How NXT TakeOver: WarGames IV Should Be Booked

 

Hey everyone! Ever since Night Of Champions 2015, through multiple accounts, every month before major WWE pay-per-views, I’ve come on here and booked the cards to make them as exciting, intriguing, and best possible scenarios for the future. I do both NXT and main-roster pay-per-views, as well as the occasional big milestone RAW or Smackdown weekly show. Without further ado, here is how NXT TakeOver: Wargames IV should be booked.

 

MY NXT TAKEOVER: WARGAMES POSTS OF PREVIOUS YEARS:

• 2017: https://old.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/7dv1uu/how_nxt_takeover_wargames_should_be_booked/
• 2018: https://old.reddit.com/r/WWE/comments/9xp4sa/how_nxt_takeover_wargames_ii_should_be_booked/
• 2019: Didn’t do one.

MAIN SHOW:

• IT’S ALL ABOUT THE WARGAMES, AND HOW YOU PLAY IT. Sorry, had to get that in, as I do every year for the WarGames post. It’s that time o’year again. Like the groundhog on groundhog day rises from his slumber to see his shadow, William Regal is back standing between two teams of 4 NXT wrestlers, shouting WARGAMES. This card has its pros and it’s cons. NXT isn’t what it once was, and isn’t what it could so easily be right now. Somewhere along the way they’ve fallen off, but I’m here, as always, to try and pick up the pieces. So load up those double rings, and let’s get into this one! As always, this isn’t what I think WILL happen, this is what I think SHOULD happen. Now, let’s distract ourselves from the real world with some pro wrestling.

 

1ST MATCH: The Kings of NXT (Pat McAfee, Pete Dunne, Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch) vs. The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong) (WarGames match)

 

