While it was an obvious direction for the North American title, WWE waited this long to make the match between Ricochet and Johnny Gargano official for the upcoming NXT Takeover: Phoenix event.
It all started when Tommaso Ciampa helped Gargano in beating Aleister Black in a cage match a few weeks back. After this, the NXT Champion suggested that his former partner deserved a shot at Ricochet’s title.
It became clear that this match is in the mix when Johnny himself later demanded the same and now the company has made it official with a press release on WWE.com:
“At TakeOver: Phoenix, these two NXT Superstars will put it all on the line when they tangle for the NXT North American Title. For Ricochet, the plan is to walk out of TakeOver: Phoenix and remain the one and only NXT North American Champion. For Johnny Wrestling, it’s all about two things: wins and championships.”
With this match, the total number of officially announced bouts for the upcoming Takeover event has become 4. You can check out the full match card for the show below:
NXT Takeover: Phoenix Updated Match Card
- Aleister Black vs. Tommaso Ciampa (c) for the NXT championship
- Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Bianca Belair for the NXT Women’s title
- Johnny Gargano vs. Ricochet (c) for the North American championship
- War Raiders vs. Undisputed ERA (c) for the NXT Tag titles
Takeover: Phoenix takes place the day before Royal Rumble on Saturday, January 26th from the Talking Stick Resort Arena.
