wrestling / Columns

411’s WWE NXT WarGames Preview

December 5, 2021 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
WWE NXT WarGames

Hello 411 guys, gals, enbies, and everyone else! Welcome to 411’s WWE NXT WarGames preview! I’m Jeremy Thomas as always, and this weekend NXT presents its latest PPV spectacular. And it’s a TakeOver no more, because apparently “taking over” is no longer on the agenda in NXT 2.0. To be more serious for a moment, this year’s NXT WarGames does feel a little bit lackluster, if only because WWE has been so busy launching the new stars of NXT 2.0 that they haven’t built any feuds that seem truly on the WarGames level. We do have some pretty potentially impressive matches though, and NXT PPVs are nothing if not treats for those who prefer in-ring action to lead the way. So let’s get into it and take a look at Sunday’s show.

Hair vs. Hair Match
Cameron Grimes vs. Duke Hudson

First up we have the first hair vs. hair match in WWE in a little bit, as Cameron Grimes faces off with Duke Hudson. This feud has seen Hudson get the advantage over Grimes by having him attack Grimes after their Poker Showdown and give him a trim. That’s allowed WWE to clear up Grimes’ look a bit and give him a new dimension to his character, courtesy of the pretty great promo he cut after the fact. These are two guys WWE seems to be invested in to some degree; Grimes is incredibly popular with the fans, and WWE has been featuring Hudson a lot. The match quality here should be decent, as Grimes can absolutely go and Hudson is less flashy but solid. In the end, I feel like WWE has accomplished what they wanted to with Grimes and there’s nothing to be gained character-wise by shaving his head, while heels always have fun with losing their hair. This looks pretty solidly like a win in Grimes’ column, hopefully propelling him to new heights.

WINNER: Cameron Grimes

NXT Tag Team Championship Match
Kyle O’Reilly and Von Wagner vs. Imperium

Up next we have a match that is almost being overshadowed by speculation about one of its competitors’ futures. Kyle O’Reilly’s contract is coming up before the end of the year, and there’s question as to whether WWE will ultimately re-sign him. Add in the fact that Von Wagner has appeared on Smackdown and one wouldn’t be blamed for thinking this tag team probably doesn’t have the brightest future. The thrown-together partnership has been a bit meandering; there’s been a half-hearted storyline where Wagner has worked to build O’Reilly’s trust in him, which has had a setback or two before Kyle basically squashed them in a promo. Meanwhile, Imperium have been okay as tag team champions, even if they haven’t been incredibly involved since they won the titles. While WWE does love their “Can they co-exist” tag teams, I don’t feel like everything else surrounding this match speaks to a title change and Imperium is hardly a bad choice to hold the titles for now. There’s too much stacked against the challengers for me to predict anything beyond Imperium retaining.

WINNER: Imperium (STILL NXT Tag Team Champions)

NXT Cruiserweight Championship Match
Joe Gacy vs. Roderick Strong

This is by far the hardest match to predict on this card, and not because there aren’t inclinations of where they want to go with it. Don’t get me wrong here, the competitors involved do legitimately make me question who is going to pick up the win. Roderick Strong and Diamond Mine have been dominant, but they don’t have the heat behind them that they need to be considered a real threat because they haven’t really been a focus of storylines. So making Strong lose the Cruiserweight Championship seems a little early when they could continue to build as a group behind Strong. And on the other hand, Joe Gacy is clearly someone WWE, always one to strap a rocket on a character who gets attention even if it’s for the wrong reason, and see if they can handle it. A loss here would hobble him early into this gimmick, and that seems like poor booking too.

But no, I think there are strong indications where they want to go, especially if reports that WWE wants to do away with the Cruiserweight Title are accurate. That would seem to make Gacy the clear choice to win, turn it into the All-Inclusivity Championship, and then most likely let it peter into obscurity. And Gacy’s muscle in Harland hasn’t gotten a chance to show what he can do, so it would seem like this is the chance to let them do that. The problem is that, even if it seems clear that’s the direction they are likely to go, I really don’t want to predict that because it’s a bad idea. I like Gacy’s skills, but his character is absolutely awful on every level. I don’t care if you don’t like the “woke” mindset; this is a level of character building on par with just about every other time WWE has tried to touch on hot-button stuff whether RETRIBUTION, Jack Swagger’s Real Americans, or anything else. It’s supremely stupid and it’s unfair to Gacy that he has to portray it.

