Johnny Gargano Might Complete Six-Month Story Arc At WWE Elimination Chamber

Former "WWE NXT" Champion Johnny Gargano will be competing at the Elimination Chamber event in the men's Elimination Chamber match for the United States Championship. Gargano tweeted out explaining why this potential victory would hold major significance for him. "There's something poetic about the fact that I returned to WWE in Canada and spoke about becoming the US Champion and was interrupted by an old friend.. 6 months later, I have my first chance at the United States Title.. in Canada.. and the Champion is that same old friend."

Gargano returned to WWE in August 2022 following Triple H rising to power as Chief Content Officer — a man that he spent many years under in "NXT." In his first night back with the company, he was interrupted by current United States Champion and former stablemate Austin Theory, who Gargano superkicked to end the segment. Since his reemergence, Gargano has yet to get his hands on championship gold, with Elimination Chamber on February 18 representing his first title opportunity.

In order to obtain victory, Gargano will have to outlast five other men, with Theory being one of those five. The other competitors in the match are Seth Rollins, Damian Priest, Montez Ford, and Bronson Reed — with Gargano losing the North American Championship in "NXT" to the latter. The Triple Crown Champion has not faced off against Rollins or Ford in singles action to this point, however, he had battles with Priest in "NXT" over the North American title. Gargano received this opportunity following a victory over Baron Corbin on the January 30 edition of "WWE Raw."