Johnny Gargano’s win over Bronson Reed proves he’s one of the best

During night one of TakeOver: Stand and Deliver, Bronson Reed won a Gauntlet Eliminator to win the right to challenge Johnny Gargano for the North American championship. That match took place on night two, tonight (Apr. 8), in the Capitol Wrestling Center (CWC).

Reed was a tough challenge early, using his size to dominate. Johnny finally staggered the man with his slingshot spear, which didn’t take Reed down but instead his body acted like a missile into Bronson’s midsection. The champ soon avoided a corner splash and the challenger landed body first, tendering him up more.

This was the opening the NXT Grand Slam Champion needed, targeting the middle of Reed, keeping the big man short of breath.

The Aussie was able to fire back, but he was missing that burst because of the injury to his ribs. Gargano was about to survive the slower fury and deliver a Poison Rana, followed with the Gargano Escape. The big dude was able to pull the champ to the rope to break it.

Johnny Wrestling later avoided a Tsunami splash and delivered a big kick to his foe’s head, but that wasn’t enough. Reed would try another Tsunami, but an Austin Theory distraction allowed Gargano to trip up Bronson on top and attempt a Frankenstein. The challenger blocked and instead jumped down and gave Johnny a powerbomb. He would have had the win here but Theory placed his leader’s foot on the rope to keep this going.

The battle continued. In the end, Johnny nailed two superkicks but the big man responded with one of his own. The challenger then went to the top turnbuckle and delivered a moonsault... but the champ moved! Gargano delivered two One Final Beats (Two Final Beats?) to finally fell the big man.

Johnny Gargano is still your North American champion.

This was a match that was put together very well, making Johnny’s offense completely believable (well maybe not that Poison Rana) and served as another reminder of how damn good he is.

You can find the results of night two of TakeOver: Stand of Deliver at the live blog here.