I’ve gone back and forth on my feelings about another Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa match. The unsanctioned battle in New Orleans felt like the ending the story needed, with one of the best true babyfaces in the game standing tall in the city where another of our heroes ended his own tale of redemption and revenge at WrestleMania 30.
But while I’ll probably never come around on how Candice LeRae’s been used in their feud, the good’s outweighed the bad in the build to the Street Fight between Johnny Wrestling and Blackheart on Sat., June 16. And the above video promoting that TakeOver: Chicago 2 showdown really makes the case for Gargano/Ciampa II.
The way the editing cuts from scenes of the brutality they’ve inflicted on one another to reaction shots, demonstrating the toll the rivalry’s taken on each. Ciampa’s chilling waves, and the shrug after he watches a skirmish in their war take out LeRae. Johnny’s closing line, “Last time we were in Chicago, I left in ambulance. And I’m gonna make sure you leave the same exact way,” both justifying why they needed to have a match at the scene of the dissolution of #DIY, and illustrating how he’s changed since their meeting in April.
Is it Saturday yet?