WWE NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia is all set to pop off tonight (Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018) at 8 p.m. ET, live on WWE Network!
CagesideSeats.com will provide LIVE blow-by-blow, match-by-match coverage of NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia below, beginning with the first match of the evening and right on through to the main event.
Tonight's show kicks off Royal Rumble weekend for WWE from Wells Fargo Center, and it's offering up a pretty stacked card.
The main event features Johnny Gargano’s quest to prove the doubters wrong, as he tries to capture the NXT title from a man who has had his number over the last couple months, Andrade “Cien” Almas.
In other championship action, the black-and-yellow brand’s first new Women’s champ in more than a year, Ember Moon, looks to define the division by putting down bullying upstart Shayna Baszler. Meanwhile, Authors of Pain look to become the second two-time tag champs in NXT history when they face titleholders Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly of Undisputed ERA.
Rounding out the card is non-title action, including Fish and O’Reilly’s stablemate Adam Cole in an Extreme Rules showdown with Aleister Black, and Kassius Ohno’s attempt to teach Velveteen Dream some humility.
While you're waiting for the show to begin, dig into our predictions - as well as a preview of the entire card!
Kick your off your shoes, relax, and enjoy all the action with the best damn pro wrestling community on the interwebs. And remember to keep refreshing!
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WWE NXT TAKEOVER: PHILADELPHIA QUICK RESULTS
Undisputed ERA (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) def. Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar)
Velveteen Dream def. Kassius Ohno
Ember Moon def. Shayna Baszler
Aleister Black def. Adam Cole
Andrade “Cien” Almas def. Johnny Gargano
WWE NXT TAKEOVER: PHILADELPHIA LIVE BLOG & MATCH COVERAGE
Ooh! Dark meditation, deep down inside a stream of light begins to flow. Sweet are the days, intoxication, crow-black the nights caging my mind behind the wall. Into the rock through walls of red dreams. Into the rock to liveblog this here pro wrestling show for you, folks.
The pre-show kicks off with Charly Caruso welcoming us to the show and introducing her panel, consisting tonight of Sam Roberts and Samoa Joe tonight. Joe confirms that while he’s feeling well, he’s not feeling as well as the people in the Royal Rumble tomorrow who don’t have to worry about him being in the match now, and the panel runs down the card for tomorrow real fast.
We toss backstage with Renee Young and Corey Graves who are going to present the year-end awards later. Back with the panel, the first match they discuss is the Adam Cole vs. Aleister Black Extreme Rules Match, which gets the full video package treatment on the way.
Velveteen Dream is presented with the award for Rivalry of the Year and interviewed. He promises a thirty second or less knockout of Kassius Ohno tonight. We head out with the crowd for a second before getting a video package for and announcement of the Male Competitor of the Year award. Aleister Black comes out to accept the award and is interviewed.
He says he set out to do something different and the award validates his success in that. He’s told he also won Breakout Star of the Year as well. Panel discussion of VD/Ohno follows and then they shift gears to discuss the tag title match. Back to Renee and Corey and the next award is Female Competitor of the Year. Asuka wins and rolls right up to accept and we move on to our next category, Match of the Year.
Tyler Bate comes out to accept the award for the match he and Pete Dunne had at TakeOver: Chicago. He says he’s honored and grateful and puts Pete over, hoping they can do it again next year. We toss to the panel, where Pete Dunne is hanging out with his title and he says he had two objectives this year, to win the UK title and put the UK division on the map, and at Chicago he achieved both of those.
Mauro Ranallo and Percy Watson inform us that Nigel McGuinness is out sick tonight and they run down the card for us real fast and use that to pump the WWE Network up. Back to the panel, the NXT Women’s Championship match is up next for the video package and discussion treatment. Corey and Renee have come out to the stage to present the Overall Competitor of the Year Award... Asuka wins!
Video package and panel discussion of the NXT Championship match follows. Zelina Vega rolls up and she has a problem with the NXT Year-End Awards since Andrade “Cien” Almas didn’t win a single award. She talks Almas up as the biggest star around and says tonight’s gonna be the same as their previous two matches, among other things. The panel shills for the WWE Network some more to close the pre-show out.
