wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s NXT WarGames 2021 Review
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...NXT TakeOver: War Games
December 5th, 2021 | Capitol Wrestling Center in Orlando, Florida
I haven’t been as focused on NXT lately (and WWE or NJPW overall actually) but I’m going to try and use this show as a way to jump back in. I like some of the goofy stuff they have going on here because I adore cheesy wrestling.
War Games: Cora Jade, Io Shirai, Kay Lee Ray & Raquel Gonzalez vs. Dakota Kai and Toxic Attraction
Pretty big fan of everyone in here though. I feel like the women have had the better War Games match each of the past two years. This started with KLR against Dakota Kai, which was great since their ladder match this past week ruled. The cages holding the teams were oddly placed by the crowd. Their back and forth here was good, punctuated by a spot where Dakota took a front suplex onto a bunch of kendo sticks set up in between the two rings. The faces had the advantage, which is odd since this match is typically meant to be a bunch of hot tags. Cora Jade was in next and brought her skateboard with her. This segment worked well enough but was odd since the heel was fighting from behind. She countered a double suplex just as her help, Gigi Dolan, arrived. Io followed suit three minutes later. As is often the case when the women have a match like this, they tried out some pretty cool innovative spots throughout. Jacy Jayne entered next, leaving Mandy and Raquel for the end. Jayne got placed on a table as Jade went to the top of the cage, hitting a SCARY looking somersault sent through the table. Bold attempt for a 20-year-old. Medica came to check on her but Io said she got this and popped Cora’s shoulder into place. Raquel came in, put Dakota in a trash can, and swung her around. After Mandy made the match official, we got a big brawl with the camerawork totally missing a big KLR spot. Cora ended up alone and hurt against all four opponents. The finish was pretty lame though as after a barrage of moves, Jayne was down from a Chingona Bomb and Cora Jade pinned her at the 31:20 mark. The worst of the three women’s War Games matches but still great. It would’ve been bumped up a bit with a better ending. [****]
NXT Tag Team Championship: Imperium [c] vs. Kyle O’Reilly and Von Wagner
I dig Imperium and Kyle but can’t get into Wagner. This was kind of about what you’d expect at the start in that the guys who knew what they were doing carried things and Wagner basically just had to not mess up too badly. Since Kyle had to handle the workload for his squad, he ended up playing the face in peril. Though he’s the more experienced guy, it made sense since he’s smaller and Wagner is better suited to some hot tag stuff. That’s just what happened and Wagner actually did hit a few decent moves. He oddly reminds me of Paul Burchill and Mike Knox. Aichner saved the team with a double jump moonsault that will always impress me. Aichner and O’Reilly had a great exchange down the stretch and he hit another great dive to the outside. The challengers came close a few times before Kyle fell to the Imperium Bomb. That was way better than I expected since I have zero hope for Wagner. The other guys carried this and he did well enough. [***½]
Post-match, Wagner tried to attack Kyle who avoided it and laid him out. He then threw up the Undisputed Era signal and did crotch chops.
Hair vs. Hair Match: Cameron Grimes vs. Duke Hudson
I guess this was our cool down match. Hudson took immediate control and worked a methodical pace to put Grimes in trouble, wearing him down and talking trash throughout. Grimes rallied but none of what he did really felt like it mattered or was interesting. I honestly don’t even have that much to say about this because it was so dull. Like, there was nothing technically wrong with it but it just was wildly average and at times uninteresting. Grimes scored the pin on a rollup after 10:23 and then laughed at Hudson. Duke tried to turn things around and cut Grimes’s hair anyway but that was flipped on him and he got shaved. [**]
NXT Cruiserweight Championship: Roderick Strong [c] vs. Joe Gacy
Gacy isn’t a cruiserweight but is getting the shot since he feels the title isn’t inclusive enough. Strong lit up Gacy in the early goings, negating the size advantage for the challenge. He even removed his shirt to get more on those chops. Gacy turned things around when he started using that size. Gacy did his best to battle Roddy in submissions as he used a crossface and even hit a somersault outside. I did like the character beat of him stopping his manager buddy from possibly harming the female on Diamond Mine. Inside, Roddy survived a bit more offense before hitting a knee and the backbreaker to retain in 8:28. That was solid but unspectacular. [**¾]
War Games: Team 2.0 vs. Team Black and Gold
We start with Carmelo Hayes against former North American Champion Johnny Gargano. Their five minutes together were strong before Grayson Waller joined. Instead of jumping Johnny with the advantage, he dared him to meet him in the other ring, which was a mistake, though he managed to turn things around well enough. Hayes also had help from Trick Williams who threw weapons in and tried to enter the cage only to get hit with a chair. Gargano got busted open during this interval before Pete Dunne joined him to kick ass. I loved them putting on stereo submissions and kicking the opposite opponent during them. Tony D’Angelo was next in and I love that ridiculous dude. The highlight here was Trick Williams getting sent packing by Dexter Lumis, who was under the ring. He gave Johnny the thumbs up for it. The door was locked to the point where LA Knight couldn’t enter when it was his turn. He climbed to get in while referees tried to break the chain. Seeing Pete Dunne destroy Waller’s hand with a kendo stick, stomps, and the trash can was great. Bron Breakker joining changed the tide as he was dominant. He was tossing fools around. Ciampa was in last and Gargano saved his old partner, getting “DIY” chants. A big spot came when Waller took a belly to belly off the top through a table. Breakker took an avalanche Air Raid Crash for two while Waller did a weird elbow drop off the cage. This nearly ended after DIY hit their old finisher buy Hayes made the save. Ciampa hit Hayes with a knee that actually mostly took out Gargano and then Breakker put him through a table. He added a press slam to win the match in 38:13. A hell of a match that I liked a bit more than the women’s version. [****¼]
