Nobody Will Do It For You: The Rise And Fall Of #DIY

2. For Old Time's Sake

When NXT premiered in the USA Network on October 2nd 2019, it was a very different scene. The Undisputed Era had fulfilled their prophecy that they would be dripping in gold by the end the year, and the show ended with Adam Cole standing at the top of the ramp, his NXT championship held high. And then the starting ECG of Ciampa's music hit, and The Blackheart came out, his eyes fixed on Goldie to end the show.

Holding off the entire UE himself, Ciampa at one point picked up a microphone and addressed the belt. "Goldie," he said, "daddy's home." Those two words became a rallying cry for a crowd firmly behind this man who'd returned from a series of injuries that seemed to have ended his career, and a few weeks later even Mauro Ranallo uttered them when he was lost in the moment.

That particular moment saw Ciampa facing off against the entire Undisputed Era once more until he was joined in the ring by Gargano. Ciampa seemed ready for a fight, but something Gargano said calmed him and they turned to face the Era together, truly united for the first time in years. It was then that Finn Balor attacked Gargano, leaving Ciampa to be beaten down by the UE, and putting Johnny on the shelf for a couple of months.

Despite being separated by injury and Gargano's feud with Finn Balor, the two former members of #DIY eventually found themselves in the ring together again in January when Johnny came out to save Tommaso from a beatdown at the hands of The Undisputed Era. Later in the same show, in response to a tweet from Trent Seven, Gargano and Ciampa agreed to take on Moustache Mountain at World's Collide.

"One more time for old time's sake? DIY."

The feud was truly over, and the two former teammates had grown beyond #DIY into stellar singles competitors, yet they retained the magic they'd had at the start of their NXT tenure. So, when Gargano came out during Ciampa's match against Cole at Takeover: Portland, everyone assumed he was there to even the odds for Ciampa.

And then, almost mirroring the way Ciampa had won Goldie in the first place, Gargano drove the belt into his head, leaving him prone for Cole to take the win.

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