5 Surprising moments from NXT TakeOver: WarGames 2019

Fight Owens Fight.

NXT TakeOver: WarGames was another in the never-ending string of amazing TakeOver shows. It had the first-ever Women’s WarGames match and it delivered some amazing athleticism and constant surprises. We had Superstar making performances by new TakeOver participants throughout the entire night.

We had constant surprises throughout the night and many brutal violent moments. And NXT did it all in under three hours. We should hope this streak of exciting Takeovers never end.

With all of this in mind after being as worried about Adam Cole’s safety as Britt Baker, I present my list of the top five most surprising moments of WWE Takeover Wargames 2019:

#5 Dakota Kai Turns Heel

Poor Tegan Nox.

Dakota Kai and Tegan Nox have both recently come back from major injuries. NXT has done a great job of building the friendship between the two likeable babyfaces.

They both play the underdog role quite well as they have overcome their adversity over the recent year. They even seemed like real future contenders for the WWE Women’s Tag Team gold.

When Dakota Kai was disappointed to originally be left of Rhea Ripley’s WarGames team, NXT programming seemed to ignore that fact for weeks. Even Tegan Nox didn’t stand up for her friend. That all changed on Saturday night.

The attack by Dakota Kai was brutal and shocking. She turned on her friend and attacked her in a very violent way. She constantly slammed the cage door until Nox’s surgically repaired knee. It was extremely well done and I look forward to Dakota Kai’s promo to completely sell herself as a despicable heel. It seemed to be the thing that would cost Team Ripley on Saturday night. Speaking of which…..

#4 Rhea Ripley Pins Shayna Baszler

Rhea Ripley is only 23 years old.

The Nightmare is quickly becoming a major star in the WWE Women’s Division. She has shown her amazing skill as the first NXT UK Women’s Champion. She has turned a lot of heads with her great work in the build-up to Survivor Series on Raw and Smackdown in recent weeks. Could she hold her own at Wargames on Saturday night? The answer is a resounding yes.

The first-ever Women’s Wargames match was amazing. The six women who were part of the match took a lot of risks and used a lot of weapons. Some of the highlights were the reverse hurricanrana by Candice LeRae and the moonsault from the topic of the cage by Io Shirai. The women’s division of NXT is stacked with amazing competitors.

Rhea Ripley remains a standout star. Her power moves and size stands out among the competitors in the WarGames match. The finish was she handcuffed herself to Baszler and tossed her onto chairs was impressive. I know I look forward to Rhea Ripley being the person to potentially end Shayna Baszler’s length title reign.

#3 Triple Threat Impresses

That is really going to hurt in a few seconds.

Who would have thought that Damien Priest would have the best match of his career.

The Triple Threat match in Chicago had an issue of going after the first WarGames match. It seemed to take the hot Chicago Crowd quite a while to get into the No.1 Contender’s match between Killian Dain, Damien Priest and Pete Dunne. But once they did we saw the always impressive athleticism of Dain and the skill of Pete Dunne. This twenty minute match allowed for Priest to have his best match as well.

The match was filled with near falls and impressive pacing by all three men. It is a testament to their skill to see the crowd get into their technical match after the brutality of the previous match. All three should be proud.

The finish was a fun surprise. Pete Dunne was attempting to place the Bitter End on Priest when Dain did a Senton Splash. After Dunne was able to push Killian Dain away, he finally pinned Priest for the win.

Pete Dunne versus Adam Cole should be a great NXT showcase at Survivor Series. If both competitors have recovered from the brutality for Saturday night then we might have our potential show stealer.

#2 Finn Balor Defeats Matt Riddle Clean

It is the beginning of the end for Matt Riddle.

It hasn’t been the best couple of months for the Original Bro. He lost to The Velveteen Dream unsuccessfully challenging for the NXT North American Championship at TakeOver: New York. He lost the NXT Championship match in October against Adam Cole. Could the Original Bro beat Finn Balor in his return TakeOver match? All signs pointed to no.

I doubt many people were surprised that the newly heel Finn Balor defeated Matt Riddle on Saturday night. That was likely the most technical match of the entire show. It was a truly back and forth encounter where neither Superstar really dominated.

The finish was the truly surprising. Riddle hit his Bro to Sleep knee move. He should have gone for the pin. Instead he went to the top rope and missed. This led to a quick finish and a DDT by Balor for the clean win.

It seemed strange to have the newly heel Balor not have to cheat to win. It makes you wonder where Riddle goes from here as he has lost so much recently. Finn Balor on the other hand has an encounter with Johnny Gargano coming up soon. I cannot wait.

#1 Kevin Owens Helps Team Ciampa Win WarGames

That was one of the loudest pops I have heard in a while.

Kevin Owens, at least for one night only, was back in NXT. Sure it wasn’t completely unexpected. Triple H did ask Kevin Owens to join NXT recently and Owens got attacked by Undisputed Era in the process. But to actually see Kevin Owens in a WarGames match in 2019 NXT was impressive. The main event itself was one of the best matches of the year.

The match was a wonderful showcase for a lot of competitors. Keith Lee is an impressive big man and this match allowed him to show his unique athleticism on many occasions. Dominik Dijakovic had his moments as well. The future is bright for a lot of competitors in NXT.

The ending was pretty fantastic with all the members of The Undisputed Era going through tables. The final spot with the dive from the top of the cage with Adam Cole and Tommaso Ciampa was very dangerous looking. I am glad to hear that all eight competitors are in decent shape after the crazy nature of Saturday night.

It will be weird to see some of these wrestlers working together on Sunday night at Survivor Series but they did amazing work on Saturday. I am sure all wrestling fans are excited about the possible Tommaso Ciampa versus Adam Cole match in the months to come. 2020 looks like another great year in the yellow brand.

Edited by Alan John