The main show kicks off with a video narrated by Paul Heyman about Philadelphia’s place in pro wrestling interweaved with recap content for all our matches tonight.
Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar) vs. Undisputed ERA (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) (c) (NXT Tag Team Championship)
The Authors jump Fish and O’Reilly before the bell!
Separated in short order, Fish and Rezar to start but Bobby bails almost immediately and hides in the ropes for a tag. O’Reilly runs the ropes, probing leg kicks, single leg pick but Rezar shoves him to the mat. Kyle remains kicking from the mat, Inoki to the Author’s Ali but Rezar turns it around on him and rains punches down on him! KOR reverses to a triangle choke, shift to palm strikes from mount, Rezar throws him off and he takes a breather on the floor.
Back in, tag to Fish, he rolls under a boot, kicks the knee, hamstring kick, another but Rezar catches him and double legs him into the corner for the tag! Authors putting boots to him, Akam with a fireman’s carry takeover but Bobby is able to get away and make the tag. O’Reilly comes in, takes a flapjack and a shoulder block and reDRagon decide they’d rather leave, so the Authors freight train them on the floor!
Fish into the steps, raining punches on KOR and he falls flat off the apron when he tries to get back in the ring! Tossing Fish back in, he slides out... FACE ERASER INTO THE BARRICADE! Rezar tags back in, working Kyle over, quick tags, single stomp Demolition Decapitation but Akam tweaks his knee on it. Off the ropes, O’Reilly with the low bridge, Akam punches him in the mouth and Kyle fakes a tooth injury to allow Fish a chance to cheapshot the bad knee!
Rezar tries to come in, Bobby runs interference and spears him to the floor! O’Reilly stays on Akam, tag to Fish, kicks on kicks, tag back to KOR, wrenching his leg over the middle rope, another quick tag but Akam gets his wits about him and powerbombs O’Reilly on a charge only for Fish to yank his knee over the ropes and come back at him with a kick combo, pummelling the bad knee!
Knee drop, working him over, tag and Akam manages to shove Bobby away but Kyle chop blocks him into a half-crab! Akam manages to kick him off before he can get the full torque on it but the damage is done and KOR takes him down into a kneebar before he can limp to his corner for the tag! Akam gets the ropes and O’Reilly makes the tag, Fish coming in stomping.
Tag back, continuing to work his leg over, Bobby makes the mistake of trying to knock Rezar down and we get tags on both sides! Rezar in hot, boots for both men, big press slam for Fish, thrust spinebuster for Kyle into forearms to the face on the mat! Scooping KOR up, Fish grabs a sleeper but Rezar hangs on and hits a fallaway slam to knock both men away! Only a nearfall on O’Reilly!
Up for a powerbomb, Kyle reverses to a guillotine choke and Rezar escapes with a back body drop only to run into a VICIOUS knee strike from O’Reilly! The erstwhile reDRagon chaining strikes, Fish hits a big exploder suplex... NOPE! Rezar breaks a double team, clobbers Kyle with a lariat, they get KOR up for the high/low but Fish runs in for the save and Kyle has a heel hook in!
Bobby on Rezar’s back with a sleeper... HE THROWS HIM OFF AND BREAKS THE HEEL HOOK WITH IT! All four men down and out for a beat, Kyle and Akam up, O’Reilly throwing kicks to the legs but Akam finds a second wind, LEG AND HEAD SUPLEX! He clubs Fish away and powerbombs Kyle into the top turnbuckle! Knee strikes to the head, Rezar lays Fish out in turn, up for it... SUPER COLLIDER!
KOR FRANKENSTEINERS REZAR AWAY...
Undipsuted ERA win by pinfall with a schoolboy pin from Kyle O’Reilly on Akam, retaining the NXT Tag Team Championship.
War Machine are shown in the crowd under that name! Mauro calls them Hanson and Ray Rowe, no less!
