The NXT 2.0 Rewind: WarGames 2021

Previously on NXT 2.0: We get in all the final hype for tonight’s event.

This is our first three-hour PPV/PLE of the NXT 2.0 era, so let’s see how it compares to the usual quick pace of the 2.0 two-hour USA Network show we’ve been Rewinding through.

And now, the new WWE CreditOne Visa presents NXT WarGames!

THIS is the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Amazingly they’ve crammed a second ring into this place. We have Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett and WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix on commentary and the great Alicia Taylor on the ring mic. This is the last night for Beth on 2.0 commentary and Beth is already ready to cry.

Alicia runs us through the WarGames rules as the sirens blare. The first two entrants go for five minutes, new entrants every three minutes, WarGames officially begins when they’re all in, and pin or submission gets the victory.

WarGames: Toxic Attraction (NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose and NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne) and Dakota Kai vs Cora Jade, Io Shirai, Kay Lee Ray and Raquel Gonzalez 

The entrant cages are up in the audience section because this isn’t a large place. Kay Lee Ray is starting off for her team, complete with her baseball bat, while WarGames vet Dakota Kai starts for Team Toxic with a handful of kendo sticks. KLR gets the first shot with the bat and lights up Kota with a few chops. Lots of them. KLR hits a tornado DDT on Dakota with 3:30 left before a new entrant. Kota is able to whip KLR into the cage and grabs her kendo sticks, bridging them across the bottom ropes between the two rings. She pulls Kay Lee up to the second rope but KLR counters with a big kick. Kota grabs the bat and KLR leaps onto her, almost taking out the camera person she leaps over. KLR works Kota with a kendo stick and brings Dakota into the between-rings area, dropping her chest-first through the bridge of kendo sticks.

The first timer hits and Cora Jade is the second entrant for her team. She grabs her skateboard as Beth tells us Cora is the youngest entrant in the history of WarGames. Core knees Dakota in the face and helps up KLR as the fans chant “you can’t skate.” The girls double suplex Kota and do it a second time at the request of the crowd. They try for a third and Kota reverses it into a DDT on both women as the fans chant, “we want Gigi.”

In next is indeed Gigi Dolin, the second entrant for her team to a loud “Gigi” chant. She finds a trash can and a duffle bag to bring in with her. She smashes Cora with the trash can and a big kick. Dakota and Gigi hit stereo kicks in the corner on their opponents and then swap places to hit their other opponents. They quickly lose that advantage as Cora puts the trash can over Gigi’s head and dropkicks her. KLR scoops Dakota up for the KLR Bomb and drops her onto the can and with that Gigi as we wait for another entrant.

Io Shirai is the next entrant, the third for her team. She too finds plunder, grabbing a few chairs and then a trash can of her own. I’m sure she won’t do anything crazy with it, right? Dakota kicks her right in the face and tosses her into the cage. Lots of random fighting around. Cora climbs onto the second rope and awkwardly ranas Dakota into the metal plating before Gigi shoves her into the cage. Gigi punts KLR in the head as the timer ticks down again.

Jacy Jayne is the third entrant for her team. Her choice of plunder is a table, giving the fans something new to chant about. Gigi ranas Cora and Jacy knees the skater girl into the cage as the fans chant for Toxic Attraction. Jayne accidentally stomps Gigi as Io nails Bullet Trains on all three opponents with her trash can lid. The faces surround Jacy who gets chopped onto the table. Cora decides to head to the top of the cage and hits a decent Swanton, giving us our first “holy shit” chant of the night and wrecking her shoulder. KLR chokes Dakota with a kendo to fill some time as Io prevents medical from checking on Cora’s shoulder, saying she can fix it. Io yanks Cora’s arm, snapping her shoulder back where it needs to be.

