WWE 2015 8 2015-02-11 2015-02-11 https://r2.thesportsdb.com/images/media/event/thumb/ttpuwv1452890644.jpg https://r2.thesportsdb.com/images/media/event/poster/qyqryv1448480916.jpg NXT TakeOver: Rival, was a major professional wrestling event produced by WWE, under their NXT brand and was broadcast live on the WWE Network, available to subscribers. NXT TakeOver took place on February 11, 2015 at NXT's "home" arena, Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida and featured six matches as part of the main broadcast and one match prior to the televised portion of the show. The show was the fourth show in the "NXT TakeOver" series of Network exclusive shows. The main event of the show saw Sami Zayn defend the NXT Championship against former friend Kevin Owens in a match that played off their shared history prior to signing with WWE. Also on the show Charlotte defended the NXT Women's Championship against Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch and Bayley in a Fatal 4-Way match as well as Blake and Murphy defending the NXT Tag Team Championship as the former champions The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto and Sin Cara) received their rematch. The show also featured the finals of a No.1 Contender for the NXT Championship tournament and two additional matches. The main event of the NXT TakeOver: Rival show was a storyline between long time real life friends and often in-ring opponents Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. The storyline played off the decade long friendship between the two, predating both of them working for WWE, back when they were known as Kevin Steen (Owens) and El Generico (Zayn). The two became friends when they worked for the Canadian International Wrestling Syndicate IWS and later on won several tag team championships as Kevin Steen and El Generico including the PWG World Tag Team Championship twice and the ROH World Tag Team Championship. While they were close friends the two also had a very intense storyline feud in Ring of Honor (ROH) that lasted from late 2009 until late 2012 where Zayn signed a contract with WWE. Steen, given the ring name Kevin Owens signed a WWE contract during the summer of 2015, joining Zayn in NXT. During the build to Owens' debut at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution they acknowledge the past history of Zayn and Owens, citing their friendship. At "R Evolution" Owens won his debut match against CJ Parker and then later on in the night Zayn defeated Adrian Neville to win the NXT Championship. After the victory Owens came to the ring to congratulate Zayn on the victory, but then turned on his and attacked Zayn, slamming him hard on the edge of the ring. On January 14, 2015 Zayn successfully defended the championship against Neville, only to be attacked by Owens after the match once more. At the following NXT show Zayn demanded a match against Owens, with Owens pushing back saying he was a "prize figher" and would only fight Zayn if the NXT Championship was on the line, a stipulation Zayn agreed to. In the weeks prior to the TakeOver: Rival show NXT held a tournament to determine the next challenger to the NXT Championship, announcing the tournament before Owens goaded Zayn into giving him a match for the championship. The eight man tournament included Finn Bálor, Curtis Axel, Hideo Itami, Tyler Breeze, Tyson Kidd, Adrian Neville, Baron Corbin and Bull Dempsey. The first round of the tournament was broadcast on January 21 and 28 with Bálor, Itami, Neville and Corbin all advancing to the semi-finals. The semi-finals of the tournament was shown on the WWE Network on February 4 and saw Bálor and Neville qualify for the finals that would take place at TakeOver: Rival. 492117