How WWE SCRAPPED Major Reunion Months Ago
WWE fans came within a hair of missing out.
Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa put the band back together on this week's WWE Raw, reuniting as DIY to close a long-rumoured saga - but it almost didn't happen.
Fightful Select reports that WWE had originally cancelled plans to reunite DIY several months ago. While the promotion intended to put them back together during the summer, this was scrapped along with Ciampa's set-up to wrestle for the World Heavyweight Championship, which was to go down in a Seth Rollins-issued open challenge in June.
That match was to be ruined by the Judgment Day, per Fightful. Gargano, making his own return (in his Cleveland, Ohio hometown, no less), would have saved Ciampa, triggering the reunion.
Fightful states that WWE's plans changed "heavily" in the days leading up to the 19 June Raw. They were eventually scrapped, leading to frustration.
Gargano hadn't been used on WWE television for several months until returning on this week's Raw. While there were rumours of him not being cleared to compete during this period, Fightful states that this wasn't the case. Simply, WWE wasn't using him - Johnny had been good to go since April.