WWE COO Triple H reveals that Tommaso Ciampa has forfeited the NXT Championship due to injury. Video courtesy of the award-winning WWE Network.

ORLANDO, Fla – An all-important announcement was promised, and a seismic shift of an announcement was delivered. WWE COO Triple H arrived to Full Sail Live with major news, revealing that due to a neck injury that required surgery, NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa would have to relinquish his title.  

According to The Game, Ciampa was originally set to defend his NXT Championship against Johnny Gargano at TakeOver: New York, following the melee that unfolded at the conclusion of their Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semifinals Match. With The Blackheart now out of action, however, Triple H announced that Gargano’s opponent at TakeOver: New York would be determined later in the night in a Fatal 5-Way Match featuring Ricochet, Adam Cole, Aleister Black, NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream and Matt Riddle.

The winner of the match would go on to face Gargano for the NXT Title in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match at TakeOver: New York.