Andrade “Cien” Almas and Zelina Vega are shown briefly discussing strategy backstage.
Kassius Ohno vs. Velveteen Dream
During his entrance, Velveteen Dream is joined by a woman and a man carrying a fluffy pillow with a mouth guard on it. The man appears to be occasional Evolve wrestler Thomas Sharp, perhaps better known as Blaster McMassive of the Devastation Corporation.
Circling, the crowd counting to test Dream’s pre-show proclamation of a victory in thirty seconds. He gets punching in the corner, body blows and a big right and Ohno goes sprawling! No cover and Kassius recovers and decks Velveteen with an elbow in return! Kick to the face, and a pump kick knocks VD to the floor! Ohno puts him back in the ring but gets cut off with an uppercut, off the ropes, a boot stops the dive!
Kassius off the ropes but he gets caught with a huge spinning spinebuster! Stomps in passing, more punches from the Dream, backing Ohno in the corner, whip across and he takes the buckles hard. Straight suplex follows, only good for one as Kassius regains his bearings. Penalty kick to the back, double axehandle, VD is rolling, knee to the ribs followed by a kick and a choke over the bottom rope!
Kicks to the midsection as referee Eddie Orengo warns him off but Kassius fires up with chops! Velveteen with a snapmare into a grounded abdominal stretch, floating over into a seated rear chinlock but Ohno hosses him up and heads to the corner to break it. Dream pummelling him in the corner again, perching up top, diving double axehandle, only two and he goes back to the rear chinlock for a moment.
More axehandles into kicks, back to the rear chinlock and asking what his name is but Kassius breaks the hands and gets free. VD with a kick, fireman’s carry but Ohno breaks out with elbows. Front kick to Kassius’ face, going for a suplex, reversed into Crash Landing! Both men slow to rise, a club from Dream gets a wicked elbow from Ohno! Same result on an uppercut, pump kick, lariat, another boot and the running senton lands home!
CYCLONE KILL! NOPE! Kassius calls for the elbow, draws Velveteen up and turns him around but he reverses to a backslide for a nearfall! Catch the kick, go for a rolling elbow and the superkick finds its mark! Square and Compass... NOT ENOUGH! Up top, he dives into a boot, elbow strike to the face, Ohno off the ropes but he gets caught into a Death Valley Driver! Only a nearfall!
VD calls to end it but Ohno reverses the momentum, ripcord rolling elbow... NO GOOD! Hangman’s clutch, again Velveteen reverses, California Roll, headed up top...
Velveteen Dream wins by pinfall with the Purple Rainmaker.
Maria Menounos is shown at ringside ahead of her turn as guest ring announcer for the women’s Royal Rumble tomorrow.
Johnny Gargano is shown backstage with his family, including of course his wife, Candice LeRae.
Ember Moon (c) vs. Shayna Baszler (NXT Women’s Championship)
Baszler with a go behind, waistlock takedown, back up, standing switch, she backs Moon into the corner and breaks the hold. Kicking her leg out from under her, positioning referee Darryl Sharma between them, double leg forcing Ember to guard and piefacing her. Sidestep a kick, Kirifuda Clutch attempt denied and Moon fires off a series of kicks to knock her challenger off guard!
Shayna outside, Ember off the ropes, suicide dive connects, she dumps Baszler back in, handspring reversed into a judo throw and front kicks in the clinch! Moon climbing up her leg, the Queen of Spades throws her to the mat and steps on her hand before stomping her elbow down! Ember screaming agony, clutching her arm, Baszler grabs a kneeing top wristlock and goes to town.
Shifting, wrenching, knee to the bicep, a cover only gets one but Shayna stays on the arm, stomping it, kicking the bicep, back to the top wristlock, spinning around into a kneeling armbar as Moon continues to scream. Manipulating the hand now, old-school sit-down cross armbar, letting it go for another kick to the arm before wrenching it over the top rope.
