against Black, Gargano reunited with his former tag-team partner as they raised their belts in unison on stage as the show went off air. The following night, he would make his first main roster appearance at the Royal Rumble event, entering at number 6 in the Royal Rumble match, in which he lasted over 13 minutes and eliminated Jinder Mahal before getting eliminated by Dean Ambrose. On the February 20 episode of NXT, Gargano lost the NXT North American Championship to Velveteen Dream. NXT Champion (2019–2020) Gargano made his main roster debut on the February 18, 2019 episode of Raw, where he and Ciampa defeated former rivals Raw Tag Team Champions The Revival in a non-title match. The next night on their SmackDown debut, Gargano and Ciampa defeated The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus). On the March 13 episode of NXT, after Gargano and Ciampa were eliminated from the Dusty Rhodes Classic, Ciampa attempted to attack Gargano, similar to his original betrayal at TakeOver: Chicago two years prior, before Gargano reversed it and attacked him, thus turning face. On the March 20 episode of NXT, it was revealed by Triple H that Gargano and Ciampa were to compete at NXT TakeOver: New York for the NXT Championship, but due to Ciampa needing real-life neck surgery, he was removed from the match and forced to vacate the title; therefore, it was announced that Gargano would still be in the match for the now vacant title, and his opponent would be Adam Cole, who won a fatal five-way match later that night to earn the right to replace Ciampa. At the event on April 5, Gargano defeated Cole in a two-out-of-three falls match to win the NXT Championship for the first time in his career, which also made him the first ever NXT Triple Crown Champion. At the end of the show, Ciampa came out to celebrate Gargano's successful title win with Candice LeRae as well. The match between Gargano and Cole was rated five and a half stars by Dave Meltzer, making it the first WWE match to break the five-star rating and Gargano's third five-star rated match overall. On the April 17 episode of NXT, Gargano was celebrating his championship victory until he was confronted and attacked by The Undisputed Era. A rematch was scheduled between Gargano and Cole to take place at NXT TakeOver XXV on June 1, where Gargano