NXT WarGames (2021)

The 2021 NXT WarGames was the fifth annual WarGames professional wrestling event produced by WWE. It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's NXT brand division. The event aired on pay-per-view (PPV) worldwide and was available to stream through Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network elsewhere, which made it the first WarGames to air on Peacock. It took place on December 5, 2021, at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

NXT WarGames
Promotional poster
PromotionWWE
Brand(s)NXT
DateDecember 5, 2021
CityOrlando, Florida
VenueWWE Performance Center
WWE Network event chronology
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Day 1
NXT WarGames chronology
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NXT TakeOver: WarGames		 Next →
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This was NXT's first WarGames event to not carry the NXT TakeOver name, as the events from 2017 to 2020 were held as a subseries of TakeOvers titled "TakeOver: WarGames". It was NXT's first PPV event following the discontinuation of the TakeOver series, and subsequently NXT's first event to not be promoted under the TakeOver name since Halftime Heat in February 2019. It was the brand's first PPV event held following its restructuring as NXT 2.0 in September.

Five matches were contested at the event. Two WarGames matches were featured at the event. In the main event, Team 2.0 (Bron Breakker, NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller, and Tony D'Angelo) defeated Team Black & Gold (NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Pete Dunne, and LA Knight) in a WarGames match while in the opening bout, Raquel González, Io Shirai, Cora Jade, and Kay Lee Ray defeated Dakota Kai and Toxic Attraction (NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose and NXT Women's Tag Team Champions Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne) in another WarGames match.

Production

Background

From 2017 to 2020, WWE's NXT brand held an annual subseries of events under the TakeOver series titled WarGames, based around the WarGames match. In September 2021, the NXT brand went through a restructuring, being rebranded as "NXT 2.0", reverting to a developmental territory for WWE.[1] In October, it was speculated that the company may end the TakeOver series as another TakeOver event was not scheduled for 2021 after August's TakeOver 36.[2][3]

On November 9, 2021, NXT's fifth WarGames event was announced to be held on December 5, 2021, at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. The announcement confirmed that the event would not be a TakeOver event, thus marking NXT's first event to air on pay-per-view (PPV) and Peacock/WWE Network following TakeOver's discontinuation, as well as the first non-TakeOver to air on any of these broadcast outlets since Halftime Heat in February 2019, as well as the brand's first PPV event held following its rebranding as NXT 2.0.[4][5] It was also the first WarGames to air on Peacock after the American version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock in March.[6] On the day of the event's announcement, WWE had originally made a post on Twitter that had the event titled as "TakeOver: WarGames"; however, the Tweet was quickly deleted and WWE reposted the announcement with the "TakeOver" title removed.[7]

Storylines

The card included five matches. The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines were produced on their weekly television program, NXT 2.0.[8][9]

At NXT: Halloween Havoc on October 26, Cameron Grimes was invited to Duke Hudson's Poker Room on the following week's episode, where he beat him with a full house of 2's against his Aces.[10][11] On the November 16 episode of NXT 2.0, Hudson challenged Grimes to a poker showdown where he lost again due to his bluff, and power bombed him through the poker table before trimming his beard and ponytail.[12] The following week, a short-haired Grimes challenged Hudson to a hair vs. hair match at NXT WarGames, which he accepted.[13]

At NXT: Halloween Havoc, Imperium (Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel) defeated MSK (Nash Carter and Wes Lee) in a Lumber Jack-o'-Lantern Tag Team match to win the NXT Tag Team Championship for a second time.[10] On the November 30 episode of NXT 2.0, Kyle O'Reilly and Von Wagner defeated Legado Del Fantasma (Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza) to become number one contenders to the tag titles, setting up a match between the two teams at NXT WarGames.[14]

Event
Other on-screen personnel
Role: Name:
Commentators Vic Joseph
Wade Barrett
Beth Phoenix
Spanish commentators Carlos Cabrera
Marcelo Rodríguez
Ring announcer Alicia Taylor
Referees Darryl Sharma
Dallas Irvin
Daphne Lashaunn
Derek Sanders
Blair Baldwin
Felix Fernandez
Interviewer McKenzie Mitchell
Pre-show panel Sam Roberts
McKenzie Mitchell
Denise Salcedo

