Johnny Gargano

Real name: John Anthony Nicholas Gargano
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 170 lbs.
Date of birth: August 14, 1987
From: Cleveland, Ohio
Pro debut: 2005
Trained by: JT Lightning & Josh Prohibition
Finishing move: Gargano Escape

Biography

– In late 2005, Gargano began competing for CAPW in his native Ohio
– On October 8, 2006, Gargano defeated Josh Prohibition, M-Dogg 20 & Zach Gowen to win the vacant CAPW Junior Heavyweight Title
– On November 12, 2006, Gargano defeated Zach Gowen to retain the CAPW Junior Heavyweight Title
– On January 14, 2007, Gargano defeated Azrieal to retain the CAPW Junior Heavyweight Title
– In March 2007, Gargano appeared on an episode of Smackdown, competing as ‘Cedric Von Haussen’ in a loss to MVP
– On May 11, 2007, Gargano & Michael Facade won a 6-Team Gauntlet Match to win the vacant IWC Tag Team Titles
– On February 8, 2008, Gargano won a 25-Man Battle Royal to win the vacant CWE Undisputed Title
– On March 21, 2008, Gargano fought AIW Intense Champion Tyler Black to a time-limit draw
– On April 4, 2008, Gargano defeated The Deviant to retain the CWE Undisputed Title
– Two weeks later, Gargano defeated Jerry Lynn to retain the CWE Undisputed Title
– On May 25, 2008, Gargano defeated Tyler Black in an Iron Man Match to win the AIW Intense Title
– On June 6, 2008, Gargano defeated Matt Cross to retain the CWE Undisputed Title
– On July 12, 2008, Gargano defeated Raymond Rowe to retain the CWE Undisputed Title
– On September 13, 2008, Gargano defeated Jerry Lynn & Super Hentai in an Elimination Match to win the IWC Super Indy Title
– On September 21, 2008, Gargano defeated Shiima Xion to retain the AIW Intense Title
– On February 28, 2009, Gargano defeated Jimmy DeMarco to regain the AIW Intense Title, having been forced to vacate it through injury two months prior
– On August 9, 2009, Gargano defeated Josh Prohibition in a No-DQ Match to win the PWO Heavyweight Title
– On October 11, 2009, Gargano defeated Mike Tolar to retain the PWO Heavyweight Title
– On December 5, 2009, Gargano defeated Tolar to retain the PWO Heavyweight Title
– On January 24, 2010, Gargano defeated Bobby Beverly to retain the PWO Heavyweight Title
– On February 20, Gargano defeated Jason Bane to retain the PWO Heavyweight Title
– In March 2010, Gargano retained the PWO Heavyweight Title against Gregory Iron, Bobby Shields & N8 Mattson
– On April 10, 2010, Gargano teamed with Aeroform (Louis Lyndon & Flip Kendrick) to win the AIW Jack of All Trios Tournament
– In May 2010, Gargano defended the PWO Heavyweight Title against Corey Winters & Jason Bane
– On June 27, 2010, Gargano defeated Sterling James Keenan, Facade & Tommy Mercer in a No Countouts Match to win the AIW Absolute Title. He defended the belt against Bryan Danielson later that day
– On July 17, 2010, Gargano defeated Tim Donst to retain the AIW Absolute Title
– On August 1, 2010, Gargano defeated Matt Cross to retain the PWO Heavyweight Title
– Two weeks later, Gargano defeated Trik Davis to retain the AIW Absolute Title
– On September 17, 2010, Gargano defeated Dave Crist to retain the AIW Absolute Title
– On November 26, 2010, Gargano fought Facade to a double-DQ to retain the AIW Absolute Title
– On December 17, 2010, Gargano defeated Jack Verville, Tommy Mercer & Samoa Lou in a Gauntlet Match, before defeating Shiima Xion & Facade in a Ladder Match, both to retain the AIW Absolute Title
– On February 18, 2011, Gargano defeated Bobby Beverly to retain the AIW Absolute Title
– In March 2011, Gargano toured Japan with Dragon Gate
– On March 25, 2011, Gargano defeated Jimmy Jacobs to retain the AIW Absolute Title
– On June 26, 2011, Gargano defeated Tim Donst to retain the AIW Absolute Title, but immediately lost it to Shiima Xion
– On September 20, 2011, Gargano appeared as ‘Joey Gray’ on WWE Superstars, losing to Brodus Clay
– On November 13, 2011, Gargano defeated YAMATO to win the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On January 14, 2012, Gargano defeated Ricochet to retain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On March 31, 2012, Gargano defeated Masato Yoshino to retain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On April 29, 2012, Team FIST (Gargano & Chuck Taylor) defeated 3.0 (Scott Parker & Shane Matthews) in a Best of 3 Falls Match to win the CHIKARA Campeonatos de Parejas Title
– On May 12, 2012, Gargano defeated AR Fox to retain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On June 19, 2012, Gargano defeated Chuck Taylor to retain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On July 28, 2012, Gargano defeated Akira Tozawa to retain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On August 19, 2012, Gargano defeated Jimmy Jacobs to win the PRIME Title
– A week later, Gargano defeated Jonathan Gresham to retain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On September 8, 2012, Gargano defeated Jon Davis by countout to retain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On September 30, 2012, Gargano defeated Rhino to retain the PRIME Title
– On October 7, 2012, Gargano defeated Ryo Jimmy Saito to retain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On November 4, 2012, Gargano defeated Akira Tozawa, AR Fox & Ricochet in an Elimination Match to retain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On December 7, 2012, Gargano defeated Gory to retain the PRIME Title
– The next day, Gargano defeated Sami Callihan to retain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On January 18, 2013, Gargano defeated Matt Cross to retain the PRIME Title
– In late January 2013, Gargano defended the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title against Jon Davis & Brian Kendrick
