'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
NXT knows how to deliver some great events, but no one would have been able to guess how epic WarGames would be just before Survivor Series.
The brand did everything they could in order to give fans the best of NXT, not holding back anything from their Superstars to protect them for Survivor Series on Sunday.
The event was brutal, yet the most entertaining one we’ve seen come out from the company in months!
We got Finn Balor’s first match back in NXT after a month of buildup, and also got the new #1 contender for the NXT Championship.
In this article, we will look at the 5 things NXT got right at TakeOver: WarGames III this Saturday (23rd November 2019).
#5 Balor’s return win
'The Original Bro' Matt Riddle battled the biggest Superstar of his career in a grudge match. Finn Balor had attacked Riddle a few times in the past three weeks, and the company managed to build a big story around the two.
Riddle showed the heart of a lion in the rivalry, but he was no match for the power a heel Balor possesses. The match started with Balor looking a bit off-color and rusty, but he quickly picked up the pace and was on point throughout the rest of the clash.
From then on, the two men threw their best at each other, and even though Riddle managed to escape a Coup de Grace and even locked Balor in a Bromission, he couldn’t make Balor tap out.
Balor then executed the 1916 DDT on Riddle to pick up the pinfall victory and made it clear that The Prince was back in NXT.
This was a great new beginning to Balor’s in-ring career in NXT and set the pace for what we can expect from the former NXT Champion in the months to come.
#4 Dakota Kai’s betrayal
As the night started, we were informed that Mia Yim suffered an injury in a backstage attack just before the women’s WarGames match could take place. This prompted Rhea Ripley to offer Yim’s place to none other than Dakota Kai.
After Candice Le Rae and Ripley already made it into the match, only Tegan Nox and Kai were left waiting to enter the match for the babyfaces. As the clock ticked down and the babyfaces were set to even the odds again, Kai turned on Nox and her teammates and delivered a sickening beatdown to her longtime friend.
When William Regal appeared, she lashed out at him too. She returned to beat down Nox until Regal physically pulled her off.
This rendered both Nox and Kai out of the match, thus setting up a future angle between Kai and Nox which could be a show-stealer on any night.
What’s even better is that the betrayal allowed LeRae and Ripley to make an even bigger statement by winning the match against all odds and building a huge reputation for themselves.
This was a betrayal we had predicted earlier, and it was the right move by WWE as it sets up a lot of future angles that can help the brand get bigger.
#3 Dunne vs. Cole at Survivor Series
The #1 Contenders Match for the NXT Championship was fought between Pete Dunne, Damian Priest, and Killian Dain. All four Superstars are extremely talented, but Dunne is the only one who’s held a top Championship in the company and led an entire roster.
Priest has had a great beginning to his NXT career, while Dain is still in the rebuilding phase. In that case, it was right for WWE to go with the obvious choice and award the hard-fought victory to the only babyface in the match, Pete Dunne.
Dunne and Adam Cole have already had a great match for the NXT UK Championship in the past, and we could watch them put on another great programme for the NXT Championship.
As the match between the two will take place at Survivor Series, NXT needed to pick their next best available Superstar to take centre stage, and no one in the roster can match Dunne.
The entire booking could work well on a night where WWE Champion Brock Lesnar will be up against Rey Mysterio and the Universal Champion ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt will battle Daniel Bryan. Cole needed an equally big Superstar to battle at Survivor Series, and he may have found the biggest of them all.
#2 The biggest Nightmare in WWE
Rhea Ripley appeared On RAW and took on WWE’s hottest current Superstar and RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch in a great fight that ended without a conclusion. A few days later on SmackDown, she pinned the most decorated women in WWE history in the middle of the ring for a fair victory.
At WarGames, she was up against four of the most unforgiving heels in NXT today (NXT women's champion Shayna Baszler, Io Shirai, Bianca Belair and NXT UK women's champion Kay Lee Ray), with only Candice LeRae by her side. The two women gave it everything they had against the four villains and somehow managed to come out on top in the battle.
In the end, we saw Ripley pinned the current NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler to pick up the victory for her team.
This is arguably the biggest and the best build-up WWE could have given to the women who will be ruling NXT in a matter of months, if not weeks. Ripley showed why she is one of the toughest women to have ever stepped inside the squared circle, and the company booked her and LeRae to perfection in this clash, putting them over in the biggest way possible.
Baszler taking the pin is a bit controversial, especially just 24 hours before the biggest match of her career, but it seems clear that NXT is interested in investing in Ripley even more.
#1 KO takes over WarGames
Did you want a surprise fourth member for Team Ciampa? Well, you got the biggest surprise possible!
Fans had been speculating Kevin Owens' move to NXT for some time now, especially after he was moved to RAW from SmackDown in the recent WWE Draft. The most recent tease came during RAW where Triple H offered Owens to join NXT, after which the Superstar was attacked by The Undisputed Era.
On Saturday Night, Owens answered the call to become the fourth member of Team Ciampa and surprised everyone in the process. He got the biggest pop of the night and matched everything the heels did inside the cage to perfection.
Some interesting singles spots, especially against Adam Cole, gave Owens that spotlight that he deserved, and whether he will remain a part of Team RAW for Survivor Series or join Team NXT remains a question mark, it was the right decision to have him come in to join the babyfaces.
Owens had already suffered a beatdown from Undisputed Era, and that could have motivated him to join Ciampa and exact revenge from the heels.
Will we see more of The Prizefighter on the Black & Gold brand from now on? We’ll have to wait to find out.
