7 Ups And 3 Downs For NXT TakeOver XXV

2. Johnny TakeOver Delivers Again

Johnny Gargano Adam Cole NXT TakeOver XXV
WWE

What else can you say about Johnny Gargano beyond how incredible he is in the ring?

Gargano and Adam Cole put together a second straight TakeOver main event title match that stole the show, proving that Johnny has earned every nickname he has. It was Gargano’s 14th TakeOver, which is really crazy to think about.

And it gets even crazier when you realize the matches he’s had at those 14 TakeOvers: tag title battles against The Revival and Authors of Pain; wars with Tommaso Ciampa, fights with Andrade Almas; and now NXT Championship classics against Adam Cole.

It’s unclear whether this marks the end of Gargano’s run in NXT – he was originally going to be called up to the main roster, as he and Ciampa showed up at the same time as Ricochet and Aleister Black – but if this is his swansong, it’s as good as it gets.

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Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.