Johnny Gargano Ruled out for NXT TakeOver: WarGames With a Neck Injury

Back on the Oct. 23 episode of NXT Johnny Gargano stood side-by-side with Tommaso Ciampa and Finn [...]

By Connor Casey

Back on the Oct. 23 episode of NXT Johnny Gargano stood side-by-side with Tommaso Ciampa and Finn Balor in what was supposed to be a standoff with The Undisputed Era. However Balor shocked everyone by delivering a Pele Kick right to Gargano's face, revealing that the former WWE Universal Champion had turned heel. Balor continued to attack Gargano as the Undisputed Era swarmed Ciampa, culminating in him planting "Johnny Wrestling" on the metal entrance ramp with a 1916 brainbuster. Gargano hasn't appeared on NXT television since, and Ryan Satin broke the news on WWE Backstage this week that the former NXT Champ was out of action with a neck injury (which was connected to the 1916 he took from Balor).

Satin added that Gargano was heading towards a match with Balor at the upcoming NXT TakeOver: WarGames event, but that match has since been scrapped. Balor appeared on NXT last week during the main event and seemingly aligned himself with the invading O.C., calling back to his days in the Bullet Club faction over in New Japan.

It's unclear what role Balor will play at either TakeOver: WarGames or at Survivor Series, which will feature wrestlers from Raw, SmackDown and NXT all facing each other. So far the only matches announced for TakeOver are two WarGames matches, featuring the likes of the Undisputed Era, Ciampa, Matt Riddle, Keith Lee, Shayna Baszler, Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Bianca Belair, Tegan Nox and Io Shirai.

Meanwhile the Survivor Series card has already started to fill up, as you can see below.

  • WWE Universal Championship: Brock Lesnar vs. Rey Mysterio
  • Becky Lynch vs. Bayley vs. Shayna Baszler
  • The Viking Raiders vs. The New Day vs. Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish
  • Survivor Series Men's Elimination Match: Team Raw (Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton) vs. Team SmackDown (Roman Reigns, King Corbin, Braun Strowman, Shorty G, Mustafa Ali) vs. Team NXT (TBA)
  • Survivor Series Women's Elimination Match: Team Raw (TBA) vs. Team SmackDown (Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, TBA) vs. Team NXT (TBA)

Elsewhere on Backstage Satin broke the news that both The Miz and Paige had signed new mutli-year deals with WWE. The show closed out with CM Punk making his surprise arrival on the show.

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