Another Dream concept is going to be revived by WWE. After Starrcade, coming back as a SmackDown Live house show event on November 25, the WarGames match, another Dusty Rhodes creation, is coming back in NXT for the first time in more than 15 years . It even becomes the title of the next NXT TakeOver, as Triple H confirmed it on Twitter.
For the first time in nearly 20 years…#NXTTakeOver: WarGames
Nov. 18 ONLY on the @WWENetwork
Tickets on sale 10/13 at 10am CT. pic.twitter.com/qt8gJULShi— Triple H (@TripleH) October 5, 2017
The WarGames match was created in NWA by Dusty Rhodes in 1987, referring to Mad Max movies. In NWA, this match was used as a specialty match for the Four Horsemen. WCW started to use the concept in 1989. The original WarGames matches, from 1987 to 1992, are regarded as some of the best matches in NWA and WCW history. From 1993 to 1998, a WarGames match was held every year during the Fall Brawl PPV.
The concept of the match is to involve 2 teams of more than 3 wrestlers in a steel cage match where two rings are encompassed side by side. The cage is covering the 2 rings, but not the ringside area. Doors are placed at far corners of the rectangular cage so the two teams didn’t come into contact before they were supposed to.
The original WarGames match consists of 7 periods. The first one-on-one fight in 5 minutes and all remaining competitors from both teams are each 2 minutes long. The match begins with one member of each team entering the cage. After 5 minutes, a member from one of the teams enter the cage, giving his team the temporary 2-on-1 handicap advantage. The other members of the teams are entering alternatively every 2 minutes until all men are in the ring.
Once all men entered the cage, “The Match Beyond” can begin. Both teams brawl each other in the cage for as long as it took until any member of either team submitted, surrendered, or was knocked out unconscious. There is a no pinfall, no count-out, and no disqualification match, which often led to brutal, bloody, and violent confrontations in the past.
Since WCW last War Games match in 2000, many promotions proposed variations of the match. In CZW, one ring was filled with hundreds of thumbtacks. In ECW, weapons were allowed in the rings. In TNA, the Lethal Lockdown match was held in one ring, weapons were permitted and hung on the roof of the cage. In ROH Steel Cage Warfare matches, wrestlers could be eliminated at any point by pin fall or submission. In WWE, it became the Elimination Chamber match.
NXT TakeOver: WarGames is taking place on November 18, during Survivor Series weekend, in Houston, Texas. We don’t know yet if the NXT WarGames match will follow the original rules or develop a new version of the concept.