100 Greatest WWE Matches Of All Time (Ranked)
84. Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade (NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia)
Before diving into this one, please know that it was certainly a spotfest. However, both Johnny Gargano and Andrade laced the match with enough peaks and troughs to ensure they didn't exhaust the audience in Philadelphia for this January 2018 TakeOver special. Besides, the term "spotfest" was hardly a negative when the NXT brand came to town back then. In fact, it was something people craved.
They wanted spots aplenty, and they wanted them now.
The set up was perfect. Gargano played the underdog babyface who was just like you. He'd grown up a pro wrestling fanboy, and he dreamed of holding a major singles championship in WWE. Meanwhile, Andrade was the cocksure heel champion who knew he was bloody great at his craft and had Zelina Vega remind everyone of that fact. His cockiness was off the charts in Philly, which only made the match even more watchable.
Star ratings and other critical acclaim poured in from all angles as soon as Andrade scored the three count to retain. People knew they'd just witnessed something special. It wasn't one of the best ever in terms of pure star power (both guys hit their respective singles peaks on NXT, not WWE's main roster), but the storytelling and psychology was on point the deeper into the match they got.
Action, drama, those aforementioned spots, spots, spots. Yep, this one had a little bit of everything. It's one of the greatest TakeOver title matches in memory, and might actually go down as Andrade's finest performance full stop.