Rate NXT Takeover Wargames

[SWL]

• I am beyond positively surprised by how good Patrick Clark transformed from Tough Enough to the Velveteen Dream. This man is fully committed and I love it. The whole story of Black not wanting to pay any sort of attention to him and Dream wanting Black to desperately say his name out loud is perfect for both characters, plus the match, plus the end of it all.. it was just a really enjoyable storyline.
• Ember winning the title was cool, I guess, because they're in her hometown or smth but honestly, I saw myself rooting more for Cross or even Sane. This brings me to something I thought about during the promo package before the match. Ember Moon talks like Bayley and I see this as a red flag. You can tell she's not genuine about what she's saying and you can see the piece of paper she's memorizing it off of in your mind. I hope she improves that once she gets called up because we all know how much talking Bayley had to do up until now and it wasn't pretty. She's a great wrestler and all but you know.. this character would have been better if you kept her away from talking as much.
• I honestly don't get what people see in Drew these days. I guess he's got a few new moves now but I've never seen this man have a legit banger ever since he's come back. The crowd was more into Andrade than him and Almas also happened to have the best spots of the match. So in my eyes, this was more of an Andrade Cien Almas showcase rather than a legit title match between Drew and him. I read that Drew is more passionate about making NXT bigger rather than to get called up to the main roster so I guess it makes sense for him to lose the title instead of running through talent that actually wants to get called up. But only time will tell, Drew is still great on the mic, tall, jacked and slightly above average in the ring so he'd probably be a perfect fit for the main roster.
• War games was amazing, at the start it was kind of a basic exchange between the 3 but when all participants were in the cages, all hell broke loose and they had one hell of a match. The ending came a bit out of nowhere and looked kinda, dare I say, "staged" with Young holding the chair up my himself, but I still loved how all of them kept selling for a solid minute after the bell rang. They were all just laid out while the music plays.

All in all, another great TakerOver. I think because of the fact that not many people expect much coming out of these specials (or just don't watch the NXT episodes building up to said TakeOver), it makes the watching experience a lot less tense because it's easy to exceed expectations that you don't have. You know? Obviously Survivor Series will have a tough time following this but it's almost not comparable because the hype around Survivor Series is way bigger than any of the TakeOver specials
I'm not ready to give this a 10/10 because it just didn't feel like it. Lars/Ohno was a bit of a forgettable encounter, the women delivered what they wanted to get across but it also wasn't up there in terms of drama and payoff once it was all said and done. Drew/Almas was a bit of a sleeper from minute to minute up until we got a few really close calls and the eventual title change. Honestly, and I don't wanna be bitchy about this in any way, but the only 2 matches that really killed it where Black/Dream and War games. The rest was fine but not a perfect 10.
So, I rated every match individually and did this mathematically and it came down to a 7/10

 

[Prince Bálor]

NXT TakeOver: WarGames was great, I had a blast watching it. 9/10

- Lars Sullivan vs Kassius Ohno was a good show opener. ★★★
It was hard-hitting and fun for what it was. Lars used to be in a minute long squash matches, so KO was the perfect guy to make him step up his game here and he carried him nicely. Lars obviously still has ways to go, but I was entertained by what we got here.

- Aleister Black vs Velveteen Dream was great. ★★★★
I knew this match would be good, but it absolutely exceeded my expectations, it was great! The build-up for this match was good, the mind games in the match were good, the performers put in some great effort and the crowd loved every bit of it! Great, great stuff overall.

- Ember Moon vs Kairi Sane vs Nikki Cross vs Peyton Royce was pretty good. ★★★½
This was a fun sprint, we got like 10 minutes of non-stop action and it was fun all the way through, I really liked it. Every woman put in a good performance, I feel Peyton's performance here was her best yet and not to mention the other three women, they also stepped it up and delivered a good match. I loved the finish and Ember finally becoming the champ. Nobody deserves it more than her.

- Andrade "Cien" Almas vs Drew McIntyre was very good. ★★★¾
A very good back-and-forth match with both guys working hard and bringing some good aggression. The closing stretch was very good, as well. And well, color me surprised, man! I didn't see Andrade winning here, I thought Andrade was just a filler title defense much like Itami was for Roode back in May, but I'm glad that wasn't the case here. Ever since he's joined forces with Vega, Andrade's been awesome! Curious to see how the NXT title picture will look from now on.

- The Undisputed Era vs The Authors of Pain vs Sanity was a great ME. ★★★★
At first, I was annoyed about the cage having no roof over it, but as soon as it was announced that if anyone escapes the cage, they forfeit the match for their team, I was really happy. I don't like cage matches that have "win via escape" rules, so I was ecstatic that wasn't the case here. That "escape the cage, lose the match" rule should be applied way more often from now on.
Anyways, the WarGames delivered, it was chaotic, wild and simply fun! All 9 men put in a great performance and put their bodies on the line, there were some pretty incredible spots in the match and the crowd responded accordingly. The only thing that kinda felt flat was the finish, but I guess it wasn't easy to come up with a better finish considering what had already happened during the match. All in all, the match was greatly enjoyable and entertaining. NXT TakeOver delivered as always!

 

[Stopspot]

Wasn't Almas a "jobber" employed to make the newer talent look good? How
did he become the NXT Champion?

His manager, Zelina debuted and basically tore into him in a promo. Asking how one of the most vicious and ingobernable men in Mexican wrestling turned into a joke. He turned heel as a result and he has been built up for this since

 

[Asuka Lock]

- Lars Sullivan vs Kassius Ohno was good decent show opener but Lars still needs some stuff but in the long run should be fine.

