8 Things NXT Got Right At TakeOver: WarGames
5. The Best NXT Championship Match In Months
In what must be considered something of a shock, Andrade "Cien" Almas defeated Drew McIntyre to win the NXT Championship. McIntyre seriously injured himself in the final spot of the match, seemingly tearing his biceps while taking a super Hammerlock DDT, but this didn’t seem to change the finish. Almas pinned McIntyre, and we have a new NXT Champion.
Questions about the finish and the injury aside, this was the best NXT Championship match in a very long time. In fact, I’d go so far as to say this was the best NXT Championship match since the Sami Zayn days. Almas and Drew had a great bout. They are two wildly talented and vastly experienced performers who know how to work a crowd, and they put on a genuine clinic here.
The match was expertly laid out with plenty of big spots, near falls and drama, complete with an ending that only a minority saw coming. The world assumed that McIntyre vs. Adam Cole was going to be the next NXT Championship feud, but the world was wrong. This was a great, great match.