NXT Takeover: WarGames II

Kassius Ohno vs Matt Riddle

So, obviously a full match would have been preferable, but they smartly didn’t promote this as a scheduled match, so you can’t be too disappointed by Riddle knocking Ohno out in 6 seconds. Riddle is a can’t miss star, putting him over strong makes complete sense.

Kairi Sane vs Shayna Baszler

This went by too quickly, especially given the 2/3 falls stipulation, but what they cram in is really good. Liked the gameplan by Sane to blitz Shayna from the off, not giving her a second to recover. Loved the sliding clothesline against the ropes, before Baszler’s Four Horsewomen comrades attack Sane, allowing Baszler to lock in the Kirifuda Clutch for the first fall. Loved her trying to lock it on again quickly at the start of the second, and her stomping violently on Kairi’s face looked nasty. Sane trying a series of roll-ups and quick pinfalls as she tries to recover makes nice sense and I really liked the insane looking DDT on the apron – it looked like a real gamechanger, made it realistic that Sane could use that as her opening after the beating she’d taken. The insane elbow makes it one fall apiece. Loved Sane now hitting three consecutive spears, with Baszler selling the combined damage to her ribs. We get some fun hoopla outside the ring with Dakota Kai and Io Shirai evening the odds against the Horsewomen, before Baszler counters the insane elbow by rolling Sane into a crucifix to win. Not their best match, but these two match up so well that it’s still really great.

Johnny Gargano vs Aleister Black

I liked a lot of this, but there was definitely a lot of melodramatic overacting that took away from my enjoyment. Gargano ducking and bobbing to avoid Black’s strikes was really cool, especially as it built up the moment that Gargano ducks and eats a big kick to the face as a big moment. Gargano managing to stay one step ahead of Black was really effective, made him look like a smart performer, especially as a lot of this was built up as Black’s revenge. Loved the Gargano tope to a DDT on the floor. But the bad stuff starts creeping up too. The Riddle match had shown how to build someone up as a great striker, but here the “Striking Man from Amsterdam” (piss off Mauro) hit Gargano with a load of strikes, most of which were getting no sold or were having little effect as they roll from one sequence to another. The bits where both guys try luring the other in to hit big moves by emotively yelling at them was terrible, hurt the pacing of the match and added nothing. Gargano getting a roll up by ducking Black Mass was a nice wrinkle, and I dug Black hitting two consecutive Blass Mass to ensure Gargano wouldn’t kick out, but a little bit too much of this was actively bad.

Tommaso Ciampa vs Velveteen Dream

So during the match, I realised who Dream reminds me off. While I can see the comparisons to Rick Rude or Hulk Hogan (which Dream was happy to play up here), I felt like I was watching an androgynous Sting. Tall, in great shape, terrific athlete who, whilst a little green in places, is having good matches and is able to push through by sheer force of personality. Yeah, just like early Sting, and this played out like a great Sting vs crafty heel bout. Dream puts in a great shift here, bumping big when Ciampa shoves him to the floor on a springboard attempt and hitting a big dive on an evasive Ciampa. For his part, Ciampa is really nasty, smashing Dream in the corner with a running knee using his knee brace that Dream sells as a knockout blow. He does horrible stuff like making Dream drool by locking him in a submission, then rubbing the spit in Velveteen’s face just to be a dick. Dream goes for Ciampa’s knee with a figure four around the post and then in the centre of the ring, and though it doesn’t get the win, it gets paid off after Project Ciampa is hit, but the pain to the knee means Ciampa can’t cover right away and Dream is able to kick out. Some really convincing nearfalls, none more so than when Dream hits a rolling DVD on the floor and immediately rolls Ciampa in for a Purple Rainmaker for two. Genuinely believed that was it. An attempt on the ring apron sees Dream crash and burn to the floor. Ciampa hits the draping DDT on the metal grid separating the two Wargames rings, and that’s enough to put Dream down. I very much enjoyed this, thought this was Dream’s best performance to date.

Pete Dunne, Ricochet & the War Raiders vs The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong)

This match seems to have split opinion online, with maybe two-thirds of comments being against this match for bloat, for bad structure or for not feeling like a real Wargames. For my part, I loved this, and it kept me wide awake at gone 2.30am. Yes, it’s very long, but watching it in real time, I found that I felt it flew by.