-Aleister Black vs Velveteen Dream Such a good match the storytelling was perfect but I still don't think they're done with each other.

-Ember Moon vs Kairi Sane vs Nikki Cross vs Peyton Royce it was good, the tower of doom was awesome and I'm glad Peyton didn't eat the pin, that double eclipse was slick looking.

- Andrade "Cien" Almas vs Drew McIntyre Okay what The shit was this finish? it was a normal match I don't think Almas is good enough to be NXT champion or maybe it was the size difference that made it look clunky and the finish seemed kinda... Botchy... I think Drew held onto the rope too long and messed up his arm in some way must have. and haha Did anyone else see Almas drop the belt on the ramp?

- Dishonored vs The Authors of Pain vs Sanity What a match the three little guys started off having a decent little brawl then when the rest of "Dishonored " came in and then it got ridiculously good Aop throwing everyone was awesome Very creative match And then the Killian Dain show started where he just started kicking everybody its insane that big of a man can do a coast to coast I really liked that shot of cole after the double powerbomb tower of doom thing just sitting there with a smile thinking he's survived the storm then I don't know it if it was before or affter that but the way they shot that suplex off the cage looked, scary man they did an upworads of the two coming off of it and didn't show the other 7 standing there to catch them it was magnifiecent then cole hit that shining wizard thing on young for the pin I guess thats his finisher then?


My favorite was the wargames least favorite was sadly the women's match

 

[SWAGSUKE]

What's with this "Dishonored" shit? They're the Undisputed Era.

Great show. The revamped rules / no roof for War Games made it so much better. It keeps them trapped inside, but gives them more options for spots. Also, no roof means it doesn't feel simply like HIAC with two rings.

 

[SWAGSUKE]

PS Kassius Ohno sucks. He needs to go play basketball or something. Maybe that's what he truly wants with his silly little jersey. I was SO happy to see Lars beat him. Lars is money. I saw him live in Seattle over the summer, and he's BAD ASS. Dude is fucking enormous IRL.

 

[Derek G]

WarGames was great, 9/10

- Lars Sullivan vs Kassius Ohno was a good but predictable: 8/10
This match was just to get Lar over, nothing really is going on , we all know Lars would win anyway as he needed some wins over a credible opponent.

- Aleister Black vs Velveteen Dream was great. 10/10
This match ws the match of the night along with the war game finale. Good chemistry between both wrestlers, they both sell each other very well and Dream is just in his early 20s! He had done so many moves that would make the "so called" Veterans look like kids. Alester was Alester still as good as hell, his sequences flow very fluidly and most important of all, he did not overshadow Dream and the ending was just EPIC! This is story telling at its finest! I hope they won't get drafted to the main roster that soon.

- Ember Moon vs Kairi Sane vs Nikki Cross vs Peyton Royce was pretty good. 9/10
Very good, but a bit too short

- Andrade "Cien" Almas vs Drew McIntyre was very good. 7/10
A good match but I personally do not see both of them as champions. I heard it from somewhere that Andrade winning was an accident as Drew got hurt at the end and it was a botch. The original winner should be Drew.

- The Undisputed Era vs The Authors of Pain vs Sanity was a great ME. 10/10
Can't say anything except "AWESOME X 100"

 

[Zardnaar]

OMG This was great. Not a bad match, 2 great ones.

Velveteen Dream gets over lol. Love his performance and Rick Rude throwback. Making a Prince gimmick work.

Never saw Wargames back in the day no JCP here or WCW PPV's.

 

[Grievous 3D]

Sullivan/Ohno was okay...I guess...Is Sullivan the NXT version of Braun?

Black/Dream was fantastic...it was my favorite match on the show...I
honestly can't say enough good things about Aleister Black. The guy has
the "aura" of a true star...as dark as that aura may be and the Velveteen
Dream has energy and charisma for days.

The Women's Fatal 4 Way was short, disappointing and predictable...and
Asuka can hand Ember the belt...but it would have actually meant something
if Ember had actually defeated her for it.

I now know why Ruby Riot wasn't in this match...and I guess that's cool.

I would have rather seen Peyton or Nikki win the belt...and I know I'm
no expert...but there is something about Kairi Sane that just doesn't work
for me personally.

I don't know if its her music, ring attire or the fact she seems a tad on the
thin/slim side...or maybe its a combination of all 3.

Don't get me wrong...the woman has talent...but she just seems to be
lacking something.

I know I shouldn't compare her to Asuka...but Asuka has a "presence"
about her that to me Kairi lacks.

Almas/McIntyre was okay I guess...but...this seems like a step down from
previous NXT title matches I've seen in the past.

I'm actually hoping Aleister Black wins the top title in NXT next year.

And

Wargames was a fantastic train wreck contained in a cage. Killian Dain was
the MVP of the match as far as I'm concerned...and him swallowing the key
to the cage lock had me smiling from ear to ear.

@Geek773 Just remember I sent you that "idea" before this match aired...

Oh...and Adam Cole & Buddies didn't really impress me that much to be honest...
and yes...this was the first time I've seen all 3 of them wrestle.

All in All...a great show...but...it was lacking in a few select spots...at least in
my opinion.

Also...and this is a side note...but can you imagine if they teamed up Strowman,
Sullivan & Dain in a main roster faction in a couple of years?