On Saturday night, the WWE "NXT Takeover: Wargames 2" pay-per-view went down at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The new home of LeBron James shook with excitement as fans were treated to a card full of entertaining spots and matches. Among them was an outstanding main event with the war games battle, as well as Johnny Gargano, Aleister Black, and Tommaso Ciampa all putting on fabulous bouts.
War has begun. #NXTTakeOver: WarGames starts...
— Triple H (@TripleH) November 18, 2018
...NOW! #WeAreNXT @WWENetwork pic.twitter.com/y9LDdtJGLt
Matt Riddle defeated Kasius Ohno
Riddle arrived at the NXT show to call out Ohno for an impromptu match. That marked Riddle's debut in the NXT ring and it was a quick one. He captured one of the quickest wins ever in an unannounced NXT debut match. What's next for the bro?
WWE NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler defeated Kairi Sane
This was a best of 3 falls match. Once again, Baszler had help at ringside from two of the other UFC four horsewomen. Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir were a menace at ringside until Dakota Kai and Io Shirai came to ringside to even the odds a bit. After the outside brawling, Sane went for a huge moonsault move off the corner only for Baszler to counter into an impressive pinfall for the 2-1 win.
Aleister Black defeated Johnny Gargano
No titles on the line here, just a good old fashioned grudge match. This was probably the match of the night in most fans' opinions, though. Both superstars were cunning, clever, and creative. In the end, Black simply ended Gargano and gained his vengeance after the previous attacks and costing of the NXT title.
WWE NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa defeated Velveteen Dream
One of the other outstanding matches of the evening featured the NXT Champ putting another opponent to sleep. Velveteen put up a solid effort, though, including a DDT onto the concrete floor outside the ring and several big moves off the corner. He couldn't score that winning pinfall to capture the title, though. In the end, Ciampa DDT'd Dream onto the steel in between the two rings for the win.
Ricochet, Pete Dunne, & War Raiders defeated The Undisputed Era
The war games match certainly didn't disappoint. UE tried to gain an advantage by locking Pete Dunne inside his cage at the top of the ramp, but referees got the bolt cutter. Once weapons were added to the rings and the cage was locked, the match was on. It included plenty of exciting spots with bodies crashing, objects being destroyed, and spirits being broken. In the end Dunne hit a move followed by Ricochet. Both men put arms over the fallen opponent for the winning pinfall.