Johnny Gargano said that everything was aligned for the highly acclaimed main event between himself and Andrade Almas at NXT's TakeOver event in Philadelphia last month.
Gargano, who came up short in a bout that already has buzz as a potential match of the year candidate, discussed his take during and after the match on a recent episode of E&C's Podcast of Awesomeness.
"It felt like a perfect storm that night and I knew going in Philly would be behind me, just because of my history in Philly and their history, basically supporting underdogs," Gargano said. "I'll always perpetually be an underdog. … there's still always that fear when you're going through that curtain, at least there is for me. ... That's always a fear of mine, whether I'm wrestling in front of 50 people or 15,000."
Gargano said that, while he felt good about the match while it was happening, he didn't think he and Almas had been doing anything spectacular.
That changed when Gargano got through the curtain.
"To see the feedback afterwards, that's when I started to realize, oh, maybe we did do something really good," Gargano said. "Because obviously, it was the most feedback I've ever gotten for the match. Gorilla [position] was insane afterwards. Everything was insane afterwards. It's so weird because you're out there and you do it and you come in the back and everyone's pumped."
Gargano noted that among those praising him were Triple H and Shawn Michaels.
"People that I have the utmost respect for, they're telling me I did something special. I guess I'll take their word for it," he quipped.
It's not the first time Almas and Gargano have locked horns -- in fact the TakeOver match marked their seventh singles contest, counting house shows. Gargano praised his special chemistry with Almas, who left the match with his NXT Title reign still intact.
"Andrade is absolutely fantastic," Gargano said. "I can't say enough good things about him. He's so talented and he's come so far, too, just in his work so far. He used to wear a mask, and he used to be La Sombra [in Mexico] but now he's such a well rounded performer with facials and body language which you dont normally have wearing a mask. He's developed that very quickly."
Click here to listen to Gargano's entire appearance on Edge and Christian's podcast.
