WWE NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn Made Sasha Banks and Bayley Stars

In 2015, WWE decided to take NXT on the road. During SummerSlam weekend, NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn became the first televised NXT event to take place outside the confines of Full Sail University. And Sasha Banks and Bayley stole the show.

As WWE rolls toward SummerSlam this year, two of the most integral pieces of the women’s division are mired in a weird “friends or not” storyline. Sasha Banks and Bayley seem to be on speaking terms right now, but they aren’t being positioned as major forces in the division. It’s a far cry from their time in NXT, especially at the first TakeOver: Brooklyn.

Back in 2015, WWE was in the midst of its “Divas Revolution.” The company hadn’t quite gotten to the point of dropping the term in favor of using “Superstar” for all its performers. And the “Revolution” basically meant the entire women’s division was divided into teams. Left out of all this? Bayley, who was still a permanent fixture on NXT.

Her main rival, Sasha Banks, had been pulling double duty for about a month heading into TakeOver: Brooklyn. The Boss had been a part of the main roster since July, while still reigning as NXT Women’s Champion. Sasha spent her time gloating over the fact that Bayley had been left in NXT while Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and herself had joined the big time.

THE MATCH

After an exceptional event that featured a Jushin “Thunder” Liger match, the NXT Tag Team Championships changing hands, and a pair of solid matches in Apollo Crews vs. Tye Dillinger and Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin, it was time for the NXT Women’s Championship match.

Many fans, myself included, felt that the match deserved the main event slot. While Stephanie McMahon came out before the match to hype the crowd (of course she did) and referred to it as “the main event,” there was still a Ladder Match between Finn Bálor and Kevin Owens for the NXT Championship on the card.

But who cares what happened after this? I’ve seen a lot of matches in my day, and been to a lot of shows live. I have never before and have never since been reduced to tears in my seat simply from a wrestling match. I rewatched this absolute classic when I sat down to write this piece, and — despite knowing what happened and having seen it multiple times over three years — still wept at the sound of the bell. That’s how powerful this feud, match, and performance was.

You’ve seen the highlights: Sasha’s double knees off the top rope, the Banks Statement with the stomping on Bayley’s injured hand, and Bayley reversing into her own Banks Statement. Sasha’s plancha to the outside over the referee, the poisonrana that almost broke Sasha’s neck, and the final Bayley-to-Belly for a Bayley championship victory.

AFTERMATH

In hindsight, the outcome was obvious. Sasha was a main roster talent, and Bayley was staying in NXT for another year (as it would turn out; Sasha did get a rematch at the next TakeOver event, but she was basically done with NXT). Still, you got the feeling that maybe Bayley couldn’t get it done. It was her whole gimmick — the underdog who was too big a fangirl to have major success.

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But this was a masterpiece of storytelling, from the seedlings of the feud until the culmination in Brooklyn. While this year’s SummerSlam may find Bayley and Sasha Banks either not on the card, or relegated to a mostly meaningless tag team match, three years ago in Brooklyn they were the main event.

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