NXT TakeOver: WarGames (December 2020)

 

Original Airdate: December 6, 2020

 

From Orlando, Florida; Your Hosts are Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett, and Beth Phoenix

Opening WarGames Match: Shotzi Blackheart, Io Shirai, Rhea Ripley, and Ember Moon v Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, Toni Storm, and Raquel Gonzalez: Women's revolution and all that, but it's still coming down to a bunch of women locked in cages. Not to get all Jesse Ventura on everyone, but Shotzi should not be the team captain. Io is the Women's champion. But at least she didn't have to come out first. Also, would it just kill them to come up with actual team names other than 'Team Candice/Team Shotzi,' or whatever. And, I mean, you can still have the workers name factor in (ala Rude's Brood, Roddy's Rowdies, etc), but get creative with it. Moon and Kai start, and Kai grabs a sleeper for a while right away, but Moon fights her off. Kai tackles her down for mounted punches, but Moon gets sick of her, and suplexes her into the cage. That allows Moon a spear against the cage, and why is it so steamy out there? Maybe they're trying for that old school NWA vibe? Kai bails for the other ring, so Moon tries diving after her, but runs into a boot. That allows Dakota a sunset bomb out of the corner, and here comes Shotzi. She stops to bring some weapons in with her, so I guess we're playing that game again this year. Shotzi saves Ember and runs wild on Dakota, but a suplex into the buckles basically gets no-sold, and Kai tries a superplex, but Moon pulls her off for an electric chair/flying dropkick combo. Raquel is next in, but Moon and Blackheart meet her right at the door to neutralize her. What's the point of locking the cage shut? The rest of the team are in separate waiting area cages anyway, and there's no crowd. Are they worried the referee might snap, or something? And don't give me the 'it's to keep them inside' line. They charge in there like they're going after the last flat screen on Black Friday. And it's an open top cage anyway. Ripley is next in, and Raquel is ready and waiting for this bitch. They set up a big showdown, but Kai attacks Rhea before they can lock horns. Rhea fights her off, and big boots Raquel as well for good measure, then goes back to beating the piss out of Dakota. Shotzi with a springboard Canadian destroyer on Raquel, as Ripley finds a fucking ballpeen hammer to beat on Kai with. And she just straight up unloads on her with it, with minimal selling from Kai. I know we're supposed to suspend a lot of disbelief in wrestling, but there are some things that really put that to the test. Storm is next in, and she brings some kendo sticks with her. She runs in with a German suplex on Ripley, and then beats on her with the kendo as Raquel holds her. Storm whips Ripley into an exposed turnbuckle, but Moon manages to block a trip into it as well, so Toni just snap suplexes her instead. We get stereo tower of doom spots in opposite rings to leave everyone down as Io joins the party, bringing a ladder in with her. Why we need multiple ladders inside of a cage, I don't know, but that's 2020 wrestling for you. Raquel keeps blocking Io from getting into the cage, and Io is to blame, honestly. STOP THROWING WEAPONS IN, AND JUST ENTER THE DAMN MATCH! No wonder they didn't make you team captain, you dunce. Candice is last in to round out the field, but now Io blocks her path at the door. That summons Indi Hartwell to attack Io, allowing Candice to get into the ring, and Indi chains the door shut to make sure Io stays out. Io is aware there's an open top, right? Convertibles must be so fucking confusing for her. Probably cries at the sight of sunroofs, that one. Lots of kendo stick abuse from Team Candice, until Io finally figures out the concept of a roof, and dives in while wearing a trashcan (like a dunce cap, fitting) to dog pile the heels. Io runs wild on them, and apparently pinfalls are also counted in this thing? Okay then. I get that it's not meant as an exact duplicate of the classic match, but some things just shouldn't be fucked with. Moon gives Kai an Eclipse onto a chair for two, so Storm sends her into an exposed buckle, and adds a Storm Zero onto a trashcan for two. Ripley comes over to try and submit Toni, but it goes nowhere. Shotzi climbs one of the ladders (which appears to be half the size of a normal WWE ladder), but a dive at Candice ends badly when a chair gets involved. Finish comes when Storm ends up down, allowing Io to hustle to the top rope to try a dive, but Raquel follows, and powerbombs Io through a ladder that's planked between the rings for the pin at 35:21. As usual with these WWE WarGames efforts, just too long for its own good. Once the last person gets in, you just need five minutes, tops. This wasn't a horrible match, but it also wasn't anything worth devoting thirty five minutes of your life to, and it has zero rewatch value. * ¾

