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The men and women of NXT pulled out all of the stops at NXT TakeOver: WarGames this past weekend. While only one title - the NXT North American Championship - was defended, there were two matches in the WarGames structure. The event also featured a Strap Match and a singles bout between Timothy Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa.
The build to the men's WarGames match was centered around Pat McAfee trying to end The Undisputed ERA. McAfee's quest led to a title win for Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch. It also led to Pete Dunne turning heel as well. As a result, McAfee formed a formidable faction on NXT.
While Finn Balor did not defend his NXT Championship on Sunday, he vowed that he would be on NXT this Wednesday. He had a brief promo during the event.
In theory, the feud between Cameron Grimes and Dexter Lumis should be over. But since the heel lost, it could continue. The same could be said for the Thatcher/Ciampa feud. Elsewhere, Io Shirai might have had the moment of the night when she jumped off of the top of the WarGames structure while she was wearing a trash can.
Plus, Johnny Gargano regained his North American Championship, though he resorted to some dastardly means to do so. As is usually the case, NXT brought it in all of these matches. Coming out of the show, NXT fans were left with some questions and some lessons learned. Here are five things that we learned at NXT TakeOver: WarGames.
#5 Shotzi Blackheart got a new tank at NXT TakeOver: WarGames
During the entire build to the female WarGames match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, Shotzi Blackheart rebuilt her tank. The vehicle was destroyed by Candice LeRae, and it was the reason why each woman captained her own team.
While Blackheart was putting together a new version of her tank, she was also "building" her squad. In different parts of the rebuilding vignettes, fans saw Ember Moon and Rhea Ripley join Team Blackheart for NXT TakeOver: WarGames.
Before the show's opening contest, Blackheart entered with her new machine. It was much bigger and bulkier than her previous tank. It even had a projectile shooter. Blackheart wasted little time in firing the rocket at the cages, where Dakota Kai was waiting in the ring.
The tank is symbolic for Blackheart and her life. She has previously said that she had to rebuild herself several times. The vehicle was and is was a big part of her persona. It was great to see that she was successful in constructing another machine of mayhem. Sunday night was the perfect stage to reveal her creation.
#4 Raquel Gonzalez will probably get a shot at the NXT Women's Championship
The teams for NXT TakeOver: WarGames were rather equal in terms of style and athleticism. But they were a tad uneven in terms of championship accolades. Outside of team captain Shotzi Blackheart, every member of the face team has held the NXT Women's Championship.
On the other side, only Toni Storm has held an NXT Championship, and it was the NXT UK Women's title. Raquel Gonzalez, Candice LeRae and Dakota Kai have never held the gold. To be fair, Kai and LeRae have had numerous shots at the belt.
Heading into the match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, it seemed like the team with three former NXT Women's champs - and the current one - should certainly pick up the win. But after a lot of carnage, Team LeRae emerged victorious. Gonzalez powerbombed Io Shirai off of the top rope through a ladder. She got the three-count on the current NXT Women's Champ and gave the heels the win.
While a champion shouldn't lose many matches, WWE always sets up title bouts by having a potential challenger pin the titleholder. That's exactly what happened at NXT TakeOver: WarGames.
Gonzalez has been set up as the de facto next challenger for Shirai. This matchup is fresh, as fans haven't seen it already. Could Gonzalez be the one to dethrone "The Genius of the Sky?" She may not be the next champion. But NXT TakeOver: WarGames definitely set Gonzalez up as the next challenger for Io Shirai.
#3 Johnny Gargano can thank Austin Theory for his record-breaking third NXT North American Title win
The rules of a triple threat match state that there are no count outs or disqualifications. For that reason alone, the possibility of outside interference in the match between Leon Ruff, Damien Priest and Johnny Gargano at NXT TakeOver: WarGames was quite high.
Each competitor had his moments throughout the bout. Ruff was briefly removed from the match at one point. So Priest and Gargano were left to vie for the title. After a little while, Ruff returned to the ring, but so did some other familiar faces we've seen in NXT. Several people dressed as Ghostface showed up, and they interfered in the match.
Priest was able to fight most of them off. But towards the conclusion of the bout, a Ghostface with a pipe showed up and knocked Priest out. Shortly thereafter, Gargano pinned Ruff and won back the title at NXT TakeOver: WarGames.
The Ghostface with the pipe unmasked himself on the way back to the locker room. It turned out to be Austin Theory. Theory "quit" NXT a month or so ago after he lost a bunch of matches. This direction was supposed to humble him, but after the title match, it looks like he has been recruited to the Gargano Way.
Gargano and Candice LeRae have tried to instill the Gargano Way into NXT for months now. It seems like they both have their very own lackey to do their bidding. Indi Hartwell interfered several times in the women's WarGames match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames. How far up the card will this partnership get these popular stars?
#2 Karrion Kross is coming back to NXT
Right before the NXT North American Championship match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, a quick vignette aired with some familiar imagery. Shown in the promo were a clock, a vulture and some quick words, one being, "Apocalypse." As the clock reached 12, we heard someone utter the words "Tick, tock." That message is undoubtedly meant to signal that former NXT Champion Karrion Kross is on his way back.
It has seemed as if the NXT Championship has been cursed ever since Kross defeated Keith Lee for the title. Kross was forced to relinquish the gold because he suffered a separated shoulder during his title win. Balor became the next NXT Champ after he outlasted Ciampa, Gargano and Adam Cole in two matches.
In his defense against Kyle O'Reilly, though, "The Prince" suffered a broken jaw. Since then, the NXT Championship hasn't been defended because Balor has been unable to compete. Instead of crowning yet another champion because of an unfortunate injury, NXT officials decided to keep the belt around Balor's waist.
Now that Kross has alerted the world that he is on his way back, it seems like Balor's days as the NXT Champion are numbered. We don't know exactly how Kross' reign with the belt could have gone, but he is undoubtedly on a collision course with "The Prince."
#1 The Undisputed ERA still rules NXT
It's safe to say that for the last four years, NXT has been ruled by Adam Cole and the Undisputed ERA. They have won every title available to them on the black-and-gold brand. At NXT TakeOver: WarGames 2020, they defended their status as the "top dogs" of the brand.
There was little left for the group to do after each member lost their belts. The only thing left seemed to turn face or move on to the main roster of WWE RAW or SmackDown. But on Sunday, fans saw the first face iteration of this stable in a WarGames match. In every year since the first match in 2017, the group has been the hated heels. That dynamic changed this year.
Pat McAfee took exception to The Undisputed ERA's dominance. He formed a new group he deemed "the Kings of NXT". He then helped to orchestrate an NXT Tag Team Championship win for Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch, and he revitalized a returning Pete Dunne.
Everyone brought their best at NXT TakeOver: WarGames. But it was The Undisputed ERA that came out on top. They reminded the world why they have been in every version of the match since it came back to WWE.
McAfee might talk a big game and have some friends, but they haven't done what Cole's stable has done in NXT. At NXT TakeOver: WarGames, McAfee once again impressed with his athleticism. It was The Undisputed Era, though, that won the war. They reminded the world that in order to "run things" in NXT, you have to knock off Cole and his friends. McAfee failed in that endeavor.
