The top 10 WWE matches of 2018

#2 Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa (NXT TakeOver: Chicago II)

Johnny's descent into madness begins

Johnny Gargano may have won the battle, but Tommaso Ciampa vowed to win the war. After sending him to the hospital and hurting Candice LeRae, the next match between the two was made for Chicago - the city where this whole mess began a year earlier.

Things got started with a shot of Candice LeRae giving Johnny Gargano a crutch backstage and admonishing her husband to "kick Tommaso Ciampa's ass." Ciampa came out again to a chorus of boos, wearing a shirt that read "Ciampa takes over Chicago." He ran to the ring and the fight was on.

And by fight, I mean fight. This was no wrestling match. The two brawled all over the place and with all kinds of weapons. Wrestling moves were important in revealing Gargano's weakness in the early going, though - his previously injured neck. A series of German Suplexes from Ciampa exposed the vulnerable area. It would play a major part throughout. Ciampa wrapped a chair around his opponent's neck and slammed it into the stairs. Gargano writhed in agony.

Ciampa brought handcuffs in the ring but was unable to use them, as Gargano fought back, using his belt to vicious effect. Ciampa came back with Project Ciampa, but only got a two count out of it. A slam onto the steel steps only got Ciampa another near fall.

That's when he began to tear apart the ring, Nexus-style, exposing the wooden planks. Both men tried to slam each other onto them but were unsuccessful. Gargano would eventually, after taking another beating, realize the weakness of Tommaso Ciampa's knee, viciously assaulting it.

Ciampa eventually retook the upper hand and dragged Gargano up the ramp, admonishing his opponent "you did this to yourself." In a replay from TakeOver: Chicago the year prior, Ciampa slammed Gargano into the LED board at the top of the entrance ramp.

He stacked Gargano's body atop some crates. He took Gargano's wedding ring off, spat on it, and threw it away.

It was at that point that Johnny Gargano used Tommaso Ciampa's own move against him and slammed him into the tables below. At that point, he had the match won. The crew was going to take Ciampa away, to the hospital, but then Gargano looked at his empty ring finger, and his face twisted into an enraged parody of itself. He took Ciampa to the ring to lay a bigger beating on him, even handcuffing his former best friend.

At the very last second, though, Gargano's rage would cost him, as Ciampa hit him with a middle rope DDT onto the exposed wood for the three count. He did this even while handcuffed. The shocked faces in the crowd were a sight that will be hard to forget.

This out of the blue loss would be the catalyst to send Gargano into a dark period for the rest of 2018.