NXT TakeOver: WarGames 2019 is in the books and what a wild night it was. Coming off the heels of it, they have no real time to recuperate, winners have very little time to celebrate – because now we look forward to WWE Survivor Series tonight. Team NXT Captain Rhea Ripley went ahead and named all of her partners going into one of the ridiculous 5-on-5-on-5 interpromotional matches that we’re preparing for. You can see them in the very crowded graphic that makes up this page’s header, but let’s take a quick look at the five members of Team NXT.
Rhea Ripley
After successfully leading her WarGames team to victory in spite of seemingly impossible 2-on-4 odds, and pinning the NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler, she’s certainly earned her spot as team captain. A big powerhouse out of Austrailia, there’s really nobody on either Team Raw or Team SmackDown who can match her in strength. She should stand out even amongst the 15 women in that ring.
Candice LaRae
Unsurprisingly, Rhea sticking with the one woman who was both willing and able to stick by her in the double cage last night. Candice is a remarkable talent, one of the most criminally underutilized competitors in NXT history and really under the entire banner. She’s one of the best women’s wrestlers in the world, period. Hopefully she gets to show a flash or two of that, in there with the likes of Sasha Banks and Charlotte Flair.
Io Shirai
After having gone to battle with her, it was impossible not to respect and admire her sheer fearlessness and viciousness. Io was a standout of the match, with her wicked moonsault off the top of the cage being one of the biggest highlights on a show full of them. Io is as fast as she is hard-hitting, and in my estimation is one of the best in the game period. Interestingly she has a lot of history with Kairi Sane, who happens to be on Team Raw.
Bianca Belair
Once again, this team has the strength advantage down pat. This girl is more than just a bundle of charisma with a hilarious theme song, to say the least. The military pressing, 450 splashing Bianca Belair is something of a freak athlete. And that’s not even getting into the literal whip growing out of the back of her head that she calls a ponytail. It’s a weapon, and it’d be funny if it wasn’t so bizarrely effective, once tearing into the flesh of Shayna Baszler. Suffice to say nobody on either team have dealt with anything like that before.
Toni Storm
The odd one out, Toni wasn’t on the WarGames team last night. However she’s a great fifth ranger here, winner of the second Mae Young Classic. She’s got a lot of history coming up with Rhea Ripley and furthered it by beating her for the NXT UK Women’s Championship at the start of this year. Agile, technical and with legs made for suplexing, Toni Storm is sure to make her mark on the match.
All in all, it’s a fantastic team. As someone who’s been following NXT for years, I can safely say that on paper more impressive than either of the opposing teams. Not that such a thing really matters in the long run, but a cool group all the same.
