PWInsider - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

JOHNNY GARGANO DISCUSSES DECLARING HIS LOYALTY TO WWE NXT, WORKING WITH SHAWN MICHAELS, TOMMASO CIAMPA'S RETURN, ADVICE TO THOSE TRYING TO MAKE IT AND MORE

The following interview was conducted the morning of 10/2 at the WWE Performance Center.

Mike Johnson: We are here at the performance center with Johnny Gargano. Sir, how are you doing?

Johnny Gargano: I'm fantastic, man. Long way away from our old Rahway Rec Center days.

Mike Johnson: Exactly!  So important couple of years for you here WWE... And recently you made the declaration you are NXT, you're not going anywhere.

Johnny Gargano: Yep.

Mike Johnson: Was that declaration something that you wanted to make before you knew the USA Network stuff was coming? The goal of everybody, the assumption is, to get to Raw SmackDown and get that spotlight. Talk about wanting to be part of this, and whether that... Because you were Raw and SmackDown briefly, and that process of returning to NXT and the decision making process to stay here, and how do you feel about it now that the USA Network deal has come together?

Johnny Gargano: Yeah, you said it yourself. Every little kid's dream is to be on Raw and SmackDown. It was my dream, too. But dreams change, goals change. I love this place, and I've said that time and time again, and it sounds like it's such a corporate answer, but it's just true. I love everything about NXT. Everything about NXT is what made me want to be a professional wrestler, and I just found that here and it wasn't something I wanted to give up. Like you said, I was on Raw and SmackDown, I got a little taste of that, but that was never a permanent thing. That was never like, "Oh, there I am now." It was a little taste. But I thought there was so much left for me to do here in NXT, there was so much unfinished business. I hadn't won the NXT championship yet, and for me that was always my goal.  The minute I stepped in this building, I was like, "I want to be the NXT champion," because that's the unattainable goal. And I saw that and I was like, "Okay, well I was told no at my tryout, I was told I'd never be here. Well I'm going to be on the face of this company and do whatever I can to take it to places it's never seen before." Because I believe in myself as a performer, and for me, I had a feeling the USA Network thing was coming.   I think we all had an idea that maybe NXT would be getting TV eventually, because it has been in the works for a very, very long time. And I didn't want to leave when I felt... Like I built this place up. So I gave my heart to this place, and I felt like it was on the cusp of reaching that next level. And I was like, "I'm going to leave right when we're on the cusp? I'm going to Raw and SmackDown right when we're on the cusp?"  I've done so many interviews now where I've said, "NXT is the main roster. It's Raw, SmackDown, and NXT." How does that look for me to say, "You know what? I'm going to abandon NXT, I'm going to go over to Raw and SmackDown now." For me, it did not feel right to abandon this place, to leave this place, and I wanted to change the perception of NXT. I don't want people to look at NXT and see our performers and say like, "Okay, that's him now, he's only like that for a little bit, but when he gets up to Raw and SmackDown, he's going to be whatever, we're going to totally change him so I'm not going to get invested in him."  No. I want you to watch NXT, and watch these characters change in NXT and grow in NXT, and watch these long term stories in NXT. I wanted to change the fact that you look at someone and say, "That guy's going to get called up soon." No, like no. You look at them and you say, "That's one of my favorite wrestlers in NXT, my favorite wrestlers in the world and he's not going anywhere." I think that's a cool thing now.

Mike Johnson: You mentioned not getting signed to your tryout.

Johnny Gargano: Yes.

Mike Johnson: And basically forcing your way through the doors and getting signed and becoming a top talent here. Very similar beats to your story with Evolve, where you were just a try out match in the dark match, the first Dragon Gate USA show. What's your advice to people, especially wrestlers who are still on that realm, the independent scene? Even though it's changed quite a bit even from when you were on there, who get discouraged and say, "Oh, well maybe I don't want to do this. My dream isn't obtainable." You are the perfect storm-

Johnny Gargano: I am. I am.

Mike Johnson: Of the door slammed in your face and it takes a while but you still kick it in. You end up becoming everything that they said you would not be. So what's your advice to people who have been the ones with the doors currently slammed in their face?

