WWE News: Major Chances In The Cage Structure For The ‘NXT TakeOver: War Games’ Event

It has been nearly 20 years since the War Games match has occurred, and it looks to be quite different in some areas compared to before. Firstly, the number of teams in the War Games match will be three, instead of the traditional two. WCW did the three teams of three at the last War Games match on pay-per-view, which occurred on September 13, 1998 at Fall Brawl. On this night, the opponents were Team WCW (Ultimate Warrior, “Diamond” Dallas Page, and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper) vs. nWo Wolfpac (Sting, Lex Luger, Kevin Nash) vs. nWo Hollywood (“Hollywood” Hogan, Bret Hart, Stevie Ray). In the end, Team WCW would be victorious. The NXT War Games model will mirror this one in regards to team structure. The opponents will be Sanity (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe, and Killian Dain) vs. The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly) vs. The Authors of Pain and Roderick Strong.

The animosity of these three teams made it quite clear that it needs to be settled in this merciless structure. However, there will be a very noticeable difference when fans witness the match at Houston this coming Saturday evening.

Say Goodbye To The Original War Games Cage Design

During a War Games teleconference, Triple H explained how the cage structure will look as compared to the design of old. Triple H confirmed that there will not be a cover on the cage, and it will remain open. His explanation to why this will happen is due to the evolution of professional wrestling, and that he “always looks to the future.” He explained that, back then, “Arn Anderson wasn’t doing moonsaults” on the top of the cage, which is probably a strong indication that the NXT fans may see a wild spot of the sort during the match.

As shown by the original structure, the top of the cage was quite low, which limited the amount of aerial action that took place. Other than captivating spots such as Sting jumping from one ring to another to do a cross body block, the match was mainly a gory showing of the competitors using the cage and other means to brutalize their opponents into oblivion. The limitation of the cage was particularly shown on two occasions – J.J. Dillon becoming a victim of the Road Warriors’ Doomsday Device, and Brian Pillman becoming a victim of Sid Vicious’ powerbomb.

Now, with the cage being open, the expectation is that it will be used to create high spots throughout the match. To the traditional fan, this takes away from the essence of the War Games match, especially since the team structure will be different as well. To others who are not aware of the history, the WWE is providing a clean slate of what a War Games match should look like.

[Featured Image by WWE]