It's a blessing and a curse, 'cause I'm never satisfied, so I continually want to outdo myself. But still, I'm never happy.
— Johnny Gargano
You can never control injuries. Accidents happen; that's just how things go.
I've been lucky to combine my two loves quite frequently: that of Marvel Superheroes and Sports Entertainment.
I've always been a singles guy.
In the grand spectrum of things in WWE, you are wrestling for that camera and that camera and that camera - and all the cameras they have - and you have to make things work that way because, through that camera, there's a million people watching.
I get a lot of comparisons to Daniel Bryan, and trust me, I am flattered by all of them because we mentioned New Orleans and WrestleMania; I watched it at home and watched Daniel Bryan in the main event of WrestleMania achieve his dreams.
I am not the best high-flyer or technical wrestler. What I do have is a work ethic that can't be beat.
The reason Tommaso Ciampa is NXT champion is because of me. I admitted that, and it's my mistake to fix.
It seems like all of my biggest life events happen when I'm actually at home in Cleveland around my family.
I think NXT is kind of like the Cleveland, Ohio, of professional wrestling. We're that underdog whose hungry, who's always out to prove people wrong, and that's kind of what our locker room represents.
When I was Cedrick Von Haussen, the champion of Liechtenstein, I was only 18 years old. I was super, duper young. I started traveling around for wrestling when I was 16, so I had only been wrestling a few years at that point.
I try to be very current. I try to take something from everywhere I've been. I've wrestled in Japan, Singapore, China, Germany, and England. I try to bring a mix of different styles to the table.
It started with Dragon Gate USA, where I started as a guy on the pre-show and wasn't promised anything. I kept coming and doing what I do and ended up on the main show and eventually won their championship.
Anything nerd-wise, I have probably collected it, and it's displayed in our apartment.
When I'm in the ring, I can hear the reactions and know the people are enjoying themselves.
Johnny Wrestling, to me, isn't just a cool nickname or a fun thing for the crowd to chant. To me, it's a state of mind, and it's just who I am. I first stepped foot in a wrestling ring when I was 8 years old.
I've main-evented the most matches in NXT history.
I hate all of my own matches. I hate all of my own work. I am my worst critic.
I am super happy and super proud that Candice LeRae is in the WWE Performance Center.
Outside the ring, I am a huge Marvel fan and don't hide my overwhelming nerd-dom by any means.
If you're a good person, and you work hard, I believe ultimately things are meant to happen to good people.
I realized in myself, look, I'm a small guy. I'm never going to be 250 pounds - I'm never going to be 6'5'' - but I can get as jacked and as lean as humanly possible.
I've wrestled Rich Swann countless times. I've faced Akira Tozawa in Japan and America. Zack Sabre Jr. is another guy I've faced many times.
A lot of people have said that what makes me stand out is my passion, my heart.
The best part of watching any show is that feeling of being sucked in. If I'm watching 'Breaking Bad,' there is something compelling about Walter White.
We're all out to set our best foot forward and to make NXT the best we possibly can, but at the end of the day, we all want to have the best match.
For me, I am not a fan of any of my own matches, and it's both a blessing and a curse. Because I'm never satisfied, I'm always looking to improve in every area.
My mom made me a Shawn Michaels costume when I was a kid. I wore it every day and ran around the house dancing like him.
I want my lasting legacy to be that I was a good wrestler but a better person. I want people to remember me as a good dude. I think that's very important.
The fact that I'm still able to wrestle on the indies and yet still do my stuff in NXT, and the fact that I wrestled in front of 15,000 people at the Barclays Center at TakeOver, and then, the following weekend, I was still doing indie shows, is wild.
I'm walking around our apartment right now, and I see tons of action figures everywhere. There's Spider-Man stuff, old 1996 WWF figures, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Marvel stuff.
I do believe that Raw, SmackDown, and NXT are the three brands, and I think that people can come from Raw or SmackDown to NXT, and I think that people from NXT can go to Raw or SmackDown. It's very interchangeable.
I always question whether people are going to know who I am, and I'm always blown away by the love and reaction I receive.
Wins and championships - I want it all. I want there to be no doubt who I am. I want there to be no doubt that I'm a winner.
I kind of watch a guy like Aleister Black go around, and he does whatever he wants. He Black Masses whoever he wants. He beats up security guards; he threatens general managers. Tommaso Ciampa does whatever he wants.
I saw 'Infinity War' in theaters four times.
I'm an NXT Superstar and the current NXT Champion.
The thing I try to preach the most when anybody asks me for advice - I say just be a good person first and foremost.
I've said this numerous times: I've been in the ring with Daniel Bryan, and he's the best wrestler in the world, bar none.
I will get in the ring and pour my heart out. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure that when the Cruiserweight Classic is over, the one name on people's minds is Johnny Wrestling.
When I moved to Orlando, it was my first time moving from Cleveland. You never know what to expect. But to be able to go and work with Shawn Michaels and learn from him - it's just mind-blowing.
NXT is unpredictable, and they are not afraid to tell a lot of different stories and compelling stories.
We've got a bunch of guys who have been travelling around the world for over 10 years, scratching and clawing, fighting, just trying to live their dream, just trying to prove people wrong, just trying to show that we belong, and that's kind of the essence of NXT.
I've had some of my best matches in front of 50 people in bingo halls and VFW halls and things like that.
When I was younger, my favorite wrestlers were Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho. I relate to them. I don't know what it was.
If you watch the Cruiserweight Classic, you want different professional wrestling. You want guys who are going to go out there, put their bodies on the line, and show you passion.
I'm very open and very honest about my actions, especially to the NXT universe. I never lie to them. I never do. I am very real with them.
It's always fascinating to me and blows my mind whenever I'm in a video game because I am such a big video game fan at heart.
Growing up, I was a socially awkward kid who didn't know where he fit in, and I didn't have many friends, but I always had wrestling. I always had what was in between those ropes, and that always put a smile on my face no matter what.
I don't see myself as anything special. I'm just Johnny Gargano. I always have been, no matter what I'm about to do or where I am.
