13 years to the day of his in-ring debut, Bronson Reed becomes NXT North American Champion. It was no easy order for the Australian-born big man as he basically had to take on champion Johnny Gargano and Austin Theory to clutch hold of that gold.
The match started with Gargano immediately making a b-line for the cage door once the bell rung but Bronson brung his best and made sure Johnny Wrestling did just that. Gargano ended up dictating the pace of the bout much in thanks to an assist from Theory. After the break, Bronson got his second wind and used his brute force to bring Gargano great anguish. That is all the more highlighted by an avalanche Samoan drop by Reed who picked up a near fall due to that.
Johnny had his own avalanche in mind as he powerbombed Reed from up top. Theory tried to interfere again as he tried to pull Johnny out of the cage, but Bronson dropped his weight down on Johnny before disposing of Theory. Gargano however, reversesd a bomb attempt for a reverse rana and both men are grounded. Soon, Gargano went for a springboard DDT, but Reed caught him for a slam. Once more, Theory interfered at the door and it nearly got Gargano a pinfall win.
Reed soon gave Gargano chase at the top of the cage and it paid off as he launched Gargano from up top with an avalanche powerbomb. “This is awesome” chants broke out. Reed once more climbed the cage, but Austin met him on the other side. Reed fought off to crash down on Gargano, but made sure to dot the “I’s” and cross the “T’s” as he closed the door, climbed the turnbuckle and Golden Tsunami splashed on Johnny for the 1-2-3.
Post-match, an emotional Reed celebrated as sparks fly and “NXT” chants are echoed to close the show.
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