4 Ups And 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE NXT (Oct 15)

2. Gargano And Ciampa Suffering

This is equally saddening. The hard truth is, with the recent elevation to the mid card of talent like Tye Dillinger and Dawson & Wilder, NXT currently finds itself low on jobbers (or enhancement talent if you're feeling kind). Danny Burch is the most regular, and he fits the role well. He's athletic enough to put on a good contest, but no one really cares if he wins or not. This is not the case with Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa. They made a big splash when they debuted in NXT a few weeks ago, beating the team of establish stars Bull Dempsey and Tyler Breeze. However, since then they've picked up nothing but losses, both as a duo and as individuals. This week was no difference, as both men were unceremoniously dumped out of the #1 Contender's Battle Royal after making minimal impact, Ciampa even being eliminated during a commercial break. They seem to have settled into the rut of the enhancement talent. This is a great shame, because the fans are all primed and ready to cheer them. Every week, Gargano is greeted with chants of "Johnny Wrestling", a holdover nickname from his independent scene days, where he made huge waves at DragonGate, AIW and Chikara, and Ciampa is no slouch either. Their pedigree is simply too good, and NXT crowds are just too indy-savvy to accept them in the enhancement role for long before frustration mounts.