With less than a week to go before WWE‘s SummerSlam, Kayla Becker delivered the following bad news about a highly anticipated match via The Bump.
“Breaking news, and here it is: After that attack on Riddle by Seth Rollins on Monday, Riddle has suffered a brachial plexus injury, which is a really bad stinger that has resulted in some significant weakness. As of now, he is medically disqualified until full strength returns, and as a result of this… Seth “Freakin” Rollins versus Riddle at SummerSlam has been postponed”
… yeah, that's less than ideal.
Though far from the same level of full-on panic-inducing terror that was introduced by Brock Lesnar's reported walk-out at last week's edition of SmackDown, the loss of Riddle is a huge blow to the SummerSlam card as a whole, as the “King of Bros” has rapidly become one of the promotion's top babyfaces for his tireless pursuit of righting the honor of Randy Orton, even if his pursuit has resulted in a whole lot more losses than wins.
Now granted, this booking hasn't hurt his hype one bit, as Riddle is a dare-I-say Orange Cassidy-level heat machine who gets more over and over with each passing match but losing out on a big-time Pay-Per-View Premium Live Event booking is a bit of a bummer, especially since this match was likely going to help build up an eventual match/series of matches between Rollins and his former The Shield member Roman Reigns.
But hey, it's cool: Rollins had another show where he needed to find a new opponent, and that match became a real “Cross Rhodes” in the wrestling industry. With Triple H back in charge, maybe the company can find a new opponent to stand in his Way.
For anyone who purchased a ticket to #SummerSlam hoping to see me in action, I apologize. I did everything I could over the last 6 months to earn my spot on this show, but some things are out of my control. Thank you for always singing my song. They’ll hear ya someday.
— Seth “Freakin’” Rollins (@WWERollins) July 27, 2022
Need a new foe for Seth “Freakin” Rollins? Call up “Johnny Wrestling,” WWE.
If there's one thing Paul “Triple H” Levesque likes more than anything else, it's hard workers who give their all to the business. During his time running NXT, Levesque didn't always elevate performers who looked like Superman or elevated those who had prestigious collegiate careers playing football, hockey, or “regular” wrestling, but when a performer like Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, or Adam Cole caught his eye, he'd shoot them to the moon even if his father in law wouldn't know what to do with them on the main roster.
Johnny Gargano, the former NXT Champion who is currently without a steady working contract, undoubtedly falls into that category.
Need proof? He's what Levesque had to say on the topic after he won the NXT North American title in 2019 via the Mirror.
“People are going to say he's become exactly what he hated but no, he's becoming a champion, he's becoming a winner, he's becoming the best. He's proving it to the world.”
That's some pretty high praise if you ask me.
While Gargano's decision to leave the company when his contract expired didn't come as too big of a surprise, as the 34-year-old didn't quite fit into the blueprint of NXT 2.0, the return of Levesque may be enough to get the former leader of The Way and the man Dave Meltzer thought was being referenced to as Theory's “Daddy” back into a WWE ring and onto a SummerSlam card for the first time in his career.
I mean, think about it; Levesque had more than enough confidence in Gargano to not only book the Ohio native to win basically every belt in the NXT micro-verse imaginable, from the NXT North American Championship on three separate occasions, to the NXT Tag Team Championship with his #DIY-turned-wasted-on-RAW partner in crime Tomasso Ciampa, and even gave him the brand's ultimate prize, the NXT Championship for 57 days back in 2019 to help usher in the company's move to television; if ever there was a man Levesque could trust to come in off of the street and put on a show with Rollins, it's Johnny G.
Furthermore, not only would Gargano's return produce a massive pop at SummerSlam, but it could have further in-Universe storyline implications too that are very intriguing indeed.
Imagine, if you will, Ciampa ditching The Miz to reunite #DIY. Imagine Gargano coming out after whatever Theory tries to do with his Money in the Bank cash-in and spooking A-Town's finest to the point where he lands on the wrong side of the MitB statistics? With Vince McMahon gone, Theory clearly needs someone to teach him “The Way” in professional wrestling; why can't that man by his former in-faction father?
In wrestling, there aren't many guaranteed wins – this is one of them: Trips, do it for the brand.
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