This week on Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live, WWE debut four top NXT stars on the main roster. NXT champion, Tommaso Ciampa, former NXT North American champion, Johnny Gargano, Ricochet and Aleister Black all made their debuts on this weeks episode.
Why This is a Bad Decision
It’s insulting to the intelligence of the fans who followed NXT for the past few years. Gargano and Ciampa became the most popular tag team in NXT. They won the NXT Tag Team championships as DIY, winning the hearts of fans everywhere.
Eventually, it leads to one of the best heel turns of the modern pro wrestling era. This turn leads to some of the best matches of 2018 between the pair and an even better story and character work from the two.
On Raw and SmackDown, fans who don’t follow NXT only see these two as a couple of champions teaming together. While they were booked to look strong on Monday and Tuesday, on Wednesday on NXT, Gargano told Ciampa that he doesn’t need him.
While the two have been getting along somewhat in storyline doesn’t mean they should be put together as a team as soon as the arrive on the main roster. The lack of obvious continuity from WWE is absurd.
It may only be the first week they’ve been on the main roster and maybe I’m overreacting a bit but WWE needs to fix this. Their characters aren’t the same on either brand. On NXT, their characters are complex and developed and WWE showed none of that this week. They looked like they were the DIY of old. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it still doesn’t fit their characters or the story they’ve told for the past couple of years.
What’s Next For DIY
On Raw, WWE booked DIY to beat Raw Tag Team champions, the Revival clean. If you can defeat the champions, WWE will usually give the people who beat them a title match. My guess is WWE will book DIY vs Revival for the titles at Fastlane next month.
The next night on SmackDown Live, the pair defeated the Bar as well. They’re being booked well for the time being even though the story doesn’t make sense.
Gargano lost the NXT North American championship to Velveteen Dream on last night’s episode of NXT. Johnny Wrestling refused Ciampa’s help before the bout and it cost him. Maybe Gargano needs Ciampa more than he thinks. But that story also doesn’t matter because WWE is going to ignore that too.
