WWE: Johnny Gargano Didn’t Win The NXT Championship Because ‘Johnny Wrestling’ Has To
At NXT Takeover: Brooklyn IV, Johnny Gargano came up short in a Last Man Standing match against his eternal enemy, NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa. That’s okay though, because it only leaves room for everyone’s hero, Johnny Wrestling to claim the prize himself.
We’ve all seen it, the downward spiral beloved NXT performer Johnny Gargano has been on since his tag-team partner turned arch-rival Tommaso Ciampa returned from a six-month history hell-bent on destroying Gargano.
To an extent, Gargano of course allowed that to happen, as he became more and more obsessed with destroying Ciampa first. Gargano and Ciampa have given us (as of last night) three of the most vicious and gripping matches NXT has ever seen, and this has quickly become one of the best in franchise history.
However, as we all saw at Takeover: Brooklyn, Ciampa is one up on Gargano again and walked out still the NXT Champion.
You have to imagine the last ten months have been hell for Gargano; in his journey to rebuild himself as a singles competitor, by time last night rolled around, he’d already failed to win the NXT Championship three times, one of which time Ciampa didn’t even allow Gargano to make it out to the ring.
Still, what’s become of Gargano has left hole in the hearts of fans everywhere, because the more desperate he becomes, and the darker his ring attire gets, the more we can feel the Johnny Wrestling who we know and love, the Johnny Wrestling who has inspired us all, is slipping away.
That fact is the sole reason why Johnny Gargano failed to win the NXT Championship at Takeover Brooklyn – because the win could never be as sweet or well-earned for him, or for us, if Johnny Gargano had won in his diminishing mental state. It’s time for Johnny Wrestling to return and claim his rightful spot of the top performer in NXT and become the NXT Champion.
We all remember Johnny Wrestling as the man who returned to NXT programming with decided optimism after the betrayal of a lifetime. It was because of that optimism and positivity that we all gathered behind him; that was a guy we wanted to see succeed.
The man in the ring during Takeover Brooklyn was not Johnny Wrestling, though he wore the name on his ring attire. That man didn’t deserve success, because he had lost sight completely of what it means to succeed. You have to imagine that an NXT where a vengeful, consumed Johnny Gargano became the NXT Champion at Takeover Brooklyn would fall quickly into chaos. With Ciampa gone and with no place left to put his anguish, the foundation upon which Gargano won his championship disappears, and what is left is a champion who needs to completely rebuild what defines him as a champion.
Next. NXT TakeOver Brooklyn 4: Observations from Inside the Barclays Center. dark
Which bring us again to Johnny Wrestling, who at this point seems worlds apart from the Johnny Gargano in the ring in Brooklyn. It was Johnny Wrestling who emerged after Tommaso Ciampa slammed Johnny Gargano into the screen at Takeover: Chicago in 2017, and the only thing left for Johnny Gargano to regain enough focus and momentum to finally become the NXT Champion is to reintroduce himself to the persona that fans rallied behind.