NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable

NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable
Promotional poster featuring Finn Bálor
Promotion WWE
Brand(s) NXT
Date May 20, 2015
City Winter Park, Florida
Venue Full Sail University
Attendance 400+ (Sold out)
Theme
song(s)		 "Unstoppable" by Motionless in White[1]
WWE Network event chronology
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Payback (2015)		 Next →
Elimination Chamber (2015)
NXT TakeOver chronology
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NXT TakeOver: Rival		 Next →
NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn

NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable was a professional wrestling and WWE Network event produced by WWE, under their NXT brand. It was broadcast live on the WWE Network, available to subscribers. NXT TakeOver took place on May 20, 2015 at NXT's "home" arena, Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida and featured six matches as part of the main broadcast and one match prior to the televised portion of the show. The show was the fifth show in the NXT TakeOver series of Network exclusive shows. The main event of the show was a rematch from NXT TakeOver: Rival as Kevin Owens defended the NXT Championship against Sami Zayn, the man he had won it from at the previous TakeOver. During the show Samoa Joe made his surprise NXT debut during the main event match. The show included five additional matches including matches for the NXT Women's Championship and the NXT Tag Team Championship. The event is notable for the first NXT TakeOver event to not have at least one of the three NXT Championships change hands.

Production

Background

The NXT TakeOver series of professional wrestling shows started on May 29, 2014 as the WWE developmental league NXT held their second WWE Network exclusive live broadcast billed as NXT TakeOver.[2] In subsequent months the "TakeOver" moniker became the brand used by NXT and WWE for all of their NXT live specials as they held NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way, NXT TakeOver: R Evolution and NXT TakeOver: Rival prior to Unstoppable.[3][4][5]

Storylines

The NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable show featured professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines that played out on the NXT television program prior to the show. Wrestlers portrayed faces (those who portray the "good guys") or heels (the "bad guys") as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a match or a series of matches.[6][7]

Event

Preliminary matches

The show opened with a match between Finn Bálor and Tyler Breeze to determine who would be the number one contender for the NXT Championship. The match originally also included Hideo Itami, but Itami suffered a shoulder injury and was not able to compete. To explain Itami's absence, WWE aired footage of a (kayfabe) attack on Itami in the parking lot.[8] While never explicitly stated, the footage revealed that Kevin Owens was near by during the attack. During the match, Breeze performed a Supermodel Kick on Bálor for a near-fall. After Bálor collided with an exposed turnbuckle, Breeze executed a Beauty Shot for a near-fall. In the end, Bálor executed a running front dropkick on Breeze, knocking him into the turnbuckles, and a Coup de Grâce for the win.[8][9]

Next, Emma and Dana Brooke faced Bayley and Charlotte. In the end, Bayley performed a Bayley-to-Belly Suplex on Dana. Charlotte executed Natural Selection on Emma for a pinfall to win the match.

After that, Baron Corbin faced Rhyno. Corbin executed End of Days on Rhyno for the win.

In the fourth match, Blake and Murphy defended their NXT Tag Team Championship against Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady. In the end, Alexa Bliss attacked Carmella. As Cass checked on his valet, Murphy attacked him with a superkick. Alexa shook the ring ropes, knocking Enzo off the top rope. Blake pinned Enzo to retain the titles.[8][9]

Next, Sasha Banks defended the NXT Women's Championship against Becky Lynch. During the match, Becky applied the Dis-arm-her on Sasha but Sasha touched the rope, forcing Becky to release the hold. In the end, Sasha forced Becky to submit to the Bank Statement to retain the title.

Main event

In the main event, Kevin Owens defended the NXT Championship against Sami Zayn. Zayn performed a Blue Thunder Bomb on Owens for a near-fall. Zayn executed an exploder suplex into the turnbuckles on Owens and attempted a Helluva Kick, but Owens rolled out of the ring. Zayn performed an exploder suplex on the floor on Owens. Owens performed a pop-up powerbomb onto the ring apron on Zayn. As Zayn appeared to have injured his shoulder and was unable to compete, the match came to a halt but Owens continued to attack his injured opponent, drawing out NXT General Manager William Regal. Regal raked Owens's face but Owens retaliated with a headbutt. Samoa Joe appeared, making his surprise debut, to stop Owens's attack. After staring at Joe, Owens grabbed the title belt and then walked away as medics tended to Zayn at ringside.[8][9]