• Undisputed are out first, followed by The Kings of NXT. They’re better than you, you suck, cheers!. They have the greatest catchphrase in the history of our sport. Both teams made the decision in the back about who would be starting out in the ring, and who would wait in the cages, and so we begin with Kyle O’Reilly and Pete Dunne in the ring, the same two men who competed against each other in the man advantage ladder match just 2 weeks prior. The match gets 35 minutes. KOR and Dunne battle it out like only they know how until it’s time for The Kings of NXT to release one man from the shark cage. It’s Danny Burch! The Brit duo team up to grind the match to a halt and work over KOR’s body limb by limb. KOR begins to mount a comeback but Dunne and Burch cut him off and send him flying over the ropes into the next ring. It’s about that time now for the 2nd man for UE and 4th man overall to enter, and it’s Roderick Strong! Roddy makes a break for it and delivers an unlimited supply of backbreakers to both Pete Dunne and Danny Burch to even the odds. It’s finally 2 on 2 now and here is where we begin to get a straight-up tag team clinic. Double team maneuvers ablaze. Those four go at it until it’s time for The Kings 3rd man, and the 5th man overall, it’s Oney Lorcan! The Brit-Am brawlers have now been reunited inside the structure and it’s once again a shift of the power in the match, as a 3-on-2 beatdown of Roddy and Kyle continues from Oney, Danny and Pete. They hit all their high spots and slap lots of meat until it’s time for the 3rd man for UE, and 6th man overall, it’s ADAM COLE BAYBAY! Bobby Fish is about to slip past, but Cole being the loudmouth and attention seeker he is, brushes past Bobby, and once again, the arguably weakest link of the UE is left for last. Forgotten. LITERALLY brushed aside. Cole enters the cage and evens the odds once again. Panama Sunrises and Superkicks to all 3 members of the opposing team. The insanity rages on until it’s finally time for The Kings 4th man and 7th man overall, it’s the charismatic enigma, it’s Pat McAfee! The cage is empty for the KONXT and it’s Bobby Fish left all alone on the stage, trapped like a rat, waiting for his turn. McAfee rushes down to the ring and everyone else is down except Adam Cole. McAfee scales up the steps and Cole walks towards him. McAfee acts all tough at first but when Cole attempts a Superkick, McAfee makes a break for it. Adam Cole EXITS the WarGames cage and then begins to chase McAfee around the double rings. Shockingly, Pat, the ex-NFL dude, is a little bit faster, and Adam Cole proves to have been ultimately DUPED when McAfee dashes into the ring, slams the door shut, and Adam Cole is now locked outside. McAfee has outsmarted the UE leader, but no matter, Cole can just climb the cage to get back in! Cole begins scaling the cage but Dunne, Oney and Danny are there with steel chairs to try to fend Cole off. McAfee goes after Roddy and Kyle in the ring. As all this is happening, it is now time for the the final man of UE and final man overall in the match to be released, it’s Bobby Fish, Mr. Irrelevant, thought of last once again. Roddy and Kyle hulk up now and take it to Oney and Danny, then go after McAfee in a 2 on 1. Pete Dunne is left trying to fend off Adam Cole as Bobby Fish makes his way to the ring. Cole and Dunne trade blows on top of the cage now, and Cole finally makes it back inside the action as HE HITS A PANAMA SUNRISE ON PETE DUNNE OFF THE TOP OF WARGAMES ONTO THE CROWD OF RODDY, KYLE, PAT, ONEY AND DANNY. I’m sure a “MAMA MIA” rings through everyone’s ears in spirit. Fish gets in the ring and it’s officially ON. He covers all four members of the Kings, but all of them kick out. Now, let’s fast forward to the ending stages of the match. The Kings have the bright idea to incorporate some cage-inside-cage action, and Oney and Danny are sent to go move one of the shark cages on the stage, into the ring. Fast-forward some more, this plan ends up backfiring on The Kings, and Pat McAfee is locked inside a shark cage, and UE all collectively hammer away with kendo sticks, with McAfee having literally no escape. UE push the cage over, McAfee climbs out, and Cole hits a Last Shot, then collapses to the mat. Bobby Fish is the only member of UE on his feet and makes the cover, for the win. Bobby Fish has pinned Pat McAfee and has finally done something to prove himself as MORE than “the 4th best member of Undisputed Era”. Once Cole recovers, he reprimands Fish for stealing the pin from him. The two get heated but Kyle and Roddy are there to keep them apart. Fish and Cole don’t break eye contact as UE all raise each other's arms in victory.
• As you will see at the end of this post, I’ve organized a mini round robin tournament over the final 3 weeks of the year on NXT TV, with William Regal ruling that as a result of their impressive win in WarGames, The Undisputed Era are now each the top 4 contenders to the NXT Championship. They must all compete in singles matches against each other, G1 style. 0 points for a loss, 1 point for a draw, 2 points for a win. Whichever UE member ends up with the most points will be named the #1 Contender to Finn Balor’s NXT Championship, either the Royal Rumble weekend or the episode of NXT TV right before, if there is no Takeover. This not only creates exciting TV and lots of first-time matches in WWE that will, no shit, all be FANTASTIC, but it furthers that divide in UE that WWE were already teasing themselves before the whole thing got scrapped when Ridge Holland got hurt. I think this is a really interesting idea and it will be a hell of a lot of fun in execution.

 

WINNERS by PINFALL: The Undisputed Era

 

ENTRIES:

No.	Wrestler
1	Kyle O’Reilly
2	Pete Dunne
3	Danny Burch
4	Roderick Strong
5	Oney Lorcan
6	Adam Cole
7	Pat McAfee
8	Bobby Fish

 

• We get a shot of the women’s WarGames teams arriving at the arena earlier in the day, and a video package for our next match.

 

2ND MATCH: Cameron Grimes vs. Dexter Lumis (Strap match)

 

• Cameron Grimes is out first, making his usual entrance while looking over his shoulder a few times to see whether Lumis is sneaking up behind, followed by the man himself. The referee slips the strap around both men’s wrists and Grimes looks like he’s about to shit his pants with fear. The match gets 8 minutes. Because this, being a Dexter Lumis match, being a strap match, and being a match on a card with two WarGames matches, has no business going any longer than that. It can be a brief comedy match, a change of pace and a cool-down after the long and epic first match, so that we can come back up in energy for the rest of the show. Some spots in the match include Grimes trying to wrap Lumis up in the strap like a mummy, Grimes wrapping Lumis around the ringpost to try to win by count-out, basically Grimes trying every strategy possible to try and not touch OR get touched by Lumis. The match ends when Grimes whips Lumis off the ropes and hits the Collision Course (the standing Spanish-fly looking move he does), but they land so that Lumis has has the Silence locked in, and Grimes quickly passes out. Lumis has gotten the better of Grimes every step of the way in this feud, so it makes sense to continue the trend here. Grimes seems to be focused on as comedy relief right now, so he really doesn’t need the win. Lumis wins another Strap match, maybe this can become his specialty, like how Taker has HIAC, Mankind had the Boiler Room Brawl, etc. Moving on.

