WWE NXT Results: Biggest Winners, Losers, Moments from NXT TakeOver: Chicago

Saturday night, NXT presented one of its finest TakeOver specials to date, live from the historic Allstate Arena in suburban Chicago.

Championships changed hands, grudges came to fitting conclusions and dominant titleholders continued to stake their places in the history books. Above all, a handful of Superstars stood out for various reasons, with some earning "winner" status while others failed to leave the impression they likely hoped for, earning "loser" distinction.

Pete Dunne knocked off Tyler Bate to win the United Kingdom Championship, doing so in a phenomenal wrestling match that had the rabid fans inside the decades-old arena on their feet throughout. The Bruiserweight and his opponent were among the winners.

Not so lucky was Hideo Itami, whose quest to become NXT champion ended in disappointment, but it was the booking that accompanied the loss that was most responsible for his recognition as one of the losers from the event.

Who joined those Superstars and why?

Take a look with this exclusive wrap-up of Saturday's extravaganza.

Winners: Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano

There was a point in Saturday's NXT Tag Team Championships ladder match when Johnny Gargano shoved partner Tommaso Ciampa out of the way and endured a nasty shot to the face with a ladder by The Authors of Pain, Akam and Rezar.

It was a sacrifice one man made for his best friend.

What felt like a spot aimed at adding emotion to a wild and chaotic match had larger implications.

After suffering another loss in a bout for the tag team championships, DIY sat dejectedly in the center of the ring, with the fans in Chicago raining a thunderous ovation down on them. They were beloved competitors who left their hearts in the ring, doing everything they possibly could in pursuit of championships they simply were not destined to leave The Windy City with.

Sadness painted the face of Gargano, but behind the mask of disappointment caked on Ciampa's face was deceit. Luring Gargano into a false sense of brotherhood, Ciampa struck, sending his partner into the stage. From there, he unloaded on him with a furious assault, each blow representing a different level of frustration caused by loss after loss.

When he put Gargano through staging equipment with White Noise and proceeded to sit on the announce table with an eerie stillness, watching closely as medics and training staff checked on his fallen friend, it became clear that the Ciampa invading the homes of fans via WWE Network was closer to the deranged Psycho Killer than the smiling babyface with whom the NXT audience had become familiar.

The shocking conclusion to TakeOver: Chicago not only brought about the end of DIY as a tag team, but it catapulted both Ciampa and Gargano to the forefront of the brand, igniting what is sure to be the most heated rivalry Triple H and Co. have to offer.

After the molten-hot conclusion to Saturday's broadcast, Gargano vs. Ciampa figures to be the program that returns NXT to its glory days and drives fans back to the product.

Even if it does not quite accomplish that feat, the performers' qualities will be more than enough to spark interest in the Wednesday night program and provide NXT with the emotionally intense, hate-filled feud the brand has been seeking.

Loser: Hideo Itami

Hideo Itami's designation as a loser in this recap of Saturday's show is not at all reflective of his effort or performance. The world-renowned competitor turned in his best showing in NXT to date, taking Bobby Roode to the limit and nearly capturing the brand's world title on several occasions.

Itami earns loser status for the booking that accompanied his performance and the disservice it did him.

Both the challenger and champion suffered throughout the course of the NXT title bout at TakeOver: Chicago and were forced to fight through the pain in search of victory. They did, continuing several minutes after the simultaneous spots that put them in a tough spot.

In true babyface fashion, one man summoned the strength and energy to shake off the pain and punishment he had endured and captured the win.

That man was Roode. The heel. 

Roode was booked incredibly strong while Itami failed to summon the guts and determination to pick up the win. At a time when Drew McIntyre, Roderick Strong and the newly single Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano will all be seeking opportunities to step up and dethrone Roode, the last thing Itami needed was to be a clean loser.

How he recovers and convincingly gets another shot at beating Roode is a mystery. One thing is for sure: It will be difficult to sell the audience on him as the No. 1 contender again when Roode has nothing left to prove in terms of his superiority to Itami.

Winners: Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate

The United Kingdom Championship match between Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate was the first of four championship encounters Saturday night, but it could have been the only one and fans would have gone home satisfied.

The ferocious Dunne attacked Bate, relentless in his manipulation of the champion's fingers, wrist and arm as he attempted to take away his opponent's ability to strike effectively. What he did not count on was the resiliency of the double-tough Bate, who repeatedly found ways around his injuries to nearly put Dunne away on more than one occasion.

At one point, the 20-year-old titleholder executed a beautiful corkscrew moonsault that netted him a two-count and had the fans in Allstate Arena erupting with joy, with the excellence of the match setting in.

A bigger story than Dunne's victory was the show-stealing performances of the two wrestlers and the impression the United Kingdom Championship has made on fans. The presentation of that title and its competitors has been so effective because of the freshness of their product.

The championship is treated with respect. The performers are touted as real athletes, and their offense is sold with a realism not seen elsewhere in WWE. It works, as witnessed in Saturday's hellacious match.

Both men sold for the each other, and the result was a more believable match than any other on the extraordinary broadcast.

Do not be surprised to see Dunne, Bate and the rest of the United Kingdom stars carve out a role for themselves in NXT going forward.

Losers: The NXT Women's Division

Asuka tore through Ruby Riot and Nikki Cross like a buzzsaw Saturday night en route to her ninth consecutive NXT TakeOver victory and yet another successful defense of her women's championship. The win added to the aura surrounding The Empress of Tomorrow's historic reign but also put the NXT women's division in an unenviable position.

The champion has been booked so strongly since her arrival in 2015 that NXT officials have not been able to build up another star even remotely close to being as credible enough to unseat Asuka.

For once, WWE has presented a performer as so utterly dominant that it does not know how to get the title off of her without the eventual switch coming across as an utter disappointment. The problem there is Asuka has run out of competition, and the longer her reign goes on, the more apparent that is.

The other issue is NXT has a female roster full of promising young stars, but Asuka has already beaten them all, so there is no real upward mobility for any of them.

While a strong champion is the desire of any wrestling promotion, too strong a champion creates a scenario in which management books itself into a corner. That is the situation facing NXT and its women's division, which has been weakened by Asuka's dominance.

Winner: Roderick Strong

Roderick Strong scored the most impressive victory of his NXT career Saturday night, defeating Eric Young in the opening match while single-handedly neutralizing Sanity.

Realizing the easiest way to vanquish the king was to take out his knights, Strong made a concentrated effort to subdue both Killian Dain and Alexander Wolfe at ringside, allowing him to focus the remainder of his attention on his opponent.

The strategy worked and directly put over the cerebral nature of The Messiah of the Backbreaker.

The fans in Chicago were rabidly supporting the former Ring of Honor competitor as well, popping for him and making him feel like a marquee star on a show full of recognizable names.

The reaction, his performance and the fire he demonstrated as he wiped out Sanity and pinned Young was exactly what Strong needed to capitalize on the intimate video packages NXT produced about him, his life and his status as a new father. Hopefully both Strong and management can build on his momentum.

If so, the brand could have a new main event attraction on its hands, a Superstar who could realistically and believably knock off Bobby Roode, Drew McIntyre and any other wrestler to capture the NXT Championship when the time comes.