WWE NXT TakeOver Philadelphia: Highlights, Grades, and Analysis

Tonight at 8 p.m. ET, WWE NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia will take place, and the card looks just as stacked as the masterpiece that was NXT TakeOver: WarGames was.

Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas. Shayna Baszler vs. Ember Moon. The Authors of Pain vs. the Undisputed Era.

Those are the three big championship matches at WWE NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia, and all three of them are expected to tear the house down. Gargano vs. Almas has all the makings of a “Match of the Year” in WWE, because, well, pretty much every match Gargano puts together is exceptional. The man might be the most over babyface in WWE, and you can only name a handful of wrestlers around the world who are as popular as Gargano is.

Meanwhile, Almas is intent on proving that he’s “The Man” in WWE NXT after defeating Drew McIntyre for the NXT Championship at WarGames. El Idolo’s rise to the top has been remarkable, and I’m sure he and manager Zelina Vega have some shady tactics cooked up to keep Gargano away from the title.

One of those tactics? I presume calling up Gargano’s old friend Tommasso Ciampa, who would love nothing more than to cost the Cleveland native a shot at the NXT Championship. Ciampa’s game is pain, and I’m sure he’d love nothing more than to break our rebel hearts tonight.

Ember Moon also won the NXT Women’s Championship at WarGames, defeating three other women to capture Asuka’s vacated title. She will face a stiff challenge from Shayna Baszler, who has bullied her way into this title opportunity. Baszler is a legit bad-ass who has mastered the art of pro wrestling in a short time, and she already feels like one of WWE’s biggest heels.

The Authors of Pain are expected to lose to the Undisputed Era and make their way to the main roster, which is a move that has been rumored for many months now. Just don’t expect them to go down quietly, and I wouldn’t expect Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly to win cleanly either.

Elsewhere on the card, we have a match between the Velveteen Dream and Kassius Ohno that could easily steal the show. Ohno is one of the most prolific story-tellers in wrestling history, and Velveteen Dream is well on his way to equaling that, just based on his sensational match against Aleister Black at the last TakeOver.

And as for Aleister Black, he will face the stiffest test to his one-on-one undefeated streak when he takes on Adam Cole, BAY BAY! Cole has already been vanquished by the “Black Mass”, but the hero of the WarGames match might have better luck this time around, provided he is far less braggadocios in his approach.

Those are the five matches on the card for NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia, and the WWE’s on-fire third brand figures to have another excellent showing tonight, judging by the talent on this show. TakeOvers are always excellent, but this one feels even more special than usual. Then again, I have a tendency of saying this almost every time there’s a TakeOver event.

Check back here at 8 p.m. ET for grades, highlights, and analysis on all of these matches, but I should also note that the pre-show begins at 7 p.m. ET on the WWE Network.

Needless to say, I highly recommend sitting through this one, because NXT always makes it very much worth your while.