NXT Takeover: War Games II
Los Angeles, California - November 2018
CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, Tommaso Ciampa is the reigning NXT Champion, the NXT North American Champion is Ricochet, and the NXT UK Champion is Pete Dunne. The NXT Tag Team Champions are the Undisputed Era, while the NXT Women's Title is held by Shayna Baszler.
COMMENTATORS: Maura Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, and Percy Watson
NXT Takeover specials have consistently been the best events the WWE produces for the past 3 (4?) years, but tonight's show had less buzz than others. The past few months of NXT programming have been built around Aleister Black's mystery attacker, the Undisputed Era's ups-and-downs, the Kairi Sane/Shayna Baszler feud, the continued rise of Velveteen Dream, and, maybe more than anything else, the debuts of several talents - including the War Raiders and Keith Lee - but despite all this going on, this Takeover show, on paper, felt more obligatory than previous shows, a big special event happening because its Survivor Series weekend rather than one that feels earned by the current storylines (most of which feel like they already peaked). Would the wrestling be enough to carry this show?
In a surprising opening segment, Matt Riddle came out, challenging Kassius Ohno, who had interrupted him during a promo on the Kickoff Show. The bell rang and as Riddle put his jacket away, Ohno tried to attack only to get met by a huge knee straight to the face. Riddle made the cover to score a pinfall in less than 5 seconds. This was more of an angle than a match and it was well-executed, but I'm not going to rate it or award it a bonus point. I'm not a regular viewer of NXT so I don't exactly know when Riddle debuted, but I feel like missed an opportunity to have him make his first appearance here.
Next up - Shayna Baszler defending the NXT Women's Championship against Kairi Sane. Like in the opener, the bell rang and Kairi Sane exploded out of the corner with offense. I loved how this match opened with in-ring fireworks and then, just a minute or two in, Baszler's Horsewomen friends showed up and interfered. As so many 2-out-of-3 Falls matches begin with cautious wrestling and deliberate pacing, it was refreshing that this one gave us fast-paced action and dirty heel tactics from the very start. It grabbed the attention of the audience too as they loudly chanted "Bullshit" when Baszler was able to score the first fall with her submission finish fairly early on. In the second fall, Baszler looked as impressive as she ever has, twisting Sane like a pretzel at certain points and delivering some outright nasty kicks to Sane's back and sides. Great spot on the apron as Sane reversed a suplex attempt into a spike DDT followed by Sane taking out Shayna's allies and then landing a flying elbow on all 3. Sane would tie things up back in the ring with another elbow and the match entered its final stage. Unfortunately, what should've been epic battle devolved rather quickly as the Horsewomen continued to get involved, only for Dakota Kai to show up to try to even the odds. Io Shirai then came onto the scene and hit a big moonsault on the outside with Sane then hitting her big elbow from the top. Baszler countered the pin attempt, though, and escaped with the title. I wasn't a huge fan of the closing minute of this match as there was too much focus on the outside-the-ring action as Sane and Baszler basically froze in place while the shenanigans played out. Everything up to that point was excellent, though, and, with a stronger finishing stretch (and a bit more time), this would've probably been my favorite match between these two yet. In one sense, leaving the audience wanting more is the mark of a great match, but this really could've been a classic and it didn't hit that level. (3.5/5)
X-Pac is shown in the front row looking happy.
