Kevin’s NXT TakeOver: WarGames 2020 Review

I’m already here, guys! However, I won’t be recapping the Kickoff Show unless something of note happens. And right off the bat, it’s announced that the Women’s War Games will open the show.

War Games: Team Candice vs. Team Shotzi

Team Candice is herself, Toni Storm, Dakota Kai, and Raquel Gonzalez. Team Shotzi is herself, Rhea Ripley, Ember Moon, and NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai. Dakota enters the cage to start before the faces even come out. This is an odd War Games as it’s a rare case where the faces have the advantage. Shotzi has a new, bigger tank. It even shoots something at the cage. She goes to start but Ember Moon steps up to do it instead. Kai goads Ember into her ring and they go at it, with Kai hitting a big pump kick and Ember responding with a handspring forearm. Kai comes back and grates Ember’s face on the steel. Ember responds by sending her into the steel and she takes a rough spill from it. Kai fires off a series of kicks and hits the Kairopractor as time winds down. Next in is Shotzi Blackheart. She goes under the ring and gets a toolbox with a crowbar. She immediately gets going but Dakota weathers the storm and even sends back Ember when she gets involved. Kai ends up on Ember’s shoulders as Shotzi delivers a missile dropkick. Evening the odds is Raquel Gonzalez. Even when the faces attack her, she fights them off. The numbers game is tough but Raquel sends them back and then uses Dakota as a weapon to hit them. Dakota adds a corner boot and they’re in firm control. Raquel helps Dakota dive from one ring to the other to wipe out Ember and Shotzi, giving the heels the advantage as another face enters. This time, it’s Rhea Ripley. She, like Raquel, fights off the disadvantage and takes down both Dakota and Raquel. Clotheslines and superkicks follow. In the other ring, Ember hits Raquel with a jumping Codebreaker and Shotzi hits a springboard Code Red. Raquel still takes them out and has a staredown across rings with Rhea. They agree to meet in the middle and start throwing blows. It’s Toni Time! She joins with kendo sticks and German suplexes Rhea. She then uses the weapon on her and exposes the turnbuckle. Toni has completely turned the tide. Shotzi and Kai fight on top near the middle of the rings. Kai is taken down by a Doomsday facebuster from Ember and Rhea, while Shotzi is down by a double superplex. Io Shirai hits the ring now. She gets a table. As she gets a kendo stick, Raquel slams the door shut. She avoids some shots with the stick and boots the door into Io, negating their advantage for a bit. The same happens when Io tries to slide a ladder inside. She finally gets in by kicking a chair into Rhea, or so we thought. Raquel still knocks her out and out of the ring. Toni uses her belt to seal the door shut as Raquel powerbomb Shotzi into the cage as Io attempts to climb in, knocking her down. Candice enters but Io faces off with her. Indi Hartwell shows up and sends Io into the steel steps. She helps Candice toss more weapons inside and then chains the door shut. Candice wails on Shotzi with a kendo stick, while the other ring sees the heels destroy the faces. As everyone brawls inside, Io climbs atop the cage. She hilariously puts a trash can over her head and leaps off with a cross body that takes out everyone. Now the match beyond is on. Io is on fire, hitting everything that moves. The faces uses that to get going with a flurry of offense. Raquel is taken down when Io is launched into a dropkick into a chair. Moonsault connects but the pin is broken up. Toni and Ember go into their own ring and Toni begs off since Ember has a wrench. Candice drops her with the Gargano Escape. Meanwhile, Shotzi puts Toni in a Cattle Mutilation, so Candice breaks it up. Candice and Shotzi go at it with a kendo stick and chair, and Candice loses out. Dakota takes them out with a chair but then Io springboard dropkicks her. Kai retaliates with the corner boot. They put the trash can on Io again and Kai crushes her with a double stomp off the top for two. In a sick spot, Kai is laid out over open chairs and Ember hits her with an Eclipse but the pin is broken up. Toni with a great looking Storm Zero onto a trash can but Io breaks that pin up. Inverted Cloverleaf by Rhea and Io with a dropkick added to it but Toni kicks out. A ladder is draped across the steel part between the rings as Candice gets going. Shotzi fights her atop a ladder and knocks her off. She hits the diving senton onto her with a chair on her, which hurt Shotzi too much to cover. Io hits Kai with a moonsault but the pin is broken up again. Toni takes a hot shot and Rhea is back body dropped into the cage. Raquel goes up top with Io but takes a kick . Io then wants a rana onto the ladder draped across the rings. Raquel blocks it and hits a powerbomb through it instead! Raquel covers and gets the win!

