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What's the story?
Tommaso Ciampa's untimely injury could not have come at a more inopportune time. The NXT Champion's injury has forced WWE to make a host of changes as it's being reported that the company had to drop a major angle that featured Johnny Gargano.
It was additionally reported that Gargano may move back to NXT as Ciampa is expected to be sidelined for an extended period. Now, Gargano has just made a handful of appearances on the main roster and isn't fully incorporated into either of the top brands, but, that was seemingly the plan going forward. Not anymore though.
In case you didn't know...
WWE confirmed the unfortunate news of Ciampa's injury when the company revealed that he would be undergoing neck surgery on the basis of a thorough evaluation conducted by WWE's medical team.
The surgery is said to be an anterior cervical fusion and has a rehabilitation period spanning around 6-9 months. The news of Ciampa's injury was first revealed by Dave Meltzer, who claimed that the DIY member had been dealing with neck issues for the past few months.
It reached a point where it just couldn't be ignored anymore, forcing the WWE to take him off TV and other scheduled appearances.
The heart of the matter
Ciampa made his main roster debut alongside Gargano last month on Raw and the former NXT Tag Team Champions defeated The Revival on their first night on the red brand.
The decision to get Ciampa and Gargano together on the main roster as a team was taken by Vince McMahon, however, WWE may now nix the plan altogether with Ciampa out injured.
On the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer revealed that WWE dropped the main roster angle with Gargano and is planning on sending the former NXT North American Champion back to the yellow brand on a full-time basis.
The idea behind the move is logical. With Ciampa expected to be out for a minimum of six months, NXT would need a bankable name to carry the title and none better than Johnny Wrestling. Ciampa may relinquish the NXT Championship soon and Gargano could be next in line to win the top strap down at Full Sail University
Additionally, it was reported that Ciampa's recovery time is just too long to keep Gargano up on the main roster as the storyline will predictably lose steam, especially when it relates to a fresh face in the big leagues.
What's next?
NXT Takeover: New York will take place during WrestleMania 35 weekend and WWE has a task on their hands to sort out the ambiguity regarding the NXT title.
With Ciampa seemingly set to drop the title, it would be interesting to see how the creative team books the NXT's top prize for the Takeover show.
Nonetheless, we wish Ciampa a speedy recovery. We will be waiting, champ.
