WWE’s Survivor Series weekend kicks off tonight as NXT holds their second annual War Games event live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
For the second year in a row one of the hottest feuds of the year will be settled inside one of the most ferocious and painful matches ever invented… WAR GAMES. Two rings, side by side.. completely enclosed by a steel cage with an enclosed cage ceiling. War Games was a staple and one of WCW’s most popular and notorious matches throughout the company’s existence and has spawned some of the sports most memorable matches. The match was brought back last year for the first time since 2000, and as expected the match did not disappoint. Will this year’s match live up to the it’s predecessor?
In addition to War Games, the match beyond, the NXT Championship and NXT Women’s Title will both be on the line tonight… and if that isn’t enough, one of the most highly anticipated grudge matches in NXT history takes place as Johnny Gargano takes on Aleister Black.
Here is what you can expect to see on tonight’s NXT TakeOver: War Games II as highlighted by the following focal points via WWE.com:
NXT TakeOver: WarGames II preview – Nov. 17, 2018: The battle Lines Are Drawn
Ricochet, Pete Dunne & The War Raiders battle Undisputed ERA in the most dangerous match in sports-entertainment — WarGames — tonight, live and exclusively on the award-winning WWE Network.
Ricochet, Pete Dunne & The War Raiders vs. The Undisputed ERA (WarGames Match)
The super-charged alliance of NXT North American Champion Ricochet, WWE U.K. Champion Pete Dunne and The War Raiders will unite to battle The Undisputed ERA inside one of the most dangerous battlefields in all sports-entertainment — WarGames — tonight at NXT TakeOver: WarGames II.
NXT General Manager William Regal announced the colossal four-on-four clash after The BruiserWeight joined forces with Ricochet, Hanson & Rowe to repel Adam Cole, Bobby Fish and NXT Tag Team Champions Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly during a riotous melee on the Oct. 31 edition of WWE NXT. The unhinged brawl followed weeks of collisions between Ricochet, Dunne and The War Raiders and The Undisputed ERA — a byproduct of Cole’s pursuit of the North American Title (a campaign that ensnared Dunne) and Strong & O’Reilly’s efforts to prevent The War Raiders from becoming the NXT Tag Team Champions. The carnage left Regal no choice but to embed both squads inside WarGames.
An utterly unique and brutal affair, the WarGames Match premiered in 1987 and has seen the likes of WWE Hall of Famers Dusty Rhodes, Sting and Ric Flair do battle within its confines. After a nearly 20-year absence, WarGames made its harrowing return at last November’s TakeOver, and the NXT Universe hasn’t forgotten the destruction that came with it.
This year’s WarGames Match will be fought under the following rules:
- The two teams will be contained in separate shark cages by the entranceway.
- A member from each team is chosen to start the match.
- Five minutes is put on the clock. When that time expires, a member from Undisputed ERA will enter the match.
- Three minutes is then put on the clock. When that time expires, the next member from the team of Ricochet, Dunne & The War Raiders enters the match.
- One member of each team will continue to enter the match in this pattern every three minutes until all eight Superstars have entered.
- WarGames is officially sanctioned to be won once all the Superstars are in the match.
- If anyone leaves the cage during the match, that Superstar’s team will automatically lose.
- When someone is pinned or made to submit, WarGames is over.
Given the ruthless conditions of the match, it might be considered a miracle if either team is able to stand — let alone stand tall as the victors — when the dust settles in Los Angeles.
NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa vs. Velveteen Dream
It was all a dream – at least, that’s what Velveteen Dream hopes to ensure NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa about his title reign when the two Superstars collide for the black-and-yellow brand’s top prize at NXT TakeOver: WarGames II.
For the last month, Ciampa and Dream have been at each other’s throats, volleying threats and mind games, fueling tensions big enough to hit combustible levels at WarGames. Dream is seeking to bring a “true experience” to the self-proclaimed Greatest Sports-Entertainer of All-Time’s fingerprint-laden NXT Title. Ciampa, meanwhile, has promised to “turn the dream into a nightmare.”
The Blackheart’s pointed words came after Dream implicated him in the August ambush on Aleister Black. With Johnny Gargano since being revealed as Black’s assailant, the move may have been exactly what Ciampa claimed it was, a ploy to get the champion’s attention. Ciampa, who is no stranger to cerebral warfare, matched Velveteen’s sly campaign with a slew of cutthroat warnings, thus leading NXT General Manager William Regal to pit these testy foes against one another at TakeOver: WarGames II.
Will it be “Dream over” for Ciampa’s NXT Championship reign? Or will the Velveteen Dream’s NXT Title ambitions end in a nightmare?
NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane (2-out-of-3 Falls Match)
After Shayna Baszler reclaimed the NXT Women’s Title in controversial fashion over Kairi Sane at WWE Evolution, the two arch-rivals will write another brutal chapter in their red-hot rivalry when they tear into each other at TakeOver: WarGames II, where they will face off in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match.
The volcanic tensions between these two Superstars reached a new peak at WWE Evolution, where Baszler pulled out all stops against a laser-focused Sane in their hard-hitting NXT Women’s Championship battle. As Sane thwarted her opponent’s signature coldblooded offense with her own brand of killer instinct, Baszler eventually opted for some assistance from her fellow Four Horsewomen of MMA, Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke. The helping hand by Baszler’s pals guided The Queen of Spades to a victory over The Pirate Princess, making her NXT’s first-ever two-time Women’s Champion. Due to the nature in which this match was won, it was no surprise when Sane invoked her rematch clause
Baszler and Sane’s contentious rivalry has simmered above blue flame for over a year, dating back to the Mae Young Classic Final in 2017. Since then, The Queen of Spades and The Pirate Princess have been continuously charring this angst in a series of epic confrontations. Now, they face off in an endurance-testing battle in which the first Superstar to claim two falls wins the match and NXT Women’s Title.
See who walks out of the STAPLES Center as NXT Women’s Champion when NXT TakeOver: WarGames II streams live on WWE Network.
Aleister Black vs. Johnny Gargano
Aleister Black is furious, and at TakeOver: WarGames II, The Dutch Destroyer will have his chance to unleash his rage on the Superstar who did him wrong, Johnny Gargano.
It is now plain to see that the man once known as Johnny Wrestling has undergone a severe change of heart, but Gargano’s evil intentions seemingly took root months ago when he ambushed Black in the parking lot outside Full Sail Live. The attack, which prevented Black from competing against Gargano and NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa in a title bout at TakeOver: Brooklyn IV, became the “Who done it?” mystery of the summer, with no one (including Gargano) owning up to it. NXT General Manager William Regal’s efforts to crack the case resulted in plenty of finger-pointing and conspiracy theories, altogether creating chaos throughout the black-and-yellow brand.
As we all know now, Nikki Cross, who had a bird’s-eye view of the attack, spilled the beans to Black. By the time The Dutch Destroyer came looking to collect his pound of flesh on the Oct. 24 edition of NXT, Gargano was finally ready to reveal himself as the culprit. He did so emphatically, drilling Black with a superkick from behind.
With Black and Gargano fated for a collision at TakeOver: WarGames II, there’s no telling what’s in store, beyond the certainty of a bruising grudge match. Will Gargano’s heinous deed — never mind his involvement in Black’s NXT Title loss in July — come home to roost? Or will The Dutch Destroyer find out that even his intensity can’t match the depravity of the new-look Johnny Gargano?
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