Next up, a grudge match between Johnny Gargano and Aleister Black. I wasn't a fan of the reveal that it was Gargano that attacked Black. Now, don't get me wrong - it made perfect sense. Gargano was the obvious choice and that sort of common sense logic has been one of the NXT brand's best elements. Unfortunately, it also means predictability and, in this case, a heel turn that feels forced and short-sighted. Then, you get a match like this; a match that could never be considered average but still felt underwhelming. The execution was on-point throughout and both Gargano and Black are going to feel its effects. Nobody half-assed anything. Still, sometimes great ingredients don't blend well. Gargano's mocking of Black was fun, but nothing new, which was kind of true of everything he did in his new heel role. Gargano is a such a pro that he will make being a villain work, but his performance in this role is, at least now, not as revelatory as his beloved underdog babyface work. And, to be sure, the Gargano underdog story may have needed a rest...but there was a way to freshen things up - a feud with a major heel not named Ciampa, maybe a more involved angle involving Candice LeRae, maybe a brief foray back into the tag ranks - without abandoning his backstory entirely. Black, on the other hand, is stuck in the position that every other former NXT Champion gets stuck in. What does it mean to lose the "developmental league" championship? Is reconquering it the goal or is proving your skills on the main roster the next step? Its a position that I'm not sure any former NXT Champion has navigated very well. Anyway - back to the match itself. As I stated earlier, this match featured several great spots executed flawlessly, but the moments of drama didn't ring as true as the ones we got in the Gargano/Ciampa classics nor was the clash of personalities as captivating as we got in Black's bouts with Velveteen Dream and Adam Cole. Its almost bizarre to call a match featuring this much hard-hitting action and thrilling false finishes a disappointment, but this was almost doomed from the beginning because of how much the booking and positioning has muted the strengths of its participants. The juxtaposition of characters, something both guys rely on, wasn't there. Black works best as a foil to more colorful, charismatic characters, and Gargano is a freshly-turned heel showing his dark side for the first time. It was gloomy Black Metal guy vs. gloomy Emo Kid. Throw in a lack of stakes and you have a match that should've been very heated but never actually felt like a contest that either guy was dying to win. (3/5)
The NXT Championship was on the line as Ciampa defended the strap against The Velveteen Dream, who came out in Hollywood Hogan-inspired gear. This is the second time he's channeled the Hulkster, which I hope doesn't become a recurring theme when he gets called up to the main roster. Some reviewers disliked the start of this match, which saw Dream working the crowd with classic Hogan taunts and a big boot spot. While I can see the argument that, in an NXT Title match, Dream should've been working in a more serious manner, one could just as easily argue that Dream's antics were consistent with the strategy he's employed in all his major matches, a strategy that may not be super successful (his Takeover record has got to be close to as bad as Gargano's) but that is quintessentially his. Why wouldn't Velveteen Dream, wrestling the biggest match of his life, not perform his way? Dream's made it clear that its not necessarily titles that drive him, but stardom, adoration, the spotlight itself. But even if you were annoyed by the initial minutes of this match, you were likely won over by its halfway point as Ciampa and Dream got more serious and the exchanges became more heated. Unlike Gargano/Black, where the intensity felt contrived from the start and the motivation for winning seemed to take a backseat to just performing knee strikes and stiff kicks, what we saw in this match was Dream and Ciampa go from having a clear dislike of each other to outright hatred and unexpected frustration. Dream locked in a figure four around the post at one point and it worked because the match had escalated there organically and it felt true to Dream's innermost character. Remember, this guy started out as a heel and his transformation into a fan favorite came because the crowd jumped on his bandwagon, not because he all of a sudden stopped being self-important and decided to fight "for good." Both guys hit absolutely everything they had in their arsenal, but could not secure a 3-count, though I admit to biting on at least one of the false finishes. I'm not sure how I feel about Dream's most high impact moves looking ineffective, but in 2018, that's become par for the course - especially in NXT, at Takeover specials, where you're likely to see dudes kick out of countless would-be match-enders. By the end, the two men had hit each other with so many moves that it was hard to see any end that would've done the trick, but with the help from the steel grating between the two rings, Ciampa was eventually able to take the match after what felt like the dozenth DDT of the night. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing a rematch between these two as I think they have a better match in them, one that would start where this one ended, with Dream maybe toning down the shtick now that he knows that, if he stays focused, he can wrest the title away from the champ. Just a few hairs below a Match of the Year candidate to me. (3.5/5)
