WWE NXT TakeOver: Phoenix 3 Biggest Takeaways

Johnny Gargano Sold His Soul For The Title

On an unprecedented run of match quality in WWE, Johnny Gargano produced another A+ effort at TakeOver: Phoenix, effectively stealing the show with the remarkable Ricochet as his proverbial dance partner. In doing so, Gargano made an even bigger statement outside of the realm of kayfabe, picking up his first singles title in NXT, capturing the North American Championship with a nasty slingshot DDT.

But in order to do this, Gargano had to reach into former tag team partner Tommaso Ciampa’s bag of tricks, exposing the concrete surface on the floor outside the ring. Though he hesitated in frustration when first given the option to plant Ricochet onto the unforgiving surface, he eventually nailed Ricochet with a vertical suplex on the concrete, selling his soul in order to win his first championship.

Gargano broke his TakeOver curse, but he can no longer make anymore false proclamations of who he is and what he’s become. That meeting in the steel cage between Gargano and Ciampa did mean something, and when the two held their respective titles for the NXT Universe to see as a way of closing TakeOver: Phoenix, it became clear that Gargano is NXT’s biggest villain.

Ciampa? He may be the puppetmaster, but based on the lukewarm reactions he and his match against Aleister Black received, the NXT Champion is in the background: the North American Champion’s turn to darkness is far more interesting.