NXT Takeover: War Games Review 11/18/2017

Hello Misfits! It’s the Wrestling Classic here with my NXT Takeover: War Games review. Once again, I am guilty of not watching NXT every week. I do watch it but it’s always very random when I do and too random for me to tell you whats happening every week. However, I never miss a Takeover event. I definitely wasn’t going to miss this one because the returns of WAR GAMES!! This is the first time we’ve seen the War Games match in over a decade and the first we’ve ever seen it under the WWE umbrella. Its also the first time the WWE will have the two ring set-up. However, besides the War Games match, this card was stacked top to bottom so lets get to it.

Image via WWE.com
NXT Takeover: Brooklyn comes to us from the Toyota Centre in Houston, TX.

– There was an awesome video package to open the show and focused on the War Games match. Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson and Nigel McGuinness are our commentary team of the night.

Lars Sullivan def. Kassius Ohno
in 05:11 via pinfall
This was a hard-hitting sprint where both guys were just trying to make the most with the time given to them. Ohio tries getting as much in as he can on Sullivan before Lars took control. I dont know much about Lars character as I don’t watch NXT weekly but he definitely looks like a love child of Gene Snitsky. This was a huge victory for Lars over a popular star so hopefully they use this momentum to benefit Lars. Ohno was the perfect opponent to make Lars look good and he did that here.
Rating – ***

Aleister Black def. Velveteen Dream
in 14:37 by pinfall
Holy crap this match was better than I expected. Aleister Black still remains on a roll just killing everybody. Dream was wearing some cool air brushed pants that had art on it representing this match similar to how “Ravishing” Rick Rude used to do. Similar to Lars this was Dream’s first big match under the big spotlight. The match went back and forth where both guys looked super strong. Both guys had the crowd in the palm of their hands this entire time. Dream really stepped up tonight and delivered a star making performance. The crowd loved him and were buying into his character. This was just great work from both guys, with a mix of fun character work and when they picked it up it really delivered in wrestling. This was one of those rare examples of when someone can be put over even in loss. Dream lost but he still walked out more over than he was coming in. Aleister Black looked great as we expected but it was Dream who became a star here. For a guy who has been doing this for a small amount of time he’s so good and even at the little things. I loved Black’s post match promo to Dream where he told him to enjoy infamy. Clever way to show respect in victory.
Rating – ****1/4

Fatal-Four Way
NXT Women’s Champions
Ember Moon def. Nikki Cross, Peyton Royce & Kairi Sane
in 12:40 by pinfall
Asuka relinquished and vacated the championship still being undefeated on NXT when she was called up to the main roster. This match was to crown the new NXT Womens Champion. I went into this match strongly pulling for Peyton Royce because I feel like character -wise her iconic duo deal with Billy Kaye seems to be like the most over act on NXT. I also felt like Kairi winning would have just been too soon but she would have been my second choice. This match had the potential to be a cluster-fuck because the match was involving four women who all wrestled different styles. These women delivered almost 10-minutes of non-stop action, with great near falls, great multi-person spots and in the end, delivering an overall good match that kept the crowd invested. I thought this was Peyton’s best match thus far. In the end Ember Moon picked up the victory and Asuka awarded her the title. It felt weird that Ember could never defeat Asuka but the moment she was gone, she became champion.
Rating – ***1/2

NXT World Championship
Andrade “Cien” Almas w/ Zelina Vega def. Drew McIntyre (C)
in 14:52 by pinfall
The moment they paired Vega with Almas, I knew the payoff had to be good. I did not think it meant defeating Drew McIntyre for the NXT Championship. This has been the best we’ve seen Almas since he made his debut. It’s almost like he’s an entirely different guy which is credit to Vega. This was a great back and forth match, with good aggression throughout, and a tremendous closing stretch. I thought McIntyre was the ideal champion for NXT but this will be interesting to see. If they were looking for shocking, this was it. McIyntrye at one point had the match in the bag but Vega put Almas’s foot on the rope and that was the turning point of this match.
Rating – ****

– They show Dustin Rhodes and Arn Anderson at ringside.

War Games
The Undisputed Era (Cole, Fish & O’Reilly) def. Sanity (Young, Wolfe & Dain) & The Authors of Pain and Roderick Strong
in 36:37 by pinfall
This is it! It’s the return of War Games. The rules are a little different although the concept is the same. The rules for this match was that three men from opposing teams would start the match while the other team members would be locked in shark cages at the top of the stage. Five minutes into the match one of the teams would be released from the Shark Cage and then every three minutes two members from one of the other teams would be chosen at random to be released to join the match. No team could gain victory until all the members from all the teams have entered the match. There were no roofs on these cages to not limit the wrestlers from high spots. Although this did lead to a rule that if any member tried climbing over the cage to escape they would be forfeiting their entire team for the match. Roderick Strong coming out in AOP gear was reminiscent of Kurt Angle coming out as a member of The Shield. The match started with Cole, Young and Strong. Its crazy to see how far all these guys have come after watching them for years on the Independents or in TNA. The Undisputed Era got the numbers advantage first by coming out first. They were then followed by AOP and then the remaining members of Sanity. It wasn’t until Dain and Wolfe came into the match that the weapons were introduced. Once everyone was in the ring. they were allowed to start trying to go for pins or submission victories so we saw a lot of that happening. The weapons played a huge factor in the match going forward. There were a couple of high spots such as Roderick Strong hitting the superplex on Adam Cole from the top of the cage onto a body of people. In the end Adam Cole picked up the victory by pinning Eric Young.
This match was entertaining and fun to watch. It may have been different from the original War Game matches but times have changed and so has what the fans buy into these days. They played into the stipulation well. The introduction of the weapons escalated the violence and got the crowd into it on a completely different level. This was brutal, violent, they played off of the Cole vs. String dynamic very well and kept it going with EY taking the loss. It’ll be a match us hardcore fans or loyal NXT fans will remember for a while. It was long but didn’t feel that way watching it live because it was that good. I would love to have seen this match on the main roster one day. Everyone involved in this match looked amazing. Fish and O’Reilly just seemed like hired hitmen. AOP looked like the monsters that they are. Strong was your never give up and full of heart fighter. Sanity were a forced to be reckoned with. Killian Dain really looked like a star in this match too and stood out to me tonight more than he ever has. Finally, Adam Cole fits the WWE mould so perfectly with his style and charisma.  I’ve always known he would. ADAM COLE BAY BAY!
Rating – ****1/2

Final Thoughts
This was an awesome show that went with NXT’s usual formula. Let the weekly show build the stories and have these Takeover events feel like big events that the weekly shows have been leading up to. It’s an old school formula that I feel like the WWE doesn’t use often on the main roster. For example, every match on this card felt important. There was no match that felt pointless or point of the show where it seemed like the perfect time to go to the restroom or grab another beer. WATCH THIS SHOW. If you’re a hardcore wrestling fan or an old school one, you’ll appreciate the main event. Every match told a different story. They were all different and all special in their own ways.
Final Rating – 8.5/10

What were your final thoughts on NXT Takeover: War Games? What final grade would you give the event? Where would you rate it on a scale of ten? Do you agree with my review? Leave your comments, opinions and thoughts below in the comments section.