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#3 Andrade “Cien” Almas vs Johnny Gargano (NXT Takeover: Philadelphia)
I remember seeing this match in January and thinking there was no way it would ever be topped for match of the year. In terms of pure technical wrestling, it might not have been all year. The fact it ended up in third on this list is proof how amazing 2018 truly was in NXT.
The match lasted 31 minutes and has some of the best pure wrestling you will see all year. It told a fantastic story. Johnny Gargano was the underdog who dreamed of winning the NXT Championship against the cocky Almas. It didn’t matter how much Vega got involved. It didn’t matter how many times Almas attacked Gargano’s head.
It didn’t matter how many near falls Almas got on Gargano, he always seemed to be coming back. I was still shocked when Johnny’s head hit a post before Almas got the final top rope DDT to win. The storyline was told perfectly and both competitors looked like stars going forward. I just wish Almas had this level of success on the main roster.
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