Ranking the NXT TakeOver: WarGames Card

1. Kairi Sane vs Shayna Baszler

Kairi Sane and Shayna Baszler stole the show at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn earlier this year. They stole it again at Evolution last month. Guess what, ya girls are going to do at NXT: TakeOver WarGames…?

Every once in a while, a pitch-perfect rivalry comes along. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, Gargano and Ciampa, Omega and Okada. Baszler and Sane have that same rare, impeccable chemistry.

They are polar opposites in almost every sphere: Sane is dynamic, exciting and entertaining, while Baszler is aggressive, negative and brutal. ‘The Pirate Princess’ is beloved, and the crowds are invested in her success, while ‘Queen of Spades’ Baszler is so gloweringly arrogant that it’s impossible to cheer for her.

And yet both are absolutely brilliant at what they do, so much so that despite their vast differences, they are perfectly complementary in the ring.

Sane’s strength is that while she is a true shining star of a babyface, she is also far from helpless. She is able to draw from a wellspring of righteous aggression, lending her the fire and determination needed to be a credible threat – you believe that she can take the monstrous Baszler down.

But Baszler responds to each defeat by becoming harder, stronger, more vicious. The story of every Baszler/Sane match is whether Sane’s fire will be enough this time.

At Evolution, Baszler’s Minoru Suzuki-esque implacability was Sane’s undoing. There simply was not enough fuel in the tank to outrun Baszler’s cruelty. We are barely a month removed from that match, and Baszler is running on a high. Will Sane have the stamina, the determination, enough tricks in the bag to overcome?

A two out of three falls match favours those who don’t burn themselves out too quickly. Sane’s high-energy style may well fall foul of the stipulation, and Baszler’s aptitude for targeting and exploiting weakness surely gives her the upper hand.

But this match almost certainly represents the culmination of a rivalry spanning more than a year, and with both participants matched in wins and losses, whoever emerges victorious at WarGames can truly be said to have won the war – at least, in this incarnation. Neither Sane nor Baszler is going to let go without a hell of a fight.

With only four matches on the card, this two out of three falls match has the potential to be an epic conclusion to one of the best rivalries in NXT history, and to cement Kairi Sane and Shayna Baszler as an all-time classic feud. They won’t just steal the show: they’ll own it.