Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Johnny Gargano: HBK Made Him Cry, Tommaso Ciampa & DIY, His WWE Return, Candice LeRae

Episode Date: February 15, 2024

Johnny Gargano (@johnnygargano) is a professional wrestler signed to WWE. He is a former NXT Champion, NXT North American Champion and NXT Tag Team Champion. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Tampa, FL to talk about his return to WWE, reforming DIY with Tommaso Ciampa, his favorite matches from NXT, why NXT shouldn't be looked at as developmental but as a third brand, being a Browns fan, why his wife Candice LeRae is his favorite wrestler, being a dad to their son Quill, his love of Marvel, whether or not he was close to signing with AEW after he left WWE in 2021, how Shawn Michaels got him to cry real tears during his goodbye promo, his relationship with Triple H and much more. Quote I'm thinking about: "Clapping for others does not take away from your own success." Sponsors: GREEN CHEF: Go to https://greenchef.com/60insightpod and use code 60insightpod to get 60% off, plus 20% off your next two months ROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and experience financial freedom: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv BETTERHELP: Get 10% off your first month with the code INSIGHT at http://betterhelp.com/insight MUDWTR: Get 15% off with the code CVV15 at http://mudwtr.com/cvv MAGIC SPOON: Get $5 off with the code CVV at http://magicspoon.com/cvv MYBOOKIE: Bet on WWE! Get up to $200 cash bonus when you use the code CVV and sign up at http://mybookie.ag BLUECHEW: Use the code CVV to get your first month of BlueChew for FREE at http://bluechew.com PLUNGE: Get $150 off your Plunge with the coupon code CVV150 at http://plunge.com BONCHARGE: Go to http://boncharge.com/CVV and use coupon code CVV to save 15% For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.  Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chris. Oh, yes. Welcome back to another one here on Insight. I'm CBV, Chris Van Fleet. How are you? How you doing? Hope everything is going well. Thank you for being here.

And as always, thank you for making Insight, one of the top wrestling podcasts on planet Earth. Although at 567 episodes, that's what we're at right now. I feel like we're just getting started. So with that said, can I make you a deal? If you do just one little thing, if you just hit that follow button, wherever you're listening to this right now, in exchange, I promise to work tirelessly until the end of time to bring you the best and the biggest wrestling interviews humanly possible. So do we have a deal? Okay.

All right. Big one today with my friend Johnny Gargano. We go way back. We go back 12, 13 years ago. I was living in Cleveland, working for the CBS. TV station there, and I was going to AIW and Pro Wrestling Ohio shows. I actually interviewed Johnny Gargano and Gregory Iron for a TV segment on our station. And I remember him specifically saying to me off camera that he wanted to go to WWE or nothing. It was WWE no matter what. And if you think

back to that era of WWE, 2011, 2012, there weren't a lot of indie guys and there weren't a lot of like sub 200 pound guys that were on the roster. That, of course, changed with the Cruiserweight Classic and the Dusty Roads tag team classic. And that's what happened for Johnny. 2015, he got his chance. The Dusty Roads tag team classic, he's randomly paired with Tomaso Champa. And I mean, come on, the rest is history.

NXT tag team champion. NXT North American champion. NXT tag champions. You know the whole thing here. But in 2021, he decided when his contract ended. that he was going to leave WWE. Perfect timing because his son with Candace Luray, his wife, Candace Luray, their son Quill was about to be born.

So he took some time off about eight months, to be exact. And in that time, there were some whispers that he might go to AEW. So we dive into that. But in August of 2022, he came back to WWE, and in his words, he's just happy to be home. So a lot to get into here. And of course, there's still some stuff there with Tomaso Champ, but DIY is happening right now, but, I mean, pretty much every great tag team breaks up at some point.

So I think that, I think that whether it's six months from now or it's a year or two from now, I think we're going to have some more just incredible matches between Johnny and Tomaso. I'm not hoping that they break up. I'm just saying that if and when that happens, we've got some great matches on the horizon. If you enjoy this conversation, please snap a screenshot and tag us. I don't want to speak for Johnny, but I would be happy to reshare on Twitter or on Instagram or Facebook, whatever it happens to be. If you tag this, I'd be happy to reshare it. So tag us.

He's at Johnny Gargano. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. And here we go. Enjoy this conversation with Johnny Wrestling. You know him better as Johnny Gargano. Oh my goodness. Yeah, we're back. We're doing this.

We're back. It's just in our normal interview time. It's usually WrestleMania weekend. Yeah. So it was Royal Rumble weekend. That's right. I was thinking about this. We've done interviews at like every different stage of your career.

Yeah, pretty much. Because if we go way back, the very first time we met and did an interview was, I think it was 2011. I was trying to think of the exact time. Pro wrestling, Ohio. Yeah. 2011 sounds right. I think it was, yeah. So I know we did, so 2011 will mark that date.

