The 2-out-of-3 falls NXT Championship match between Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano closed out NXT TakeOver: Toronto at the Scotiabank Arena. During the pre-show, William Regal talked about this match and talked about how each man gets to pick a stipulation for the first 2 falls. The third fall, if necessary, would take place in a steel cage filled with weapons and barbed wire on the top of it. The first fall was a standard wrestling match.
The first fall ended with the referee getting in Cole’s face for bringing a chair in the ring. Gargano nailed Cole with a superkick and then he hit Cole in the back with a chair, which meant that Cole won the first fall by DQ. Gargano hit Cole with several chair shots to the back and then at in the chair in the ring. The second fall was a street fight so there were no rules.
The second fall started out in the crowd with Gargano taking Cole around different sections of the arena. After several minutes in the crowd, they finally made their way back to ringside. Gargano hit a back body drop on Cole from one table to another announcers table. Gargano won the second fall after lawn darting Cole into the corner of the ring and into a steel chair.
The third fall was the steel cage with weapons and barbed wire. The cage had a fire extinguisher, chains, kendo sticks, a sledgehammer, chairs, a crowbar, handcuffs, a ladder, and other objects on it. Fans chanted “ECW, ECW, ECW” because of the barbed wire. The only way to win the match is via pinfall or submission.
There was a scary spot when Gargano did a DDT off the top rope onto Cole and Cole’s head appeared to hit the top of a steel chair that was sitting in the ring. Cole appeared to be fine when the referee checked on him. Late in the match, Gargano set up 2 tables side by side and then placed Cole on one of them. Gargano climbed a ladder but Cole rolled off the table so Gargano had to climb back down. He nailed Cole with a kendo stick shot to the back and Gargano hit a Canadian Destroyer off the top rope. Cole barely kicked out of the pin attempt. Gargano emptied a bag with tools. The fans booed because they thought the bag had thumbtacks. Gargano used pliers to cut off some barbed wire from the top of the cage. Meanwhile, Cole tried to get away from Gargano and he climbed up to the top and onto a board that was set up in the corner area of the top of the cage. Both men fell off the top of the cage and through both tables that were set up in the ring. Cole draped his arm on Gargano to win and retain the title.
Wow.
Click here for complete NXT TakeOver results.
