NXT TakeOver: WarGames (November 2018)

Original Airdate: November 17, 2018

From Los Angeles, California; Your Hosts are Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, and Percy Watson

Opening Match: Kassius Ohno v Matt Riddle: This is the first time I'm seeing Matt Riddle work, and he doesn't look anything like what I've been picturing. And I barely get a look at him here, as he nails a charging Ohno with a high knee for the pin at a brisk 0:07. Okay then. DUD

NXT Women's Title Two-out-of-Three Falls Match: Shayna Baszler v Kairi Sane: Kairi's choice of shorts for tonight make her look like she's wearing a diaper. Not a great look. Sane charges her with a corner dropkick right at the bell, and hits a pair of somersault neckbreakers as Baszler tries to recover. Sane continues blitzing her on the ropes until Baszler falls out of the ring, and the challenger dives after her with a flying forearm off of the apron! That triggers an attack from Baszler's MMA gal pals, however, and Kairi eats post on her way back in. That allows Shayna to grab the Clutch early on, and Sane loses the first fall at 2:01. Sane is loopy after that, so Baszler blasts her with a knee, but it only gets two. She goes back to the Clutch, but Sane manages to get the ropes this time, so Baszler responds by standing on her head while cranking the leg. Poor Kairi is struggling to recover after getting out of it, but Baszler shows no mercy as she ties her up like a pretzel in a modified headvice. Sane manages a cradle for two, and a schoolboy gets two, so Baszler goes back to the Clutch. Kairi rolls it back into a cradle for two, and they trade strikes from there, until Baszler bulldozes her with a clothesline. They fight out to the apron, where Baszler tries a suplex, but Kairi counters with a DDT on the apron. Watching Baszler's MMA gal pals immediately swarm their friend like a pair of concerned mothers on a playground is pretty funny. Sane fights off the resulting triple team, and rolls Baszler in to kill with the flying elbowdrop at 7:36. Only problem is that Sane is so freakin' tiny that it's hard to believe the move had any real impact. And man, we're just flying through this one, aren't we? Sane goes after her with a trio of spears, and a pair of spinning backfists set up another flying elbowdrop, but Baszler is up before Kairi can dive. Baszler follows her to the top for a superplex, but Kairi counters with a sunsetbomb for two on the way down. Whiplash sets up the flying elbow again, but the gal pals stop the effort, leading to Sane's own gal pals running out to even the odds, and I smell a six-woman! That would be a really great way to help the MMA girls ease in, actually. With the threat neutralized, Sane dives with the elbow, but Baszler has used the downtime to recover, and she catches her in a cradle at 10:54. This was good, but it felt really rushed. I mean, eleven minutes for a single fall match is one thing, but three falls in eleven is another. ** ½

Aleister Black v Johnny Gargano: Gargano slaps him around to start, but that just serves to piss Black off, and he destroys Johnny on the outside. Back in, Black unloads with strikes, but Gargano starts floating like a butterfly, and he sweeps a worked up Black down. Black outsmarts him as Gargano tries dodging more strikes, but Johnny outsmarts him back when Black tries his dive head fake deal. Gargano with a rollup for two, into a surfboard, but Black starts to escape, so Gargano turns it into a cradle - only to get reversed for two. Johnny responds with a modified neckbreaker for two, and he unloads on Black in the corner, but loses a reversal sequence, and gets dumped. That leads to Black setting up his head fake deal again, but this time he anticipates Johnny's counter, and counters THAT with a boot off of the apron to set up an actual dive. Back in, Black sees a spear coming, and hits a springboard moonsault press for two after dodging it. Reversal sequence ends in Black using a roundhouse kick to send Gargano to the outside, but a springboard moonsault press misses, allowing Gargano a tope tornado DDT on the floor! Johnny with a slingshot DDT for two on the way back in, so he starts trash talking, but that backfires on him, and they trade strikes. Gargano wins the exchange with an inverted rana, but Black is ready with a high knee as Johnny looks for the follow-up, and both guys are left down after that exchange. Johnny tries a slingshot spear, but Black fights him off, and hits a springboard high knee, followed by a bridging German suplex for two. These sequences are just blistering. Black throws more strikes, but Gargano manages to fight him off long enough to get the crippler crossface on - only for Black to counter with a cradle for two! Gargano ducks the follow-up strike, however, and he drops Black with a snake-eyes into the middle turnbuckle. That sets Black up for strikes, but he lulls Johnny into a false sense of security to try for a schoolboy - only for Gargano to see it coming, and blast him with a shining wizard for two! Nice! Johnny decides to pull his kneepad down so he can do more damage, but it turns into a slugfest before he can, with Black getting the better of it. Black tries a springboard, but Johnny shoves him over the top to block - only to have his tope blocked with a knee as he dives! Black rolls him in to finish, so Gargano begs off, but Black isn't interested in mercy. He goes for the kill, but Johnny is ready with a schoolboy for two - immediately using the momentum of the kick out to grab the crossface again! Black manages to counter to a cradle for two, and he blasts Gargano with a spinning high knee, then pulls his pad down to give Johnny another knee. A brutal looking spinkick follows, leaving Johnny on spaghetti legs, but Black shows no mercy! Another spinkick, and Gargano is done at 18:12. Yeah, this was pretty awesome, with lots of terrific sequences that expanded on earlier ones, and great psychology throughout. I wouldn't argue too hard with anyone making a case to bump this up another quarter-star, but I also wouldn't really argue with anyone who felt it was just shy of the four-star mark as well. There was just this certain intangible 'something' missing that's keeping me from more enthusiastically embracing it. ****

