NXT TakeOver: War Games (November 18th, 2017)

[iMoreland]

Triple H said Drew McIntyre may have a torn bicep and he's getting an MRI tomorrow.

[LittleOzzy]

The only thing more intense than War Games, was that referees fake tan.

[Stanford]

One of the weaker Takeovers, yet still lots of fun from start to finish.

Drake Younger's tan was on point, looking like a pumpkin John Cena.

[improper]

Thought that was a typically great NXT show. Lacked a true show-stealing match, but had three matches that were four stars or better (War Games, NXT Title, Black/Dream) and no duds. Triple H and his crew really know how to book a top-tier wrestling show. It's crazy that I'm fairly certain that there hasn't been a bad Takeover since the one that got me back into wrestling, which was when Owens debuted and Zayn won the NXT Title. That was like three or four years ago and NXT has yet to fail with a Takeover.

Really looking forward to the Gargano/Dunne dark match airing next week on NXT. Don't even care that I already know who won. That should be fantastic.

[Spens1]

Wasn't the greatest (no one phenomenal match) but overall still a great show, it was balanced nicely.

Also good call on Ember Moon as champion, Her feuding with a chasing Sane will be a money feud. This has been long overdue to be honest.

Lars Sullivan and Kassius Ohno was too short and honestly not all that great, was a bit underwhelmed by this one. It makes sense that Ohno would put over Sullivan (that's the result you want, Sullivan is going to the main roster within a year whilst Ohno realistically isn't going onto the main event).

War Games match was the best one, i enjoyed it a lot, very intense and brutal match. Still, everytime i see O'Reilly and Cole as a team it feels very weird.

Velveteen dream vs Black was a solid match, but Black has to go after the title now, he's been racking up wins without it really going anywhere substantial, he should be the challenger at the takeover royal rumble show.

As for the title change, always sucks when someone gets injured but i'm keen for Almas to have a title run, no offense to drew but he was a bit dull as a face champ with the only real feud left being cole. At least with this, you have a ton of potential face challengers that can go for Almas.

[LittleOzzy]

Kassius Ohno is done really, he has looked awful for awhile now.

[Kembastockton]

It is time to put the strap on Shawn Micheal's clone.

[Stanford]

It is time to put the strap on Shawn Micheal's clone.

Ohno?

[skbucks1985]

It is time to put the strap on Shawn Micheal's clone.

Ohno?

That's just mean

[The_Brecht]

Allistair Black is awesome.

[Kembastockton]

It is time to put the strap on Shawn Micheal's clone.

Ohno?

That's just mean

Adam Cole Baby!

[improper]

Decided to re-watch WarGames tonight, as I was both high and pretty drunk when I watched it and was also busy cooking up some pork belly during the first few matches.

My thoughts...

Ohno/Sullivan - Fun hoss fight. Not sure I would have opened with this one, as the crowd wasn't as into it as most of the other matches, but they did a great job and beat the crap out of each other. Thought the ending was a bit too abrupt, but not a lot to complain about in this one. ***

As a side note, I think one great thing about the Performance Center being home to all these top-tier indie guys is that it really makes hoss guys like Sullivan (and Braun before him) better in the ring than a lot of the hoss guys who came before them. You see guys like Braun and Sullivan and think they could succeed in any era, but they're both developing into much more versatile in-ring guys than a lot of former big guys did.

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Black/Dream - Hot damn was that a great match. Loved the mind games they kept playing with each other. The wrestling itself was top notch. That modified Sister Abigail that Dream his was amazing. Only complaint is that the camera cuts kind of missed Black's finisher at the end. ****1/2

This feud in general seems to kind of sum up what the main roster tends to do so wrong. These guys have had a heated feud without ever stepping into the ring against each other, which means this match actually feels like it matters because we haven't seen them wrestle every week on NXT. They've interacted, and fought each other a bit, but never had an actual match. At the same time, we got a great match and an ending that put both guys over. Black is probably next in line for an NXT Title match (Cole doesn't make sense with Almas as champ), so he needed the win. At the same time, Dream earned his respect and he put him over after the match by finally saying his name. Just masterful booking.

