NXT TakeOver: WarGames Live Coverage
GG has you covered with your NXT TakeOver: WarGames live coverage. Follow along with his live play by play.
He’ll be back with coverage at the start of the show.
Toni Storm, Raquel Gonzalez, Dakota Kai, & Candice LeRae Vs Ember Moon, Rhea Ripley, Io Shirai, and Shotzi Blackheart
Women’s WarGames opens up the show. Shotzi has a new toy tank.
The babyfaces won the advantage last week on NXT. The first two in the ring are Kai and Moon. After five minutes of solid back and forth, Shotzi comes out next. She grabs a red tool box and a crowbar and brings it into the ring. She’s the babyface.
Kai handled the double team well, but Shotzi and Moon started to take control right when Raquel Gonzalez came into the ring. The babyfaces met her at the door and then she destroyed them.
Best spot of the match so far: Kai went to the opposite ring and used Gonzalez as a base to help her fly over and hit Moon and Shotzi with a flying double clothesline.
Rhea is in next. She and Gonzalez go face-to-face, but Kai interferes. Shotzi and Ember hold Gonzales so Rhea could hit her with a big boot. Ripley pulled a sledge hammer out of the tool box. She then hit Dakota Kai with it multiple times. Dakota Kai didn’t die.
Toni Storm was in next and she brought in kendo sticks. There was a double three-person spot off the top rope. I think Ember Moon counted to three so they could do it in sync. Io Shirai is in last for the babyfaces.
She grabbed another kendo stick, but Raquel didn’t let her in the match. She was slammed backward. She tried to enter again and Raquel used a ladder to push her back. Io tried to bring a chair into the cage. She got locked out again. Finally, it was Candice’s turn to come into the ring. Io met her at the entrance and was attacked by Indi Hartwell. Io is still not in the match.
This has turned into a weapon’s match, which is an interesting choice. The heels attacked Shotzi with a kendo stick and tried to pin her, but referee Tom Castor told them the match isn’t official until all eight women are in the ring.
Io, after taking a beating, showed up on the top of the cage and wore a trash can over her entire body so she was blinded and dove from the top of the cage.
What the fuck, Io Shirai lmao. #NXTTakeOver pic.twitter.com/cL4mS99dlT
— Italo Santana (@BulletClubIta1) December 7, 2020
Ember Moon set up her Eclipse Stunner on Kai over two chairs. Then Storm hit her powerbomb on Moon through a trash can. Io broke it up. There was so much going on at once, it was hard to keep up.
The finish was Raquel Gonzalez choke slamming Io through a ladder bridge between the two rings. Impressive as hell.
Winner: Toni Storm, Raquel Gonzalez, Dakota Kai, & Candice LeRae
Tommaso Ciampa Vs Timothy Thatcher
The story of the match was that it was brutal and grueling. There were two times that the referee halted the match so he could check on Ciampa for a shoulder or neck injury, playing on his real life injuries.
Ciampa hit the superplex from the top rope which worked about as well for Thatcher as it did for him because of his earlier injuries in the match. Ciampa sunk in the Bulldog choke and Thatcher, who was bleeding from the mouth, held on. The blood isn’t coming from his mouth on second look. It’s coming from his ear.
Ciampa beat him with the draping DDT. Not the finish I was expecting, but it’s possible that it’s a setup to another match.
Winner: Tommaso Ciampa
Dexter Lumis Vs Cameron Grimes
Grimes brought in his own strap and Lumis agreed to use it. Lumis beat him up before the match officially started.
I was hoping this match would be a five minute sprint, but that is not the case. Grimes grabbed the bag that the original strap in it, emptied the bag and put the bag over Lumis’ head. It was an homage to that horrendous blindfold match they did.
As if the strap wasn’t enough of a gimmick, they brought a chair into the ring too. Lumis tripped Grimes with the strap and he went face first into the chair. Lumis then choked him for the win. This wasn’t your four corner’s strap match.
Winner: Dexter Lumis
Damian Priest Vs Johnny Gargano Vs Leon Ruff
Ruff does these fun moves where he jumps from rope to rope before he does his move, but it makes the other wrestler just sit there waiting for him to do it, rather than just punching him off. Priest gave the Razor’s Edge to Ruff through the plexiglass, so it looks like it will be a one-on-one match for awhile. Ruff is out of it.
This match was going along pretty well. Gargano and Priest were working well until Ruff came out of nowhere to get back into the match. I would’ve held him out even longer. Priest was then attacked by a bunch of guys in Scream masks. They kept attacking Priest while we were reminded that everything is legal in a three-way.
Priest was hit in the back with bat which knocked him out of the match. All legal guys. And then Gargano hit his slingshot DDT to beat Ruff and win the belt.
Winner: Johnny Gargano
After the match, Austin Theory was unveiled as the Scream guy and he said it was me, Austin, which was a cute play on this:
— Fight Game Media (@fightgamemedia) December 7, 2020
Undisputed Era Vs Pat McAfee, Pete Dunne, Danny Burch, & Oney Lorcan
Dunne and O’Reilly open the match up. Dunne held the advantage for most of the five minute time period. Right as the heel advantage was about to start, O’Reilly got the advantage, but Oney Lorcan entered the match and changed that.
Bobby Fish evened up the advantage for the babyfaces. Danny Burch made the advantage for the heels. Burch brought in a cricket bat. Strong came in to even up the odds, so that leaves Pat McAfee and Adam Cole as the last men in.
McAfee joined and threw in some tables. They had names of the UE on the tables. McAfee did a moonsault off the top rope on Roddy Strong through the table.
Cole came in to start the match unleashed a fire extinguisher on Team McAfee. He also brought a chair into the ring.
Lots of stuff going on. McAfee had a figure four on Cole that Cole turned over on him. Roddy hit a splash off the top on both Dunne and Lorcan that went through a table. McAfee was on the top rope with Cole setting up for a superplex. Cole pushed McAfee backward and Pat had to take a back bump through the table. UE quadruple teamed McAfee, tossing him into the cage a few times. Strong gave him a superplex. McAfee went on top of the cage and did a swanton onto the entire pile of men, but I’m not sure they caught him very well.
So many things happened to get to the finish. Fish speared Burch through a table. Cole hit the Panama Sunrise on McAfee and he kicked out. Cole went to hit the running knee on McAfee, but Burch took the shot. Then O’Reilly dropped a knee onto Lorcan from the top rope and through the chair to win the match.
Winner: Undisputed Era