Raquel Gonzalez is the fourth and final entrant for her team. Her plunder choices include a chair, a trash can, and a shovel. Dakota boots her and holds the door closed, so Raquel responds by spraying her with a fire extinguisher. It’s still weird seeing Raquel wearing actual colors that aren’t black. Gonzalez shoves Dakota into a trash can and swings it around, slinging it to the mat and heading to the other ring. Shirai grabs her trash can and starts to climb the cage, Dakota follows and tosses the can back to the mat. Io moonsaults onto Dakota as Raquel checks on Cora who is still attending to her shoulder. As the timer runs down once more, the fans chant “we want Mandy / no we don’t.”

Mandy Rose is the fourth and final entrant for her team. She grabs a chair and takes it to Raquel. The two teams go to war with kendo sticks and there are bodies all over brawling. Jacy takes Io down with a nice spinebuster on a chair. Raquel scoops up both Jacy and Gigi for a powerbomb but Mandy takes the kendo to her. Cora and her one arm lures the Toxics and Dakota into the other ring as the fans chant that this is awesome. The odds overtake her and Jacy knees her in the head with a running knee, Mandy covers for a two count. We battle back and forth for a while with plunder until Raquel smacks Jacy down with a Tejana Bomb. We look at all the women down and then see Cora come to, covering Jacy and getting the three as Mandy screams from across the ring.

Io Shirai, Raquel Gonzalez, Cora Jade and Kay Lee Ray defeat Toxic Attraction and Dakota Kai when Jade pins Jayne. This was, well, modern WarGames. Lots of plunder and lots of fighting until the match “starts.” I did like the Cora story going through the match. Dakota was probably the MVP of this one. It was fine.

Tiffany’s Epiphanies. Tiffany Stratton is still daddy’s princess. Coming soon.

Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen are grilling and telling their life stories and playing cornhole. Pretty sure these are the same promos we saw on the last NXT.

Boa still does not know how to control the spirit and strength passed to him by Mei Ying. Perhaps he’ll figure it out.

MSK are still on their journey to find their shaman. We’ll meet him on Tuesday.

Team Black & Gold are in their locker room. Johnny Gargano is excited for his first WarGames and L.A. Knight says the little boys in the other locker room are scared because they’re rookies.

NXT Tag Team Championship: NXT Tag Team Champions Imperium (Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner) vs Kyle O’Reilly and Von Wagner

O’Reilly of course has three previous NXT Tag Team Title reigns to his name with the Undisputed Era. Pretty good teamwork for Imprerium to start. Kyle is able to spin into a tag to Von Wagner who slams Marcel around for a bit. Aichner tags in and catches Wagner on his shoulders, pressing him and rolling him to the mat. Alright, that was impressive. We go back and forth a bit before Kyle gets the hot tag to Von. Von cleans house, hitting a high running knee on Aichner and slams on both.

Wagner clotheslines both opponents outside and follows, dropping Marcel on the apron as O’Reilly hits Aichner with a running knee. Von hits the Angle Slam on Aichner for a two. Von headbutts Marcel down but Wagner gets tied in the ropes and experiences double dropkicks. Wagner chokeslams Barcel onto Aichner and tags in Kool Kyle, who heads up top and drops a knee on Marcel before slapping on the heel hook. Aicher springs up to the top rope and moonsaults onto Kyle to break it. Beautiful. Kyle and Aichner trade big kicks and clotheslines, both tumbling to the mat. As the referee tries to regain control, Kyle and Von hit the high/low on Barthel but can’t get a three count. Barcel dodges Wagner and tags in Aichner who springs outside onto Wagner and almost smacks his head on the ground. He rolls back in and Kyle gets a brainbuster for a two. Kyle hooks a cross armbreaker and then the triangle choke. Aichner is almost out but powers back in, Barthel tagging himself in and nailing the Imperium Bomb to retain the titles.

Imperium defeats Kyle O’Reilly & Von Wagner when Marcel Barthel pins Kyle O’Reilly to retain the NXT Tag Team Titles. I wasn’t into this at first but it turned into a hell of a tag team match and yes, Von Wagner kept up well. This is well worth your time.