Winners: Team Candice in 35:22 [Oustanding stuff here. I preferred last year’s match slightly from a storytelling perspective. In terms of action and sheer wild spots, this was superior. Dakota looked phenomenal, Toni had a fun run, and there was good stuff from everyone. This division is UNTOUCHED in wrestling. I don’t care if you’re telling NJPW heavyweights, AEW’s tag teams, etc. The NXT women are tops. ****1/2]

Finn Bálor gets a vignette saying that all eyes will be back on him this Wednesday.

Timothy Thatcher vs. Tommaso Ciampa

They immediately are aggressive with each other. Thatcher takes it to the mat, where he holds serve no matter how hard Ciampa tries to escape. He turns it around finally, stomping on the leg and slapping at Thatcher’s face. He kicks back at Ciampa’s leg to swing the momentum. Thatcher’s attacks hurt Ciampa’s legs to the point where he has trouble standing up. Still, he keeps going and takes a belly to belly suplex. Thatcher also hurts the neck and the referee has to check on Ciampa a few times. Ciampa fights back and counters being in a double underhood position with a leaping slam. Ciampa builds a head of steam by hitting the ropes over and over with nonstop clotheslines and a flying forearm. He adds a superplex for two. Their fight takes them outside where they’re both nearly counted out. Ciampa slaps on a modified choke submission to try and choke out Thatcher but the technician gets to his feet. Ciampa uses the ropes to kick off and go back to the mat. Thatcher seems to be bleeding a ton from the ear. Thatcher gets out and smiles at his bloody ear. They fight on the apron and Thatcher snaps the rope onto Ciampa’s throat. Ciampa comes back with a series of chops and then a guillotine choke on the ropes. He turns that into Willow’s Bell and covers to win.

Winner: Tommaso Ciampa in 16:46 [That started out really slowly, which I guess was fine given what it had to follow. Alas, it picked up for a hard hitting back half that was intense. ***1/4]

Strap Match: Cameron Grimes vs. Dexter Lumis

Grimes brings his own strap and demands that be the one they use. He jumps Lumis before it gets put on Lumis and stomps on him. He adds more outside and then back inside. Lumis turns it around and fights back. He puts on the strap and the bell rings. Grimes is ready to run, even trying to hop over the guardrail. Lumis keeps pulling him back.  Lumis launches him into the guardrails on each side of the ring. Grimes rallies and eventually gets the blindfold out and puts it on Lumis’ head. He then wails on him with the strap. Once Lumis is able to remove the blindfold, he’s back on offense. He pulls the strap around one of the ringposts to add torque but Grimes pulls back and sends him into a piece of the structure for War Games. Grimes takes a rough bump when pulled off the apron and onto his back. Back inside, Lumis whips him more. Grimes stops his momentum with a German suplex into the corner. Grimes gets too cocky and Lumis turns the tide before firing off shots. Lumis is seated on a chair. Grimes wants the Cave In but Lumis blocks. Grimes counters the Silencer a few times but the strap gets tied around his legs. That lets Lumis trip him up and his head hits the chair. Silencer is in and Grimes submits when the strap is pulled back on his eyes..

