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Csonka’s NXT Takeover WarGames 2019 Review
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Csonka’s NXT Takeover WarGames 2019 Review
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Angel Garza defeated Swerve Scott @ 6:35 via pin [**¾]
– WARGAMES: Team Ripley defeated Team Baszler @ 27:30 via pin [****¼]
– #1 Contender’s Match: Pete Dunne defeated Damian Priest & Killian Dain @ 20:15 via pin [***¾]
– Finn Balor defeated Matt Riddle @ 15:25 via pin [***½]
– WARGAMES: Team Ciampa defeated The Undisputed Era@ 38:40 via pin [****¼]
– Follow all of my reviews at this link.
– Mia Yim was “attacked” backstage and is out of WarGames; I hope Darth Kai did it.
Angel Garza vs. Swerve Scott: They quickly work into counters and end in a stand off. They slap each other and Scott hits a head scissors and a rough looking RANA spot to the floor. Back in and Scott covers for 2. He follows with chops, a suplex and covers for 2. Garza fires back, but Scott cuts him off with a flying uppercut to the back. he follows wit ha high cross but Garza rolls through and sends him to the corner, in a spot that looked really rough. The trousers are off and Garza hits the superkick for 2. The slingshot inverted suplex and superkick gets 2 for Garza. Scott battles back, hits a lariat, and the side slam for 2. Scott picks him back up, Garza fires back and they trade chops and strikes. Garza cut shim off with a sitout powerbomb for 2. Garza lays in ground and pound, heads up top and Scott cuts him off and follows with an apron DVD. The double stomp to the floor follows and back in, the house call kick gets 2. We get a ref bump, Scott blocks the low blow, but Garza hits the wing clipper for the win. Angel Garza defeated Swerve Scott @ 6:35 via pin [**¾] This was pretty g9od as these two had a rare off night wit a few obvious rough spots and some overall transitional issues in the match. It was far from bad, but I’d call it disappointing considering how good they’ve both been on TV recently.
WarGames Match: Rhea Ripley, Tegan Nox, Dakota Kai, & Candice LeRae vs. Shayna Baszler, Io Shirai, Bianca Belair, & Kay Lee Ray: Io and Candice smartly begin. They brawl at the bell, working to the mat and then into counters. Candice follows with a flatliner and the suicide dive is cut off as Io hits a 619. She hits another and the double knees follow. Io hits a double springboard missile dropkick and follows with a corner dropkick. Io trips her up on the metal part in the middle of he rings and grinds Candice’s face on the cage. Candice battles back but Io hits a suplex. She grounds things and Bianca joins the action and attacks with shoulder tackles, and an implant buster. The standing shooting star press follows but Candice hits a RANA and attacks Io with chops and runs Bianca into her but Bianca cuts her off with a powerbomb, another and then slams Candice into the cage. The heels take control with double teams, and Ripley joins the match. She brings in a trashcan and slams the door into Bianca’s face, grabs more toys, chairs, and kendo sticks. Ripley slams Bianca onto a trashcan and sets up chairs as she and Candice look to attack until Io cuts them off, they all brawl and Ray joins the match. She grabs chairs and brings them in. She attacks with chair shots, and hits a tornado DDT onto a chair. They lay Ripley on the chairs and Candice follows Bianca up top and Ripley then follows them up until Io makes the save. Ray takes down the chairs and piles them up as we get a tower of doom into the pile of chairs. Bianca follows with a 450 onto Ripley and Kai attacks Nox, kicks her ass in the mini-cage and lays her out. She slams the door onto Nox’s bad knees and rips off the brace. She takes a swing at Regal and is escorted out. DARTH KAI IS HERE! Shayna laughs her ass of fat this as the heels dominate in the ring. Shayna is in and takes her time heading to the ring, and they beat down Ripley and set up a trashcan in the corner. WarGames has officially started according to commentary as Kai was taken out and Nox is not medially able to compete. It’s 4 on 2 in favor of the heels, and the faces battle back with weapon shots and until they get cut off. Ripley keeps fighting back, suplexes Ray into the cage and applies the hanging cloverleaf on Io as Shayna chokes out Candice, but she escapes with iconoclasm and Bianca makes the save. She press slams Candice onto Ripley and Ray hits the Gory bomb, moonsault from Io and Ripley makes the save. She slams Ray to the cage, Bianca hair whips her and Candice cuts her off with kendo shots. Io cuts her off and heads to the top of the cage, and Candice follows her up top. Ray joins in and Candice hits a SUPER POISON RANA for 2. Io hits the top of the cage moonsault into Candice & Bianca! Ripley cuts off Shayna with chair shots, sets up a bunch of open chairs and lays a trashcan onto them. She then hits Ray out of the air with a can, but Shayna gets the choke on Ripley. Ripley fights, powers her way out and handcuffs herself to Shayna . She follows with kicks, and riptide onto the chairs follows for the win! Team Ripley defeated Team Baszler @ 27:30 via pin [****¼] Ripley is such a star and is absolutely made after this as if she wasn’t heading that way anyway. This was a great and crazy match, with the babyfaces overcoming huge odds, including the heel turn of one of their teammates, a great emotional element to it and everyone in the match getting plenty of time to shine and deliver. The Kai heel turn felt obvious, BUT it came off really well here and felt like the right call for her going forward. The turn sets up Kai vs. all of her “teammates,” including Yim, and Ripley’s win sets her up perfectly for a title shot; the NXT women’s division continues to kick ass.
#1 Contender’s Match: Pete Dunne vs. Damian Priest vs. Killian Dain: Priest takes early control until Dunne attacks with leg kicks and Dain dumps Priest. Dunne works over Dain, attacking the fingers and arm. Priest cuts him of and dumps Dain to the floor. Dunne cuts off his dive, Dain the hits the running cross body and Michinoku drivers Dunne onto Priest for 2. They brawl to the floor, Dain snatches them both up and slams them to the floor. Back in and Dain works over Dunne, Dunne fires back hits an enziguri but Priest is back and Dunne cuts him off and Germans Dain. The arm bar on Priest follows, Dain joins in and they powerbomb Dunne. He and Priest trade strikes, Priest follows with knee strikes and Dunne joins in as they all brawl. It breaks down and Dunne attacks both off their fingers, and they work into a triple down. Priest heads up top and follows with the senton attack onto both and the broken arrow follows. South of heaven follows for 2. He dumps Dunne, follows him out and splash mountain onto the announce table on Dunne follows but Dain follows with a suicide dive. The cannonball to the barricade follows. Back in and Dain covers for 2. Dain hits the slam, senton and the Vader bomb is cut off. Splash mountain follows and Priest covers for 2 as Dunne makes the save. Dunne attacks with stomps, running forearms and Priest cuts him off, and follows with a tope con hello onto Dain. Dunne then hits the moonsault onto both on the floor. Back in and Dunne and Priest trade, Priest kills him with a lariat but Dunne counters south of heaven into the arm bar. Dain flies in to make the save. He fires up and the one winged angel follows on Priest for 2. The cannonball and Vader bomb follows, but Dunne hits the moonsault and bitter end for 2. Dunne heads up top, Priest hits a cyclone kick and follows him up and RANAs him into Dain. The reckoning follows on Dunne but Dain makes the save.
Dain chop blocks Dunne, knocks Priest to the floor and heads up top as Dunne cuts him off. He follow him up and Priest follows them up, and Dunne snaps all of their fingers, sends Priest to the floor and superplexes Dain and bitter end follows for 2 as Dain makes the save. Dain grab Dunne and sentons onto Priest with Dunne on his back, leading to Dunne picking up the win. Pete Dunne defeated Damian Priest & Killian Dain @ 20:15 via pin [***¾] The best part about this match was that they largely avoided the cliché triple threat formula, not much 2 in and 1 out bullshit, just a lot of three-way continuous action. The match was very good, allowed all three to shine, and gave us the strongest winner to compete with Cole on PPV, but felt a bit long in the tooth down the stretch. I think it would have been better with a few minutes edited off. You know it’s a near fall or four too many when the Takeover crowd begins to fade in the end.
