"Sometimes you fight family harder than you fight anyone else." This was one of the more telling quotes given by Tommaso Ciampa when questioned on his impending battle against tag-team partner Johnny Gargano and it is a quote that speaks a lot.
The two men are set to square off in the opening round in what is set to be one of the most interesting battles within the tournament with the question marks surrounding their partnership lingering in the air.
Gargano and Ciampa - can they survive?
Both men were originally 'thrust' together in their own words as they both made their way to NXT, despite being signed to 'tier 2' contracts (meaning they can work independently as well as contracted NXT dates) their partnership may well have ended as quickly as it began.
Gargano has typically been a singles wrestler for the majority of his career and on being partnered with Ciampa he said "I have been a singles wrestler my whole career so when I came to NXT with Tomaso it was really the first time that I was thrust into a tag team and something about us just clicked instantly."
Despite clicking 'instantly' they will have to put aside their friendship if they are to advance into the next rounds of the tournament and that is going to be hard for both men with Ciampa especially as he is set to be a part of Gargano's wedding.
Ciampa said "Over the past year of traveling and rooming together and being in the ring together and depending on each other so much, I mean our bond has grown and he is getting married in September and I am a part of his wedding we are as good as friends as you can get at this point."
What is clear is that both men, have established a connection and a bond with each other that is going to be pushed to the limit, but one man will have to come out on top during their singles match that will be shown on the WWE Network.
Gargona and Ciampa - like family
With tensions rising, both men will obviously feel strange about squaring off against each other but with the chance to establish themselves as the best cruiserweight in the world, they will have to get focused on winning rather than their partner's feelings.
Gargano claimed that he 'talks' to Tommaso just as much as his fiancé and sometimes even more, but plans to put any sort of rivalry that is brewing aside and 'shake' his opponents hand in the middle of the ring when they meet.
He said "Outside of my fiancé, Tommaso is the one guy I talk to the most in this world I may even talk to him more than my fiancé at times but at the end of the day is to our competitors and we want to be the best so what happens in the first round when we go one on one with each other I am going to look at him and I am going to shake his hand at the end of the day we are going to see who comes out on top."
The 28-year-old was rated number 51 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 just edging out Ciampa who sits at number 67 as of 2015, but while Gargano plans to keep it somewhat friendly, Ciampa is sending a direct message to longest holder of the Open the Freedom Gate Championship (Dragon Gate) and plans to hit him with the intent to 'hurt' but not 'injure'.
With Ciampa capturing a great deal of success himself during his singles career including winning the Super 8 Tournament in 2011, and The Ring of Honor Television Championship, even though he sees his partner as 'family' he plans to defeat Gargano in the same way he plans to defeat any opponent in the ring, by 'hurting' them.
He said "Sometimes you fight family harder than you fight anyone else and I never hit with the intent to injure but I do hit with the intent to hurt it and when they ring the bell I will hit with the intent to hurt I do not want to see Johnny get injured but I do not want to lose."
Gargano summed it up perfectly in the closing segment which aired on the WWE Network as he said "May the best man win" in what will be found out when the two cruiserweights meet.