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Csonka’s NXT Takeover WarGames 2018 Review
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Csonka’s NXT Takeover WarGames 2018 Review
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Matt Riddle defeated Kassius Ohno @ 0:05 via pin [BRO]
– NXT Women’s Title Best Two Out of Three Falls Match: Champion Shayna Baszler defeated Kairi Sane @ 10:51 via pin [****]
– Aleister Black defeated Johnny Gargano @ 18:10 via pin [****½]
– NXT Title Match: Champion Tommaso Ciampa defeated The Velveteen Dream @ 22:35 via pin [****½]
– WarGames Match: The War Raiders, Pete Dunne and Ricochet defeated The Undisputed Era @ 47:08 via pin [***¾]
– Follow all of my reviews at this link.
– You can check out my top 49 matches of OCTOBER list at this link.
– Surprise time as Matt Riddle arrives. Riddle says he’s not scheduled for a match, but he has an issue with Ohno, who interrupted him on the pre-show. They aren’t supposed to ace until Wednesday, but he’s ready to KO Ohno right now. Ohno arrives and says Riddle isn’t ready.
Matt Riddle vs. Kassius Ohno: These two has absolutely tremendous chemistry and matches in EVOLVE. Riddle hits the final flash knee strike and pins Ohno right away. Matt Riddle defeated Kassius Ohno @ 0:05 via pin [BRO] Well, if you want to present Riddle as a star, that certainly did it.
NXT Women’s Title Best Two Out of Three Falls Match: Champion Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane: These two are 2-2 against each other. Sane rushes Baszler and attacks at the bell with a flurry of strikes and blockbusters. The sliding D follows and Baszler rolls to the floor and follows with an apron forearm. SHOCK AND AWE. Duke & Shafir arrive and post Sane. They roil her back in and Baszler chokes out Sane @ 2:00 for fall one, putting Sane behind early. Baszler follows with a knee strike and that gets 2. Sane fights off the choke as the crowd rallies for Sane, and she makes the ropes. Baszler now grounds her with a half crab. She then stomps her in the face. Baszler grounds things, working a neck crank. Sane fights back and cradles Baszler for 2. Sane lays in a flurry of strikes, they go crazy fists, and Baszler hits a clothesline. They work to the apron and Sane connects with a spike DDT. Sane up top and flies with the elbow press onto the pile. The crowds going nuts here. Back in and Sane hits the insane elbow to even things up at 7:35. Sane now hits the spear and another. She hits a third and then spinning back fists, heads back up top and Baszler cuts her off. She follows her up, they trade strikes and slides into the sunset bomb for a great near fall. The Alabama slam follows, Shafir and Duke get involved, but Dakota Kai arrives and attacks. They cut her off, but Io Shirai arrives and hits a moonsault press to the floor and wipes them out. Sane hits the insane elbow, but Baszler gets the cradle and retains. Champion Shayna Baszler defeated Kairi Sane @ 10:51 via pin [****] This started off great as Sane went shock and awe, but Duke & Shafir arrived and put her behind, leading to a hot crowd as Sane had to fight from the bottom. Kai & Shirai would get involved to even the odds, likely leading to a 6-women program on TV, as Baszler retained. The action and story were really good, and overall, this was great, with the interference actually coming off well and adding to the drama, which is rare in 2018 as most times it takes away. Duke & Shafir working with Sane, Kai, & Shirai will be very good for them, as they have been working with them on the coconut loop. Sane & Baszler has delivered more than I could have hoped, great work and drama in their matches.
