WWE NXT TakeOver WarGames 2020 Results, Grades and Analysis

WWE NXT TakeOver WarGames 2020: A full show review.

First of all, I’d just like to say that I’m so jealous of the NXT roster because I didn’t get to make mean and brooding faces at the camera while War Pigs by Black Sabbath plays in the background, that song alone makes the pre-show worth watching.

The promo packages, as usual, were very well done and created hype for the show.

But how good was TakeOver WarGames 2020? Let’s get into it.

Team Shotzi (Shotzi Blackheart, Ember Moon, Rhea Ripley, and Io Shirai)

vs. Team Candice (Candice LeRae, Toni Storm, Raquel Gonzalez, and Dakota Kai)

Result: Team Candice wins as Racquel Gonzalez pinned Io Shirai.

Grade: B

The show opened with the Women’s WarGames match, it was the logical choice as the Men’s match is predictably going to main event, and you’d want to keep the two WarGames matches as far apart as possible.

Shotzi entered on a much better and modified tank than the one Candice crushed, she even entered after Io Shirai, the champion. I guess the tank means more than the title. She was the team captain to be fair, and it was a cool entrance. The tank even shot a kind of missile at Dakota Kai, who was already in the ring.

Dakota Kai and Ember Moon start the match for their respective teams.

Ember looked really athletic, she did a unique front flip into a forearm spot to Kai. A kip-up spot was botched, and Kai ground Moon’s face into the cage.

Shotzi Blackheart was next and she brought a toolbox and a crowbar with her. She beat up Kai, but Kai made a comeback and fought off both women, and therein lies the main problem of the whole match. Kudos to NXT for not keeping things repetitive, but these matches always work better when the heels have the advantage. If I didn’t know the storyline, I would’ve thought Kai was the babyface.

Raquel Gonzalez was in next. Ember and Shotzi sized her up like hyenas ganging up on a lioness. Raquel destroyed both of them, lifted Kai on her shoulders, and hit Ember and Shotzi with her feet. Kai then hit a top-rope double lariat onto both women with the assist from Raquel.

Rhea Ripley came in next. Ripley and Raquel stared daggers into each other. Shotzi hit Raquel with a Code Red, Ripley got a damn sledgehammer from the toolbox and hit Kai with it, then tied her up and smashed her into the cage for a nasty looking bump. Then, Ripley and Raquel started brawling.

Toni Storm was in next and the boos rain down. She brought kendo sticks into the ring, exposed multiple turnbuckles, and sent Ripley spine-first into the exposed turnbuckle. The heels beat up the faces even though they didn’t have an advantage, it’s 3 on 3. There was a nice double tower of doom spot.

Io Shirai entered the match, by entered I mean exited her cage because she didn’t actually enter the ring. She got a ladder in the ring while Raquel closed the door. Io slammed a kendo stick onto Raquel’s fingers but then got the cage door booted in her face by Raquel. Io then got chairs into the ring and kicked Raquel in the face while she was holding a chair, but then got booted out again. That’s the NXT Women’s champion she’s not even in the math yet.

She tried to climb the cage but got dropped by Kai. Ripley and Raquel brawl while Io lies outside like an idiot while Candice comes out. Indi Hartwell then attacks Io from behind. Smart heels and dumb babyfaces. A trash can and a chair were then brought into the ring.

Indi locked the door and put the key in her shirt. The babyfaces got decimated with kendo sticks and Wade Barret admired the heels, and rightly so. Then Io got on top of the cage, put the trash can on her head, and jumped onto everyone. The sledgehammer was then used as a normal weapon, Triple H would not be happy.

None of the announcers called the sledgehammer a sledgehammer, I wonder why.

The babyfaces then ran wild, Io hits a moonsault on Raquel, but the pin is broken up by the heels. All the tools then come into play and chaos ensues.

Candice put Ember in a Garga-No-Escape with a wrench while Shotzi locked in her submission on Toni Storm, Candice then broke it up. Candice then took a lot of punishment. She got hit with chairs, fell onto chairs, and Shotzi even hit a Senton off a ladder onto Candice who was on a pile of chairs. Dakota Kai hit a brutal double stomp on Io while she was in a trash can. Everyone hit their finishers. Ember hit the Eclipse, Toni hit Storm Zero.

While everyone was done, Io tried to hit a frankensteiner on Raquel, who reverses and powerbombed Io onto a ladder that was set in between the ropes, and then Raquel Gonzalez pinned Io Shirai to take the win for her team.

Huge push for Raquel and the wrestling was good, however, this match was hampered by its structure. The babyfaces looked dumb, and even heelish at points.

Anyway, looks like Raquel is going to get a shot at the title. We’ll see how that goes.