8 Ups & 9 Downs For WWE NXT In 2020
4. The Gargano Way
Turning Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae heel in February and April respectively seemed to reflect a brand completely out of ideas and out of hope. How could the beating heart of the whole brand and one of the most earnest faces in the entire company both be rendered so pointless as heroes that they needed to become villains? And how could they make it work?!
With ease, was the answer to the latter. And with immense gratitude, the former.
Freewheeling as faces without the only main roster jump they'd have already made in the pre-Wednesday Night War world, The Garganos battled through some shocking early vignettes to play delightfully deluded braggarts who love the sh*t out of each other, themselves, and NXT gold. LeRae hasn't yet managed to snatch a title, but it's not been for the want of trying as she continues to be one of the crown jewels of the company's best division.
Gargano, meanwhile, went from strength to strength as a dumb-cracking heel. Able to show a sh*tload of personality he'd had to hide under his old earnest veneer, he's been the weekly highlight of a show that's been trying to fix itself over the past several months. He was the heart after all, but now when it beats we p*ss ourselves laughing instead.