NXT Title Match: Tommaso Ciampa v Velveteen Dream: Dream cosplays as Hollywood Hogan tonight, since we're in LA. Feeling out process to start, during which Dream loses his Hollywood headband, earning him some quality mocking from Ciampa. Dream bails to walk off the snark, but gets Ciampa back by posing with the title belt on the outside, causing Ciampa to flip the fuck out. That ends in Dream getting the high ground and taking control, and he taunts the champ with a hip swivel after a bodyslam. Standing dropkick and a snap across the top rope leads to a flying axehandle, and Dream reclaims his headband! The world is just after all! Dream with a big boot to set up a legdrop, but Ciampa bails, so Dream dives off the top with a flying bodypress instead. Yeah kid, get yours! Dream tries a slingshot on the way back in, but Ciampa knocks him back out to the floor to block, then follows out to drop him with a swinging neckbreaker out there. Ciampa with a running kneesmash in the corner as they had back in, and he drops Dream back to the outside with a neckbreaker across the top rope. Back in, Ciampa grounds his challenger with a chinlock, and Dream is getting so messed up that he's drooling all over the place, so Ciampa rubs the discharge into his face to be a dick! Neckbreaker, but Dream counters with a backslide for two, and he manages to dominate a slugfest on his way to his own neckbreaker! That buys time, but Ciampa is still up first, and Dream has to win another slugfest to keep control. He manages to, and starts HULKING UP! Fists of Fury! Big Boot! Legdrop! Legdrop! Legdrop! Death valley driver, but Ciampa blocks, so Dream uses a rotating spinebuster for two instead. Ciampa bails, but Dream is on him with a plancha, and he rolls him in to finish, but Ciampa distances himself to avoid a dive. Ciampa dumps him to the outside after Dream hops down, but the challenger stays focused, and rips at the leg to sweep Ciampa down. He gives him a ring post figure four (and not a good one), then inside for a traditional version, but Ciampa counters with a cradle for two. He tries a suplex, but Dream counters back to the figure four, so Ciampa fights to reverse. Dream reverses back, and holds Ciampa into a two count, but the champ makes the ropes. Dream tries pulling him to the outside, but Ciampa shoves him into the guardrail to block, and he pulls Dream back in for a suplex - only to get reversed over the top! Oh man, that looked like it could have easily ended in a broken neck for either guy. Both are battered, but Dream is able to recover first, and he forces the action back inside before we get a double countout. Ciampa triggers a slugfest in there, and he gets the better of it, and a reversal sequence ends in Ciampa hooking a schoolboy - only to get busted hooking the tights at two! Haven't seen a referee actually catch someone doing that in forever - good for him! Ciampa argues, allowing Dream to sneak over with the rolling death valley driver, but it only gets two! Dream tries again, but Ciampa punches him in the brain to block, so Dream tries a springboard - only to land right on Ciampa's knee for two! Project Ciampa gets two, and the champ is visibly frustrated now. He decides to grab the title belt to use as a weapon, but he's in full view of the referee, and Dream sneaks up with a schoolboy for two as Ciampa argue with the official. I think he's setting a trap here, Dream! Well, if he is, it backfires, as Dream hits a twisting DDT right onto the belt for two, but Ciampa blocks a dive, then blocks a figure four. Dream tenaciously keeps after him, but walks right into a DDT for two, and Ciampa is pulling up the floor mats! He drags Dream to the outside for a DDT on the exposed floor, but the challenger desperately railroads him into an announce table to block. Ciampa takes out his frustrations on the announcers, which allows Dream the rolling death valley driver on the floor, and then right back in for a flying elbowdrop for two! Well, maybe if he hit the driver on the exposed concrete instead of the section where all the mats were bunched up (creating an even thicker than usual amount of padding), it might have worked. Ciampa ends up sprawled across the bottom rope after kicking out, so Dream hustles to the top for a flying elbowdrop, but Ciampa dodges, and Dream wipes out on the floor! Ciampa drags him right up for a rope-hung DDT on the metal divider between the two rings, and then right into the ring itself to pin at 22:25! You know what I loved about this is that neither guy wasted time. If one had an advantage, they HUSTLED to capitalize on it before the other recovered. Great match, with plenty of believably dramatic nearfalls, though not without flaws as well. That whole sequence where Ciampa brings in the title belt in full view of the referee felt especially forced, and out of character. Like, I thought he was setting a trap, but nope - he was actually trying to use it as a weapon with the referee on him the whole time. Also, stop arguing with the official about counts or hooking of the tights! If he stopped counting, what's arguing after the fact going to help? Not like he can just say, "oh fuck it, you're right, I am convinced, and I award you the match." If his hand didn't hit three times, you have no claim, and no amount of protesting is going to change that. I just feel it's a really lazy transition to use when you want to turn the tide of a contest, especially when used multiple times in the same match. **** ¼

