A lot of things can happen over one year.
NXT TakeOver: Phoenix saw two titles on the black and yellow brand change hands. The War Raiders defeated Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong to capture the NXT Tag Team Championships and Johnny Gargano bested Ricochet to become the new NXT North American Champion. The main event of TakeOver saw Aleister Black attempt to end Tommaso Ciampa's reign as NXT Champion but he was not successful in doing so as Tommaso retained the title by hitting three "Fairytale Endings" on Black.
Who's ready for Day 185 of @ProjectCiampa's #NXTChampionship reign? #NXTTakeOver #AndStill pic.twitter.com/OCvgb6Ncen
— WWE (@WWE) January 27, 2019
-- There's no escape now --@ProjectCiampa is STILL your #NXTChampion! #NXTTakeOver #NXTChampionship pic.twitter.com/oj61NBrlWU
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) January 27, 2019
As Tommaso Ciampa walked up the ramp -- celebrating his victory, the new NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano came from behind the curtain and stood side by side with the man who he held NXT Tag Team gold with as they are now both holding singles titles in WWE.
New #NXT #NorthAmericanChampion @JohnnyGargano and #NXTChampion @ProjectCiampa stand in victory... together.#NXTTakeOver #NXTChampionship pic.twitter.com/ZeTCCNn1YB
— WWE (@WWE) January 27, 2019
It was one year ago at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia that Tommaso Ciampa added more rain to the thunderstorm that was hovering over Johnny Gargano on that January 27th day and fast forward one year later and Gargano was the one coming from behind but it was to show solidarity with the sinister Tommaso Ciampa.
To hear some thoughts on this moment along with the entire TakeOver show, head over to the "podcasts" section of Fightful for out post-TakeOver: Phoenix review podcast.
