by: Mike Neon

Ciampa won.  How does that make you feel?  He took advantage of Johnny Gargano’s emotions and desires to end him permanently, and he planted Johnny’s head square onto the exposed wood of the ring.    The final bout in NXT Takeover: Chicago, was beautiful, brutal and a master class in storytelling.

The looks of shock and awe on the faces of the fans, as a handcuffed Tommaso Ciampa collapsed onto the twitching body of “Johnny Wrestling” for the 3 count only cemented the fact that this is the hottest and most emotion-evoking rivalry in American wrestling.    So good that even Impact wrestling has tried to catch the same “lightning in a bottle”  with a “great value” version in Edwards/Callahan.

This didn’t happen by accident either, this is the culmination of the best ring psychology that the WWE Universe has witnessed since the days when “The Cerebral Assassin” Triple H laced up boots during Monday Night Raw on a regular basis.  Ciampa has carefully calculated every move he has made since his rival and former tag team partner returned to action in NXT.

From Ciampa entering to his rival’s entrance music, or to a bellowing chorus of boos and shouts of “you suck, Ciampa” or worse while soaking in the hatred and disapproval of the crowds, wearing a “Johnny Wrestling” T shirt while sabotaging Gargano’s title shot at Aleister Black’s NXT championship, by assaulting and hospitalizing his rival, and even causing Johnny’s emotional outburst which led him to bulldoze through security only to be flung into and injure his wife Candice LeRae,  these were all just pieces of a puzzle.  A puzzle that was put together to form Ciampa’s shocking victory at NXT Takeover: Chicago.

Emotion is a double edged sword.  Emotion allows Gargano to connect and resonate with crowds in a way second only to Daniel Bryan, but that same emotion can be used against you.  Ciampa displayed the pitfalls of this by baiting, manipulating and seizing opportunity that was created by those emotional missteps.   For these reasons, he is beyond a doubt my pick when the third match in this epic series takes place, hopefully later this year.

Congratulations, Psycho Killer, keep teaching “Johnny Wrestling” those valuable lessons, and keep ruining Candice’s mascara.

Tommaso Ciampa doesn’t need your approval, we’re talking about a man who blocked the WWE Network on twitter for wishing him a happy birthday.  “Tommy Sports Entertainment” wants you to despise him, he wants you to boo him, and when you do, He wins.

“Ciampa did nothing wrong.”

Art by Mike Neon

Follow: @TheRealMikeNeon , @neoncolosseum

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