10 Best Booked WWE Champions Of 2020

Keith Lee and Johnny Gargano - two North American Champions, two very different reigns.

In wrestling parlance, a "broomstick" match occurs when a superior talent manages to carry an objectively terrible wrestler to a good match despite his opponent's limitations. The exception to this rule is Leon Ruff, a wrestler of undoubted skill but with a physique so slender that his opponents must feel like they are battling with an actual broom.

When this less-than-stellar physical specimen was announced as the first challenger for Johnny Gargano's North American Championship we expected one of two things to happen: A tedious distraction finish that would do nothing for either man, or a straightforward ass-kicking that would highlight Gargano's already-obvious heel credentials. What we got was something much, much better as the diminuitive Ruff capitalised on his opponent's overconfidence, hitting one big move that kept his objectively superior opponent's shoulders down to the mat for a life-changing three count.

Much like 1-2-3 Kid pinning Razor Ramon on RAW all those years ago this one match absoutely made Leon Ruff, cementing him among NXT's top stars as someone capable of pulling off an upset against any opponent. It also didn't do the bulletproof Gargano any harm, as his character is strong enough to survive the loss and allows the storyline of Gargano's Sasha Banks-esque inability to defend a title to continue.

Johnny Gargano's title reign may have been the polar opposite of Keith Lee's, but it accomplished its goal of launching a wrestler's career - it just so happened that the career it launched belonged to someone else.