NXT TakeOver XXX

NXT TakeOver XXX (originally NXT TakeOver: Boston) is an upcoming professional wrestling and WWE Network event produced by WWE for their NXT brand division that will take place on August 22, 2020 at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida and will be the 30th NXT TakeOver event.

NXT TakeOver XXX
PromotionWWE
Brand(s)NXT
DateAugust 22, 2020
CityWinter Park, Florida
VenueFull Sail University
Attendance0 (behind closed doors)
WWE Network event chronology
← Previous
The Horror Show at Extreme Rules		 Next →
SummerSlam
NXT TakeOver chronology
← Previous
In Your House		 Next →
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The event was originally scheduled to take place at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, mayor Marty Walsh announced the suspension of all large-scale gatherings and that no permit would be issued for an event that could draw a large crowd before September 7. As such, the event was moved to NXT's home base of Full Sail University along with a name change.

Production

Background

TakeOver is a series of professional wrestling shows that began on May 29, 2014 as WWE's NXT brand held their second WWE Network-exclusive live broadcast, billed as TakeOver.[1] In subsequent months, the "TakeOver" moniker became the brand used by WWE for all of their NXT live WWE Network specials.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, WWE has had to present the majority of its programming from the WWE Performance Center with no fans in attendance, though in late May, the promotion began using trainees to serve as the live audience, which was further expanded to friends and family members of the wrestlers in mid-June. Broadcasts of NXT, as well as the previous event, TakeOver: In Your House, however, have emanated from NXT's home base of Full Sail University since mid-March. This event, as well as the following night's SummerSlam, were originally scheduled to take place at the TD Garden.[2] However, on May 8, 2020, Walsh suspended all large-scale gatherings until September 7, effectively canceling WWE's planned events in the city.[3][4] As a result, "NXT Takeover: Boston" was moved to Full Sail University and subsequentailly renamed to "NXT TakeOver XXX," in part due to it being the 30th event produced under the "TakeOver" banner.[5]

Storylines

The card will include matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains or less distinguishable characters to build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines are produced on their weekly television program, NXT.[6][7]

On the July 22, 2020 edition of NXT, then double champion Keith Lee reflected on his career and all of the opportunities he had gotten and stated that he now wanted to pay it forward, so he voluntarily relinquished the North American Championship to allow other wrestlers a chance at the title, while he would focus solely on defending the NXT Championship. As a result, General Manager William Regal announced that there would be a series of triple threat matches set up as qualifiers for a five-man ladder match to be held at TakeOver XXX to crown a new North American Champion. That same night, Bronson Reed defeated Strong and Johnny Gargano to become the first to qualify for the match.[8] The following week, Dexter Lumis joined Reed as the second person to qualify by defeating Timothy Thatcher and Finn Bálor,[9] but was later ruled out due to an ankle injury. On the August 5, 2020 edition of NXT, Damian Priest joined Reed as the third person to qualify by defeating Oney Lorcan and NXT UK's Ridge Holland.[10] Due to Lumis' injury, Regal announced two singles matches that will take place to fill Lumis' spot and determine the final two competitors. The wrestlers in those matches will be the ones who were neither pinned nor submitted in the triple threats.[11] On the August 12, 2020 edition of NXT, Cameron Grimes joined Reed and Priest as the fourth person to qualify by defeating Kushida and the returning Velveteen Dream, the latter of whom turned heel after the match.[12] The final two matches will be Gargano vs. Holland and Bálor vs. Dream.

At TakeOver: In Your House, Io Shirai defeated Rhea Ripley and then-champion Charlotte Flair in a triple threat match to win the NXT Women's Championship. On the July 15, 2020 edition of NXT, after Shirai successfully defended against Tegan Nox, Dakota Kai attacked Shirai. On the August 5, 2020 edition of NXT, thanks to interference from The Robert Stone Brand's Mercedes Martinez, Kai defeated Ripley to earn an opportunity against Shirai at TakeOver XXX, after which Martinez attacked Ripley.[10]

On July 23 during Pat McAfee's radio program on CBS Sports Radio, Adam Cole got into an altercation with McAfee, due McAfee accusing Cole of hiding behind The Undisputed Era during his record NXT Championship reign, and mocking Cole for his smaller stature, resulting in Cole cussing out McAfee, and shoving a producer.[13] On July 27 during McAfee's radio show, Triple H offered McAfee the opportunity to work things out with Cole on the August 5 episode of NXT.[14] At that event, McAfee mocked Cole while serving as guest commentator, got into another altercation, which ended with McAfee punting Cole in the head while Cole was being restrained, before being thrown out of Full Sail University.[10] The following day, Triple H issued a challenge to McAfee on behalf of Cole for a match at TakeOver XXX on the ESPN's Get Up!,[15] which McAfee later accepted in a video.[16]