Now, I do see a potential for Strong winning even if they do want to get rid of the Cruiserweight Championship; they could rename it to something else under him or just have him retire it because he has no worthy challengers or whatever. But somehow, against my hopes, I don’t see Gacy not winning here. On the plus side, Gacy’s solid in the ring and Strong is great, so it should at least be a decent match if the booking doesn’t hurt it too badly.

WINNER: Joe Gacy (NEW NXT All-Inclusivity Champion)

Women’s WarGames Match
Raquel González, Io Shirai, Cora Jade, & Kay Lee Ray vs.
Dakota Kai, Mandy Rose, Gigi Dolin, & Jacy Jayne

Getting to the main events (or rather, the likely opening match and main event), here’s our first WarGames match as the babyface coalition of Raquel González, Io Shirai, Cora Jade, and Kay Lee Ray take on Dakota Kai and the three members of Toxic Attraction. This WarGames match is getting a lot of skepticism from people, in large part due to the Toxic Attraction girls not being seen as up to snuff for a WarGames match. I wouldn’t sleep on this though. WarGames is a great gimmick that can be used to accentuate wrestlers’ best strengths and hide their negatives, and I can absolutely see that happening here. Besides, even if you do feel like Rose, Dolin, and Jayne aren’t up to snuff for this match, you have a lot of strong performers otherwise including two with WarGames experience in Kai and Gonzalez, plus Shirai and Kay Lee Ray who can kill it in any situation. Jade is a but of the X-Factor here as we haven’t seen enough of her to guess how she might fare in this, but it should be perfectly fine.

When it comes down to a win, this seems fated to be Team Babyface. Toxic Attraction have been running roughshod since NXT 2.0 launched, and Rose, Dolin, and Jayne need new challengers. Some losses here would do exactly that. KLR pinning Mandy Rose to get the win would instantly catapult her to the front of the ring and with Zoey Stark out and injured, Jade could easily team with either Shirai or Gonzalez to take on the Toxic Attraction duo for the tag titles. Kai’s unpredictability would give the opportunity for Team TA to lose while protecting them if she snaps and costs them the match somehow. All in all, this seems set up for a Gonzalez and company win.

WINNER: Team Babyface

Men’s WarGames Match
Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Pete Dunne, & LA Knight vs.
Bron Breakker, Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller, & Tony D’Angelo

Much like the women’s WarGames match, this one seems pretty well written in the stars. We have a classic Old Guard vs. New Blood battle here with Team Black and Gold battling the upstarts of Team 2.0, and considering how hard WWE is pushing NXT 2.0 I have a hard time predicting a loss for the heels here. It doesn’t help the veterans’ case that the alliance is a bit weird; LA Knight has been a full-fledged heel and I can’t imagine him on the same page with Ciampa or Gargano, while Pete Dunne has shown nothing but contempt for all his partners. That kind of bickering provides the opening for the new guys to pick up the win, probably with Bron Breakker scoring the fall to elevate him ever further.

This is also a match where there seems to be a lot less doubt about the match quality, though there is still some due to a couple of the 2.0 guys. Breakker and Hayes are clearly absolute stars, but the same can’t necessarily be said about Waller and D’Angelo just because they’ve had a really odd character turn in Waller’s case and an insufferable ’80s gimmick of a character in D’Angelo. And I get it, that’s kind of the point with Tony but it doesn’t make it any more palatable in 2021. And while we have seen more of Waller to his benefit, D’Angelo hasn’t had enough time in the ring to really say whether he can go on a level to keep up with the rest of the guys in here. I’m not horribly worried for the same reason I said with the women’s match; WarGames can be used to show off what he can do while downplaying any potential weaknesses he has. This seems likely to be the main event since it is literally the future of NXT vs. the present, and I see Team 2.0 standing tall at the end.

WINNER: Team 2.0

And that’s all we have for WWE NXT WarGames! As I said, I expect one more match to be added, probably for the pre-show, and hopefully it will add something as there isn’t a lot of heat built up for the show as it stands. Still, the matches should be good as that’s something NXT rarely disappoints with if given the opportunity. Thanks once again for reading, and remember that we will have live coverage of the show courtesy of the one and only Scott Slimmer right here on 411mania.com. Now if you’ll excuse me, I should go before Bron’s uncle shows up and — oh crap, he’s hear already? But I don’t need a math lesson…

article topics :

NXT WarGames, Jeremy Thomas