Top 3 Performers of NXT (December 19, 2018)

This week's NXT promised a thrilling main event between former NXT Champion Aleister Black and Johnny Gargano in a steel cage. The evening kicked off with Io Shirai making her NXT TV debut in a tag team match with Dakota Kai against Shayna Baszler's close friends Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir. The match was also Duke and Shafir's in-ring debuts for the WWE. Duke started in the ring with Kai to start the fight.

Duke and Shafir dominated the contest when they had Kai in the ring. However, once Kai was able to tag in Io Shirai, the finalist of the 2nd Mae Young Classic was able to dominate against Shafir. As Shirai dominated Shafir in the ring, Kai would take out Duke from the apron, allowing Shirai to hit a picture perfect moonsault and pin Shafir for the three-count.

NXT's next fated debutant, Dominik Dijakovic, was set to make his NXT debut shortly, but he received another long video package getting the audience ready for his arrival. As well as a video package revolving around Matt Riddles feud with NXT's veteran Kassius Ohno.

Back in the ring, Aaron Mackey was set to face the debuting Dominik Dijakovic. Dijakovic towered over his smaller opponent and quickly showed that he had the power to go with his height. Dijakovic threw his opponent around the ring in an unsurprisingly dominant performance. Dijakovic pinned Mackey after hitting his finisher called "Feast Your Eyes", which was a torture rack into a raised knee strike.

Heavy Machinery then came down for a tag team match against an enhancement tag team. Dozevic and Knight are set for main roster call-ups and were looking super strong in this match, even after Undisputed Era appeared at the top of the ramp. Heavy Machinery picked up the big win, despite not taking their eyes off of the Undisputed Era, who maintained their position at the top of the ramp to scout their next title champions.

Finally, the cage around the ring was set up for the match between Aleister Black and Johnny Gargano. Gargano jumped Black before he was able to make it into the cage. The two brawled around ringside, with Aleister Black getting the ascendancy following a back elbow. Black eventually rolled Gargano into the cage and the match started.

Gargano quickly tried to climb out of the cage but Black was able to catch him before he got off the ropes. Mauro Ranallo had the call of the night, as Black was hung up on the ropes, Ranallo commented that Black's "Bells just got jingled".

The two seemed to pick off from the place their War Games match had ended with several back and forths between the two. Black was at the top of the cage and decided to climb down to continue to attack the prone Gargano. While both were perched on the ropes, Gargano was able to throw Black down with a sunset flip powerbomb but only got the two count.

At several occasions, it looked like Gargano had the match won after he locked Gargano in the Garga-No-Escape, and also managed to climb to the top of the cage. However, Black was able to break out of the submission and pull Gargano back into the cage from the top. Gargano tried to imitate the Dutchman, claiming to absolve him of his sins, but as he stepped back, Black caught him with Black Mass.

As Gargano climbed the cage, Black was crawling his way towards the cage door. Before Black could slither out of the ring, the door was slammed on his head by NXT champion, Tomaso Ciampa. Gargano climbed down from the top to join Black and Ciampa in the ring. The former NXT Tag Team Champions then hit Black with their old finisher "Meet in the Middle" and allowed Gargano to cover Black for the pinfall victory.

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#3 Dominic Dijakovic

After weeks of building the arrival of Dominik Dijakovic on NXT with menacing video packages, he finally had his in-ring debut for the brand. Unsurprisingly, given his size and the amount of hype leading up to his arrival, his first match was a complete squash match against the undersized Aaron Mackey.

Dijakovic pummelled the smaller Mackey from bell to bell, and his opponent didn't get a single shot of offense in during the whole bout. More impressive than his victory was the manner and easy in which Dijakovic was able to throw his opponent around the ring like a rag doll. Including a mid-air release vertical suplex, which looked quite dangerous, and various other dangerous looking throws around the ring. Combined with Dijakovic's vicious looking stiff strikes that made an echo throughout the arena, make for a good look going forward.

Dijakovic finished the bout by yelling out "Feast your Eyes" before fitting his finisher of the same name.

#2 Aleister Black

Aleister Black has been on fire in NXT and has delivered several in-ring classics, from his feud with Velveteen Dream that culminated at Takeover: War Games, to his NXT title win against Almas at Takeover: New Orleans, and now his series of matches against Ciampa and Gargano both on the Takeover events as well as on regular episodes of NXT. Black has been one of the biggest stars in NXT and deservedly gets high praise for his performance.

This week's cage match offering against Johnny Gargano was no exception, as two of the most talented wrestlers in the world put on another great match, this time within the confines of a steel cage. The two seemed to pick up where their fight at Takeover: War Games II had ended, with a series of back and forths, as well as similar spots.

Each time Gargano looked to escape early, Black would cut him off at the head, and when Black tried to escape himself, he made the decision to climb back down again and finish the match in the ring.

The result made for a spectacle, and one of the best matches on a regular NXT episode since the series of matches leading to War Games between Ricochet, Adam Cole and Pete Dunne.

#1 Johnny Gargano

Wrestling masterpieces often have various complex layers and stories woven through them, with that being the case. Gargano vs Black in the steel cage on the recent episode of NXT is sure to be one of the more recent classics that have been shown on NXT. This was heightened by the fact that NXT rarely has gimmick matches, like cage matches, especially in regards to the weekly episode that made the match seem even bigger, even though it probably didn't need the help.

Gargano was perfect even before the match started by his attempt to jump Black before they had entered the cage, to his frequent attempts at trying to escape, to the way he intended to mimic Black by lifting the dazed dutchman to his feet before Gargano was hit with a Black Mass himself, and even to the ending when Gargano was perched at the top of the cage and saw Ciampa enter the ring to jump Black.

As Ciampa had previously said, "Johnny Wrestling is dead, but Johnny Gargano has never been more alive."