All NXT: Kudos to Johnny Gargano

12:17 pm September 7, 2015

All NXT: Kudos to Johnny Gargano

I will jump right into this… I've been a Gargano guy since day one. He was one of the guys to train me to be a professional wrestler. He is one of my first friends in the business, and one of the first to believe in me. And this week, you will see him on WWE's NXT.

I will admit, I had a different topic to discuss about. But after seeing Gargano appear on NXT, I had to comment on it (plus, I've never seen him rock a suit on TV!) But seeing him addressed as Johnny Gargano on WWE TV was pretty damn cool. Hell, he could've had another run as Cedric von Hausen and I would've been happy (look it up on YouTube!). But seeing him as he is (without any other gimmicks attached) proved of how hard he has worked to that appearance.

I met Gargano shortly after I started training at J.T. Lightning's Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling school. He had started to become more hands on with helping the students, as J.T. was getting burned out from the stresses of his promotion. Even though I was out of shape (and would be for a long while), Johnny always put over my athleticism that I never knew existed. After a show in Cleveland, he remarked about my running splash, saying I should do it more (it's been my finisher ever since). Guys like him and Gregory Iron helped me become the guy that I am.

Johnny and I have also shared a lot of heart to heart talks. He likes to joke around, but I know he's a caring human being. I've seen him with tears in the hospital the day Iron had the concussion that nearly killed him (he won't admit it, but he did). He's also incredibly resilient. House of Hardcore commentator Vic Travagilante and I visited him after a back injury in Philadelphia made him bed-ridden. I know he was feeling a lot of negative emotions, but he still was in good spirits when all of us hung out. Plus, we ate steaks at a popular steakhouse, so you can't be in a bad mood after that!

Gargano and I also took part in a couple WWE Extra segments. Our first was when we did the pull apart for Daniel Bryan and Michael Cole in the midst of their NXT feud. There is a part where Daniel Bryan gets dragged out of the ring, but not before running and jumping back on Cole. Gargano wisely stays in until this happens. Meanwhile, I'm trying to chase him (and not having good luck in catching him). All of the extras got a standing ovation in the gorilla after the segment, which I was glad we shared that moment. The second time (during a Matt Hardy/Drew McIntyre segment) was less dramatic, but still a blast nonetheless (although my attempt to get him to laugh on TV were not successful).

Most importantly, Gargano has worked his ass off to get to where he is today. Every time I stayed over at his house, we'd watch HOURS of wrestling. He's always thinking and studying on ways to improve. He has some of the best art for T-Shirt's I've seen on any wrestler. His work in the ring speaks for itself. If you get the attention of guys like Chris Jericho, Jeff Jarrett, and William Regal, you're damn good. We'd always hear of guys within Ohio that were unhappy with Gargano because he was working outside the state. In this business, you have to reach your skills far and wide. Gargano reached his all the way to the mecca of Pro Wrestling, WWE.

Congratulations, my friend. I'm proud of you.

This week, catch me in action at: