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NXT Takeover: WarGames 2019 is in the history books now and what show it was. There were some absolutely incredible moments, coupled with some pure undisputed quality of wrestling.
The show started with a bang as Mia Yim was attacked backstage before the Women's WarGames Match, which ruled her out of the bout. Dakota Kai took Yim's place but during the match, the Captain Of Team Kick brutalized her best friend and former teammate Tegan Nox, meaning Rhea Ripley and Candice LeRae were the only remaining members of Team Ripley.
Against all the odds, Ripley and LeRae were able to come out as winners of the first-ever Women's WarGames Match. Finn Balor defeated Matt Riddle in an incredible match, while Pete Dunne won the match against Damien Priest and Killian Dain, which makes the Bruiserweight the No.1 Contender for the NXT Championship at Survivor Series.
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The main event was absolutely insane as Team Ciampa battled The Undisputed Era. The fourth member of Team Ciampa turned out to be Kevin Owens, much to the delight of the Chicago crowd. After one hell of a match, Tommaso Ciampa pinned Adam Cole to win the WarGames Match.
Here, we are going to take a look at the five Talking Points from an incredible show:
#6 Dakota Kai's well-planned turn
NXT has always been known for the quality of wrestling they put on our TV screens but at NXT Takeover: WarGames, we saw some great piece of storytelling.
Firstly, ruling out Yim then replacing her with Kai and then the New Zealand native's heel turn. Every single person in the WWE Universe knew that Kai's turn was coming but nobody expected it at WarGames. Also, the way she started hitting Nox felt so genuine and that little segment really helped Kai's new role as a heel.
First Bayley and now Dakota; two of WWE's most loved babyfaces have now turned heel.
#5 What an insane week for Rhea Ripley
If you had any doubts on how highly WWE rate Ripley, just look at the Women's WarGames Match. The first-ever NXT UK Women's Champion has had a great week on WWE programming and that would be putting it mildly.
She faced the WWE RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch, defeated Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks and now she has won the first-ever Women's WarGames Match and that too by defying the odds. Ripley is a mega star in the making and she will pretty soon be having the NXT Women's Championship on her shoulder.
#4 Finn Balor feels more genuine as a heel
Yeah, it looks like Finn Balor feels more at home as a heel and that is because he has worked most of his life as an evil heel. The way he moves, the way he wrestles and the way he talks, it just feels more impactful.
In his first match after returning to NXT, Balor defeated Matt Riddle and that is no mean feat. The Original Bro is himself one of the biggest Superstars of the Black & Gold brand and pinning him clean on his return is a great way of integrating Balor back into the system.
The shades of Prince Devitt were visible throughout this match and we absolutely loved every single minute of it.
#3 Adam Cole took some insane bumps
Is there anyone in the whole WWE roster than works more than the NXT Champion Adam Cole? The Panama Playboy is an absolute workhorse and even though he has to defend his NXT Championship at Survivor Series, Cole put his body on the line at WarGames.
He took some insane hits and worst of them all was when he and Ciampa had a free-fall from the top of the steel cage and Cole landed back-first onto a chair.
The NXT Champion has already defended his title twice this month and against Pete Dunne, he will defend it for the third time. Still, there's no doubt he will have another great match.
#2 Kevin Owens returns home
This was so well planned, wasn't it? On RAW this week, Triple H offered Kevin Owens a chance to come back to NXT but before he could answer, The Undisputed Era attacked the former NXT Champion.
On WarGames, everyone thought that Team Ciampa doesn't have a fourth member after no one came from the countdown.
But a second or so later, the WWE Universe in Chicago heard a very familiar tune and started jumping with joy. Owens returned to his previous home and that too in his old attire, which was a pretty sweet touch. All in all, Owens' return was very well managed.
#1 The best NXT Takeover yet?
Yeah, it's pretty hard to tell whether this particular NXT TakeOver: WarGames was the best TakeOver event yet but one thing is for sure, this PPV had a lot of eyeballs, more than last year for sure.
We saw four absolutely incredible matches and both WarGames Matches are Matches of the Year Candidates and many have already started saying that this was the best Takeover event ever.
Now, Vince McMahon has an incredible task of surpassing this NXT event with Survivor Series. Can he do so? Only time will tell.