Wristllock inverted stomp armbreaker, mocking the champion, Ember fires a big slap off and rallies, another one, Baszler tries to go after her but Moon fires off a series of strikes, springboard crossbody, only two! Charging forearm strike, Eclipse connects but Moon can’t capitalize, she’s too busy holding her arm in agony! Medics hit the ring to check on her but Ember isn’t interested in stopping the match and fights on one-armed!
Shayna catches her in a cross armbar when she comes over! Moon has her hands clasped but Baszler manages to break her grip! EMBER GETS A FOOT ON THE ROPES! Dragging her away from the ropes, Ember holds on as long as she can but the armbar is back on in the middle of the ring! Literally clawing at Shayna with her good arm but the Queen of Spades won’t break the hold!
Moon manages to post to her knees for a second and roll out but Baszler hangs on and keeps the hold! Wrenching back, hooking a leg, trying to find whatever grip it takes to end this thing! Ember manages to roll through...
Ember Moon wins by pinfall, reversing the cross armbar into a folding press to retain the NXT Women’s Championship.
After the match Shayna attacks Ember from behind, locking the Kirifuda Clutch in on the ramp!
Trevor “Ricochet” Mann is shown in the front row billed exactly like that!
Adam Cole vs. Aleister Black (Extreme Rules Match)
Right in, trading forearms, Black knocks Cole outside with a kick and quebradas into his seated position when Adam moves away from a dive! Cole grabs a chair and heads back inside but Aleister ducks him and kicks it away from him, claiming it for himself! Black unfolds the chair and has a seat. Cole back in, Black dumps the chair and passes Adam outside, joining him with a wicked forearm strike!
Another one backs Cole into the announce desk but he’s able to fire a knee off and put Aleister’s face into the apron! Under the ring for more plunder, he throws two chairs into the ring and puts Black into the barricade before getting a trash can and throwing it in as well! Running boot, another chair in the ring, Aleister gets a few punches and a forearm off but Cole rams him into the barricade!
Headed for more plunder, Adam comes up with a kendo stick and Black gets one of his own. Back in the ring with their respective weapons in hand, but Aleister throws his away, he wants him to bring it! Aleister ducks the shots, forearms land true, a chest kick, quebrada... COLE CLOBBERS HIM WITH THE KENDO STICK RIGHT TO THE MIDSECTION IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS ARC!
Choking him with the kendo stick, Aleister rises to his feet and Cole shifts to a kendo stick assisted lungblower for a nearfall! Stomping away, Adam heads to the floor for more plunder, obliging Philly by grabbing a table and setting it up at ringside. Back inside, Cole takes Black to the turnbuckles, climbing up but Aleister fights him off... PRESS SLAM INTO THE TRASH CAN!
Running knee strike wipes Adam out... NOPE! Black heads to the floor himself and sets up another table next to the one Cole set up moments ago before getting a ladder out. Before he can put it in the ring, Adam catches him with a baseball slide right to the ladder and leans it in the corner. Hand covered in blood, Cole heads to the floor, tries to suplex Black through the ladder, denied, step-up enzuigiri connects anyway!
Strikes in the corner, mounted punches, Aleister turns it into an electric chair... AND TOSSES HIM INTO THE LADDER! Both men laid out, medics take a second to tape Adam’s busted hand up. Black sets a chair up and sets Cole on it, head on the seat, but Adam gets up and blasts him in the midsection with it! Cole unable to get him up, running knee dodged, a kick comes up empty but the double stomp lands true!
He sets Adam on the chair again, climbs up top but Cole wakes up and throws the chair at him, superkick Van Daminator... BLACK GOES THROUGH THE TABLES AT RINGSIDE! Adam goes to collect him, throws him back in the ring, cover made... NOPE! Cole sets up two chairs front to front before turning them back to back, Aleister gets him up... FIREMAN’S CARRY SLAM INTO THE BACKS OF THE CHAIRS!
Cole screaming agony, using a chair to steady himself... BLACK PUTS HIS KNEE THROUGH THE CHAIR AND INTO COLE’S FACE! KYLE O’REILLY MAKES THE SAVE?! BOB FISH IS HERE TOO! TOTAL ELIMINATION ON THE FLOOR! Dragging Black around the ring, reDRagon clear the shattered tables and position him in front of the announce table, which they proceed to dismantle. Positioning Aleister on a road case... HERE COMES SANITY!
