entered the 2011 King of Trios, defeating Team Australia (Kabel, Percy T and Tama Williams) in their first round match. [13], On March 23, 2007, Gargano appeared as the "Champion of Liechtenstein", Cedrick Von Haussen, on an episode of World Wrestling Entertainment's television program SmackDown!, losing to Montel Vontavious Porter. They defeated The Revival in a rematch on the January 11, 2017 episode of NXT to retain the titles, but were attacked by The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar) afterwards. John Anthony Nicholas Johnny Gargano is an American professional wrestler who performs primarily in the Absolute Intense Wrestling Dragon Gate USA Evolve Wrestling and Prime Wrestling … [25] On June 27 Gargano defeated Facade, Sterling James Keenan and Tommy Mercer in a four-way match to win AIW's top singles title, the vacant AIW Absolute Championship, for the first time. Gargano made his professional wrestling debut for CAPW in 2005. The match between Gargano and Cole was rated five and a half stars by Dave Meltzer, making it the first WWE match to break the five-star rating and Gargano's third five-star rated match overall. 2005. He is American by natinoanliy. On October 28 at NXT: Halloween Havoc, Gargano defeated Damian Priest in a Devil’s Playground match to become the first-ever two-time NXT North American Champion. [24] He would go on to lose the title to Josh Prohibition on May 15, 2009. [89] Following the match, Gargano had to be helped backstage and rushed to a hospital with an apparent back injury. [147], In June 2015, Gargano took part in a WWE tryout camp,[148] and also wrestled at the June 18 NXT tapings, losing to Uhaa Nation. [42] On August 29, the final night of the tournament, Gargano defeated 29 other men to win The Countdown Showdown match and earn a "Golden Opportunity". [52] While Gargano was sidelined with a back injury, Icarus replaced him and together with Chuck Taylor successfully defended the Campeonatos de Parejas on February 25, 2012, against the Spectral Envoy (Hallowicked and UltraMantis Black), before losing the title to 3.0 on March 24. Gargano faced Almas for the NXT Championship again on the February 21 episode of NXT, where Gargano failed to win the title after interference from Tommaso Ciampa, thus forcing him to (kayfabe) leave NXT. champion, two losses for Roderick Strong", "5/30 Evolve 43 iPPV results: Drew Galloway vs. Biff Busick for the DGUSA Open The Freedom Gate Championship, titles retired, Davey Richards vs. Caleb Konley, Chris Hero vs. Trevor Lee", "Show results – Evolve 47 iPPV in Queens, N.Y.: Thatcher vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. for Evolve Title, big turn, more", "10/17 Evolve 49 Results – Zayn, Gargano, more", "Complete Evolve 55 iPPV report: first Evolve tag champions crowned, Style Battle concludes, who is the next challenger for Timothy Thatcher? [188] He then revealed on the December 9 episode of NXT that he had formed a villainous faction with LeRae, Indi Hartwell and Austin Theory called The Way. [22][23] Gargano held the title for 187 days before he was stripped of it due to an injury on November 28, 2008. During his feud, his character began a darker turn, becoming more unstable, showing a more aggressive style and using a spike DDT to defeat EC3 on the July 4 episode of NXT, similar to the one that Ciampa pinned him with at TakeOver Chicago II. They received their rematch on the March 1 episode of NXT, which ended in a no contest after The Revival interfered and attacked both teams. The stars of NXT delivered at TakeOver: Vengeance Day, using the show as a table setter for storylines with Finn Balor, Kushida, Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez, and MSK. 1 Contender's battle, Bayley & Carmella join forces", "3/23 WWE NXT Results – James's Report on Asuka vs. Emma, NXT Champ in action, Takeover hype", "Report – NXT regulars Ciampa & Gargano sign WWE deals", "WWE Cruiserweight Classic round one spoilers: Sabre Jr, Swann, Gargano, Ibushi, more! [108] Having now held the Open the Freedom Gate Championship for two years,[109] Gargano made his eighteenth successful title defense on November 17 against Chris Hero, who was making his Dragon Gate USA debut following his release from WWE. [62], Gargano returned to Chikara on September 2, 2016, entering the 2016 King of Trios tournament as part of Team #CWC, alongside Cedric Alexander and Drew Gulak. [27] On March 3, 2012, Gargano won a 30-man Gauntlet for the Gold, last eliminating Tim Donst, to earn a shot at Xion and the AIW Absolute Championship. [31] On March 20, 2011, Gargano lost the PWO Heavyweight Championship to Marion Fontaine in a three-way match, which also included Jason Bane, after getting hit with a nightstick. The 33-year-old wife’s name is Candice LeRae. His future looks promising and he has a lot to offer for his fans and WWE. [158] On July 21, it was reported that Gargano was signing a new full-time NXT deal, which would prevent him from taking further independent bookings. Refine Your Results By: Johnny Gargano Category: Johnny Gargano. [52] Gargano and Taylor made their first title defense on October 7, defeating Momo no Seishun Tag (Atsushi Kotoge and Daisuke Harada) with help from Icarus in the third match between F.I.S.T. How old is Johnny Gargano? He entered a professional wrestling ring for the first time at age eight, when Cleveland All–Pro Wrestling owner J.T. However, once again Gargano failed to make it past the first round as his team suffered a loss in their opening round match against The Colony (Fire Ant, Green Ant and Soldier Ant).