Ranking the Top 10 NXT TakeOver Matches of All-Time
By Carl Gac
WWE.com
9. Adrian Neville vs. Finn Balor, NXT TakeOver: Rival
This match was another tournament final, this time to find a number one contender for the NXT Championship. The winner was scheduled to go forward and face the winner of the title match between champion Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens.
Balor beat Curtis Axel and Hideo Itami to reach this match while Neville defeated Tyson Kidd and Baron Corbin. Neville was the former NXT Champion and Balor had only been with the company for a few months. They had careers that basically mirrored each other prior to their arrival in NXT, this was looking like being one hell of a match.
Balor had made waves with some fantastic matches in the build up, along with his breathtaking entrances, the Demon was here in NXT. Neville needs no introduction as the longest reigning NXT Champion, he wanted that belt back. This was something different as face vs face matches sometimes struggle to live up to the hype, well this one did!
Early chain wrestling and speed moves couldn’t gain either man the advantage, until Balor hit a brutal looking seated drop kick and a big kick to a running Neville. Neville got his own big kicks in off the ropes before he ended up outside the ring. That prompted a massive dive over the top rope from Balor to leave Neville laying on the outside. Balor followed up with a huge drop kick to the face with Neville slumped against the guard rail.
Back in the ring, Balor hit a head stomp from the top rope to a standing Neville which could only get him a two count. Neville retaliated with some big kicks of his own, several hit the spot and he ended with a superkick. Neville hit big suplexes for a two count then a second rope corkscrew could only get him two as well, to surprise of both Neville and the crowd. A sling blade, a lariat and then the move he used to call the Bloody Sunday could only get two for Balor, who then to counter a Red Arrow for another two that looked like it should have been three.
Balor ended the match with the corner drop kick followed by the Coupe De Grace for the winning pin fall. Balor was your new number one contender. The painted Balor shook hands with his opponent after the match but would go on to lose his NXT Championship match in the following weeks to Kevin Owens.
Next: No. 8