NXT TakeOver: WarGames (originally NXT TakeOver: Houston) was a professional wrestling show and WWE Network event in the NXT TakeOver series that took place on November 18, 2017 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The event was produced by WWEfor its NXT brand and streamed live on the WWE Network. The event's name is derived from the match of the same name that was originally used in the National Wrestling Alliance and later, World Championship Wrestling.
Lars Sullivan def. Kassius Ohno
HULK SMASH! 'Nuff said. That's all what really needs to be said about this match. Ohno got some good hits in but ultimately went down swingin'. First match where it didn't look like a complete squash for whoever the poor sap was facing Lars.
Aleister Black def. Velveteen Dream
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| Dream looking like he was thinking "Black you taking this feud WAAAAYYYY too seriously, homie." |
Arguably one of the best matches of this entire show.
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| Dream does that move but he's out more than Black was from the impact. |
I think people are going to be BEGGING 2K to put in whatever that Modified Flow-Over DDT that Dream towards the end. I know some of my e-fedding friends were already calling for that move as their new signatures and finishers. It was over like Rover - along with Dream himself, after this showing tonight.
That's what made this story great (even though savvy WWE historians will be quick to inform you that this feud was a clever nod/throwback to The Undertaker and Goldust feud from the Attitude Era) is that Velveteen Dream didn't even need to win to get over here. The whole feud here with Aleister Black was about proving himself to his rival that he finally acknowledges him by name. I've had people tell me on social media time after FUCKING time that great stories don't matter, but here in 2017 we have a PERFECT example of that statement being painfully false as BOTH men got over here in this scenario, thanks to this powerful narrative, in and out of the ring.
Get the fuck out of here if you believe otherwise.
Fatal 4 Way for NXT Women's Championship - Ember Moon def. Kairi Sane, Peyton Royce, and Nikki Cross to win vacant championship
This wasn't a bad match, I just felt that it was too spot-heavy for my taste. It was obvious that they were using this as one of two cooldown matches before the War Games main event, along with the NXT title match. I loved a lot of the two and three woman spots in this match, especially the double Eclipse to end it. Can't say that I'm surprised Ember Moon took the win. They were putting that win off since before WrestleMania to be honest. I'm glad that Kairi Sane didn't win it in her first "proper" match on one of the NXT Takeover shows too. I know some people were sad that Nikki Cross didn't pick up the win, but give it time. I doubt they are calling up Sanity to the main roster until after WrestleMania anyway, so they have time to give her a chance to shine. Double goes for Peyton Royce, who was sporting new ring gear that looks MILES beyond that wannabe Batman '66 villainess garb. |
| Dat sell by Peyton LOOOOOL!!! |
NXT Championship - "Cien" Almas (w/ Zelina Vega) def. Drew Galloway (c) to become the NEW NXT Champion
I think everyone called this match for Galloway to win this one no problem, until he suffered an injury mid-match. Otherwise, I saw no reason to do that near-fall spot with Zelina hitting that Hurracanrana Buster on Drew followed by Almas' finisher. The reports are all saying that Galloway's going to miss at least 6 months minimum to bounce back from a bicep tear. I think even Almas was legitimately shocked that they had to pull the audible here for the finish. I don't see him keeping the belt past the next Takeover event though. Rosie Perez... err Zelina Vega has been a massive improvement for his character and total package, but I still don't see that dude as championship/main event material for this show. Don't get me wrong. I think Almas is one hell of a worker but he's just not working for me as a whole. Hell, if I'm perfectly honest, this match like the bulk of Almas' matches tend to bore the hell out of me.
War Games Match - The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, and Bobby Fish) def. Sanity (Eric Young, Alexander Wolf, and Killian Dane) and The Authors of Pain & Roderick Strong
I can't speak for everyone else, but after they laid out the rules for this match, it felt just like one of TNA/Impact Wrestling's Lethal Lockdown matches, just with three teams of three members instead of two teams of four to five members like in the WCW vs. nWo days. Sue me, but even after all of the crazy spots and everything that went down in this match, I wasn't really impressed nor blown away here. It was just pretty much what I expected from these three teams in a multi-person match like this. I still don't get what was the reason for War Games with THREE teams. What's even stupider? The tag titles weren't up for grabs, despite the champions (Sanity) were in this match to boot.
I don't shit on these teams' efforts here though. We got some classic ROH action from Adam Cole and former members of reDRagon hitting their signatures spots, including a Chasing the Dragon. Killian Dane cleaned house on EVERYONE and then some for Sanity while the Authors of Pain were doing what they do best and just was throwing people around like lawn furniture. (Whistles) Wolf got busted open the hard way halfway into this match and the medics had to cut open a section of the cage to stitch him up on the spot while the rest of the match continued. The cameras made sure to hide most of that while the action took place in one of the two rings (which really wasn't really justified when they could have done this same match in normal cage match with nine guys). It would've been a tight fit but it would've worked with some creativity.
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