NXT TakeOver: Respect

NXT TakeOver: Respect
	Promotional poster featuring Sasha Banks, Bayley and various WWE ring announcers
Promotion	WWE
Brand(s)	NXT
Date	October 7, 2015
City	Winter Park, Florida
Venue	Full Sail University
Attendance	400+
WWE Network event chronology
← Previous; Live from Madison Square Garden	Next →; Hell in a Cell
NXT TakeOver chronology
← Previous; Brooklyn	Next →; London

NXT TakeOver: Respect[1] was a professional wrestling show and WWE Network event in the NXT TakeOver series that took place on October 7, 2015, which was produced by WWE on its NXT brand division and streamed live on the WWE Network. It was held at the Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.[2]

In the main event, NXT Women's Champion Bayley defended her title against Sasha Banks in a 30–minute Iron Man match, in what was the first women's match to headline a major WWE event, the first time in WWE history that a women's match had this stipulation, and the longest women's match in WWE history at the time until Banks' match against Charlotte Flair at Roadblock: End of the Line, which was also a 30-minute Iron Man match that had sudden death overtime. The event also included the semi-finals and final of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament.[3] This is also the first TakeOver event where the NXT Championship was not contested in the main-event, and the only one until NXT TakeOver: WarGames in 2019 where the title was not defended whatsoever. It also marked the first WWE match of Asuka, who would go on to have the longest undefeated streak in WWE history.

Production

Background

TakeOver is a series of professional wrestling shows that began on May 29, 2014, as WWE's then developmental league NXT held their second WWE Network exclusive live broadcast billed as TakeOver.[4] In subsequent months, the "TakeOver" moniker became the brand used by WWE for all of their NXT live specials. Respect was the seventh NXT TakeOver event,

Storylines

The card comprised six matches. The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines were produced on their weekly television program, NXT.[5][6]

At TakeOver: Brooklyn, Bayley defeated Sasha Banks to win her first NXT Women's Championship. On the September 16 episode of NXT, NXT General Manager William Regal scheduled Bayley to defend her title against Banks in the 30-minute Iron Man match, to which the NXT fans chanted "Iron Woman". In addition, for the first time in NXT history, the NXT Women were put in the main event of a TakeOver special.

At TakeOver: Brooklyn, Regal also revealed that NXT would hold a tag team tournament billed as the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in honour of WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes, a longtime NXT trainer and producer, with the finals scheduled for TakeOver: Respect.[7] The Dusty Rhodes Tag Tag Team Classic tournament started on the September 2, 2015 episode of NXT, with the first two matches out of the 16 team tournament with Corbin and Rhyno, and Jordan and Gable moving on.[8] The next four matches took place at several NXT live events between August 28 to September 4, however, the matches were not revealed until September 9 on WWE's YouTube channel with Amore and Cassady, The Mechanics, The Hype Bros, and The Vaudevillains moving on. The final two first round matches took place on the September 9 episode of NXT, with Bálor and Joe,[9] and Gargano and Ciampa[10] to advance in the tournament.

Event

The event opened with the semi-finals in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament. In the first semi-final, NXT Champion Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe faced The Mechanics. In the end, Joe executed a muscle buster on Wilder and Bálor executed a "Coup de Grâce" on Wilder for a pinfall to advance to the final.[11]

Next, Baron Corbin and Rhyno and Jason Jordan and Chad Gable competed in the second semi-final. The end came when Rhyno executed a "Gore" on Jordan. Corbin executed an "End of Days" on Gable for a pinfall to advance to the final.[11]

After that, Asuka faced Dana Brooke. Asuka forced Dana to submit to the "Asuka Lock" to win the match.[11]

In the fourth match, Apollo Crews faced Tyler Breeze. Crews executed a delayed spin-out powerbomb on Breeze to win the match.[11]

Next, Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe faced Baron Corbin and Rhyno in the final of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament involving. During the match, Rhyno executed a "Gore" on Joe, but Bálor broke up the pinfall. In the end, Joe executed a muscle buster on Rhyno and Bálor executed a "Coup de Grâce" on Rhyno for a pinfall to win the tournament.[11]

In the main event, Bayley defended the NXT Women's Championship against Sasha Banks in the first-ever Iron Woman Match. Banks scored the first pinfall after pinning Bayley with a schoolgirl but Bayley evened the score at 1-1 after a "Bayley-to-Belly Suplex". Sasha pushed Bayley into the electronic board on the entrance stage, causing her to be counted out, making the score 2-1. Bayley evened the score at 2-2 after pinning Banks with a rana. In the end, Sasha applied the "Bank Statement" but Bayley escaped the hold. When Sasha tried to re-apply the hold, Bayley countered and forced Sasha to submit to a modified armbar. Seconds later, the match ended at a score of 3-2, resulting in Bayley winning the match and retaining the title.[11]

Reception

NXT TakeOver: Respect received critical acclaim. LaToya Ferguson of The A.V. Club praised the event, saying that the show shows examples of what the general audience does not get in traditional WWE pay-per-view events. There was also much praise to the main event for the NXT Women's Championship.[12] The main event received the Meltzer rating of 4 and a quarter out of 5 stars.[13] The match was named Match of the Year by Pro Wrestling Illustrated.

Aftermath

After the event, Apollo Crews won a battle royal to face Finn Bálor for the NXT Championship by last eliminating Baron Corbin. On the October 22 episode of NXT, Crews won the match via disqualification when he was attacked by Corbin. However, Bálor retained his title due to the disqualification.

Tyler Breeze moved to the main roster; he debuted on the October 22 episode of SmackDown, affiliating with Summer Rae and attacking Dolph Ziggler.

Meanwhile, Bayley began feuding with Alexa Bliss, while Emma and Dana Brooke continued their feud with Asuka, leading to a match at NXT TakeOver: London.

Results


No.	Results	Stipulations	Times[11]
1	Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe defeated The Mechanics (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson)	Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament semi-final match[14]	9:05
2	Baron Corbin and Rhyno defeated Chad Gable and Jason Jordan	Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament semi-final match[15]	10:28
3	Asuka defeated Dana Brooke (with Emma) by submission	Singles match[16]	5:07
4	Apollo Crews defeated Tyler Breeze	Singles match[17]	9:41
5	Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe defeated Baron Corbin and Rhyno	Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament final match[18]	10:57
6	Bayley (c) defeated Sasha Banks 3–2	30-minute Iron Man match for the NXT Women's Championship[19]	30:00
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

Iron Man match

Score	Fall	Decision	Notes	Time[11]
0–1	Sasha Banks	Pinfall	Sasha Banks pinned Bayley with a schoolgirl	8:35
1–1	Bayley	Pinfall	Bayley pinned Sasha Banks after a Bayley-to-Belly	10:52
1–2	Sasha Banks	Countout	Bayley was counted out	14:07
2–2	Bayley	Pinfall	Bayley pinned Sasha Banks with a rana	17:20
3–2	Bayley	Submission	Sasha Banks was forced to submit to a scissored armbar	29:57

Tournament bracket

First Round
NXT/Live events

Quarterfinals
NXT/Live events

Semifinals
NXT TakeOver: Respect

Final
NXT TakeOver: Respect

Enzo Amore and Big Cass

Angelo Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton

[20]

Enzo Amore and Big Cass