Here's Reportedly Why Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano Didn't Wrestle on TV This Week

Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano were noticeably absent from wrestling on Monday Night Raw or SmackDown Live this week, just one week after they made the jump to the main roster alongside Ricochet and Aleister Black.

If a new report is true, we now know why. According to Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer, Ciampa is working through an undisclosed injury that kept him off television as well as NXT events this week. Meltzer added that Ciampa's current mindset is that he'll work up though NXT TakeOver: New York on April 5, then deal with the injury.

Ciampa previously suffered a ruptured ACL back in 2017 that forced him to wrestle the main event of TakeOver: Chicago (a ladder match for the NXT Tag Team Championships) while injured. He turned on Gargano after the match to spark his heel run, but did not return to action until January 2018.

Gargano and Ciampa first appeared on the Feb. 18 episode of Raw to reform DIY, and over the next two nights they'd beat both The Revival and The Bar in tag team action. That latter match saw Ciampa potentially seriously injure his leg when he landed awkwardly on a sunset flip powerbomb that resulted in Sheamus landing on his bent leg. The referee initially threw up the "X" symbol to have the medical staff check on him, but he was able to finish the match.

Meanwhile on last week's set of NXT tapings, Ciampa and Gargano officially reunited in order to enter the 2019 Dusty Rhodes Classic tournament. The two would make it up to the semifinals before losing to Ricochet and Black, causing Ciampa to try and betray Gargano again. Only this time Gargano saw the turn coming, and beat down his partner instead to reignite their rivalry.

While the show still has one more set of tapings before TakeOver: New York, all signs point to Gargano and Ciampa squaring off for the NXT Championship. Following Ciampa's return at TakeOver: Philadelphia, the pair put on two match of the year contenders at TakeOver: New Orleans and TakeOver: Chicago II. Ciampa turned his attention to the NXT Championship following his win in Chicago, and defeated Black to earn the title after an accidental interference from Gargano on a July episode of NXT.

Gargano turn heel in the following months by attacking Black in the Full Sail Live parking lot to get a one-on-one title match against Ciampa at TakeOver: Brooklyn 4. He then would go on to feud with Ricochet for the NXT North American Championship, and dropped the title to Velveteen Dream at a taping in late January.