NXT Takeover War Games: Honest Review

This past weekend the latest NXT Takeover War Games took place and with both a men’s and women’s version set once again and so the night promised some seriously entertaining wrestling content! We had the North American championship on the line as well a must-see between Timothy Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa with a few announcements during the show! In today’s blog post I’m going to be taking you back through the takeover event giving you my honest thoughts.

 

Women’s War Games

We kick-started the evening with the match I was personally most excited for, the Women’s War Games match which saw team Shotzi consisting of Rhea Ripley, Io Shirai, Ember Moon, and of course Shotzi Blackheart take on Team Candice involving Dakota Kai, Raquel Gonzalez, and Toni Storm and with eight of the best female superstars in the company today this was a big-time must see! Now, what grabbed my attention early on here was how smartly booked the entrants were. We saw Moon eager to get into the ring first to square off against her long time rival in Dakota Kai where the two started out strong and even when Shotzi was able to get involved Kai held her own and was able to keep ahead of the game despite the advantage and numbers being on team Shotzi at this point. Kai being the first entrant for her side enabled Raquel to be the obvious next entrant which would soon result in a showdown between the two powerhouses of this match when Ripley stepped into War Games. Now, the collisions between these two women saw some of the highlights of this match and Ripley was a standout with creative spots involving her belt and the clear display of her power and strength.

What was also a great touch about this match was the clear game plan from team Candice. After losing their chance to have the advantage here they needed to find another way to gain the upper hand and we saw that on clear display; from Storm taking off the turnbuckles to the entire team attempting to keep Io out of the ring, there were smart tactics throughout that I really enjoyed seeing. Now, I will admit there were some messy moments and it took a while for me to really become invested in the action but once Io hit that move from the top of the cage with a trashcan over her body I was hooked! After everyone finally got involved in the action we saw things heat up and intensify with stronger spots and generally better action and this became a strong opener and an incredible war games that highlighted the depths of the NXT Women’s division. The closing moments of this match, however, were the most surprising! The brutal finishing moment that saw Raquel pin the champion to get the win for her team was something I did not see coming but I have to say I have become a major Gonzalez fan and she had the career-changing performance we all wanted to see last night!

Timothy Thatcher vs Tommaso Ciampa

Now, I am a huge fan of both Timothy Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa and so the second bout of the evening really was a dream contest for me! Both incredibly intense performers but with differencing in-ring styles, this was a match with serious potential. From the get-go, Thatcher targeted the neck of Ciampa which considering the medical history of the former NXT champion made for a smart tactic but one that left me as a fan with serious anxiety! For a great deal of this match, we saw Thatcher in control with Ciampa barely able to keep momentum on his side which made for a rare scenario! This was such a brutal hard-hitting contest that highlighted the toughness of both men and their shared intensity. In the end, it was Ciampa who picked up the win but this was a fantastic performance for Thatcher, and the scenes after showed two men who looked absolutely broken and I really do truly hope we get to see more from them in the ring together down the line.

Cameron Grimes vs Dexter Lumis

I’ll be honest, strap matches have never really done it for me but when Dexter Lumis and Roderick Strong took part in one earlier this year I found I was genuinely entertained and enjoyed the action and so with that in mind I tried to be optimistic heading into Lumis vs Grimes. From the start, Cameron Grimes was giving us fantastic character work and while I don’t feel as though neither man had much to gain from this match I felt it had some decent spots and again, not a bad strap match. Both men are strong characters I personally enjoy watching but my issue with this contest was I felt it went on for longer than it should of. Dexter is creating a strong name for himself when it comes to strap matches especially after scoring the win but this defiantly could have been cut short at least five minutes and despite its length was the forgettable match of the evening. 

Leon Ruff vs Johnny Gargano vs Damien Priest

While both War Games matches were simply brilliant my personal favourite match of the evening was the triple threat for the North American championship and I’ll admit that I was not expecting this contest to be as good as it was. Here we have three vastly different superstars and together they just worked so damn well. The blend of in-ring styles and characters added with the strong build to this match made for a solid contest I really did enjoy! Each superstar had their standout moments and part to play here and while Ruff was clearly set to drop the title, he too had a strong showing and really did prove himself. Now, for me the star of this match was Priest and I am not just saying that because I have ongoing kinky thoughts about him. He was the powerhouse of this match but kept up with the fast-paced lighter stars, was able to take out the ghost faces, and gave us more character and emotion than we have ever seen from him especially after hitting that Razor's edge on Ruff. This match was the one that really did give us it all from storytelling and development to thrilling in-ring competition and while I wasn’t happy with the end result I liked the reveal of Austin Theory being the main guy behind the ghost face antics and excited to see what is done next with Gargano.

Men’s War Games

Unlike the rest of the world I was not sold by the build of the men’s war games match. Team McAfee just felt so random that I struggled to really enjoy and get behind it but that did not take away from how excited I was for the action. The Undisputed Era have changed the game when it comes to War Games and team McAfee had some serious talent involved so I had no doubt this was going to be a fantastic match and I was not left disappointed. I instantly loved the idea of Kyle O’Reilly and Pete Dunne starting things out. Two incredible technical wrestlers, we have seen tear it up before it was great to see them meet again one on one for five minutes following their previous collision. The decision to have Fish come in as the second member of the Undisputed Era was also a nice tough as Kyle’s long-time tag team partner. What was clear early on in this match was the experience advantage the Undisputed Era had in this match but that numbers advantage gained by team McAfee last week was evident and came into play massively in those earlier stages. Something I did have a major interest in was seeing how Pat would perform in this match. After only stepping in the ring once before (against Adam Cole) it was a big jump to then step into war games but he delivered from the get-go in terms of character and after a strong debut earlier in the year I was excited and interested to see how he would perform. Bringing in the induvial tables for each member of the Undisputed Era was also a cool touch to this match I was a fan of.

There was evidently so much talent involved in this match and as a result, a lot to enjoy! Team Pat came into this match with a plan and a chip on their shoulder and that allowed them to gain the upper hand throughout this contest but the experience and heart of the Undisputed Era were so important and their teamwork was unmatchable. McAfee again was impressive especially when it came to character work but was massively overshadowed by everyone else involved in terms of wrestling. Throughout this was a close contest and either team could have got the win but in the end, it was the Undisputed Era who got the win after O’Reilly made the pinfall.

I don’t know about you but I loved this year’s Takeover War Games. While there was only one title match each bout gave us something different and both War Games matches delivered massively! The opening contest highlighted just how strong the women’s division is and the show overall showcased the depths of the NXT roster as a whole and the talent the black and gold brand possesses. The likes of Raquel Gonzalez, Leon Ruff, and Damien priest had some seriously strong performances and fans were left with plenty to enjoy as we move forward and look towards the new year.  We saw teases for Karrion Kross’ return as well as the announcement of NXT New Years Evil. Now, you can let me know what you thought of War Games by leaving a comment below or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria.