WWE: Candice LeRae Is More Than Mrs. Johnny Gargano

Candice LeRae went from a high-profile NXT signing to a prop in the Gargano/Ciampa feud. It looks like she might finally be back on track- but only if NXT lets her live up to her potential.

As a fan of Candice LeRae and NXT, I was delighted to hear that she’d signed full-time with the yellow brand.

She’s a fantastic wrestler with the kind of skills and charisma that can elevate an entire division.

Check out this great video package WWE made for LeRae when she participated in the Mae Young Classic:

In this video, LeRae is the tough-as-nails wrestler who’s faced off with some of the biggest names in WWE. Yeah, she’s Johnny Gargano’s wife, but she’s ready to make a name for herself on her own merits. A full-time contract at NXT seemed like a sign that WWE understood her potential and what she could bring to the company.

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I think it’s fair to say that up to this point, NXT audiences have not really seen the Candice LeRae that was showcased in that video. So why not?

As soon as LeRae started appearing regularly on NXT, she was immediately put in the role of supporting Gargano. At first, this was actually a plus for LeRae. Gargano’s feud with Almas put LeRae at immediate odds with Zelina Vega and gave them a reason to fight, leading to some great sideline action for them both and LeRae’s in-ring singles debut against Vega.

The show’s clumsy efforts to insert LeRae into the Gargano/Ciampa feud did not serve her nearly as well. All of a sudden LeRae was out of the ring, and expected to spend all of her time tending to her increasingly unhinged husband instead of…y’know, wrestling.

All of her promos revolved around Johnny Gargano. Any interviews she had focused on her feelings about Gargano and Ciampa. She had just started to appear regularly on NXT, but the show had zero interest in allowing her to develop any character motivation or interactions that were not directly related to her husband.

It was like the show didn’t even expect her to have hopes and dreams of her own, despite the fact that she had arguably busted her body for over a decade to make it to WWE. In the four months between her debut and TakeOver Chicago, she had two singles matches: the one against Vega and a bout with Bianca Belair that she lost…because she was sad about Johnny Gargano.

This has nothing to do with LeRae or Gargano and much more to do with how they’re being booked. The Gargano/Almas feud worked initially because LeRae had a ready rival in Vega. She wasn’t getting much opportunity to develop her character, but at least she was wrestling.

However, she doesn’t have anybody she can actually wrestle in the Gargano/Ciampa plotline. She can’t wrestle Ciampa or Gargano, despite the fact we know she could, because the company she works for does not allow intergender matches. So she’s stuck as a prop, wringing her hands on the sidelines but unable to do anything much about what’s happening around her.

She’s doing her best with the material, but let’s be real- she was hired to wrestle, not act, and putting her in a position where she is literally not allowed to wrestle anybody who is involved in her current storyline is not doing her any favors.

This all reached a weird nadir on an episode of NXT building up to TakeOver Chicago, where Gargano and Ciampa got into an unsanctioned tussle in the ring. LeRae was watching from the sidelines with concern, and then Ciampa knocked Gargano into her, knocking her cold.

Indie wrestler Candice LeRae was known for death matches and intergender matches. She took a superkick and a facefull of thumbtacks from the Young Bucks and won a tag team championship soon after.

On NXT, Candice LeRae became Johnny Gargano’s sad wife who can’t take a simple bump on a ramp.

To be blunt, that sucks. Besides the fact that this is an incredibly backwards and old-fashioned way to write a female character, it means we have not yet seen LeRae live up to her potential in NXT. This is a disappointment because Candice LeRae is one of the most accomplished and experienced wrestlers that NXT has ever had on their roster.

She has been wrestling for sixteen years. She has held titles in multiple promotions both as a tag team wrestler and a singles wrestler. She has performed everywhere from California to Cleveland to Japan. She has played a significant role in bringing intergender wrestling into the mainstream. Before she signed with NXT, she was arguably one of the most popular independent female wrestlers in the world.

The idea that she somehow needs to be anchored to her husband’s feud in order to appeal to NXT audiences isn’t just silly- it’s downright stupid. Candice LeRae might be Mrs. Wrestling, but it isn’t because she married Johnny Wrestling. It’s because she is, by any metric, an incredible wrestler. Even Gargano- the person who arguably is benefiting the most from LeRae’s participation in his storyline –has expressed his hopes that LeRae will get the chance to really show NXT audiences what she can do.

Happily, it looks like the tide might be turning for LeRae. Recent promos and episodes of NXT have featured LeRae stating that she is turning her back on the Ciampa/Gargano drama to focus on her own career. She’s also finally having some success in the ring. Since TakeOver Chicago, she’s been featured much more prominently in the women’s division.

Things started moving in the right direction in her match with Lacey Evans. The match was a high-water-mark for both wrestlers. It was a great, hard-hitting match where LeRae was able to show off the moves and stamina we expect from her, and seeing her come out on top was a nice change of pace.

Better still was her participation in the fatal three-way between herself, Cross, and Sane for a chance at the NXT women’s title in Brooklyn. This was an incredible match for all of the participants, and it gave us a glimpse of the infamous tough cupcake we used to see in the indies.

Most recently Shayna Baszler has called her out in a few promos, sparking a heated backstage confrontation between the two and hopefully laying the foundation to finally get LeRae into real title contention. This is all good news, and it’s hopefully indicative of a shift in how we’ll see LeRae depicted on NXT from here on in.

Unfortunately, not everybody seems to be on board quite yet. While LeRae’s in-ring work has gotten exponentially more exciting, the men calling the matches have dug in hard on connecting everything LeRae does to the Gargano/Ciampa feud.

If LeRae does well in a match, it’s because she’s inspired by Gargano. If she does poorly, it’s because she’s sad about Gargano. It’s at the point where the commentators will occasionally just straight-up fail to call the action in her matches because they’re too busy talking about Gargano.

Again, it seems like the voices of NXT just can’t imagine why LeRae would ever be in a wrestling ring if it wasn’t for her husband. Which is, frankly, an insulting take on a successful female athlete.

It’s one thing if other female wrestlers like Baszler use the feud to dig on LeRae- they’re cutting promos and that comes with the territory. It’s another thing altogether if the men who are responsible for explaining what is happening in a women’s wrestling match are unable to do that job without talking, at length, about a female wrestler’s husband. It is distracting and weird, and below my usual expectations for the NXT commentary table.

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It’s also proof that NXT has a long way to go when it comes to giving LeRae the spotlight she deserves. The commentary table needs to do better, but they aren’t the only ones. Bookers, producers, writers: it’s time for a course correction.

Candice LeRae is one of the best wrestlers in the world. If you give her an opportunity, she’ll show you why. Stop hiding her behind Johnny Gargano and let her shine.

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