NXT TAKEOVER: WAR GAMES
DECEMBER 6, 2020
CAPITOL WRESTLING CENTER
ORLANDO, FLORIDA

Watch: WWE Network

MEET OUR PREVIEWERS

Garrett Kidney: Garrett, co-host of Wednesday War Games, has decided to turn watching NXT every week into more content by writing this preview. Anything to take a break from just dying over and over again in Demon’s Souls. Follow Garrett on Twitter @garrettkidney.

NXT NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP
LEON RUFF (C) VS. JOHNNY GARGANO vs. DAMIAN PRIEST

I have one simple request for this match, one hope that my entire enjoyment of this match hinges on: I hope the finish is literally anything other than Priest hitting a big move on Gargano and Ruff stealing the win. If they do the most cliched, boring three-way finish imaginable I will completely give up on this Leon Ruff story. The presentation of Ruff has been hit or miss, the times he’s shown some fire and stood up to Priest have been great while the comedy and presenting him as Priest’s lovable geek pal has sucked – this match is make or break for actually establishing Ruff as a relatively serious act worth investing. Do they want to elevate Ruff on a show that badly needs such elevations or is this just a silly cartoon side story? Priest should be moving up into NXT Championship contention after this and Gargano can be beaten every day of the week and lose nothing on this brand at this stage so Gargano and his multiple Ghostfaces should take Priest out and then Ruff beats Gargano straight up. It’s probably going to be the pin stealing thing though. Prediction: Leon Ruff

TIMOTHY THATCHER VS. TOMMASO CIAMPA

There was a time where Timothy Thatcher being choked out by Dexter Lumis and tapped out by KUSHIDA would be considered a major star ruining blunder but we are so beyond anything mattering anymore. I guess the one bonus to nothing mattering is even the bad stuff doesn’t really hurt anybody anymore. Thatcher is going to lose this match because he loses all of his important matches and Ciampa feels like a logical next challenger for Balor but this is a match between two guys who feel stuck in a rut. Thatcher is a victim of the famous NXT two week push while Ciampa feels like a relic from a bygone age of NXT, trapped while the brand has passed him by but still there working one aimless program after another. If they’re not going to call him up, he needs a major reboot to make him stand out in an era of NXT where he feels devoid of purpose. Either way, this would be a very strange time to suddenly decide to give Thatcher a big win. Prediction: Tommaso Ciampa

STRAP MATCH
DEXTER LUMIS VS. CAMERON GRIMES

Imagine telling somebody in 2017 that Sam Shaw will eventually face Trevor Lee on a TakeOver in a Strap Match. What a random timeline we live in. Grimes has committed the cardinal WWE sin of letting them know that he has some amount of comic timing and has sadly pigeonholed him as a comedy doofus who’s scared of Lumis’ eyes and runs away from zombie referees. They could flip a switch tomorrow and let him be a wrestling machine that kills people but it’ll probably never happen. I don’t really know who’s going to win this. I know that’s a great thing to say in a PREVIEW and PREDICTIONS. Both guys have been an endless victim of the two-week push but Lumis has generally gotten the better of the feud so far and Grimes needs the win more. Prediction: Cameron Grimes

WAR GAMES
SHOTZI BLACKHEART, EMBER MOON, RHEA RIPLEY AND IO SHIRAI VS. CANDICE LERAE, DAKOTA KAI, RAQUEL GONZALEZ AND TONI STORM

What a difference a year makes for Dakota Kai. A year ago she turned on Tegan Nox in a tremendous angle at War Games and seemed primed to swoop into the position as top heel in the NXT Women’s Division. In the year since she has smashed up against a ceiling despite strong performances as Io Shirai has stood head and shoulders above the rest of the division. Now she’s the fourth most important person on her War Games team, behind even her heater Raquel Gonzalez at this stage. Despite the slightly silly origins of this match – this match came from Candice destroying Shotzi Blackheart’s tank, though to be fair I believe legally speaking destroying the tank of another sovereign entity can be considered an act of war – this is stacked with talent and there’s no reason it shouldn’t be a great match. Given her recent turn, Toni Storm picking up the win to set her up as the next challenger for Shirai makes most sense. Prediction: Team Candice

WAR GAMES
THE UNDISPUTED ERA (ADAM COLE, KYLE O’REILLY, RODERICK STRONG AND BOBBY FISH) vs. PAT MCAFEE, PETE DUNNE, DANNY BURCH AND ONEY LORCAN

This is a weird one. This match makes perfect sense to do in War Games – both are established groups that have been feuding for months in one way or another – and McAfee’s promos have been great, but it’s felt a little cold heading into the show. This is meant to be WAR Games. These two teams are meant to be desperate to tear each other apart and yet most of the final build has been man advantage ladder matches and fairly tepid promos. It doesn’t feel like the culmination of two factions wanting to destroy each other, but rather simply a pretty cool match to do in War Games. I think a lot comes down to The Undisputed Era side, whose babyface turn hasn’t exactly been the smoothest and the group that felt like the coolest thing on the show as heels have lost some of their edge. I wanted more passion and fire from them going into this match, not them all talking casually to camera-wearing suits while sitting in the back of a limo. Hopefully, that anger and fury comes through in the match at least. I think Team McAfee should win this – they are a newly formed group that needs credibility – but solely because I predicted the heel team would win the Women’s War Games match and I don’t think both heel teams are going to win, I’m going with Undisputed Era. Prediction: Undisputed Era