The Match Facts
The Match: Johnny Gargano (c) vs Adam Cole
The Event: NXT TakeOver: XXV
The Stipulation: Singles match for the NXT Championship
Meltzer Rating: 5 1/4 stars
Cagematch.net Rating: 9.11/10
Where to Watch: Various Services Depending on Region (Peacock, WWE Network, Binge, etc.)
How We Got Here
Gargano came out on top of their Two out of Three Falls match at TakeOver: New York, but Cole, who won the first fall, had a legitimate claim to a rematch, setting up their second encounter two months later.
The Match
This match starts the same as the first, with the two circling the ring as the crowd is hot. The two lock up tussling around and into the ropes. Referee Drake Wuertz forces the break and Cole goes for a headlock, but Gargano ducks it and locks in a headlock of his own. Cole quickly powers out and sends Gargano to the ropes, but Gargano keeps control by knocking Cole down with a shoulder block. Gargano hits the ropes and Cole drops down, only for Gargano to drop down as well and go for the Gargano Escape (an over-the-shoulder crossface.) Cole avoids the hold, however, quickly getting to his feet. Gargano gets up as well, but Cole knocks him back down with a shoulder block.
Cole runs the ropes as Gargano drops down and goes for a leapfrog. Cole catches him, however, and goes for the Ushigoroshi (a fireman's carry neckbreaker), but Gargano quickly slips out. Gargano goes for a roll-up, but Cole rolls through. Cole flips Gargano over and goes for the Last Shot (the Shining Wizard), but Gargano flips around and ducks it. Both men are left sitting on the mat, staring each other down.
Cole charges at Gargano, but Gargano is able to roll Cole over with a crucifix. Gargano goes for the Gargano Escape again, but Cole slips out and slides out of the ring. The referee begins to count Cole out, reaching eight before Cole gets back in the ring. The two lock up, with Gargano trying for the Gargano Escape again. Cole blocks it and transitions into a wristlock, taking Gargano down to his knees. Gargano fights back, countering the hold into a wristlock of his own and taking Cole down to the mat. Gargano pins Cole's arms down and applies a neck vice, but Cole is able to roll Gargano over. Gargano keeps control, however, and rolls Cole over with another crucifix pin for a one count.
Gargano again goes for the Gargano Escape, but Cole quickly gets to his feet and strikes with a forearm. Gargano fires back with a forearm of his own, but Cole responds with another forearm and a kick to the knee. Gargano fights back with more forearms, but Cole cuts him off with a knee to the gut before throwing him into the corner. Cole lays into Gargano with kicks and a forearm before whipping him to the opposite corner. Gargano leaps out of the corner and over Cole before sending Cole to the ropes. Gargano hits the ropes himself before taking Cole down with a hurricanrana. Cole rolls out of the ring, prompting Gargano to leap onto the apron.
Gargano leaps over a sweep from Cole before going for a kick off the apron. Cole ducks the kick and goes for a bicycle kick, but Gargano sidesteps it. Gargano goes for a superkick, but Cole catches it and goes for a clothesline. Gargano ducks it and hops back onto the apron, where he dives off and connects with a senton. Gargano throws Cole back in the ring, only for Cole to roll out the other side. Gargano reaches through the ropes, prompting Cole to go for the jumping enziguri. Gargano backs away, causing Cole to whiff before hopping back onto the apron. Cole goes for a swipe at Gargano's legs, but Gargano kicks the arm before jumping off the apron & double-stomping it.
Gargano continues working the arm, draping Cole over the apron before slamming his arm into it. Back in the ring, Gargano locks in a wristlock before taking Cole down and dropping a leg on the arm. Gargano goes for two pins, first getting a one count, then a two count on the second attempt. Gargano pins Cole's arm under him as he applies a Cloverleaf. Cole manages to roll over to break the hold, but Gargano keeps control by splashing Cole's arm. Cole fights back with a kick to the gut and goes to the top rope, but Gargano catches him with a step-up enziguri. Gargano climbs to the second rope, but Cole slips out under him and superkicks Gargano's right leg, causing Gargano to fall to the mat.
Cole throws Gargano into the corner, where he wraps Gargano's leg around the middle rope. Cole stomps Gargano's leg before dropkicking it. Cole continues targeting the leg, hitting the leg DDT before locking in an over-the-shoulder kneebar. Gargano breaks the hold with up kicks to the face, but Cole keeps control with a double fist-drop to the face. Cole stomps Gargano before dragging him back to his feet. Gargano fights back with forearms, but Cole cuts him off with a kick to the right knee. Cole climbs to the second rope, jumping off and hitting a missile dropkick to the injured knee.
