Leaked Script Reveals All About NXT Takeover: War Games II
Riddle vs. Ohno was originally planned to go a lot longer than seven seconds...
Matt Riddle versus Kassius Ohno was originally intended to go 18 minutes, and Mauro Ranallo was unaware of the finishes to all the matches at NXT Takeover: War Games II, according to a script leaked on Reddit.
The script, shared by Reddit user Chris Castaneda, was the one thrown at commentator Ranallo by NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa during his match with Velveteen Dream on Saturday night.
It reveals that the plan was for Matt Riddle to interrupt the opening of the show, call out Kassius Ohno and beat him in an 18-minute match rather than the seven-second encounter we witnessed, although fans online have suggested this may have been listed as such to ensure a surprise even if the scheduled match leaked.
Other revelations include the fact that Michael Hayes, Matt Bloom (aka Albert), and Shawn Michaels were responsible for putting together this year's War Games match featuring The Undisputed Era taking on Ricochet, War Raiders, and Pete Dunne.
Furthermore, the script shows that aside from the Riddle vs. Ohno contest, the NXT commentary team were unaware of the finish to any of the matches, which means Mauro Ranallo's inimitable style of calling the close of a match is done mostly on the fly, making it even more impressive.