Results
No. Results Stipulations Times[15]
1D Odyssey Jones defeated Andre Chase Singles match[16] –
2 Cora Jade, Io Shirai, Kay Lee Ray, and Raquel Gonzalez defeated Dakota Kai and Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin, Jacy Jayne, and Mandy Rose) by pinfall WarGames match[17] 31:22
3 Imperium (Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel) (c) defeated Kyle O'Reilly and Von Wagner by pinfall Tag team match for the NXT Tag Team Championship[18] 14:53
4 Cameron Grimes defeated Duke Hudson by pinfall Hair vs. hair match[19] 10:24
5 Roderick Strong (c) (with The Diamond Mine) defeated Joe Gacy (with Harland) by pinfall Singles match for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship[20] 8:27
6 Team 2.0 (Bron Breakker, Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller, and Tony D'Angelo) (with Trick Williams) defeated Team Black & Gold (Johnny Gargano, LA Knight, Pete Dunne, and Tommaso Ciampa) by pinfall WarGames match[21] 38:11
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
  • D – indicates the match was a dark match

References
  1. Wrestlenomics Staff (October 4, 2021). "The future of WWE NXT 2.0 on the USA Network". Wrestlenomics. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  2. Aguilar, Matthew (October 22, 2021). "NXT TakeOver is a No Show on WWE's Updated Calendar". ComicBook.com. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  3. Johnson, Mike (October 21, 2021). "WWE PPV CALENDAR UPDATES". PWInsider. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  4. Guzzo, Gisberto (November 9, 2021). "NXT WarGames 2021 Announced During 11/9 Episode Of NXT 2.0". Fightful. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  5. WWE [@WWENXT] (November 9, 2021). "LFG!!!!! #WWENXT #WarGames RETURNS Sunday, December 5!" (Tweet). Retrieved November 10, 2021 – via Twitter.
  6. WWE.com Staff (March 8, 2021). "WWE Network to launch on Peacock March 18". WWE. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  7. Thomas, Jeremy (November 9, 2021). "UPDATED: NXT WarGames Set For December, Takeover Name Removed". 411mania. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  8. Grabianowski, Ed (13 January 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 18, 2013. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  9. "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on February 26, 2009. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  10. Hall, Thomas (October 26, 2021). "Hall's WWE NXT Halloween Havoc 2021 Review". 411Mania. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  11. Moore, John (November 2, 2021). "11/2 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Johnny Gargano and Dexter Lumis vs. Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams, Kyle O'Reilly and Von Wagner vs. Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza, Dakota Kai vs. Cora Jade, Cameron Grimes visits Duke Hudson's Poker Room". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on November 27, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  12. Moore, John (November 16, 2021). "11/16 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Raquel Gonzalez vs. Dakota Kai, Dexter Lumis vs. Tony D'Angelo, Odyssey Jones, Kushida, and Ikemen Jiro vs. Roderick Strong, Julius Creed, and Brutus Creed, a poker showdown with Cameron Grimes and Duke Hudson". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  13. Moore, John (November 23, 2021). "11/23 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Carmelo Hayes vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Pete Dunne for the NXT North American Title, Tommaso Ciampa vs. Grayson Waller in a non-title match, Mandy Rose vs. Cora Jade in a non-title match, Kayden Carter and Kacy Catanzaro vs. Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on November 24, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  14. Moore, John (November 30, 2021). "11/30 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Kay Lee Ray vs. Dakota Kai in a ladder match for the WarGames advantage, men's ladder match for the WarGames advantage, Kyle O'Reilly and Von Wagner vs. Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza for a shot at the NXT Tag Titles, Joe Gacy's All-Inclusive Invitational". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on December 2, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  15. Moore, John (December 5, 2021). "NXT WarGames results: Moore's live review of two WarGames matches, Roderick Strong vs. Joe Gacy for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel vs. Kyle O'Reilly and Von Wagner for the NXT Tag Titles, Cameron Grimes vs. Duke Hudson in a hair vs. hair match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  16. Krotchsen, Billy (December 5, 2021). "DARK MATCH RESULT FROM WWE NXT WAR GAMES". PWInsider. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  17. "Raquel Gonzalez, Io Shirai, Cora Jade and Kay Lee Ray def. Toxic Attraction & Dakota Kai in a brutal WarGames Match". WWE. December 5, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  18. Burdick, Michael (December 5, 2021). "NXT Tag Team Titles Match Imperium def. Kyle O'Reilly & Von Wagner". WWE. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  19. Burdick, Michael (December 5, 2021). "Cameron Grimes def. Duke Hudson in a Hair vs. Hair Match". WWE. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  20. Burdick, Michael (December 5, 2021). "Roderick Strong def. Joe Gacy". WWE. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  21. Burdick, Michael (December 5, 2021). "Team 2.0 def. Team Black & Gold". WWE. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
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