[2018-06-16-WWE-NXT Takover: Chicago II] Johnny Gargano vs Tomasso Ciampa (Street Fight)

[SmartMark15]

I've made it no secret that this is my favorite feud in wrestling today and that their last match was my match of the year. And while that still holds true, this match brought a different flavor to the rivalry that still felt like a valid progression from the last match. The brutality was there, the hate was there, the big spots and big bumps were all there. While at times it does get bogged down by WWE-style theatrics, I am still generally a fan of those kinds of theatrics so I can't really complain.

 

Perhaps the biggest thing going for this match is the finishing stretch. I'm sure a lot of people were annoyed or upset by the ref bump and screwjob tone. I thought it was great. It was unnerving and difficult to watch at points which is how I know they've got me emotionally hooked and invested. This was a violent spectacle the likes of Owens-Zayn II from NXT or Lesnar-Cena from SummerSlam 2014 and I am a big fan of violent spectacle.

 

*****

[nivvad]

Basically an unnecessary sequel to the classic they had in NOLA. For the record, I am not a fan of continuing this feud for no other reason than to keep Ciampa relevent; their NOLA match had a perfect ending, and had no sensible reason to have another match. Of course, Ciampa and Gargano will still kill it in having another great match, but I just don't feel any attachment to this feud anymore, at least for the time being. Let me praise the good parts of the match though before I get overcritical again. This actually felt like a fight compared to their "unsanctioned" match, in fact, THIS is how the first match should've gone. Just barbaric fighting with weapons and dangerous bumps. It would've been absolutely perfect if they had ended it as a no contest after that table spot..but they didn't. Gargano brings Ciampa back to the ring, makes him tap out clean to his submission (with no ref of course), superkicks him SIX times in the face, and almost chokes the life out of him and then what happens? Ciampa COMPLETELY NO SELLS IT, hits a DDT on the exposed mat and wins with the ref conveniently back in the ring. Tl;dr take out the last 5 minutes and you have a classic, ****1/2.

[ShittyLittleBoots]

So much better than their NOLA match. Here they actually sold their hatred for each other - the action was violent throughout & never dragged. ****

[KawadaSmile]

This felt uncomfortable to watch at points which I guess was kind of the raison d'être.

[Loss]

Great match but so played out. A lot of even the best moments were predictable.

[klhare]

I really liked this, but it also is kind of hard to judge. I thought that the first match was basically the perfect blowoff to the feud, so adding on another match felt difficult, almost like they were going through the motions to follow up the first. I think they were able to do it very well, with real hatred and more brutal spots at an overall quicker pace. Things did get a little silly towards the end, with Gargano winning basically but no one stopping the match even though all sorts of officials were there, then as soon as Ciampa comes back, TC won, but otherwise I thought that the big bump towards the end looked absolutely brutal and the story of Gargano absolutely wanting to finish off Ciampa made sense. I know I mainly focused on negatives here, but I really did think it was a great match and a great specacle that wasn't as good as their first one but was still close. I just worry that it is going to start to overstay its welcome. I don't really need to see another big match between the two, but it is coming.

 

****3/4

[WingedEagle]

A very good match where I appreciated how they approached it differently from the first iteration in April. Between their gear and the combination of utterly predictable spots and a few less so, they succeeded in getting over the stipulation and the visceral hatred needed for such a blood feud, even if blood wasn't permissible. I didn't mind the ECW tribute or other staple spots we've seen from similar matches, and thought they did an excellent job working in callbacks to their prior match and angles. Where this really fell off for me was in the last 8-10 minutes (for all I know it was shorter, but felt like an eternity) where they spent too long dragging things out on the stage, setting up the big spot and then a few days loading up the stretcher before finally making it back to the ring. It was all too forced and long, even if they made good use of the exposed boards at the end. This was well short of the first Almas and Ciampa matches before that, but probably in the range of the Almas TV rematch and perhaps higher with a stronger and tighter close.

 

I may have liked the tag match better, but between the long-term investment in this story and heightened stakes its tough to argue for anything else as match of the night.

 

****

[Zoo Enthusiast]

This was really good but it’s just hard to match that intensity and sense of the new from the first one. Expected Ciampa to win but the finish could and should have been less wonky.

[cactus]

All the brilliance of their first encounter, but without the bloated moments. With Ciampa taking apart the ring mat, officials rushing the ring in an attempt to stop an active match and long-term booking, this hellish fight had many things we rarely ever see in the WWE.

