TakeOver: Philadelphia main event set up at NXT TV tapings
Editor’s note: The following references results from the latest set of NXT television tapings.
After a new number one contender was decided at this week’s NXT television tapings, WWE officially announced the series of matches that will lead to the next challenger for Andrade “Cien” Almas’ NXT Championship.
One thing of note from WWE’s announcement was that the eventual winner wasn’t included. Four matches took place at the tapings to determine who would advance to a fatal four-way number one contender’s match, with Johnny Gargano defeating Kassius Ohno and going on to win the four-way. An angle should take place over the next few weeks to have Gargano replace Velveteen Dream against Ohno and end up challenging Almas at TakeOver: Philadelphia next month.
WWE released a video with William Regal saying Drew McIntyre won’t be able to get his rematch against Almas due to the bicep injury McIntyre suffered at TakeOver: War Games. The matches he announced were Ohno vs. Velveteen Dream, Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole, Killian Dain vs. Trent Seven, and Roderick Strong vs. Lars Sullivan. Black, Dain, and Sullivan advanced to the fatal four-way along with Gargano.
Velveteen Dream wasn’t featured on Wednesday’s tapings. In something that could play into the angle with Gargano, who has been on a storyline losing streak, taking his place, Regal called the eight wrestlers he announced people whose body of work over the past year has proved their worth.
Seven “earned” his way into the qualifiers by winning a battle royal at last night’s NXT house show in Lakeland, which took place after he lost to Dain on Wednesday. Gargano wrestled Pete Dunne in the main event of that show.
Almas vs. Gargano for the NXT title was the only match confirmed for TakeOver: Philadelphia at the tapings. The special will take place at the Wells Fargo Center on January 27th as part of Royal Rumble weekend, with NXT having one more taping before that date to further build up the event.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.