Johnny Gargano’s ploy to keep the NXT North American title backfired yesterday on NXT on USA Network as Gargano was upstaged by newcomer Leon Ruff, losing the title with a little help from Damien Priest.
Gargano, who has failed to defend an NXT singles title so far, chose a “worthy opponent” from a “wheel of challengers” to play off the whole wheel angle from Halloween Havoc. The wheel had several names listed such as Dexter Lumis, Velveteen Dream, Kushida, Tommaso Ciampa, and others but one name in particular stood out – Leon Ruff. The wheel was also rigged to, you guessed it, land on Ruff’s name.
The match ended when Priest decided to show up to distract Gargano. Gargano went for a super kick but Ruff ducked and caught in him a crucifix and held on to pin him for the shocking victory.
Gargano was in complete disbelief, and so was Ruff, who celebrated at the top of the ramp with Priest. Priest wrapped the title around Ruff’s waist but it was too big and when he lifted his hands, the title dropped like a towel in a hilarious moment.
Ruff is part of the latest class of the WWE Performance Center and is a former EVOLVE Tag Team title holder.
