The Gargano Curse is over

It didn’t look good for North American champ Johnny Gargano on the Dec. 30 NXT. Looking to successful defend a singles title for the first time in his WWE career, he encountered all kinds of bad omens.

First it was a black cat. Then his protege Austin Theory said the “c” word (no, not that one, you filthy animals), causing Johnny to break a mirror in a fit of rage.

Most importantly, a game Leon Ruff stood in his way. Gargano is 0 - 2 against Ruff in one-on-one encounters, and despite some attempts at interference from Theory, it looked like the slim youngster very well might extend the curse and become a two-time NA champ.

Ruff certainly proved his first win wasn’t a total fluke, taking Johnny Wrestling to the limit.

But when a cutter on the floor and a frog splash in the ring couldn’t put the champ away, Ruff went high risk... and paid for it. Gargano dropped him face first on the ring post before he could set-up for the super-rana. One Final Beat later, and the curse was broken.

The Way followed up a successful TakeOver WarGames with another good night. What might 2021 hold for them?

Catch up on anything you may have missed on tonight’s NXT in our live blog here.