Post-match, the fans chant “thank you Kyle.” Wagner runs at him with a clothesline, Kyle fights him off. Well, that’s a thing that can happen I guess.

Ikemen Jiro welcomes us to his closet and we look at his jackets. Okay yes, this all all just vignettes we’ve seen across some of the shows. I’m going to guess these would be the commercial breaks on Peacock.

McKenzie Mitchell is with Legado. Santos Escobar says that Xyon Quinn has bitten off more than he can chew and he’ll face him Tuesday on NXT. Elektra Lopez tells us she is a grown ass woman and her affairs off the clock are none of nosy interviewers’ business.

Thanks to idk and Offset for “Shoot My Shot,” the official theme song of NXT WarGames.

Hair vs Hair Match: Cameron Grimes vs Duke Hudson

There is a barber’s chair in the middle of the second ring. After they brawl a bit, Grimes runs into the urinagi in the corner and Duke takes control. He tries for a countout for the easy win but Grimes is back in at nine. Duke yanks Cameron to the mat with his hair and keeps beating Grimes to the mat. This is boring, friends. Very extended session of Duke working over Grimes. Grimes is finally able grab Hudson into a big scoop slam for a two count. They trade pin attempts and Grimes nails a few super kicks and a poison rana. Grimes heads up top and hits a high crossbody for a two. Hudson hits the Boss Man Slam for a near fall as the spotlight shines on the chair and the fans chant “Dukey.” Hudson tries for a Razor’s Edge, Grimes reverses him into the turnbuckle and rolls him up for the pin.

Cameron Grimes pins Duke Hudson. This one didn’t hit for me. They could’ve cut about four minutes of Duke working over Grimes out of this.

Hudson attempts to run but then clotheslines Grimes, tossing him into the chair and grabbing the razor. Grimes boots him and smashes him down with a stomp before grabbing the razor and going to work with it.

Grizzled Young Veterans scam a man out of a food delivery order.

Kacy Catcanzaro and Kayden Carter go to EDC Orlando and rave.

Draco Anthony is by himself in a coffee shop.

New Year’s Evil is coming to USA on January 4th. We’ll get there eventually.

Team 2.0 hype each other up in their locker room.

NXT Cruiserweight Championship: NXT Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong (with Malcolm Bivens, Ivy Nile, Hachiman, Brutus Creed and Julius Creed) vs Joe Gacy (with Harland)

The weight limit for the Cruiserweight Division has been lifted tonight due to Joe’s vision of inclusivity and, if he wins, will be permanently lifted. Gacy offers a hug, Strong denies so Gacy slaps instead. Strong chops and punches Gacy around the ring before Gacy boots him to the ring apron and rips off his shirt. Strong superplexes Gacy for a two count. Gacy hooks a crossface and Strong slithers to the ropes. Gacy clotheslines Strong down to the rest of Diamond Mine and then dives out onto Strong and the Creeds. Harland scoops up Ivy for reasons and Gacy stops him. Gacy plants Strong with a good powerbomb for two and then runs into a jumping knee. Strong covers and gets the pin.

Roderick Strong pins Joe Gacy to retain the NXT Cruiserweight Championship. A pretty average, basic match.

Ikemen Jiro is back for another video, this time order a bunch of food and eating it all and having to shit it all out.

Tomorrow night on Raw, Becky Lynch defends her gold against Liv Morgan and Big E battles Kevin Owens in a cage. Only on USA!

McKenzie is with Kyle O’Reilly. He wants Von Wagner in a cage match Tuesday on NXT.

WarGames: Team NXT 2.0 (Bron Breakker, Grayson Waller, Tony D’Angelo and Carmelo Hayes with Trick Williams vs Team Black & Gold (NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, L.A. Knight and Pete Dunne)

As is WarGames tradition, the 2.0 crew have some face paint. Gargano and Hayes are our starters and Johnny is the crowd favorite by a large margin as we put five minutes on the clock. #NXTWarGames is trending #1 in the United States on Twitter. As the two go fifty-fifty, the fans go fifty-fifty with “Johnny Wrestling” and “Whoop that trick” chants. Things stay even for almost the entire period as they battle on the ropes and Gargano slams Melo to the mat, ready to face the odds.

