NXT TakeOver WarGames Takeaways: Io Shirai’s next challenger

Here are five takeaways from another memorable NXT TakeOver WarGames Pay Per View.

NXT TakeOver WarGames featured two masterpiece WarGames matches, an interesting North American Title match, a strap match, and an absolutely hard-hitting bout between Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher.

Let’s take a look at what we learned from this TakeOver special, which was another home run hit by the Black and Gold brand.

Io Shirai will face Raquel Gonzalez next

The Women’s WarGames match was incredibly unpredictable. With the babyfaces having an advantage, I had no idea what to expect, especially since fans had so many theories. There were even fans wondering if Rhea Ripley could turn heel, and I’m honestly glad that didn’t happen.

Instead, we got an excellent match, with NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai and Dakota Kai standing out as the stars of the match. Shirai had three huge spots. She jumped off the top of the cage with a trash can on top of her, almost got stuck in a trash can after getting stomped on so hard, and went through the ladder via a one-arm powerbomb from Raquel Gonzalez.

That final spot was also the final moment of the match. Gonzalez pinned the NXT Women’s Champion, which all but guarantees that she will be Shirai’s next opponent. And could that match happen at New Year’s Evil? We shall see.

But before then, we must additionally consider Kai turning babyface again. We need to have a Gonzalez vs. Kai match at some point at a TakeOver or TV special, right? So keep an eye out for that, on top of an upcoming title match for Gonzalez.