Welcome to a new series on the website, called Rating The Champ. This will follow my prior World Title Series, where I reviewed each and every WWE Heavyweight Champion in history from Hulk Hogan’s first title win in 1984 all the way to the current days. Money in the Bank cash-ins will not be included for obvious reasons, unless it was a proper match (ie: Rob Van Dam at One Night Stand 2006). Royal Rumble and battle royales won’t be included as well.
In this new series, I will rate all the PPV matches from each and every WWF/E Heavyweight Champion in history. To be fair, since this is the WWF/E title, I’ll only rate their PPV matches in the WWF/E. In this edition, we’ll be heading over to NXT and looking back at the TakeOver career of the one and only, former NXT Champion, Adam Cole.
2017
- Triple Threat WarGames: W/ Undisputed Era vs. SAnitY vs. Roderick Strong and The Authors Of Pain (TakeOver WarGames) ****1/2
2018
- Extreme Rules: Vs. Aleister Black (TakeOver Philadelphia) ****1/2
- Ladder Match: Vs. Ricochet vs. EC3 vs. Lars Sullivan vs. Killian Dain vs. Velveteen Dream – NXT North American Championship (TakeOver New Orleans) ****3/4
- Dusty Rhodes 2018 Tag Team Classic Finals: W/ Kyle O’Reilly vs. The Authors Of Pain vs. Roderick Strong and Pete Dunne – NXT Tag Team Championships (TakeOver New Orleans) ****
- Vs. Ricochet – NXT North American Championship (TakeOver IV) ****1/4
- WarGames: W/ Undisputed Era vs. War Raiders, Ricochet and Pete Dunne (TakeOver WarGames II) *****
2019
- 2 Out Of 3 Falls: Vs. Johnny Gargano – NXT Championship (TakeOver New York) *****
- Vs. Johnny Gargano – NXT Championship (TakeOver XXV) *****
- 2 Out Of 3 Falls: Vs. Johnny Gargano – NXT Championship (TakeOver Toronto II) *****
- WarGames: W/ Undisputed Era vs. Team Ciampa (TakeOver WarGames III) *****
- Vs. Pete Dunne – NXT Championship (Survivor Series) ****1/2
2020
- W/ Undisputed Era vs. IMPERIUM (Worlds Collide) *****
- Vs. Tommaso Ciampa – NXT Championship (TakeOver Portland) ****3/4
- Backlot Brawl: Vs. Velveteen Dream – NXT Championship (TakeOver In Your House) N/R [Not Rated] (C)
- Vs. Pat McAfee (TakeOver XXX) ***3/4
- WarGames: W/ Undisputed Era vs. Team McAfee (TakeOver WarGames IV) ****3/4
2021
- Unsanctioned: Vs. Kyle O’Reilly (TakeOver Stand & Deliver Night 2) *****
- Vs. Karrion Kross Vs. Johnny Gargano Vs. Kyle O’Reilly Vs. Pete Dunne – NXT Championship (TakeOver In Your House II) ****1/2
TOP FIVE
5. Vs. Johnny Gargano (TakeOver Toronto II 2019)
4. W/ Undisputed Era vs. War Raiders, Ricochet and Pete Dunne (TakeOver WarGames II 2018)
3. Vs. Kyle O’Reilly (TakeOver Stand & Deliver Night 2 2021)
2. Vs. Johnny Gargano (TakeOver XXV 2019)
1. Vs. Johnny Gargano (TakeOver New York 2019)
Average rating per year
- 2017 – 4.5
- 2018 – 4.5
- 2019 – 4.9
- 2020 – 4.56
- 2021 – 4.75
- Overall average rating
- 4.64/5
Don’t miss the next article here on Rating The Champ, where we’ll be looking back at former NXT Champion, Tommaso Ciampa.