15 Ups & 6 Downs For WWE NXT In 2019
9. Ciampa & Gargano Escape The Main Roster
This doesn't get an "Up" just because it was really funny for WWE kingmaker Triple H not to have any power for a change when he was made to announce that he was losing his four top guys, though that was magic on its own terms. It gets one because Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano are exactly where they should be to this day, despite being pulled away at the worst possible time.
The two weren't going to be a credit to the main roster but were likely to plug gaps in boring matches on Raw or SmackDown until they were handed an ill-fitting angle or storyline that didn't make use of their talents or one of them was made to dress like a basketball player action figure. Ciampa's injury resulted in both being pulled from that hellscape, back to the heavenly surrounds of Full Sail.
It's there they've remained as the heart and soul of NXT - pillars of the superworker era as friends and enemies with a backstory to revisit and bangers yet to have with any and everybody lucky enough to share the sacred black canvas with.