NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia

NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia was a professional wrestling show in the NXT TakeOver series which took place on January 27, 2018 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The event was produced by WWE, showcasing its NXT developmental brand, and streamed live on the WWE Network.
== Background ==
The card included matches that have results from scripted storylines and have results predetermined by WWE. Storylines were produced on the NXT television program. NXT TakeOver is a series of professional wrestling shows that began on May 29, 2014, as the WWE developmental league NXT held their second WWE Network exclusive live broadcast billed as NXT TakeOver. In subsequent months, the "TakeOver" moniker became the brand used by WWE for all of their NXT live specials. NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia was the nineteenth overall show held under the NXT TakeOver banner, and the first to be held in 2018.
On the December 6 episode of NXT, NXT General Manager William Regal announced that a series of matches which included Kassius Ohno vs. Johnny Gargano (the latter replaced The Velveteen Dream), Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole, Killian Dain vs. Trent Seven and Roderick Strong vs. Lars Sullivan took place to have the winners of these four matches go into a fatal-four-way match to determine the number one contender for the NXT Championship. The winners were Gargano, Dain, and Sullivan, who then fought in the aforementioned fatal four-way match on the December 27 episode of NXT, which Gargano won after Black was distracted by The Undisputed Era, granting him a match with NXT Champion Andrade "Cien" Almas at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia.
On the December 6 episode of NXT, Aleister Black defeated Adam Cole to earn a spot in the fatal-four way number one contender's match. On the December 27 episode of NXT, The Undisputed Era cost Black an opportunity at the NXT Championship in the aforementioned fatal four-way match. On the January 10 episode of NXT, Black teamed with Roderick Strong to challenge Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly for their NXT Tag Team Championship. During the match, Cole would get involved and ambush Black from behind. Cole began to retreat and lured Black into the crowd, allowing O’Reily and Fish to retain their titles. NXT General Manager William Regal then came out and announced an Extreme Rules match between Black and Cole at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia.
On the January 10 episode of NXT, Shayna Baszler made her NXT in-ring debut against Dakota Kai, which ended in a referee stoppage after Baszler injured Kai's arm. After the match, Baszler continued to attack Kai's arm again while the medical staff were tending to the injury, causing NXT Women's Champion Ember Moon to rush to the aid of Kai to stop the attack. On the January 17 episode of NXT, After losing a match to Lacy Evans, Aliyah was attacked by Baszler, causing Moon to rush to stop Baszler's attacks again. After this attack, Moon challenged Baszler to a match to end her bullying tactics. Baszler refused unless the NXT Women's Championship was on the line at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia. Moon accepted, and the title match was made official by NXT General Manager William Regal.
During a January 24, 2018 conference call promoting NXT TakeOver, Triple H confirmed that a matchup between Velveteen Dream and Kassius Ohno would take place at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia.
==Match Preview==
Andrade Almas vs. Johnny Gargano 	Preview
Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole 	Preview
Ember Moon vs. Shayna Baszler 	Preview
The Undisputed ERA vs. The Authors of Pain	Preview
Kassius Ohno vs. Velveteen Dream 	Preview
==Results==
;
;
*The Undisputed Era (Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish) (c) defeated The Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar) (w/ Paul Ellering) to retain the NXT Tag Team Championship (14:50)
*Velveteen Dream defeated Kassius Ohno (10:45)
*Ember Moon (c) defeated Shayna Baszler to retain the NXT Women's Championship (10:06)
*Aleister Black defeated Adam Cole in an Extreme Rules match (22:02)
*Andrade "Cien" Almas (c) (w/ Zelina Vega) defeated Johnny Gargano to retain the NXT Championship (32:19)
== Notes ==
*War Machine, Ricochet, and EC3 all made their first appearances in NXT by being shown watching the event from ringside.
*Candice LeRae appeared during the NXT Championship match coming from the crowd to attack Zelina Vega.
==Other on-screen talent==
;Commentators
*Mauro Ranallo
*Percy Watson
;Pre-show Panel
*Charly Caruso
*Sam Roberts
*Samoa Joe	
;Ring announcer
*Mike Rome
;Referees
*Darryl Sharma
*Eddie Orengo
*Drake Wuertz
==See also ==
*List of NXT pay-per-view events
==External links==
* NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia at WWE.com
* NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia Pre-Show on WWE Network
* NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia on WWE Network
* NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia at CAGEMATCH.net
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Category:2018 NXT pay-per-view events
Category:NXT Takeover
Category:2018 events