NXT TakeOver 36
NXT TakeOver 36 was the 36th and final NXT TakeOver professional wrestling event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's NXT and NXT UK brand divisions. The event aired on pay-per-view (PPV) worldwide and was available to stream through Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network internationally. It took place on August 22, 2021, from the Capitol Wrestling Center, hosted at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. The event was held during that year's SummerSlam weekend, but was held the night after SummerSlam, which was held  on Saturday while TakeOver 36 was held on Sunday. It was NXT's final PPV and WWE Network event in which the Performance Center's arena was called the Capitol Wrestling Center, as following NXT's restructuring as NXT 2.0 in September, the name was discontinued, with future events simply billed as being held at the Performance Center. The TakeOver series itself was discontinued in late 2021 after the rebranding to NXT 2.0. It would in turn be NXT's last major event in which the brand was considered WWE's third main brand, as with the restructuring to NXT  2.0, the brand reverted to being WWE's developmental territory. Six matches were contested at the event, including one on the pre-show. In the main event, Samoa Joe defeated Karrion Kross to win the NXT Championship a record-breaking third time. In the penultimate match, Kyle O'Reilly defeated Adam Cole 2–1 in a two-out-of-three-falls match. In other prominent matches, Ilja Dragunov defeated Walter by submission to win the NXT United Kingdom Championship ending Walter's record-setting reign at 870 days, and in the opening bout, Cameron Grimes defeated LA Knight to win the Million  Dollar Championship with the added stipulation that if Grimes lost, Ted DiBiase would have became Knights' butler. Production. Background. TakeOver was a series of professional wrestling shows that began in May 2014, as WWE's NXT brand held their second WWE Network-exclusive event, billed as TakeOver. In subsequent months, the "TakeOver" moniker became the brand used by WWE for all of their NXT live specials. While originally exclusive to the WWE Network, NXT TakeOver events also became available on traditional pay-per-view (PPV) beginning with TakeOver 31 in October 2020, and then also on Peacock after the American  version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock in March 2021. Titled for being the 36th NXT TakeOver event, TakeOver 36 was scheduled to be held on Sunday, August 22, 2021, the night after WWE's SummerSlam PPV for Raw and SmackDown. This in turn made TakeOver 36 the first TakeOver to air the night after one of WWE's main PPVs instead of the night before. Additionally, while Raw and SmackDown resumed live touring during the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-July, NXT continued to run its shows from the Capitol Wrestling Center, hosted at the WWE Performance Center in  Orlando, Florida. The Capitol Wrestling Center was initially NXT's version of the WWE ThunderDome bio-secure bubble that had been used for Raw and SmackDown during the pandemic; however, the arena became the brand's home base, with nearly all COVID-19 restrictions having been lifted with the previous TakeOver event, . Storylines. The In Your House card included six matches, including one on the Pre-Show. The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters to build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's  writers on the NXT and NXT UK brands, while storylines were produced on their weekly television programs, "NXT" and "NXT UK". In October 2020 on "NXT UK", Walter defeated Ilja Dragunov to retain the NXT United Kingdom Championship. In June 2021, Dragunov earned another opportunity to challenge Walter for the championship by defeating Rampage Brown and Joe Coffey in a triple threat match. The title match was then scheduled for the July 22 episode of "NXT UK". A contract signing for the match was held during the July 15 episode, but later that same episode, Walter injured his hand in  a backstage altercation. It was then announced that the championship match had been postponed. During the July 22 episode, NXT executive Triple H, NXT UK producer Shawn Michaels, and NXT General Manager William Regal announced that the NXT United Kingdom Championship match would take place at TakeOver 36. After being released from his WWE contract in April 2021, Samoa Joe re-signed with NXT that June. Joe made his formal return to the brand during the June 15 episode of "NXT" under the agreement that he would be the enforcer for NXT General Manager William Regal, as Regal had essentially  lost