Giovanni Vinci has arrived in WWE NXT 2.0.
Tonight’s NXT episode saw the former Fabian Aichner re-debut as Vinci. He defeated Guru Raaj after dominating most of the match.
Vinci made his entrance to the ring and stopped at various points for snapshots as he smiled. He ended up defeating Raaj with a big sitdown powerbomb in the middle of the ring for the pin.
While Aichner of Imperium was all business and rarely cracked a smile, the new Vinci character likes to flash his pearly whites, but gets just as serious as Aichner when it’s time. Giovanni can now be found on Twitter at @VinciWWE.
It’s interesting to note that WWE has previously used “Veni Vidi Vici” but they’re also now using “Veni Vidi Vinci” as the catchphrase for Giovanni. The actual phrase, widely attributed to Julius Caesar, is “Veni, Vidi, Vici” and that is Latin for “I came, I saw, I conquered.”
As seen below, McKenzie Mitchell spoke with Vinci in a post-show interview. She congratulated him on the successful win and asked him how he was feeling.
“I feel fantastic,” Vinci answered. “Honestly, I’m happy to be in NXT 2.0, but let’s be honest, NXT was in a desperate need for some style, and I’m the one to bring it. Now every body watching is going to try and get to my level, and they never will, of course, but the point is – I’m in a league of my own, and everybody that saw Giovanni Vinci tonight is gonna have no choice but to admit that. Veni Vidi Vinci!”
WWE began airing the “Veni Vidi Vici” vignettes for the new Vinci character back on May 24. WWE has touted how Vinci “embodies style, class and athleticism, and he plans to bring those aspects to NXT 2.0.” WWE also pushed Vinci by saying NXT will never be the same once he arrives.
Aichner’s status had been up in the air ever since Imperium split back in early April. The NXT Stand & Deliver event on April 2 saw Aichner and Marcel Barthel lose the NXT Tag Team Titles to MSK. Then on the April 5 NXT TV show, Aichner and Barthel came up short against current NXT Tag Team Champions The Creed Brothers with Aichner walking out on the match. WWE then did away with the Imperium stable as new WWE Intercontinental Champion Gunther and Barthel, now known as Ludwig Kaiser, were brought to the main roster on the April 8 SmackDown show. They have been on the blue brand since then, and there’s been no sign of Aichner until the vignettes began airing.
WWE recently started doing away with most real names, and Aichner has used his real name since coming to the company, until now. Aichner began working with WWE in June 2016 for the Cruiserweight Classic tournament. He was signed to a contract in June 2017, and has held the NXT Tag Team Titles on two occasions with Kaiser.
There’s no word yet on what WWE has planned for Vinci moving forward, but he will not be in action on next week’s taped episode.
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more. Below are related photos and clips from Vince’s debut:
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