Our 3 Cents - NXT Takeover: War Games 2020
Welcome back to another edition of Our 3 Cents where myself, Jesse, and Lonnie give you our predictions on what's going to go down. It's this time of year for NXT. Which can only mean one thing.......WAR GAMES!!! Let's get to the card:
John: 52-17-1 (74%)
Jesse: 49-20-1 (70%)
Lonnie: 45-24-1 (64%)
Let's take a look at the card:
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Timothy Thatcher
Jesse: What a crappy year for Ciampa, I really miss the heel Ciampa who used the fans boos for his entrance music. But maybe it’s now time for Ciampa to start making other NXT Stars look good like he did for Kross a few months back. Thatcher wins a grueling hard-fought match that should make you wince a few times.
W: Timothy Thatcher
Lonnie: I really can’t get into these “Thatch-as-Thach-Can” segments. As much as I try to get into Thatcher, I just don’t see him in Ciampa’s league. I think Ciampa will win here. The only thing that gives me pause is I’m not sure what Ciampa would move onto with a win here. I don’t see him fighting Gargano again and I also am not sure he would challenge Finn.
W: Tommaso Ciampa
John: This is tough because I feel like both guys need a win. Ciampa hasn't done much all year and got destroyed by Karrion Kross in his last feud. Thatcher is a smash mouth brawler who has never gotten a big Takeover win. I could see Ciampa doing the honors but he needs to get back on track. Thatcher has the most to gain but I'm not convinced he's ready to go to the next level. I'm taking Ciampa in a stiff brawl.
W: Tommaso Ciampa
Strap Match
Dexter Lumis vs. Cameron Grimes
Jesse: This should be a very interesting match between 2 very interesting individuals. Strap matches do worry me though because they can be so hit or miss, and I always fear someone is going to trip over the excess strap by accident. With that being said this should be a decent match, and I think we are going “TO THE MOOOOOOOONNNNNNNN”….just kidding, I just wanted to say that, Lumis wins and ends the feud.
W: Dexter Lumis
Lonnie: Having Lumis be the creepy guy and Grimes being a scared weasel has made this an interesting feud. While I find Grimes to be more entertaining, I think Lumis will win with the strap stipulation. I just think it makes more sense for Lumis to win since Grimes can't escape him or win cheaply in theory.
W: Dexter Lumis
John: I'd like to think this is the easiest pick of the night. I just don't see anyway that Grimes could win this. Grimes will surely make it entertaining as he has been one of the highlights of NXT lately. Grimes has no where to run and I don't think the strap match stipulation gives him any advantage. Hopefully this is good and both men can move on after. Possibly to the North American Championship picture.
W: Dexter Lumis
Triple Threat Match for the NXT North American Championship
Johnny Gargano vs. Damian Priest vs. Leon Ruff (champ)
Jesse: Who knew that heel Gargano would be so great? From hating wheels to hating chairs, everything he does is pure gold. Priest has played his part in this feud amazingly as well, and Ruff is a natural underdog/baby face. Any other event that didn’t have war games matches in it, this would probably be match of the night, and it very well still could be. I see Ruff retaining off a sneaky pin and continuing his run as champ.
W: Leon Ruff
Lonnie: Not Leon Ruff. When it comes to the other two guys, I’m really not sure. I like how they introduced Ruff to add another dimension to Gargano/Priest but at the end of the day I don’t think they would have Priest lose the belt to Gargano to then win it back in this way. In the end I think Ruff will cost Priest somehow allowing Johnny to be champ once again.
W: Johnny Gargano
John: I'm torn between Ruff and Gargano. If Priest were to win this, I think it would of been dumb to take the title off of him in the first place. I had doubts on whether or not heel Gargano would work but it's surpassed what I thought it would be. In fact, I think there is lots of life left for it. Either Gargano will win this with the help of us Ghost face friends or Ruff gets a sneaky cheap win. This feud still has some mileage left. I think Ruff scrapes by with the win but his 15 minutes of fame are about up.