– It was announced in the building that the next Takeover is February 16th (a Sunday) in Portland, Oregon. The next Saudi show is rumored for February 20th.
Finn Balor vs. Matt Riddle: Riddle shoots for a takedown, but Balor makes the ropes. He works for an arm bar, but Balor escapes. Riddle takes him back down, and Balor escapes again. They lock up and Balor drags him to the mat. Riddle counters into a head scissors, but Balor works a side headlock until Riddle counters into rolling gut wrench suplexes. Balor cradles him for 2 but Riddle follows with strikes. Balor then fires back with a dropkick and covers for 2. He grounds things, and then works over Riddle in the corner, hits the hesitation dropkick and covers for 2. Balor follows with elbows and grounds things. He dumps Riddle and hen works him over on the apron and back in, covers for 2. Balor lays the boots to him, Riddle firs up and follows with a flurry of strikes and the XPLODER and PK connects as the broton gets 2. Riddle follows with grounded kicks, and then corner kicks and running forearms until Balor cuts him off. Riddle counters sling blade, and then applies the ankle lock. Balor fights and makes the ropes. Riddle looks for a dead lift German, but Balor fights and Riddle follows with strikes until Balor catches him with the running dropkick after faking a knee injury. Balor hits a German, Riddle pops up and hit a knee strike and German for 2. The final flash connects but Balor double legs him, hits the double stomp and sling blade. Balor looks for John Woooooo but Riddle hits the spear and follows with the jackhammer for 2. Balor counters bro derrick, and hits the final cut and 1916 for 2. Balor lays the boots to Riddle, but Riddle counters back with bro to sleep and heads up top. The floating bro eats knees. Balor hits John Woooooooo and bloody Sunday finishes it. Finn Balor defeated Matt Riddle @ 15:25 via pin [***½] The match was very good, but felt as if it was missing something to take it to that next level. Riddle seemed less aggressive and less crisp as compared to his usual work, while I honestly expected Balor to really amp up his game more than he did. Still, a really good match though.
WarGames Match: Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Bobby Fish, & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, Dominik Dijakovic, & Kevin Owens: Ciampa brought back the mask and is wearing war paint. Roddy & Ciampa begin. Roddy is a workhorse, great call. Ciampa tosses him the crutch and Roddy tosses it as they brawl right away. Ciampa is fired up and takes early control until Roddy follows with a backbreaker. He delivers chops and Ciampa dumps him onto the ropes and follows with the running knee strike. They trade, Ciampa follows with corner strikes and lights up Roddy and hits the running knee. Roddy fires back until Ciampa hits a Cheeky nandos knee strike. They trade chops, Ciampa hits a clothesline but Roddy hits the gut buster and lays in ground and pound. He grounds Ciampa, and Kyle joins the match. Ciampa fights for his life gets cut off and Kyle unloads with a flurry of knees and strikes. Double teams follow and TUE has control. Ciampa battles back, but is quickly cut of with double teams, repeated strikes and Kyle hits bombs away. They lay the boots to Ciampa as Dijakovic enters the match. He runs wild with kicks and strikes, and kills Kyle with a lariat. He follows with elbows and strikes, and suplexes Kyle onto Roddy. Roddy fights off feast you eyes, but Dijakovic slams him to the cage and then slams Kyle to the cage. Ciampa joins back in as the faces take control, until Fish joins the match. He attacks Ciampa and lays in kicks, works over Dijakovic and then more kicks to Ciampa. He and Kyle double team Dijakovic with a high/low and Roddy hits a back breaker on Ciampa. Chasing the dragon follows and they then beat down Dijakovic with triple teams. They then start destroying Ciampa and talk shit as the crowd chants for Lee. Lee finally gets in and rushes