WWE’s Johnny Gargano is still dealing with a shoulder injury, which explains why he hasn’t been back on WWE since his Unsanctioned Match with Grayson Waller at NXT Stand & Deliver during WrestleMania 39 weekend. Gargano suffered a Grade 2 AC Joint sprain in late December and wouldn’t be back in action until the 2023 Men’s Royal Rumble match. He’d qualify for and compete in an Elimination Chamber Match for Austin Theory’s United States Championship a month later and was back to competing on Raw with regularity throughout March.ย
Videos by ComicBook.com
But, according to a new report from Fightful Select‘s Sean Ross Sapp, the injury proceeded to get worse following his Rumble return. By the time he had his match with Waller, Gargano “was severely hampered and using one arm.” There’s still hope he won’t have to undergo surgery to repair his shoulder, which would keep him out of action for significantly longer.ย
Gargano allowed his previous WWE contract to expire in late 2021. He’d return the following August after Paul “Triple H” Levesque took over WWE’s bookingย
“There were conversations, for sure. We’d be dumb not to have those conversations, right? Especially given everything that was going on, the uncertainty around everything, who knows what could happen. That’s the crazy thing about the wrestling business. Literally, everything can change in the blink of an eye The fact that I was able to be incredibly patient and be in no rush to do everything, that’s the big gain I had in all this. I could sit back and survey the landscape and make my decision on a timely basis. I didn’t have to be like, ‘I need a job right now, where am I going to go?’ I believe everything happens for a reason,”ย Gargano said on theย Out of Character Podcastย in September.
“The fact that I was able to have my contract expire in December, have the baby in February, and spend as much time with him as possible and not being in a rush to do things and reach out or say, ‘I need to come back now.’ From December (2021) to December (2022), I was fine not doing anything. Totally fulfilled not doing anything,” he continued. “Luckily, I have people around me to have conversations, so I didn’t have to think about business or wrestling, they can talk about that stuff, and all I can worry about is dad life. I watch everything, I’m a fan of wrestling, and for me, I want to go to the place that not only could utilize me best, but a place where I already have a relationship with Hunter and a lot of people backstage. That was a big thing for me, I’m all about relationships and familiarity. As soon as the change happened, there was only one option in my head.”
