Felix Upton on October 5, 2023
WWE fans saw Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano reunite on RAW this week, and that was a long time coming. It turns out that WWE actually nixed plans for their reunion a long time ago.
Click here for our complete coverage of WWE RAW from this week.
Sean Sapp noted behind Fightful’s paywall that there were plans for a DIY reunion this past summer, but “they were nixed fairly late.” Some fans thought that they sensed this being teased several months ago, and they were correct to have that assumption.
It turns out that the June 19th episode of WWE RAW was supposed to be Team DIY’s big return to television. That changed, along with a few other things that night.
Fightful Select has learned that there were active plans this Summer to reunite Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa on WWE TV, as hinted at on episodes of WWE Raw. However, this was one of many stories that got nixed and effectively dropped.
The June 19 episode of WWE Raw saw many changes, including a planned World Heavyweight Championship Open Challenge match. We’d reported at the time that Tommaso Ciampa was scheduled to answer the open challenge, but there was much more to it than that.
When we’d reported that, many readers said that Ciampa’s return shouldn’t have resulted in an immediate loss. However, that was far from the end of the story. Ciampa was to answer the open challenge, and the match would be ruined fairly quickly by Judgment Day. A returning Johnny Gargano – who was backstage in his hometown of Cleveland – would then make the save, reuniting DIY.
It was also reported that plans for Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa underwent significant changes in the days leading up to their match, ultimately leading to the match being canceled. Some individuals involved expressed frustration over these changes. Following the cancellation, Johnny Gargano was absent from television for over three months until his return on October 2nd.
During his time off television, there were rumors circulating that Gargano might be injured again, along with incorrect claims that he had not been medically cleared. However, WWE sources confirmed multiple times that he had been cleared since late April but was not utilized. Gargano made his return at a WWE live event in Fort Myers in late July, where he faced Omos.
Now that Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano are back together, it appears that WWE fans have a lot to look forward to. Only time will tell how things turn out, but they are finally back as a team on WWE television, and that’s what matters right now.
The fact that Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano close out RAW this week was also a good sign. For more updates on this story, and many more, plase stay tuned with us here at Ringside News. As always, don’t forget to hang out with us in our live results section for every episode of WWE RAW, SmackDown, NXT, and every premium live event for ongoing coverage!
What’s your take on Team DIY’s return? Let us know what you think in the comments!
October 5, 2023 5:44 pm
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