Johnny Gargano

'Johnny Wrestling' is back in WWE in the midst of speculation that he would be either returning under Triple H or heading to AEW.

During the segment, fans were over the moon to see ‘Johnny Wrestling’ back in a WWE ring, but this moment was soon ruined by former NXT mentee, Theory, who belittled his former partner. Gargano was first released from his contract earlier this year and rumours have been circulating for a while regarding his status with WWE and AEW. Johnny laid out Theory with a huge super kick to end the segment, sending the fans home happy and a likely match for the upcoming Clash at the Castle pay-per-view.

The Lakewood native made his shocking return to the ring on Raw and faced off with Theory.

And I stand here incredibly proud to say Johnny Wrestling is back in WWE.” “So that is what I am doing here in Toronto. I am betting on myself.

Johnny Gargano received an incredible reaction from the fans on Toronto last night during his WWE return on Raw.

Ciampa is one of the WWE stars to have benefitted the most from Triple H’s appointment as Head of Creative, and now that Gargano is back too, many have speculated that they’ll be packaged together again before too long. Toronto is known as one of the smarter wrestling crowds, so those in attendance likely knew Gargano from his time in NXT, and were elated to see the popular star back on their screens after nine months away. Anyways, back to Gargano’s return last night, as the 35-year-old received one of the best pops of his career from the fans in attendance. Last night’s show was held in Toronto, and the fans in attendance were pretty lively throughout the episode, but the return of Gargano generated arguably the loudest reaction of the night. Triple H took over from Vince McMahon as Head of Creative, and as a long-time favourite of ‘The Game’, many fans thought it was just a matter of time before Gargano returned to WWE. Johnny was then interrupted by Theory, his former stablemate from The Way in NXT, with the segment ended with Gargano laying him out with a Superkick.

Johnny Gargano made his surprise return to the WWE on this week's Monday Night Raw, cutting a promo in front of a joyous Toronto crowd before superkicking ...

Gargano had previously departed WWE back in December [in order to be home for the birth of his son, Quill](https://comicbook.com/wwe/news/wwe-johnny-gargano-explains-why-leave-wwe-nxt-one-year-ago/), and teased the idea of jumping to other companies in the months that followed. "I said that I came back for a lot of different reasons, but first of all, I wanted to be Intercontinental Champion, United States champion, WWE Champion. "That's why I came back, that's why I am beyond proud to be here. [Johnny Gargano made his surprise return to the WWE on this week's Monday Night Raw](https://comicbook.com/wwe/news/wwe-raw-johnny-gargano-return-nxt/), cutting a promo in front of a joyous Toronto crowd before superkicking his former The Way stablemate, (Austin) Theory. I'm just a ball of energy because I just went out there for the first one. I want to wrestle at WrestleMania, and there's only one place you can do that, and that's here in WWE," Gargano said.

Johnny Gargano walked through the Monday Night Raw curtain and made a surprise return that kept fans in front of their television.

Lovers of professional wrestling continue to experience the greatness of an industry without Vince McMahon. Triple H ascending to lead creative and talent relations for WWE turned the tide of expectations that Gargano would return to WWE. The speculation around where the angle will end up is going to drive fans crazy, but that’s the exact type of kickoff a major promotion would want to see. And don’t forget that this also ties into Tommaso Ciampa on the main roster at the same time. The two men did an excellent job tying their past in NXT together into a narrative to set up Gargano’s first angle with the changed Theory. Initially, the expectations were to see him pop up in All Elite Wrestling where he would have been able to bring back the “Johnny Wrestling” persona to create some dream matches the world wanted to see.

Of course he's back under Paul “Triple H” Levesque's leadership. Any doubt to the future career path of longtime NXT MVP Johnny Gargano turned to hope in ...

Gargano is the long-term outlier because of how his past popularity benefits the company’s fresh future. When’s the last time a main-roster superstar had that much of the crowd in their corner during a championship match? Now his job is to translate that in the present day to Gargano. [had gotten under McMahon](https://deadspin.com/retirement-we-all-know-vince-mcmahon-didn-t-leave-wwe-1849333877) in recent years, even the small changes “The Game” is making can loom large. Remember how much the crowds in Philadelphia and Brooklyn loved Gargano during his NXT Championship matches against Andrade and Adam Cole? “Johnny Wrestling” left the company on good terms.

Toronto — In WWEs worst kept secret, the Rebel Heart, Johnny Gargano returned after nine months away from the company, following his departure from NXT.

You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the [WWE Network](https://watch.wwe.com/) and [Peacock](https://www.peacocktv.com/watch/home). [Last Word on Pro Wrestling](https://lastwordonsports.com/prowrestling/) for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. During the show, Gargano made their intentions on winning the WWE, Intercontinental and/or United States Championships clear.

More backstage details are available on the WWE return of Johnny Gargano that took place on last night's edition of WWE Raw.

[PWInsider](https://www.pwinsiderelite.com/article.php?id=162359&p=1) has some additional backstage notes on Gargano’s return last night. While this likely isn’t a surprise after Gargano Superkicked Theory on last night’s show, Johnny Gargano has been added to WWE’s internal roster as a babyface. Many within WWE also reportedly noted that Gargano’s name wasn’t changed for his Raw appearance.

Johnny Gargano made his surprise return to the WWE during this week's Monday Night Raw, roughly nine months after allowing his previous contract to expire ...

Now that Gargano is back, it'd be great to see LeRae eventually make her way back to the WWE as well and remind everyone just how excellent she is in the ring. Against all odds, Gargano and Ciampa now find themselves together again on the main roster. Gargano now joins a promotion that looks vastly different from the one he left thanks to Vince McMahon's departure and Paul "Triple H" Levesque stepping in as the new Head of Creative.

Johnny Gargano says his big return to WWE on last night's RAW still feels like a dream. Gargano took to Twitter this afternoon and thanked fans at the.

Send any news, tips or corrections to us by [clicking here](mailto:[email protected]). You can also [click here](https://wrestlingheadlines.com/backstage-news-and-notes-from-johnny-garganos-wwe-return-backstage-talk-on-vince-mcmahon-edict/) for the most recent report on backstage news & notes from Gargano’s return. You ran the full gamut of emotions until I walked out! you have no idea how much THAT reaction meant to me! [click here](https://wrestlingheadlines.com/backstage-notes-from-johnny-garganos-wwe-raw-return-gargano-notes-on-aew-and-impact/) for our original report on backstage news & notes from Gargano’s return at RAW, along with footage, and you can [click here](https://wrestlingheadlines.com/johnny-gargano-returns-to-wwe-on-raw/) for our original report with full details on his segment with Theory, also with videos. so it didn't. So let's start the campaign to get it back! THANK YOU ALL for the excitement around my return. Gargano also called on fans to help get his own Funko Pop figure released. So let’s start the campaign to get it back!,” Gargano wrote back to the fan. so it didn’t. One fan tweeted on how he hopes Gargano’s WWE return will lead to continued talk of a Gargano Funko Pop figure.