NXT TakeOver (2014)


NXT TakeOver was a professional wrestling and WWE Network event produced by WWE, under their NXT brand. It was the first event bearing the NXT TakeOver series name, and was broadcast live on the WWE Network, available to subscribers. NXT TakeOver took place on May 29, 2014 at NXT's "home" arena, Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida and featured five matches as part of the main broadcast and one match prior to the televised portion of the show. The main event of the show was the first high-profile NXT Championship defense in Adrian Neville's title reign after winning the championship at NXT Arrival as he wrestled Tyson Kidd. The show also hosted the finals of a tournament for the vacant NXT Women's Championship as Charlotte, accompanied by her father Ric Flair faced off against Natalya accompanied by her uncle Bret Hart.

Production

Background

's then developmental league NXT held its first live event, Arrival, in February 2014, broadcast on the WWE Network. TakeOver was subsequently the second live event for NXT, also broadcast on the Network. The "TakeOver" name would subsequently be used as the brand name for NXT's live shows held several times each year.

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.

Event

The commentators were Tom Phillips, William Regal and Byron Saxton. The pre-show panel consisted of Christian, Paul Heyman and Renee Young.

Preliminary matches

The first match saw Adam Rose face Camacho. Rose executed a "Party Foul" on Camacho to win the match.
Next, The Ascension defended the NXT Tag Team Championship against Kalisto and El Local. Viktor pinned El Local after the "Fall of Man" to retain the title.
After that, Sami Zayn faced Tyler Breeze to determine the #1 contender to the NXT Championship. During the match, Zayn executed a "Blue Thunder Bomb" on Breeze for a near-fall. Breeze executed a "Supermodel Kick" on Zayn for a near-fall. In the end, as Zayn attempted a "Helluva Kick" on Breeze, Breeze executed a "Beauty Shot" to win the match.
There was a segment with Mojo Rawley confronting Rusev and Lana; Rusev dominated the resultant brawl.
In the fourth match, Charlotte faced Natalya for the vacant NXT Women's Championship. During the match, Natalya applied the sharpshooter on Charlotte, who countered into the "Figure-Eight Leglock", which Natalya would counter. Charlotte applied the sharpshooter on Natalya but Natalya escaped. Charlotte pinned Natalya after "Natural Selection" to win the title.

Main event

In the main event, Adrian Neville defended the NXT Championship against Tyson Kidd. During the match, Neville executed a pop-up sitout powerbomb on Kidd for a near-fall. Kidd performed a springboard "Blockbuster" on Neville for a near-fall. Kidd applied the sharpshooter on Neville and transitioned into the "Dungeon Lock", with Neville touching the ropes to break the hold. In the end, Neville executed a super hurricanrana and a "Red Arrow" on Kidd to retain the title.

Results

NXT Women's Championship Tournament (2014)

On April 24, 2014, Paige was stripped of the NXT Women's Championship, by NXT's commissioner John Bradshaw Layfield, because she couldn't defend both the NXT Women's and WWE Divas Championship, ending her reign at 308 days. Right after, during the tapings for the May shows, a tournament was announced to take place to determine the next champion. Charlotte defeated Natalya at NXT Takeover on May 29, 2014 to become the new champion.