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What’s the story?
The WWE has released a video, revealing a huge change to the NXT Championship Match at NXT Takeover: Philadelphia.
As revealed on the latest NXT tapings Johnny Gargano was set to challenge Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas for the NXT title at Takeover. But now it seems that Gargano may no longer be featured in the matchup. Additional details regarding the entire card shakeup have also been noted.
In case you didn’t know…
The WWE recently taped several weeks’ worth of NXT episodes, including the tournament and its final to determine the number-1 contender for Almas’ NXT Championship, as former champion Drew McIntyre is out with injury.
The WWE has already taped the following 4 matches—Johnny Gargano vs. Kassius Ohno; Trent Seven vs. Killian Dain; Roderick Strong vs. Lars Sullivan; and Adam Cole vs. Aleister Black.. The winners of the aforementioned matchups competed in the ‘Finals’ ergo a Fatal 4-Way match that saw Gargano emerge as the victor.
The heart of the matter
Nevertheless, as noted in the aforementioned video, featuring NXT General Manager William Regal, the WWE is not acknowledging the Gargano vs. Ohno matchup; and instead the following matchups were revealed for the tournament—1. Kaasius Ohno vs. Velveteen Dream 2. Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole 3. Killian Dain vs. Trent Seven 4. Roderick Strong vs. Lars Sullivan.
As noted above, no mention of Johnny Gargano is being made. Resultantly, WWE will now have to tape 2 extra matches; namely Kassius Ohno vs Velveteen Dream and a redo of the Fatal 4-Way matchup; in order to determine the number-1 contender for the NXT Championship.
What’s next?
As of this time, neither Gargano nor the WWE have addressed his number-1 contender status being scrapped.
Furthermore, one ought to note that the new number-1 contender for the NXT Championship will face current NXT Champion Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas for the title at NXT Takeover: Philadelphia on January 27th, 2018.
Author’s take
Gargano’s mysterious removal from the number-1 contender spot is baffling, to say the least. Nevertheless, the NXT roster is a shark tank, and there is no shortage of contenders for Almas’ NXT title, whatsoever. Here’s hoping the WWE Universe gets more clarity on Gargano’s status in NXT sooner rather than later.
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