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NXT Takeover: WarGames


Ricky Jackson

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TakeOver: War Games was overall a very fun show to watch. Not one bad match on the card and each one accomplished their goal. Ohno/Lars was a short and sweet opener. Personal Match of the Night goes to Black/Dream with a breakout performance for Dream even in defeat. I was disappointed that Peyton lost tonight, but the crowd was behind Ember the whole time and wanted her to finally win the gold, so I can't be too mad about that. The match itself was fine all said and done. WarGames was a fun train wreck with a ton of crazy spots and plunder. Dain and Wolfe were the standouts in the match, delivering some great performances during their moments to shine. There were some issues I had with the match, but nothing that totally hurt my enjoyment while watching.

 

I'm so happy that Almas won the NXT Championship tonight. It's been a great year for him after such an underwhelming 2016. Weaving in the losses into his character and then pairing him up with Zelina Vega to get him back on track was brilliant stuff. Drew was a fine champion, but Almas and Vega are the more compelling act, so the right call was made. Those two together are money and I can't wait to see what's next for them. It sucks to hear the Drew is injured. Hopefully he won't be out of action for too long.

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The fans were kind of ruining things with their stupid "Two... Sweet" bit every single fucking time there was a two count all night.

 

First time seeing Velveteen, and he sure won me over. That match was amazing.

 

Hero/Lars was every bit the hoss battle it needed to be.

 

I'm so happy for Andrade, even if the match was a tad bit disappointing. Maybe Drew got hurt earlier in the match but fitted through until the finish where it became very noticeable.

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Watching the main event now, Mauro has been pretty annoying with his pop culture references all night long, but this one has to have been the worst one:

 

*Killian Dain does the Fallaway Slam + Samoan Drop combo on the Undisputed Era*

 

Mauro: "Another meme worthy NXT moment courtesy of Killian Dain!"

 

Jesus Christ.

Yeah, unfortunately he is just really bad. Nigel is alright at times but Watson is pointless and Mauro is mostly annoying. There has to be some Tom Phillips clone there, doesn't there?

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The fans were kind of ruining things with their stupid "Two... Sweet" bit every single fucking time there was a two count all night.

 

 

The kids and grandkids of that great crowd that were so great cheering for Mark Lewin's 1980 face turn.

Granted, teenage me would have chanted ECW for hardcore spots when I was a teenager. During the ROH Chicago show with Kenny Omega, the ECW chants made me cringe.

 

I did like Mauro's One Man Gang reference early in the show even though it did feel forced.

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Full review up on my blog, but overall, I thought it was a good-not-great show. The NXT formula is so dependably strong that its only fair to really rate these shows against each other because, compared to the bloated main roster shows, they are just so much more digestible and consistent. That being said, if you paid WrestleMania money to see last night's show, I think you'd be overpaying because of the lack of star power and spectacle.

 

- Dream/Black was the match of the night and the first time I've really been impressed by Black. Best match of his NXT run from what I've seen (and I've only seen his NXT run).

 

- Main event was a fun spotfest but nothing more, which it didn't really need to be. Some sort of stakes might've helped make it seem "bigger," but whatever. Move-for-move, spot-for-spot, it was fun, but I don't see the argument for this being more significant or "must see" than the SummerSlam main event just because, at SummerSlam, you had legit main event *stars* busting out the craziness and here you had a mix of indie journeymen and interchangeable hosses (and I say this as a fan of most of these guys). Not taking anything away from the effort or execution, but the biggest pop of the match was for an inanimate object getting pulled out from under the ring.

 

- Shame that McIntyre got injured, but I'm glad he lost the title. I'd love to see them build Gargano to win the title the night before WrestleMania and then have Ciampa (who is slated to return around then I think) be his first feud. McIntyre/Almas was a fine match, but the live audience didn't seem solidly behind or against either guy and I can see why when you look at the somewhat paint-by-numbers characters involved. Almas is much better as a heel, to be sure, and Vegas has added a ton to his character, but there's still a ways to go before I'm going to call him a Top 10 heel in the WWE.

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Mauro has always sucked. He sucked when he was on the main roster too. I think quite a bit of internet fans rallied behind him due to his getting bullied by JBL, whom a lot of people seem to detest. And maybe some of those people might have overlooked his play-by-play because of it, I don't know. But I have never understood people trying to champion that dude. He's awful.

 

The Velveteen Dreams gets it. He's going to be a big star. Character work matters and he has all the mannerisms down. Now he has a good match under his belt too. He'll only continue to improve. I think he'll be a success on the main roster.

 

Disappointed that they decided to go with Ember Moon but eh, whatever.

 

Wargames PPV with a Wargames main event didn't feel very much like Wargames to me.

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