8 WWE NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day Impulse Reactions
5. Johnny Gargano (c) Vs. Kushida
A dream match back when wrestling still had crowds, Johnny Gargano Vs Kushida reeked of the sort of booking Triple H used to be able to get away with when he needed a sh*thot match graphic to complete a loaded five match card.
Without any of that, it needed more than just a couple of tag team teases and the former NJPW Junior Heavyweight Champion/icon getting the better of The Way. This was further proven by the decision to book an Austin Theory kidnapping before the bell.
Away from that pre-match silliness, Champion and Challenger started hyper-technical before getting grisly on the arena floor. Kushida's dangerous babyface energy was weird - he was so focussed on breaking Gargano's body with whatever he could that he became increasingly hard to root for. The work was so objectively decent that it scarcely seemed to matter.
Kushida's targeting of Gargano's arm was vicious to the point of malice rather than a quest for the title, then they f*cked off the entire match for the finish. Gargano regained the advantage, hit two One Final Beats and won clean. 24 minutes of your time wasted, as if the half-baked build hadn't done enough of that.