When you think of NXT you’ll get the usual thoughts of wrestlers, whether it is the Undisputed Era, Shayna Baszler or many, many others; the main two that have to be near the top of the list are Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa.
This feud has gone from one extreme to the other. They’ve been the best of friends to the worst of enemies and it has shown NXT’s capability of telling a long, exhilarating story. Gargano and Ciampa began their partnership on September 2nd, 2015. They had been put together as part of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament in which DIY was born. They only last two rounds but you could see the development of a great team.
The first time they fought each other in NXT was in the Cruiserweight Classic, which saw Gargano become the victor in the first round. This started what Ciampa would later refer to as his desire to destroy Gargano. The team developed and eventually become NXT Tag Team champions on November 19th in which they beat The Revival in a two of out three falls match. It was a classic back and forth and they had the crowd in the palm of their hands.
DIY would eventually drop the titles to the newcomers the Authors of Pain (AOP) at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio. Following a few further matches in which they lost, William Regal put AOP and DIY in the first-ever ladder match for the NXT Tag Team titles. This ended with AOP as the victors in a 5-star classic match. As DIY made it to the top of the ramp, they stopped and looked out to the crowd. Ciampa turned to Gargano and looked to embrace him only to turn heel and destroy him. It truly was a holy s**t moment for the WWE Universe.
What helped this feud, even though it was bad for Ciampa at the time, was Ciampa suffered a ruptured ACL and was out till mid-2018. This resulted in Gargano getting pushed into the main event picture. Gargano eventually had a one-on-one match with Andrade for the NXT Championship in which Ciampa returned. Ciampa attacked Gargano with a crutch and proceeded to destroy him. Gargano was desperate for the NXT Championship and agreed to face Andrade in a match that if he lost, he’d have to leave NXT. Ciampa took advantage of this and proceeded to interfere resulting in Gargano being fired from NXT.
Over the next few weeks, Gargano would interfere in Ciampa’s matches even though he wasn’t on the brand. He’d come through the crowd, attack him backstage and do everything to get Ciampa to agree to a match. Eventually, Gargano fought Ciampa at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans in the first-ever unsanctioned match. If Gargano won, he’d be reinstated. This was an incredible match and if you ever want to see what NXT is capable of, this is the match you need to see. Gargano would eventually beat Ciampa and be reinstated to the brand
The feud died down after this and Gargano was set to face Aleister Black for the NXT Championship. On his way to the ring, Ciampa attacked Gargano making the match null and void. Two weeks later Gargano called out Ciampa, this led to a brawl in which Candice LeRae (Gargano’s wife) was knocked unconscious. The two then faced each other in a street fight at NXT TakeOver: Chicago 2. This resulted in Ciampa picking up the win in another 5-star match between the two. This completely broke Gargano who started to become ruthless in the ring.
Gargano was obsessed with beating Ciampa but ended up accidentally hitting Aleister Black during Ciampa’s NXT Championship match. This resulted in Black dropping the title to Ciampa which infuriated Gargano. The three had been due to fight in a triple three-match however Black was found unconscious in the parking lot. Gargano would again lose to Ciampa but on the following NXT the WWE Universe found out it was Gargano who took out Black and thus turned heel.
The two then went on their own runs however Ciampa had to drop the title due to needing further surgery. This pushed Gargano into the main event picture in which he beat Adam Cole in a two-out-of-three falls match. Cole and Gargano would fight back and forth until Cole eventually defended the title at NXT TakeOver: XXV.
In the October 2nd episode of NXT, Ciampa returned to action to face Cole. Gargano ended up siding with Ciampa to start facing the UE with the pair wearing new DIY t-shirts. This ended abruptly when Finn Balor appeared to join Gargano and Ciampa only to turn on Gargano in which Gargano got injured
Gargano would return on the December 18th episode of NXT, distracting Balor during his NXT Championship match against Adam Cole, causing him to lose. On February 16th at NxT TakeOver: Portland, Gargano would face and lose to Finn Balor whilst Ciampa would face Adam Cole for the NXT Championship. During the match, Gargano came out in a DIY t-shirt and appeared to be helping Ciampa. During a referee knockdown, Ciampa reached for the title to hit Adam Cole only for Gargano to grab it and take it off him. Gargano looked at the title and hit Ciampa with it and resulted in Cole retaining the NXT Championship. This marked the beginning of another feud between the two but appeared to be more aggressive and personal.
On the most recent episodes of NXT, Gargano has targeted Ciampa which led to a brutal brawl at the Performance Centre. Ciampa had enough of Gargano talking and hunted him down. Ciampa slammed Gargano so hard against a wall it made a hole in it. He then hit Gargano with a laptop across his back. Gargano eventually put Ciampa through a glass door and Ciampa even picked up a weight and launched it at Gargano only for it to smash the mirror in the training rooms.
On the most recent episodes of NXT, Gargano has targeted Ciampa which led to a brutal brawl at the Performance Centre. Ciampa had enough of Gargano talking and hunted him down. Ciampa slammed Gargano so hard against a wall it made a hole in it. He then hit Gargano with a laptop across his back. Gargano eventually put Ciampa through a glass door and Ciampa even picked up a weight and launched it at Gargano only for it to smash the mirror in the training rooms.
That wouldn’t be the end of things though, and when the two men decided to brawl to a 10-foot platform above the announcer’s desk, you could just see what was about to happen. With Ciampa regaining the upper hand, he managed to hit a brutal Air Raid Crash from the platform and landed on the commentator’s desk below.
This feud has been something special for years and I’m so glad it has developed within the NxT arena. Any other location it may not have the spark it seems to have with diehard fans. What does the future look like for these two top talents and will it lead to a meaningful outcome? My bet is that these will fight for years, eventually becoming one of the beat feuds of the modern era.
Let me know what you’ve thought of the Gargano and Ciampa feud?
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