Main event time - War Games! Undisputed Era's Adam Cole started off against the babyface team's leader, Ricochet, in the first 5 minute round. Ricochet started off hot, but Cole caught him with a backstabber when he attempted a flying back elbow and took control from there. Ricochet would put some distance between himself and Cole some minutes later, allowing him to hit a massive back elbow from one ring into another in a great (almost underappreciated-by-the-crowd spot). Kyle O'Reilly came out next and the UE took over. O'Reilly isn't everyone's favorite worker, but I like the shootfighter/muay thai style and don't care about how authentic any of it is (hey, was Stan Lane a real karate master?). Plus, he just comes off as a smug asshole. After hitting Ricochet with a two-man ushigoroshi, Hansen emerged out of the babyface cage and went to work on both UE members. Hansen's dominant offense wasn't spectacular, but boy was it super effective, and they even had some fun with it as Ricochet hit a shooting star press off Hansen's back onto Kyle O'Reilly. Roderick Strong came out next and Mauro noted that, at last year's event, he actually competed against the Undisputed Era - which kind of puts a hole in the logic of him ever joining the team, but whatever. Strong came in and proceeded to destroy the babyfaces, his flashy offense looking so good that the crowd had no choice but to chant "Undisputed" after he hit the super heavyweight Hansen with a Samoan Drop. Next out for the good guys came Cleveland native (Raymond) Rowe. With help from Hansen, Rowe was able to hit Strong and O'Reilly with a combined bodyslam/powerbomb move that got a huge pop. With those two out, Cole was left to fend for himself and got sent face-first into the cage like a battering ram. Bobby FIsh then came out, but instead of heading into the ring, he locked Pete Dunne into his own cage and threw away the key! I've never seen that before, but, then again, this War Games wasn't like the ones in WCW where the guys just stood outside the ring and the cage had a roof on it. Down at ringside, Fish grabbed a number of chairs and fed them to O'Reilly in the ring. The UE proceeded to hit their opponents with chairshot after chairshot before sending Hansen into the cell wall. Strong hit a sidewalk slam on Rowe onto a standing chair and then they sent him into the cell wall for good measure too. The clock struck zero, but Dunne remained locked in his cage, the referees having no way to get him out...except bolt cutters (as Nigel mentioned on commentary). After the heels hit a series of superplexes, Pete Dunne was finally freed and down to the ring he came with loads of energy. Dunne grabbed a kendo stick and took out the UE one-by-one in a terribly telegraphed segment that saw each UE member offer up their fingers, hand, or whole body for Dunne to use. Dunne then tossed a trash can and, to the delight of the crowd, a pair of tables into the cage. With "The Match Beyond" officially underway, the violence heightened and the once-dominant UE looked to be in serious trouble. Dunne then gripped a steel chain and went after Strong before using it to whip Kyle O'Reilly over the top rope and onto the steel grate between the two rings. Dunne's assault on O'Reilly continued in the second ring as he looked to break every finger on the guy's hand. Cole made the save, though, and the UE looked like they might have a chance after all. Hansen and Rowe cut their comeback short, though, combining their efforts with a series of solid double-team maneuvers including one that saw Hansen hit a vicous springboard clothesline onto Roddy Strong. Minutes later, though, the UE was back in control, surrounding Pete Dunne. Dunne valiantly fought them all off, though, the crowd going wild for the Bruiserweight until O'Reilly took him out with a chain. With an assist from a Bobby Fish chairshot, O'Reilly applied an ankle lock as Strong added extra leverage by grinding a chair against his face. Ricochet made the save, though, and the War Raiders set up Strong and Fish on the top rope, the momentum of the match shifting for what seemed like the hundredth time. Ricochet hit a hurricanrana from the top while Dunne delivered a modified hiptoss at the same time, but neither was enough to secure a victory. Hansen tried to lay Cole on a table, but one of the legs buckled. This gave Cole a chance to escape, but he wasn't able to for long as Rowe caught him, popped him up, and sent him straight into the arms of Hansen, who crushed him with a powerslam. Bobby Fish drove Rowe through a table with a spear seconds later to a big ovation. Cole and Ricochet went after each other in the corner, Cole ending up in a tree of woe position. O'Reilly was then laid on the table and looked to be in trouble, but Strong made the save. O'Reilly locked in an armbar on the table, but Hansen came flying onto him! The match looked to be over but Strong made the save with a trash can at 2. Cole inexplicably went to the top of the cage as Mauro noted that, if he were to escape the cage, he'd actually lose under the War Games rules (that's a new one to me). Ricochet followed him and soon Strong and Dunne were on the wall too. This segment ended with a massive tower of doom spot that saw Hansen essentially powerbomb five guys off the cage wall, including Adam Cole, who took a bump from the very top of the cage right into the center of the ring. Ricochet, who was left at the top of the cage, then hit a dazzling