We hope everyone is doing well and looking forward to the festive season, however before we can celebrate Christmas, we celebrate NXT Takeover: WarGames, which takes place inside the Capital Wrestling Centre.
The Christmas period for WWE was glum in recent years but with the recent revival of WarGames there’s now hope in the wrestling world.
We are ‘War Talk’ and ‘The Wrestling Brain’, and these are our War Games predictions.
War Talk: WT
The Wrestling Brain: TWB
Strap Match: Cameron Grimes vs Dexter Lumis
WT: Grimes and Lumis are two characters who could arguably be title holders in 2021, with the strong booking and excellent character work it is a testament to NXT’s creative. Their exchange at Halloween Havoc was fun and the stipulation for Sundays match will add to their storylines dynamic due to the constant references Grimes makes on Wednesday nights, alluding to their exchange and growing interest for their matchup.
Choosing a victor for this match was difficult due to both men benefitting from a TakeOver victory but I am giving it to Lumis. The stipulation fits Lumis’ character well and can regain the momentum he lost when injured. Hopefully, this Victory leads him towards a potential North American Championship shot at the next Takeover.
War Talks Pick: Dexter Lumis
TWB: If this match didn’t feature Cameron Grimes I’m not sure whether I’ll care about it all, this feels more like something that we’d see on Raw or Smackdown. We get gimmick matches on NXT, but the storyline that Lumis and Grimes have had is something that we rarely see on the Black and Gold brand. It’s lasted now for the best part of three months, and honestly if it wasn’t for Grimes being so entertaining and funny to watch, I’d be tempted to give it a skip.
Dexter Lumis is a certainly a different and unique character, and perhaps is a character that would suit Raw and Smackdown much more.
I’ll keep the prediction short and sweet, Lumis wins, Grimes can afford the loss because he’s always able to bounce back and seemingly forget about any defeat and return still as confident, cocky and arrogant as ever.
The Wrestling Brain’s Pick: Dexter Lumis
Tomasso Ciampa vs Timothy Thatcher
WT: Ciampa vs Thatcher could arguably be the match of the night due to the pair’s chemistry shown on NXT television, plus their fantastic wrestling capabilities. If the pair are given the correct time and placement on the card, then this could be match of the year, and yes, I know that gets thrown about far too regularly.
The build towards this match has been good but with the two involved, there needs to be a long-term storyline put in place for them to shine. I think Thatcher will win this exchange but I’m hoping this isn’t the end for both superstars as another match at the next Takeover could turn this decent feud into a feud of the year given the time. So I’m asking NXT – PLEASE LET THEM HAVE ANOTHER EXCHANGE!
War Talk’s Pick: Timothy Thatcher
TWB: This feels like a must win match for Timothy Thatcher, besides beating Matt Riddle in the Fight Pit, he’s not had a win that has made him look like a star and a threat to anyone on the roster, the beauty of NXT is that someone can go on a run of victories and then be a legitimate challenger to one of the titles and that could easily happen for Thatcher if he defeats former NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa.
Speaking of which, to me it feels that Tommaso Ciampa is stuck in limbo right now, a few months ago he attacked Jake Atlas and it looked like he was going heel again which is certainly his strongest suit, but now all of sudden he’s back as a face.
Let’s face it Ciampa has done it all in NXT and whilst I worry about anyone going to Raw or Smackdown, I feel if he moved to either of those brands he could do a lot there especially as a heel. Just imagine him vs Drew McIntyre or Daniel Bryan.
Thatcher has to win, he’s been 50/50 booked since he debuted in NXT, a victory over a top star and former champion, will set him up for what I believe could be a future North American Championship reign.
The Wrestling Brain’s Pick: Timothy Thatcher
North American Championship Triple Threat: Leon Ruff (c) vs Johnny Gargano vs Damien Priest
WT: When I get deeper into this card it makes me realize that we have a potential PPV of the year on our hands. The title run of Ruff has been fantastic for the concept creative are going for. Normally if they want to plant the seeds with a new superstar being a potential champion (take for example Velveteen Dream 2016/17) they have the superstar make appearances on NXT TV and may have a PPV feud but never get the opportunity to hold a title in their opening month, there will be appearances to get the crowd familiar with their character but never an instant title run.
Therefore, it makes the Ruff run unique for NXT, its fun and a great way to grow Ruff’s character. Many people online think they’re burying Ruff if he is losing the title but he isn’t losing to a local jobber, he could potentially loosing it to a NXT Grand Slam Champion in Johnny Gargano or Damien Priest, both solidified NXT Stars.
Focusing on the match, this exchange is the hardest to call but with the recent taping of NXT being considered I believe Johnny Gargano will be victorious thus becoming a 3-time NXT North- American Champion. I have got a feeling that the feud between Gargano and Priest is not over and there’s the potential for Gargano to reveal a new stable with the repeated showing of the masked ‘Scream’ killers.
The recent NXT show had a visual of Gargano on commentary with multiple men masked behind him-potentially leading to a new faction. Either way I feel like the masked men will have a role in the matchup costing Ruff his title.
War Talk’s Pick: Johnny Gargano
TWB: I was as shocked as everyone else were, when Leon Ruff became NXT North American Champion defeating Johnny Gargano on NXT last month. Rarely in wrestling these days, do you get a surprise victory that you just can’t see coming, but that’s exactly what we got.
Over the course of his so far short title reign, Ruff has been portrayed as a fluke champion, and even in a rematch between him and Gargano, it took Priest to punch Ruff for a DQ finish, for the champion to retain. However it’s clear in his promos that Leon doesn’t want to be seen as lucky and he wants to take on all comers.
As for his two opponents Gargano and Priest, they’ve been feuding for a few months now, with both men previously holding the North American Title. Towards the start of his heel run, I recall not really enjoying what Gargano was doing, however I’ve changed my mind on it completely, and ultimately whether he’s a face or heel I’m a Johnny Gargano fan.
I’m also a fan of Damian Priest, the things he can do inside the ring for a man of his size is remarkable, and honestly I think he could be the NXT Champion next year and have a long reign holding the title.
But Leon Ruff needs to win this one, this feels like a prove yourself, breakout moment for the current North American Champion, and it can used as warning to the rest of the roster that he isn’t a fluke champion.
The Wrestling Brain’s Pick: Leon Ruff
Women’s WarGames Match: Team Shotzi( Shotzi Blackheart, Io Shirai, Rhea Ripley and Ember Moon) vs Team LeRae ( Candice LeRae, Raquel Gonzalez, Dakota Kai and Toni Storm)
WT: The second ever Women’s WarGames matchup could be better than the first, looking at its face value. Team Shotzi is fueled with past, potential, and current Women’s NXT Champions, whilst team LeRae is fueled with a former NXT UK Women’s Champion and potential Women’s Champions, everyone has a place in this match.
The build towards this match has had everything, from heel turns to surprise participants and it looks as if these women are only getting started. I am excited to see the spots from Gonzalez and Ripley inside WarGames as they are characters seem to flourish in these scenarios.
Both teams could pick up the win, and that is what is beautiful about WarGames, even if you lose, you will look strong in doing so. I believe that Team Shotzi will be victorious with a potential heel turn from Blackheart after the match, setting up Shirai vs Blackheart for the next Takeover. PLEASE MAKE THIS HAPPEN!
War Talk’s Pick: Team Shotzi
TWB: In the first WarGames match of the night, we have a team captained by Shotzi Blackheart taking on the team captained by Candice LeRae. Considering how good last year’s Women’s WarGames was, I expect this to be no different.
The inclusion of the current NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai is an interesting one, it makes me think that she will be the one to take the loss, this setting up her next program and title defense. Looking at who Shirai’s opponents are in my mind it only leaves two names who could be her next challenger.
