Johnny Gargano Beats Ruff, Priest; Wins NA Title at NXT TakeOver: WarGames

Johnny Gargano defeated Leon Ruff and Damian Priest in a Triple Threat match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames on Sunday to become the first three-time North American champion in the brand's history.

Gargano had a helping hand—or hands—from his army of enforcers in Ghostface masks. One of the Ghostface flunkies hit Priest with a lead pipe, taking Priest out of the match.

That allowed Gargano to turn his focus solely toward Ruff. One Final Beat was enough for him to take back the title belt.

After the match, Austin Theory revealed himself to be among those in the Ghostface masks, aligning himself with Gargano.

Sunday's match was born from a rivalry between Priest and Gargano, which reached new heights on the Halloween Havoc edition of NXT in October when Gargano received help from someone dressed like Ghostface from the Scream movie franchise and beat Priest for the North American Championship.

Johnny Wrestling became cocky and overconfident from his win to the point that he decided to put the title on the line. To determine his opponent, he spun a wheel that was clearly fixed and landed on Ruff's name.

While Ruff is a talented performer who enjoyed success in Evolve as a tag team champion with AR Fox, he wasn't used as much more than an enhancement talent in NXT before his match against Gargano.

Gargano seemed destined to cruise to an easy victory, but in an effort to get back at him for what he pulled at Halloween Havoc, Priest got involved. The Archer of Infamy distracted Gargano enough that it allowed Ruff to beat him with a roll-up, marking the most shocking title win in NXT history.

While Gargano received a rematch, Priest foiled his attempt to recapture the North American title by punching Ruff, which gave the champion a disqualification victory.

Although Ruff retained the title, he was none too pleased with what Priest did. In response, he slapped The Archer of Infamy across the face and made it clear he wasn't a joke.

Ruff later had an altercation with both Priest and Gargano during which he used his high-flying ability to wipe out both Superstars and prove his worth as a champion.

With all three wrestlers at each other's throats, NXT general manager William Regal came up with a solution in the form of pitting each of the past three North American champions against each other in a Triple Threat match at TakeOver: WarGames.

Sunday's match represented a huge opportunity for Ruff since it was his first NXT pay-per-view bout and it came against two of the most successful Superstars on the NXT roster.

While Ruff performed well and set himself up for future success, Gargano's victory suggests the NXT creative team is very much behind him as one of the top stars on the black-and-gold brand.

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