I’m going to try and avoid just basic play-by-play here, because they fit so much stuff in here. You can get away with having big bombs not ending the match because there’s lot of guys there to make the save, and you need to hit big moves to put down as many of your opponents as possible in order to leave no-one who can prevent victory. Here, a lot of big stuff was hit, but for the most part it wasn’t kicked out of. Yes, Pete Dunne survived a lengthy chain-and-chair assisted submission, but finding extra reserves in such a big war against your hated enemies feels acceptable. I enjoyed the opening stages of the match, and I think the natural structure of the bout helps keep the match fresh. A new face every few minutes changes the match, with the arrival of members of the face team feeling like a hot tag every time. The tactic of the Undisputed Era to lock Pete Dunne in his cage to allow them to destroy the opposition 4-on-3, then have Dunne at a 4-on-1 disadvantage to dismantle him. The fact that Pete was able to fend them off with weapons, keeping them occupied while his partners recovered, made sense to me and set up the second half of the match well. Yeah, there was a West Side Story-esque bit of nonsense that saw a shaky confined brawl between the two rings, but I was able to enjoy it as a big, dumb spotfest. War Raiders in particular looked great here, maybe the best Hanson has looked in NXT, with his joint powerbomb on Strong/World’s Strongest Slam on O’Reilly being a great power spot. The overly complicated tower of doom spot leading to Ricochet’s double moonsault was a bit hokey, but Pete hitting the Bitter End and Ricochet hitting the 630 on Cole felt like a nice, final, full stop on the bout. I’m an outlier here, but I thoroughly enjoyed this. 

WWE NXT Takeover: Philadelphia

Authors of Pain vs Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly

Really solid opener. The AoP haven’t really turned face, so they had a difficult job to work what is ostensibly a heel vs heel match, and they really pulled it off. Loved the initial mat work, felt a bit scrappier and less smooth, which works with the size and menace of the Authors. Fish and O’Reilly take control when Akam hurts his leg, and I really enjoyed the heat they work on the injury, with Fish dropping it over the ropes and O’Reilly taking him down with a chop block. The tag comes logically, as Fish loses his focus, and Rezar looks great when he gets in. Love his combo fallaway slam/Samoan drop, and his breaking an O’Reilly leglock on Akam by way of dropping Fish on top was terrific. There’s a melee and the AoP hit the Super Collider, but O’Reilly uses a headscissors to cause a collision, and gets a roll up for three to win.

The Velveteen Dream vs Kassius Ohno

The story to this match had Dream promising to knock Ohno out in 30 seconds, and I loved him hitting a big blow within those 30 seconds that actually put Ohno down. Of course, it didn’t finish him, and Ohno plastered Dream with an elbow as soon as he got up. From there, they wrestled a match, and it was fine. Dream controls a lot of the match, and I like how Ohno makes him earn any selling, kicking out at 1 when it felt right to do so, but still letting him retain control. Ohno’s offence looks better than Dream’s for the most part – his senton looks killer and the rolling kick feels like a real KO blow. Dream is still a bit sloppy offensively, and I hate that over-complicated Sister Abigail-esque DDT he does, but he’s got the presence and character stuff nailed down. A DVd and a hufe top rope elbow gets the win.

Shayna Baszler vs Ember Moon

Liked Moon’s strategy early on here, taking the fight to Baszler. She hits a really vicious looking dropkick and a great low tope early doors. When Baszler gets an opening, she really takes advantage of it, hitting some awesome looking short knees. Baszler is like a shark working over the left arm of Moon, really methodically working it over. Moon really sells the arm, even on offence, trying to protect it when possible. Baszler gets hit by the Eclipse, really selling it as a knockout blow, but Moon’s arm is too hurt to make the cover. The end is logically worked, as Baszler tries to hook in an armbar to finish off the mat, but Moon keeps fighting it off, preventing a full extension, before managing to roll up Baszler for the win. Enjoyed this

  

Aleister Black vs Adam Cole

Thought this was the weakest match of the night. I really like Black, have done since I first saw Tommy End live, but Cole is a guy who does nothing for me. There’s nothing he brought to this match that couldn’t have been done by any one of hundreds of generic indy wrestlers. That said, what really hurt this match was the layout. This became one of those hardcore matches where a lot of time is spent setting up props for the next big spot, making the match feel drawn out. Most of the hardcore spots looks good – Cole blatantly holding a chair in his face ready for a knee strike being the exception – and that kept the match a somewhat entertaining spectacle. Loved the big bump where Black got superkicked off the top through two ringside tables, and Cole eating a DVD on two chairs set up back-to-back was a sick spot. Black also got to maintain his aura, looking like a badass as he dropped his kendo stick at the start of a potential duel, instead opting to use his feet as a weapon. It’s just a shame the meat of this match was lacking.

