#4 Seed – Johnny Gargano
There’s no other way to say it. Johnny Gargano is the current face of NXT and will be until he leaves. He embodies the scrappy blue-collar underestimated underdog spirit that the brand is built around. He’s a smaller guy with an everyman kind of charisma, even going so far as to hail from Cleveland, a city known for lovable losers. After years of awesome showings and being masterfully booked to get just that little bit closer to the grand prize every single time, Johnny Wrestling finally won the gold this April.
The match itself was another five-star affair, in spite of having to be booked last-minute. An injury to Gargano’s archnemesis Tommaso Ciampa came at the worst possible time, forcing an end to a story arc that spanned over two years, just weeks before the blowoff. Even so, Johnny’s bout with Adam Cole was an in-ring masterclass, and the story really made itself. On one side, we had a man who struggled to even get signed to NXT in the first place. On the other, a ready-made prime time star pegged for greatness from day one.
The result was an out of this world clash between two of the most popular stars in NXT history. But when all was said and done, Gargano’s seemingly endless journey to the title reached it’s zenith, an emotional moment to be sure. A fitting cap off to the story that defined the past few years of NXT.
So if Johnny Gargano is so intrinsic to the identity of NXT – I’d say he’s their best babyface ever personally – why did he miss out on the top 3?
Well, it’s due to the nature of NXT’s top faces.
Sami Zayn was Gargano’s equivalent from 2013 to 2015. He had an appeal and journey similar to his, and a connection with the audience nearly as strong as a result. Sami’s title win took forever to achieve, and when it finally happened, it was short-lived. The same went for Johnny. It’s just how these kinds of characters work, they’d lose their sympathy if they got to have long, dominant reigns.
Forever the underdog… it works beautifully when done correctly. Tommy Dreamer became the heart and soul of ECW on a similar premise. But while there’s no arguing it’s effectiveness, it does make it hard to quantify his legacy as a champion. The moments of victory and defeat are brilliant, heart-wrenching, and the matches themselves truly magnificent. But the gap between them was so swift and as you’ll see in the tale of the tape later, he didn’t manage a single title defense. There’s no getting around that.
So it’s hard to put him in the Top 3 alongside people that held it for 200+ days. But I think both Johnny Gargano and Sami Zayn still fit snugly in the Top 5, right next to each other. Makes sense to me. Still, doubting him just makes him come back stronger… there’s no ceiling to how far he might go in this tournament.
#13 Seed – Aleister Black
Aleister Black was, in a way, the Undertaker of NXT. A more grounded, and also rather underground kind of Undertaker, but all the same. He was the dark king, feeding off a mystique and aura with his every movement. In the ring, he had the vibe of a perfect warrior. Speed, strength and skill, a blend of athleticism, legitimacy and hard-hitting brutality. Suffice to say, he became very popular and did a lot to add to NXT’s nonconformist image.
His road to the NXT title was a dominant one. At no point was there ever any real doubt that he would take the gold someday, but it was built to with exceptional patience. A full year separated his debut and his title victory, and he hadn’t lost one singles match in that timeframe. Yep, his first one-on-one defeat in NXT was his title loss to Ciampa in July of 2018. (He did take an L to Neville at one of the UK title tournament shows a few months before his official NXT debut, but that was under his old indy name, so teeechnically a different guy.)
When he won that title, I was positive he’d hold it for a long, long time.
He just seemed like the kind of guy who would have a dominant reign, and I was speculating that he could stay champ for a full year. That… did not happen. Unfortunately for him, his title win came right at the beginning of the Ciampa/Gargano feud that would define the year. Their epic bouts headlined two TakeOvers in a row over Black’s NXT title matches. Rather than continue overshadowing the gold, they opted to move the title into that program, only three months into Black’s run.
He was far from forgotten, staying in the fold with the two of them throughout the year, but as far as a title legacy goes, his could certainly be considered a disappointment. It’s not his fault that the hottest angle in NXT history was reaching it’s apex right as he took the gold, but it happened. Circumstance puts him pretty low by our rankings, but where is he on your list?
And that brings us to our Tale Of The Tape!
Maybe the craziest twist in the legendary Gargano/Ciampa feud involved Black. When he went down with an injury, they explained it by him being taken out by a mystery attacker. He came back kicking everyone’s head off until he found the culprit. But to his shock, it was none other than Johnny Wrestling behind the assault. He vowed to ‘absolve Johnny of his sins’ with a ruthless beating and when they eventually met at TakeOver, he did manage to defeat him for a measure of revenge.
To have them meet again in an NXT ring with big stakes on the line would no doubt set up another intense battle. They’d fight tooth and nail once more for the right to advance in the Golden Gauntlet… so who wins this time? That one’s up to you!
Will Johnny Wrestling once again pay for his dark turn? Or will Aleister Black be the one to see the light this time around? Only one may advance in the Golden Gauntlet! https://t.co/3O1A4dw2dt
— Jordan Huie (@WritingJth) July 5, 2019