the ring. Lee runs wild with strikes and shoulder tackles, and a running cross body onto the tag champions. The slingshot cross body follows and Kyle cuts off the sprit bomb, and TUE triple team Lee. They maul him on the mat and Ciampa makes the save. They swarm him and cut him off until Dijakovic comes back with strikes and slams. Fish attacks Lee as Cole is in. He brings out the table and slides it in. he gets another and a third. He gets a fourth and then a fifth. Ciampa attacks Cole and sends him through a table at ringside before he gets to enter the ring. They brawl in the ring and the faces stalk TUE. Fish low blows Lee and the countdown ends as… Kevin Owens joins the match to a hero’s welcome. He runs wild on TUE, powerbomb to Fish and a sleeper suplex on Roddy follows, He powerbombs Fish onto Kyle and comes face to face with Cole. Stunner by Kevin and it breaks down. Lee & Dijakovic toss Roddy from one ring into the other on his pals and Ciampa hits Kyle with the draping DDT. The faces set up tables, but TUE battles back. They all brawl, Cole slams Ciampa to the cage and lee climbs up top and hits a high cross onto the pile. Kyle follows with bombs away and locks on a heel hook on Lee. Dijakovic makes the save with a springboard moonsault and Fish flies in to make the save. Kevin flies in with a swanton and Cole makes the save. The Panama sunrise is cut of by Lee, he follows him up top and Roddy makes the save. He follows him up and hits an avalanche Angle slam. Double teams follow and Kyle covers for 2 as Dijakovic makes the save. High/low on Dijakovic follows and Kevin makes the save. Cole attacks, and hits the superkick and Panama sunrise connects onto the metal part in between the rings. TUE sets up more tables, and lay Ciampa onto them. He fights back, runs them into the cage and hits project Ciampa onto Kyle. He follows with running knee strikes until Cole superkicks him. Ciampa slams him to the cage, follows with running knee strikes and they work up top, and Ciampa slams his head to the cage but Cole fights him off, climbs to the top of the cage and Fish & Roddy work over Lee up top. Dijakovic chokeslams Roddy through a table, Kyle gets a triangle but Dijakovic powers up and lays him on a table as Kevin hits the frog splash. Lee powerbombs Fish off the top through a table as Cole & Ciampa brawl on top of the cage. Ciampa picks him up and hits a super air raid crash through a table to pick up the win. He’s dead, Jim. Team Ciampa defeated The Undisputed Era@ 38:40 via pin [****¼] They did a great job of playing to the WarGames formula and the Kevin Owens surprise came off really well and played off of the Raw angle when TUE attacked him, so it made sense. The match was extremely entertaining and broke own into a complete spectacle on a good way and gives Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, & Dominik Dijakovic more momentum to go after TUE and their titles. The addition of Owens creates some interesting drama heading into Survivor Series, and the finish should also cause some doubt in Cole’s match in regards to him retaining. Overall this was great as they did a good job of making the two WarGames matches different enough from each other, and accomplished the job of presenting two on one show, which is not an easy task. I do think that the women’s match had higher and better emotional notes, where this one made up for that with pure chaos, but they both succeeded.
The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 68. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka & Jeremy Lambert break down week 8 of AEW vs. NXT, and then preview WWE Survivor Series & NXT WarGames 2019. The show is approximately 104-minutes long.
* Intro
* AEW Dynamite Review 11.20.19: 3:00
* NXT Review 11.20.19: 33:00
* The head to head comparison: 52:55
* NXT WarGames 2019 Preview: 1:00:55
* WWE Survivor Series 2019 Preview: 1:15:45
* iTunes
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play
– End scene.
– Thanks for reading.
