[Journey's End, a thread about War Games and DIY]
It's been clear for the last few weeks that War Games was going to be an important moment for @NXTCiampa and @JohnnyGargano, AKA DIY, one of the very best black-and-gold tag teams and rivalries.
And it's not just that there was a moment when they did their old tag team finisher, Meet in the Middle. So many other themes from across their five-year (!!) story came full circle at War Games.
Tommaso originally turned on Johnny in 2017 out of fury and fear that Johnny might replace him when he was out injured. The "this is my moment" line got repeated in every variation by both of them, thrown back and forth...
...Coming to rest at last with Tommaso's final version of it, handing the moment he stole back to Johnny just before the War Games match.
After his turn on Johnny, Tommaso went out with a knee injury, only to eventually come back in spectacular fashion, clubbing Johnny from behind with his crutch--for the first but far from only time...
...Finally finishing up with Johnny saving Tommaso with a crutch, and a wry acknowledgement of the past, putting it to rest.
And at the end of War Games, Johnny sees Tommaso getting ready to attack, and chooses to grab Hayes and hold him in place so Tommaso can strike. Which is an echo of their very first singles match in 2016, in the Cruiserweight Classic, just as they started to be a tag team.
That match ended when Tommaso couldn't bring himself to deliver that knee-strike to his dazed friend. Johnny won the match, but that moment of mercy cemented their partnership.
This time Johnny chooses to take the knee Tommaso spared him from way back in 2016, and it all comes full circle at the end, with Johnny sacrificing for friendship just like Tommaso did then.
In a time where youth and ambition didn't have the edge, maybe that would have given them the victory. But Candice reminds us that one thing that's more precious and more rare than victories in wrestling, is the chance at closure.
It's always about the journey.
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