10 Ups & 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Feb 19)
2. Hot-Shotting Friendship
Triple H looked and sounded a tad uneasy while unveiling Raw's NXT call-ups. It was as if he knew his meddling father-in-law was about to take his favourite toys out of the playpen and smash them up, and if that's the case, his concern was justified.
WWE's main roster writers have hot-shotted what should've been a special moment, with Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa finally reuniting as a duo to wrestle The Revival on Raw, then The Bar on SmackDown. Two good matches, but it feels like something awesome has been squandered.
Had their reunion (as a duo, not a Halftime Heat trio with Adam Cole) taken place in Full Sail University, it would've been a couple of months down the road, with Ciampa and Gargano's unease slowly wearing away, leading to the big moment. It would've been built with care, attention, and nuance. Triple H and co. would have let it breathe. It would have felt right.
On the main roster, it feels rushed. Vince's team have fast-forwarded to the long-running storyline's next story beat, and they have f*cked NXT, Ciampa, Gargano, and Triple H in the process. Ain't it grand?