NXT TakeOver: Toronto (2016)

Background

TakeOver was a series of professional wrestling events that began in May 2014, as WWE's NXT brand held its second WWE Network-exclusive event, billed as TakeOver.^[1] In subsequent months, the "TakeOver" moniker became the brand used by WWE for all of its major NXT events. Announced on September 2, 2016, TakeOver: Toronto was scheduled as the 12th NXT TakeOver event and took place on November 19, 2016, as a support show for that year's Survivor Series pay-per-view. It was held at the Air Canada Centre and was named after the venue's city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was in turn the second NXT TakeOver held outside of the United States, after TakeOver: London in 2015. Tickets went on sale on September 23 through Ticketmaster.^[2]

Storylines

The card included matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television program, NXT.^[3][4]

On the September 28 episode of NXT, William Regal scheduled the second annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, culminating with the finals at TakeOver: Toronto. The tournament started on the October 5 episode.^[5]

Preliminary matches

In the first match, Bobby Roode faced Tye Dillinger. The match ended when Roode executed a "Glorious DDT" on Dillinger to win the match.^[6]

Next, The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar) faced TM-61 (Nick Miller and Shane Thorne) in the final of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, with Paul Ellering suspended above the ring inside a cage. In the end, The Authors of Pain performed "The Last Chapter" on Thorne to win the tournament.^[6]

In the third match, The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson) defended the NXT Tag Team Championship against DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) in a two out of three falls tag team match. The Revival won the first fall after performing the "Shatter Machine" on Gargano. DIY won the second fall after performing a running knee/superkick combination on Dawson. DIY won the third fall after Wilder submitted to the "Garga-No Escape" by Gargano and Dawson submitted to an armbar by Ciampa simultaneously, thus DIY won the titles.^[6]

After that, Asuka defended the NXT Women's Championship against Mickie James. During the match, Mickie executed a "Mick Kick" on Asuka, but Asuka placed her foot on the bottom rope, voiding the pinfall. Asuka forced Mickie to submit to the "Asuka Lock" to win the match.^[6]

Main event

In the main event, Shinsuke Nakamura defended the NXT Championship against Samoa Joe. During the match, Joe attempted a muscle buster but Nakamura countered and executed a "Kinshasa" on Joe for a nearfall. Nakamura attempted another "Kinshasa", but Joe avoided the attempt and applied the "Coquina Clutch". Nakamura attempted to escape, but Joe performed a German suplex followed by a dragon suplex and an X-Plex for a near-fall. When Nakamura executed another "Kinshasa" on Joe, Joe rolled out of the ring. Nakamura attempted a third "Kinshasa", but Joe avoided the attempt, attacked Nakamura with a low blow and performed a side slam onto the steel steps on Nakamura. Joe performed a muscle buster on Nakamura to win the title for a second time.^[6]

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic bracket

1 ^ Ibushi's original partner, Hideo Itami, was injured before the tournament began, and was replaced by T. J. Perkins.
2 ^ Aries could not compete due to injury. William Regal decided that the winners would be determined by a singles match pitting Thorne against Strong.
3 ^ The Revival withdrew from the tournament, asserting that Dawson was injured.