10 Specific Ways WWE Could Debut NXT Stars On The Main Roster
2. Johnny Gargano
Through WWE’s myopic lens, Johnny Wrestling may be recast into the role of Johnny Sports Entertainment: a plucky one-dimensional underdog whose key characteristic is honed in on to the point of excess. This is the fate that has befallen Daniel Bryan on SmackDown, while on RAW, the central premise of the Finn Bálor Vs. Constable Corbin is of a feud between a man is tall versus a man who isn’t.
The clue is in Johnny’s nickname: to mirror the connection Johnny shares with the NXT audience, or did before his not-that-great “tormented” acting chops blunted the high of his career rivalry, have Johnny Wrestling wrestle.
To put the premise over, Johnny should make the title synonymous with workrate, the Intercontinental Championship, his main main roster ambition. The title remains over, and is enjoying something of a renaissance in 2018 through the respect paid to it in promos and in the ring by The Miz and Seth Rollins. This is something an acknowledging Gargano should announce immediately, to sell to the casual audience precisely the sort of pure artist he is.
WWE has not yet managed to effectively structure the new marathon B-level PPV times. A string of successful, lengthy, excellent title defences amassed by Gargano would make for a euphoric legacy reign enriching the prestige of the title itself, a means of limiting potential crowd hijacks, and, one would hope, a not inconsiderable career.