Background in
Brooklyn,
New York.
TakeOver was a series of
professional wrestling events that began in May 2014, as
WWE's then-
developmental league NXT held its second
WWE Network-exclusive event, billed as
TakeOver. In subsequent months, the "TakeOver" moniker became the brand used by WWE for all of its major NXT events. In July 2015, WWE announced that their sixth TakeOver event would take place on August 22, 2015, the day before their main
SummerSlam pay-per-view. It was also revealed that it would be held in the same venue as SummerSlam, the
Barclays Center in
Brooklyn,
New York, thus titled TakeOver: Brooklyn, becoming the first TakeOver to be named after its host city. This would also mark the first TakeOver held outside of
Full Sail University in
Winter Park, Florida, as well as the first TakeOver to be held as a support show for one of WWE's main pay-per-views. WWE promoted the show as "featuring the next generation of WWE... on the biggest stage yet," referring to the 13,000+ capacity of the Barclays Center, compared to the 400-seat arena at Full Sail University and the various other smaller arenas that NXT had held shows at in the United States.
Storylines The event included matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television program,
NXT. defended his
NXT Championship The main event of the show saw
Finn Bálor defending his
NXT Championship against
Kevin Owens in a
ladder match. The storyline between the duo started in February 2015 at
TakeOver: Rival, when Owens captured the NXT Championship while Bálor won a tournament to become the number one contender to the championship. Bálor got his title shot on the March 25 episode of
NXT; despite claiming that he did not need "The Demon" to beat Owens, the champion prevailed over his
unpainted challenger by taking advantage of a storyline leg injury. However, Bálor once again became number one contender at
TakeOver: Unstoppable in May when he beat
Tyler Breeze. This earned Bálor another title match against Owens, set for July 4 at
The Beast in the East. After using body paint to transform into The Demon, Bálor defeated Owens to become the new NXT Champion in his "second home" of
Japan. At the 2015
San Diego Comic-Con on July 9, a title rematch was announced as the main event for TakeOver: Brooklyn. On the August 5 episode of
NXT, Owens requested for the stipulation of a ladder match, claiming he did not want to suffer NXT General Manager
William Regal costing him the title in a situation alike the
Montreal Screwjob; this was accepted by Bálor, and made official the next week. challenged for the NXT Women's Championship at the event The co-main event was for the
NXT Women's Championship, contested between champion
Sasha Banks and challenger
Bayley. It was described as the "arrogant and ultra-talented champ" taking on the "lovable ... ultimate underdog" by
The Baltimore Sun. This was the culmination of a rivalry between the duo and a long storyline for Bayley which began over two years prior. In June 2013, both Bayley (debuting an innocent character) and Banks participated in the tournament to crown the first NXT Women's Champion, but both were eliminated in the first round. Banks aligned herself with
Summer Rae that September to form "The BFFs". She then changed her gimmick to "The Boss", while Bayley aligned herself with
Charlotte. Despite Rae and Banks attempting to persuade Bayley to join their alliance, it was Charlotte who turned on Bayley in November to join The BFFs. In early 2014, Bayley, now backed up by
Natalya, scored multiple wins over Banks while feuding with The BFFs, but Banks defeated Bayley in May during the first round of a tournament for the vacant NXT Women's Championship. In July, The BFFs disbanded, and Bayley failed to defeat Rae for a title shot. Bayley finally became the number one contender for the title by beating Banks in August, only to lose to champion Charlotte at
TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way in September, and again in a title rematch the next month. After the first match, Charlotte saved Bayley from an attack by Banks; after the second, the duo shook hands. In October 2014, Bayley's friend
Becky Lynch turned on her to join Sasha Banks, so Bayley again allied with Charlotte to feud against Banks and Lynch. An attack by Banks and Lynch caused a storyline knee injury for Bayley in November, while Charlotte beat Banks at
TakeOver: R Evolution to retain her title in December 2014. Bayley returned in January 2015, saving Charlotte from Banks and Lynch. Charlotte then snatched her title belt from Bayley, resulting in Bayley attacking her. This caused a fatal-four-way match to be set up between the four women at TakeOver: Rival. Banks won the match and the NXT Women's Championship. In April, Becky Lynch defeated Bayley and Charlotte in a triple threat match for a title shot. Bayley's woes continued when she lost to Emma in May, as well as being ruled out of action with a hand injury, for which she blamed Emma for. Meanwhile, Sasha Banks racked up successful title defenses in singles action with two against Charlotte, one against
Alexa Bliss, and at TakeOver: Unstoppable, one against Becky Lynch. After Bayley defeated Charlotte on the August 5 episode of
NXT, Over the summer, The Vaudevillains started to push for the team to get a match against Blake and Murphy for the championship, strengthening their argument when they defeated
Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady to be named number one contenders. They would later lose the match to Blake and Murphy before a rematch was scheduled for TakeOver: Brooklyn. made his NXT debut at the event In the weeks following the announcement of TakeOver: Brooklyn, Tyler Breeze would often complain to on-screen NXT General Manager
William Regal that he "wanted competition", which Regal later announced in the form of
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) wrestler
Jushin Thunder Liger. The unusual deal between the two promotions had come about when WWE approached NJPW about bringing Liger in for the event as a special guest, which was accepted by NJPW. In early 2015,
Uhaa Nation signed a WWE contract and reported to the
WWE Performance Center on April 6. Nation made his first televised appearance on the May 6 episode of
NXT, where he officially signed his contract. This was followed by a vignette promoting his upcoming debut. Nation started working NXT
house shows the following month. On August 5, it was announced that Nation would be known under the
ring name "Apollo Crews", and that he would be making his televised debut on August 22 at TakeOver: Brooklyn. His opponent was later identified as
Tye Dillinger and the match was announced as the sixth match of the actual TakeOver broadcast. == Event ==