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Jonny Gargano is arguably the brightest star in all of WWE programming at the moment. He's adored in WWE's developmental system and is now at a point where he ought to be called up to the main roster.
However, this can be a dangerous point in any WWE superstar's career as poor initial booking has led to several promising wrestlers floundering and quickly becoming afterthoughts.
If WWE can harness Gargano's popularity correctly and successfully elevate him to the bigger stage, they could have a real star in the making in the vein of Daniel Bryan. This is how I would do it...
Laying the groundwork
At WrestleMania, The Bar should lose the tag team titles whether that be to Balor Club, The Revival or even the Hardy Boyz. The next night on Raw ought to be the WWE draft, although I am aware of rumours that the draft may be held at the backlash pay-per-view this year. Early on in the night, Cesaro should be drafted to SmackDown Live, splitting up The Bar in the process.
To me, this move makes a lot of sense as good as The Bar has been, the act is beginning to feel a little stale. A Sheamus and Cesaro break-up and feud makes little sense given how many times we've seen that match before the two joined forces. This is a clean break that allows both superstars to move on with Cesaro looking to finally gain traction as a top-tier singles competitor and Sheamus having one final singles run before he retires. After all, Sheamus is 40 now and after learning of his Stenosis condition, watching him seemingly in pain each week is a little uncomfortable.
Sheamus can appear backstage beside himself and argue with whoever the general manager will be at this point. He can explain him and Cesaro were meant to invoke their rematch clause for the title and now he's left in the lurch. The general manager can point out that with Cesaro on SmackDown Live, that isn't possible but he can then appease Sheamus by offering him a title opportunity that evening with a partner of his choosing.
Sheamus can reluctantly agree and head off in search of a partner. Through the night we can see backstage segments of top stars turning Sheamus down and leaving the viewers clueless as to who will be joining him in action. With the tag team champions waiting in the ring Sheamus can head down. He can admit he wasn't able to find a partner but is ready to take on the champions on his own.
Laying the groundwork
At WrestleMania, The Bar should lose the tag team titles whether that be to Balor Club, The Revival or even the Hardy Boyz. The next night on Raw ought to be the WWE draft, although I am aware of rumours that the draft may be held at the backlash pay-per-view this year. Early on in the night, Cesaro should be drafted to SmackDown Live, splitting up The Bar in the process.
To me, this move makes a lot of sense as good as The Bar has been, the act is beginning to feel a little stale. A Sheamus and Cesaro break-up and feud makes little sense given how many times we've seen that match before the two joined forces. This is a clean break that allows both superstars to move on with Cesaro looking to finally gain traction as a top-tier singles competitor and Sheamus having one final singles run before he retires. After all, Sheamus is 40 now and after learning of his Stenosis condition, watching him seemingly in pain each week is a little uncomfortable.
Sheamus can appear backstage beside himself and argue with whoever the general manager will be at this point. He can explain him and Cesaro were meant to invoke their rematch clause for the title and now he's left in the lurch. The general manager can point out that with Cesaro on SmackDown Live, that isn't possible but he can then appease Sheamus by offering him a title opportunity that evening with a partner of his choosing.
Sheamus can reluctantly agree and head off in search of a partner. Through the night we can see backstage segments of top stars turning Sheamus down and leaving the viewers clueless as to who will be joining him in action. With the tag team champions waiting in the ring Sheamus can head down. He can admit he wasn't able to find a partner but is ready to take on the champions on his own.
The Debut
As the match is about to begin, Johnny Gargano can enter, presumably to a massive pop. Sheamus can take to the mic and interrupt Gargano's entrance. Sheamus can complain about this being the best partner willing to team with him.
He's a multiple time world champion and tag team champion and the only partner willing to join him is a kid from NXT. Gargano can assure him he's not just any kid and Sheamus should reluctantly agree but warn Gargano to follow his lead.
During the match, Sheamus should look good early but after not tagging in Gargano and trying to go it alone, he should eventually wear out. After being on the receiving end of the match of the champions' offence, Sheamus can reluctantly tag Gargano in out of desperation who should then go on a rampage hitting most of his signature offence.
With the challengers seemingly closing in on victory, Sheamus can demand a tag back into the match and have Gargano hold up the opponent whilst he goes for the brogue kick. The opponent can duck, Sheamus brogue kicks Gargano and is then rolled up to suffer the loss.