Matches
No. Matches* Stipulations
1 Bronson Reed vs. Damian Priest vs. Cameron Grimes vs. Johnny Gargano or Ridge Holland vs. Finn Bálor or Velveteen Dream Ladder match for the vacant NXT North American Championship[17]
2 Io Shirai (c) vs. Dakota Kai Singles match for the NXT Women's Championship[18]
3 Adam Cole vs. Pat McAfee Singles match[19]
4 Keith Lee (c) vs. Karrion Kross (with Scarlett) Singles match for the NXT Championship[20]
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
  • *Card subject to change
gollark: ++magic reload_ext irc_link
gollark: Ughhhhhh. I thought I had autoreconnect.
gollark: Thoughts?
gollark: Hi! As I said in #m, I could reimplement citron's's logger thing, which is broken.
gollark: ++help

References
  1. Howell, Nolan (May 29, 2014). "Neville tops Kidd at NXT Takeover". canoe.ca. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  2. "Boston to host SummerSlam in 2020". WWE. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  3. Johnson, Mike (May 8, 2020). "SUMMERSLAM WEEKEND WILL NOT TAKE PLACE IN BOSTON, MAYOR SAYS ALL MAJOR EVENTS NEED TO MAKE ALTERNATIVE PLANS". PWInsider. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  4. Tedesco, Mike (May 8, 2020). "WWE SummerSlam will not take place in Boston, mayor announces no events will take place". WrestleView. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  5. "NXT TakeOver XXX to take place Saturday, Aug. 22". WWE. July 22, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  6. Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 18, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  7. "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on February 26, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  8. Moore, John (July 22, 2020). "7/22 NXT TV results: Moore's review of William Regal's announcement, Karrion Kross vs. Dominik Dijakovic, Killian Dain vs. Dexter Lumis". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  9. Moore, John (July 29, 2020). "7/29 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Finn Balor vs. Timothy Thatcher vs. Dexter Lumis in a NXT North American Title ladder match qualifier, Io Shirai and Tegan Nox vs. Dakota Kai and Candice LeRae, Johnny Gargano vs. Roderick Strong, Mercedes Martinez vs. Shotzi Blackheart". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  10. Moore, John (August 5, 2020). "8/5 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Damian Priest vs. Oney Lorcan vs. Ridge Holland in a ladder match qualifier, Rhea Ripley vs. Dakota Kai in a No. 1 contenders match, Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel vs. Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish for the NXT Tag Titles, Keith Lee vs. Cameron Grimes in a non-title match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  11. Toro, Carlos (August 5, 2020). "Dexter Lumis Not Competing At NXT TakeOver XXX, Matches To Determine Replacement Set For 8/19 NXT". Fightful. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  12. Moore, John (August 12, 2020). "8/12 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Kushida vs. Cameron Grimes vs. a mystery person in a qualifier for the ladder match for the vacant NXT North American Championship, NXT Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar vs. Tyler Breeze in a non-title match, Damian Priest vs. Bronson Reed, Karrion Kross vs. Danny Burch". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  13. Lambert, Jeremy (July 23, 2020). "Adam Cole And Pat McAfee Is The New Weirdest Feud Of 2020". Fightful. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  14. Lambert, Jeremy (July 27, 2020). "Triple H: Adam Cole Is Responsible For His Own Actions". Fightful. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  15. "Triple H challenges Pat McAfee to face Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver XXX". WWE. August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  16. Lambert, Jeremy (August 6, 2020). "Pat McAfee Accepts NXT TakeOver XXX Match Against Adam Cole". Fightful. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  17. Garretson, Jordan (July 22, 2020). "NXT North American Championship Ladder Match". WWE. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  18. Garretson, Jordan (August 5, 2020). "Io Shirai defends the NXT Women's Title against Dakota Kai". WWE. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  19. Garretson, Jordan (August 6, 2020). "Adam Cole vs. Pat McAfee". WWE. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  20. Garretson, Jordan (August 13, 2020). "NXT Champion Keith Lee vs. Karrion Kross with Scarlett". WWE. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
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