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0 out of 5
Credit: WWE.com
This week’s episode was the last show before Sunday’s TakeOver: WarGames event, so everything was on deck to prepare for pay-per-view.
Before their teams fight inside the WarGames cage, Shotzi Blackheart and Raquel Gonzalez took part in a ladder match to determine which team would have the advantage before Sunday.
Ahead of Wednesday’s show, Legado del Fantasma attacked Curt Stallion ahead of his NXT debut in addition to having nasty words about Leon Ruff.
Let’s take a look at everything that happened during NXT’s pre-TakeOver episode.
1 of 5
NXT debuted with Triple H, Shawn Michaels, William Regal and the entire list on stage observing a moment of silence for the late Pat Patterson before a tribute video was released.
When we returned after the usual intro song, Damian Priest was in the ring awaiting the arrival of Leon Ruff and Legado del Fantasma. Ruff convinced Priest to let him go for their team.
Santos Escobar put Ruff on the ground, then stood up and allowed him to stand up so he could show how much better he was than his opponent. Raul Mendoza scored and Ruff took him down with a dropkick for two.
After Ruff took a brutal knee to the face, Priest scored himself. Escobar immediately tagged him and Mendoza had to shut himself up with him. Legado del Fantasma took control during the commercial break when Priest was distracted by someone in Ghostface costume in the crowd.
Ruff eventually returned and took him to Mendoza and Escobar with a flurry of quick maneuvers. The priest returned to clean the house a few moments later. Ruff tagged himself and hit a big splash for the pin.
Classroom: B
Analysis
The pre-show attack to set this up robbed Stallion of his early days, but Ruff and Priest created an interesting unique combination.
Johnny Gargano has been excellent on the comments as an antagonist who is still bitter about losing his North American Championship. He knows his character and plays him perfectly.
Legado del Fantasma looked like the most cohesive unit, but that was to be expected from a group with much more experience working together. This fight could have been better, but it was good enough to keep the viewer’s interest.
2 of 5
August Gray faced Cameron Grimes in the second game of the night. The Red Dead NPC brought a strap with him to intimidate his opponent ahead of his strap match on Sunday.
Grimes took control right away and laughed at Gray as he tried to inflict as much pain as possible. Gray started to make a comeback and hit a big crossbody from the top rope for a two count.
About 20 seconds later, Grimes hit the Cave-In for the pin and the victory. As he continued to attack Gray, Dexter Lumis arrived and took him down with his own strap.
Classroom: VS
Analysis
It was a short match designed to give Grimes some momentum ahead of his match at WarGames. He achieved his goal but was still too quick to be memorable.
The post-match attack on Gray as Grimes was talking to Lumis was entertaining and made him look a little more dangerous than usual, at least until Lumis showed up.
3 out of 5
The advertisers have said that Jake Atlas is dedicating this match to Patterson’s honor. He locked himself in and Tony Nese took control early using his strength advantage.
Atlas turned things around and took a suicide dive. He tried to climb the top rope, but the Premier Athlete knocked him down with a big jumping strike.
Nese lifted him up for a torture stand, but Atlas broke free and began to fight. He hit a German release suplex and a spinning forearm for a near fall.
After some acrobatics, Nese hit a huge kick in the face for a tight double count. Atlas recovered and hit the DDT wheel for the win.
Classroom: B +
Analysis
It was a fun match between two of the most versatile artists on the NXT roster. There were some high flying spots, a bit of technical wrestling and a lot of hitting.
Nese is an underrated artist who can make anyone look good, but Atlas doesn’t need much help. He’s been impressive since his debut and his more aggressive demeanor has helped him in so many ways.
After the match, Atlas gave an interview and promised that this victory was just the beginning. It was short but effective.
4 out of 5
Pat McAfee and his trio of friends stepped out to deliver a directed promo to The Undisputed Era. McAfee has done a great job being a heel that you want to see get punched in the face.
The next segment saw Ever-Rise prepare to fight The Grizzled Young Veterans, but Imperium came out and attacked Ever-Rise first. This led to a new game between the two former NXT UK teams.
Fabian Aichner started with Zack Gibson. Imperium got the upper hand right away and used two-team tactics before James Drake helped turn the tables.
The two teams continued to exchange control back and forth for some time. No one had an advantage for more than a minute. After the break, Gibson and Drake dominated the game.
Marcel Barthel planted Gibson with a rough side slap for a two-count. They both scored their partners after a while, and Drake had the advantage until Barthel helped his partner hit an impressive suplex for a near crash.
Aichner took out both opponents and his partner with a huge dive from the top rope to the ground before Ever-Rise returned to attack both teams and cause a disqualification.
Classroom: B
Analysis
There were a few sloppy spots because they were trying to work a fast pace, but that didn’t do anything to make this fight any less enjoyable. Missing a suplex meter is not a problem.
These are two teams that have already worked together and showcased their chemistry. Imperium had the technical game down, while GYV brought the brawl.
Ever-Rise was an unfortunate victim, but since the team is still new, she didn’t have the momentum to drop out so she could recover quickly. The post-game attack certainly helped. If this is a future NXT tag titles feud, it will hopefully give us more fights like this.
5 out of 5
Gonzalez took control almost immediately using his significant size advantage. Blackheart held on to the fight, but it took the help of a ladder to launch into a real offense.
The green haired grappler punched the ladder in his face at ringside before trying to bring him into the ring. Gonzalez hugged her and dropped her hard, but Blackheart was back on her a moment later.
Blackheart climbed onto the barricade divider and hit a casket drop on the ground. We came back from a break to see Blackheart and Gonzalez nearly rush a DDT on the apron. Gonzalez slammed her on the apron to give herself time to recuperate.
Blackheart pushed over the ladder to prevent his opponent from reaching the top. She slammed Gonzalez’s face down the ladder in the corner using her whole body as a weapon. She hit a nasty senton on the ground, and the two women fell violently.
The other women in the WarGames match came down and started a huge brawl. Io Shirai came out of nowhere to stop Gonzalez from winning. She took everyone out to ringside with a moonsault. This left Blackheart alone to climb the ladder and retrieve the briefcase with the Golden Ticket.
Classroom: B +
Analysis
Blackheart’s style involves taking a lot of risk, so you need to take into account the occasional yawn, especially in a match like this. Having said that, there were only one or two obvious mistakes. Everything else looked good.
Io Shirai seemed like an obvious choice to join Team Blackheart, but it’s hard to think of a better choice at the moment. She’s not defending the title on Sunday, so putting her in WarGames was a smart move.
It was a great way to wrap up the show and send us into this weekend’s event. TakeOver still has the potential to be a great show, and Sunday’s lineup is no exception.
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