Ranking Tommaso Ciampa's 10 Greatest NXT Matches

The first match in the former DIY boys’ epic feud is one of the most emotional matches you can ever hope to see, and thanks to the long term storytelling, quality workmanship and match structure, and (most importantly) incredible investment on the part of the crowd, it completely works as a piece of drama.

After Ciampa turned on Gargano, he was quickly sidelined by injury, forcing their antipathy to percolate for many months. By the time the pair were actually able to lay hands on one another, the stakes had been raised yet further, with Gargano’s NXT career on the line should he fail to win.

That makes the result a little predictable, but no matter - the babyface/heel dynamic is so perfectly established here that a Gargano win is the only option. In the 30 plus minutes of action the two men give each other everything, taking hard back bumps on the exposed concrete, exchanging thrashings with crutches, and laying in flurries of punches.

The ending is just perfect - Ciampa teases a truce, but Johnny Wrestling isn’t your typical dumb babyface - he locks in the Garga-No-Escape, stretching Ciampa’s knee brace across his face in a painful looking spot, and Tommaso quickly submits.