Nobody Will Do It For You: The Rise And Fall Of #DIY
5. Johnny Beats Johnny
Johnny had defeated the nemesis that plagued him for almost a year, and was ready to put that chapter of his life behind him. Challenging new champion Aleister Black for the title, he'd barely made it onto the ramp before Ciampa attacked from behind. It wasn't over and, after several brawls, they faced each other in a street fight at Takeover: Chicago II where Ciampa got a win over Johnny.
Ciampa's next move was to challenge Aleister Black for the NXT Championship. During the match, the referee was knocked down and Ciampa sensed his moment. Picking up the belt, he readied himself to knock Black unconscious but Gargano appeared and stopped him. Snatching the belt away from Ciampa just as Black recovered, Johnny accidentally hit Black with it himself and Ciampa used the opportunity to win the match and take the title.
A triple threat was set for Takeover: Brooklyn IV, but plans changed when Aleister Black was mysteriously found injured in the parking lot. It would be Ciampa versus Gargano again, in a Last Man Standing match.
Fighting all over the building, Gargano eventually had Ciampa handcuffed on the stage, apologizing and begging for mercy. Ignoring his pleas, Gargano charged at Ciampa, injuring his knee in the attack so that he was unable to stand while Ciampa slithered to his feet and retained the championship.
Consumed by hatred, Johnny had beaten himself in the match.
With new "Johnny Failure" chants circling Johnny's matches, he started to see the crowd slipping away from him and disappears from programming for a while. His return came at the climax of the mystery surrounding Aleister Black's attacker when it was revealed that Johnny had attacked him to get Ciampa all to himself again.
"Why Johnny, why?"
Ciampa acted as a dark puppet master during this feud, egging it on and appealing to Johnny's ego by rallying the crowd into chants of "Johnny Badass". This culminated in a steel cage match between Gargano and Black that Ciampa interfered in, helping Gargano to win. With the crowd chanting "DIY", Tommaso seemingly mesmerized Johhny as he led Gargano in their Meet In The Middle finisher against Black.
Meanwhile, dark puppet master Ciampa teased that Johnny shouldn't continue their feud by coming after the NXT championship (which he was now calling Goldie) when there was another championship in the company. This caused Ricochet, the current champion speak out, and a match between Johnny Wrestling and The One And Only was soon set for Takeover: Phoenix.
It was an event that would change everything.
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