6 WWE stars who wrestled at Halftime Heat in 2019 - Where are they now?
WWE revived the Halftime Heat match-up in 2019 when Triple H brought six of the top stars from WWE NXT and pitted them against each other. This six-man tag team action took place two decades after the iconic Empty Arena match featuring then-top champion The Rock against Mankind (Mick Foley).
WWE’s attempt to counterprogram the Super Bowl Halftime Show with their own dose of action and entertainment in 1999 drew a massive 6.6 rating on a Sunday night. The NXT special in 2019 also saw significant success with three million viewers tuning into WWE’s social channels to catch Aleister Black, Ricochet and Velveteen Dream take on Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole.
The match lasted for 16 minutes and 15 seconds and featured great back-and-forth action between the six participants. The trio of Black, Ricochet and Dream would pick up the win following a Purple Rainmaker on Cole.
Let’s take a look at what each of these men is doing five years into Halftime Heat 2019:
#6. Adam Cole went on to sign with AEW
Adam Cole would enter into a feud with Johnny Gargano for the vacant NXT Championship in the lead-up to NXT TakeOver: New York, losing to The Rebel Heart in their critically-acclaimed 2-out-of-3 Falls Match at the April 5 event. Cole would eventually then claim the title at NXT TakeOver XXV, kicking off a historic run.
He’d part ways with WWE in 2021 to rejoin former Bullet Club stable mates Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks in AEW. Cole would spend the next two years in singles and tag team feuds before forming an alliance with then-world champion MJF. The pair main evented the first All In pay-per-view event in London, where MFJ retained his title.
At Worlds End 2023, Cole would confront MJF after he dropped the title to Samoa Joe. The former ROH World Tag Team Champion would reveal himself to be The Devil, with Mike Bennett, Matt Taven, Roderick Strong, and Wardlow as his henchmen, in the process.
#5. Johnny Gargano left and came back to WWE
Much like Adam Cole before him, Johnn Gargano’s path in NXT would see him win both the NXT and North American Championships. The Rebel Heart would leave WWE to focus on his family before returning to the company under the Triple H regime.
Gargano would reform DIY with Tommaso Ciampa during an angle with Imperium on the October 2, 2023, episode of WWE RAW. The duo would work all their way to the finals of the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Contenders Series before losing the opportunity to Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne.
#4. Tommaso Ciampa found his path to the main roster
Unlike Johnny Gargano, who left WWE to raise his new family, Ciampa was heavily involved in NXT’s transition to NXT 2.0. The former multi-time champion would pass the torch to Bron Breakker before showing up on the main roster as an ally to The Miz.
After briefly aligning with The A-Lister, Ciampa would carve his own path through matches against the likes of Bobby Lashley, Bronson Reed, and Shinsuke Nakamura. He would eventually reunite with Gargano amid their quest for tag team title glory.
#3. Ricochet thrived as a singles star in WWE
Ricochet would move to the main roster alongside Aleister Black following a solid stint in Triple H’s NXT. The duo briefly competed as a tag team before eventually going their separate ways, with The One and Only claiming the Intercontinental Championship for himself.
Ricochet would also team up with former Universal Champion Bron Strowman. Together, they’d compete for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship against The Usos, but failed to win the belt. Ricochet's 2023 highlight would include a major program with Logan Paul.
#2. Aliester Black became a major player in Tony Khan's promotion
Alesiter Black was on the winning team at Halftime Heat 2019. The former NXT Champion would move to the main roster with Ricochet. They’d briefly tag before going their separate ways, with Black finding himself in a feud with Buddy Murphy.
After an underwhelming stint on the main roster, Aleister Black would be released as part of WWE’s budget cuts during the pandemic. He then showed up in AEW to form his own faction, the House of Black, alongside Brody King, Buddy Matthews, and Julia Hart.
#1. Velveteen Dream was embroiled in a series of controversies
Of all the men who worked WWE Halftime Heat 2019, Velveteen Dream walked down the most unexpected path. Once touted as the next breakout star, the real-life Patrick Clark Jr. found himself embroiled in a series of allegations. Though he’d be proven innocent following an internal investigation, the former NXT North American Champion was ultimately cut from the roster on May 20, 2021.
In January 2024, Clark dropped a five-minute apology video on his Instagram wherein he offered a sincere apology to Triple H, Shawn Michaels, former Hit Row member Ashante Adonis, his own friends and family, as well as the WWE Universe. In a follow-up interview with Chris Van Vliet, Clark discussed his time in the company up to his release as well as his past issues with EC3.