Andrade Almas vs Johnny Gargano

This, for my money, is the best match in NXT history. I went into this with high hopes, having loved their Takeover match back in August, but this surpassed those expectations. One of my favourite things in NXT has been the development of Gargano as super-babyface. Four years ago, I saw him wrestle in a local leisure centre (incidentally, against Tomasso Ciampa), and sat there agog at one of the worst sequences I’d ever seen in a wrestling ring, as Gargano superkicked Ciampa – who didn’t sell and hit a jumping knee to Gargano – who didn’t sell and hit another superkick –and so on and so on. In this match, he puts on a clinic in how to sell, his body crumpling with despair when Almas is able to kick out of a certain fall or make the rope when the Gargano Escape is locked in (and the spot right at the end where Almas hooks his foot over the bottom rope is heartbreaking within the story). The offensive sequences by both men looked spot on, even down to how tightly Almas held a chinlock. It didn’t feel like a resthold, it felt like him trying to put Gargano out, giving him no room to breathe. There’s so many moments in the match that looked great, and worked as natural counters to what their opponent was doing – the missed cannonball that sends Gargano crashing to the floor, or Almas missing a mounted punch putting him in prime position to eat a superkick through the legs. What’s great is, though they hit some big bombs, the kickouts never felt like overkill, instead fitting into the fabric of the story due to how well they were used. For example, Gargano hitting a slingshot DDT onto the apron should be a killshot move, but it sent both men to the floor so, by the time Gargano had built up the energy to roll Almas back in the ring, enough time had passed to justify the kickout. By the end, both guys looked dead on their feet, before Almas hits the running knees on the apron and a hanging DDT to finally put Gargano down. If this isn’t top of my end of year list, then I’ll have watched some bloody good wrestling this year. 

WWE NXT Takeover: Wargames

Kassius Ohno vs Lars Sullivan

Really perfectly worked opener here. The trick with a match like this is letting Ohno get in a lot of offence without making Sullivan look weak, and they basically achieved this by letting Ohno drop a load of big bombs and letting Sullivan be barely affected by them. Sullivan dominated early, hitting some big driving knees to a downed Ohno, and when Ohno does a kip up after a bit of offence, he’s met right away with a huge clothesline. Ohno looked smart on the attack, going for repeated big blows, with big kicks to the face and a series of elbows to the head. The ones to the back of Sullivan’s head looked especially great and seemed to stagger the monster. Ohno repeatedly kicks Lars in the head…and Sullivan kicks out at 1.  Ohno gets to look great for hitting such a barrage (and the execution was important here; Ohno’s shots looked brutal) and Sullivan looks like a beast for surviving. The Freak Accident gets the win for Sullivan.

Aleister Black vs Velveteen Dream

A lot to like here, and one or two bits I didn’t. Loved Dream showing off some Rick Rude style airbrushed tights at the start. The opening matwork was cool, felt like Dream was trying to compete on an even keel with Black to earn respect, but Black was all over the arm like superglue. There was a nice feeling of mind games and one-upsmanship, with both taunting and faking dives. The middle of the match had a few bits I didn’t love – Dream’s striking was of variable quality, with his superkick to Black’s chest being a bit poor. I also hated how twice Dream no-sold kicks to the face from Black, at one point recovering from a kick to immediately hit a DVD, which feels less forgivable when one of the competitors is working a “really good striker” gimmick. The positives are just how well Dream carried himself, came across as a star on a level with Black, who has a real unshakable aura. The spike DDT Dream hit on Black looked absolutely killer. Black picks up the win with Black Mass

Kairi Sane vs Nikki Cross vs Peyton Royce vs Ember Moon

Match itself was perfectly fine, but man did they ever pick the wrong winner here. They tried to avoid the main pitfalls of multi-man matches, the way people spend forever on the outside of the ring in a way they wouldn’t in a singles match. Indeed, there was very little in the way of 1-on-1 action. Some of the early spots were really fun too – loved Sane diving from the apron with a forearm on Royce, Moon hitting a low tope through Sane and Royce, followed by Moon splatting Cross with a powerbomb on the floor. Back inside we get a string of nearfalls before Moon wins the title with the Eclipse on Cross and Royce. Having Moon win the title after chasing Asuka for months and losing cleanly (highlighted on commentary pre-match by Nigel) really highlights that the NXT women’s champion only won because Asuka left the brand, making both her and the title look second rate already. Also, whilst she got a decent reaction in her home state of Texas, she’s easily the least over and has the least character of the four women involved. Match was absolutely fine, but it’s a totally underwhelming result.

