WWE NXT TakeOver New Orleans: Highlights, Grades, And Analysis

Credit: WWE.com

Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa

This Is An Unsanctioned Match With No Disqualifications. If Gargano Wins He Is Reinstated. If Ciampa Wins, Gargano Is Banished From NXT Forever.

Result: Johnny Gargano Wins By Submission With A Knee Brace Crossface

Rating: All The Stars, 7.0 Out Of 5.0 Or Whatever

Watchability Rating: A++, Or You Are Doing Yourself A Disservice If You Don’t Watch

NXT TakeOver: New Orleans is one of the greatest shows WWE has put together from top to bottom, and this match just might be the greatest match in WWE history. The build was perfect, the crowd was hot, and the two wrestlers in the ring are two of the very best there are. They had every reason to fight, they know each other perfectly well, and they did absolutely everything right. This was the match of the year on the show of the year, and I feel extremely blessed to have watched it live.

I mean, let’s just run down all the insane things that happened in this match.

1. Ciampa calls Gargano a piece of garbage and exposes the concrete on the outside by removing the padding. Later in the match, he attempts to hit a package piledriver on the apron, but Gargano powerbombs Ciampa into that same concrete.
2. Gargano is fired up throughout the match from start to finish. He does brutal things to Ciampa to match him blow-for-blow, going after the injured knee with a crutch and even exposing the turnbuckle at one point. He’ll hit Ciampa with a lawn dart at that turnbuckle.
3. Gargano throws Ciampa over the announce table and sends all the announcers scrambling. Ciampa will later hit Gargano with a vertical suplex off the table.
4. Early in the match, Ciampa steals crutches from a fan at ringside wearing a Johnny Wrestling shirt.
5. Ciampa is locked in the Gargano Escape but won’t tap. Instead, he rakes Gargano’s eyes, and Mauro Ranallo calls him a “sadistic son of a bitch”.
6. ALL THE NEAR FALLS. And they are all well-done.
7. They are joined together at one point when Ciampa tries to handcuff Gargano with athletic tape. It’s just so poetic.
8. The crutch plays a huge role in this match from start to finish. There’s a tug of war over the crutch.  Gargano hits Ciampa in the head with the crutch before smashing him with a DDT, and Ciampa gets several big shots in with it, too.
9. But the best crutch spot is at the end. Gargano breaks the crutch in half and is about to hit Ciampa with it. He can’t bring himself to do it. He just can’t, and it’s the perfect callback to their Cruiserweight Tournament match. They stare at each other for what feels like an eternity, and you can’t help but feel the goosebumps. Just when you start to second-guess everything you ever know, Ciampa goes for a cheap shot. Earlier in the match, Ciampa tore off his knee brace to expose his knee to inflict maximum damage on Gargano without a care for his own health. Gargano first puts Ciampa in the Gargano escape but ups the ante, putting him in a crossface with the knee brace. And that’s how he wins

Next: WrestleMania 34 Staff Predictions

Every move mattered. Every nearfall had you on the edge of your seat. Everything made you care, and you learned so much about both of these performers as the story came full circle.

This match had everything. It had a hot crowd, an announce team that was fully invested and knew how to tell the story, and two of the greatest and most creative performers in the world today. It was brutal. It was beautiful. It was smart. It rewarded the fans for having paid attention to this feud and their careers over the years with all the callbacks to their DIY days.

It was everything we want wrestling to be, and, again, I’m lucky to have been able to watch this match and review it.