10 Best NXT Matches Of 2019 (So Far)
5. Ricochet Vs Johnny Gargano (TakeOver: Phoenix)
Johnny Gargano felt unconvincing and unexceptional as he walked through how he'd orchestrated an attack on Aleister Black as part of his descent into darkness. The company's most reliable babyface had been teased towards total heeldom by virtue of his out-of-control feud with Tommaso Ciampa, we were told, but he was the only one that appeared unaware of it all despite his nascent new relationship with "the dark".
It appeared as if, in kayfabe and reality, the best thing about NXT had dissolved into dust.
A TakeOver: Phoenix win over Ricochet instead informed an entirely new appraisal. 'Johnny TakeOver', with the name literally splashed across his tights, delivered a performance worthy of the moniker in substance, style and subtlety.
The heat they bottled late on felt as impossible as one of Ricochet's incredible high spots. Gargano, even the snide, conflicted Gargano, had the heart and guile that had brought him close-but-not-close-enough to career redemption. The willingness to embrace a certain, understated cruelty elevated the match and his performance into something far greater.
Resorting to the concrete floor as he had done in his blood feud with Ciampa, Gargano initially batted back his tortured soul, but was nearly punished for his hesitation with a Ricochet roll-up. After regaining control, a brainbuster on the exposed ringside area revealed the contents of his newly-warped perspective.
Gargano took an almighty intake of breath from the Phoenix fanbase in shocked celebration not only of his win, but of the lengths (and depths) he'd gone to to achieve it. It proved only the penultimate chapter of a remarkable personal tale.