In his first match he competed in the AIW Gauntlet For The Gold Battle Royal on December 11, 2005, which was won by Michael Hutter.
Gargano made his professional wrestling debut for CAPW in 2005. Professional wrestling career Early career and tryouts Gargano cites Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho and Johnny Saint as his role models.
At age 16, Gargano began training at the Cleveland All Pro Training Center under J.T. Edward High School, Gargano decided to enter CAPW's professional wrestling school in order to become a professional wrestler. Lightning, who ran shows behind Gargano's father's catering business, allowed him to roll around in the ring. He entered a professional wrestling ring for the first time at age eight, when Cleveland All–Pro Wrestling (CAPW) owner J.T. His mother is of Polish descent and his father, a restaurateur is of Italian descent. Johnny Gargano was born and raised in the Cleveland suburb of Lakewood, Ohio to Adrianne ( née Klasinski) and Francis Gargano.
He formed a tag team, #DIY, with Tommaso Ciampa, and held the NXT Tag Team Championship once. Afterwards, he began appearing regularly for NXT, eventually signing a contract in April 2016. During his independent days, Gargano also made appearances for national promotions Ring of Honor (ROH) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).Īfter making sporadic appearances for WWE early in his career, Gargano took part in the company's tryout camp in June 2015. Titles Gargano held include the Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas, the Evolve Tag Team Championship and DGUSA's Open the Freedom Gate Championship, which he held twice with his first reign lasting a record 873 days. Over the following years, Gargano worked for some of the top promotions on the American independent circuit, including Chikara, Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA), Evolve and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). Gargano started his professional wrestling career in 2005, working for the Cleveland All–Pro Wrestling (CAPW) promotion. He is the first ever NXT Triple Crown Winner, a former NXT Champion, a record three-time NXT North American Champion, and a former NXT Tag Team Champion.
He is currently signed to WWE performing on the NXT brand under the ring name Johnny Gargano. John Anthony Nicholas Gargano (born August 14, 1987) is an American professional wrestler.