It simply did too much too soon after AEW Dynamite’s launch. Dominik Dijakovic took his spot for no reason other than that he was a semi-big deal in NXT at the time. Then, Riddle was removed, as he was set to face Finn Balor instead. War Games was scheduled without a complete Team Ciampa lineup, which, at least, provided that shock factor, but the whole point of War Games should be that everyone involved is in this huge feud that can only be resolved by entering the “Match Beyond”. Keith Lee and Matt Riddle had been saved from a post-match Undisputed Era attack, leading to Tommaso Ciampa saving them.
The spots that occurred, while too rushed and not spaced out enough, were often delightful sequences, and the match at least followed some sort of structure The Undisputed Era wore down each member of Team Ciampa when they had the numbers advantage, concluding with the shock arrival of Kevin Owens.
Technically speaking, the match was fun, which was no surprise given that all eight involved had prior experience in high-level independent promotions (Ring Of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, et al). NXT was doing fine as a weekly product, but it was slowly becoming obvious that the brand was trying to achieve too much to combat their newfound competition.
NXT TakeOver: War Games 2019 was promoted just under two months following the launch of All Elite Wrestling’s new weekly show, Dynamite, so the Wednesday Night Wars were in full swing. Given that Candice – who, at the time, was on the verge of greatness alongside Johnny Gargano, Indi Hartwell, and Austin Theory in The Way – suffered a serious arm injury from a spot, perhaps she, too, wishes the match could be erased from memory. Had it not been for Io Shirai’s famed cage dive with a bin over her head, then all memory of this match would have been erased. Pat McAfee’s team was a far more memorable bout, overshadowing this by a great amount. Just one year on, you forget this match even happened. Essentially, she was joined by the trio because she needed a squad of four. Members of Shotzi Blackheart‘s squad were determined through backstage segments (in Rhea Ripley and Ember Moon’s cases), while Io Shirai joined during a heated brawl against LeRae’s team. There was very little of a story to warrant this, with Toni Storm having turned heel while feigning saving a downed Ember Moon from Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, Raquel Gonzalez, and Indi Hartwell. This isn’t due to the competitors involved, either, but rather WWE’s insistence on having a minimum of two of every big gimmick match a year. It was the kind that bombards the viewer with spot after spot, needlessly performing recklessly for thirty-five straight minutes. The match was a spotfest, and not the good kind. From there, the match was held a combined 31 times in WCW, concluding when Kevin Nash, Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner, and The Harris Brothers overcame the quintet of Booker T, Goldberg, Sting, and KroniK on the September 4th, 2000 broadcast of Nitro. In World Championship Wrestling, the aptly-titled “Match Beyond” was originated as the signature match type of The Four Horsemen, who were, at the time, the top guys in the company.
Initially brought back by NXT General Manager William Regal in November 2017 to restore order to the black-and-gold brand after weeks of commotion involving The Undisputed Era and rivalling parties, the former WCW staple has since become a focal point of NXT’s annual calendar, with 2021 set to mark the seventh and eighth NXT incarnations of the bout following one in 20, and two in 20, respectively.
Promoted since 2017 as part of their critically-acclaimed TakeOver series, NXT’s take on the War Games match, named WarGames, has traditionally been well-received.