#5.) Johnny Gargano
In terms of pure character arcs, it’s not gotten a lot better than Johnny Gargano. He started off the year contending for the NXT title and failed. The return of Tommaso Ciampa lit a fire under Gargano, which saw him have a trilogy with his former partner. He won the first bout but lost the subsequent two, the last of which was for the NXT Championship.
Gargano’s obsession with Ciampa drove him into the dark side and he was revealed as Aleister Black‘s attacker, turning heel. His popularity had soared sky-high, but the NXT creative decided to add a new twist, rather than just have a typical babyface story. His stock has risen significantly in 2018 as he reached main event status.
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