Cole continues working the leg, hitting a Dragon Screw leg whip before tossing Gargano back in the corner. Cole wraps Gargano's leg around the middle rope and stomps away at it until the referee forces the break. Cole pulls Gargano out of the corner and grabs the leg. Gargano tries to fight back with forearms, but Cole quickly sweeps his leg out from under him. Cole goes for a Figure Four, but Gargano rolls him up for a two count. Cole quickly kicks Gargano's knee and climbs to the second rope for the Panama Sunrise (a Canadian Destroyer.) Cole dives, but Gargano counters with a sitout-Powerbomb, leaving both men down.
Both men get to their feet, where they trade forearm strikes. Cole goes for another kick to the knee, but Gargano sidesteps it. Gargano goes for a wristlock, but Cole counters by whipping Gargano into the corner. Gargano bounces back with a clothesline, quickly hitting another before ducking a clothesline from Cole and hitting a belly-to-belly suplex. Gargano follows up with a roll-up, rolling Cole over before hitting a kick. Cole retreats into the corner, where Gargano hits a step-up enziguri before climbing to the second rope. Gargano dives and hits the swinging reverse STO before making the cover, with Cole kicking out at two.
Cole tries to surprise Gargano with the Ushigoroshi, but Gargano slips out onto the apron. Gargano prepares for the slingshot Spear. Cole tries to catch him with a superkick, but Gargano stops himself. Cole charges at Gargano, only for Gargano to catch him with a step-up enziguri before hitting the slingshot Spear for a two count. Gargano throws Cole into the corner, chopping him before putting him on the top rope. Gargano climbs to the top as well and goes for the superplex, but Cole blocks it and sunset flips over him. Cole goes for a Powerbomb, but Gargano blocks it and back kicks him away. Gargano then goes for, in all honesty, an obscenely blatant Flying Nothing, diving backwards right into a backstabber from Cole.
Like...what the hell was that? Cole makes the cover, but Gargano kicks out at two.
Cole tries to follow up with a suplex, but Gargano blocks it with a knee. Gargano tries to leap over Cole out of the corner, but Cole catches him in a fireman's carry. Cole goes for the Ushigoroshi, but Gargano fights out. Gargano goes for a Poison Rana, but Cole avoids it, causing Gargano to land on his injured knee. Gargano blocks a strike from Cole and lands a boot, but Cole fires back with a jumping enziguri. Cole scoops Gargano up into a Torture Rack before hitting a Ushigoroshi-style Burning Hammer into his knee.
Cole makes the cover, but Gargano kicks out at two again.
Cole climbs to the second rope for the Panama Sunrise, but Gargano crawls into the corner to avoid it. Cole kicks Gargano away and goes for the Panama Sunrise, but Gargano avoids it. Both men hit simultaneous clotheslines, followed by simultaneous forearms, before both men go for simultaneous superkicks. They both stop before delivering them, only for Cole to hit a superkick right after. Gargano fires back with one of his own. Cole fakes a second superkick, faking out Gargano before hitting another superkick. Cole goes to the second rope and dives for the Panama Sunrise, only for Gargano to catch him with another superkick.
Both men roll out of opposite sides of the ring, where they each crawl to the same side. Both men hit simultaneous superkicks, leaving both of them down. The referee begins to count, reaching nine before Cole crawls into the ring. As he does, Gargano climbs onto the apron and immediately hits the slingshot DDT for a great spot.
Gargano makes the cover, but Cole kicks out at two. Gargano sets up for the Hurts Donut (a lifting full nelson into a reverse STO), but Cole blocks it by grabbing the ropes. Gargano kicks Cole's hand off the ropes and goes for a wristlock. Cole avoids it and goes for a chop block, but Gargano dodges it before double-stomping the back of Cole's head. Gargano goes for the superkick, but Cole rolls out of the ring to avoid it.
Gargano prepares for a suicide dive, but opts out due to his injured knee. He instead steps out onto the apron, only for Cole to catch him with a jumping enziguri to the leg, causing Gargano to fall to the outside. Cole quickly follows up with the brainbuster into the knee before tossing Gargano back in the ring. Cole picks up Gargano again, this time for a fisherman brainbuster into the knee, and makes the cover, with Gargano kicking out at two. Cole goes back to the second rope and Gargano tries to catch him with a step-up enziguri, but Cole catches it and elbows the leg. Gargano responds by grabbing Cole by the wrist and pulling him down to the mat.
