What’s the story?
During the latest episode of NXT, Tomasso Ciampa said that he had suffered a knee injury during the ladder match against the Authors of Pain at NXT Takeover: Chicago. He also opened up about his acrimonious split with Johnny Gargano and blamed the fans for the split.
In case you didn’t know...
The team of Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa, better known as #DIY, faced Authors of Pain at NXT Takeover: Chicago for the NXT Tag Team Championships in a ladder match.
#DIY put up an excellent performance against the team of Rezar and Akem, but they failed to capture the gold. While they were on their way out of the arena, #DIY received a huge ovation from all those who were in attendance. However, to everyone’s surprise, Ciampa turned on Gargano and brutally assaulted him before the show went off the air.
The heart of the matter
On this week’s NXT, Tomasso Ciampa came out and said that he suffered an unfortunate injury on Thursday before Takeover. He said that even though people were speculating whether he will be able to compete or not, he knew that he had no other option other than fighting.
Ciampa said that what hurt him the most was when people started speculating who would replace him and be Johnny Gargano’s partner for their match against Authors of Pain. Regardless of all the unwanted speculations, Ciampa said that he didn’t lose focus and came out with Gargano to perform. He stated:
“I knew yes! I was going to fight. Because that’s what we do, right? That’s what this is about, that’s what #DIY has been about since day one - two kids who fight. In a mere 24 hours all those questions, those questions started to turn to these hypotheticals.
You people started to replace me with dream partners for Johnny Gargano. It took less than one day for you to replace me! Less than one day for me to become an afterthought! WELL NEWSFLASH! I’M NOT A DAMN AFTERTHOUGHT!”
According to Ciampa, the moment that prompted him to attack his partner was when he sat with him in the ring after their defeat and sensed that Gargano was just like the NXT Universe and wouldn’t hesitate to replace him. So he decided that if he were going to go away for a long time, then he would make sure that Gargano would also spend some time on the sidelines.
What's next?
It is certain that Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa will indulge in a feud later this year and their rivalry will mostly culminate at one of the Takeovers. The extent of Ciampa's injury is unknown at this point.
Author's take
Ciampa's heel turn is one of the best turns of the whole year. Those who have seen Gargano vs. Ciampa match at the Cruiserweight Classic may understand better why WWE went ahead with splitting their team rather than elevating them to the main roster.
In my personal view, I would have elevated #DIY to 205 Live before splitting them as it would provide the ailing show with some solid content which would have attracted more viewers. However, in that approach, the effect of Ciampa’s heel turn would not have been as profound as it came out to be.
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