Nobody Will Do It For You: The Rise And Fall Of #DIY
3. The Fairytale Ending
The culmination of this two-year feud was planned for Takeover: New York, where Gargano would face Ciampa one last time for the NXT championship, but the fates were not in their favour.
The added dates on RAW and SmackDown alongside the hard-hitting, sometimes brutal, matches they had been involved in up to then left Ciampa with complications. He'd been suffering stingers for a while and came to realise that he'd injured himself badly. Needing a real-life neck surgery that few ever returned to the business from, Ciampa had no choice but to vacate the title.
"NXT is something special, because it is here in NXT, in this ring, that dreams can become possibilities. For some people the dream starts here, in thus ring. For others it takes a long time; for others it's years scratching and clawing miles up and down a road with no destination in sight, just to get to the dream of standing in this ring. But the reality of it is, for every man and woman that steps into this ring, that dream can end at any moment."
While Gargano was already set for the match, a new challenger was sought to face him for the NXT championship. Adam Cole (Bay Bay!) won a five-way dance between himself, Ricochet, The Velveteen Dream, Aleister Black and Matt Riddle to secure his place.
With both challengers for the vacated title now set, a 2-Out-Of-3 Falls match between him and Gargano was made for Takeover: New York. Both incredible in-ring storytellers, their thirty-nine-minute war not only showed off their own talents but slipped in a tribute to the Gargano/Ciampa storyline that had led to the match when Adam Cole performed Ciampa's Fairytale Ending on the announce table.
Having taken one fall each during the battle, the arrival of the other members of The Undisputed Era left Gargano outnumbered in a sudden-death situation. Fighting back enough to take them down on the outside in a beautiful flurry of activity, he caught Cole in the Garga-No-Escape and took the victory. After fifteen long years in the business, the Rebel Heart held the gold.
After celebrating in the crowd alongside his family, Johnny stood at the top of the ramp alongside his wife, and the cheers from the crowd suddenly changed. Coming out beside them, wearing a neck-brace, was Tommaso Ciampa. Johnny knew he was there; "He's behind me, right?" he mouthed, pointing over his shoulder before turning to face a man who'd been both his friend and enemy for equal amounts of time in NXT.
But Ciampa wasn't there to attack from behind, and his eyes barely stroked across Goldie. If he couldn't have it, there was only one person he wanted with that belt. Embracing Johnny during his moment, Ciampa raised Gargano and LeRae's hands in victory as the show went off the air.
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