Also, both these guys are stars. Can't wait to see how the main roster ruins them.

---

Sane/Moon/Royce/Cross - Solid all around match with some fun spots. Loved the double eclipse spot at the end, even if it was a bit contrived. Sane hitting the double elbow drop was fun too. Overall, nothing ground-breaking, but Ember holding the title should be good for the division. She's not Asuka, but she's still great in the ring and has put on some dynamite singles matches. ***

I know some people were down on Ember Moon winning this one, but I think it was definitely the right call. She had two great title matches against Asuka where she came up just short (once because Asuka had to cheat) and I think she needed this win more than the other three women to validate herself in the division. Also, loved the decision to have Billie Kay stay in the back for this one. This is one of those little things that NXT does so well...they knew the NXT title match was going to have interference, so they didn't do it in this one. Smart.

A real shame we never got Sane/Asuka before Asuka went to the main roster, by the way. Even if we get it somewhere down the line, it'll probably be marred by bad main roster booking. Hard to see them doing Asuka justice, let alone making Sane work with her quirky gimmick.

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McIntyre/Almas - Thought they did a great job here with the size/strength dynamic, with Almas unable to hit a lot of his stuff because McIntyre was too strong and caught him. That moonsault Almas did off the top rope to the floor was beautiful. I do think they should have ended it after Vega his McIntyre with the spike rana and then Almas hit his finisher. The claymore afterward was sick, though, even if Vega kind of botched getting Almas' foot on the rope afterward. Overall, though, really good match. ***3/4

Is there a better success story in NXT right now than Almas? They've built him up pretty brilliantly. It's almost a Mahal-like journey from jobber (although Almas was never as useless as Mahal was) to champion, only NXT did it organically to the point where it felt natural. He went on a losing streak, Vega got him focused, and he started winning en route to a title reign. I didn't think they were going to put the strap on him, but it was absolutely the right call. He's been putting on quality matches on a consistent basis and Vega provides him with the mouthpiece he needed to get himself over as a non-native English speaker.

Loved seeing the crowd pop for Almas with the "Si" chants too.

---

WarGames - This was a great match that played well off the stipulation. I know many complained about removing the roof from the cage, but with the DQ rule for escaping, I ultimately don't think it mattered. Loved Fish and O'Reilly trying to hold the cage door closed when the AOP were entering the match. Also loved Sanity introducing a ton of weapons that got the crowd popping huge and gave WarGames the type of violence it needed to live up to the gimmick. Thought they did a great job of using both rings and there were a ton of awesome spots. The German suplex through the table, the coast to coast, and the superplex off the top of the cage were all really cool, and the table spot resulted in some accidental blood that helped sell the brutality, even if unintentional. ****1/2

Much like Alexander Wolfe at the last Takeover, this was a coming out party for Killian Dain. He was fantastic in this. Brought a ton of energy and fun to the main event.

I'm guessing we'll build to Cole/Strong for the next Takeover since Cole is unlikely to challenge Almas for the NXT title. I'm fine with that. Cole needs a dynamite singles match under his belt and he hasn't had that thus far in NXT. Strong would be the perfect choice to put over Cole, as he's basically always great in his matches and Cole can carry the feud on the mic.

---

Overall, NXT delivers yet again. While it didn't give us any MOTY candidates, every match was good, two were great, and there wasn't a dud to be found. You can tell that Triple H is a fan of the wrestling, with every feud building toward a big, satisfying blowoff match, whereas Vince is more enamored with the soap opera aspect of the sport. I think that's why NXT always delivers where the main roster PPVs tend to fail. NXT is smart, no-nonsense booking. The main roster is filled with tons of unnecessary crap and dumb booking that drags down the overall product.

Anyway, NXT has a pretty incredible string of great Takeovers going, with no sign of slowing down.