Main Event: WarGames Match: Ricochet, Pete Dunne, and War Raiders v Kyle O'Reilly, Roderick Strong, Adam Cole, and Bobby Fish: The little cages to hold the teams at the entrance area feels like a needless complication, though I guess I can kinda see the point, since the main cage has no roof. Ricochet and Cole start, and Cole taunts him into coming to him, but it backfires. Ricochet sends him bailing for the opposite ring after some acrobatics, and Ricochet follows to continue the abuse in the corner over there. He tries a springboard backelbow, but Cole catches him in a lungblower, and Adam unloads mounted punches. Neckbreaker follows, but Ricochet blocks a toss into the cage, so Adam drills him with a fireman's neckbreaker instead. I'd have taken my chances with the cage, honestly. A mesh fence would probably hurt a lot less than getting dropped neck-first across a guys knee. And then Ricochet goes into the cage anyway, so haha. Ricochet responds by chasing Cole from one ring to the next with a multi-springboard flying backelbow, just in time for Kyle to join the match. He dives right on Ricochet with mounted punches, and the Undisputed Era work the North American champion over. Ricochet fights them off with speed, and positions himself in the divide between the two rings so he can bounce back and forth, from side to side, hitting them both. That works for a bit, but Kyle rips at the leg to put a stop to it, and the Era stomp him. Cole with a death valley driver onto Kyle's extended knee as the buzzer goes, and Hanson joins the fray. Poor dude looked like he was getting winded just chugging down to the ring. Hanson slams the heels around, and I'll shut up, because he's working a very cardio heavy style, so maybe he was just 'winded' by nerves. Ricochet uses Hanson as a springboard for a shooting stat press on Kyle, and here comes Strong! I like how these guys wait until the buzzer actually goes to start taking off their entrance gear. Like, Strong was frantically ripping off his necklace while running down to the ring here. What have you been doing for the last ten minutes? Strong's (necklace-less) addition helps the Era take control again, and they use combos to dominate the field. Ray Rowe is next in, and bitches be flying! The Era tries ganging up on him, but Rowe just kinda blinks at them, and goes back to systematically destroying them all by himself. Hanson comes over to help Rowe with a double powerbomb spot, and I just want to stop and note that 'War Raiders' is such a fucking great name for a tag team. How has it taken this long for anyone to use it? Feels like something we should have seen back in the 80s. Would have fit right in with the teams of the Demolition/Powers of Pain era. Hell, the Powers of Pain could have used that name instead, honestly. Fish is next in, but he stops to padlock Dunne's cell shut on his way to the ring, then chucks the key into the crowd. Given how smarkish these NXT crowds are, I'm half expecting the fans to band together to find it, and get it to the referee. Fish also brings chairs into the cage with him, and the armed Era go to work. Why did the three minute countdown to the next period only start once Fish actually got into the cage? Shouldn't they start the second the buzzer lets him out of the cage? Also, this whole plan is flawed, because the rules clearly state that the match can only end once every participant is in. And if the countdown doesn't start until you're actually in, then leaving Pete trapped out there makes it impossible to win the match. It's not like the timer alone is going to do much. And, indeed, the buzzer goes, but the officials can't get Pete out of his cell, so the match runs along, but can't end. The Era hit the Raiders with stereo superplexes in opposing rings, as Dunne struggles to escape his cell. Finally, the useless officials show up with bolt cutters, and they're honestly so inept that I'm half expecting them to lose a finger here. Dunne gets to the ring, but the