NXT TakeOver Tampa Bay Matches Scheduled for USA Network Starting April 1

WWE confirmed Tuesday that the matches originally scheduled for NXT TakeOver: Tampa Bay will instead take place on NXT television over the next few weeks, starting with the April 1 edition of NXT on USA Network.

WWE also announced that NXT founder Triple H will appear on Wednesday's episode of NXT to potentially address the situation.

NXT TakeOver: Tampa Bay had been scheduled to occur April 4 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. With the coronavirus pandemic forcing WWE to move WrestleMania from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, and make it a two-day event, however, TakeOver was canceled.

The only match that was officially announced for TakeOver: Tampa Bay before it was called off was a ladder match to determine the No. 1 contender for the NXT Women's Championship. Chelsea Green, Mia Yim and Tegan Nox have qualified thus far.

Several other matches have been teased, though, including Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa, Adam Cole vs. Velveteen Dream for the NXT Championship, Keith Lee vs. Dominik Dijakovic vs. Damian Priest for the NXT North American Championship and The Broserweights vs. The Grizzled Young Veterans for the NXT Tag Team Championships.

Last week's episode of NXT featured no matches and was instead made up of videos chronicling the Gargano vs. Ciampa feud, NXT Women's champion Rhea Ripley and Finn Balor.

With Triple H appearing on Wednesday's episode and matches scheduled to take place in the coming weeks, it appears as though NXT will return to some sense of normalcy, although the shows will take place with no fans in attendance.

The cancellation of TakeOver: Tampa Bay is a huge loss for WWE Network since the TakeOver events tend to be a major draw, although the fact that WrestleMania is taking place over two nights instead of one will likely mitigate much of what is lost.

In terms of the NXT television product, essentially holding TakeOver across multiple weeks could be a good thing, as it will help NXT combat AEW Dynamite on TNT in the ratings.

Dynamite has finished with higher viewership every week since NXT's last win in December, but with matches like Gargano vs. Ciampa and Cole vs. Dream taking place on free TV, the pendulum could swing back in NXT's favor.

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