TakeOver: Dallas tickets
available now" . WWE.com. Retrieved
January 27, 2016.
3. Howell, Nolan (May 29, 2014). "Neville
tops Kidd at NXT Takeover" .
canoe.ca. Retrieved September 21,
2017.
4. http://nodq.com/wwe/462240799.sht
ml
5. Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling
Works" . HowStuffWorks. Discovery
Communications. Archived from the
original on November 18, 2013.
Retrieved March 5, 2012.
. "Live & Televised Entertainment" .
WWE. Archived from the original on
February 26, 2009. Retrieved
March 21, 2012.
7. WWE (2015-12-16), Baron Corbin
declares himself the No. 1 contender
for the NXT Championship: December
16, 2015 , retrieved 2016-03-19
 . James, Justin. "12/16 WWE NXT
Takeover Report by Justin James" .
Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved
March 25, 2016.
9. James, Justin. "1/27 WWE NXT Report
– big #1 contender match, A-Riley
returns, more" . Pro Wrestling Torch.
Retrieved March 25, 2016.
10. James, Justin. "2/17 WWE NXT Report
– Joe vs. Zayn #1 contender match,
big eight-man tag, Alex Riley" . Pro
Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 25,
2016.
11. James, Justin. "3/9 WWE NXT Report
– Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn epic 2/3
Falls match to determine #1 contender
to NXT Title" . Pro Wrestling Torch.
Retrieved March 17, 2016.
12. James, Justin. "3/16 WWE NXT Report
– #1 contender match to NXT Tag
Titles, Zayn, set-up for Takeover" . Pro
Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 16,
2016.
13. James, Justin. "3/2 WWE NXT Report
– Austin Aries debuts, Balor vs. Neville
big main event, Santana, more" . Pro
Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 17,
2016.
14. Caldwell, James. "3/12 WWE
Roadblock Results – CALDWELL'S
Complete Live Report" . Pro Wrestling
Torch. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
15. James, Justin. "1/13 WWE NXT –
Women's #1 contender Battle Royal,
NXT Title drama, more" . Pro Wrestling
Torch. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
1 . James, Justin. "32/10 WWE NXT
Report – Bayley defends Women's
Title, Gargano, Hype Bros., Joe-Zayn
hype" . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved
March 25, 2016.
17. "Don't miss the NXT TakeOver: Dallas
Pre-Show, live this Friday at 9:30 p.m.
ET/6:30 p.m. PT" . WWE. March 29,
2016. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
1 . Foster, Rick. "TakeOver: Dallas Proves
That NXT Is No Longer
Developmental" . wrestleview.com.
Retrieved 9 April 2016.
19. Caldwell, James. "4/1 NXT Takeover:
Dallas Results – Caldwell's Complete
Live Report on Nakamura vs. Zayn" .
PWTorch.com. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
20. Johnson, Kyle. "All Hail: Baron Corbin's
rise to WrestleMania glory" . Wrestling
Observer. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
21. Sinha, Ravi. "IGN India examines how
Wrestlemania 32 stacked up against
NXT Takeover" . IGN India. Retrieved
8 April 2016.
22. Schwartz, Nick. "Shinsuke Nakamura
delivered the best match of
WrestleMania weekend" .
Foxsports.com. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
23. "Samoa Joe dethrones Finn Bálor at
Live Event" . www.wwe.com. Retrieved
2016-04-22.
24. Caldwell, James. "4/1 NXT Takeover
News – Pre-Takeover dark matches,
JR, Linda, more" . Pro Wrestling Torch.
Retrieved April 1, 2016.
25. Caldwell, James. "4/1 "NXT Takeover:
Dallas" Results – CALDWELL'S
Complete Live Report" . Pro Wrestling
Torch. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
2 . Clapp, John (April 1, 2016). "American
Alpha def. NXT Tag Team Champions
The Revival" . WWE. Retrieved May 9,
2016.
27. Melok, Bobby (March 9, 2016). "Austin
Aries defeated Baron Corbin" . WWE.
Retrieved March 9, 2016.
2 . Clapp, John (April 1, 2016). "Shinsuke
Nakamura def. Sami Zayn" . WWE.
Retrieved May 9, 2016.
 29. Clapp, John (April 1, 2016). "Asuka def.
NXT Women's Champion Bayley" .
WWE. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
30. Clapp, John (April 2, 2016). "NXT
Champion Finn Bálor def. Samoa
Joe" . WWE. Retrieved May 9, 2016.

External links
Official website of WWE NXT

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=NXT_TakeOver:_Dallas&oldid=970230609"

Last edited 25 days ago by 103.249.22.143

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