The 2019 NXT TakeOver: WarGames was a professional wrestling livestreaming event produced by WWE, held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's NXT brand division. It was the 27th NXT TakeOver event and the third annual NXT WarGames. It took place on Saturday, November 23, 2019, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois as part of that year's Survivor Series weekend and aired exclusively on the WWE Network. The event centered on the WarGames match, a type of roofless steel cage match that surrounds two rings placed side by side and is contested by teams of multiple wrestlers; the first team to score a pinfall or submission wins while escaping the cage is a forfeit.
Five matches were contested at the event, including one on the Pre-Show. There were two WarGames matches, including the first ever women's version. The main event was the men's WarGames match in which Team Ciampa (Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, Dominik Dijakovic, and Kevin Owens) defeated The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O'Reilly, and Roderick Strong). The event's opening bout was the inaugural women's WarGames match, which saw Team Ripley (Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Tegan Nox, and Dakota Kai) defeat Team Baszler (Shayna Baszler, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai, and Kay Lee Ray).
This was the first TakeOver held following NXT's recognition as one of WWE's three main brands in September, which it maintained until September 2021 when it reverted back to being a developmental brand. It was also the second TakeOver event in which the NXT Championship was not defended, after Respect in October 2015, and was the first which saw no title defenses on the card. This was also the third TakeOver event held at the Allstate Arena, after the TakeOver: Chicago events in 2017 and 2018. This would also be NXT's last WarGames event to be held in November as a support show for Survivor Series as the event was moved to December in 2020.
Production Background
TakeOver was a series of professional wrestling events that began in May 2014, as WWE's developmental brand, NXT, held its second WWE Network-exclusive livestreaming event, billed as TakeOver. The "TakeOver" moniker subsequently became the branding for all of NXT's major events held periodically throughout the year. WarGames was an annual subseries of TakeOver events that centered on the WarGames match and were held as support shows for WWE's annual Survivor Series for the main roster. Announced on November 19, 2018, the third WarGames event was scheduled for Saturday, November 23, 2019, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. It was the 27th TakeOver event and was held as a support show for that year's Survivor Series at the same venue. This was also the first TakeOver held following NXT's recognition as one of WWE's three main brands in September.
NXT previously held an annual subseries of TakeOver events titled TakeOver: Chicago, both of which were held at the Allstate Arena in 2017 and 2018. Although the 2019 WarGames was the third TakeOver held at the venue, it was not considered as part of the TakeOver: Chicago subseries as it was part of the WarGames subseries.
The WarGames match is a type of roofless steel cage match that surrounds two rings placed side by side. It is contested by two or three teams composed of three to six members each. One member from each team starts in the cage, and every couple of minutes, another team member enters in a staggered format until all participants have entered. Once all participants are in the cage, the match officially begins and the first team to score a pinfall or submission wins, while escaping the cage is a forfeit.
Storylines The event comprised five matches, including one on the Pre-Show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television program, NXT.
On the October 30 episode of NXT, a brawl occurred with all the women on the roster after the conclusion of a WWE Women's Tag Team Championship match. This prompted NXT general manager William Regal to schedule the first ever women's WarGames match with Rhea Ripley and NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler being captain for their respective teams. On the November 6 episode of The Bump, Ripley chose Candice LeRae and Tegan Nox, while Baszler chose Bianca Belair and Io Shirai. That same night on NXT, Ripley chose Mia Yim as the final pick for her team after Yim saved her team from a brawl, following the conclusion of a match between Baszler and Dakota Kai. On the November 13 episode, a ladder match between Yim and Shirai was held to determine which team would get the WarGames advantage. NXT UK Women's Champion Kay Lee Ray interfered, allowing Shirai to win, and subsequently joined Baszler's team. However, during the WarGames Pre-Show, Yim was attacked backstage by an unknown person and was unable to compete in the match. As a result, Ripley had to choose Kai as her replacement.
On the October 30 episode of NXT, NXT Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) defeated Matt Riddle and Keith Lee. Afterwards, The Undisputed Era (including Adam Cole and Roderick Strong) proceeded to attack Lee and Riddle, before Tommaso Ciampa appeared. The following week, a men's WarGames match was scheduled between Team Ciampa (Ciampa, Riddle, Lee, and a partner of their choosing) and The Undisputed Era. On the November 13 episode, following a match between Lee and Strong, The Undisputed Era attacked Ciampa and Lee until Dominik Dijakovic appeared. Dijakovic offered to be the fourth member of the team, which Ciampa accepted. Later that night, Riddle left Ciampa's team after being scheduled to face Finn Bálor. On the November 20 episode, Cole defeated Dijakovic in a ladder match to gain the WarGames advantage.
On the November 13 episode of NXT, Finn Bálor insulted the NXT roster as "all boys who can't take a beating", specifically mentioning Johnny Gargano and Matt Riddle. Riddle attacked Bálor, who retreated. Later that night, Riddle assisted his then-WarGames partners Keith Lee and Tommaso Ciampa against their scheduled opponents, The Undisputed Era. However, Bálor appeared and attacked Riddle. As a result, a match between the two was scheduled for TakeOver: WarGames.
