The\nropes stretch back to their limit, testing the strength of the tensile material\nthat holds them together. More quickly than they are pulled back, those same\nropes snap forward. Wooden planks thud and groan as over 300 pounds of humanity\ncomes crashing down. An official\u2019s hand hits the mat once, and the atmosphere\nchanges as roughly 18,000 humans exclaim in unison:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cONE!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nofficial\u2019s hand comes down a second time, and the crowd obliges once again:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTWO!\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A\nyoung lady in the upper deck loses her composure, and from 200 feet away cries,\n\u201cKick out!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nofficial\u2019s hand begins to fall for a third, potentially final time and the\ncrowd tenses itself, reluctantly ready to help the official finish the match:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThr-YES!\u201d\nThe crowd explodes as a shoulder flies off the mat, narrowly escaping the\nofficial\u2019s match-ending third count. The woman in the upper deck excitedly\nshoves the man in the row in front of her while the packed house in Rosemont,\nIllinois\u2019 Allstate Arena comes unglued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One\nfan named Adam Taylor was already comparing some of the moments from the\nweekend to other iconic wrestling events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy\nmouth just completely fell open,\u201d Taylor said after the first night\u2019s event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This\nwas the scene at \u201cNXT Takeover: WarGames\u201d on Saturday, November 23 a few miles\noutside of Chicago, Illinois. Saturday night\u2019s event was the second event in\nWorld Wrestling Entertainment\u2019s \u201cSurvivor Series\u201d weekend in Chicago. Over the\ncourse of four consecutive days, fans at Allstate Arena were treated to four\nlive and televised professional wrestling events including \u201cWWE Friday Night\nSmackdown,\u201d Saturday\u2019s \u201cNXT Takeover: WarGames,\u201d Sunday\u2019s \u201cSurvivor Series\n2019,\u201d and Monday\u2019s bookend with \u201cWWE Raw.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nshows on Friday and Monday night served more ancillary roles, though, as the\nfocal point of the weekend was undoubtedly the pay-per-view events that took\nplace on Saturday and Sunday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saturday\u2019s\nevent was highly anticipated, and built around the inclusion of the iconic\nWarGames match stipulation, which was made famous in the 1980\u2019s and 1990\u2019s. The\nstipulation is loved by wrestling fans because of its dual-ring setup and\nmassive steel cage. \u201cNXT Takeover: WarGames\u201d was only the third time the\nstipulation had been used since 2000. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Along\nwith a match featuring eight popular performers like Adam Cole and Roderick\nStrong, the \u201cWarGames\u201d was promotion was also bolstered by a history making use\nof the stipulation: the first ever WarGames match featuring women\u2019s wrestlers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nteam led by former MMA competitor and NXT Women\u2019s Champion Shayna Baszler faced\noff against team captain Rhea Ripley\u2019s squad in a violent affair that had the\ncrowd on the edge of its feet. The physicality of the performers in the match\nleft fans blown away and satisfied that they had seen something memorable. As\nthe cage came down around female competitors for the first time, the crowd\nshowered all eight women with praise, thanks, and congratulations for tearing\ndown another barrier in women\u2019s professional wrestling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\nwas awesome to see those athletes get out there and just destroy each other,\u201d\nsaid Dan McMurray, another fan in attendance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sunday\u2019s\n\u201cSurvivor Series\u201d event was equally hyped, as competitors from all three of\nWWE\u2019s major brands squared off in a series of matches meant to showcase the\nstrength of the company\u2019s three television shows. Throughout the night a series\nof triple threat matches pitted champions from Raw, Smackdown, and NXT against\none another. Becky Lynch squared off against Baszler and Smackdown\u2019s Bayley,\nwhile Raw US Champion AJ Styles shared the ring with Strong and\nIntercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\nthe most important match of the night, the men\u2019s teams from each show met in a\nfive vs. five vs. five Survivor Series stipulation match to determine brand\nsupremacy. Smackdown\u2019s team, led by Roman Reigns, prevailed over the Raw and\nNXT squads, respectively led by Seth Rollins and Adam Cole. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At\nthe end of Sunday night, fans left the arena simultaneously exhausted but\nexhilarated by an unforgettable weekend of pay-per-view events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\nreally wore me out,\u201d said Matt Cassidy, a fan in attendance, \u201cbut they pulled\noff a great couple of days.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 WWE had never hosted such a packed weekend in Chicago before, but if the atmosphere at the events was any indicator, they will have a willing crowd if they choose to do it again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n