WWE NXT WarGames Review - December 5, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Cora Jade, Raquel Gonzalez, Io Shirai and Kay Lee Ray def. Toxic Attraction (NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose and NXT Women's Tag Team Champions Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jane) and Dakota Kai in a WarGames Match

This was the third straight year that the women's WarGames match opened the event and I thought they delivered once again. It may not have been the best of the bunch, but everyone put in an excellent effort, and it was especially impressive when you consider that not all of these women are overly experienced. The focal point of the match was Jade's "injured" shoulder, which she did an exceptional job of selling. The entire outing wasn't exciting from start to finish as a result, but it had a nice layout and everyone had their time to shine. Jade picking up the win for her team should put her next in line for a shot at the NXT Women's Championship (not to mention she pinned Mandy Rose a few weeks ago on TV).

NXT Tag Team Champions Imperium (Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner) def. Kyle O'Reilly and Von Wagner

A lot of people tend to sleep on Imperium and what they can do for some reason. I never wanted them to win the titles back because they've been boring for a majority of the year and weren't positioned as a serious threat prior to regaining the gold, but there can be no doubt that the two of them constantly deliver in the ring, specifically Aichner. The guy is great and I'm glad some fans are starting to pick up on that. This was a lot of fun (at least whenever Von Wagner wasn't in there) and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Post-match, Von Wagner attempted to turn on O'Reilly, only for O'Reilly to dodge his attack. They'll face off in a Steel Cage match on Tuesday night. Please, please, please let that be the swan song for O'Reilly from NXT so he reform Undisputed Era with Adam Cole and Bobby Fish in AEW.

Cameron Grimes def. Duke Hudson in a Hair vs. Hair Match

This feud has mostly exceeded my expectations in recent weeks, and if nothing else, it's been nice to have Grimes back in a regular role on the show. He killed it in his storyline with Ted DiBiase and LA Knight and has really come into his own as a babyface. I may be wrong, but I believe the last Hair vs. Hair match we got in NXT was Enzo Amore vs. Sylvester Lefot back at TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way in September 2014. This didn't reach the level I was hoping for from them, but it was an average outing. On the bright side, Grimes winning was the correct outcome. Hudson honestly doesn't look half bad with a shaved head.

NXT Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong def. Joe Gacy

I'm not going to lie: I was morbidly curious to see what Gacy would do had he won and what would've happened to the Cruiserweight division. It could still happen, but I was shocked he didn't take the title here. Either way, it was a perfectly solid match. I still think the Gacy gimmick largely sucks, but the guy can go in the ring and Strong is obviously excellent. This was good at best but felt like something you'd see on TV, not a TakeOver-esque live special. We'll see if the feud continues.

Team 2.0 (Bron Breakker, NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller and Tony D'Angelo) def. Team Black & Gold (NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Pete Dunne and LA Knight) in a WarGames Match

First and foremost, I was beyond happy to hear Gargano's old "Rebel Heart" entrance music again. It was so fitting considering this may end up being his last match in NXT. Everyone knew going into this that this may very well end up being his swan song from the brand and I thought they did an amazing job with all of the callbacks with him on his own and with Ciampa as DIY. Dunne and Knight also played their babyroles perfectly and everyone on Team 2.0 held their own against the veterans. Much like in the opener, I could have done with out the overreliance on the weapons, but otherwise, this was an outstanding piece of business from all involved. Breakker pinning Ciampa was absolutely the right call as he prepares to get another shot at Ciampa's NXT Championship. This continued the strong streak of phenomenal men's WarGames matches.

Overall Show

I know I mentioned a few weeks ago that the WarGames concept felt forced this year, especially if it wasn't going to be held under the TakeOver banner (more on that in a minute), but they put together two terrific matches with the men and women and told logical, satisfying stories. The Cruiserweight title match and even Grimes vs. Hudson weren't anything special, but that tag title match is worth going out of your way to watch as well. To me, this felt like a TakeOver special even though it wasn't technically classified as one. I had my doubts coming into this event, and maybe other events they do going forward won't have the same energy (especially if Gargano and O'Reilly are indeed on their way out), but I was thoroughly entertained and thought many people from both eras of the brand stood out. Now we have the New Year's Evil edition of NXT to look forward to on January 4th.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews