For whatever reason, it seems like the wrestling gods just don't want Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa to end their feud properly, with different factors meaning that various matches throughout their multi-year story have had to be delayed or postponed. 

In an exclusive interview with GiveMeSport, Johnny Gargano told Louis Dangoor how injuries have sometimes helped the Gargano and Ciampa storyline, but the NXT star noted that the pair will have another match at some point in the future:

"I don’t know, man. I think they took that ‘you’ve got to fight forever’ thing literally. Like you said, we haven’t been able to finish our story in front of a crowd, in front of a jam-packed crazy TakeOver audience, like we just haven’t been able to do it. Some would say that injuries actually helped our story, because obviously when Tommaso turned on me he went away for a little bit, which made the story go out even longer, which made the first match actually take forever to happen. That actually benefitted us, but lately that did not benefit us. Obviously, TakeOver: New York did not benefit us, and then TakeOver what was supposed to be Tampa did not benefit us. One day, I don’t know when, I don’t know where, I don’t know how, but I think the Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa storyline will end. I’m not saying it’s over now, but it’s on hold for however long."

The last match between Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa took place on NXT TV on April 8, 2020. The match was taped in a cinematic manner due to COVID-19, and Johnny revealed that both he and Tommaso want their feud to properly end with a match in front of fans:

"Definitely, and you said it yourself, I think the story holds a special place in a lot of people’s hearts, and I hit such a cord for a lot people. You mentioned New Orleans, I’ve never seen a crowd atmosphere like that, where he was so universally hated and I was so universally loved. That’s why we were super excited for TakeOver in Tampa, I think the story we were going to be able to tell up to that point would have been pretty wild, obviously that didn’t happen, but I think in both of our minds we’d like to finish the story in the right way."

For the first time in several years, Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa have been on WWE NXT TV for several months together and haven't been involved in matches or segments together.

Speaking about this, Johnny Gargano said that he has enjoyed turning heel and getting to do his own thing away from Ciampa:

"Yeah. I think it was more of a challenge on myself too. You think about me, you think about Tommaso Ciampa, I guess you’d think about Adam Cole too because we were in that trilogy as well, so I’ve also been able to tell stories outside of Tommaso, but I think for me, the big goal when this turn happened was that I was going to be able to show a different side of myself. In that regard, I’m pumped that I was kind of able to show the world a different side of myself, being this new incarnation of me, being this new ‘The Way’ incarnation of me. That’s what I’m most excited for, I’ve been able to take what you knew of Johnny Gargano, the underdog loveable babyface, and kind of turn it upside down and give you something completely new and something completely fresh."

During the interview, Johnny Gargano spoke more about his heel turn last year, explaining that he was very excited at the prospect of showing people a different side to himself, particularly those who suggested he could never not be a babyface:

"I took that as a challenge to myself because I have a big chip on my shoulder. I’m an underdog from Cleveland, Ohio, and I have a big chip on my shoulder, especially for people who say I can only do one thing. Because no, I know I can do more than just being the loveable underdog babyface, because that was my favourite thing I would always get, ‘he’s a great babyface, but what’s his character? I don’t get what his character is’. So when I turned, I was kind of like ‘okay, I’m going to show you that I’m so much more than just a loveable underdog babyface. If you want to see what my character is, I’m going to give you every character in the fricking world now.’ That when you got the Gargano Christmas special, and the Gargano psychiatry stuff. It’s been super fun to go after the people that keep moving the goalposts on me."

In the same interview, Johnny Gargano spoke about finding out Samoa Joe would be returning to WWE NXT last month, which you can read more about by clicking here.

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