 

Ciampa walking Gargano up the aisle in a similar way to how he did at the last Takeover in Chicago was a genius bit of pro-wrestling story-telling. The removing of the wedding ring was just the cherry on top.

 

MOTY. Not even Omega/Okada can top this.

 

★★★★★

[Boss Rock]

Coming from someone who didn't like the fact that this feud was continuing after the masterpiece that was their New Orleans match, this absolutely knocked my socks off. Very few matches have sold such hatred and an utter disregard for an opponent's well-being than this one. There was very clear escalation from your typical No DQ spots to more brutal segments such as Ciampa driving Johnny into the steps with a chair around his neck and then an air raid crash. The work on Johnny's neck and the work on Ciampa's knee also did a great job calling back to both men's injuries leading to this match. But it was the last 10 minutes on the stage that took this match from a MOTYC to a classic. You felt Johnny was going to a place a babyface such as himself shouldn't go but at the same time you never once felt sorry for Ciampa. It's a real testament to both men as workers that the face and heel dynamic was still clearly defined despite the shades of gray we saw from Johnny near the end. And it was only fitting that Johnny's thirst for revenge ended up costing him and giving Ciampa the victory in clean yet appropriately cheap fashion.

 

As violent as this match was, I can't wait for the next and possible final time they face off. *****

[Childs]

Interesting to read people saying this was less bloated than their first match, because I thought it got really loose on the back end. The set-up of the stage/stretcher stuff felt interminable. It worked overall because they effectively conveyed the hatred and Gargano damning himself with his own loss of control. But it didn't pop like a true classic. I'm not sure what they have left for chapter three.

[Cap]

I actually felt like this was more "bloated" on the whole, but for me the difference is execution (not technically, just in terms of timing and setup and pace and so on). While some of the spots were predictable and the theatrics might have straddled the "over the top" line, this just felt less contrived to me. They somehow felt less rigid in terms of setting stuff up while simultaneously increasing the intensity and the hatred. In that, this match did a lot of things that don't usually resonate for me in a way that I actually loved. Shenanigans in the home stretch, ref bumping, security, stretcher spots... all things that I more often than not think take away from a match, but its wrestling and everything can be done really well or really poorly and at least on first watch most of this felt like it was done well (save that stop sign thing - the staged fan thing is getting stale to me).

 

The real pay off is their ability to tap into a visceral investment. Some of this was uncomfortable to watch (in a good way) and they were able to build and escalate not just physically, but emotionally as well. I would say that was - to a lesser extent (I think?) - the case with the first match as well, but the first match didn't capture my imagination throughout quite as well and I found it delivered diminished returns on rewatch. I am not sure about this one. I will have to check back with it later (maybe in conjunction with the first), but this feels like it will hold up a touch better for my taste. I am giving it a tentative ****3/4 right now, with a real chance it shifts up or down 1/4*.

[Matt Franklin]

Yeah I’m with the crowd that thinks this was the better match than New Orleans, if only slightly. There was more intensity and a fight feel, they limited the amount of ‘moves’ they did to fit the stip, which I liked.

The level of violence was probably as high as we’ll get in this day and age from WWE, which is a good thing as it was stiff and hard hitting as all hell but didn’t go into ridiculous death match territory (which I am not a fan of). I really liked how they teased the cuffs and exposed ring earlier, then they played into the finish organically. Very well laid out spectacle match.

As far as the finish goes, yes Ciampa kind of no sold the damage he had just recieved, but I saw it as he’s mustering his strength for one last shot, which just so happened to be the one that put Johnny Westling down. Ciampa needed to win this one, otherwise there was no real point in running it back the Takeover after their last main event. Will be interested to see how they top this. I Quit perhaps?

****3/4

 

[Makai Club #1]

I liked it for the most part. Loved the last 5 minutes with them heading up to the ramp, referencing where Ciampa turned on Gargano last time in Chicago. Loved Ciampa and everything he did. He was very interest. His mannerisms were great, his offence was very brutal and fit the tone of the match greatly. Loved how he focused a lot of his attack on Gargano? s neck, even if Gargano didn't exactly do a great job at selling it. But it leads to the ending in a way so I can forgive it to an extent. I don't think it needed them to do the brawling into the crowd spot again. It just felt unnecessary and they didn't really do much other than the plant spot anyway. That whipping spot on Ciampa was incredible and a highlight for me. The crowd were actually good for this match. They could have taken some stuff out but overall, this was still a good match. ***3/4