If any brand-new WWE fans tuned into the August 22 episode of Monday Night Raw, they were likely left with the impression that Johnny Gargano is a main-event level star. While he was precisely that in NXT, Monday night was the first time Johnny Wrestling had stepped foot into the main roster ring (not counting Royal Rumble appearances). Yet the reception the Toronto crowd gave him was deafening. After a month of red-hot return angles and shocking call-ups, Triple H made the exciting choice to drop Gargano's highly anticipated return just after the clock turned to 10 pm ET.
Gargano didn't appear, as some expected, to cost Ciampa his United States Championship match a few weeks ago in Cleveland. There were no backstage fires alluding to his arrival, like what happened with Dexter Lumis. He didn't get several weeks' worth of weird promotional videos like Edge did recently. The former NXT Champion didn't drop in at SummerSlam like IYO SKY or Dakota Kai, nor did he attack a top contender like Karrion Kross. His music simply hit, and Gargano strolled to the ring to a hero's welcome. If it was a test to see if he belonged on the main roster, he passed it. It actually feels a lot like Johnny Wrestling has been here all along.
Related: AEW Dynamite Must Step Up After (Another) Strong WWE Raw
He hasn't been, of course. Gargano decided not to re-sign with WWE at the end of 2021, citing a desire to be with his wife, Candice LeRae, after she became pregnant with their first child. After sitting on the sidelines for several months, he caught the wrestling bug again. Under a Vince McMahon-ruled main roster, there was no chance that Gargano would have the opportunity to climb to the top of the mountain. With Triple H in charge, however, things changed. In an odd twist of fate, if Johnny Takeover had signed with AEW, the odds are pretty good he'd be stuck in the company's muddy middle alongside former NXT standouts such as Malakai Black, Buddy Murphy, Andrade El Idolo, and Samoa Joe. Patience paid off for Gargano, and he got to look into a live television camera during Monday Night Raw and emphatically state that he was coming for the WWE Championship.
It'll be a while before Gargano can jump into the main event picture. This episode of Raw was the perfect start for his run on the main roster, though. In Triple H's WWE, old storylines from NXT are leveraged to create new feuds on the main roster. Such was the case when Theory interrupted his former mentor's promo. The holder of the Money In The Bank briefcase ate a superkick for his trouble, and it seems like Gargano and Theory will be involved in a mid-card level feud for the foreseeable future.
That's a safe spot for Johnny. At least until uninitiated WWE fans see what Gargano is capable of when it comes to putting on main-event level matches during premium live events. He'd have no shot at winning gold under McMahon, but with The Game holding the book, it feels like a real possibility. That's a massive breath of fresh air for WWE fans who've been sick of seeing the same stars rolled out in the same feuds over and over for the last seven or eight years.
Next: Has Triple H Retired The WWE 24/7 Championship?