Johnny Gargano vs. Aleister Black: Gargano slaps Black and Black attacks with kicks and strikes, and they brawl to the floor as Black continues to work him over. Back in and Gargano picks up the pace, mocks Black and hits the rolling kick. Black fires back with knee strikes and kicks, breaking Gargano down and Gargano rolls to the floor. Black takes a seat so Gargano rushes back in and attacks. He then transitions into a surfboard, Black counters into a cradle for 2, but Gargano cuts him off with the final cut and that gets 2. They work into counters, and Black hits a knee strike and kicks Gargano to the floor and follows with a tope. Back in and Black lays in kicks, and the moonsault press follows for 2. Black to the ropes, enziguri from Gargano and Black kicks him to the floor and Black misses the moonsault as Gargano hits the suicide DDT. Back in and the slingshot DDT connects for 2. Gargano talks trash and lays in chops and kicks, telling Black he’s not the chosen one. They trade kicks and strikes, superkicks by Gargano and the reverse RANA follows. Black fires up and hits a running knee strike and both men are down. Gargano goes in between the rings and Black follows with strikes. Black cuts of the spear and hits a springboard meteora and German for 2. Gargano counters the spin kick with a huge lariat and into the Gargano escape, but Black cradles him for 2. Gargano law darts him to the buckles, Black looks to finish things, Black sits there and tells him to do it and Gargano drops the kneepad, misses, and then kits the kick and running knee strike and Black kicks out; Gargano is shocked. Gargano grabs him by the hair, picks him up and lays in strikes and Black is rocked. They trade, going crazy fists and Black hits a head kick, but Gargano dumps him to the floor. Black then kills Gargano with a knee strike as he flies with a suicide dive. Back in and Gargano begs off, apologizes, and kisses Black’s foot. Black picks him up, but Gargano blocks black mass into a cradle for 2. The Gargano escape follows, and ha s him trapped center ring, yelling that he’s the hero Black escapes, knee strike by Black, and he drops the kneepad and hits another. Black mass connects. Black holds him up and hits another and puts Gargano away. Aleister Black defeated Johnny Gargano @ 18:10 via pin [****½] For as much of a great natural babyface that Johnny Gargano is, he does so many little things as a heel that maybe even better, he’s such a versatile performer. This was an absolutely tremendous match, hard hitting, had the crowd the entire time, and it felt as if everything they did mattered and played excellently off of the story coming in. Black got his revenge, while Gargano failed, even with his trip to the dark side. He was completely willing to do anything he had to take out Black to get back to Ciampa, but in doing so, ended up failing once again. Johnny Gargano is a lost soul, and seemingly has nowhere to go and no one to rely on at this point. This should lead to a further descent into madness as he continues to obsess over Ciampa.
.@VelveteenWWE #4Life. #NXTTakeOver pic.twitter.com/vt7aZLcBTG
— WWE (@WWE) November 18, 2018
NXT Championship Match: Champion Tommaso Ciampa vs. The Velveteen Dream: BY GOD IT’S HOLLYWOOD DREAM IN THE BLACK AND WHITE. Ciampa arrives, hugging the championship. The Dream is insanely over here. They lock up, working to the ropes, and they separate as Dream talks trash. They grapple to the ground, and Dream slaps Ciampa’s head. Ciampa is annoyed. Ciampa rakes the eyes, Dream slaps him and they start teasing signature stuff as Dream backs off. Ciampa steals Dream’s headband. Dream grabs the title, Ciampa chases and they play some mind games. Dream follows with strikes, a slam, and a hip swivel. The dropkick and Savage stun gun connects. He gets his headband back and poses, hits the bog boot and Ciampa powders before the leg drop so Dream changes from Hogan to Savage with a double axe handle to the floor. Back in and Ciampa dumps Dream to the floor. The neck breaker follows, and back in and Ciampa hits a running knee strike and then mocks Dream before working him over and sending him to the apron and neck breaker in the ropes. He lays Dream on the announce table and hits another running knee strike. Back in and Ciampa grounds things; I really appreciate the aggression and viciousness Ciampa brings to things