– On April 6, 2013, Gargano defeated SHINGO to retain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On June 2, 2013, Gargano defeated Samuray del Sol to retain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On July 28, 2013, Gargano defeated Akira Tozawa (twice) to retain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On September 22, 2013, Gargano defeated Rich Swann to retain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On October 20, 2013, Gargano defeated Krimson to win the PRIME Title
– On November 17, 2013, Gargano defeated Chris Hero to retain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On January 12, 2014, Gargano defeated Uhaa Nation to retain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– In February 2014, Gargano defended the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title against Trent Barreta & Roderick Strong
– On March 9, 2014, Gargano defeated Robbie X to retain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On November 16, 2014, Gargano defeated Ricochet to regain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On January 9, 2015, Gargano defeated Shane Strickland to retain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On March 8, 2015, Gargano defeated Pete Dunne to retain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On March 26, 2015, Gargano defeated AR Fox to retain the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title
– On April 18, 2015, Ronin (Gargano & Rich Swann) defeated The Premier Athlete Brand (Anthony Nese & Caleb Konley) in a Street Fight to win the DGUSA Open the United Gate Titles
– A week later, Gargano defeated Matt Cross to win the vacant SMASH Title
– On May 17, 2015, Gargano defeated Chris Hero & Josh Alexander to retain the SMASH Title
– On May 30, 2015, Ronin defeated Drew Gulak & Tracy Williams to retain the DGUSA Open the United Gate Titles
– On June 6, 2015, Gargano defeated Player Uno to retain the SMASH Title
– On June 18, 2015, Gargano completed a WWE trial. He was not signed to a full-time deal, but would become a semi-regular competitor on NXT
– On July 19, 2015, Gargano defeated Scotty O’Shea to retain the SMASH Title
– In August 2015, Gargano teamed with Tommaso Ciampa to enter the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The pair defeated Bull Dempsey & Tyler Breeze, then lost to Baron Corbin & Rhyno
– On August 23, 2015, Gargano defeated Candice LeRae to retain the SMASH Title
– On November 22, 2015, Gargano defeated Sebastian Suave to retain the SMASH Title
– In January 2016, Gargano and fellow wrestler Candice LeRae were engaged
– On January 16, 2016, Gargano defeated Sami Callihan to retain the SMASH Title
– A week later, Gargano teamed with Drew Galloway to win the EVOLVE Tag Team Title Tournament and become the first champions. The pair defeated Chris Hero & Tommy End in the final
– On February 20, 2016, Gargano defeated Mike Bailey to retain the SMASH Title
– On March 10, 2016, Gargano defeated Joey Ryan to retain the SMASH Title. He retained against TARIK the next day
– On March 20, 2016, Gargano & Galloway defeated Team Tremendous (Bill Carr & Dan Barry) to retain the EVOLVE Tag Team Titles
– On April 1, 2016, Gargano & Galloway defeated The Premier Athlete Brand (Anthony Nese & Kaleb Conley) to retain the EVOLVE Tag Team Titles
– On April 30, 2016, Gargano defeated Eddie Smooth to win the Legacy Heavyweight Title, but lost it back to Smooth later that night
– On May 29, 2016, Gargano defeated Eric Young to retain the SMASH Title
– In June 2016, Gargano began competing in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic. He defeated Tommaso Ciampa in round 1 before losing to TJ Perkins
– In July 2016, Gargano signed a full-time WWE deal
– At NXT Takeover Toronto, Gargano & Ciampa (now known as #DIY) defeated The Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder) in a Best of 3 Falls Match to win the NXT Tag Team Titles
– Following a defeat to The Authors of Pain at Takeover: Chicago, Ciampa turned on Gargano, signalling the end of DIY
– On the February 21, 2018 episode of NXT, Gargano lost to Andrade Almas, thanks to interference from Ciampa, forcing him to leave NXT.
– At Takeover: New Orleans, Gargano defeated Ciampa in an Unsanctioned Match to regain his spot on the NXT roster
– Gargano returned to EVOLVE at 119, teaming with AR Fox to defeat Austin Theory & Josh Briggs. He would defeat Theory in a singles match the next night
– At Takeover: Phoenix, Gargano defeated Ricochet to win the NXT North American Title, but would lose it a month later to The Velveteen Dream
– On February 18, 2019, Gargano made his main roster debut alongside Tommaso Ciampa, defeating former rivals The Revival
– The next night on Smackdown, Gargano & Ciampa defeated The Bar (Sheamus & Cesaro)
– Gargano was shuffled back down to NXT shortly thereafter following a real-life injury sustained by Ciampa
– At Takeover: New York, Gargano defeated Adam Cole in a Best of 3 Falls Match to win the vacant NXT Title, but would lose it back to Cole at the next Takeover event in June
– At Worlds Collide 2020, DIY (Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) defeated Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate)
– At Halloween Havoc 2020, Gargano defeated Damian Priest in a Devil’s Playground Match to win the NXT North American Title. Austin Theory interfered to help Gargano win the match, with the two going on to form ‘The Way’ alongside Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell
– At Takeover: War Games IV, Gargano defeated Leon Ruff & Damian Priest to regain the NXT North American Title
– On the December 30, 2020 episode of NXT, Gargano defeated Leon Ruff to retain the NXT North American Title
– At Takeover: Vengeance Day, Gargano defeated Kushida to retain the NXT North American Title
– At Takeover: Stand And Deliver, Gargano defeated Bronson Reed to retain the NXT North American Title
– Gargano’s WWE contract expired on December 10, 2021 and he opted not to renew it
– Gargano became a father for the first time in February 2022
– In August 2022, Gargano returned to WWE, competing on the Raw brand