WWE revived one of the coolest match concepts in the history of professional wrestling last November when WarGames returned at NXT TakeOver: War Games. Now a new report from AXS shows that match was not a one-and-done for the gimmick.
According to AXS, WWE will hold NXT WarGames II at the Staples Center on Nov. 17, 2018. The show will serve as one of a four-night Survivor Series weekend, stretching from TakeOver through SmackDown Live that following Tuesday.
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In the first WarGames match since 2000 (and the first under the WWE banner in company history), the Undisputed Era trio of Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish defeated the teams of Sanity and The Authors of Pain with Roderick Strong in a grueling 36-minute match. As the match is months away, there’s no word yet on which teams will compete.
The WWE version of WarGames was widely different from teh version that became a staple of the National Wrestling Alliance and WCW. In the original version only two teams (usually of for or five wrestlers each) would compete, the two-ringed cage would have a roof lowered down after every man was in the match and the only way to win was by submission or being knocked unconscious. All three of those stipulations were either changed or removed.
Since winning War Games, Adam Cole went on to challenge the undefeated Aliester Black at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia, only to lose in an Extreme Rules match. O’Reilly and Fish, known on the independent wrestling scene as reDRagon, captured the NXT Tag Team Championships on the Dec. 20 episode of NXT and retained them in a match with the Authors of Pain at TakeOver: Philadelphia. The duo are set to take on the winners of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans the night before WrestleMania 34, but that match could be in jeopardy after Fish suffered an injury during a live event this past weekend.
As for the other teams involved in the match, Sanity continues to be a force on NXT each week but haven’t managed to win any gold since dropping the NXT tag titles to The Undisputed Era. Meanwhile Roderick Strong has been temporarily bumped up to the 205 Live roster to compete in Cruiserweight Championship tournament.
Other matches already announced for NXT TakeOver: New Orleans include Andrade “Cien” Almas defending the NXT Championship against Black and Shayna Baszler challenging Ember Moon for the second pay-per-view in a row for the NXT Women’s Championship.
