Nobody Will Do It For You: The Rise And Fall Of #DIY
4. The Rise And Fall Of Dark #DIY
In the lead up to Takeover: Phoenix, we saw two major feuds blossoming. The first was between Ricochet and Johnny Gargano, who had both been manipulated by Tommaso Ciampa to keep Gargano from targeting Goldie again. The second was between Ciampa himself and Aleister Black, who sought to take back the title he'd had stolen from him.
In the run-up to the event we saw each of these competitors face off several times, culminating in both sets of men fighting in the ring on the January 23rd episode of NXT. It was here that Johnny, seeing Ciampa being beaten down by Black, visibly struggled with himself before coming to the aid of his former tag team partner.
As Ciampa reached out for a handshake to the seemingly entranced Gargano, it was enough to bring his wife Candice out to pull him back from the brink.
"Are you kidding me? Are you considering that? That is not you. You are not doing that again."
In Phoenix, finding himself struggling with the balance between his need to win gold and doing things the right way, Johnny finally hit Ricochet onto the concrete to take the win. At the end of the night, with Ciampa standing at the top of the aisle, Goldie raised in victory, Gargano came out behind him. With the crowd wondering what would happen next, this dark #DIY stood beside each other and raised their belts in unison.
It was shortly after this event that they made their main roster debut as a team. With Vince looking for a quick ratings boost and demanding the top guys of NXT, no matter the storylines they were involved in, Ciampa and Gargano were one of two hastily put together tag teams. Plucked from the middle of their feud, they were put together on RAW and SmackDown, picking up wins over old foes The Revival and The Bar.
Portrayed on NXT as Gargano doing this against his wife's wishes, the two champions seemed to enjoy teaming together again and even entered the 2019 Dusty Rhodes Classic. First taking on the Undisputed Era, they won with the first Meet In The Middle seen in NXT for two years. Their next challenge was the team of Ricochet and Aleister Black, during which Johnny was seemingly injured, leaving Ciampa to fight a handicap match which he eventually lost.
Alongside Candice LeRae, Ciampa helped the injured Johnny up the ramp. It was at the top that Ciampa attempted to hurl Gargano into the screens again, mirroring his previous attack at Takeover: Chicago two years before.
But Johnny had been planning this all along. Having faked his injury and remaining a lot fresher than Ciampa after the match, he blocked the attack and shook his head at Tommaso's shock. Sending Ciampa into the screens then finishing him off with a superkick, Johnny Wrestling was back.
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