On the October 16 episode of NXT, Pete Dunne performed a finger snap on Killian Dain before Dunne's scheduled match against Damian Priest. Priest later defeated Dunne after a low blow. A rematch between Dunne and Priest was scheduled on the November 6 episode, where Dunne won by submission. Following the match, Dain attacked both Dunne and Priest. On the November 13 episode, a match between Dunne and Dain was scheduled on the night. However, Priest attacked Dain and subsequently, a brawl occurred between the three. On November 19, a triple threat match between Dunne, Priest, and Dain was scheduled for TakeOver: WarGames, with the winner receiving an NXT Championship match against champion Adam Cole at Survivor Series the following night.
On November 22, a match between Isaiah "Swerve" Scott and Angel Garza was scheduled for the TakeOver: WarGames Pre-Show.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:CommentatorsMauro RanalloNigel McGuinnessBeth PhoenixSpanish commentatorsCarlos CabreraMarcelo RodríguezRing announcerAlicia TaylorRefereesDrake WuertzDarryl SharmaJessika CarrD.A. BrewerPre-show panelCharly CarusoSam RobertsPat McAfee
Pre-Show During the TakeOver: WarGames Pre-Show, Isaiah "Swerve" Scott faced Angel Garza. Garza performed the Wing Clipper on Scott to win.
Previously, Mia Yim was attacked by an unknown assailant and was ruled unable to compete in WarGames. Rhea Ripley chose Dakota Kai as her replacement.
Preliminary matches The first match was the WarGames match involving Team Ripley (Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Tegan Nox, and Dakota Kai) and Team Baszler (NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai, and NXT UK Women's Champion Kay Lee Ray). LeRae and Shirai began. After five minutes, Belair entered, followed by Ripley and Ray. As Kai was scheduled to enter, she attacked her teammate Nox; Kai would leave and Nox was ruled unable to compete. Baszler entered last. Shirai performed a Moonsault off the cage on LeRae and Belair, and Ripley struck Ray with a trash can. Baszler applied the Kirifuda Clutch, but Ripley used handcuffs on Bazler. Ripley performed the Riptide through two chairs to win. Despite neither of them competing in the match, both Nox and Kai were announced as part of Team Ripley.
Next, Pete Dunne, Damian Priest, and Killian Dain competed for the number one contendership to the NXT Championship at Survivor Series. Dain performed a Running Senton on Priest while Dunne had Dain locked in a sleeper hold, and Dunne pinned Priest to win.
In the penultimate match, Matt Riddle faced Finn Bálor. Bálor performed a 1916 on Riddle to win.
Main event In the main event, Team Ciampa (Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, Dominic Dijakovic, and an unknown partner) faced The Undisputed Era (NXT Champion Adam Cole, NXT Tag Team Champions Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly, and NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong) in WarGames. Ciampa and Strong began. After five minutes, O'Reilly entered, being followed by Dijakovic, Fish, Lee and Cole. Ciampa pushed Cole through a table against the barrier. Kevin Owens was revealed as the unknown partner and entered last. Owens performed a Stunner on Cole but Strong avoided the pinfall at a two count. Cole performed a Panama Sunrise on the steel platform on Owens. Dijakovic performed a Chokeslam through a table on Strong, Owens performed a Frog Splash through a table on O'Reilly (who was applying a triangle submission on Dijakovic to counter a second Chokeslam), and Lee performed a Super Spirit Bomb through a table on Fish. Ciampa performed an Air Raid Crash off the cage through two tables on Cole to win.
Reception The event received critical acclaim among wrestling fans and journalists.
Larry Csonka and Kevin Pantoja of 411Mania gave TakeOver: WarGames a score of 8 out of 10. Csonka stated "NXT TakeOver WarGames 2019 was an overall great show, with the two WarGames matches delivering and offering up nothing bad on the card, which flew by at just two-hours including the pre-show, and booking that set up a lot of matches for the future".
Erik Beaston of Bleacher Report gave the overall show a strongly positive review. He graded the kickoff show bout between Garza and Scott with a B, the women's WarGames match a grade of A+, the triple threat match between Dunne, Priest, and Dain a B, the singles match between Riddle and Balor a B+, and gave an A+ to the men's WarGames match.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter awarded the Scott vs. Garza match on the kickoff show 2.75 out of 5 stars, the women's WarGames match 4.25 stars, the triple threat match featuring Pete Dunne, Damien Priest and Killian Dain 3.5 stars, the singles match between Matt Riddle and Finn Balor 4 stars and the men's WarGames match 4.5 stars.
Brent Brookhouse of CBS Sports gave grades of A and A− respectively for both the WarGames matches, a B for the triple threat match between Pete Dunne, Killian Dain and Damien Priest, a B+ for Matt Riddle vs. Finn Balor and a grade of A− for the overall show stating "Saturday's TakeOver: WarGames 3 card from Chicago -- one night before Survivor Series at Allstate Arena -- delivered big on all fronts. When the main complaints coming out of a show mainly focus on the two eponymous matches being a bit much for a single night and one very good match going a few minutes too long, you know the product delivered what NXT fans have come to expect from TakeOver events".