There’s no denying that 2019 was one of the greatest years for the NXT TakeOver branded events. Triple H and his roster put on some incredible pay-per-view events for fans to enjoy. The Black and Gold Brand kicked off PPV action with NXT TakeOver: Phoenix on January 26, 2019.
What followed was a series of highly successful TakeOver shows filled with stacked cards from top to bottom. It is worth mentioning that NXT presented five TakeOver events between January and December 2019.
It’s fairly difficult to list every single TakeOver match from 2019 and rank them based on in-ring storytelling and crowd reaction. So, I thought the best way was to pick my personal favorite match from every NXT TakeOver in 2019 and list them in chronological order.
With that being said, let’s take a look at some of the best NXT TakeOver matches of 2019:
Johnny Gargano vs. Ricochet (NXT North American Championship Match from TakeOver: Phoenix)
Fans who are new to both men’s work need to sit back and watch their match from NXT TakeOver: Phoenix. Ricochet’s North American Championship reign often gets overlooked because of the Undisputed Era storyline in 2019.
That being said, his title run features several great matches, including the one I’m about to recap. Gargano had turned heel weeks prior to his match against Ricochet. He challenged Ricochet for the title by laying him out on the January 9 episode of NXT.
The two men met with nothing but victory in their minds. The outing was one of the best NXT TakeOver matches of 2019. Ricochet’s incredible athleticism meshed well with Gargano’s unique storytelling abilities to deliver a great title bout.
Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano (2-out-of-3 Falls Match TakeOver: New York)
Adam Cole versus Johnny Gargano is arguably one of the greatest NXT rivalries ever. The pair clashed on multiple occasions and delivered every single time. Their two out of three falls match at NXT TakeOver: New York was electric from bell to bell.
A little backstory into the match: Tommaso Ciampa was forced to vacate the title due to his neck injury. Adam Cole won a fatal five-way match to face Gargano for the vacant NXT Championship. The battle was set for New York.
This two out of three falls match featured tons of near falls and false finishes. The two men had the crowd on the edge of their seats with their breath-taking sequences. In the end, Gargano finally realized his dream by winning the NXT Championship.
Fatal Four-way Tag Team Ladder Match from NXT TakeOver: XXV
The Street Profits’ Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins were tearing the house down week in and week out with their electric performance. Their work at NXT TakeOver: XXV remains one of the greatest performances from a tag team in a ladder match.
The Street Profits faced Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch, The Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish), and The Forgotten Sons (Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler) in this high-stakes tag team match.
The match was chaos from bell to bell. All four teams displayed some incredible work to grab the vacant tag team titles. Even Jaxson Ryker had a cameo in the match, but fans may have forgotten about it.
Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano (2/3 Falls Match, NXT Title, NXT TakeOver: Toronto)
Adam Cole defeated Johnny Gargano for his title at NXT TakeOver: XXV. The pair headlined their third straight TakeOver together in Canada on August 10, 2019. The first fall was a singles match. The second fall turned the match into a Street Fight.
Adam Cole won the first fall. Gargano recaptured his momentum and won the second fall. The third fall emerged in the form of a steel cage. Both men turned violence up a notch due to the surroundings.
In the end, Cole retained his title by managing to crawl over Gargano’s lifeless body for the win.
Men’s WarGames Match from TakeOver: WarGames
Triple H did a splendid job building up NXT TakeOver: WarGames. The Game had NXT stars show up on RAW and SmackDown in the lead-up to both WarGames and Survivor Series. Speaking of SmackDown, the blue brand delivered one of the best matches of 2019 in Adam Cole versus Daniel Bryan.
Cole captained the Undisputed Era against Team Ciampa at WarGames. Ciampa’s team were one man short halfway through the match. However, Kevin Owens arrived to one of the biggest pops in NXT TakeOver history. The Prizefighter quickly turned the tides against his former Mt. Rushmore teammate.
The closing moment saw Ciampa take out Cole with a slam from the top of the cage to the table in the ring. WarGames 2019 capped off with Ciampa, Owens, Keith Lee, and Dominik Dijakovic standing tall inside the ring.
Also read: Best NXT TakeOver Matches Of 2020