Drew McIntyre vs Andrade Almas

Absolutely loved this, and it’s the second NXT Takeover in a row that Almas has been half of the match of the night. Loved the use of Zelina Vega in this one, where she’s not just portrayed as a valet or as eye candy, but instead is able to provide brains and to physically interject herself into the match. There’s a lovely early spot where she tries to take McIntyre over with a rana from the apron, but Drew uses his power to block it and puts her back on the apron like a gentleman, only for Almas to try a tope straight away. Drew is able to block it, but it shows the danger Vega can present. McIntyre hurts his shoulder on a ringpost, which gives Almas something to focus on. Loved Drew having to hit one armed hurling suplexes on Almas to protect the arm, as well as using Almas’ momentum to hit two huge overhead belly-to-belly suplexes. Loved Drew again using the power advantage to block a reverse rana, turning it into a facebuster, and the Almas moonsault from the ringpost to the floor looked gorgeous. There’s some really close nearfalls towards the end, with Drew getting two from the FutureShock, Almas looking nailed on to win after hitting a hammerlock DDT following Vega headscissoring Drew into the mat, and a Claymore seeing Vega putting Almas’ foot on the rope for the save. The draping DDT that wins it for Almas spikes Drew to the mat, and is a fitting end for a great bout.

Sanity (Eric Young, Killian Dain & Alexander Wolfe) vs the Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) vs the Authors of Pain & Roderick Strong

Right, first things first. This isn’t a WarGames match. It’s got some things is common with WarGames, like the double-ring, the staggered team entrances, but it’s not the same thing. I’ve got an overweight one-eyed pug, and she’s got a lot in common with a greyhound (is a dog, has four legs, can physically move), but if I took her down the local dog track for a race, they’d laugh me out of the grounds. By having three teams, and by removing the fact that team members are added individually, you lose that natural rise-and-fall where it feels like a hot tag every time a member of the face team gets in. You lose the tactics and the excitement of discovering which team member will get introduced next. You lose the natural structure that WarGames provides. So whilst this has a lot in common, this isn’t WarGames.

What this ends up being is a perfectly fun Cage of Death match. The opening stages are pretty slow, especially when the Undisputed Era are controlling Young and Strong in the cage, but things pick up a bit when the Authors of Pain are added, and explode when Sanity come in, adding a load of plunder. Really, it’s the Sanity team who shine in this match. EY has a thankless task, being the guy who gets beaten up pretty solidly for the first 8 minutes of the bout, but he’s a solid bumper, has a charismatic presence and, when he does get to go on offence, he’s also  got really nice offence that he fits in at the appropriate time. Loved him saving Wolfe from a O’Reilly cross armbreaker with a picture perfect top rope elbow. Wolfe doesn’t get to shine quite like the tag title win in August, but his top rope German suplex on an AoP member through a table that cuts his head open is nuts. Dain gets an incredible showcase, hitting a Michinoku Driver on Cole onto Fish, hitting a huge top rope cross body and hitting an insane coast-to-coast dropkick onto O’Reilly. Authors of Pain aren’t so impressive, though they get a few nice moments. Hitting Death Valley Driver’s into opposite corners that already have Undisputed Era members in a tree of woe was a nice touch. The Undisputed Era get the least shine, though that may be by design. I’m undecided if Cole wasn’t impressive because he’s supposed to be a coward (loved his snake-like crawl along the top of the cage, attempting to forfeit for his team by escaping – ultimately ending when Roddy suplexes him from the top of the cage onto everyone else) or because he’s not very good (he was easily the least of the opening three-way with Roddy and EY). So, whilst not in any way a WarGames match, it’s a totally enjoyable nonsense spotfest. By the time Cole gets the win, hitting a chair into Young’s face with a running kick, over 35 minutes have passed enjoyably enough.