W: Leon Ruff
Women's War Games Match
Team Shotzi Has Advantage
Team Shotzi (Shotzi Blackheart, Ember Moon, Rhea Ripley, & Io Shirai (NXT Women's Champion)) vs. Team Candice (Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, Raquel Gonzalez, & Toni Storm)
Jesse: With the amount of greatness in this match, something crazy is going to happen and they will put on an amazing match. I see this match being better than the men’s, and will have at least one moment that will be shown on highlight reels for future War Games Matches. It’s hard to pick against Candice and Toni, but Toni can win a number 1 contenders match down the road to get a shot at the title, and Candice disappointed me by destroying that tank. Team Shotzi wins in an amazing match.
W: Team Shotzi
Lonnie: From the return of Ember, to Rhea and Candice both having great title matches with Io, to Toni turning heel, these women have been putting on a show the last month or two and have been a real bright spot on NXT and are putting to shame the women’s divisions on Raw/Smackdown. With that said, both of these teams have legit talent, and I am almost in coin flip territory when trying to pick a winner. However, in the end I think Ember being fresh in her return and having the champ, Io, on her team will allow Team Shotzi to pull this out.
W: Team Shotzi
John: Can we just talk about how awesome the women's division is in NXT? You could make a case for any of these 8 women to be champion and I think most people would be alright with it. This is the match I am most looking forward to. Team Candice has had the upper hand for most of this rivalry and they feel more like a team. However, the ladies on Team Shotzi have beef with at least one person on Team Candice. It's kind of the enemy of my enemy is my friend. I feel these ladies will deliver a big time match here. I hope I'm not setting the bar too high. I'm looking for these ladies to steal the show. Team Shotzi takes the win.
W: Team Shotzi
Men's War Games Match
Kings of NXT Have Advantage
Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, Roderick Strong, & Bobby Fish) vs. Kings of NXT (Pat McAfee, Pete Dunne, Danny Burch, & Oney Lorcan (NXT Tag Team Champions))
Jesse: How can UE be in this match every year it seems like and I don’t get tired of it? 3 things I know will happen, O’Reilly will take a nasty bump, Dunne will break someone’s fingers and McAfee will jump off the top. UE will eventually lose this match and the win for Pat’s Team will give some momentum to Dunne to go take the NXT Title off of a returning Finn Balor in the near future.
W: Kings of NXT
Lonnie: Is it finally time to write the obituary of the Undisputed Era? Every time we think they are going to break up or suffer a big loss, they just seem to find a way to pull it out. I finally feel that things may be different this time. Pat is an excellent foil to the UE and is great on the mic. Burch and Lorcan joining him was good, but Pete Dunne was the real get here. At times I forget how good Dunne is, then I see him go out there and have a ladder match with O’Reilly and remember that Dunne is one of the best there is. I feel this is going to be a close match and a joy to watch, but I think it is finally time the UE suffers defeat.
W: Kings of NXT
John: I really love the Undisputed Era but I think they have done about everything they can do in NXT. I'm not saying they need to be moved to Raw or Smackdown but they need some form of change. Pat McAfee has been beyond great and his mic work just makes you want someone to kicks his ass! Which means he is excellent at what he does. Although his team feels a little random, all his teammates can go in the ring. They are being given a chance to knock it out of the park on a big stage. This should be wild and I feel the best scenario is the Kings of NXT get the win while McAfee takes an ass whooping. No matter how bad he gets beat up, his promo will be gold next Wednesday if they win. I don't feel like the UE gets hurt much with a loss and the Kings of NXT have everything to gain. I'd rather not see a member of the UE turn on the rest of the group but I wouldn't rule it out.
W: Kings of NXT
That does it for this edition of Our 3 Cents!! Be sure to follow along Sunday for LIVE COVERAGE and check back to see how we did. Join us in 2 weeks for TLC!!!
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