Both Candice LeRae and Dakota Kai have received title shots in the past few months, and came up short against the ‘Genius of The Sky’, then you have Raquel Gonzalez and Toni Storm, I think Gonzalez is being primed for a big push, but I would actually be tempted to send her to Raw or Smackdown alongside Kai.
So that leaves Toni Storm, and instantly there you have a story, Storm was the one to defeat Shirai in the final of the Mae Young Classic back in 2018, and from there their career paths took different turns, Storm would play a key role in the growth of NXT UK, whilst Shirai would be a big star for the NXT brand.
I expect Shirai to climb to the top of the WarGames structure and perform the Moonsault and wipe everyone out bar Toni, who immediately grabs the Women’s champion and hits her Storm Zero for the victory.
The Wrestling Brain’s Pick: Team Candice
Mens WarGames Match: Undisputed Era (Adam Cole Bay Bay, Kyle O’Reilly, Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish) vs Team McAfee (Pat McAfee, Pete Dunne, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch)
WT: It pains me to say but I have got a feeling that Sunday’s WarGames might be the last time we see the Undisputed Era as a four-man group…
The build towards this matchup has been excellent with the constant promos between the groups selling the matchup as ‘must see’. The returning Pete Dunne adds a different variety towards the War Games match, as seen in previous years, and allows team McAfee to have a legitimate claim to dethrone Undisputed Era’s spot on NXT.
Sundays PPV will be Undisputed Era’s forth War Games Match, and leads fans to question what else can they do in NXT? There was the tease of Kyle having a singles run but played out into a victory for the Champion Finn Balor and another title Run for UE could ruin the tag-team division due to the promise and depth being shown weekly on NXT Television.
There could be two (plausible) outcomes for this match regarding the Undisputed Era:
1) They split up into two groups (Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly form Future Shock) whilst Strong and Fish continue as a heel tag team.
2) they whole team gets called up to the Main Roster where they will be features on ‘A Moments Of Bliss’ once, then hidden from the universe for a year.
Either way, the direction of this matchup will be to indicate the future of the UE whilst giving their ‘rub’ onto four men who could potentially run NXT. I believe Team McAfee will win with a Pete Dunn spot from the top of the cage being the final spot hopefully leading to Dunne vs Balor at a later date.
War Talk Picks: Team McAfee
TWB: For the forth year in a row, Undisputed Era will be stepping inside the WarGames structure, but for the first time they will be the babyface team.
They will be taking on the team led by the excellent Pat McAfee who right now is probably the best thing on NXT and cutting promos that are must see every week. The rest of McAfee’s crew are former NXT UK Champion Pete Dunne and current Tag Champions Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan. Burch and Lorcan have been one of the most consistent teams on the roster for the last few years and I’m really pleased that both men are being given the chance to shine.
Whatever the result is here and whatever is next for Undisputed Era (I feel I’ve said a few times already) they have done it all, pretty much every top star on NXT has feuded with the faction. The only thing that can happen that is new is splitting them up, and I think that will happen.
I think both Bobby Fish and Roderick Strong turn on O’Reilly and Cole, they can cite that they feel jealous and left out on both Cole’s and Kyle’s singles success. This can lead to a feud between the two teams, which can intertwine into the Dusty Rhodes Classic which usually takes place at the start of the year.
As for McAfee’s stable, Pete Dunne can go after the North American Championship feuding with Leon Ruff or even begin a rivalry with the NXT Champion Finn Balor, Burch and Lorcan will be the tag champions of what can be a very strong division, and McAfee can wrestle now and then, but his biggest asset is no doubt holding the microphone.
The Wrestling Brain’s Pick: Team McAfee
Do you agree with War Talk and The Wrestling Brain’s NXT Takeover: WarGames Predictions? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @SLTDWrestling.
Make sure you follow War Talk – @TomCallan16 & The Wrestling Brain – @callumown98
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