double-moonsault splash from the top that barely caught anyone but was sold by all 7 of the other participants in the match. The teams then regrouped in the two separate rings, basking in the adoration of the fans. Into the center of the ring they went and a brawl ensued, all 8 men throwing punches until they were all back on the mat. It was a cool moment that just goes to show how symbolism and a cool visual can get a pop just as big as any crazy dangerous high spot. From here, the War Raiders hit their Fallout finish, but their match-stealing moment came when Hansen hit a handspring back elbow, which was crazy. In the other ring, Adam Cole connected with a superkick onto Ricochet as he came flying off the top rope in a nice callback to the incredible spot they performed in their North American Title match at the last Takeover. Dunne and Cole then went at it in a lightning fast sequence that was capped off by Ricochet hitting a 450 and and he and Dunne collectively making the pin on Cole. A highly entertaining match with some nice twists and turns, but one that felt a bit overlong and, because of some of the more outrageous spots we had seen earlier in the match (not to mention in the last War Games match), anti-climactic in its closing moments. (3.5/5)
With a Kwang Score of 3.38-out-of-5, NXT Takeover: War Games II was an enjoyable show, but not a flawless one. While none of the matches were anything less than good, there was also not a single bout that I'd consider "WWE Match of the Year caliber." Dream/Ciampa and the Women's Championship match were close, but the former felt just a touch "off," an overwrought prelude to a better match or an Act 1 that tried too hard to be an Act 3. The latter had almost the opposite problem as Baszler and Sane showcased a proven chemistry but threw in enough new thrills and wrestled at such a wonderful, spirited pace that the audience would've been happy to be taken on a ride at least 3-5 minutes longer. The best moments of the War Games match were excellent - but, somewhat surprisingly, they were also the moments that were based most on the characters and not necessarily the high risk maneuvers we saw, from Adam Cole's effortless heeling to Bobby Fish brilliantly trying to prevent Dunne from even competing to the final Sharks/Jets face-off prior to the closing stretch. Ricochet, Roderick Strong, Dunne, and Hansen all delivered some remarkable offense too, but there were also telegraphs and set-ups that made the match seem far less brutal than the more simple, but arguably more perilous classics from the late 80s and early 90s. With so much good action, NXT Takeover: War Games II is worth a watch, but maybe not in its entirety and maybe not if you're expecting the kind of fandom-affirming awesomeness that NXT used to deliver with greater consistency.
FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand
In a surprising opening segment, Matt Riddle came out, challenging Kassius Ohno, who had interrupted him during a promo on the Kickoff Show. The bell rang and as Riddle put his jacket away, Ohno tried to attack only to get met by a huge knee straight to the face. Riddle made the cover to score a pinfall in less than 5 seconds. This was more of an angle than a match and it was well-executed, but I'm not going to rate it or award it a bonus point. I'm not a regular viewer of NXT so I don't exactly know when Riddle debuted, but I feel like missed an opportunity to have him make his first appearance here.
Next up - Shayna Baszler defending the NXT Women's Championship against Kairi Sane. Like in the opener, the bell rang and Kairi Sane exploded out of the corner with offense. I loved how this match opened with in-ring fireworks and then, just a minute or two in, Baszler's Horsewomen friends showed up and interfered. As so many 2-out-of-3 Falls matches begin with cautious wrestling and deliberate pacing, it was refreshing that this one gave us fast-paced action and dirty heel tactics from the very start. It grabbed the attention of the audience too as they loudly chanted "Bullshit" when Baszler was able to score the first fall with her submission finish fairly early on. In the second fall, Baszler looked as impressive as she ever has, twisting Sane like a pretzel at certain points and delivering some outright nasty kicks to Sane's back and sides. Great spot on the apron as Sane reversed a suplex attempt into a spike DDT followed by Sane taking out Shayna's allies and then landing a flying elbow on all 3. Sane would tie things up back in the ring with another elbow and the match entered its final stage. Unfortunately, what should've been epic battle devolved rather quickly as the Horsewomen continued to get involved, only for Dakota Kai to show up to try to even the odds. Io Shirai then came onto the scene and hit a big moonsault on the outside with Sane then hitting her big elbow from the top. Baszler countered the pin attempt, though, and escaped with the title. I wasn't a huge fan of the closing minute of this match as there was too much focus on the outside-the-ring action as Sane and Baszler basically froze in place while the shenanigans played out. Everything up to that point was excellent, though, and, with a stronger finishing stretch (and a bit more time), this would've probably been my favorite match between these two yet. In one sense, leaving the audience wanting more is the mark of a great match, but this really could've been a classic and it didn't hit that level. (3.5/5)
X-Pac is shown in the front row looking happy.
