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I hope Alexander Wolfe will be fine after Saturday night.
As the NXT brand successfully moved from one era to a new and exciting era, a lot of new NXT stars were made on Saturday night in Houston. We had two surprising title changes, a wonderful end to a memorable undercard feud and a bloody, chaotic WarGames for the ages.
With all of this in my still happy wrestling mind, I present my list of the top five most surprising moments of WWE Takeover: Wargames:
#5 Kassius Ohno is Squashed
I feel a bit sorry for Kassius Ohno. He has been wrestling around the world as Chris Hero where he was having some of the best matches in the indies. He just misses the chance to wrestle as a member of the Shield in 2012. Now in his second stint in NXT, Kassius Ohno’s job seems to be a talent to make younger, inexperienced talents look better. Enter Lars Sullivan.
Lars has a lot of intangibles that the WWE seems to love: big, loud and scary looking. He is, however very green as evidenced by his brief Takeover match with Ohno. Ohno carried the offence with little from Sullivan other than some power moves and no-selling Ohno’s offence. It is a shame that is the role Ohno has these days in NXT.
#4 The Velveteen Dream Is A Star
Let us face it, The Velveteen Dream has no business working as a character. It is a weird mix of Prince and every androgynous character that the WWE has ever tried to do. It could easily fall into a comedy character who becomes a quick jobber in the WWE. But it works because Patrick Clark is unbelievably talented. I am shocked that a 22-year old could be that good with character work, mic skills and wrestling ability. He has all the skills to be a future main event talent.
His feud with Aleister Black has been one of the best feuds of the year. You take two polar opposites in personality and put them together. Black is the serious, stoic character who never gets angry. Dream is the over the top, flamboyant character that demands your attention and respect. The fact that Dream simply wanted Black’s attention, respect and for him to “say his name” was a simple, storytelling technique that worked.
The match was fantastic. Dream wearing tights having his and Black’s faces was a perfect touch. I had the honour of seeing the two fight in Portland at a live event in May and was impressed by the in-ring work then. It has simply improved since that point. Both superstars have a very bright future in the WWE but the fact the Dream is doing it at such a young age is amazing.
#3 Ember Moon Wins The Big One
Ember Moon is a talented wrestler. Her finisher is one of the best in women’s wrestling and her matches with Asuka were some of the highlights of the NXT year. However, I was surprised when she lost to Asuka in Brooklyn. I was stunned to see her get the title in the Fatal Four Way in Houston.
The great thing about the match was a credible case could be made for all the talent in the match. Royce was a cocky heel, Sane is another highly talented Japanese wrestler and Cross is likely the best female wrestler in NXT. The match was what I hoped it would be. It was a fast-paced match with a good offence and believable finishes through the fun ten-minute match. Ember’s double finisher on Royce and Cross was a great way to win the match and have her finally win the title. Having Asuka be the one to pass the torch was a great way to add to Ember’s well-deserved moment.
#2 Almas Wins The NXT Title
What a difference a manager makes.
Almas was dead in the water before Zelina Vega arrived. He was a really good worker but lacked much in the way of character and personality. He was simply the guy who lost the Takeover match to the up and coming talent. So it was a shock to see him win the NXT title simply four months upon the arrival of talented Vega.
The match was one of the better matches for the title this year. Almas was in top form producing strong offence throughout the match. I mean that moonsault from the top rope onto ground hitting Drew? Fantastic.
We had a lot of great near falls and some expected Vega cheating. However when Almas hit a DDT and got the pin. I was legit shocked. I didn’t expect Drew McIntyre’s reign to be so short. But more than happy to see Cien’s transformation completed in such a dramatic fashion.
#1 One of Best Weapons Matches In A Long Time
I would like to thank Sanity for bringing weapons into WarGames. It led to some brutal use of weapons throughout the chaotic 37-minute match. We had chairs, kendo sticks, garbage cans and most importantly and brutally tables used in some horrific ways by the nine competitors. I mean when Alexander Wolfe backdropped one of the Authors of Pain into a table. It looked bad before I even saw Wolfe spent the rest of match bleeding heavily from his head.
WarGames was pretty chaotic but you cannot deny the effort of all nine competitors. Killian Dain looked the star as he performed powerful offence throughout the match. That leap across the ring to smash the trash can into Kyle O’ Reilly. Seriously, how can a big guy move that well? When you add in Roderick Strong superplex off the top of the cage, amazing. They pushed WarGames as a special and brutal match and they surely delivered.
