*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 — on Saturday, Nov. 17, 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 the team that wins the advantage will enter the match.
Three minutes is then put on the clock. When that time expires, the next member from the other team 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.
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?
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.
*I can't get the damn war games match picture to show up
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