Next up, a grudge match between Johnny Gargano and Aleister Black. I wasn't a fan of the reveal that it was Gargano that attacked Black. Now, don't get me wrong - it made perfect sense. Gargano was the obvious choice and that sort of common sense logic has been one of the NXT brand's best elements. Unfortunately, it also means predictability and, in this case, a heel turn that feels forced and short-sighted. Then, you get a match like this; a match that could never be considered average but still felt underwhelming. The execution was on-point throughout and both Gargano and Black are going to feel its effects. Nobody half-assed anything. Still, sometimes great ingredients don't blend well. Gargano's mocking of Black was fun, but nothing new, which was kind of true of everything he did in his new heel role. Gargano is a such a pro that he will make being a villain work, but his performance in this role is, at least now, not as revelatory as his beloved underdog babyface work. And, to be sure, the Gargano underdog story may have needed a rest...but there was a way to freshen things up - a feud with a major heel not named Ciampa, maybe a more involved angle involving Candice LeRae, maybe a brief foray back into the tag ranks - without abandoning his backstory entirely. Black, on the other hand, is stuck in the position that every other former NXT Champion gets stuck in. What does it mean to lose the "developmental league" championship? Is reconquering it the goal or is proving your skills on the main roster the next step? Its a position that I'm not sure any former NXT Champion has navigated very well. Anyway - back to the match itself. As I stated earlier, this match featured several great spots executed flawlessly, but the moments of drama didn't ring as true as the ones we got in the Gargano/Ciampa classics nor was the clash of personalities as captivating as we got in Black's bouts with Velveteen Dream and Adam Cole. Its almost bizarre to call a match featuring this much hard-hitting action and thrilling false finishes a disappointment, but this was almost doomed from the beginning because of how much the booking and positioning has muted the strengths of its participants. The juxtaposition of characters, something both guys rely on, wasn't there. Black works best as a foil to more colorful, charismatic characters, and Gargano is a freshly-turned heel showing his dark side for the first time. It was gloomy Black Metal guy vs. gloomy Emo Kid. Throw in a lack of stakes and you have a match that should've been very heated but never actually felt like a contest that either guy was dying to win. (3/5)
The NXT Championship was on the line as Ciampa defended the strap against The Velveteen Dream, who came out in Hollywood Hogan-inspired gear. This is the second time he's channeled the Hulkster, which I hope doesn't become a recurring theme when he gets called up to the main roster. Some reviewers disliked the start of this match, which saw Dream working the crowd with classic Hogan taunts and a big boot spot. While I can see the argument that, in an NXT Title match, Dream should've been working in a more serious manner, one could just as easily argue that Dream's antics were consistent with the strategy he's employed in all his major matches, a strategy that may not be super successful (his Takeover record has got to be close to as bad as Gargano's) but that is quintessentially his. Why wouldn't Velveteen Dream, wrestling the biggest match of his life, not perform his way? Dream's made it clear that its not necessarily titles that drive him, but stardom, adoration, the spotlight itself. But even if you were annoyed by the initial minutes of this match, you were likely won over by its halfway point as Ciampa and Dream got more serious and the exchanges became more heated. Unlike Gargano/Black, where the intensity felt contrived from the start and the motivation for winning seemed to take a backseat to just performing knee strikes and stiff kicks, what we saw in this match was Dream and Ciampa go from having a clear dislike of each other to outright hatred and unexpected frustration. Dream locked in a figure four around the post at one point and it worked because the match had escalated there organically and it felt true to Dream's innermost character. Remember, this guy started out as a heel and his transformation into a fan favorite came because the crowd jumped on his bandwagon, not because he all of a sudden stopped being self-important and decided to fight "for good." Both guys hit absolutely everything they had in their arsenal, but could not secure a 3-count, though I admit to biting on at least one of the false finishes. I'm not sure how I feel about Dream's most high impact moves looking ineffective, but in 2018, that's become par for the course - especially in NXT, at Takeover specials, where you're likely to see dudes kick out of countless would-be match-enders. By the end, the two men had hit each other with so many moves that it was hard to see any end that would've done the trick, but with the help from the steel grating between the two rings, Ciampa was eventually able to take the match after what felt like the dozenth DDT of the night. