Johnny Gargano officially spurns AEW for a return to WWE

On a show eagerly anticipated for the return of Edge to a Toronto wrestling ring for the first time in a decade, WWE’s RAW show broadcast live from the Scotiabank Arena will forever be remembered as the day Johnny Gargano, “Johnny Wrestling,” returned to the promotion that transformed him from an indie darling to an international star.

That’s right, with his The Way son Theory already on the show and Dexter Lumis, the Kayfabe husband of Indi Hartwell, creeping around the peripheries of WWE’s Monday night show to give The Miz and A.J. Styles a hard time, it felt like only a matter of time before Gargano, the well-traveled NXT triple crown champion, made his way to the Red Brand for a right proper push.

And yet, after Lumis dragged Miz into the bowels of the Toronto Raptors’ home stadium and his former #DIY partner, Tommaso Ciampa, was handed a two-on-one beatdown at the hands of Styles and Bobby Lashley, Gargano was nowhere to be found, with any inkling of his return dashed for the umpteenth time in a row.

Fortunately, Paul “Triple H” Levesque has good timing, and when RAW returned from commercial break, what hit but “Rebel Heart,” the music fans last heard in an NXT ring oh so many months ago. Gargano emerged from the back, took in the moment, and then took part in a segment that shook up the WWE Universe, generated a massive pop from the fans in Toronto, and even got folks hyped up to hear the words “A-Town” over the PA.

Sorry AEW fans who would get Gargano’s name trending about once a month, Triple H won this round.

“I missed you guys.”

These were the first words Johnny Wrestling said to the WWE Universe after over eight months away, but not the last. No, after being handed a microphone and an entire segment to re-introduce himself to the fans in attendance and watching from home, Gargano talked about his son, about betting on yourself, and most importantly of all, about how he was ready to represent the WWE with pride now that he’s fully back in the car Triple H is driving.

If that was that, then that would have been that; fans the world over cheered on Gargano like the returning hero he is and would eagerly wait to see what he brings to the table next, but Levesque wasn’t done. No, he decided to put some frosting on Gargano’s “Welcome Back” cake and sent none other than Theory down to the ring to discuss where the duo are now in their respective careers and how they can help each other out moving forward; prospects that included Gargano carrying Theory’s bags and being his “caboose” – whatever that means.

Now, for those in the know, Gargano is well aware of what Theory has been up to since leaving WWE for what effectively served as extended paternity leave. When Connor Casey of ComicBook.com asked what he thought of Theory being on television every week working with Vince McMahon back in January, Gargano gave a very interesting response that reads even harsher considering everything that came after it.

“It feels like Austin just kind of went from me being his father figure to Vince McMahon now being his father figure. But yeah, it’s wild, man. I’m so happy for him because he does work really, really hard. And Austin and Indi (Hartwell) both, it was always my mission this past year to put them in a position to where they could be Superstars. And they’re so young and they’re so talented, the both of them, and I feel like WWE has such a gold mine in Austin and Indi that I hope they take advantage of it because I feel like they can make that company a lot of money for many, many years. But yeah, it’s so cool to see. I left a comment on one of his Instagram posts and told him to go become WWE Champion because he’s got all the tools to do it. So it’s just very cool to see him get that opportunity.”

After Theory talked down to his former mentor, the duo attempted to make amends by doing their old handshake, but in true babyface style, Gargano was a little smarter than his much younger foil, meeting a swinging arm with a superkick and laying out his former friend because “maybe that’s not ‘the way’ we do things.”

Folks, there you have it; there is the path WWE has planned out for Theory, there is the reason why Dolph Ziggler has been giving Theory a hard time for not appreciating what he has, and there is the way Levesque was able to turn one of the least popular stories on his father-in-law’s show into one of the most compelling on his own. Though summer may be coming to an end, it’s clear WWE is just heating up.