NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III Results: Highlights, Analysis, and Grades

credit: wwe.com

Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas

Result: Andrade “Cien” Almas defeats Johnny Gargano via pinfall.

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

It’s Johnny Gargano’s night to shine, as it’s his first TakeOver match since Tommaso Ciampa turned on him at May’s Chicago event. Gargano gets the opportunity to showcase himself as a singles wrestler, something he has plenty of experience in from his time in EVOLVE and across other professional wrestling promotions.

Gargano is plenty fun to watch in the ring. He brought the same underdog intensity that was there in DIY to this match, fighting and clawing back at Andrade Almas’ moves. Follow that with a superkick in Almas’ in-between-the-ropes pose and dive through the ropes, and it made for some electric moves.

How about when Gargano kicked out of the buckle bomb AND the running knees in the corner? This got the crowd red-hot, if they weren’t before, at this shocking moment. Great work from Almas, Gargano and even the referee to make it seem like the match was over.

However, Zelina Vega was the deciding factor here. As much as everyone at the Barclays Center wanted Gargano to win, there was no way Vega was going to just stand there for 15 minutes. She threw a DIY shirt at Gargano, distracting him just long enough (maybe two seconds) for Almas to dropkick him into the corner and hit the hammerlock DDT for the win.

An excellent opener and, arguably, one of NXT TakeOver’s greatest opening matches. It was an incredible showing from Gargano and maybe Almas’ best match since debuting in June 2016. Both should be in line for big things to come in NXT and have plenty of momentum.

As for Gargano, he’ll be fine. He plays best as the underdog chaser, so look for more of this, until he potentially wins the NXT Championship.