Aftermath

The main event match was the last match for Sami Zayn before having to undergo shoulder surgery to deal with an injury he suffered in the weeks prior to TakeOver.[10] He would not return until December. With his victory Finn Bálor earned a match against champion Kevin Owens in one of the main matches of The Beast in the East, a WWE Network special on July 4, 2015. Bálor defeated Owens to become the seventh NXT Champion.[11] He later successfully defended the championship against Owens at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn[12] and went on to hold the title for 292 days, becoming the longest-reigning NXT champion.[13]

After her successful defense of the NXT Women's Championship Sasha Banks made her Raw debut on July 13, while still the NXT Women's Champion. In NXT Bayley returned from a hand injury and stated that she wanted a title match against Sasha Banks. Bayley then challenged and defeated Charlotte on the August 5 episode of NXT.[14] On the August 12 episode of NXT, Bayley defeated Becky Lynch to earn the title match at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn.[15] On August 22, Bayley defeated Banks to win the NXT Women's Championship.[12]

Results

No. Results[8] Stipulations Times[8]
1D The Mechanics (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson) defeated The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) Tag team match[16] N/A
2 Finn Bálor defeated Tyler Breeze Singles match to determine the #1 contender for the NXT Championship[Note 1] 11:30
3 Bayley and Charlotte defeated Dana Brooke and Emma Tag team match 6:51
4 Baron Corbin defeated Rhyno Singles match 7:15
5 Blake and Murphy (c) defeated Colin Cassady and Enzo Amore (with Carmella) Tag team match for the NXT Tag Team Championship 8:50
6 Sasha Banks (c) defeated Becky Lynch by submission Singles match for the NXT Women's Championship 15:33
7 Kevin Owens (c) vs. Sami Zayn ended in a no contest Singles match for the NXT Championship 13:00
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
  • D – indicates the match was a dark match

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The scheduled third participant in this match, Hideo Itami, was ruled out due to injury.

References

  1. ↑ "NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable Results, May 20, 2015". WWE. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  2. ↑ Howell, Nolan. "Neville tops Kidd at NXT Takeover". canoe.ca. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  3. ↑ Howell, Nolan. "Neville shocks, defies odds at NXT Takeover: Fatal 4 Way". Canoe.ca. SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  4. ↑ James, Caldwell. "Caldwell's WWE NXT Takeover results 12/11: Complete virtual-time coverage of Neville vs. Zayn for the NXT Title, Itami & Balor, Charlotte, Kevin Steen/Owens's debut, Corey Graves retires". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  5. ↑ Caldwell, James. "NXT News: Big title changes on "Takeover" special, tournament finals, pre-show dark match, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  6. ↑ Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 18, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on November 18, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 James, Justin. "WWE NXT "TakeOver: Unstoppable" report 5/20: Owens vs. Zayn for the NXT Title ends in wild fashion with a major debut of Samoa Joe, plus spectacular NXT Women's Title match, more; Overall Reax". PWTorch.com. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 Meltzer, Dave (May 20, 2015). "WWE NXT TakeOver Unstoppable results & live coverage: Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn, surprise debut". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Sami Zayn to undergo MRI on his shoulder". WWE. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  11. ↑ Caldwell, James (July 4, 2015). "Caldwell's WWE Network special report 7/4: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of "Beast in the East" - Lesnar's in-ring return, Owens vs. Balor for NXT Title, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  12. 1 2 James, Justin. "JAMES'S WWE "NXT TAKEOVER: BROOKLYN" REPORT 8/22: Balor vs. Owens ladder match for NXT Title, epic Women's match, Tag Titles, Samoa Joe, Liger, dignitaries in the crowd; Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  13. ↑ "Samoa Joe captures NXT Championship at Live Event in Lowell, Mass". WWE. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  14. ↑ Melok, Bobby (August 5, 2015). "WWE NXT results - Aug. 5, 2015: Samoa Joe and Rhyno lock horns, Bayley faces Charlotte to prove championship mettle". WWE. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  15. ↑ Trionfo, Richard (August 12, 2015). "WWE NXT REPORT: WE HAVE AN OPPONENT FOR SASHA BANKS IN BROOKLYN, JOE HAS A MATCH IN BROOKLYN, IS IGNORANCE BLISS FOR THE VAUDEVILLAINS?". PWInsider. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  16. ↑ "NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable dark match & more". PWInsider.com. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
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