Tommaso Ciampa v Timothy Thatcher: Some jerk in the crowd keeps shaking the social distancing barricade over and over again, making a loud, annoying clanking noise. Man, where are the 90s security guys who would straight up stab you for holding up a sign wrong when you need them? They trade off on the mat to start, dominated by Thatcher. Meanwhile, the asshole keeps shaking that barricade. And you people MISS the crowds? Thatcher with a big uppercut and a suplex for two, and he takes Ciampa to the mat again with a crossface, but Ciampa makes the ropes. Thatcher responds by bashing him into the apron, and an elbowsmash to the throat is worth two. Back to the crossface, but Ciampa bites his way free, so Thatcher delivers a belly-to-belly suplex, but the count is cut off due to Thatcher's foot being in the ropes. Back to the crossface, but Ciampa escapes, and throws a big boot. He adds some chops, but Thatcher cuts him off, for a double-underhook, so Ciampa uses a backdrop driver to shake him off. Both guys stagger for a slugfest, and Ciampa starts making a comeback. He must have ate some Ultimate Warrior-Os for breakfast this morning. Look at those clotheslines! Ciampa with a vertical superplex for two, but Thatcher blocks the Fairytale Ending, and slaps on a standing front-facelock. Ciampa manages to railroad into the ropes to escape, sending both men tumbling to the outside. Both beat the count in, and Thatcher tries a throat strike, but Ciampa reverses. That allows Ciampa a high knee, and he cranks on a nasty side-headlock - so nasty that Thatcher is bleeding from the ear. Thatcher gets into the ropes and chucks him with a German suplex, then pulls him to his feet by the beard for another one. Thatcher unloads with uppercuts, until Ciampa manages to counter one with a backslide, but Thatcher is in the ropes. Ciampa responds by unloading on him with chops, and he turns a standing front-facelock of his own into a nasty DDT for three at 16:46. This was a very, very old school style match, and I'm a very, very old school type fan, so this was right up my alley. ** ½

Strap Match: Dexter Lumis v Cameron Grimes: This is pinfall/submission rules, not four corners. Grimes attacks before the referee can lash them together, and beats up Lumis on the outside for a while. The referee finally manages to restore order long enough to tie them together and officially start the match. Or, well, really Lumis just fights Grimes off long enough to put his own wrist through the loop so the match can begin. How useless can you be? Lumis tries using the strap, but Grimes bails to the outside to avoid him, and Dexter follows. Grimes tries climbing over the social distancing barricade to get away, but Grimes pulls him back. Yeah, might want to try that trick when you're not, you know, physically attached to the man you're trying to run from. Grimes takes a few trips into the barricade out there, but Grimes reverses a smash into it, and he dumps Lumis over it. "Creating separation," note the announcers. Again, they're tied together! Grimes with a big boot on the floor, and he puts a bag over Dexter's head to blind him, and starts unloading with the strap. I always wonder why wrestlers never think to wear a shirt when competing in a strap match. Meanwhile, the assholes in the crowd continue shaking the damn barricade nonstop. Lumis fights him off and uses the strap, but Grimes counters a bulldog with a German suplex into the turnbuckles. Lumis uses the strap to pull him in for a fallaway slam, and we have a slugfest - won by Dexter. Lumis goes upstairs for a dive, but Grimes uses the strap to pull him off, and a bodypress gets two. Reversal sequence ends in Grimes taking a bump into a chair, and Dexter slaps on Silence at 12:55 (15:14 total). This was really slow, boring, and indy-ish. ¼*

NXT North American Title Triple Threat Match: Leon Ruff v Johnny Gargano v Damian Priest: First fall wins. I'll take 'guys who will never, ever, ever, ever get a fair shot on the main roster' for $200, Alex. I mean, damn, Ruff is so small Gargano looks like a proper jock. Priest gets dumped right away, allowing Gargano to try and put the champion away early with cradles. He can't get it done, however, and Ruff manages to springboard around to fight him off. Priest is back to help beat on Gargano in the corner, but he gets sick of Leon, and tries dumping him, but it backfires when Ruff comes flying back at him with a dropkick. Ruff sticks and moves on Priest, but Damian looks like Big Show against him, and sets up a chokeslam, but Gargano saves. Why? Shorts stick together, I suppose? Priest gets dumped, allowing Gargano a tope, but when he tells Ruff to add his own, Gargano cuts it off with a slingshot spear for two. Suckered him in nicely there. Gargano tries a superkick, but Priest pulls him to the outside before he can fire it off, and they brawl around ringside. Ruff dives at them both, but gets caught by Priest, and crucifix powerbombed through the barricade! The plants in the crowd are way overselling that one. So Ruff gets carried out, causing Priest to cry, but that allows Gargano to recover and attack. Johnny uses a tornado DDT on the floor, but a slingshot DDT on the ramp gets blocked, and Priest throws a spinheel kick for two on the way back into the ring. Powerbomb, but Gargano blocks, and a reversal sequence ends in Johnny hitting a sliced bread for two. Another reversal sequence goes Priest's way with an earringer, and another reversal sequence ends in Damian throwing a bicycle kick, followed by a clothesline. Both guys are battered as Ruff returns, diving into the ring on Gargano, and sending both challengers to the outside. Leon dives after both men, and he rolls Johnny in for a springboard cutter for two. Ruff versus 1996 Rey Mysterio would have been a classic. Leon goes upstairs, but Gargano slams him off, but a whip into the ropes backfires when Ruff rebounds with a clothesline for two. Ruff goes up again, but this time Priest blocks his dive, and creams him with a big boot. Priest uses double reverse STO to put both guys down, and then suplex-slams Leon into Gargano. Crucifix powerbomb looks to finish Gargano, but Johnny sends him into the post to block, then chucks Ruff AT him like a spear. Priest ends up tied up in the ropes, allowing Gargano to try and finish Ruff off, but Leon hooks him in a crucifix for two. Flying frogsplash, but Gargano dodges, and it's the Gargano Escape! Priest saves, and he dives at Johnny with a flying spinheel kick. Ruff comes at him, but gets chucked right into a superkick from Gargano, and Johnny tries a slingshot DDT on Priest, but gets caught in a chokeslam. Cue three Ghostfaces in to attack Damian before he can cover, but Priest fights them off. Talk about giving this thing a real WCW vibe. In a good way. Kinda. So all this allows Ruff to recover with a flying frogsplash on Gargano, but Priest manages to break up the cover at two. A lot of the camera angles here are very evocative of classic WCW in an actually good way. Priest takes out Leon, and hits Johnny with a pair of roundhouse kicks, but a fourth Ghostface shows up to hit him with a pipe before he can finish. That allows Johnny to hit Ruff with a slingshot DDT for the gold at 17:30. This built into a really good match by the end, though not taking advantage of the two ring setup by having Ruff do some crazy springboards and dives seemed like a missed opportunity. You could say this was overbooked, but I actually thought all the gaga was a nice change of pace from all the usual choreography. Afterwards, the fourth Ghostface reveals himself as a returning Austin Theory - complete with a pretty good "it was me, Austin, it was me all along." ***