Era hold the door shut to prevent him getting in, so Pete grabs a kendo stick, and starts whacking their fingers to shake them off the door. That allows Ricochet to recover with a flying bodypress onto the entire Era, as Dunne loads the ring up with various weapons before getting in. You know, the classic WarGames was ultra violent, and didn't need dozens of weapons to get there. Satisfied with the amount of plunder, Dunne finally gets in, and starts teeing off on the Era with the kendo stick. All his pals arm up with various weapons, and they go to town on the Era in brutal fashion. It's like a gang fight in there right now! Pete starts taking Kyle's fingers apart to try for the submission, but he won't quit, so Dunne instead drops Strong onto Kyle with an x-plex! Oh man, note to self, don't piss off Pete Dunne! The War Raiders are back in business, and start destroying guys with tandem moves, until Cole chucks a trashcan at Hanson's head, allowing O'Reilly and Fish to double up on Rowe. Ricochet gets two sides of a lungblower from Cole and Strong, and the Era surround Dunne next. Pete shows no fear, and goes at all of them - not only holding his own, but winning! He gets Fish in a kneebar, but O'Reilly saves. Kyle uses a chain to try and tie Pete up, but Dunne turns it into a submission, and Fish is forced to come over and save with a chair. Kyle slaps on an anklelock to finish, as the rest of the Era stand guard with chairs to keep the babyfaces in the other ring. That works for a while, but Ricochet manages to bust through the line with a dive, and they break the hold. Ricochet and Dunne take Strong and O'Reilly to the top rope, with Pete using a superplex, while Ricochet uses a rana off. Neither gets the pin, so Hanson sets up a table, but Cole blocks a powerbomb from Rowe through it, and Fish spears Ray through another table. Cole takes Ricochet up for a superplex through a table, but Ricochet slips free, and uses an enzuigiri to get Adam in a tree of woe. That summons Kyle over, but Ricochet fights him off, so now Strong comes over, and that's finally enough to get Ricochet in trouble. Kyle tries for the submission while still sprawled on a table, but Hanson saves with a flying splash that drives O'Reilly though it for two. Cole decides to climb to the top of the cage to set away from Rowe, but Ricochet is on his tail, and they slug it out up there. It doesn't take long for Strong to join his buddy, and remembering that exiting the cage results in a forfeit, they work together trying to shove Ricochet out to the floor. That results in everyone fighting to the top of the cage, with the final bit ending in Hanson powerbombing everyone (well, except Ricochet) off in a big pile! Ricochet is still up there, so he decides to dive off with a crazy 720 moonsault press for another dog pile! That was fucking insane! Sure, the set up was really contrived, but what a fucking move! Both teams retreat to opposite rings to regroup, before staggering towards the middle for a brawl in the divide! That was a great, dramatic bit - like something out of a western. The Raiders isolate Fish with a combo, but Strong saves before they can pin him, so Hanson hits a handspring backelbow on him! What the fuck!! Dudes that big should not be able to do that shit! Dunne tries the Bitter End on Cole, but gets countered with a DDT, and Adam shines his wizard for two. Needed more Dumbledore, I guess. Dunne manages the move on the next go-around, and Ricochet adds a flying splash to make sure - both guys covering Cole together at 47:05. Yeah... I dunno. It was fun, but went on for far too long, and honestly could have stood to lose more than a few minutes that the women's match would have been well served to pick up. I enjoyed it, and it told a fantastic story, but I'll also probably never rewatch it. *** ¼

BUExperience: Two four-star level matches, a fun (if overlong) WarGames – hard not to dig what NXT serves up.

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