NXT TakeOver: WarGames | 4 biggest questions from the event

WarGames delivered everything fans could possibly ask for and more on a night where the best of NXT battled in extremely brutal matches.

Throughout the night, the company kept delivering surprises as first Mia Yim was replaced by Dakota Kai, then Kai turned on her team, and Kevin Owens returned to join Tommaso Ciampa and his team.

With so much going on, the NXT Universe could help hold their chants back and the event proved to be the loudest we’ve witnessed in a long time.

At the end of the event, fans were left with a few questions that the brand and the Superstars might need to address soon. In this article, we will look at the 4 biggest questions we have from NXT TakeOver: WarGames.

---

#4 Who attacked Mia Yim?

The NXT TakeOver: WarGames pre-show opened up with the news that Mia Yim suffered an attack backstage before the women’s WarGames match could kick-off. Yim was shown on screen shaken from the attack and medical personnel checked on her, while Rhea Ripley displayed her anger in the background.

Soon after, Yim was loaded onto an ambulance as Ripley awarded the fourth spot in the team to Dakota Kai. Kai had struggled to make it to the team earlier, and it seemed likely that she was the one who might have attacked Yim to find her way into the team.

However, during the match, Kai attacked her longtime friend Tegan Nox and laid her out completely, after which was taken away by William Regal and other personnel.

This left Ripley and Candice LeRae to battle in the match on their own, while it seems like the company has started a great new angle between Kai and Nox.

If that is that case, then why would Kai attack Yim too and possibly pick a fight with her and the rest of Team Ripley too? Was Kai actually behind the attack on Yim just to find her way into the team, or did someone else attack Yim and open up the slot for Kai to take?

#3 Matt Riddle’s iconic moves

Hi, @Goldberg! 👋👋👋 #NXTTakeOver @SuperKingofBros @FinnBalor pic.twitter.com/B2HJAsPKis

— WWE (@WWE) November 24, 2019

Matt Riddle has been known to use big finishing moves from other top Superstars during matches before going for one of his own finishers to pick up the win. In the past, we’ve seen The Original Bro use CM Punk’s GTS and Goldberg’s Jackhammer really well to built some hype around his matches.

When Riddle squared off against Finn Balor at the event, he was full of iconic moves from other Superstars to use during the match.

Riddle used not one, not two, but countless moves throughout the match that can be associated with other former Superstars.

Riddle used the Ankle Lock during the match, and also followed it up with a Spear soon after. Riddle continued the use of top maneuvers and hit Punk’s GTS, Golderbg’s Jackhammer, and even the V-trigger in hopes of picking a win over Balor.

The Original Bro then fell prey to Balor’s 1916 DDT, as the Prince of NXT picked up a huge victory in his return match.

The use of so many iconic moves raises the questions as to whether Riddle was trying to mock Goldberg by being unable to finish Balor off with his signature finishers, or deliberately bringing out the CM Punk chants in the middle of Chicago?

#2 Why did NXT let both their top Champions get pinned?

Baszler and Cole were cleanly pinned during the night

There were a total of four matches on the main card of the event, while there was one match on the pre-show. In the two main WarGames matches, we saw all the Champions of the brand participate in the battle.

In the women’s WarGames match, the odds were against the babyfaces, but Rhea Ripley managed to win the match for herself and Candice LeRae after she delivered the Riptide on the NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler and pinned her for the victory.

Later in the night, Tommaso Ciampa’s team was up against the gold-laden Undisputed Era. Ciampa drove NXT Champion Adam Cole through two tables with the Air Raid Crash, earning the victory for his team after a long and hard-fought battle.

While both the endings were simply genius, it raises the question of why the brand would allow both their top Champions to get pinned just hours before the Survivor Series pay-per-view?

While we can say safely that Ripley will be challenging Baszler for the NXT Women’s Championship soon, while Ciampa will come after Goldie, the brand could have simply allowed the two Superstars to pin someone else and still build the case for a Championship match.

Baszler has a huge match at hand as she will square off against SmackDown and RAW Women’s Champions to score a big win for NXT, while Cole will defend his NXT Championship against Pete Dunne. Was it the right call to have both Champions get pinned hours before their big matches?

#1 Is Kevin Owens here to stay?

Arguably the biggest surprise of the night was the return of former NXT Champion Kevin Owens’ return to his first brand in WWE.

After The Undisputed Era made their iconic entrance for the men’s WarGames match, Team Ciampa’s Keith Lee, Dominic Dijkovic, and Tommaso Ciampa himself came out without a fourth member of the team.

After all, the seven men were already in the ring, and the buzzer sounded to mark the arrival of the eighth and final member of the match, The Prizefighter’s music hit as he walked out to the biggest pop of the night.

This was a great surprise and a great touch from NXT to ensure that their event ends up being as huge as possible, and they relied on the right Superstar to join Ciampa and his men.

The question on everyone’s mind after Owens’ arrival is whether he is now in NXT for good, or whether this was just a one-off appearance. Will Owens be a part of Team RAW for Survivor Series, or will he jump ship to join Team NXT instead?

All these questions will hopefully be answered by Sunday night, but before that, we can’t help but wonder how cool it’d be to have Owens on Team NXT against his former main roster buddies.