NXT Takeover: Chicago

NXT Takeover: Chicago was a pay-per-view that took place on May 20th, 2017, live from Chicago, Illinois. The main event was the finals of the NXT Championship Tournament.



Background
This was the third Takeover show in Henry's Universe Mode, and the first since NXT Takeover: London. This was the first NXT pay-per-view since it's return at the start of Season 3, and featured the finals of the near two month long NXT Championship Tournament to crown a new champion.

With the return of NXT, a sixteen man tournament was announced, with the winner becoming the new NXT Champion. Competitors included Aleister Black, Cedric Alexander, Drew McIntyre, Rich Swann, Ricochet, Roderick Strong, Drew Gulak, Hideo Itami, Eric Young, Jack Gallagher, Andrade Almas, Kassius Ohno, Bobby Roode, Kota Ibushi, Apollo Crews and TJ Perkins. The final four left standing were Alexander, Ricochet, Itami and Ibushi, who would face off on this show, with the winners advancing to the finals later in the night.

WIth the return of NXT, theNXT Women's Championship  and NXT Tag Team Championships also returned. Natalya and Carmella were the two signings made by GM William Regal from the main roster, and would face off on the April 19th edition of NXT, with the Queen of Harts getting the win. Natalya would then pick up wins over Billie Kay and Peyton Royce, before demanding to be crowned champion. Regal offered her a match at the show, as she would face the debuting Ember Moon. The Authors of Pain would make their debut shortly after NXT's return, and went on a path of destruction, quickly dispatching of the Hype Bros and Blake and Murphy. Their next opponents would be The Ascension, with Regal announcing that the teams would face off for the championships in Chicago.

Event
In the first semi-final match, Ricochet defeated Cedric Alexander with a 630 senton to advance to the main event, and his opponent would be Hideo Itami, who defeated Kota Ibushi with a small package. The Authors of Pain proved to be too dominant for The Ascension, easily capturing the NXT Tag Team Championships. The debuting Ember Moon picked up gold in her first match, knocking Natalya unconscious with a middle rope stunner, becoming the new NXT Women's Champion.

In a grueling main event, Hideo Itami outlasted Ricochet, hitting two GTS' to become the new NXT Champion to close out the show.