NXT goes to war this Sunday, as it’ll be the night of their annual presentation of Takeover: War Games. Five matches are currently scheduled, and given the length of a typical War Games match, one wouldn’t expect much to be added to the card between now & Sunday.

It’s going to be an interesting evening. Apparently you can make the evening even more interesting by placing a wager or two on the proceedings. I wouldn’t know anything about that considering my location, but some of you might. BetWWE.com provides us with some NXT Takeover: Wargames odds…for entertainment purposes only.

Timothy Thatcher vs. Tommaso Ciampa

No odds on this one as of press time, but I’d have to consider Ciampa the favorite considering his Takeover in-ring experience and Thatcher’s recent struggles in the win-loss column.

Dexter Lumis (-250) vs Cameron Grimes (+200)

You know how sometimes you see somebody that’s obviously skilled and has a lot of people going crazy about them but you just don’t see it? That’s me with Cameron Grimes. Solid in-ring worker, but the gimmick doesn’t do anything for me. Hairy redneck with a hat…if the dude put on some overalls he could pull off a mean Hillbilly Jim. Maybe that’s what they’re going for.

It doesn’t help that he’s currently feuding with Dexter Lumis, who is immediate fast-forward material for me. Nothing about this interests me, except the fact that Lumis has been getting the upper hand the past few weeks and Booking 101 tells me that Grimes should probably get something eventually. If I was going to make a bet on this one I’d go with Cameron Grimes for the upside.

Leon Ruff (-200) vs Johnny Gargano (+150) vs Damien Priest (+225)

How about this Leon Ruff kid? He signed a contract with WWE in October, one month later he wins the North American Championship, and now he’s defending it on a major NXT event. You can’t help but be impressed by that. He’s got a tough test coming up on Sunday, taking on the two previous North American Champions. That title has been bouncing around like a super ball lately, which makes this match less predictable to me than the oddsmakers seem to think.

I do think Leon Ruff has the best chance to win here. Damien Priest at that price is a little bit tempting, and of course we can never count out a Gargano victory at a Takeover. I think Ruff ends up losing the title in a singles match later on to somebody that hasn’t held the strap yet.

Team Shotzi: Shotzi Blackheart, Io Shirai, Rhea Ripley, Ember Moon (-200) vs Team Candice: Candice LeRae, Toni Storm, Dakota Kai, Raquel Gonzalez (+150)

This all started when Candice had the unmitigated gall to run over Shotzi’s tank. It was an emotional moment! The poor woman cried live and in public, and swore revenge. What better way for Shotzi to get revenge than to lead a team against a team captained by Candice in one of wrestling’s most destructive matches? Makes sense to me!

Shotzi certainly has the advantage when it comes to overall talent & accomplishments, and will also have the one-woman advantage for a lot of the match. Team Candice’s best chances involve either taking a woman out prior to the match, somebody on Team Shotzi getting hurt during the match, or one of Shotzi’s team members turning heel. One would think we’ve had enough NXT women turn heel this year, right?

So I’m thinking somebody gets taken out. Rhea seems like a good option since she’s allegedly moving on anyway. Good way to get her out of there without having to eat another fall. That would be how Team Candice wins the match if you’re looking to bet on them. It sure would be a good way to set up a challenger for Io Shirai’s championship. I’ve talked myself into Team Candice. Don’t hurt me, Shotzi!

The Undisputed Era: Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish, Roderick Strong (-300) vs Team McAfee: Pat McAfee, Pete Dunne, Oney Lorcan, Danny Burch (+240)

After winning the first NXT War Games match in 2017, the Undisputed Era has lost their last two. Can they find their way back to the winner’s circle? There’s no reason to think they can’t. UE has been on top of NXT for years now, while the self-professed Kings of NXT spent a lot of their time losing to UE.

However, things can change. Sometimes all one needs is a guiding light to help them see the way. It seems like Pat McAfee has provided that light for Dunne, Lorcan & Burch, giving them a new dimension & making them more dangerous than ever. They got that man advantage going for them, putting the Undisputed Era in a hole for most of the match.

Considering McAfee’s gift of gab, I’m surprised this line isn’t a bit closer. Considering that NXT could use some shaking up, and that there might be some mysterious masked fella running around that helped McAfee’s boys get that man advantage (what’s with all these mysterious masked folks running around NXT anyway?), I don’t know why you wouldn’t throw some money on Team McAfee at +240. Maybe if War Games was a true blow-off match, Undisputed Era would be the proper pick. I don’t think it is.