Let the WarGames begin!

NXT TakeOver: WarGames III: 6 things that must happen at the event

NXT has a tough weekend ahead of itself, but the Superstars of the brand will be looking to become megastars by the end of Sunday, and won’t mind the extra fatigue.

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Before the men and women of NXT can take center stage at a top pay-per-view on Sunday, they will have battles to fight within their own brand as several top Superstars will come face-to-face at NXT TakeOver: WarGames III.

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WarGames has been one of NXT’s top and most unique events, and we have seen some brutal, yet interesting, matches come out of the event.

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The stakes have been raised as the women will get their first-ever WarGames match at this year’s event, while former NXT Champion Finn Balor will take part in his first match since returning to the brand.

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Apart from that, a shot at the NXT Championship will be on the line as three of NXT’s hardest-hitting competitors will battle in a triple-threat match to get their ticket to Survivor Series.

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In this article, we will look at the 6 things that the company must do at the event to make it more interesting and a must-watch show.

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#6 The invasion angle continues

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Another invasion could make things even more tense for Sunday

Even though WarGames will have nothing to do with the main roster, let us not forget that Triple H and his troops were the first ones to attack Superstars on the main roster and lay them out.

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Since then, we’ve seen many invasion angles leading up to the events that will unfold over the weekend. Straight after WarGames, the Superstars of NXT will compete at Survivor Series on Sunday.

The company must continue the invasion from the main roster into the NXT event to ensure that the story continues, and the stage can be further warmed up for the battles that will take place on Sunday.

We could see interferences either during or after the men’s and women’s WarGames matches, and the action could spillover to the next night where the NXT Superstars will have even more to avenge.

#5 Dakota Kai finds her way into the WarGames match

The Captain of Team Kick needs a shot to rise to the top
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Dakota Kai’s return after an injury has been a good one, and she’s managed to secure much more time on television than she got before her injury.

Kai has been in the middle of one of the hottest stories brewing in the women’s locker room, and we’ve seen her compete against NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler and NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray in recent weeks.

Kai has come up short in both matches but has managed to pull off her best performances in NXT against both the top champions.

It was heartbreaking to watch her being left out of Rhea Ripley’s team for the first-ever women’s WarGames match, while Tegan Nox and Mia Yim were included in the mix along with Candice LeRae.

WWE could use this angle smartly, and play out a story where one of the members of Team Ripley gets attacked by a mystery Superstar before the event begins. Kai could then be asked to join the team by Ripley and could help her team win the match.

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Later on, the company could use the story and reveal Kai as the mysterious attacker, turning her heel in the process and giving her a Johnny Gargano-esque storyline to follow.

#4 Pete Dunne survives

Pete Dunne will walk into the event as the only babyface in the triple threat match in which he will be competing against Killian Dain and Damian Priest. While Dunne had managed to lock horns with Priest a couple of times earlier, this will be his first time in the ring against The Beast of Belfast, Dain.

As the sole babyface, and the smallest in size, it seems like Dunne will be the underdog, even though he is the former NXT United Kingdom Champion. However, Dunne knows how to even the odds singlehandedly, and we’ve seen him get more and more brutal as weeks have passed by.

The triple-threat match between the three men will award the winner a shot at the NXT Championship at Survivor Series, and the company must book Dunne to survive the battle and pick up the victory.

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At an event where Brock Lesnar will defend his WWE Championship against Rey Mysterio, and ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt will defend the Universal Championship against Daniel Bryan, the company should give Adam Cole the toughest possible competition in order to make him seem at par with the other champions.

As the longest-reigning NXT UK Champion, it’d be epic to watch Cole and Dunne go one on one for the NXT Championship at Survivor Series. The two men had a great battle for the NXT UK Championship last year, and they could replicate their performance at Survivor Series.

#3 Finn Balor squashes Matt Riddle

Balor needs to bring his main roster experience to the match
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Finn Balor will compete in his first match back in NXT at WarGames. After his return to the brand, Balor turned heel and attacked Johnny Gargano, thus setting up an angle between the two men.

However, Gargano’s injury prompted Balor to go after the next best babyface instead, as he attacked and laid out Matt Riddle a few times.

Now that the two men are set to battle at WarGames, fans can’t wait to watch the former NXT Champion back in the Black & Gold ring against one of the toughest men in the company.

While the match should be a long and interesting one, WWE must book it in Balor’s favor and allow him a squash victory.

There’s no doubt that if the two men are given time, they can have a long and extremely interesting match, however, a squash victory over Riddle would skyrocket Balor’s stocks on the brand again.

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He could use his quick victory as an example and warning to Gargano, as we already know that the company’s main aim is to have these two men go at each other for some weeks.

Balor needs to come out looking stronger than ever from this clash, and go ahead as an undefeatable force on the brand before the company can build someone to match him again.

#2 Keith Lee performs a moonsault from the top of the cage

Remember the first WarGames match from 2017? When Sanity was relevant? Well, at that time, Roderick Strong did not belong to The Undisputed Era. In fact, he was against them and teamed up with The Authors of Pain and Sanity to take on the three members of the Undisputed Era. One of the highlights and biggest spots of the match was when Strong superplexed Adam Cole from the top of the cage onto all the other Superstars in the ring.

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In 2018, Strong was part of the Undisputed Era team that took on The War Raiders (now known as The Viking Raiders), Pete Dunne, and Ricochet. The latter performed the top-of-the-cage spot onto every other Superstar in that match.

This year, the fans will be looking for a similar spot, and the company will be looking to provide them with one. With Keith Lee in the match on Team Ciampa, the brand won’t have to look too deep into what they can do to give fans that big moment.

This year, Lee should be the man to give that huge touch to the match by performing his signature moonsault not from the second or top turnbuckle, but the top of the cage.

This would give the match that extra big moment and will make the highlights a treat to watch!

#1 A returning Superstar joins Team Ciampa

Kushida needs a way to get back to the top
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Team Ciampa is looking for that final member for his squad that can make his team go from A-grade to A+. After Riddle left the team to challenge Finn Balor, a lot of Superstars currently active on the brand have shown their interest to join Ciampa in his battle against WWE’s finest villainous faction.

Bronson Reed, Isaiah "Swerve" Scott, and Tyler Bate are a few deserving men who could join Ciampa in his quest to defeat the Undisputed Era.

However, it’d be great if the company goes ahead and brings back an unexpected Superstar to compete alongside Ciampa, Keith Lee, and Dominik Dijakovic. Velveteen Dream has been out of action due to an injury for a while, and we could see him return to join the team as he was already in a feud with Roderick Strong and the rest of the faction before they took him out.

Another man that comes to mind is Kushida. The Japanese-born Superstar was last seen battling NXT UK Champion WALTER for the title in early October and has since not featured in NXT. He could return to join Ciampa and his men to provide a unique touch to the match with his moves.

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One of the biggest rumors floating is that John Morrison could return to the company soon, and as Gary Cassidy suggested, he could be a great inclusion to the team and the biggest surprise for the fans.

WWE must focus on giving fans the biggest possible surprise as they’ve kept a tight lid on who the fourth Superstar for the babyface team could be.

2 more stars coming from AEW to WWE? More details right here

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Edited by
Habil Ahmed Sherule
 
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