like a simple side headlock. He follows with knee strikes, but Dream gets a backslide for 2. They trade strikes and Dream hits the neck breaker and both men are down. Dream fires up with rights, clotheslines, and now Hulks up and lays in rights, big boot and leg drop and another. He hits a third, and then a spinebuster for 2. Dream lays in strikes, and knock Ciampa t the floor and follows with a plancha. Back in and Ciampa rolls away, but Dream now attacks the knee and follows with rights and a ring post figure four. Back in and Dream follows with a figure four, as Dream plays the hits of all the legends tonight. Ciampa rolls but, but Dream rolls it back, but Ciampa makes the ropes. Ciampa kicks Dream to the barricade, back to the apron and Dream fights off the draping DDT and suplexes Ciampa over the ropes and to the floor, shades of Tiger Mask & Dynamite Kid there. Ciampa loosens his boot, selling the leg. Dream rolls him back in and they trade strikes. Ciampa gets a cradle with the tights, but the ref catches him. Superkick and rolling DVD by Dream gets 2. Dream rolls into the DVD attempt, but Ciampa counters out and catches Dream with a jumping knee strike and project Ciampa follows and that gets 2. Ciampa rolls to the floor, grabs the belt and teases using it The ref takes it, roll up by Dream and that gets 22. Dream hits the swinging DDT onto the belt and covers for a great near fall. Dream looks for another figure four, Ciampa’s boot (shades of Eddie Guerrero) comes off and Ciampa hits the draping DDT for… 2! Ciampa pulls up the mats on the floor, looks for a draping DDT but Dream fights him off and they crash over the announce table. Ciampa yells at Mauro, and Dream hits the rolling DVD on the floor, purple rainmaker comments and Ciampa KICKS OUT. Dream goes for one on the apron, Ciampa moves and he crashes o the exposed floor. Ciampa hits the draping DDT on the steel in-between the rings and finally puts Dream away. Champion Tommaso Ciampa defeated The Velveteen Dream @ 22:35 via pin [****½] While Dream has gotten better and is really good, the thing going in was that there was seemingly no drama in him winning, so for the match to succeed, they had to create that and make the fans believe, and they did that. They had a hot crowd, and Dream’s various homages to the legends of wrestling played well as he considers himself a legend already, and likely deserving of using those moves (some didn’t like it, but it played well and can later be used as a tool for Dream to realize he needs to get more serious if he wants to win gold). It was a really fun and crowd interactive part of the match, that kept them invested prior to him picking up some really great near falls. While I think that they may have gone a bit overboard/overly relied on the near falls, you really can’t argue with the crowd who were into them and a possible title change big time. I really loved this, thought it was excellent, and Dream’s best effort since the match with Aleister Black.
WarGames Match: The War Raiders, Pete Dunne and Ricochet vs. The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly): Undisputed Era will enjoy the entry advantage, winning that on Wednesday’s NXT TV. Undisputed Era are out in new matching gear. Adam Cole (BAY BAY) and Ricochet will begin. Dunne & Ricochet are painted up, which is a rule when you team with War Machine/War Raiders. They brawl right away with Ricochet taking control. The head scissors and dropkick follow and they work into the second ring. Cole finally cuts him off with a backstabber. Cole takes control, hits ushigoroshi and follows with knee drops. Cole now grinds his head off the cage, but Ricochet fires back and hits John Wooooooo. Cole rolls to the other ring and Ricochet springboards into an uppercut. The time runs down and O’Reilly is in. He tackles Ricochet and lays in ground and pound. Ricochet fires up until O’Reilly attacks the knee with a dragon screw. Ricochet runs them together and then gets cut off with a double team ushigoroshi and now Hanson is in, stopping Dunne from entering. Hanson runs wild and takes out both Cole and O’Reilly. Forever clotheslines follow, he slams O’Reilly into Cole and hits the broncobuster. Ricochet is back and he hits a running shooting star press off the back of Hanson. Ricochet follows with chops and now Roddy is in. He lays in chops on his opponents, hits a