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With fan interest and morale towards the program in flux, NXT TakeOver 36 comes at a very interesting time for the black-and-gold brand. There have been many rumors and backstage changes ongoing for NXT after the latest batch of releases. That being said, the program has put together quite a compelling card that features rivalries coming to a head with titles on the line.
NXT TakeOver 36 is headlined by a returning legend of the brand. It also might mark the end of the run of an all-time great NXT Champion. The NXT UK Champion comes to the United States to blow off a rematch ten months in the making.
Plus, two former friends will be fighting for the NXT Women's Championship, and a rematch from the last TakeOver will have higher stakes this time around.
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It will be a jam-packed weekend with WWE Summerslam taking place on Saturday before this very event. There will be plenty debate following this weekend about which show was better, with a lot of that coming down to how the buildup has been for both. In this article, let's rank the buildup for every match at NXT TakeOver 36.
#5 LA Knight vs. Cameron Grimes for the Million Dollar Championship. If Knight wins, Ted Dibiase will be his butler (NXT TakeOver 36)
Heading into NXT TakeOver 36, Cameron Grimes has had to serve as a personal butler for LA Knight following his loss to the Million Dollar Champion at the Great American Bash. Knight has been a thorn in Grimes's side since he beat the fan-favorite in a Ladder Match for the title back at TakeOver: In Your House.
The two men were battling for the affection of the Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase ahead of In Your House. Dibiase reintroduced the Million Dollar Championship as a representation of his legacy being passed on to one of these young superstars. But LA Knight turned on Dibiase and beat down the legend following his win.
The past few weeks have seen Knight mistreat Grimes, who has gained sympathy for being a man of his word and following the stipulation of their last contest. But it seems like the right time for Grimes to finally get a win over Knight at NXT TakeOver 36. Many of the matches on this card have long buildups like this, but the comedic nature of this feud is why it ranks lowest.
#4 Karrion Kross vs. Samoa Joe for the NXT Championship (NXT TakeOver 36)
NXT TakeOver 36's likely main event will see Karrion Kross defending the NXT Championship against the returning Samoa Joe. This bout will mark Joe's first wrestling match since February 2020 and his first NXT match since 2016. The journey to get to this point has been quite compelling, both on TV and off of it.
Samoa Joe was released from WWE on April 15 following WrestleMania 37. At the time of his release, he served as a color commentator on the RAW brand. Just two months later, Triple H brought him back into the fold with Joe returning to NXT on the June 15th, 2021 episode.
He came back to the brand in order to serve as the special enforcer for General Manager William Regal. Joe immediately went face to face with the NXT Champion.
Tensions built between Samoa Joe and Karrion Kross until the July 13th episode of NXT, where Joe was the special guest referee for Kross's title defense against Johnny Gargano. Kross defeated Gargano, but after he felt like Joe was working against him, the champion choked the veteran out after the match. This attack set in motion a series of events that took us to NXT TakeOver 36.
Samoa Joe wanted revenge, but Kross avoided him and instead attacked Regal in the parking lot. The following week, Joe stepped down as an enforcer and got Regal to sign a contract to put him back on the active roster. He also signed a contract for a NXT Championship Match against Kross at NXT TakeOver 36.
If this was just down to the buildup that fans have seen on the black-and-gold brand, this contest would rank higher among the buildups. But Kross' main roster run so far has significantly lessened the impact of the leadup to his NXT TakeOver 36 bout. Kross' losses to Jeff Hardy and Keith Lee have taken his undefeated aura and made fans less interested in this feud.
#3 WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov for the NXT UK Championship (NXT TakeOver 36)
WALTER will defend the NXT UK Championship against Ilja Dragunov at NXT TakeOver 36. This show will mark only the third time the NXT UK brand's top prize has been on the line for the black-and-gold brand's premier show.
WALTER will have reigned as NXT UK Champion for 870 days on the date of NXT TakeOver 36. He is the longest-reigning champion of the modern era, and he has been undefeated in the singles competition since he signed with WWE. Last year, the Ring General faced Dragunov in one of the most brutal WWE matches in company history. It was a fierce battle that was arguably the best WWE match of 2020.
Dragunov has gone through a remarkable transformation since that crushing loss to WALTER. His psychological battle has seen him find a new edge so he could find the level of ruthlessness needed to withstand WALTER's attack. This rematch is a bout that is 10 months in the making, but Dragunov's first appearance on the NXT proper brand has lessened the buildup.