Winner: Dexter Lumis in 12:55 [I still can’t get into Lumis’ matches. Grimes made this quite fun and there were some creative spots sprinkled in throughout. ***]

The lights in the arena flicker and we get videos of a crow/raven/some kind of bird, along with a clock. TICK TOCK. Karrion Kross will be back to bore us soon. Glad he’s not hurt anymore though.

NXT North American Championship: Leon Ruff [c] vs. Damian Priest vs. Johnny Gargano

Johnny throws Ruff into Priest but then he starts trying to beat Ruff with flash pins after a superkick. Ruff uses his speed to slip past Johnny and snaps off a rana followed by a dropkick. Priest enters and tosses Ruff aside before beating on Johny. He wants Ruff to leave because he doesn’t want to hurt him. Ruff fires off kicks and strikes that don’t have much of an impact. Johnny interrupts a chokeslam and works with Ruff to wail on Priest. Johnny hits a tope suicida and directs Ruff to do one too but cuts it off with a slingshot spear for two. Annoyed at Ruff for not listening, Priest destroys him with a Razor’s Edge through the guardrail and it knocks over the plexiglass. Priest looks a bit upset about what he did. Officials check on Ruff and Johnny pounces on Priest. Back inside, they trade offense. Priest lays out Johnny with a huge clothesline and both men are down. Ruff surprises everyone by returning with a springboard clothesline on Johnny. He then hits a somersault dive onto both men. Ruff with a sweet springboard cutter on Johnny for two. Johnny is irritated that Ruff would even return. Priest is back and says Ruff gets no more chances. Ruff avoids him a few times but eats a big boot. Priest hits both with a double Flatliner. Johnny uses his sneakiness to get going and launches Ruff with a Lawn Dart into Priest who was leaning on the turnbuckle. Soon after, Ruff nearly steals it with the crucifix that won him the title. Ruff misses a frog splash. Priest is tied up in the ropes of the second ring as Johnny puts on the Gargano Escape. Priest shouts for him not to tap as he struggles to get free and save the champion. Priest with a  spinning heel kick off the top on Johnny, who rolls outside. Priest misses the corner elbow on Ruff and takes a clothesline that he no sells. Ruff with another. He gets tossed into a Johnny superkick. Johnny has One Final Beat blocked and turned into a chokeslam. Ghostface is back to distract Priest. Then, two more show up and all beat on Priest. He fights them off as more arrive. Priest takes them out with a somersault dive and then the other three with another dive. Priest sends Johnny in and Ruff hits a frog splash to nearly win, only for Priest to break it up. Ruff fights off Priest but eats a spin kick. Priest takes out Johnny as well and wants the Reckoning. A Ghostface is up and clocks Priest with a lead pipe. Johnny laughs but Ruff goes for a rollup. Johnny superkicks him and hits One Final Beat to win back the title.

Winner: Johnny Gargano in 17:28 [Okay, the finish got a bit goofy with all of the Ghostface gimmick appearances. If it was just one, I think it would’ve worked better. The match itself was a ton of fun with lots of great spots. Ruff got to shine. ****]

The main Chostface removes the mask to reveal himself as undesirable Austin Theory. He does his best Vince “IT WAS ME ALL ALONG.”

On 1/6/21, NXT runs “NEW YEAR’S EVIL.” I mean, New Year’s Revolution was right there.

