WWE announces North American title match for NXT TakeOver
NXT North American Champion Damian Priest is set to make his first TakeOver title defense.
WWE announced today that Johnny Gargano will challenge for Priest’s North American Championship at NXT TakeOver on Sunday, October 4. This is the first match officially confirmed for the event.
Priest became the North American Champion by winning the then-vacant title in a five-way ladder match at TakeOver XXX last month. Priest and Gargano were the two wrestlers reaching for the title at the end of the match. Priest kicked Gargano down and then retrieved the title.
Priest made his first defense of the North American title when he retained against Timothy Thatcher in the main event of last week’s NXT. In a video that aired on last week’s show, Gargano insulted Priest and Thatcher. Gargano and Candice LeRae said they’re both coming after championship gold.
Two more title matches will be made official for TakeOver on tonight’s episode of NXT. Kushida, Cameron Grimes, Kyle O’Reilly, Thatcher, and Bronson Reed will face off in a gauntlet eliminator match to determine NXT Champion Finn Balor’s challenger for the TakeOver special. There will also be a number one contender’s battle royal to decide Io Shirai’s challenger. Rhea Ripley, LeRae, Tegan Nox, Dakota Kai, Raquel Gonzalez, Shotzi Blackheart, Aliyah, Kayden Carter, Indi Hartwell, Xia Li, and Kacy Catanzaro have been announced as entrants for the battle royal.
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.