At one point during an electric NXT North American Title matchup, Ricochet looked at his opponent and genuinely asked, “Which Johnny Gargano am I going to get tonight?” What he failed to notice was the Johnny Gargano from yesteryear was no more, and 2019 had welcomed Mr. “wins and championships.” What followed was a moment to behold.
For more than 20 minutes, The One and Only and Johnny Wrestling fought tooth and nail over the NXT North American Championship in a mesmerizing bout. But where Ricochet fought to prolong his long-standing championship reign, Gargano had no plans of leaving TakeOver without his first singles title. In his quest for championship gold, Gargano even reached into his old bag of tricks, striking his signature #DIY pose before clobbering the titleholder with a brutal superkick that sent Ricochet flying out of the ring.
The dynamic Superstars showed no mercy, as they meticulously tried to one-up each other with just about every move in their arsenal, including one breathtaking instance where Ricochet countered one of Gargano’s attacks to perform his own Gargano Escape. Though he narrowly escaped, the submission attempt fueled Gargano’s fire into a phoenix.
After stripping the floor mat outside the ring, Gargano plunged Ricochet with a suplex right on the bare concrete before dragging him back into the ring to finish the job with a wicked Slingshot DDT. If 2018 was the birth of Mr. Johnny TakeOver, 2019 has officially become the era of Johnny Champion.