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Johnny Gargano bested both Damian Priest and Leon Ruff on Sunday, to become a three-time NXT North American Champion. Gargano got the win at NXT TakeOver: WarGames following some interference from some of his friends in 'Scream' masks, especially Austin Theory. However, prior to the match, Johnny Gargano showed his support for his hometown team the Cleveland Browns, congratulating them on their win, and one fan took this opportunity to take a dig at Johnny Wrestling.
The fan would claim that unlike Gargano, the Browns did not have to cheat to win. Of course, Johnny Gargano took offense with this statement and would go on to explain why he did not cheat. Gargano stated the obvious, that the match was a triple threat match, which meant that there would be no disqualification. He would then explain it was not his fault that Damian Priest and Leon Ruff did not have friends.
Johnny Gargano will hope he can hold onto his title this time
Johnny Gargano is known notoriously, for being unable to successfully defend his titles previously, having already lost the NXT North American Championship twice. Once to Velveteen Dream in 2019, and most recently to Leon Ruff. Johnny Wrestling also had an unsuccessful title defense against Adam Cole when he held the NXT Championship.
Leon Ruff and Damian Priest will definitely be gunning for another chance at the North American Championship, especially Priest who himself must be feeling as if he was cheated out of the Championship. Of course, Johnny Gargano will try and weasel himself out of the match, considering his luck with title defenses. However, Johnny Wrestling now has some friends, disregarding the other 'Scream' mask goons, Gargano now has a strong ally in Austin Theory.
Johnny Gargano is now a record-setting, three-time NXT North American Champion. Gargano will be hoping to keep the title long-term this time, but Damian Priest and Leon Ruff will definitely be trying to prevent that from happening. Only time will tell if Gargano will have a successful title reign this time around.
