With just one title match on the card and its primary champion injury aside, there was no further momentum when entering the 2020 edition of the NXT Takeover: VG Games. But, as is commonplace with NXT’s signature events, even there the takeover without a strong build somehow exceeds expectations.
It was really just a matter of Sunday night as the Wargames matches sped up the show, which was delivered to both in many different ways. The women’s match that started the event was full of cruelty, with the use of endless weapons and spots unlike we’ve seen before in this appointment from them. The ending was a surprise to some viewers as it denies expectations. The main events saw a surprising finish to the men’s match, and the action was pulled down from a cruel standpoint. However, there was more focus on the wrestling aspect of the match, and eight men delivered fairly.
What came down from the Capital Wrestling Center in Orlando, Florida on Sunday night? Continue reading for full results, analysis and grades for NXT Takeover: Wargames.
NXT Takeover: Wargames 2020 Results, Grade
Women’s war game – Shotzi Blackheart, Amber Moon, Rhea Ripley and Io Shirai Vs. Candice La La Ray, Tony Storm, Dakota Kai and Requel Gonzalez: Blackheart debuted his new and improved tank, but Moon and Kae started the match. Blackheart brought a whole toolbox into the ring, Gonzalez gave a loud shout with his size, and then the replay flipped it over. Ripley brutally stabbed Cain and then got into a scuffle with Gonzalez. Storm Cando entered with sticks and evening items. Shirai and Lare were the last two. Shirai climbed two stairs but was forcibly denied entry. Indy Heartway attacked Shirai from outside and then locked the cage door, but Shirai soon appeared at the top of the cage, throwing debris over his body and flying over everyone below. He hit the moonlight on Gonzalez, but the heels broke the fall and then Kae put the trash around the vein and double-stomped with the rope above him, can hang the can on the champion’s body.
There was a ridiculous eclipse of the moon over the two standing chairs above the moon, and with Storm Zero on the moon by the trash after the storm. Blackheart placed a ray between the two chairs and a sender flew up the stairs but could not recover for the fall. Back and forth, Gonzalez grabbed Shirai between the rings and slammed his finisher with one hand through the stairs between the ring ropes until the final 1-2-2-3. The match was absolutely insane and proved to be the main event. If men come to this top, it will be an all-time show. Team Candice LR Ray Def. Team Shotzi Blackheart – Grade: A-
Finn Bloor cut a pre-tapped promo Team Sports time is up and all eyes will be on it and the NXT Championship will start with the NXT television show on Wednesday. Balor has been unable to defend the title due to facial injuries in his last match against Kyle O’Reilly on a previous takeover.
Tammaso Siampa Vs. Timothy Thatcher: Slower and more methodical than the first match, Siampa and Thatcher mat focused on mat wrestling and strikes. Siampa ran away with the superplex and almost took Thatcher out with Chochold, but Thatcher escaped with a German suplex. Stuck between the ropes, Simpa cut Thatcher’s hell out and caught him with a willow bell after he fought in a guillotine for the win. This was brutal and violent, a big change of pace from the opening match. Ciampa Def. Thatcher by Pinfall – Grade: b
Dexter Lumis v. Cameron Grimes (strap match): Grimes initially attacked Lumis after refusing to use the stripes provided, opting for his own. He used the belt to knock Lumis over the barricade and Grimes really took advantage for a while. Lumis eventually beat Grimes off the belt, but Grimes came back with a chair kick. Grimes hit his Spanish fly-style crossbody on the Lumis and kept an eye on the lead to one side, but Lumis confronted the Cave Inn and used the belt to allow Grims to travel to the first-ever chair. He then hit his Silence Chokehold for the win. I’m neither a fan of the strip match nor this feud, but nonetheless I was better than expected. Interesting stuff. Lumis Def. Grimes – Grade: b
The presence of the Carian Cross was felt With a vulture waiting to strike
North American Championships – Leon Rough © Vs. Damien Priest v. Johnny Gargano: Priest tried to persuade Ruff not to come his way early in the match, but Ruff refused. Rough and Gargano try to get Priest out, but in the end Gargano excludes both. Ruff finally paid to avoid Priest by eating the edge of the razor through an external barrier that dragged the champion backwards. Rough eventually returned with a vengeance, including a sender flying out and a springboard cutter on Gargano. Priest hit a double flatliner, but Gargano tied him to a rope. Priest rescues Ruff a short time later, but Garganao gets out of the champion’s head. When the men with half a dozen ghostface masks set out to defeat the disturbing roar, Priest set out.
Priest eventually flew to both ring posts to get Priest out, and Rough almost stole the win with a frog splash. Priest knocked Gargono and Rough out with a spinning kick, but as he was about to beat Geckano with The Reckoning, another ghostface smashed him into the back with a lead pipe. Garga was turned by a pinning combination then caught Ruff with a final beat for the win. Austin Stein Theory later revealed itself as it was an exciting match full of thrilling action, and the intervention was expected to be completed in the last six weeks given the bookings. Given those circumstances you won’t get a top grade, but the action still needs a lot of praise. Garga’s Def. To win the title by Rough (C) Pinfall and Priest – Grade: B +
Men’s Wargames – Undisputed Era Vip Patt M A Fee Fee, Pete Dune, Vanny Lorken and Danny Birch: Dunne and Kyle O’Reilly started. Bolby Fish was followed by Lorcan after an action taken with the surviving double teams. Birch brought a couple of cricket bats into the ring which provided a big advantage, but when Roderick Strong entered it was a one-man recreation crew, knocking all three opponents out of the suplex and strikes. A fee brought four tables into the ring labeled for each member of the undisputed era and placed a moonstone on it by the strong. Adam Cole blinded Rahe with a firefighter and drove him out, then confronted Dunn Bitter End with DDT. As the eight-man brawl began, Cole drilled McFA into the chair.
McAfee took Cole’s knee and placed him in Figure Four as the other six men fought. The remaining three tables were all setup with Cole and Dun working on each other. The undisputed Yug Dorn by the call table equipped Derne in the birch, but he didn’t take it so Strong let him through it. Cole then threw McAfee halfway through the rope through the Okari table. The undisputed Era took three shots at three on the other three heels, making them barbaric between the rope and the cage. McAfee tried to escape but the undisputed era turned on him. Cole was ready for a punt kick when Heel woke up. Cole hit Dane with a flying neckbreaker and Strong knocked the superplex down on coffee with all eight people.
McAfee climbed onto the cage and hit the Flying Santon from the top, taking the second seven out. Dane hit O’Reilly with a bitter end for the first close fall with a last-second kick out. O’Reilly responded to the suplex on the steel between the rings for his own 2.9 count. O’Reilly went to finish Dunn, but McAfee took him out of the chair. He then lowered the call to the fee chair, but the call dodged the punt kick. The fish by the strong table avoided the butch and McAfee hit a superkick, but Cole McAfee caught a superkick while trying to Panama Sunrise. Cole then only 2.9 from Meffey’s shock.
Lork sacrificed himself for McAfee and took Cole’s last shot finisher. Dunne then regained consciousness and hit the brighter end in a standing chair on the call, but Strong broke the pin and slammed his incredible backbreaker on Dunne. Controversial Era helped Lowe-Plane out with a high-low finisher, and O’Reilly landed on the chair in Lorcan’s face for a pinball victory in a spectacular match with his flying knee. We talked about more than expected earlier, and this is exactly what it did. It was slow at the time, but the action was really done. By the time that time was up someone was better than the women’s match, which is a big achievement. Undisputed Era Def. McAfee, Dunne, Lorcan and Birch – Grade: a
