WWE Recreates The Sopranos' Ending, Teases Killing NXT Star Off (WWE News)
Did NXT's Tony D'Angelo just get whacked?
Did WWE just kill off NXT's Tony D'Angelo? Maybe...
Pulling a trick from The Sopranos, last night's NXT had a cliffhanger ending that leaves plenty of questions over the fate of the former North American Champion.
As D'Angelo sat in a restaurant, he was interrupted by an unseen, off-screen figure, with the scene then fading to black.
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For those wrestling fans not too familiar with The Sopranos, this mirrored the very final scene of that legendary HBO show.
After six seasons, The Sopranos wrapped up in 2007 with an episode titled Made in America. By this point, tensions are extremely high between Tony Soprano and rival mob boss Phil Leotardo, with Tony exploring a truce, while Phil wants Tony dead. At this time, Soprano is starting to realise the true impact his gangster life has had on those around him - plenty of whom are now dead - and is keen to make sure his own family remains safe.
At the end of the episode, an anxious Tony Soprano is sitting in a diner, where he's joined by his wife Carmella, then his son AJ, and finally his daughter Meadow, all as Journey's Don't Stop Believin' plays. One of the most tense finales in TV history, the camerawork and editing are masterful here, with every noise, every movement, every person having both Tony and the audience on edge that the head of the Soprano family might be getting whacked. And then, with the diner door opening and a bell sounding, Tony looks up... as the scene fades to black, lingers on that blackness for ten seconds, the episode ends, and The Sopranos concludes with a somewhat ambiguous ending.
In the 18 years since, fans have continued to debate the meaning of this final shot and whether Tony was killed or not. For show creator David Chase, he's said various times in interviews how this was left purposely open-ended as a way to highlight the fragility between life and death, how there's a fine balance between the two, and that things can change in an instant.
Anyways, back to NXT and back to Tony D'Angelo. Yes, your writer is a bit of a Sopranos fan, in case you hadn't guessed.
For Tony D, this could well be a way to bring an end to his time in NXT ahead of a long-rumoured move to the main roster. Or, it could be a way to freshen up the mob boss D'Angelo character. Or, it could be leading to a new feud in NXT.
Considering the D'Angelo Family has now split up, and that Tony's issues with Channing 'Stacks' Lorenzo and Luca Crusifino seemed to be wrapped up, the most logical next step would appear to be moving Tony D'Angelo to Raw or SmackDown. If that does happen, it'll be interesting to see what, if any, tweaks are made to the over-the-top wiseguy gimmick Tony's had since debuting as part of the NXT 2.0 rebranding.
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