Marshall's NXT Takeover Wargames Review


This show is, unsurprisingly, stacked. There isn't a single match that doesn't look like it will deliver. I'm up for this.

We are unexpectedly starting with Matt Riddle, who says he wants Kassius Ohno right now, bro. Ohno agrees and we have a match. 

Matt Riddle vs Kassius Ohno

Ohno tries to rush Riddle but it turns out to be a terrible idea as he takes a knee to the face and is pinned immediately. I assume we will get a longer version of this at some point. NR


NXT Women's Title, 2/3 Falls - Shayna Baszler vs Kairi Sane

Sane starts this match like a house of fire, giving Baszler no time at all to settle. Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke immediately get involved, though, and that allows Baszler to pick up an immediate fall. 

The second fall starts with Baszler maintaining control and trying to put Sane away as quickly as possible. Baszler tries to hit a suplex on the apron but Sane reverses it into a sick looking DDT. Sane heads up top and hits an InSane Elbow to the outside, followed by one to the inside and we are tied up at one apiece.

The crowd is really into this now. Sane gets control but Duke and Shafir interfere again. Dakota Kai and Io Shirai level the playing field. Sane heads up top and hits the elbow but Baszler reverses into a crucifix and gets the pin. This wasn't a bad match but I expected more from the stipulation and the competitors. This seemed rushed as I expect a 2/3 falls match to last more than 10 minutes. There really wasn't a great deal more than what I wrote but what was there was good. ***1/2


Aleister Black vs Johnny Gargano

Black comes out wearing a dragon skin coat. Gargano has Punisher themed gear. Gargano takes the piss out of Black. I haven't seen cocky dickhead Gargano in years. The match started with Gargano using Black's anger against him but as it went on it became a highly competitive match that just kept getting better. There were some wonderful exchanges in here and some very believable near falls. They did some fun things with suicide dives too, with Gargano hitting a DDT out of one that looked amazing. He tried another later on though and got caught with a nasty looking knee. The finishing segment involved some great storytelling elements to go with the top notch wrestling too. In the end Black won with two Black Masses, continuing Gargano's run of losing in amazing matches. If there is a better match on this show I will be amazed. Spectacular stuff. ****3/4


NXT Title - Tommaso Ciampa vs Velveteen Dream

Dream comes out dressed as Hollywood Hogan. I'm sure there is an inappropriate joke to be made there. The match starts out with both men trying to get the upper hand in the mind games. That and some Hulk Hogan impersonations. The match gets serious shortly after with Ciampa trying to knee a hole in Dream's head. Dream responds by stealing the finishers of some legends. And Hulk Hogan. As the match goes on it builds into an excellent title match. The concern going in was that it didn't seem that Dream had been built up enough to be a credible challenger but the way they went about the match meant that didn't end up being an issue. Ciampa got more desperate as it went on and I really thought it was over after Dream hit a DVD on the exposed concrete followed by the Purple Rainmaker. In the end, though, Ciampa won after hitting a draping DDT on the metal between the rings. This was superb. ****1/2


WarGames - Ricochet, Pete Dunne & War Raiders vs Undisputed ERA

Adam Cole and Ricochet start things off. They put together a fun first 5 minute section before O'Reilly enters to give the heels the advantage. They double team Ricochet before Hanson levels up the teams, much to the annoyance of Pete Dunne. Hanson runs wild and looks a million bucks while doing so. The next man out is Roderick Strong and he wastes no time in showing why he is just the fucking best. He goes on a backbreaker spree before Rowe comes out for the faces, once again to the annoyance of Dunne. Rowe gets his shit in. As Bobby Fish leaves his cage he steals the lock and attaches it to Dunne's cage and throws away the key. Undisputed ERA take complete control of the match now, destroying everyone with chairs while Dunne is trapped in the cage. Eventually somebody finds some bolt cutters and Dunne is unleashed. He fills the ring with plunder and the match is officially go. 

We are in the weapons and craziness portion of the match now. The ERA take a beating from whatever weapons are lying around and the match is back in the balance. Dunne fights off all four men but ends up being cut off. Ricochet breaks it up by just jumping over everybody. Rowe gets speared through a table. Hanson splashes O'Reilly through a table from the opposite ring. Cole and Ricochet head up top which leads to a big tower of doom. Ricochet is still up top, though, and he pulls out the fucking DOUBLE MOONSAULT! It's been a long time since I've seen that. We have a good old Mexican standoff. They throw everything they have at each other for the finishing stretch and it resulted in a bunch of great false finishes before both Dunne and Ricochet pinned Cole to pick up the win. While this match was wildly entertaining, especially the second half, it wasn't quite up to the standard of that from the previous year, possibly because the first half didn't really have any stand out moments. ****1/4

Overall Grade - A

I don't really have anything bad to say about this show as most of the running time was taken up by excellent wrestling. The only slight disappointment, for me, was the women's title match. This was another must see show from the NXT brand. 

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