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WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN WHEN NXT GOES TO WAR TONIGHT- THE WWE NXT TAKEOVER: WARGAMES TIP SHEET

NXT presents Takeover War Games on Sunday night.  Here's our take on what will happen.

Men's War Games Match:  Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O'Reilly) versus Kings of NXT (Pat McAfee, Pete Dunne, NXT Tag Team Champion Danny Burch, and NXT Tag Team Champion Oney Lorcan) [Kings of NXT has Advantage]

Dave: On paper, the UE should win this since they are the dominant unit and have four wrestlers that have been at or near the top of the card and the Kings have 1.  That's why I think the Kings will come out on top.  Plus, Pat Mac lost his match against Cole earlier this year.  He and his team need the win here, and they have the advantage. 

Mike: Undisputed Era have been the dominant team in Wargames in the past, but NXT is about building talents up and evolving them so I say the Kings of NXT do it for Richard Trionfo and go all the way.  I expect that to make this an even more antagonistic finish, we are going to see McAfee (who obviously enters last) pinning Cole in the middle of the ring.  This is about having a war and making the Kings an even bigger force in NXT and that's what's going to happen here.  My guess is Dunne and O'Reilly start off to keep going after their Ladder warfare and well, this looks to be awesome on paper.

Richard: There are a number of interesting stories leading into this match and as to what can come out of this match.  Will the Undisputed Era continue to dominate in War Games or does McAfee and his band of merry men rain on the UE parade?   If Lorcan or Burch is the one to lose the match, does UE jump to the top of the list for the tag titles?  The McAttack should try to do everything to take advantage of the man advantage throughout the opening part of the match so they can weaken UE and try to get a quick victory once all eight men are involved.  It seems too soon to pull the rug out from under McAfee and his group on top of the brand and UE can take some time to go back to their roots of causing mayhem as they seek revenge.  I would have Dunne get the victory by pinning Cole to make the win important and lead to the others questioning Adam and maybe letting Kyle take over for a while.

Women's War Games Match:  Team Blackheart (Shotzi Blackheart, NXT Women's Champion Io Shirai, Rhea Ripley, and Ember Moon) versus Team LeRae (Candice LeRae, Toni Storm, Dakota Kai, and Raquel Gonzalez) [Team Blackheart has Advantage]

Dave: The babyfaces have the advantage???? Shocker.  The heel team have done the heinous things leading up to this so the babyfaces should get the win.  Shotzi in War Games scares me.  I hope that they protect her from herself.

Mike:  The babyfaces have the advantage but my guess is we'll see some shenanigans from the heels to make sure it's a 4 on 3 by trying to take someone out and then we'll get a big run-in at the end to even things back up.  The women's division has been on FIRE lately with everyone really stepping up.  I am very excited to see what damage Raquel Gonzales can bring in the cage and I hope we get to see her and Ripley go at it yet again.  To me, this will end with a crazy Shotzi spot and a victory for her team.

Richard:  The biggest shock of this match was not the addition of Io Shirai ot Shotzi's team but the fact that the FACE TEAM HAS THE ADVANTAGE.  Will Shotzi have the most insane bump of the two matches (probably, just ahead of something McAfee will try), but Io will be close behind.  Ember and Rhea are two of Io's biggest rivals so we will see if they can work together or if they try to screw each other over.  It seems weird to say this, but I think Dakota Kai needs to have the stand out performance in this match since it seems everyone else has jumped ahead of her.  Will we see someone on Candice's team get jealous of another teammate's success during the match and sabotage someone?  Will we see Indi Hartwell get involved?  I think Ember or Rhea accidentally hit Io and force her to be pinned by Toni or Candice to set up a four way match (or a series of matches between Io, Rhea, Ember, and whoever pins Io to determine who faces Io at the next Takeover {or special episode of NXT])

NXT North American Champion Leon Ruff versus Damian Priest versus Johnny Gargano.

Dave:  I know some people hate the Ruff stuff but I don't.  I like how they have turned him from a joke into a guy who wants to prove he can go.  I think he should get some good offense here, but not win.  I could see Priest having Ruff pinned and then Johnny comes in and steals the win, continuing Priest vs. Gargano while giving Ruff a bit of a rub.

Mike: I think Dave is on the right path here for the finish.  My guess is that Johnny Gargano walks out champion so that Ruff can continue on as a beloved underdog and Priest can continue his pursuit.  I think of all the undercard matches, this is the one I am looking forward to the most.

Richard:  Is this the night that the clock strikes midnight for Leon Ruff as the North American Champion or does this story have another chapter?  Priest has been playing with Ruff since Leon got into the picture and it would be nice for Ruff to pin Priest to retain.  Since it is a Triple Threat Match, it is no DQ and anything goes so I expect to see one or more Ghostfaces get involved (but it would be nice to see Leon's Skulk brethren Adrian Alanis and Liam Gray under the masks to screw over Johnny instead).  While NXT does not often go into the realm of 'That should be on Raw or Smackdown' booking, I think it could make an appearance in this match by having Aja being the referee who makes the count for the man who is still at 11:59 PM . . . Leon Ruff.  Then Johnny has another thing to complain about.

Dexter Lumis versus Cameron Grimes in a Strap Match

Dave: Cameron Grimes is awesome, I love what he does and how they have had him grow from only comedy to a mix wrestler.  I want to see him get serious here and get the win, moving on to the next level where he is still kind of funny, but as a compliment to his serious side.  He can move up the card in NXT for sure.

Mike:  NXT has done a tremendous job making Grimes shine as a personality.  To me, the key to making this work is for it not to be a comedy deal, but a legit stiff ass-kicking with Grimes pinballing all over for Lumis with some great bumps.  Then, have Grimes steal the win, because he's a sneaky SOB.  Have him take the beating so fans can respect him and then steal the win to remind them he's a no good SOB.

Richard:  I hope this is the end of the feud.  I like the Lumis character, but it does not seem like he has any specific direction at this time.  Grimes is one of the best characters in WWE right now and he mixes the "I never did anything wrong" heel with the "I have no idea what I am saying but it is funny" character.  I would love to see Grimes become the North American Champion and then proclaim the title the Lunar Belt because he is going TO THE MOON.  Grimes should win this match.

Tommaso Ciampa versus Timothy Thatcher

Dave: This is a situation where both guys really need a win here.  Since Thatcher is the heel and now has a student that will back him up, I could see the student leading to the win for Tim and then Ciampa going insane afterward and destroying both of them.

Mike: Ciampa is a made man here, while Thatcher is a great brutal, old school shooter type heel.  The problem is that NXT has had, in my opinion, Thatcher lose far too often to make him the fearsome Great White Shark mauling the competition I believe he should be.  In a perfect world, he destroys Ciampa and makes him tap out in order to get the train back on the tracks full-speed, but I don't see that happening.  My belief is Ciampa gets the win.

Richard:  Since Ciampa's return he has been the sailboat on the calm seas waiting for the wind to guide him.  Will Thatcher be blustery enough to guide Ciampa on his intended path?  This could be a very good brawl with a lot of counters by both men.  Both men could use the victory to help them but the loss would hurt Ciampa a lot less than Thatcher.  Thatcher gets the win and then in a few months, we see the return of Fight Pit for the rematch.

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