John Anthony Nicholas Gargano was born on August 14, 1987. He is an American professional wrestler best known as Johnny Gargano. He is presently contracted to WWE and works on the Raw brand. He is most remembered for his tenure in NXT where he won the NXT Championship once, the NXT North American Championship three times, and the NXT Tag Team Championship once, becoming the first-ever NXT Triple Crown winner. He was dubbed "The Heart and Soul of NXT" because of his popularity in the company.
| Name | John Anthony Nicholas Gargano |
| D.O.B | August 14, 1987 |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Weight | 90 kg |
| Occupation | Professional wrestler |
| Professional Debut | 2005 |
| Ring name | Jonny Gargano |
| Wife | Candice LeRae Dawson |
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Gargano began his pro wrestling career in 2005 with the Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling (CAPW) company. Gargano went on to work for some of the finest independent organizations in America, including Chikara, Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA), Evolve, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). Gargano held several titles, including the Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas, the Evolve Tag Team Championship, and the DGUSA’s Open the Freedom Gate Championship, which he held twice, the first for a record 873 days. Gargano appeared in national promotions Ring of Honor (ROH) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) during his independent career.
Gargano attended WWE’s tryout camp in June 2015, after making occasional appearances for the promotion earlier in his career. Following that, he began performing on a regular basis for NXT, finally signing a contract in April 2016. He created the #DIY tag team with Tommaso Ciampa and formerly held the NXT Tag Team Championship.
Following their separation and fierce battle, Gargano won the NXT North American Championship in January 2019 and the NXT Championship the following April. Gargano becomes the first NXT Triple Crown Champion with the victory. Gargano won the NXT North American Championship for the second and third time in 2020, becoming the first competitor to accomplish so each time. After his contract expired in December 2021, he left WWE but returned in August 2022.
Gargano returned to WWE after nine months to deliver a speech on the August 22, 2022 episode of Raw but was stopped and insulted by his old The Way stablemate Austin Theory, whom he super kicked afterward. On the September 12 edition of WWE Raw, he defeated Chad Gable in his rematch but was assaulted by Theory. Gargano lost his first main roster match to Otis on the October 3 episode of Raw after Theory struck him with his Money in the Bank briefcase. He reacted by beating Theory on the next night of Raw, therefore ending their rivalry.
On January 28, Gargano fought in his second Royal Rumble match, lasting nearly 30 minutes before being eliminated by Dominik Mysterio and Finn Bálor. On the next night of Raw, Gargano beat Baron Corbin to qualify for the United States Championship Elimination Chamber match. On February 18, Gargano was unable to capture the championship at the Elimination Chamber.
