The Way

On October 28, 2020 at NXT Halloween Havoc, Johnny Gargano defeated Damian Priest in a Devil’s Playground match to become a two-time NXT North American Champion, and later that same night, Candice LeRae faced Io Shirai for the NXT Women's Championship, during which she was assisted by a masked figure wearing a Ghostface costume, but the figure was fended off by Shotzi Blackheart, ultimately costing LeRae the match. On the November 11 episode of *NXT*, the masked figure was revealed to be Indi Hartwell, who aligned herself with LeRae. On that same night, Gargano dropped the NXT North American Championship to Leon Ruff thanks to Priest's interference, leading to a three-way feud between them. On December 6 at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, another masked figure dressed as Ghostface interfered in Gargano's triple threat match against Ruff and Priest, and assisted Gargano into winning, therefore allowing Gargano to become the first-ever three time NXT North American Champion. After the match, the masked figure revealed himself as Austin Theory.

On the December 9 episode of *NXT*, Gargano, LeRae, Theory, and Hartwell all appeared together and formally named their alliance as "**The Way**". Going into 2021, Gargano and Theory teamed up during the 2021 men's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, while LeRae and Hartwell paired up during the women's counterpart. On the January 20 episode of *NXT*, Gargano and Theory were eliminated in the first round by Kushida and Ruff, although LeRae and Hartwell advanced towards the semi-finals on the February 10 episode of *NXT*, where they were eliminated by Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart.

Gargano's elimination led to a feud between him and Kushida over the championship, and after trading attacks, it was announced that Gargano would defend his championship against Kushida at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day on February 14, where Gargano successfully retained his title. Prior to the match, Theory was abducted by Dexter Lumis, whom Theory had been feuding with at the time due to Theory interfering in Lumis' matches against Gargano. On the following episode of *NXT*, Theory was "found" by Gargano, and Theory seemed relatively okay, albeit extremely positive and cheerful, much to his teammates's confusion and worry. On the February 24 episode of *NXT*, Gargano faced Lumis in a non-title match, and during the match, LeRae urged Theory attack Lumis with a steel chair, but Theory hesitated, leading to Gargano being ultimately defeated. Also during the match, Hartwell seemed to have gained a level of attraction towards Lumis, and remarked in a post-match backstage segment that Lumis was "hot", shocking Gargano and LeRae.

On the May 4, 2021 episode of *NXT*, LeRae and Hartwell would defeat Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart in a street fight to capture the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship, thus marking each woman's first title win in WWE.  On the May 18 episode of *NXT*, Gargano lost the North American Championship to Bronson Reed in a steel cage match. At The Great American Bash, LeRae and Hartwell lost the titles to Io Shirai and Zoey Stark following a distraction from a returning Tegan Nox.

On the August 3 episode of *NXT*, Gargano competed in a Love Her or Lose her match with Dexter Lumis for Indi Hartwell. Hartwell came out to ringside before Gargano pinned Lumis. As The Way were walking to the backstage area, Hartwell ran back to the ring and pounced on Lumis despite the stipulation. The storyline would result in a wedding between Hartwell and Lumis being held on the September 14 episode of *NXT 2.0*. Lumis joined The Way during this process.

Following the wedding, The Way would slowly begin to drift apart. Theory would be drafted to *Raw* during the 2021 WWE Draft and LeRae went on maternity leave. The Way's final appearance was on the December 7 episode of *NXT 2.0*, in which Gargano, Hartwell and Lumis embraced in a backstage segment. Later that night, Gargano cut a farewell promo, marking his last appearance in *NXT* as his contract would expire three days later.

On the August 8, 2022 episode of *Raw*, Lumis returned to WWE, and Gargano made his unannounced return two weeks later. Lumis appeared on the August 23 episode of *NXT* and reunited with Hartwell. On the September 26 episode of *Raw*, LeRae returned to WWE, defeating Nikki A.S.H..

On the March 13, 2023 episode of *Raw*, Gargano and Lumis, accompanied by LeRae, lost to The Judgment Day (Dominik Mysterio and Damian Priest) in a tag team match. At NXT Stand and Deliver, following Gargano's final *NXT* match, Hartwell and Lumis joined Gargano and LeRae on stage to celebrate Gargano's victory over Grayson Waller and Hartwell's NXT Women's Championship victory.  On the May 8 episode on *Raw*, following Hartwell's draft selection to *Raw*, Gargano, LeRae, Hartwell and Lumis appeared in a backstage segment with Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville.