NXT In A Nutshell: War Path to WarGames

Happy Halloween folks! It’s NXT’s turn to give us a trick or a treat, as we have a big hour of NXT tonight. It’s our first show since Johnny Gargano was revealed as the man who attacked Aleister Black, so we should see follow up on that. GM William Regal should finally announce the title match, and there’s that wonderful WarGames match itself. With just a few weeks to go, NXT is on a war path to WarGames. Let’s crack open this Nutshell and see what unfolds!

Best Match of the night:

The main event could have been  fun, but the match wound up being a brawl that never evolved into a match. Still fun to watch.

On the other hand, the debut of Matt Riddle was also fun to watch.

Take your pick.

Worst match of the night:

I really was not feeling Street Profits and The Mighty

Crowd Chants of the Night:

NXT! NXT! NXT!

Let’s gp Nikki

Mercedes

Bro

Bruiserweight

War! War! War!

Star of the Night

I will give this one to the debuting Matt Riddle. I’ve heard a lot about the former MMA star, so it’s nice to finally see him in the ring. He was fun to watch, and I do look forward to seeing more of him.

Spot of the Night:

Rather unique one by The Mighty, which went off like Thorne power bombed Miller, while Miller dropped Montez Ford from the top.

The bro-mission is an interesting submission. As a fan of submission moves, I approve.

Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:

Instead of a tag match for the main event, we got an all out brawl that was in the back, outside, and in the ring. It ultimately gave us our WarGames main event.

I mean…seriously, I cannot say enough of the brawl. From War Raiders attacking Undisputed Era during their typical backstage self interview segment, to the action spilling outside into the dining area, with Cole getting launched into the side of the trailer, and ultimately spilling into the ring. It was very enjoyable, nice brawl. And when Dunne joined the fun, the crowd was happy and the match was locked in. Undisputed Era certainly did not look pleased.

Noteworthy Moment:

Candace LeRae confronted Nikki Cross, implying that Nikki was messing with people’s lives (almost seemed like she meant Nikki was manipulating, except, you know, Johnny admitted it last week). Nikki left, only to be confronted by Aleister Black. Black then headed to the ring to confront Candace in order to find Johnny, but of course, Candace had no idea where her hubby was.

William Regal confirmed not one, not two, but three matches for TakeOver. First, Tommaso Ciampa defends against Velveteen Dream. Next, Johnny Gargano will face Aleister Black. And, at the end of the show, we got our WarGames

Overall lowlights:

Not much to complain about, honestly.

Overall highlights:

Nikki Cross is crazy and fun to watch.

Great to see Mercedes Martinez finally on the regular show.

Like getting to see some of the TakeOver card.

Lars looks ticked off. Will be interesting to see how he works his way into that title match.

That brawl. It was awesome to watch. Had something for everyone.

After the final bell:

In a blink, we went from having no WarGames card, to knowing three of the five televised matches. We can expect that a rematch for Kairi Sane and Shayna Baszler is the fourth. And I have to say, the card looks really good. That WarGames match alone should be worth the price of admission.

I also love how NXT rapidly can re-stock. I remember Mercedes from the first Mae Young Classic, so I hope this time she really sticks around. Matt Riddle came in with a lot of hype and looks the part. With NXT call ups looming over the next few months, the brand has already begun to reload and it’s exciting to see.

Results:

Nikki Cross defeats a game Mercedes Martinez. Nikki got bloodied during the match, and afterwards told Mercedes “that was fun”.

Street Profits defeat The Mighty

Matt Riddle makes his NXT debut by defeating Luke Menzies

Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch defeat Humberto Carrillo and Raul Mendoza

The match between Bobby Fish and Adam Cole and the War Raiders didn’t happen, and instead would up

in a chaotic brawl as all four of Undisputed Era were brawling with the Raiders as well as Ricochet and Pete Dunne. As a result of the brawl, we now have our WarGames match for TakeOver.