control of the wrestlers. Additionally, Joe would not be an active wrestler and could not attack any member of the active roster unless provoked. That same episode, Joe came face-to-face with NXT Champion Karrion Kross. Over the following month, Kross would attempt to provoke Joe. During the July 13 episode, Joe served as the special guest referee for Kross' championship defense. After Kross retained the title, he attacked Joe. The following week, Joe called out Kross, who appeared backstage, showing that he had attacked Regal; Joe headed backstage but Kross retreated in a car when Joe got  to Regal. On the July 27 episode, Regal had intended to fire Kross for his actions, but Joe had a different plan that Regal accepted. Joe resigned as Regal's enforcer, was reinstated as a member of the active roster, and was scheduled to face Kross for the NXT Championship at TakeOver 36, marking Joe's first match since February 2020. At in February 2020, Raquel González made her NXT debut, helping Dakota Kai defeat Tegan Nox. Over the following months, González would accompany Kai to her matches, forging an alliance and becoming Kai's "bodyguard". During the 2020 Women 's WarGames match at , González picked up momentum after pinning reigning NXT Women's Champion, Io Shirai. She then continued racking up victories with Kai by her side. Kai and González then won the inaugural women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, becoming the first-ever NXT Women's Tag Team Champions, although they lost the title the same night they were awarded them. González then entered into a feud with Shirai and defeated her at to win the NXT Women's Championship. On the July 27 episode of "NXT", González, with Kai by her side, issued an open  challenge for the championship but no one answered. Kai then praised González but then attacked her from behind, subsequently turning González face in the process. Kai then said she would challenge González for the title, which was scheduled for TakeOver 36. At TakeOver: In Your House, LA Knight defeated Cameron Grimes in a ladder match to win the vacant Million Dollar Championship that had been reintroduced by WWE Hall of Famer and "The Million Dollar Man", Ted DiBiase. On the following episode of "NXT", DiBiase formally presented the Million Dollar Championship to Knight. After an emotional promo, Knight turned on  and attacked DiBiase, who was saved by Grimes; in a video uploaded to WWE's YouTube channel, it was shown that Grimes had apologized to DiBiase following the match at In Your House. Knight then defeated Grimes in a rematch at The Great American Bash; as per the stipulation of the rematch, Grimes became Knight's personal butler. Grimes, however, would annoy Knight during this time. DiBiase then returned, encouraging Grimes to go after the Million Dollar Championship. During the August 10 episode of "NXT", Knight agreed to defend the championship against Grimes at TakeOver 36 under the condition that  if Knight won, DiBiase would replace Grimes as Knight's personal butler. Although Grimes was against it, DiBiase agreed to the terms. Event. Pre-show. During the kick-off show, Ridge Holland took on Trey Baxter. Holland quickly won the match after hitting a "Headbutt" and a "Brainbuster" on Baxter. After the match, Holland challenged Timothy Thatcher for a match on the upcoming episode of NXT. Preliminary matches. In the opening match, LA Knight defended the Million Dollar Championship against his butler Cameron Grimes with a stipulation that Ted DiBiase would become Knight's butler if he won. Grimes tried  to win with the "Dream Street", but Knight escaped. Knight tried to leave with the title, but DiBiase stopped him and threw the title into the ring. While the referee was trying to take the title away from Grimes, DiBiase locked in Dream Street on Knight and threw him back into the ring. Grimes hit a "Cave In Stomp" on Knight to win the title, becoming free from being Knight's butler, and keeping DiBiase from becoming the butler. Next, Raquel González defended the NXT Women's Championship against Dakota Kai. Kai hit a Codebreaker on González for a nearfall . In the end, Dakota went for a "Yakuza Kick", but Raquel caught the foot and dragged Kai to the top rope with her and hit a "Powerbomb" off the top rope to retain the title. Afterward, NXT UK's Kay Lee Ray returned and confronted González from the stage. Then, Walter defended the NXT United Kingdom Championship against Ilja Dragunov. Dragunov exerted control with a headlock and later a keylock, but Walter placed Dragunov on the top rope, chopped him to the floor, and powerbombed him onto the ring apron. Both men exchanged