50 Ups & 50 Downs For WWE's Decade: The 2010s
27. Johnny Gargano Vs Tommaso Ciampa, NXT TakeOver: New Orleans
Johnny Gargano owed a modicum of the plaudits received for his clash against Andrade Almas to Tommaso Ciampa for the 'Psycho Killer's life-ruining assault nearly a year earlier, but got to share even greater praise with his former #DIY partner when the two finally went to war at TakeOver: New Orleans.
It was once-in-a-generation Sports Entertainment theatre when the two finally locked horns. A feud magically enhanced by the delay caused by an injury to Ciampa and Gargano's subsequent rise and fall without him, the match was elite beyond the sky-high standard already set elsewhere this year.
Rich in callbacks and reverence, the fight was deeply rewarding for an audience that had invested so deeply in it. From Ciampa's entrance to his last desperate moment of loss, he was a loathed villain completely at odds with the modern wrestling heel. Gargano inch-perfectly opposed as the discerning babyface.
Crucially for an industry that never ever ends, 'Johnny Wrestling' was a survivor, not a victor. He had won this battle, but it was all-too-apparent that the war wasn't over. And what a war...