 

WINNER by CREEPY STARING: Dexter Lumis

 

• We get an announcement of the NXT Year-End awards show, and when voting will begin. A video package for the next match plays.

 

3RD MATCH: Leon Ruff (c) vs. Damian Priest vs. Johnny Gargano (Triple Threat match for the NXT North American Championship)

 

• Priest is out first, followed by Gargano, and finally, the improbable champion, Leon Ruff. We get formal ring introductions, and the match gets 12 minutes. That might seem short, but we need lots of time available for the two WarGames matches, and to be honest, this whole storyline with Ruff really doesn’t seem to be engaging to anyone at all. So let them go in there, get a few spots in, and do the business they need to do without doing too much. The match ends when Priest and Ruff are going at it in a friendly competition in the ring, and Priest hits a Reckoning on Ruff. Gargano slides in, and knocks Priest out of the ring. Gargano locks Ruff in the Garga-No Escape, but just as it looks like Ruff is going to tap, Priest comes right back in and hoists Johnny into the air with a chokeslam. Priest then powerbombs Leon ONTO Gargano and Leon rolls out of the ring, with Priest getting the cover on Gargano to win back the title. Priest should never have lost this belt in the first place and I’m yet to understand why he did. He was just starting to really find his mojo with it and was just starting to come into his own as an act on NXT. Leon Ruff just ain’t doing it for too many people to not take the title off him. I guess it was a fun experiment while it lasted. The North American title is back on Priest, Leon Ruff can enter into a feud with Santos Escobar over the Cruiserweight Title after this, and new challengers hopefully await for the big man. My picks? Either Killian Dain or Pete Dunne.

 

WINNER by PINFALL and NEW NXT North American Champion: Damian Priest

 

• We get an ad for WWE Battlegrounds, and then we go to the commentators who plug the official theme of the event. We get a video package for our next match.

 

4TH MATCH: Timothy Thatcher vs. Tommaso Ciampa (Singles match)

 

• Ciampa is out first followed by Thatcher’s music. It plays, and plays, and plays some more, but no Thatcher to be found. All of a sudden he ambushes Ciampa from behind and gets him in a Fishhook to try and get in a pre-match advantage. Ciampa is down and out but he demands the referee ring the bell, and he does so. The match gets 16 minutes. The whole match sees Thatcher methodically disintegrate Ciampa’s upper body. He locks in the Fujiwara armbar multiple times, but really focuses on the historically bad neck of Ciampa. Thatcher locks in Crossfaces and cranks the neck. This is very much a mat-based, groundwork type match, which normally wouldn’t translate too well in front of a Takeover crowd, but lucky for them, there isn’t one during this pandemic. After a technical masterclass, Thatcher ultimately gets the win after Ciampa taps out to a Gogoplata, the pain and anguish dealt out on his neck throughout the match proving too great to bear. It’s no monumental secret that Ciampa is in his last days as a pro-wrestler. He never wants to even sniff the main roster, and I respect him for that. He’s gonna spend his last year(s) in NXT, putting those that come in over, and looking like a class act in the process. Giving Ciampa the win here would give him no gain. He’s already done everything to do in NXT. For now, Thatch as Thatch can lives to be taught another day.

 

WINNER by SUBMISSION: Timothy Thatcher

 

• We get an ad for NXT on WWEShop. We get a video package for our main event.

 

5TH MATCH: Team Candice (Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, Raquel Gonzalez and Toni Storm) vs. Team Shotzi (Shotzi Blackheart, Ember Moon, Io Shirai and Rhea Ripley) (WarGames match)

 

