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‘NXT TakeOver: Chicago’ Championship Match In Jeopardy Due To Injury At Live Event

By Chris Featherstone
Published on: 16:12 PST, May 18, 2017

In the most unfortunate timing, there has been an injury during a live event just two days before the NXT TakeOver: Chicago event. At the NXT live event Thursday evening at the BB&T Arena in Highland Heights, Kentucky, DIY faced SAnitY. According to a live report from StillRealToUs, DIY member Tommaso Ciampa reacted to the fans chanting “Dive!,” which stemmed from the Twitter war which involved Rip Rogers, Bully Ray, Randy Orton, Will Ospreay, and more.

The gist of the argument stemmed from Rogers co-signing on an explanation of what a typical indie wrestling show consists of. This was also co-signed by WWE Champion Randy Orton, which made Bully Ray chime in with a picture stating, “Dive.” Orton took Bully’s tweet out of context, and Bully called him out on it. Will Ospreay chimed in by stating that he is getting paid by his type of work, with Rogers responding that it is okay, and he used to do “stupid [stuff]” when he was his age.

In a spot that he has most likely done hundreds of times before, Ciampa went for what seemed like a flying knee strike, when he landed wrong. The referee and officials throw up the “X” sign, forcing the match to be stopped. Another live audience member stated that it appeared as if he suffered a torn or pulled muscle, as he was legitimately limping to the back. Another report stated that it could have been an ankle injury.

Based on a picture taken at the event, Ciampa looked to put no weight on his left ankle, which could be a very bad sign of what could be diagnosed for the former NXT Tag Team Champion.

This comes just two days before Ciampa and Gargano’s quest to become tag team champions again. At NXT TakeOver: Chicago, DIY is scheduled to compete against the Authors of Pain in a ladder match. If DIY could defeat the Authors of Pain, the team would put themselves in a category only shared by The Revival as two-time NXT Tag Team Champions.

In 2016, the team of Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano brought a unique level of excitement to the tag team division in NXT. Feuding with both The Revival and the Authors of Pain, DIY brought back the lost element of the underdog pure babyfaces who feed of the crowd to triumph over their foes. As a result, the team has an opportunity to be only the second-ever two-time champs in company history.

For WWE/NXT, the biggest hope is that Ciampa only suffered a minor issue, which would allow him to compete in Chicago on Saturday. On the other hand, a prognosis could come back of Ciampa suffering a injury that would force him out of action for a longer period of time. If so, the card would have to be modified once again due to injury, as Ember Moon also was forced out of her spot about getting hurt.

[Image by WWE]

Surely, WWE is scrambling to find alternatives since the event is just two days away. Although there are other babyface teams who could replace DIY, such as Heavy Machinery, it would be interesting if a ladder match would stay in tact if Ciampa is unable to compete. Another scenario could be that Gargano gets a replacement partner, who could be a suitable fit for the ladder match concept.

Whatever the situation may be, the unanimous hope is that Ciampa is able to quickly recover from this spot, and perhaps consider what actions to take in the future that could prevent injuries of that form. Moreover, although he wants to compete on Saturday, he must make sure that it will not further hurt his injury.

[Featured Image by WWE]

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