Six Biggest Takeaways From NXT TakeOver: WarGames 2020

3. Johnny Gargano Wins NXT North American Championship

The three-way NXT North American Championship match featuring Leon Ruff, Damian Priest and Johnny Gargano was highly inventive.

Unlike the usual WWE take on a triple threat match (two men fight in the ring, as one recovers outside. Once they enter, another rolls out, repeat), we had a breath of fresh air with innovative three men moves.

For example, Priest hit a chokeslam on Ruff while sending Gargano packing to the ground. It is a beautiful moment seeing the strength of one man taking down both opponents with ease.

Furthermore, WWE has plexiglass in place for the safety of its limited crowd in attendance during the pandemic. Ironically, what is implemented for safety is used for suffering by the wrestlers, as Priest delivered Ruff into the glass!

The NXT North American Champion Leon Ruff also had his fair share of exciting spots, hitting multiple high-flying maneuvers. Moreover, he was also the most tactical man in this, trying to roll up Gargano for a leverage pin, similarly to the way he won the title.

Tragically, none of his attempts worked and Johnny Gargano won back the NXT North American Championship…

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2. With Help From Austin Theory

“It was me Austin. It was me all along, Austin!”

I’m not entirely sure where NXT is going with this storyline. Is Johnny Gargano & Candice LeRae leading their own Retribution of ghost faces? Are they just huge fans of the movie Scream?

Whatever way it’s heading, this was undoubtedly an anticlimactic moment. Austin Theory. He was like the most obvious guy. This was because Gargano beat him on an edition of NXT a few weeks back. I’m interested in Theory’s role in all this but it could have been a much bigger surprise.

Ultimately, this may be evolving into NXT’s most intriguing story currently.

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1. Undisputed Era Victorious Inside WarGames

Finally, we can discuss the main event and the second WarGames to occur on this TakeOver.

This one saw Undisputed Era battle their ultimate foes Pat McAfee, Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch and Pete Dunne.

Starting the match off this time was Pete Dunne and Kyle O’Reilly. This made perfect sense. Commentary emphasised how Dunne was the only man on his team to compete in WarGames.

After they brawled around the ring for a few minutes, Lorcan entered the cell. Then Fish evened the odds. Thereafter, Burch roughened up the competition. Strong then made his way to the double rings. Finally, McAfee made his way down the ramp and instantly chucked tables with each Undisputed Era name into the ring, rapidly hitting a moonsault into Roderick Strong atop of his respective table.

Pat McAfee isn’t just a cocky, celebrity heel. He can wrestle! WarGames is only his second match and he could have a fantastic WWE career ahead of him if he pursued it.

Lastly, Adam Cole (BayBay) made his way to WarGames, blowing a fire extinguisher as soon as he entered the hellacious structure.

Other impressive spots in this match saw McAfee fall with style from the top of the cell and O’Reilly kicked out of the Bitter End from Dunne!

I went into this fully believing McAfee’s team would win and the story will extend to the next TakeOver. However, NXT went a different route, having McAfee kick out the Panama Sunrise and Cole suffered a vile Bitter End onto a steel chair! I screamed “Ouch” as soon as the damage was done.

Nevertheless, this unexpected decision to have O’Reilly pick up the win had me cheering. It was a gleeful moment to see Undisputed Era get their vengeance even though I wanted the story to continue.

Overall, I loved this match and the entire show was another solid TakeOver performance. NXT has some interesting new options to spiral towards, and hopefully the brand can pick up the momentum it had when it joined the USA Network.

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• TakeOver
• WarGames
• nxt
• wwe

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