Today I‘m gonna tackle One Final Beat.
To me it‘s the best wrestling match ever.
Find out more by reading on!
The times we‘re living in are strange.
Empty arena shows are certainly getting on my nerves.
The match that Moxley had with Hager was just so boring.
Wrestling is just not what it was anymore.
It‘s not fun, it‘s not even bad to the degree of anger.
Wrestling just is.
Or so I thought!
I had been out of the loop with NXT for a while now.
Pretty much ever since the whole Gargano/Ciampa feud got derailed due to injury I derailed with it.
I vowed to watch it alongside AEW, when that whole thing started, but I just couldn‘t bring myself to.
But I did watch a TakeOver here and there and I was relatively up to date when it came to the two wrestlers with the best feud in the history wrestling.
Well, before this here, this One Final Beat, I thought it was the most disappointing feud in the history of wrestling.
What this match accomplished was threefold: it made me fall in love with wrestling all over again, it made me interested in NXT again and last but not least it solidified Gargano versus Ciampa as the single best, most intense, most satisfying, most unique and most amazing feud I‘ve ever seen!
One Final Beat simply exceeded all of my expectations.
It was the wrestling match I never knew I needed.
Let me tell you why!
I‘ve already mentioned it before and I‘m probably gonna mention it a thousand times more in the future.
To me story matters in everything.
I‘m the story guy!
For example, in movies I look at the story first, and then atmosphere second.
For that very reason I‘m not too big on Valerian.
That movie‘s all style and no substance.
If we translate that into wrestling that means that for me a wrestling match can be exceptionally great, but if I am not emotionally invested in it, or don‘t know the details of the feud, it won‘t matter to me as much.
I can still appreciate that ninety-five percent of the matches on every year‘s Wrestle Kingdom are top notch, and the best the buisness has to offer, but because I don‘t follow the product regularly and because New Japan puts the emphasis on the quality of the matches instead of the story they tell, I‘m just not invested in it as much as someone who simply appreciates the athletic aspect of wrestling.
And this is exactly why this match worked so well for me.
Yes, the wrestling was good, don‘t get me wrong, but they mainly focused on the story.
The history they had together.
Johnny and Ciampa were allowed to remind us of past battles.
The flooring of the ring got ripped out like in the past, and Ciampa had his crutches which have become symbolic for this feud.
And other than the match itself everything else underlined the historicity of this fight.
WWE presented a more theatrical experience with cuts, a bit of music in the beginning and no commentary, which added so much to the overall experience.
Heck, Triple H even introduced this and said that once he‘s gone, that‘s it.
It‘s gonna be their one final match.
It felt special!
If anything, this is probably the one match that was made better by being in an empty arena.
Now, let‘s talk about the big story here!
Why this worked so well.
When this feud started Tommaso Ciampa turned on his long time friend.
This was really shocking because he was best man at this wedding for crying out loud!
He brutally attacked him after they had just lost an incredible match.
This led to Johnny confronting his demons, Ciampa turning evil and toying with his former brother.
Johnny even inadvertently helped Ciampa win the championship, something which he had fought for for such a long time, and now his bitter enemy had won it.
They briefly reunited as DIY and then Ciampa got injured.
He came back as the good guy, because he had never lost Goldie.
Things were even starting to get patched up between him and his former friend.
AND THEN JOHNNY STABBED HIM IN THE BACK!
And that‘s where we are now.
Johnny kept Ciampa from winning Goldie again, because he wants it, feels he deserves it more than him.
He is now evil.
This brings me to the best story aspect by far and the ending of this match!
With most wrestlers the wife is sort of an afterthought.
Even when she‘s also a wrestler.
Think The Undertaker or Roderick Strong.
The wife rarely comes up, if at all.
But not so here!
Candice LeRae is intricately tied to her husband Johnny Gargano.
Throughout this feud she has served as a story device to symbolize Ciampa‘s and Johnny‘s relationship.
She has been supportive of Johnny, disgusted by Ciampa, disgusted by Johnny, interjected herself in matches when she thought they were going too far – in short: she was ever-present.
And this too was the case here.
The whole shebang actually started out with her handing her husbando something in a brown bag on his way to the arena.
This presented a mc guffin of sorts.
A story hook.
You wanted to know what it was.
My guess was brass knuckles.
Nope!
Couldn‘t have been farther from the freaking truth!
So, what was it, then?
Well, towards the end of the match Candice burst into the arena, crying!
That‘s what it had come to, she screamed at Ciampa, who looked confused, she hates her husband now, all because of him.
Ciampa had been hesitant.
He couldn‘t bring himself to land the finishing blow to end it.
Therefore Candice said she would do it herself.
She kicked her husband in the balls and left the ring!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nani!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ciampa was confused, he was visibly shaken by what had just happened.
He mumbled that he was sorry as Johnny regained his composure and a smile formed on his face.
Then he said “Me too” as Candice kicked Tommaso in the balls from behind!
Johnny produced a dick guard (no idea what that‘s called, sorry) from the depths of his pants and pinned Gargano.
So that‘s what was in the bag!!!!!!
Genius!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Best match ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As Johnny and Candice celebrated while leaving the arena we could see two blurry figures sitting in a car, foreshadowing the next feud for Ciampa.
The story in this match was just brilliant.
I love how Candice turned heel at the end, becoming what she had always hated in Ciampa.
In fact, that whole triple turn thing is just so genius!
Ciampa had to crawl his way back to health, which is in and of itself a great trope for a baby.
Yes, he had done dastardly things, but he had also built up a company who at the time needed a great heel.
He had earned the trust of the universe and therefore it only made sense that now all of the sudden we believed that he would do anything for the company.
Because he had lost Goldie due to an injury it made it so easy to root for him.
We believed that his injury made him see the error of his ways.
He had also tried several times to patch things up with Johnny.
I.e. the failed D.I.Y. reunion run.
His story was one of redemption while Johnny‘s was one of falling from grace.
In the past we had seen Johnny too do dastardly things, such as viciously attacking Aleister Black.
He has strayed from the path of the clear cut face before, all under the guise of “Ciampa made me do it”.
But Ciampa didn‘t give him any reason this time around.
He stabbed him in the back all on his own – well, with the a little help from his waifu, but generally alone.
Every single minute detail of this story makes sense.
It‘s insane how well thought-out it came across in the end despite the unexpected twists and turns due to injuries.
For the story guy, this was pure bliss.
And that‘s why I can‘t help but deem this one the best wrestling match i‘ve ever seen!
This, exactly this, is the pure definition of why I love wrestling!
Did one final beat make you squeal like a little girl, too?
Tell me in the comments.
Feel free to share my hot take with your friends.
I‘ll see you next week for more shenanigans.
Have a great Sunday.