"You're not family anymore" - WWE sends bold message to 37-year-old star

WWE had a blunt message for a popular star during tonight's edition of SmackDown. Johnny Gargano failed to ally with his former stablemate Dexter Lumis during a multi-man match and was told that he's "not family anymore."

There was a time back in the day when Lumis was a member of The Way, a group led by Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae. A lot has changed since the group disbanded back in 2021 and Lumis is now a member of The Wyatt Sicks.

On July 4 episode of WWE SmackDown, The Wyatt Sicks took on Montez Ford, Johnny Gargano, Berto, and Chris Sabin in a multi-man tag team match. At one point during the bout, Johnny Gargano tagged himself in and tried his best to form an alliance with Dexter Lumis by reminding him of their past and telling him they were family. Lumis ended up attacking Gargano to a loud pop from the fans in attendance.

WWE then took to its X handle to send a message to Gargano as can be seen below:

Breaking Vince Russo and Jim Cornette update HERE.

"You're not family anymore, @JohnnyGargano ... 😬."

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WWE Superstar Johnny Gargano talks about The Way

A few months after The Way disbanded, Johnny Gargano appeared on The Bob Culture Podcast on YouTube and spoke about the stable in detail. Here's what he said:

"I think things turned out the way they were supposed to. That was never going to be the way that character was supposed to be. It was going to be a lot more serious, but I just kind of felt like with everything going on with the pandemic and with COVID and things like that, I felt like NXT just needed a little bit of levity, a little bit of funniness, silliness, goofiness, and I was happy that I was able to provide that." [H/T WrestlingInc]

Lumis made it perfectly clear to Gargano that the duo wasn't family anymore. Fans hadn't expected World Wrestling Entertainment to chime in, though, and remind Gargano of the bitter truth.

About the author

Abhilash Mendhe is a pro wrestling journalist at Sportskeeda with nearly five years of experience. He completed his MBA from the Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management in 2016 and worked with multiple banking institutions, including Tech Mahindra. While he started writing WWE articles for Sportskeeda in 2019 as a hobby, it eventually became a significant part of his professional journey.

Abhilash checks his articles thrice before sending them to the editing team, ensuring his work is highly accurate and reliable.

He has interviewed prominent pro wrestling personalities like Noam Dar, Angry Miz Girl, Brendan Cobbina, and Jesse Lambert. Abhilash is a big fan of AEW star Orange Cassidy, as he believes the former International Champion’s on-screen gimmick of an extremely lazy guy resonates with him.

Given the opportunity to script WWE’s next big storyline, Abhilash would treat fans to the second installment of The Bloodline Civil War. He would book Roman Reigns to re-form The Bloodline with The Usos and Sami Zayn upon his comeback. The angle would see The Tribal Chief-led group go head-to-head with The Rock, Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, and Jacob Fatu in a blockbuster family feud.

When not reporting on pro wrestling, Abhilash likes to work out, go on walks, read, and explore new eateries.

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Edited by Arsh Das