Johnny Gargano: Yeah, I accepted a long, long time ago that I'm never going to be the guy you look at and you say, "That's the guy. That's him." I'm never going to walk in a room and you'd be like, "That's the top guy right there. That's who we got to put our money behind." I will never be that guy. I am always the second choice. I am always the third choice, fourth choice, fifth choice. I'm always the last ditch effort. But when I get that opportunity and when you open that door a little bit for me, I'm going to kick that door in. And I've accepted that's just who I am.  Like I said, that was my story in Evolve. That's my story throughout my whole life, honestly. People told me I never even be a professional wrestler and I said, "You know what? I am. I'm going to do whatever I can." And that just comes down to working hard and I believe just trying to be a good person, just be a good human because I think that does matter in this industry. My advice, because I go back to EVOLVE now and I help out. I want to do the meet and greets and stuff in different towns. I actually help Gabe and I get to produce matches and help out new talents who maybe don't have that chance to work with a top indie guy because a lot of us are gone now or a lot of us in different places or we're not working indies anymore.  So to be able to go back to EVOLVE and help like a Josh Briggs, to help an Austin Theory before he was here... I mean I help him here now but to help an Anthony Green, to help a Brandy Lauren, to help them try to find themselves, I think that is the coolest thing that I'm able to do now. My advice to all of them is just never lose that inner wrestling fan. Never lose that passion. Because things get tough. Things get hard. But you've always got to remember why you started doing this. You always got to remember who you are. Because the minute you start looking at it as "I'm a wrestler now. I'm not a Mark. I'm not this, I'm not that." You got to always remember the wrestling fan in you and also just stay the course. Honestly stay the course. Because like you said, I'm living proof. If you work hard enough for long enough, good things will happen.

Mike Johnson: You mentioned always keeping the wrestling fan inside of you. There was a time period you were doing YouTube videos with Shawn Michaels painting behind you. And I remember being at a signing with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels-

Johnny Gargano: I was there.

Mike Johnson: You were in the crowd just like anybody else. You weren't like, "Oh, I'm Johnny Gargano from here." You just waited your time. Now you get to work with Shawn Michaels as a producer, as a coach. How weird is that to you as the kid growing up?

Johnny Gargano: It's weird but it's not weird anymore. It was super weird originally. I remember the first time we saw, me and Tommaso when we first started here, saw Shawn walking around the performance center and we opened a door and he was there and we ran away. Because we were like, "Oh no, we don't want to talk to him." But now we text him and we see him all the time and it's so crazy that basically D-Generation X is helping and running my career now. And I think the best thing about them, the thing that makes them special, is they let talented people be talented. They don't take the talent out of people, they just enhance that talent. And their mind works on a different level. They're so good at what they do. And for me as that little kid who used to dress and dance like Shawn Michaels, who was painted on my wall, to walk in and see that guy every day and have him help me with my wrestling matches. It's literally the best case scenario of my life. It's literally a dream come true.

Johnny Gargano: And like I said, everything happens for a reason. I think I came to NXT at this time for a reason. NXT's going to USA Network at this time for a reason and I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Mike Johnson: In the annals of pro wrestling, there's great rivalries. Dusty and Flair, Savage and Hogan. For NXT, I think a lot of people always look at it as Johnny Gargano against Tommaso Ciampa and that'll always be this long intertwining road. Obviously he's almost there, ready to come back. How excited are you about rekindling that relationship, that rivalry, on screen with a much larger seven figure audience watching it.

Johnny Gargano: A much larger audience. Yeah, I know. It's nuts man. Like I said, this is what me and Tommaso dreamed of a long, long time ago. Because not only was I told no on my tryout, Tommaso was also told no at his tryout. We were told no together. We were sharing a hotel room that whole tryout loop. We teamed together. We wrestled each other on that tryout thing. We were brought to the Dusty Classic without contracts together. We've been through this whole story together. We kicked that door in together. And like you said ,now like I think there is no worries anymore of "Oh, Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa are great in NXT. What's going to happen when they go up? I don't know. I'm not going to get emotionally invested because I don't know what's going to happen." I think now NXT as a standalone product, it can be such a longer based story now that we can tell because there isn't a concern of "They're going to pluck them away and they're gone now." We're here. I'm telling you, I'm in an NXT for the long haul. I will make that statement. I've made it on TV. I'll make it forever. I'm NXT for life or as long as they'll have me I guess. But yeah, now to be able to tell a longer term story with Tommaso...

Johnny Gargano: Because I think it's the same thing with Triple H and Shawn Michaels. Whenever they're around each other, whenever they're against each other or teaming together or working together, it's just magic. There's something special about it. And I think there is very much so that with me and Tommaso. Whether we're teaming together, we're rivals, we're working together in different facets, I think there's just magic there.

Mike Johnson: All right. Any final words to everyone who's about to experience NXT on a much larger scale?

Johnny Gargano: Just enjoy it. We're unlike anything else. And as a wrestling fan, I mentioned that earlier, the inner wrestling fan in me, just enjoy it. It doesn't matter who you support. It doesn't matter what you support. Just enjoy this time because it is an awesome time. I remember the 90s. I remember how hot wrestling was. I want to be a part of that. We have the power now. Let's make this the hottest thing going. Let's make this the hottest time in professional wrestling. And I want to tell my grandkids about 10/2/19 one day. Okay? So let's make this cool.

Mike Johnson: All right, Johnny. Continued success. We'll see you down the road. Thank you for your time.

Johnny Gargano: Thanks, Mike. Thank you. 

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!

• Tweet