chops, forearms, lariats, knees, kicks and suplexes . Walter countered Dragunov's "Torpedo Moscow" and hit a sleeper suplex, but Dragunov continued with a "Torpedo Moscow" to the back of Walter's head, and then a regular "Torpedo Moscow" for a nearfall. WALTER hit a shotgun dropkick and a powerbomb for a nearfall, then another powerbomb and a diving splash for another nearfall. Dragunov escaped Walter's sleeper hold and hit a diving headbutt. Dragunov overwhelmed Walter with strikes and sleeper holds, with Walter submitting on the third sleeper hold application, ending Walter's 870-day reign as champion. In the penultimate match, Adam Cole took on Kyle  O'Reilly in a Three Stages of Hell match, a type of a 2-Out-of-3 Falls match in what was called The Undisputed Finale. The first fall was a Singles match. O'Reilly quickly won the first fall after countering a "Panama Sunrise" into a "Roll-Up". The second fall was a Street Fight. O'Reilly sat Cole in a steel chair and placed a trash can over his head and hitting a "Running Dropkick" off the apron. As O'Reilly went to the top rope, Cole kicked him off and Kyle hit his ribs on the apron. The two fought to the  stage where Cole locked in a "Guillotine Choke", but O'Reilly escaped and threw Cole off the stage into the plexiglass. As O'Reilly went for the "Top Rope Knee Drop", Cole threw O'Reilly onto two standing chairs and hit a "Last Shot" to win the second fall. The final fall was a Steel Cage match. Cole threw O'Reilly into the cage multiple times and Kyle would catapult Cole into the cage as well. Cole had a pair of hand cuffs and attached O'Reilly to the top rope. Cole hit a "Superkick", but O'Reilly grabbed the foot on a second attempt and  locked in a "Heel Hook", forcing Cole to submit to win the match. Afterward, Cole was helped to the back by officials. Main event. In the main event, Karrion Kross defended the NXT Championship against Samoa Joe. Joe hit a "Suicide Dive" on Kross on the outside. Joe hit a "Senton" off the top rope for a nearfall. Joe locked in the "Coquina Clutch", but Kross escaped. Kross locked in the "Kross Jacket", but Joe escaped as well. Joe hit a "Urange" and placed Kross on the top rope. Joe hit a "Muscle Buster" on Kross and pinned him to  win his record-setting third NXT Championship. Reception. The event was met with critical acclaim. 411Mania gave the entire event a 8.5 out of 10 ratings and gave the WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov match a perfect 5 star out of 5 ratings, with the reviewer declaring WALTER as "the best wrestler on the planet". Bleacher Report praised all the matches except the Ridge Holland vs. Trey Baxter which was graded C, their lowest graded match from the event. Raquel Gonzalez vs. Dakota Kai, WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov, and Kyle O'Reilly vs. Adam Cole were particularly praised, with WALTER vs. Ilja  Dragunov being awarded the highest grading of A+ and being called the potential match of the year. WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov became the highest-rated WWE match of all times according to Cagematch.net, with a rating of 9.69 out of 10, surpassing the previous record held by Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25. Fans all over the world took to Twitter and praised the WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov match. Dave Meltzer of the "Wrestling Observer Newsletter" praised the event and gave the Ilja Dragunov vs. Walter a rating of 5.25 stars, making it only the fourth match in  WWE history to exceed the 5 star ratings system. Aftermath. TakeOver 36 would be the final NXT event held under the TakeOver series. In September, the NXT brand went through a restructuring, being rebranded as "NXT 2.0", reverting, in part, to a developmental territory for WWE. The Capitol Wrestling Center name was also phased out in September, with events just being billed as held from the Performance Center. In October, it was speculated that the company may end the TakeOver series as another TakeOver event was not scheduled for 2021 after TakeOver 36. On November 9, 2021, NXT's next  PPV and WWE Network event was announced as NXT WarGames to be held on December 5. WarGames was previously held under the TakeOver series from 2017 to 2020, however, the announcement confirmed that the event would not be a TakeOver event, thus ending the TakeOver series. However, the "Mat Men Podcast" reported that WWE may use the TakeOver name again if an NXT event is held in a large venue, such as sharing the same venue with one of WWE's major events, and held as a support show for one of those events, like several previous TakeOvers have done