NXT TakeOver: War Games 2019 Review

NXT TakeOver: War Games 2019 took place on Saturday 23rd November at the AllState Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. There are only 4 matches on the card but it does include 2 War Games matches, so let's take a look.

We actually get a match on the Kick Off Show as Isiah "Swerve" Scott taking on Angel Garza. The match starts at a fast pace before Garza pulls off his pants, throws them in Scott's face and hits a Superkick. Scott gets back into it after hitting a death valley driver onto the apron however, Garza manages to hit a Wing Clipper and get the win. This was a fun match to watch.
Winner: Angel Garza (N/A)

The first match of the night was the Women's War Games Match. During the Kick Off Show, Mia Yim was attacked by an unknown assailant and was replaced by Dakota Kai. So, the teams were Shayna Baszler, Kay Lee Ray, Io Shirai and Bianca Belair taking on the team of Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Tegan Nox and Mia Yim Dakota Kai. Shirai and LeRae start the match and they are joined by Belair, Ripley and Lee Ray. When Dakota Kai comes out, she decides to take the opportunity to turn heel (and become prime suspect in the attack on Mia Yim in the process) and brutally fuck up Tegan Nox at the cage. She gets ejected by William Regal and Baszler then enters the match, leaving her team with a 4-on-2 advantage. Io Shirai almost wins it with an Asai Moonsault on LeRae but Ripley breaks up the pin. After Ripley creams Lee Ray with a trash can, Baszler applies the Kirifuda Clutch. Ripley gets out of it and hits the Riptide onto 2 steel chairs to get the win. Ignoring the fact that perhaps Ripley and LeRae shouldn't have won this with a 2 woman disadvantage; it was still a very fun match.
Winners: Rhea Ripley and Candice LeRae (0 for 1)

The next is a triple threat match between Pete Dunne, Damien Priest and Killian Dian to determine who will face Adam Cole (Bay Bay!) for the NXT Championship at Survivor Series. Highlights include: Dian hitting a Michinoku driver onto Priest's face; Dunne hitting both guys with clotheslines; and Priest hitting Dunne with the Razor's Edge onto the Spanish announce table. In the end, Dunne has Dian in a sleeper and Dian gets out of it by hitting a senton onto a prone Priest. However, this gives Dunne the chance to pin Priest and get the win. This was a good match even though it was obvious who was going to win.
Winner: Pete Dunne (1 for 2)

We now get Finn Balor taking on Matt Riddle. Balor hits a dropkick then applies a chinlock to get the advantage. Riddle hits a fallaway slam to get back the momentum. After hittign each toher with German suplexes, Balor goes for the Coup de Grace but Riddle avoids it and applies the Bro-Mission. In the end, balor hits the 1916 DDT to get the win. This was a good match and a lot of fun to watch.
Winner: Finn Balor (2 for 3)

The main event is the Men's War Games Match. It's The Undisputed Era taking on the team of Tommaso Ciampa, Dominik Dijakovic and Keith Lee. Ciampa and Roderick Strong start the match and they are followed by Kyle O'Reilly, Dijakovic, Bobby Fish, Keith Lee and Adam Cole (Bay Bay!). When it looks like a fourth member of Campia's team wouldn't turn up, Kevin Owens comes out. Strong, O'Reilly and Fish get sent through tables and Ciampa and Cole end up fighting on top of the cage and Ciampa sends Cole through the table to get the win. This was a really good match with all the people involved getting a chance to shine
Winner: Tomasso Ciampa, Dominik Dijakovic, Keith Lee and Kevin Owens (3 for 4)

I really enjoyed War Games. All the matches were really good, especially the women's War Games match. We will now see if Survivor Series will be just as good.