NXT Takeover: WARGAMES~~~!!!

[Eivion]

Ohno/Lars was good fun.

Dream/Black was great, easily the best either has looked in NXT. I only wish Dream won.

Women's 4-way was fun.

Drew/Alamas took a while to really get my interest, but I was digging it a good deal by the end. So happy Almas won. Wasn't expecting that at all. I hope he keeps the belt until WM time where he loses it to Gargano who is then murdered by a returning Ciampa.

Thought War Games was pretty good. Even the shitty camera work didn't ruin the match for me though fuck could it have been so much better. Thought the big men were the MVPs with Dain in particular getting a great showcase in. Wolfe was insane for the super German suplex through the tables. Felt sorry for him with all that damn blood.

7 minutes ago, Raziel403 said:

Doesn't that make you Earth's *only* Takeshi Rikio fan?

I liked Rikio.

[SorceressKnight]

2 minutes ago, S.K.o.S. said:

Asuka presenting the belt to Ember was a perfect way to remind everyone of that.

They didn't even need to- the Brooklyn match was total annihilation to Ember Moon as a threat.

If Ember won in Brooklyn? She's a worthy champion and good choice.

If Ember lost dirty like in Orlando? She's the uncrowned REAL champion, and this is just righting a wrong.

If Ember lost clean, but DIDN'T HIT THE ECLIPSE in the match? Even THEN she's a worthwhile champion, because the whole story of the match was "Asuka knows Ember Moon's Eclipse is the deadliest move in NXT, and if Ember hits the Eclipse we have a new NXT Women's Champ and the streak is over." 

Ember lost. Clean. And hit the Eclipse. And it was kicked out of. That was total annihilation, and puts one of the biggest asterisks in wrestling history on this title reign of "Yeah, you won- but you didn't go through Asuka to do it."

(By contrast, even the other two established women wouldn't have that problem: Nikki Cross took Asuka to the limit with Asuka only barely getting up at 9 and dropping at 11 in the Last Woman Standing match, and if Peyton Royce won, "Yeah, but you didn't go through Asuka" would be a FEATURE, not a bug.) 

[Michael Sweetser]

Ember getting the title three shows too late makes me wonder if Delirious is booking the NXT women's division now.

NXT champion Roderick Strong is probably my worst case scenario, so I expect it to happen.  I realize it's a long time to hold a pointless grudge but he still strikes me as unsafe in the ring and I still haven't forgiven him for nearly ending Doi's career.  Almas is far more interesting than he is, in the ring and in character.

[FireThunder]

Triple H on Facebook just said that McIntyre may have a torn bicep and that's why they went home on the DDT.

I enjoyed the show tremendously, top to bottom.

[Peck]

Makes me wonder what the original finish was.

[Ryan]

A double rotation hammerlock ddt off the top.

[sydneybrown]

6 minutes ago, Peck said:

Makes me wonder what the original finish was.

Uh, Drew winning.

[Jiji]

That was a really fun ROH scramble cage melee.

Dream is going to be a huge fucking star. I say this every time I see him but he's unreal for 22 and only 3 years experience. I thought his match with Black was MOTN but Drew/Almas was great too. I missed the opener, so I'll go back and watch that before putting on the UFC show but I've been waiting for the monster Lars run since I saw photos of his hands. He's the real god damn Missing Link. Dain vs. Lars at Mania weekend please. 

I really thought it was time to pull the trigger on a Peyton HOYCE title win before Sane gets her run with the belt but I get that you don't want to make Moon like an also ran before she moves up to the main roster. Both the main event and the women's match were a bit too spotty to be truly great matches imo.

Sucks about Drew's injury. You could tell he was fucked up on the missing claymore into the ropes at the end.

[Brysynner]

Loved this show. Skipped the Ohno/Sullivan match because Ohno bores me.

Black/Dream was so freaking good. I love that Dream lost the match but he won the war because he got Black to say his name.

It seems like the only reason Moon won was because someone wanted to have Asuka hand the title to the new champion and they didn’t want it to be Sane winning. My guess is Moon drops the belt to the Iconic Duo at the next set of tapings.

Almas/McIntrye was really good. I did enjoy Alma’s shock of winning, dropping the belt while celebrating on the ramp and Vega just directing him in everything.

WarGames was 100x better than I thought it would be. I would’ve gone for a submission finish but I get why they went with a pinfall. Also Wolfe bled a lot and I’m really glad WWE doesn’t have a stop the match when someone gets busted open policy.

 

So my early Philly predictions:

Sullivan vs. Dane

Cole vs. Strong

Fish/O’Reilly vs Sanity - Tag Titles

Moon vs. Royce - Women’s Title

Black vs Almas - NXT Title

[MapRef41N93W]

39 minutes ago, BL88 said:

Lars Sullivan does Muso for a finish, and as earth's last Takeshi Rikio fan I just want to let it be known that I appreciate that.

I've been waiting for someone in WWE to rip this off. It's a great-looking move that seems relatively safe, and a big guy like Sullivan should be able to do it to just about everyone.

[Jiji]

I agree but with Lars' monstrously large hands, he should be doing something based around those. I can't remember, is somebody doing the claw hold/claw slam for a finish these days? Better yet, Vader's sky high chokeslam but a claw variant, that could end up like a muso.

[HumanChessgame]

2 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

I agree but with Lars' monstrously large hands, he should be doing something based around those. I can't remember, is somebody doing the claw hold/claw slam for a finish these days? Better yet, Vader's sky high chokeslam but a claw variant, that could end up like a muso.

