WWE’s Monday Night Raw takes place in Cleveland tonight and the big speculation heading into the show is whether or not Johnny Gargano will make his surprise return to WWE in his hometown. Gargano departed from WWE back in December in order to be with his wife, Candice LeRae, as the pair welcomed their first child, Quill. He’s been making convention appearances since April and LeRae’s contract quietly expired in May, but once Paul “Triple H” Levesque took over as WWE’s Head of Creative fans immediately started guessing when “Johnny Wrestling” would return and jump to the main roster.
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Gargano hasn’t hinted at any sort of comeback tonight, but his best friend Ciampa sure has. The former NXT Champion will challenge Bobby Lashley for the United States Championship during the show.
Then Sean Ross Sapp dropped a new update on Fightful Select late Monday afternoon. He wrote that Shawn Michaels was asked to reach out shortly after Vince McMahon’s departure from the company, but there’s been no word of how that conversation went.
Gargano also recently appeared at an Asylum Virtual signing and commented on how Levesque has been booking WWE in his first few weeks (h/t Fightful)— “I’ve seen. I’ve noticed. It’s exciting times all around. You never know what could happen. Keep watching, we’re [Candice & I] going to show up at some point, wherever that may be.”
“You never know what could happen,” he later said when asked about reuniting with Ciampa as DIY. “We’re living in a crazy world where anything can go down. You never know what can happen on Mondays or Fridays anymore.”
He also addressed the speculation at Starrcast V in Nashville during SummerSlam weekend — “What’s next for me is I’m going to go home and change a diaper. If people thought I was going to come here and be like, ‘I’m going to show up then,’ I’m not going to say that because I don’t have an answer yet. I haven’t made up my mind or made a decision yet. We’re lucky as wrestlers and wrestling fans that we are living in a world where there are options and choices out there.
“There is talent all over the world and both places that I haven’t wrestled yet, that I want to wrestle,” he continued. “I’m all about right place, right time, right opportunity. My favorite time period as a wrestling fan was the Attitude Era where people would show up. You never knew. The internet wasn’t like, ‘This person is showing then and here.’ It’s all about surprises. That’s the fun thing about being a wrestling fan. Being surprised. Whatever I can do to add that element of surprise and protect my surprise, I’m going to keep protecting it.”
Do you think Gargano will make some sort of appearance tonight on Raw? Tell us your thoughts down in the comments and stay tuned for live coverage of the show!
