By Brandon Albright, @B_Rock1978
NXT Takeover: Chicago was live in the Windy City of Chicago, Illinois, at the Allstate Arena. Home of some of the greatest sports franchises in history. Also home of some of the best damn pizza ever created, sorry New York, I'd take a Chicago deep dish pizza at Giordano's in downtown Chicago any day of the week.
WWE brings us day one of their two day pay per view event, with Smackdown Live taking place Sunday night. All the major NXT titles were on the line tonight and a lot more.
** NXT Takeover: Chicago Card **
- NXT World Champion Bobby Roode defended his title against Hideo Itami.
- NXT World Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain defended their titles against #DIY in a Ladder Match.
- NXT Women's Champion Asuka defended her title against Nikki Cross and Ruby Riot in a Triple Threat Match.
- WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate defended his title against Pete Dunne.
- Roderick Strong battled SAnitY leader Eric Young.
** Tommaso Ciampa Update **
Tommaso Ciampa suffered an ankle injury during an NXT house show on Thursday night. Many have been speculating on whether or not Ciampa would be able to compete with Johnny Gargano against The Authors of Pain in their Ladder Match tonight. Early Saturday afternoon, Ciampa was shown getting his ankle heavily taped up so it appears Ciampa will be good to go for NXT Takeover: Chicago.
** NXT Takeover: Chicago **
- Eric Young vs. Roderick Strong: Young consistently uses Dain and Wolfe to get in cheap shots and distractions on Strong and the referee throughout the match. The match closes out with both men trading shots until Young drops Strong. Young goes to the top rope, Strong cuts Young off, goes for a superplex, but takes a Young head butt sending Strong to the mat. Young hits the flying elbow drop on Strong and gets a near fall. Young attempts to hit Youngblood, but Strong counters with a near fall rollup. Strong lands two kicks on Young, kicks Dain off the apron and then tosses Young into Wolfe, who also jumped on the apron. Young rakes Strong in the eyes and goes to the top rope. Strong cuts Young off and both men battle on the ropes back and forth. Strong hits a jumping knee on Young that sends Young flying off the top rope and on top of Dain and Wolfe outside. Young gets back inside the ring and ends up taking the backbreaker from Strong. Strong covers and scores the pinfall.
Winner: Roderick Strong, by pinfall. - "WWE United Kingdom Championship Match": Tyler Bate (c) vs. Pete Dunne: The match closes out with Bate airplane spinning Dunne and getting a near fall. Dunne hits a forearm and a sit down power bomb for a near fall. Both men are up and trade shots back and forth until Bate drops Dunne. Dunne hits an enziguri, but gets taken out and nearly pinned by Bate. More back and forth action until Bate attempts Tyler Driver 97. Dunne counters it and attempts the Bitter End. Bate counters that and lays Dunne out with a DDT. Fans erupt with "Holy S***" and "Fight Forever" chants. Dunne rolls outside where Bate flies off the top rope and takes Dunne out with a moonsault. Back in the ring, Bate hits a corkscrew 450 on Dunne and gets a near fall. Fans erupt with "UK" chants as Bate runs the ropes. Dunne dodges a charging Bate and Bate gets laid out on the floor. Dunne pulls Bate back into the ring, hits the Bitter End and scores the pinfall to win the title.
Winner: Pete Dunne, by pinfall, to win the WWE United Kingdom Championship. - "NXT Women's Championship, Triple Threat Match": Asuka (c) vs. Nikki Cross vs. Ruby Riot: The match closes out with Asuka hitting a german suplex on Ruby for a near fall. Nikki counters a german suplex from Asuka, plants Asuka and gets a near fall. Asuka and Ruby trade offense and pinfall attempts until Asuka traps Ruby in the Asuka Lock submission. Nikki hits a splash to break the submission and then sends Ruby outside. Nikki has Asuka on the apron and unloads strikes on her. Nikki drags Asuka into the corner and then hits a hanging neck breaker for a near fall, as Ruby breaks it up. Nikki and Ruby charge each other and connect on each other with cross body block attempts. Asuka is back in, but gets tossed right back out to the floor. Ruby hits a Pele Kick on Nikki and gets a near fall, after Asuka breaks up the pinfall, hitting a running knee. Both Ruby and Nikki are knocked out as Asuka falls on top of both ladies and scores the pinfall to retain her title.
Winner: Asuka, by pinfall, to retain the NXT Women's Championship. - We get a highlight video of "The Velveteen Dream" Patrick Clark making his NXT debut this Wednesday night.
- "NXT World Championship Match": Bobby Roode (c) vs. Hideo Itami: The match closes out with both men brawling on the floor. Roode gets sent into the steel steps shoulder first and Itami misses a drop kick hitting the steel steps. Both men barely make it back into the ring before the countout and the match continues. Roode and Itami trade shots until Itami takes control and sends Roode into the corner. Itami hits the hesitation drop kick, goes for Go To Sleep, but his leg gives out from crashing into the steel steps. Roode hits the Glorious DDT, but gets a near fall. Itami catches Roode and nails Go To Sleep, but Roode falls outside to the floor. Itami rolls Roode back into the ring and covers, but Roode kicks out at two and a half. Roode counters another Go To Sleep with a rollup, but Itami counters with his own rollup and gets a near fall. Itami counters the Glorious DDT and unloads on Roode. Itami pulls down the knee pad and goes for Go To Sleep on Roode. Roode counters and hits the Glorious DDT. Roode pulls Itami back up, hits another Glorious DDT and scores the pinfall to retain his title.
Winner: Bobby Roode, by pinfall, to retain the NXT World Championship. - "NXT World Tag Team Championship, Ladder Match": Authors of Pain (c) vs. #DIY: The match closes out with the AOP climbing for the titles. Ciampa runs up the ladder and cuts off Rezar. Ciampa sends Rezar flying off the ladder and right through another ladder lying down below. Akam climbs for the titles, but Gargano follows. Akam shoves Gargano to the side and then kicks Gargano as he hangs on. #DIY unload kicks on Akam and then wrap a Ladder around Akam's head. #DIY hit Akam with Meet In The Middle and Ciampa clutches his injured leg. #DIY set up a ladder and begin to climb to the titles.
#DIY are about to unhook the titles when suddenly AOP kick out the ladder from under them. #DIY are hanging on for dear life, grasping onto the hook that the titles are hooked to. AOP grab #DIY from off the hook and hit a double power bomb and then the Super Collider. AOP climb the ladder and grab the titles for the victory.
Winners: Authors of Pain, by title retrieval, to retain the NXT World Tag Team Championship. - #DIY Disbands: After the match, the fans give Ciampa and Gargano a standing ovation. Ciampa and Gargano share a bro hug and head up to the NXT stage as fans continue to applaud their effort. Ciampa bro hugs Gargano again when suddenly........Ciampa turns on Gargano and launches him head first into the LED board on the stage. Ciampa mounts Gargano and unloads punches as the fans reign the boos. Ciampa measures Gargano and knees Gargano's head off. Ciampa pulls down his knee pad and knees Gargano's head off again. The fans chant "F*** You Ciampa" as Ciampa tosses Gargano onto the announcers table. Ciampa scoops up Gargano and falls backwards off the stage, putting himself and Gargano through tables below. Ciampa climbs back on top of the announcers table and takes in the "A**hole" chants to end the show.