dropkick and follows with knee strikes and a series of back breakers on Ricochet. He runs him into Hanson, and the Angle slam follows as UE controls with ease. They pummel Ricochet and Hanson, grounding Hanson and chopping away on Ricochet. Rowe is now in to even things up, again stopping Dunne. Rowe hits the ring and runs wild, hitting everyone that moves. He lays in strikes and knee strikes, O’Reilly tries to cut him off with a sleeper, but slams Cole and then escapes. He slams and powerbombs Roddy and O’Reilly. The Raiders now look to isolate Cole, and he backs into Ricochet and they lawn dart Cole into the cage. The faces take control, and Fish attacks Dunne in his cage and puts another lock on his cage, and throws the key away. Fish to the ring and slides in UE labeled chars. I can see O’Reilly chilling and custom painting up chairs. They conchairto Hanson, and run wild with chair shots. They slam Hanson to the cage, and then work over Rowe. They then send him to the cage, time runs down but Dunne is still locked in the cage. They open the one lock, but the other that Fish put on keeps Dunne trapped. In the ring and Roddy and Fish hit superplexes. A new ref arrives with bolt cutters and finally frees Dunne. Dunne is fires up and hits the ring, they try to keep the door closed, but he attacks with a kendo and smashes Cole’s fingers. Door slam on Roddy and Dunne slides in a kendo as Ricochet hits a high cross as Dunne brings in trashcans as well. He grabs a table, gives it to Rowe and tosses more weapons in and gets another table. Dunne is in and WarGames has officially started. Dunne and the faces run wild with weapon shots, Dunne gets a chain and they continue to attack. Dunne attacks the fingers of O’Reilly and stomps on the hand. He continues to attack, and x-plexes Roddy onto O’Reilly. Cole cuts off Ricochet, UE fights back Hanson puts a can on Cole’s head and Rowe slams him onto Cole. Rowe slams Hanson onto O’Reilly and follow with double teams on Roddy and cover for 2. They get cut off as Fish & O’Reilly work them over with strikes. UE now isolate Dunne, he tries to fight them off, laying in strikes and Germans. He heel hooks Fish, but O’Reilly makes the save and has a chain. He ties it around Dunne’s ankle but Dunne locks on a kimura. Fish breaks that up with a chair shot. O’Reilly works a chain assisted ankle lock, UE fights off the faces, but Ricochet flies over the ropes and makes the save. Hanson joins in and the faces make the comeback. Dunne and Ricochet up top and hit superplexes/RANAS and pick up near falls. They set up a table, Cole is laid out in it and the leg breaks. Hanson fixes it as the Raiders hit Thor’s hammer on Cole for 2. Fish & O’Reilly fight off Rowe and Fish spears him through a table. Cole takes Ricochet up top, Ricochet fights him off and into the tree of WHOA. He lays O’Reilly on the table, and Roddy cuts off Ricochet and O’Reilly gets the triangle on the table but Hanson flies from one ring to another with a splash through the table, Roddy makes the save with a trashcan shot. Cole climbs to the top of the cage, Ricochet is up with him. They trade strikes, Roddy joins in trying to dump Ricochet, Dunne stops that and they all slowly work to the cage and set up a big tower of doom spot. Ricochet is still up top and hits the double rotation moonsault onto the pile! They slowly make it to their feet and into a standoff. They brawl in between the rings, going crazy fists and spill back into the rings. Rowe hits the big knee strike, and fallout connects on Fish. O’Reilly makes the save, but Hanson hits the handspring back elbow. Ricochet double springboard into a moonsault, Cole hits last shot on Dunne, and Dunne kicks out. Dunne fights back, hits bitter end and Ricochet hit the 630 and they pin Cole. The War Raiders, Pete Dunne and Ricochet defeated The Undisputed Era @ 47:08 via pin [***¾] Overall the 2018 WarGames match was very good, and while it certainly had its moments, felt overly long. Everyone busted their ass, but it felt like they were trying too hard to make it an epic match. Last year’s, while not a traditional wargames match, felt tighter and had a better flow overall. This was very good and entertaining, but I think with some editing, it could have been really great.
– Dunne & Ricochet show respect post match.
– End scene.
– Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”
