10 Things WWE Actually Got Right In 2019
7. Handling Tommaso Ciampa’s Injury
The neck injury to NXT’s top heel and title holder Tommaso Ciampa couldn’t have come at a worse time. We were arriving at the payoff of a years long story arc, the rivalry of Ciampa and former tag partner Johnny Gargano. Suddenly, before the pair could have their final TakeOver showdown, the world’s greatest sports entertainer was gone.
Forced to change plans, WWE made the very best of a bad, sad situation. Elevated into the main event, Adam Cole stepped up and NXT gave us potential match and feud of the year candidates with Cole and Gargano over delivering on already lofty expectations.
Meanwhile, Ciampa had been one of the company’s best and most natural heels but sacrificing his body to the cause had babyfaced him in the eyes of the fanbase.
WWE didn’t fight it. They allowed Ciampa to show up and congratulate Gargano on his eventual NXT Championship win and, when he was healthy enough to return, he came back as the badass hero fans wanted.
Since then he’s not been rushed back into the Gargano feud or a title fight with Cole. Instead, the company has done an excellent job of keeping him looking strong without sacrificing other top stars like Finn Bálor and Keith Lee.