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing a rematch between these two as I think they have a better match in them, one that would start where this one ended, with Dream maybe toning down the shtick now that he knows that, if he stays focused, he can wrest the title away from the champ. Just a few hairs below a Match of the Year candidate to me. (3.5/5)
Main event time - War Games! Undisputed Era's Adam Cole started off against the babyface team's leader, Ricochet, in the first 5 minute round. Ricochet started off hot, but Cole caught him with a backstabber when he attempted a flying back elbow and took control from there. Ricochet would put some distance between himself and Cole some minutes later, allowing him to hit a massive back elbow from one ring into another in a great (almost underappreciated-by-the-crowd spot). Kyle O'Reilly came out next and the UE took over. O'Reilly isn't everyone's favorite worker, but I like the shootfighter/muay thai style and don't care about how authentic any of it is (hey, was Stan Lane a real karate master?). Plus, he just comes off as a smug asshole. After hitting Ricochet with a two-man ushigoroshi, Hansen emerged out of the babyface cage and went to work on both UE members. Hansen's dominant offense wasn't spectacular, but boy was it super effective, and they even had some fun with it as Ricochet hit a shooting star press off Hansen's back onto Kyle O'Reilly. Roderick Strong came out next and Mauro noted that, at last year's event, he actually competed against the Undisputed Era - which kind of puts a hole in the logic of him ever joining the team, but whatever. Strong came in and proceeded to destroy the babyfaces, his flashy offense looking so good that the crowd had no choice but to chant "Undisputed" after he hit the super heavyweight Hansen with a Samoan Drop. Next out for the good guys came Cleveland native (Raymond) Rowe. With help from Hansen, Rowe was able to hit Strong and O'Reilly with a combined bodyslam/powerbomb move that got a huge pop. With those two out, Cole was left to fend for himself and got sent face-first into the cage like a battering ram. Bobby FIsh then came out, but instead of heading into the ring, he locked Pete Dunne into his own cage and threw away the key! I've never seen that before, but, then again, this War Games wasn't like the ones in WCW where the guys just stood outside the ring and the cage had a roof on it. Down at ringside, Fish grabbed a number of chairs and fed them to O'Reilly in the ring. The UE proceeded to hit their opponents with chairshot after chairshot before sending Hansen into the cell wall. Strong hit a sidewalk slam on Rowe onto a standing chair and then they sent him into the cell wall for good measure too. The clock struck zero, but Dunne remained locked in his cage, the referees having no way to get him out...except bolt cutters (as Nigel mentioned on commentary). After the heels hit a series of superplexes, Pete Dunne was finally freed and down to the ring he came with loads of energy. Dunne grabbed a kendo stick and took out the UE one-by-one in a terribly telegraphed segment that saw each UE member offer up their fingers, hand, or whole body for Dunne to use. Dunne then tossed a trash can and, to the delight of the crowd, a pair of tables into the cage. With "The Match Beyond" officially underway, the violence heightened and the once-dominant UE looked to be in serious trouble. Dunne then gripped a steel chain and went after Strong before using it to whip Kyle O'Reilly over the top rope and onto the steel grate between the two rings. Dunne's assault on O'Reilly continued in the second ring as he looked to break every finger on the guy's hand. Cole made the save, though, and the UE looked like they might have a chance after all. Hansen and Rowe cut their comeback short, though, combining their efforts with a series of solid double-team maneuvers including one that saw Hansen hit a vicous springboard clothesline onto Roddy Strong. Minutes later, though, the UE was back in control, surrounding Pete Dunne. Dunne valiantly fought them