Daily DDT
Fansided

WWE: Five candidates for midyear MVP – Men’s Edition

By Saksham Karakasia

Apr 11, 2021; Tampa, Florida, USA; Roman Reigns (black pants) and Daniel Bryan (green trunks) and Edge (white pants) during their Universal Championship match at WrestleMania 37 at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 11, 2021; Tampa, Florida, USA; Roman Reigns (black pants) and Daniel Bryan (green trunks) and Edge (white pants) during their Universal Championship match at WrestleMania 37 at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 6
Next
NXT TakeOver Champion Johnny Gargano
via wwe.com /

5. Johnny Gargano

There was a time when a list like this would’ve been all NXT with an occasional AJ Styles or Seth Rollins or Daniel Bryan thrown in. That’s how much I liked NXT just before the pandemic hit and they lost their live crowds and their good writers, apparently.

However, the current situation implies that Johnny Gargano is the only wrestler from NXT to be on this list.

Ironically, Johnny Gargano’s change in character is a perfect analogy of how NXT’s been for about a year and a half. It has excellent wrestling, with inconsistent storytelling and character work.

Johnny is usually a comedic, goofy heel when he’s with his “The Way” family, but he becomes Johnny Freaking Wrestling, a wrestler who’s on top of his game every time he has a title match. It happened with both Kushida and Bronson Reed. Johnny was always a coward in the buildup and then suddenly became the best wrestler in the world in the match itself.

In his ongoing feud with Karrion Kross, he was a babyface every time he faced a live crowd but instantly became a heel by blindsiding Kross at every opportunity backstage.

Why did I put Gargano on the list then? Just to crap on NXT’s booking?

No.

The reason why Gargano’s one of the best wrestlers of 2021 is simple. No matter how inconsistent his character has been, in the ring, Johnny Wrestling is as good now as he ever was.

He’s flawless. He literally never has a bad match. His in-ring work is what made his third North American title reign a success. He had bangers with Kushida and Bronson Reed, and he dropped the title to Reed in a Steel Cage match in spectacular fashion.

That Triple Threat match with O’Reilly and Dunne was excellent until Adam Cole destroyed everyone. The Fatal-5 Way for the NXT title was another great match in which everyone worked their asses off.

I’m sure the future matches between Kross and Gargano would be fire as well.

Johnny Gargano is probably the greatest in-ring competitor NXT has ever seen, and just like his wife, he can always be relied upon to deliver in the ring, be it a weekly match or a TakeOver main-event.

I humbly propose we skip the Johnny Wrestling and Johnny TakeOver chants and simply call him “Johnny NXT”.

Home/WWE