ALEXANDER WOLFE IS BEATING ON FISH, ERIC YOUNG ON O’REILLY! KILLIAN DAIN IS KEEPING WATCH ON COLE! BIG MAN SUICIDE DIVE ON BOTH REDRAGON AND HIS OWN PARTNERS! Adam Cole realizes the gift he’s been given and goes over to Black but Aleister’s able to block and knock him back... METEORA THROUGH THE TABLE! Headed back inside, Adam manages to cut Black off with a superkick!
Crawling for a chair, Cole gets to his feet, running over with the chair but Black is ready...
Aleister Black wins by pinfall with Black Mass.
We see Ethan Carter III in the crowd, billed as EC3 and announced as a new NXT signing!
Andrade “Cien” Almas (c) vs. Johnny Gargano (NXT Championship)
Circling, collar and elbow, into the ropes, Almas with a waistlock, jockeying for position, Gargano with a front chancery and they stalemate! Collar and elbow again, Johnny gets an armbar, shift to a wristlock, Andrade falls to one knee but manages to reverse to a waistlock. Gargano trying to leverage his grip apart, he slips under instead, reverse to a side headlock takeover, countered right into a headscissors!
Almas with a takeover of his own, Johnny back with the headscissors, intense mat grappling and again the stalemate! Knucklelock, Cien grabs a side headlock, shot off, big shoulder block, off the ropes, drop down, leapfrog denied, looking for the hammerlock DDT early, Gargano with an armbar takedown, more intense grappling and a third stalemate!
Almas with a kick, a knee, whip across, up and over, roll away, waistlock ,push off, off the ropes, flying headscissors, a dropkick, arm drag into the kneeling armbar! Andrade breaks the armbar with a handful of hair, whip off, up and over denied and a chop cracks Johnny to the mat! Chops in the corner, hard whip, Gargano with the boot up, leaping Frankensteiner and he clotheslines the champion to the floor!
Slingshot plancha denied, Almas with a moonsault off the apron but nobody’s home and Johnny fires a kick from the apron. Following it up with a cannonball... AND THE POOL IS EMPTY! Andrade puts Johnny back in the ring and gets two off the cover. Stomps to the back to follow up the missed cannonball, Gargano gets some forearms in, Almas shoves him aside, Johnny throws him into the ropes and he hangs there.
Bit of struggle, Dragon sleeper in the ropes, following it up with a kick to the back of the neck and the champion locks a reverse chinlock on to try and grind Johnny Wrestling down. The WWN Icon flags but doesn’t fail, willing life back into himself even as Cien wrenches back on it. To his feet, elbows to the gut, breaking the hold, scoop, Almas reverses, Johnny reverses but his back gives out and he has to settle for the roll-through into the enzuigiri!
Chop to the throat, whip reversed, up and over to the apron but Andrade gets him hung up in the Tree of Woe but Johnny ducks the double stomp and belly-to-belly suplexes him into the corner! Both men on their feet, trading forearms, Gargano pulls ahead with lariats but Almas wants more! More he gets, forearms, lariats, an enzuigiri, and Johnny’s fired up!
Corner forearm, to the second rope, tornado reverse STO, only a nearfall! Drawing the champion up, taking a few elbows, sliding under him in the ropes, another forearm, Almas off the ropes, Johnny’s ready, SUPERMAN SPEAR... NOT ENOUGH! Gamengiri, off the ropes, Cien turns it into a Bangarang for a nearfall of his own! Almas gets him into position, climbs up top, lands on his feet on the first moonsault but the standing moonsault connects... NOPE!
Drawing Gargano to his feet, throwing forearms with his lefts and rights, Johnny returns the favor, off the ropes, HUGE spinning backfist from Andrade but it’s only good for two! Gargano hits the superkick... again just a nearfall! Double lariats into double slaps and both men fall to the mat! Slowly to their feet, staggered and stumbling, Johnny runs into a boot and takes another kick out of the corner.
