WWE NXT’s Fatal 4-Way Takes Home Match of the Week

Johnny Gargano, Aleister Black, Killian Dain, and Lars Sullivan together put on the match of the week in WWE.

2017 was clearly a very tumultuous year for Johnny Gargano. He walked into the year as one half of the WWE NXT Tag Team Champions with Tommaso Ciampa but only four weeks in the duo lost the titles to The Authors of Pain at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio.

About four months later, he and Ciampa received one last shot at AOP at TakeOver: Chicago but lost in a scintillating ladder match. And as if the sting of defeat wasn’t enough for “Johnny Wrestling”, the betrayal of his friend during the post-match as Ciampa viciously turned on him was even worse.

Seemingly then headed for a feud with the “Sicilian Psychopath”, those ideas were dashed when it was discovered that Ciampa had torn his ACL and would be out until 2018. From there Gargano went back to singles action and set his sights on NXT gold.

However, no matter how well his matches were received, it just didn’t seem like he could get over the hump. Since his split from DIY, Gargano was able to mix in televised wins over Raul Mendoza, Riddick Moss, and Tino Sabbatelli. However, with those wins also came a series of defeats. He dropped two televised matches to now NXT Champ Andrade Almas, one to Pete Dunne, and a somewhat shocking defeat at the hands of Fabian Aichner in October.

So to say Gargano was an underdog going into Wednesday nights fatal 4-way, #1 contender match was an understatement. Taking on Aleister Black, Killian Dain, and Lars Sullivan, he wasn’t just the underdog, he was also severely undersized for his competition. Between his 3 opponents, he was giving over 200 pounds and nearly a foot in height. Add to that the fact that all three men had been on hot streaks heading into this match, and it looked pretty certain that it wasn’t going to be Gargano’s night.

However, after nearly 14 minutes of hard-hitting, edge of your seat action, it was “Johnny Wrestling” that reigned supreme as he will head to Philadelphia next month to vie for the NXT Championship at TakeOver.

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The match really it had it all as far as fatal 4-ways go. It was well paced, had tremendous individual battles, and with no count-out or disqualification as another stipulation, the war outside the ring took center stage.

Dain’s dive off the ramp onto a prone Sullivan through a table was one of the many highlights. And if there any questions about why either of those guys are being pushed as hard as they have, they were answered Wednesday night. Both big men clearly had their best night inside an NXT ring.

But at the end of the day, the two biggest superstars were the two men who ended the match.

Black looked firmly on his way to punching his ticket to Philly when The Undisputed Era stormed the ring and Adam Cole delivered his “Last Shot” finisher to “The Dutch Destroyer” which directly led to Gargano’s victory via slingshot DDT.

Not only was the action wholly impressive but this fatal 4-way has set up three potential matches for TakeOver. Not only does Gargano get his title shot, but it looks a Cole/Black showdown is now a give for January 27th.

And why not a Sullivan/Dain match? Sure it might not be the prettiest bout of all time, but if both men’s performances Wednesday night are an indication of what they can do on a big stage, that could be a tremendous battle and one that could elevate the victor into world title contention.

Next: Ranking 10 Greatest WWE Promos Of 2017

But of course, the story from this week’s NXT main event is Gargano. After a roller-coaster 2017 where he began to question his own future, the 30 year-old will finally get the biggest opportunity of his career. Great match, smart booking, and a feel good moment when Gargano got the 3-count. That’s a great formula to earn match of the week.