Johnny Gargano vs. Finn Balor official for NXT TakeOver: Portland
After being set up on NXT last week, Johnny Gargano vs. Finn Balor has now been officially confirmed for NXT TakeOver: Portland.
The match announcement was made on this morning’s episode of WWE’s The Bump. TakeOver: Portland is being held at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon on Sunday, February 16.
Balor vs. Gargano was originally supposed to take place at TakeOver: WarGames in November, but the match was never officially announced and Gargano missed the show due to a neck injury.
Gargano made his return to NXT television last month, costing Balor an NXT Championship match against Adam Cole and then attacking Balor with a steel chair.
On last week’s NXT, there was a segment where Balor said he’ll give Gargano a match at TakeOver — if Gargano can make it that far — and told him to go talk to NXT general manager William Regal about it.
A battle royal on tonight’s NXT will determine who will challenge for the NXT Women’s Championship at TakeOver: Portland. Bianca Belair, Candice LeRae, Chelsea Green, Dakota Kai, Vanessa Borne, Kayden Carter, Mia Yim, Santana Garrett, Io Shirai, Shotzi Blackheart, Xia Li, and the newly-signed Mercedes Martinez are advertised for the battle royal.
Ahead of TakeOver, NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley will defend her title against Toni Storm at Worlds Collide on January 25.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.