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NXT: Johnny Gargano Still Thinks He’s The Hero Of His Story

It’s unclear if Johnny Gargano is covering for Candice LeRae, but we’ll assume that he truly did attack Aleister Black out of his own volition, in the belief that he “deserves” to be the one to defeat Tommaso Ciampa for the NXT Championship. Ciampa must be disappointed that “Johnny Failure” isn’t actually on his side, though he can probably take some solace with the fact that he has corrupted Gargano.

In a promo that was even more delusional than Gibson’s, Gargano waxed poetic about how he is still the hero of the story, scoffing at Black’s belief that “no man is every truly good, no man is ever truly evil.”

Gargano’s inability to see the world in anything other than black-and-white is troubling, and it doesn’t bode well for his showdown against Black at NXT TakeOver: War Games 2. Whereas Black is focused and driven to send Gargano packing from NXT, Gargano seems more laid-back, and it is truly surreal to see how his character is teetering on the edge of being a douchebag.

That said, the direction Gargano’s character is taking is incredible, and fans have to appreciate the complex story NXT is telling here. Gargano is still at odds with Ciampa, yet he’s also become more like Ciampa than he could ever realized. Despite his actions, Gargano is no longer the same person, no matter how much he tries to reason with the audience that he’s still the “same old Johnny” as he downplays the ramifications of assaulting Black in the darkness.

In his own words, Gargano has quite literally embraced the darkness, and it may take a catastrophe to bring him back into the light, provided he doesn’t run too far astray.