War Games: The Brand vs. The Undisputed Era

Red gear for the Undisputed boys! Kyle O’Reilly starting for them. Pete Dunne starts for the other team. They start with some even-level grappling. It turns into a slugfest as the time ticks closer to the 5:00 mark. Kyle slaps on a kneebar with about 15 seconds until someone new joins the fray. When that happens, Pat McAfee teases it but Oney Lorcan goes instead. Kyle lets go of the hold and meets Oney for some hard hitting stuff. Lorcan wins out and hits a half nelson suplex before Dunne kicks him in the arm. Kyle continues to take a beating until Bobby Fish can enter and fire off on both opponents with strikes and kicks. He suplexes Dunne into Oney.  Lots of tandem offense from Kyle and Bobby, including sandwiching Dunne with kicks. Danny Burch enters next and brings a goddamn cricket bat with him, wailing on guys and using suplexes. Dunne uses the bat and Burch finds another one. They hold serve until the buzzer goes off again, this time signaling the arrival of Roderick Strong as his buddies get beat down. Strong hands out backbreaker like it’s nobody’s business. Of course, that doesn’t totally last and the heels swing the momentum once again. Dunne stomps on Fish’s arm on the steel in between the rings. Pat McAfee enters and brings out tables specifically designed for each member of the Undisputed Era. The one for Strong is laid out and Pat puts him through it with a pretty moonsault. Adam Cole is obviously last. Seeing they’re in trouble, he gets a fire extinguisher and uses it to send back his opponents. He then enters with a chair and lays into everyone.  That leaves him and Pat, about to collide in ring two. Dunne interrupts from the middle and trades shots with Cole. A chair shot from Kyle allows him to end up as the guy standing across Pat. He shouts that if Pat wants to wrestle, he should face him right now. Pat asks him to drop the chair and they come face to face. They go at it and everyone is up as they fight all over the place. It’s hard to keep up. Strong uses a pump knee that gets two. Cole is taken down from a Pat cheap shot. He then stomps on him and slaps on a Figure Four. Team Pat holds off the other three. Cole turns the hold over and then Undisputed holds the other guys back. The submission is released and things reset. Strong and Fish fight off the Tag Champions and everyone ends up down. In the other ring, Cole and Dunne go at it. Cole with the knee brainbuster for two. They fight on the top rope but Undisputed comes over and lay Burch on a table. They want to powerbomb Dunne through it but it doesn’t break. Instead, Strong uses a splash to put both men through it. That was the “Cole” table. Pat climbs up with Cole for a superplex but Cole fights off and shoves him back. He goes flying and breaks the table, mostly with the back of his head. Team Pat is lined up on the cage and Undisputed relentlessly charge into them with various shots, superkicks, knees, and more, taking them all down like a well-oiled machine. That leaves Pat alone and he tries to escape but they pull him back and beat him up. Pat gets throw into the cage a few times. The rest of Team Pat returns and even the odds. Everyone fights to the top of different corners. A Doomsday Device with an uppercut takes out Kyle but Fish lays into them. Dunne and Cole battle and Cole pulls him off the top with a diving neckbreaker. Strong with a superplex on Pat to cap it off. The seven men not named Pat are back up and start slugging it out. Pat is on top of the cage, where he comes off with a Swanton bomb! We’re back to Kyle and Pete going at it. Dunne blocks the rebound lariat by attacking the fingers. He hits the Bitter End but somehow Kyle kicks out. Kyle comes back with a suplex on the steel for two on Pete. Pat uses a chair to save Pete from basically dying at the hands of Kyle. Cole gets a chair and goes after Pat but eats a low blow. Pat calls for the Punt but misses. Pump Kick from Cole.Burch cuts off Pat only to get put through a table by Fish. Pat goes for Panama Sunrise but Cole superkicks him. Cole then hits Panama Sunrise for a shocking near fall. Cole wants Last Shot but Oney sacrifices himself for Pat and takes it instead. Dunne hits him with Bitter End onto an open chair. Strong breaks up the count and hits End of Hearatche. Oney eats the High/Low from Undisputed. Kyle drops a knee on a chair on Oney and wins.

Winners: The Undisputed Era in 45:01[Like most of the men’s War Games so far in NXT, this one suffered from some overkill. It doesn’t need to go 45 minutes and things like Pat, as great as he has been, kicking out of Panama Sunrise was too much. Regardless, it was still very good stuff. ***3/4]

8.5

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

A really great TakeOver. The middle two matches were merely good and not great but that's okay. There was an incredible opener, a high-octane main event, and the North American Title match ruled.