Struggle in the corner, hammerlock applied but Gargano slips out, duck under, head-trap corner superkick connects! Sunset flip denied, Almas hits the double knees but the second set get sidestepped, Superman Spear countered with an elbow, inverted tornado DDT... NO GOOD! Both men so spent, crawling for the apron, trying to find that second or third wind as they get to their feet on the apron.
Hammerlock applied, leg in place, Johnny blocks so Cien shifts, fireman’s carry, denied, big forearm, trading blows, enzuigiri connects and Almas is staggered in place. Gargano slingshots... APRON DDT! Referee Drake Wuertz counting, Johnny gets him back inside before the ten but the cover can’t finish it! Looking for Gargano Escape but Cien blocks the hand and hits a jawbreaker.
Wristlock, Johnny throwing elbows, he takes a back elbow that staggers him but cuts the champion off on a charge with a lariat. LAWN DART! Gargano’s fired up and Zelina Vega distracts him long enough for Andrade to dropkick him in the corner! Reverse the DDT to a small package, only two, fakeout superkick, another superkick... ALMAS IS STILL IN IT!
Johnny Wrestling headed up top, Almas meets him and lariats his leg out from under him! Forearms, Gargano hanging from the ropes... DOUBLE STOMP OVER THE APRON! CIEN THROWS HIM INTO THE APRON AND SLAMS HIS HEAD INTO THE LED BOARD A FEW TIMES! Rolling him back in, Johnny tries to pull himself up but Almas hits the knees... YOU’RE NOT GONNA PUT JOHNNY GARGANO AWAY LIKE THAT!
Getting their wits back about them, Andrade draws Johnny up to his knees and slaps him in the face. Another slap, pulling him to his feet, Gargano gets a left to the side of the head! Another! A third, drawing whatever reserves he has left, shifting to slaps, both men wobbling as Cien gets an overhand chop off! Superkick... POISON FRANKENSTEINER! GARGANO’S FIRED UP!
Off the ropes... TILT-A-WHIRL GARGANO ESCAPE! ALMAS DRAGS HIMSELF TOWARDS THE ROPES BUT JOHNNY ROLLS HIM THROUGH! VEGA GRABS HIS HAND BUT DRAKE ADMONISHES HER AND ANDRADE RAKES JOHNNY’S EYES! Hammerlock, Gargano reverses with a back body drop to the floor, off the ropes, suicide dive! He throws Almas back in and Zelina hits the Frankensteiner into the steel steps!
Andrade gets him back in, hammerlock DDT... JOHNNY GARGANO KICKS OUT AT THE LAST IMAGINABLE FRACTION OF A SECOND! Vega’s jawing at Wuertz again, Gargano rolls to the floor, Zelina comes around... CANDICE WITH THE SAVE! LERAE BEATING THE HELL OUT OF VEGA! SHE THROWS HER INTO THE BARRICADE AND KEEPS PUNCHING! THEY’RE BRAWLING TO THE BACK!
Johnny pulls himself onto the apron and back to his feet, he hits an enzuigiri, slingshot DDT... only a nearfall! GARGANO ESCAPE! WRENCHING BACK BUT ALMAS GETS HIS FOOT ON THE ROPES! Cien rolls to the apron and Gargano joins him, where the champion is able to shove him into the ringpost! DOUBLE KNEES AGAINST THE RINGPOST! Glassy-eyed and breathing hard, Johnny is pulled up the ropes, hammerlock applied...
Andrade “Cien” Almas wins by pinfall with the avalanche hammerlock DDT, retaining the NXT Championship.
Almas and Vega celebrate on the ramp as Candice checks on Johnny in the ring.
Referee Drake Wuertz helps Candice get Johnny out of the ring and they head up the ramp.
TOMMASO CIAMPA ATTACKS GARGANO FROM BEHIND WITH A CRUTCH! He stares on emotionless as Candice tends to her husband before taking his leave.
That’s the show, folks.