After the match Gargano can eventually stagger to his feet and offer a handshake to Sheamus, essentially seeing if he's earned the Irish man's respect. Sheamus ought to storm off to the back setting up a match between the two the following week.
Initial feud
The next week on Raw, Sheamus can face Gargano in a one-on-one match with Gargano seeking to earn the respect of the veteran. In a close match where Gargano can display plenty of his signature grit, ideally kicking out of a brogue kick, Sheamus should ultimately come out on top.
Once again Sheamus should deny Gargano a handshake following the match. Sheamus can proclaim backstage that Gargano doesn't deserve to be on the main roster and that Sheamus has his sights set on clashes with top calibre opponents and not runts like Gargano.
In the following weeks, Gargano ought to face a number of different upper-card talents. He should suffer losses to the likes of Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman but look like a credible opponent in the process. Sheamus can state each time on commentary or in backstage interviews that the result is further proof Gargano does not deserve to be on the main roster.
On the Backlash pre-show, Gargano ought to face Sheamus again, wanting to finally prove himself as worthy of his main roster spot. With Gargano looking like he's going to finally pick up the victory, Sheamus should pick up the win with a handful of tights, leverage pin or some other veteran trick that shows Sheamus felt he had to cheat a little to get the job done.
Money in the Bank
The next night on Raw, the pair can square off once again in a Money in the Bank qualifying match. The commentary team can draw attention to the pairs match the night before and question whether Sheamus will be able to beat Gargano cleanly. This being the third bout between the trio, Gargano should finally pick up the win over his rival and qualify for the Money in the Bank match.
However, when offering a handshake to Sheamus after the match he should once again get denied by the Irish man. Sheamus should then grab the mic following his upset loss. Sheamus can deliver a passionate promo about how the doctors have been asking him to retire for some time now and if he can't even beat such feeble opponents as Gargano then maybe it is time for him to say goodbye. He can walk backstage with a final wave to the Raw audience, seemingly walking away from wrestling.
Over the next few weeks, Sheamus should not appear on WWE programming at all, whilst Gargano can't take part in the normal multi-man tag matches that WWE loves to book in the build-up to a Money in the Bank match.
Fast forward to the Money in the Bank match itself and Gargano appears to be closing on victory. Having just taken out a rival from the top of the ladder, the path can seem clear for Gargano to climb up and claim the briefcase.
As Gargano makes his slow ascent, however, Sheamus can hop the barricade, hit Gargano with a high cross or white noise from the top of the ladder and essentially eliminate Johnny wrestling from the match before disappearing back into the crowd.
End of the feud
The next week on Raw Sheamus can storm down to the ring and boast about how he spoiled Gargano's chances of success. He can mock the WWE audience for really thinking he'd just quietly walk off into the sunset and then state how he is going to stick around just to make sure the likes of Johnny Gargano never amount to anything.
The Raw General Manager can then come out and state that WWE medical staff have informed Sheamus that his career is essentially over. He can explain Sheamus should have stopped wrestling a while ago but the WWE doctors have agreed that he could probably get away with wrestling just one more match without doing any serious long-term damage to himself.
Therefore, the GM will announce he has set up one last Gargano vs Sheamus match for extreme rules before Sheamus will have to retire. Sheamus should refuse and be outraged that his last match would be against such a weak opponent in Gargano before storming off backstage.
The following week after a Gargano win, Sheamus should blindside Gargano with a lead pipe and completely destroy the rookie. Sheamus can take to the mic and announce if his WWE career is coming to an end then, he's going to take Gargano's career with him.
He can challenge Gargano to the match at Extreme rules but explain that if he wins, Gargano's WWE career must also be done forever. The next week Gargano can accept and so the two will be set up for an extreme rule match at the pay-per-view with Gargano's career on the line and Sheamus in his last ever match.
Gargano should finally pick up a clean victory over Sheamus in their final battle. The two can finally exchange the handshake that Gargano has been looking for after the match. Sheamus can have a nice send off to his impressive career.
With him retiring at a smaller pay-per-view in Extreme Rules that event can feel more about him whilst at a larger pay-per-view Sheamus's retirement might get overlooked. Gargano can then use this moment to challenge for a mid-card title at SummerSlam.
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