Former Star Makes HUGE Return On WWE Raw

Yet another free agent returns to the WWE fold under Triple H's watch.

WWE Raw Set
WWE.com

Johnny Gargano returned to WWE on Monday night, making a surprise appearance on Raw that stunned fans and marked his first in-ring appearance in more than nine months.

Fans erupted into "Johnny Wrestling" chants and welcomed the NXT stalwart back to the company. Gargano spoke about becoming a father and being home with his newborn son when he reflected on his dreams of being a champion in WWE and wondered how he could explain to his son that he didn't chase those dreams.

Gargano's return was spoiled by former protégé Theory, who gave credit to Johnny for shaping his career in NXT, then noted that he had accomplished many of Gargano's goals already, so maybe he should be carrying his Money in the Bank briefcase around and be his "caboose."

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This obviously didn't go over well, and Gargano quickly laid Theory out with a superkick to close the segment.

Gargano left WWE in December 2021 when his contract expired, saying farewell to NXT as he took a hiatus from wrestling to spend time with his family. Many speculated that with the changes to NXT 2.0 and his smaller stature not lending to a good outlook on the main roster while under Vince McMahon's control, Gargano would eventually end up in AEW.

Fightful Select reports that WWE had a continued interest in re-signing Gargano buy respected his desire to take time off for his family. Once Triple H took control of WWE's talent relations and creative last month, the company felt they had "a significantly higher chance" of getting Gargano back, according to Fightful.

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Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.