Main Event: WarGames Match: Pat McAfee, Danny Burch, Oney Lorcan, and Pete Dunne v Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Kyle O'Reilly, and Bobby Fish: Undisputed Era are still, like, a thing? I half think they only keep them around to make WarGames easier to book each year. Pete and Kyle start, and they do a nice exchange on the mat - reversing each other and trying to grab holds. Dunne gets the better of him after grabbing a triangle choke in the gap area between rings, and Pete works him over. Powerbomb, but Kyle counters to a front-facelock, and wears Dunne down for a kick to the chest. Pete comes back with an x-plex into a cross-armbreaker, but Kyle fights him off with a grapevine, as Lorcan joins the party. Lorcan's arrival is bad news for Kyle, and he gets worked over with double teams. Fish is next into the tank, and it's rotating spinebuster time for Lorcan. Everyone keeps trading various submission holds until Burch makes his way in, and he brings a fucking cricket bat with him. Well, at least they are getting more creative with their weapons. He goes to tee off on Kyle, but O'Reilly catches him in a kneebar, and Burch is tapping out, but it doesn't mean anything at this stage. Dunne saves, allowing Burch to use the bat, and here comes Strong. Not much happens until Pat comes in, bringing a bunch of tables with him. More nothing happens. Then, finally, Cole enters to round out the field, and hopefully make something interesting happen. He brings more weapons in, and blinds Lorcan and Burch with a fire extinguisher, but Dunne blocks his path to Pat. Cole starts to fight him off, but Pat lends an assist, and Cole is in trouble in the corner. Kyle saves him with a chair, and that allows Cole to whack Pat with a chair of his own, and he unloads with mounted punches. Everyone continues to trade off, and Pat gets Cole in a figure four, while his team holds the Era back from saving. Adam manages a reversal, and now the Era is holding Pat's guys back from making the save. Nice sequence. More aimless brawling, until the Era manages to beat down the entire heel team, all while Pat hides in the other ring. The stalk him, so Pat tries climbing out, but gets pulled down, and wrecked. That goes on for a bit until his bros recover, and everyone slugging it out ends in Pat diving off the top of the cage with a somersault senton. Pete and Kyle are the first to recover, leading to a slugfest, and they start trying to trap the other in holds. We've come full circle, I see. Pete hits the Bitter End for two, so Kyle suplexes him on the metal divider between the rings for two. Pat hits Cole with a low blow, but Cole keeps on trucking, and takes him down anyway. He goes up to the middle for the Panama Sunrise, but Burch cuts him off. That allows Pat to go up to the middle, but Cole blocks the dive with a superkick, and the Panama Sunrise gets two. Shining wizards, but Lorcan takes the bullet for him, and Dunne gives Cole an x-plex on a chair. That triggers a sequence with everyone hitting big spots to try and neutralize attacks, ending in Kyle diving off the top rope onto a chair covered Lorcan at 44:57. Yeah, so this was way, way, way too long. It was pretty dull before the Match Beyond portion, and then they just kept dragging it on and on and on until I was completely sick of it. *

BUExperience: You know NXT is in the pooper when I’m looking forward to these specials with the same excitement I do the main roster ones.

 

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