Grayson Waller is the next entrant, second for his team. He calls for Johnny to join him in the opposite ring and Gargano does. Grayson scoops Gargano into a nice suplex, overpowering him. Johnny dodges a double kick from Waller and Hayes as Trick Williams tosses a chair into the ring and almost on Grayson’s head. Trick climbs the outside and Gargano nails him with a chair.

Pete Dunne is the next entrant, the second for his team. Dunne runs wild for a bit including bending Waller’s fingers awkwardly through the cage. Dunne and Gargano hook on stereo crossfaces for a bit as we wait for the clock to tick down again. Hayes springboards into a punch, Waller rolls through both rings delivering Stunners.

Tony D’Angelo is the next entrant, the third for his team. Trick hands him kendo sticks through the cage and tables through the door. This gives the 2.0 guys a chance to get a advantage as the plunder keeps coming in with trash cans and crutches. Trick keeps going and gets stuck, pulling out Dexter Lumis instead who gives his thumbs up to Johnny. Tony has wrapped his hand in a chain and then padlocks the cage door shut. How inconvenient of a thing to happen as the clock ticks to zero!

LA Knight is the next entrant, the third for his team. He can’t get in through the door so he scales the cage instead. Waller gets trash canned by Knight. There’s stuff going on but it just feels like stuff. For this time period, it is the old guard with the weapons as the officials have finally found bolt cutters but can’t seem to figure out how to cut the lock with them.

Bron Breakker is the fourth and final entrant for his team. Breaker tries the bolt cutters and gets through. Bron runs wild for a while and stares over at Ciampa in the holding cage. 2.0 overpower their opponents for a bit.

Tommaso Ciampa is the fourth and final entrant for his team. WarGames begins. Black & Gold control including the former DIY teammates doing some stuff together until Bron breaks it up. The fans chant “this is awesome” and I’m just ready for it to be over. Dunne is larn-darted into the cage, Knight is tossed into the cage. Lots of trash can lid shots. Black & Gold get another boost of energy and the brawl is on again. Ciampa ends up on a table and Waller heads up for the leap, but Ciampa rolls away and Knight flips Waller through the table.

We’re still going. Knight tries for a BFT on Bron and Tony D cuts it out. Ciampa scoops Bron up and drives him through a trash can with the Air Raid Crash for a two count. Tony sets up a table and Waller heads to the top of the cage. Tony puts Knight on the table and Waller crashes through him, Tony covering for a two. Tony finds a crowbar but gets smashed by Dunne and a kendo stick. Tony does get to hit Pete with the crowbar and chokes him across the cage, pulling out his retainer and shoving it into his pants. Sure. Ciampa and Bron trade blows, Bron Frankensteiners Ciampa before Gargano appears with a superkick. More superkicks. Gargano hits a DDT on Bron and DIY smash Bron with their stereo kicks for a two, broken up by Melo pulling the referee away. Ciampa tries for a Fairytale Ending on Melo, Bron spears Ciampa through a nearby table instead. Bron scoops Ciampa up and drops him into a slam for the three.

Team 2.0 defeats Team Black & Gold when Bron Breakker pins Tommaso Ciampa. This dragged on and on. The women’s match was just as a long but felt like it had a better flow. The chaos in the last few minutes was good, but I don’t have a desire to sit through this again.

An average show at best. I know the complaint that “two of the same gimmick matches are too much” and WarGames is a hard one because you’re going to hit those same notes in both matches. In this case, the women’s was better than the men’s for me but it was also first on the show and not after I had been beaten down by Joe Gacy and Duke Hudson matches. I think 2.0, at least to this point, works better in the shorter TV matches than the extended PPV matches we went with here. Really, you could cut things off after the tag title match and not miss a lot.

Recommendations to watch: Women’s War Games, NXT Tag Title Match