Johnny Gargano finally got to his feet on WWE SmackDown on September 4 after CM Punk offered him a WWE Championship match. The move ended a months-long backstage bit that had kept Gargano down while other wrestlers kept trying to get him up.
September 4 backstage
Nick Aldis spoke with CM Punk backstage about the next challenger for his WWE Championship before Punk found Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae in the same area. Punk then offered Gargano a title match, placing the offer inside the championship chase rather than treating it like a separate segment.
Gargano initially did not get up. Punk followed with a simple line — “at least he tried” — and the camera shifted back to Gargano, who was now standing up. That sequence turned a running physical gag into the night’s actual match setup.
WWE Championship match TONIGHT
WWE later posted, “For the Undisputed WWE Championship TONIGHT on #SmackDown!” The wording made the next step immediate: the offer became a title match for later that night, not a promise for a future show.
Several months of lying backstage had been the background to this payoff, and the long delay made the stand-up itself the point. For readers tracking the championship picture, the practical update is simple: Gargano moved from being a body on the floor to being in the Undisputed WWE Championship conversation in one night.
The only open question left in the setup is the result of CM Punk and Johnny Gargano for the title later that night. Gargano has already done the part that mattered most to the story’s structure: he got up when the offer finally landed.