• Team Candice are out first followed by Team Shotzi in a gigantic motherfucking tank. It’s decided that Candice and Ember will be the two women beginning the match in the ring. The match gets 40 minutes. The two trade finisher attempts early but trade counter for counter until it’s time for the first member of Team Shotzi to be released from the shark cage, it’s Shotzi herself! Shotzi ambushes Candice and the babyfaces work over LeRae until it’s time for the 2nd member of Team Candice and fourth woman overall, it’s Toni Storm! Toni gets in just as Ember is mounting a comeback on Candice, and Toni blindsides Moon in a scene reminiscent to when she turned a few weeks ago. Once again Toni Storm is the thorn in Ember’s side, there to cut her off and give her the most painful blueballs. It’s two on two now until the advantage for Team Shotzi advances as released from the shark cage is the 3rd member of Team Shotzi and fifth woman overall, it’s the NXT Women’s Champion, Io Shirai! Io comes in hot with a double missile dropkick off the top, knocking down both Toni and Candice. Io successfully nails a moonsault on Toni, and tries the same on Candice, but the team captain gets her knees up and transitions it into the Garga-No Escape to soften Io up for later in the match once pins and submissions begin. Io, being the Women’s Champ, and as a result the biggest threat in the match to that point, is the subject of a 2-on-1 beatdown from the heels as they get their heat until it’s time for the 3rd member of Team Candice and sixth woman overall, it’s Dakota Kai! Dakota hits GTK’s to the babyfaces and the odds are once again evened, 3 on 3. The heels appear too much to bear… until the final member of Team Shotzi and seventh woman overall, it’s Rhea Ripley! Rhea takes care of Team Candice all by herself and brings in more weapons. The 4th member of Team Candice and 8th woman to be released from the shark cage overall, it’s Raquel Gonzalez! Every member of the match is now in the ring, and here we can finally get down to business. Fast-forward to the ending stages of the match, Team Shotzi get the victory after all 4 members hit their finishers on Raquel,as Ember hits an Eclipse that drops Raquel to a knee, Rhea then scoops her up and hits a Riptide, and then Raquel falls right into position for an Io moonsault, and finally a diving senton from Shotzi, who gets the pin as the other members of the team pose around her. The babyfaces absolutely have to win this in my eyes. They have been made to look like the biggest losers and idiots, and really the faces have more to gain from it than Team Candice. By the way, if you’re wondering why the Women’s WarGames is main eventing over the men’s, it’s because the men have main evented the last 3 years, and sharing is caring. Additionally, as much as I think he’s doing amazing work, there’s no reason Pat McAfee should be main eventing any show, much less a Takeover. Give the women’s division a chance to shine in the main event slot on this night, it’s one of the best parts about NXT at the moment. As far as a next challenger for Io Shirai, I'd go with Toni Storm. It’s a fresh match, and she and Io haven’t met yet in her title reign. A rematch from Evolution in 2018. Who wouldn’t be on board with that?

 

WINNERS by PINFALL: Team Shotzi

ENTRIES:

No.	Wrestler
1	Candice LeRae
2	Ember Moon
3	Shotzi Blackheart
4	Toni Storm
5	Io Shirai
6	Dakota Kai
7	Rhea Ripley
8	Raquel Gonzalez

 

FINAL RESULTS:

No.	Results	Stipulations	Times
1	The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong) defeated The Kings of NXT (Pat McAfee, Pete Dunne, Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch)	WarGames match	35 minutes
2	Dexter Lumis defeated Cameron Grimes	Strap match	8 minutes
3	Damian Priest defeated Leon Ruff (c) and Johnny Gargano by Pinfall	Triple Threat match for the NXT North American Championship	12 minutes
4	Timothy Thatcher defeated Tommaso Ciampa by Submission	Singles match	16 minutes
5	Team Shotzi (Shotzi Blackheart, Ember Moon, Io Shirai and Rhea Ripley) defeated Team Candice (Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, Raquel Gonzalez and Toni Storm)	WarGames match	40 minutes

UNDISPUTED ERA NXT CHAMPIONSHIP #1 CONTENDERSHIP ROUND-ROBIN TOURNAMENT:

NXT 12/16:

• Adam Cole vs. Roderick Strong
• Bobby Fish vs. Kyle O’Reilly

NXT 12/23:

• Kyle O’Reilly vs. Roderick Strong
• Adam Cole vs. Bobby Fish

NXT 12/30:

• Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly
• Bobby Fish vs. Roderick Strong

Well, that was the post. Thanks for reading! As always, let me know what you liked and/or what you didn’t like from the post, and what from the post you’d like to see actually happen on the show tomorrow night! Be sure to look out for my next post for the upcoming PPV, “How WWE Should Book Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2020”. Enjoy the show tomorrow night, everyone.