2021 Ongoing MOTY List: Bron vs. Gargano Ladder Match

22. Bron Breakker vs. Johnny Gargano NXT 11/30

ER: This was only our 6th Bron match and first Bron gimmick match, coming after them foolishly having him lose to Ciampa. I was already groaning picturing this absolute beast - who has the clenched jaw and crazed eyes of SLADE but with the DNA of a Steiner - doing derpy forearm exchanges with Johnny Wrestling, but they shut my stupid mouth by working this the exact way they should have. Most of Gargano's offense couldn't move Breakker an inch, so as the match went on Johnny had to lure Bron into some misses, and Bron is a big guy who can miss big. When Gargano would stack his offense while using the ladder, he could move Bron a bit, but only keep him down for so long. The slingshot spear alone wasn't going to move the guy, but the slingshot spear and a ladder getting shoved into his face at least stunned him enough so that Gargano could hit a dive, and the dive connected in a way that sent Bron ass over crown over the announce table. I loved when Gargano would pull slightly ahead and revert to Johnny Wrestling mode and how it never worked, like when Bron literally walked through a rebound lariat as if it was nothing more than a light chop, which, well, makes a lot of sense. The stuff that didn't look like it would affect Bron, didn't affect him, and before long he was tossing Gargano with some violent as hell belly to belly suplexes. 

Gargano changes strategy midway and it's when the match starts getting great, with him focusing on luring the beat into misses: sending him teeth first into the top step of the ladder with a drop toehold, and suckering him into missing a big elbowdrop on the ladder, Bron bouncing off the ladder and landing on his head. It was never enough to keep him down long, and so, Gargano started tightening things up. He hit a series of superkicks that were some of the best I've seen Gargano throw, and the one that sent Bron down was the best shot of the bunch. They got a great camera angle on it and Gargano's boot hooked perfectly up under Breakker's jaw. I also loved how they kept the climbing to a minimum. Gargano tried it early and mostly gave it up after getting knocked off a couple times. When they did climb up at the same time, Gargano hit Bron with the fucking edge of the briefcase up top. This was not a simple flat side thump, he swung that case corner first into Bron's face. A flat sided thump wouldn't have believably slowed the man, but a corner of a case swung at someone's face would stop anyone. It stays perfectly within the story of the match, too, as it knocks Bron down but doesn't really slow him down, as he drags Gargano back down and sticks him through the mat with a powerslam that would make papa proud. A great ladder match that didn't hew closely to the last few years of WWE ladder match structure, this was the best way to work a ladder match with these two specific guys. Too often you see two guys shoved into a House Formula that doesn't suit them, and this was a success because the two actually felt unbound. 

2021 MOTY MASTER LIST