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#4 Damian Priest shoots down Johnny Gargano at NXT TakeOver 31
WWE wanted to kick off NXT TakeOver 31 with a big match, and they gave us Johnny Gargano vs. Damian Priest for the North American Championship first up.
Priest got the first major strike, but Gargano recovered to try and end things early with the Gargano Escape. Priest countered and almost hit the Reckoning to pick up the victory.
There was no stopping these two Superstars from there on as they continued to deliver big moves. Gargano used some submission maneuvers to his advantage to keep the bigger man down.
The action soon spilled to the floor where Priest caught Gargano with a Razor’s Edge onto the ring apron. They continued to fight from there and Gargano’s taunts almost proved costly at one point as Priest went for the chokeslam. However, Gargano managed to counter it into a roll-up but couldn’t keep the big man out.
Johnny Wrestling did everything he could to stop the Archer of Infamy and even pulled two security men into the line of fire. After that, he hit Priest with a low blow and a superkick but still could not put the Champion away. Priest fought out of another Gargano Escape and hit Gargano with the Reckoning to pick up the victory and retain his title at NXT TakeOver 31.
This was an excellent match to kick things off at NXT TakeOver 31. Priest put up a good performance and Gargano did his level best to put the Champion over.
