10 WWE Matches That Didn't Know When To End

4. Adam Cole Vs. Johnny Gargano - NXT TakeOver: New York

Edge Randy Orton sleeper
WWE

Hear me out here...

It's hard to say that the NXT TakeOver: New York battle between Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano wasn't a fantastic example of just why professional wrestling is so special to so many people. The thing is, even with the two-out-of-three falls stipulation, there were just so many moments where it felt as if this match should have ended before it did.

Adam Cole is great. Johnny Gargano is great. This match, for the most part, was great. Without trying to go too 'old man shouts at cloud' about it, there were just too many false finishes on display in the closing moments of this battle.

With the contest tied at one fall apiece, Gargano was hit with several of Cole's trademark Last Shot manoeuvres, only to kick out time and time again - and then there was the Panama Sunrise kicked out of by Johnny, too! Even after Undisputed Era interfered in a way that allowed Cole to hit yet another Last Shot, Johnny Wrestling again kicked out.

False finishes can add so much to a match, and Gargano showing the fighting spirit of a champion by surviving some of Cole's best shots is great... to an extent. Despite being so brilliant in so many ways, even the most avid of NXT fans will struggle to deny that Cole vs. Gargano at TakeOver: New York could have ended a little earlier than it ultimately did, and the closing moments of the match rode a dangerous line between tense drama and diluting the impact of these supposed big-time moves.

Anyway, it's back to shouting at that cloud for me.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.