WWE NXT TakeOver Chicago: Gargano vs. Ciampa Street Fight Preview

Former tag team partners and best friends Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa will settle their feud at NXT Takeover: Chicago

As announced on last Wednesday’s episode of NXT, Johnny Gargano will face Tommaso Ciampa in a street fight at NXT Takeover Chicago on the Saturday before Money in the Bank. This will be the second match between these two.

The match was made official last Wednesday when Gargano, who was barred from the building, interrupted an EC3 enhancement match to show off the signed contract for the match.

DIY explodes…again

Gargano and Ciampa debuted as a team in September 2015, later known as DIY (short for “do it yourself”). As a tandem, they primarily feuded with The Revival over the NXT Tag Team Championships, eventually winning the titles from them in a classic best of three falls match at NXT Takeover: Toronto. They lost the title a couple of months later to The Authors of Pain.

After losing to the Authors again at last years NXT Takeover: Chicago, Ciampa rammed “Jonny Wrestling” into the entranceway video wall and flattened him with an Air Raid Crash off of the announcers’ table, turning heel and sparking their feud.

Ciampa’s ACL injury put the story on hold for most of the year, but the feud hovered over Gargano’s matches with Andrade “Cien” Almas. The story regained some juice in January after Gargano’s five-star NXT Title match against Almas when Ciampa whacked Gargano with a crutch. Ciampa struck again in February when he cost Gargano the NXT Title and his career. All of this led to a brutal (by today’s WWE standards) Unsanctioned Match between the two at NXT Takeover: New Orleans, which Gargano forced Ciampa to submit to the Garga-No-Escape.

Ciampa got his heat back on the April 25 episode of NXT when he attacked Gargano prior to Gargano’s NXT Title match against Aleister Black. After a fake retirement angle, which led to Gargano inadvertently “injuring” his wife Candice LeRae, both men signed a contract for a street fight for the next Takeover show.

Thoughts

This match will probably be structured the same as the unsanctioned match since, in WWE’s world, they’re basically the same match. I expect these two to add another thrilling chapter to their compelling story, but the way the match was announced has my guard up for a screwy finish.

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I could see EC3 interfering to cost Gargano the match; which would allow Gargano feud with him and allow Ciampa to move into the NXT Title picture. That makes sense, but I would rather see Gargano get another definitive win at the scene of the crime: NXT Takeover: Chicago. Either way, this should be a great match.