all off, though, the crowd going wild for the Bruiserweight until O'Reilly took him out with a chain. With an assist from a Bobby Fish chairshot, O'Reilly applied an ankle lock as Strong added extra leverage by grinding a chair against his face. Ricochet made the save, though, and the War Raiders set up Strong and Fish on the top rope, the momentum of the match shifting for what seemed like the hundredth time. Ricochet hit a hurricanrana from the top while Dunne delivered a modified hiptoss at the same time, but neither was enough to secure a victory. Hansen tried to lay Cole on a table, but one of the legs buckled. This gave Cole a chance to escape, but he wasn't able to for long as Rowe caught him, popped him up, and sent him straight into the arms of Hansen, who crushed him with a powerslam. Bobby Fish drove Rowe through a table with a spear seconds later to a big ovation. Cole and Ricochet went after each other in the corner, Cole ending up in a tree of woe position. O'Reilly was then laid on the table and looked to be in trouble, but Strong made the save. O'Reilly locked in an armbar on the table, but Hansen came flying onto him! The match looked to be over but Strong made the save with a trash can at 2. Cole inexplicably went to the top of the cage as Mauro noted that, if he were to escape the cage, he'd actually lose under the War Games rules (that's a new one to me). Ricochet followed him and soon Strong and Dunne were on the wall too. This segment ended with a massive tower of doom spot that saw Hansen essentially powerbomb five guys off the cage wall, including Adam Cole, who took a bump from the very top of the cage right into the center of the ring. Ricochet, who was left at the top of the cage, then hit a dazzling double-moonsault splash from the top that barely caught anyone but was sold by all 7 of the other participants in the match. The teams then regrouped in the two separate rings, basking in the adoration of the fans. Into the center of the ring they went and a brawl ensued, all 8 men throwing punches until they were all back on the mat. It was a cool moment that just goes to show how symbolism and a cool visual can get a pop just as big as any crazy dangerous high spot. From here, the War Raiders hit their Fallout finish, but their match-stealing moment came when Hansen hit a handspring back elbow, which was crazy. In the other ring, Adam Cole connected with a superkick onto Ricochet as he came flying off the top rope in a nice callback to the incredible spot they performed in their North American Title match at the last Takeover. Dunne and Cole then went at it in a lightning fast sequence that was capped off by Ricochet hitting a 450 and and he and Dunne collectively making the pin on Cole. A highly entertaining match with some nice twists and turns, but one that felt a bit overlong and, because of some of the more outrageous spots we had seen earlier in the match (not to mention in the last War Games match), anti-climactic in its closing moments. (3.5/5)
With a Kwang Score of 3.38-out-of-5, NXT Takeover: War Games II was an enjoyable show, but not a flawless one. While none of the matches were anything less than good, there was also not a single bout that I'd consider "WWE Match of the Year caliber." Dream/Ciampa and the Women's Championship match were close, but the former felt just a touch "off," an overwrought prelude to a better match or an Act 1 that tried too hard to be an Act 3. The latter had almost the opposite problem as Baszler and Sane showcased a proven chemistry but threw in enough new thrills and wrestled at such a wonderful, spirited pace that the audience would've been happy to be taken on a ride at least 3-5 minutes longer. The best moments of the War Games match were excellent - but, somewhat surprisingly, they were also the moments that were based most on the characters and not necessarily the high risk maneuvers we saw, from Adam Cole's effortless heeling to Bobby Fish brilliantly trying to prevent Dunne from even competing to the final Sharks/Jets face-off prior to the closing stretch. Ricochet, Roderick Strong, Dunne, and Hansen all delivered some remarkable offense too, but there were also telegraphs and set-ups that made the match seem far less brutal than the more simple, but arguably more perilous classics from the late 80s and early 90s. With so much good action, NXT Takeover: War Games II is worth a watch, but maybe not in its entirety and maybe not if you're expecting the kind of fandom-affirming awesomeness that NXT used to deliver with greater consistency.
FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand
No comments:
Post a Comment