On the August 10th episode, Pete Dunne defeated Dragunov in what could be considered a baffling outcome. Just two weeks before he faces the most dominant superstar in WWE since Brock Lesnar, Dragunov shouldn't have lost. This direction was very confusing, and it didn't give him any credibility heading into this clash. With that being said, WALTER-Dragunov II has all the potential to be the match of the night at NXT TakeOver 36.
#2 Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Undisputed Finale Match (NXT TakeOver 36)
The final showdown between former Undisputed Era members Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly goes down at NXT TakeOver 36 in a two-out-of-three falls match. This bout is being billed as "The Undisputed Finale" because it marks the end of an era. Back at TakeOver: Vengeance Day, Cole betrayed O'Reilly with a shocking superkick to end their dominant stable that reigned over the black-and-gold brand for four years.
This surprising turn led to a brutal Unsanctioned Match at TakeOver: Stand and Deliver during WrestleMania 37 week. The 4- minute clash saw O'Reilly defeat Cole with a flying knee drop with a chain wrapped around his knee. The feud was far from over, though. Cole returned to NXT in June and immediately attacked his former friend.
The two men were involved in the Fatal Five-Way main event for the NXT Championship, but their animosity led to them both losing. Things escalated further when Cole defeated O'Reilly in a straight-up wrestling match at the Great American Bash to even their series. This outcome opened up a new side to O'Reilly, who brutally assaulted Cole in order to set up a final battle at NXT TakeOver 36.
General Manager William Regal made the rematch a two-out-of-three falls contest with a different stipulation for every fall at NXT TakeOver 36. O'Reilly wanted another straight-up wrestling match to get revenge for the last meeting, while Cole wanted a street fight to beat down his rival. Regal made the final fall, if necessary, a steel cage match.
This will be the culmination of a rivalry that started in February, and it will come to a head here. The booking of the matches felt off, as the Unsanctioned Match felt like a blowoff. But these two stars have gotten the fans to care about this rivalry again.
NXT TakeOver 36 could go down as Adam Cole's final show as a WWE wrestler. If it is, his looming exit only adds to the conclusive feeling surrounding this big-time encounter.
#1 Raquel Gonzalez vs. Dakota Kai for the NXT Women's Championship (NXT TakeOver 36)
Raquel Gonzalez's dominant reign as NXT Women's Champion faces its most formidable challenge yet against Dakota Kai at NXT TakeOver 36. This story dates back to TakeOver: Portland in February 2020, when Gonzalez made her re-debut. There, she helped Kai defeat her former best friend Tegan Nox in a Street Fight.
The two women developed a partnership that paid dividends for both. For Kai, she had backup for her battles with the likes of Nox, Mia Yim and Io Shirai. For Gonzalez, this alliance gave her the spotlight that she wasn't able to achieve during her previous run on the NXT brand.
The two women won the first Women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic at TakeOver: Vengeance Day, which allowed them to become the first NXT Women's Tag Team Champions. Although they lost the straps in their first defense, Raquel and Dakota's names would always be placed in history together.
At TakeOver: Stand and Deliver, everything changed for their relationship when Gonzalez defeated Io Shirai to win the NXT Women's Championship. (In the build toward NXT TakeOver 36, Kai has said that this opportunity should have been hers in the first place.) From there, Gonzalez focused on her title, so she wasn't as active in regaining the NXT Women's Tag Team Championships with Kai.
Kai was in the champion's corner for every big title defense, and she regularly got involved when she had to. The roles were reversed in a lot of ways, from Gonzalez being in Kai's corner to Dakota becoming Raquel's sidekick. This shift started to wear on Kai's ego, and it was easy to see that the writing was on the wall for this eventual NXT TakeOver 36 match.
On the July 27th, 2021 episode of NXT, she betrayed Gonzalez with a kick to the face out of nowhere to effectively end their partnership. This betrayal also set the stage for the NXT Women's Championship showdown at NXT TakeOver 36. Gonzalez has been unable to get her hands on her former friend, making this show her first opportunity to do so.
The length of their relationship, combined with the way they teased the eventual breakup, were subtle yet well done. The two ladies told their story excellently, and the promo work from both women since the breakup has been great.
The tension heading into this bout couldn't be high, so Raquel Gonzalez vs. Dakota Kai has had the best buildup of any match on the card for NXT TakeOver 36.