Polish Hammer

[Nice Guy Eddie]

If they were to give Sullivan a submission finisher as well, it should be the Kona Crush.

[Jiji]

Fuck yeah! Polish hammer -> Kona Crush! Muso/claw slam for the big main events.

KO/Sullivan was exactly what it should've been. Two big dudes beating each other up with lots of strikes. I know NXT is still in a transitional phase since the brand split last year (and I will argue that's largely on them for not developing stars quicker), but the future is super bright with the likes of Sullivan and Dream as homegrown guys, Kairi in the women's division, Almas on top even if temporarily and perhaps unintentionally, and Cole 'n Co. building a fun heel faction. They've got Gargano's big main event singles run to burn through too. They may be lacking a Balor star to build around but we could be in for a really fun second wind of NXT greatness.

Saying all that, there were an awful lot of empty seats in that building. When they showed Funaki, Asuka and Finn... holy shit, the hard cam side looked completely empty in the lower bowl.

[Eivion]

3 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

Saying all that, there were an awful lot of empty seats in that building. When they showed Funaki, Asuka and Finn... holy shit, the hard cam side looked completely empty in the lower bowl.

Again i wonder if I could have gotten a cheap seat had I gone last minute.

14 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

I agree but with Lars' monstrously large hands, he should be doing something based around those. I can't remember, is somebody doing the claw hold/claw slam for a finish these days? Better yet, Vader's sky high chokeslam but a claw variant, that could end up like a muso.

I would so love to see someone in WWE do the claw slam.

[DreamBroken]

Dream/Black was excellent. Great story, match, and character work from both guys. Both came out looking good and the crowd was hot all the way through. Loved it.

Womens match felt a little short but a cool moment for Ember to see her win the title. I would've probably gone with Peyton but I'm happy for Ember to get her shot.

Drew/Almas ended up getting really good. Was shocked by the finish and Drew definitely seemed hurt in the end which sucks if he's going to be out for some time now.  Kind of reminded me of Roode/Nakamura in going in I thought Roode had no chance of winning then. Zelina Vega is perfect in her role and adds so much to Almas' character/presentation/matches. Her rana faceplant spot was great stuff.

War Games was a pretty fun spectacle and really got going once it became The Match Beyond. Hated that it just had to end on a pinfall and that the finish felt a bit weak compared to some of the other stuff going on in the match. O'Reilly setting up the chain-assisted Armageddon would've been a more fitting finish for the submit or surrender theme. But the overall ending of everyone laid out from the carnage was fitting.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

Just now, Eivion said:

I would so love to see someone in WWE do the claw slam.

Kurrgan's finisher was the claw slam. It probably hasn't been used since.

[Lawful Metal]

I hope the broadcast showed how much the crowd got behind Velveteen Dream. That was a star making performance.

Also, Pete Dunne / Johnny Gargano was great. 

War Games lived up to its history. It was pure chaos. I’m fine with the finish by pinfall because it was out someone out of their misery time.

Best show I’ve ever been to live. 

[Guest Edwin]

Kyle O'Reilly with the Terry Funk tribute in the WarGames match was fantastic.

[mattdangerously]

1 hour ago, Oyaji said:

Saying all that, there were an awful lot of empty seats in that building. When they showed Funaki, Asuka and Finn... holy shit, the hard cam side looked completely empty in the lower bowl.

[CastleVania Rey]

1 hour ago, Oyaji said:

I agree but with Lars' monstrously large hands, he should be doing something based around those. I can't remember, is somebody doing the claw hold/claw slam for a finish these days?

1 hour ago, Eivion said:

I would so love to see someone in WWE do the claw slam.

1 hour ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Kurrgan's finisher was the claw slam. It probably hasn't been used since.

Like this?

 

 

 

[Jiji]

Exactly like that, yes.

[CastleVania Rey]

Oh yeah, this was a very good show as expected. But I didn't expect Almas winning the title!

 

I didn't like the changes to the WarGames rules, but it was still plenty of fun, especially once the match beyond started. Black/Dream was GREAT and an early star-making performance for Dream. Lars looks promising and Ohno's strikes are great as always. Women's match was good, but I wish they would have taken advantage of the two rings in the match structure (two wrestlers in one ring and two in the other all fighting at the same time). Drew/Almas was good and I didn't expect Almas to win. Too bad about Drew's injury.

 

All the matches delivered the good in some capacity. Hope Survivor Series is close to this quality (but I'm sadly expecting lots of mediocre and/or terrible booking for it).

[Craig H]

I fucking loooooved that War Games match. I was worried it would be bad, but there was a ton of carnage, dudes bled, there were some innovative spots, and everyone looked like they went through a war. I don't love the pinfall finish, but whatever, everything else except for the camera work was excellent.

But what I almost liked more than the main event was Black vs Dream. That was great. Loved Black finally saying Dream's name at the end.

The main event was pretty good. I'm not sure why everyone thinks Drew is getting called up - his arm is straight fucked.

[Craig H]

Also, I'm glad that around the second match they found whoever the fuck was beating a drum or whatever that sound was. Seriously, stop being assholes and stop being a nuisance. Why deliberately try to make everyone else miserable just so you can hear your dumb noisemaker on the replay of the show.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, this was this constant boomboomboomboom sound during the first two matches. It was seriously fucking annoying, but it abruptly stopped in the second or third match.