WWE NXT: Examining How Johnny Gargano Slowly Found The Darkness

via wwe.com

A Downward Spiral

Forced to put his vengeance on hold without ever receiving closure from his breakup, Johnny Gargano fell into something of a slump when it came to big time matches. Since he could never get the image of his best friend turning his back on him out of his mind, it distracted him in matches. A prime example was at TakeOver Brooklyn III, where Gargano faced Andrade “Cien” Almas.

When Gargano was seconds away from securing a win, all it took was Zelina Vega tossing a DIY shirt in the ring to leave Johnny TakeOver taken over with grief. He was distracted – lost in his own thoughts – long enough for Andrade to take advantage and win the match himself. A couple months later, right before TakeOver War Games would go on the air, Gargano would challenge Pete Dunne for his United Kingdom Championship. Once again, he lost.

Ever since Tommaso Ciampa sent him head first into a mini-tron and left town, Johnny Gargano would develop an unlucky losing streak whenever the lights were on bright on a big stage.

Something worth noting is that losing in big stakes matches wasn’t anything new for Gargano in a post-DIY world. When Ciampa was by his side, they were both known even then for having the best matches on TakeOver without ever winning. Apart from a miraculous Toronto victory, TakeOver was never an event where DIY was there to shine.

The only difference now is that Gargano didn’t have Ciampa by his side. In fact, Ciampa was nowhere in sight and Gargano had no one by his side to replace him. Gargano was alone and was forced to soak in his failure by his lonesome without a friend to comfort him. Losing with someone by your side is earth shattering enough, but being lonely and a loser is a whole nother pain in itself.

Gargano struggled to bounce back in his own merits, but his luck would finally turn around when he would close out the final NXT television episode of 2017 by winning a #1 Contender’s Match for the NXT Championship. He was on course for a stellar 2018 and things were finally starting to look up for Johnny Boy. Little did he know that things were only starting to get worse. Much, much worse.