Gargano charges at Cole and Cole goes for a tilt-a-whirl, only for Gargano to transition it into the Gargano Escape. Cole fights out, grabbing Gargano's leg and tweaking it to force the break. Cole quickly locks in the Figure Four. Gargano struggles, nearly getting pinned twice as he lays on the mat. Gargano manages to sit up and grab Cole's arm. Gargano twists the wrist, allowing him to turn the Figure Four over. Cole quickly grabs the ropes, forcing a break. With both men injured, Cole dives at Gargano's leg. Gargano blocks him, repeatedly elbowing the arm as he tries for the Gargano Escape again. Cole fights it, punching away at Gargano. Gargano fires back with kicks, but Cole continues punching him before slamming his knee down on the mat. Cole rips Gargano's knee pad down before stomping away at the exposed knee.
Cole goes for the Figure Four again, but Gargano blocks it and boots Cole out of the ring. Cole quickly hops up on the apron and climbs through the ropes, only for Gargano to grab him and hit a spike DDT, causing Cole to fall back to the outside. Gargano tries to follow up with a suicide dive, only for Cole to catch him with a superkick. Cole climbs onto the apron, diving off and hitting the Panama Sunrise on the outside. Cole rolls Gargano back in the ring and makes the cover, but Gargano kicks out.
Cole taunts Gargano before pulling his knee pad down and setting up for the Last Shot. Gargano ducks it, however, and goes for the Gargano Escape. Cole slips out, however, and locks in the Gargano Escape himself. Gargano breaks free by rolling backwards, which puts Cole in position for him to hit the Last Shot. Gargano makes the cover, but Cole kicks out. Both men exchange forearms from their knees, fighting to their feet. Gargano lands multiple forearms in a row and goes for a discus forearm, only for Cole to catch him with a bicycle kick. Gargano falls back into the ropes and tries to bounce back with a discus forearm, but Cole catches him with another bicycle kick, which spins him around. Cole follows up with a bicycle kick to the back of the head, causing Gargano to fall into the ropes. Gargano bounces back and hits a big clothesline.
Gargano sets up for the superkick, but Cole catches him with a superkick of his own. Cole goes for the Last Shot, only for Gargano to hit him with a superkick. Gargano follows up with a Poison Rana, only for Cole to roll through, hit the ropes, and catch Gargano with the Last Shot.
Cole makes the cover, but Gargano kicks out. Cole argues with the referee before rolling out of the ring. Cole goes under the ring and grabs a chair, prompting the ref to leave the ring as well and confront him. The ref grabs the chair as Gargano goes for a suicide dive at Cole. Cole pulls the ref in the way, causing Gargano to crash into him and knocking him out.
With the ref down, Cole swings the chair at Gargano, but Gargano ducks it and superkicks the chair into Cole's face. Gargano throws Cole back in the ring and makes the cover. Gargano gets the visual three, but the referee is still down. Gargano quickly leaves the ring and throws the ref back in the ring, only for Cole to signal towards the entranceway. Gargano arms himself with the chair...BUT IT'S A RUSE! The rest of the Undisputed Era don't come out. Gargano drops the chair and starts to climb through the ropes, but the distraction allows Cole to recover and, much like his future Brochacho, hit a Heat Seeker piledriver.
The referee wakes up as Cole makes the cover, but Gargano kicks out again. Cole sets Gargano up for another Last Shot, only for Gargano to just collapse as Cole hits the ropes.
That was a great bit, I really liked that. Cole pulls Gargano back up, only for Gargano to spring to life and lock in the Gargano Escape. In another little thing I like, Gargano drapes his bad leg over his other leg, keeping it out of reach from Cole, albeit at the cost of the effectiveness of the hold.
Cole tries to crawl to the ropes, only for Gargano to roll them over to the middle of the ring. Gargano doesn't protect his injured leg this time, allowing Cole to elbow strike the leg. Gargano lets go of the hold and gets to his feet, only for Cole to superkick his injured leg. Cole superkicks the leg again before climbing to the second rope. Cole goes for the Panama Sunrise, but Gargano blocks it, sitting down and going for the pin. The ref counts, but Cole kicks out at two. Gargano tries to follow up, but his knee gives out. The stumble allows Cole to go back to the second rope and hit the Panama Sunrise. Cole immediately follows up with one final Last Shot for the three, the win, and the NXT Championship.
The Verdict
It's another great match between the two, just like their match at TakeOver: New York. The beginning drags a bit, but overall, the match is still excellent. I'm going to give this match the same score as the New York match, but to rank one over the other, I'd give the nod to New York. They both have their own flaws, but I felt like the New York match was a more enjoyable watch. Either way, Misawa vs Kawada still holds the top spot.
My Rating: 9/10
The Rankings (Best to Worst)
- Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada-AJPW Super Power Series 1994 (Day 16)
- Johnny Gargano vs Adam Cole-NXT TakeOver: New York
- Johnny Gargano vs Adam Cole-NXT TakeOver: XXV
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