Ever since entering the fray on WWE Raw, Tommaso Ciampa has been rumored to get aired with long-term friend-turned-foe Johnny Gargano. Eventually, the reunion went down last night as the latter finally returned from an injury and saved his former bestie from a beatdown of the Imperium faction.
In the main event of the October 2 episode of WWE Raw, – Gunther (c) defeated Tommaso Ciampa to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Once the match was over, Imperium members Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci attacked Ciampa after the match, which led to Johnny Gargano making his return to save Ciampa.
The former NXT Champion champion’s music hit the arena as he made his way to the ring on WWE Raw after a month of absence to save the day for Ciampa. Warding off Kaiser and setting up Vinci for Meeting In the Middle, the reunion was a bit incomplete since the audience couldn’t catch their finishing move on TV due to time limit issues.
WWE Raw: Rhea Ripley Returns; Gets Title Match For Dominik On October 3 NXT
— @LuigiWrestling (@luigiwvideos2) October 3, 2023
Gargano and Ciampa were shifted to WWE Raw via 2023 Draft
Both Gargano and Ciampa were moved to WWE Raw as part of this year’s WWE Draft. Since then the reunion was reportedly in the pipeline. The original plans called for DIY to take on Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship at SummerSlam 2023. However, that match was pulled from the biggest premium live event of the summer.
Gargano hasn’t wrestled on WWE programming since the May 15 episode of WWE Raw where he was part of a Battle Royal to crown a new number-one contender for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. He was reportedly dealing with a shoulder injury since the spring of this year. It was in July that sources started to spread positive news about him incurring a return which was delayed until this week.
Time will tell whether the reunion between Gargano and Ciampa will be fruitful or not on WWE Raw. In the past, Team DIY won the NXT Tag Team Championships at NXT TakeOver: Toronto in 2016, defeating The Revival (the current AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR) in a 2-out-of-3-falls match. The two also ended up bitter rivals on the NXT brand by delivering one of the most memorable feuds in the history of NXT.
No WWE Premium Live Event Planned For 2023 December From Main Roster
