American professional wrestler From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jonathan Anthony Nicholas "Johnny" Gargano[7] (born August 14, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. He works for WWE and wrestles on the SmackDown brand. Before working on the main roster, he wrestled on NXT. He was the first-ever NXT Triple Crown winner. Gargano won the NXT Championship once, the NXT North American Championship three times and the NXT Tag Team Championship once with Tommaso Ciampa. He was nicknamed "The Heart and Soul of NXT".
Johnny Gargano | |
---|---|
Birth name | John Anthony Nicholas Gargano |
Born | Lakewood, Ohio, U.S. | August 14, 1987
Spouse(s) |
Candice LeRae (m. 2016) |
Children | 1 |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Cedrick Von Haussen[1][2] Joey Gray[3] Johnny Gargano[4] |
Billed height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)[5][4] |
Billed weight | 199 lb (90 kg)[4] |
Billed from | Cleveland, Ohio[5][4] The Land of Cleve, Ohio[6] Schaan, Liechtenstein[1][2] |
Trained by | Josh Prohibition[6] J.T. Lightning[5][6] |
Debut | 2005[1] |
Gargano started his professional wrestling career in 2005 with the Cleveland All–Pro Wrestling (CAPW) promotion. He later worked for some of the top promotions on the American independent circuit. These include the promotions Chikara, Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA), Evolve and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). Titles Gargano has held include the Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas, the Evolve Tag Team Championship and DGUSA's Open the Freedom Gate Championship. He held the Freedom Gate Championship two times. His first time as champion lasted a record 873 days. Gargano also made appearances for national promotions Ring of Honor (ROH) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
Gargano made some appearances for WWE early in his career. In June 2015, he took part in the company's tryout camp. After that, he began appearing regularly for NXT. He signed a contract with the company in April 2016 and formed a tag team called #DIY with Tommaso Ciampa. They held the NXT Tag Team Championship once. The team later ended and they often fought each other. In January 2019, Gargano won the NXT North American Championship. He won the NXT Championship in April the same year. In 2020, Gargano won the NXT North American Championship for a second time. He later won it for a third time. He is the first person to win it more than once. He left WWE after his contract ended in December 2021, but returned in August 2022. He and Ciampa reformed #DIY in October 2023.[8] In July 2024, they became WWE Tag Team Champions.[9]
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