WWE NXT: Changes to WarGames Concept a Smart Decision
By Bryan Heaton
When WWE NXT presents TakeOver: WarGames, the classic match will be slightly different than what fans remember. But it’s really a smart decision on WWE’s part.
While many have their eyes looking straight to Survivor Series this weekend, there’s another huge show one night earlier. WWE NXT TakeOver: WarGames hits the WWE Network on November 18, and the big attraction is the namesake match. For the first time in nearly two decades, the classic NWA/WCW gimmick match will be front and center for the world to see.
But in recent weeks, some news has come out about the setup of the match that WWE will use. In classic WarGames contests, the match was contested in two rings that were surrounded by one steel cage with a roof. It was sort of like a dual ring Hell in a Cell, but without the space on the floor outside the ring to utilize.
In a conference call earlier this week, Triple H discussed the WarGames match to promote TakeOver. For this iteration, there will be no roof on the cage. Triple H’s rationale is that the twenty year gap gives the unique opportunity to tweak things to not necessarily improve, but reinvent.
Another point of change is the match participants. In the past, WCW would put two five person teams in a WarGames match, with one person from each team starting the match. After a period of time, a second participant from one team would enter the match, providing a 2-on-1 advantage for a time. The teams would alternate entrants, and after all participants had entered the cage, a single pinfall or submission would end the contest.
This year, WarGames is a triple threat trios match. Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe, and Killian Dain comprise SAnitY; Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly, and Adam Cole (baybay) make up The Undisputed Era; and The Authors of Pain will team with Roderick Strong. One man from each team will start, and because more toy sets need to fly off the shelves the rest of the team will be locked in shark cages. One team will be completed at a time, rather than individual entrants. The same rules for the finish apply.
Many fans have voiced displeasure about the rules changes. All you need to do is search for “WarGames” on Twitter and see for yourself. But if you ask me, these changes are a good thing. Triple H has already given one reason – there’s been twenty years since the last WarGames match. Have you gone back to watch any movie or television show or even wrestling match from a ways back? Very few hold up as well as you think.
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Take it one step further – show an “old” movie or TV show or wrestling match to a younger fan. I have the unique opportunity of being a school teacher – and since I think of myself as “the cool guy” I use a lot of pop culture references in the classroom. In a lesson about movie music, I showed a clip from Wayne’s World to an 8th grade class – and got a room full of blank stares.
Now picture today’s wrestling fans with today’s attitudes. Attention spans are much shorter than they were even five years ago, let alone twenty or thirty. The modern fan doesn’t want to sit through a match with seven periods, waiting (im)patiently for one person at a time to enter the ring. They want action, and they want it ten minutes ago!
As far as the roof goes, yeah, it kind of stinks to lose that. The whole point of the roof was to trap the participants and offer no escape. But WWE has already proven that a roof doesn’t guarantee enclosure. Look at 90% of the Hell in a Cell matches the company has booked. Superstars escape all the time. Why not just take the roof away, and open up the possibility of someone jumping off the cage?
Next: WWE NXT TakeOver: WarGames Predictions
The fact is, classic WarGames matches were great. Maybe it’s a bad idea to revive the match and change so many things. But in the long run, WWE is going to reap the benefits of the slight changes. And the main event at TakeOver is going to be off the hook.