Yeah. And then is that, is that all we did in the Indies or we do other ones on the Indies, too? I think we did one other one on the Indies. Okay. And then I distinctly remember the one. WrestleMania weekend at our house. It was on like our patio thing. You know what's funny? Tomaso was inside.

He didn't even remember them. I know he doesn't. He has a horrible memory. And I, he's like, no, you came to my house? I'm like, yeah, you and Johnny were living together. We went on it. He's like, what? I said, hold on. Let me pull up the video. You're in the videos. I'm in the video. It was the morning of, was it the morning of that takeover or was it the morning after that takeover? I think it was the morning. Oh, geez. I can't remember now. I think it was, it had to be the morning after I had to imagine. I think so. That sounds about right. I feel like you'd be too busy.

I probably be busy, right? Yeah. But he's like, what do you mean I was there? I'm like, look at this video. This is you. That's when me, Candace, and Tomaso all lived together. Like, me and Candace got married and we moved to Orlando. Yeah.

And Tomaso moved in with us. We all moved there. Yeah. So for our first like year, two years in Orlando, it was just the three of us living together. And wasn't that like a building where all of the superstars were living? So that was like five minutes away from the performance center. It was like a big dorm room. Yeah.

So it was a big apartment complex. It was the closest one. performance center. And we pretty much, you'd walk, you go to that gym or you go to the pool, and it'd just be whoever's in NXT at the time there. Wow. Then we did an interview in New Orleans. Remember we did in the lobby of the hotel? Yep, yep. And then we did one when you were NXT champion. Yeah. So that means we did one the year after me and Tomasso had our match in New Orleans the next day. I don't know how I was physically capable of doing that. I was probably beat to heck. So we did that and then obviously the night after

winning the NXC championship too. So again, Resumania weekend was our. It was. Our sticking point. And then we did one also WrestleMania weekend. Yeah. When I was a free agent. When you were free agent. Yeah. So literally every stage of your career and here we are again. Yeah. And now you're back. Not Rosamania weekend. Nobody. Yeah. No, yeah. No, yeah. In WrestleMania season. That's right. The season. Yeah, the road to to wrestle. Yeah. On the road to WrestleMania. We might do this at WrestleMania. You good. Yeah. I'm free. I think. Who knows? I think. Who knows. Who knows.

We'll see what's going on. We don't know. Anything. Anything is possible. Anything could happen in the WW. It is true. That is what I've heard. When we did the last interview, you were so content with just like, yeah, life's, life's good.

Yeah. I still am that way. Life is still great. And again, it's different now because you're, you fresh dad. So, you are a fresh dad. Yeah. Like fresh, fresher dad. Oh, eight months old.

So that's, I mean, those first few weeks and. few months are tiresome, as I'm sure you. I remember asking you, I was like, how much, like, what do you think is the most amount of sleep you've had in a night? You're like, two hours? And I was like, what are you talking about? And luckily, he's a good sleeper. He's a good sleeper.

So he sleeps pretty good, especially now. He's almost two years old, which is crazy to think back to that eight-month-year-old time period. And I still, like, have moments where I look back on my phone and I see pictures and videos. and I'm like, I can't believe this is him now because he just looks like, he looks the same, but just an entirely different person. It's just amazing. I mean, everyone tells you beforehand. I think we had that conversation where I pretty much said, like, everyone's going to tell you

who's going to change your life. And you're like, yeah, I know, it's going to change my life. But when it happens and you're living in it, you're like, oh, it actually does. I'm sure when you're traveling and you're gone, you're looking at videos and pictures on your phone and you miss your kid and you never thought you'd be that way. Yeah. But when you have one, it's like, oh, it's true. And I'm out of way nearly as often as you are.

I'm out on the road maybe two or three times a month. I think what's been the hardest is now she's recognizing who I am. And she's recognizing I'm her dad and I'm there every day. Like we just FaceTime before you got here. And like when she heard my voice, she was like, she's not speaking yet. But she like, she knows it's me. And that's what's been tough is before you're leaving this baby that cries and eats and sleeps and that's it. Yeah. Now you're leaving this like person.

Oh yeah. You know, like, and they're your person and you're there. And that just keeps, not to make it, it makes, it gets worse and worse. It doesn't get better. It doesn't get better. It doesn't get better because he's getting like, like, Quill is getting way more advanced now. And me and Candace talk about how he's almost two. He turns two next month that it's someone, it's like someone turned to dial up on him like to 11 now.

Because immediately, just overnight, he just started like copying canadence of words and speaking more and being more. and being more aware of what's going on and how he wants da-da and he wants to mom and he wants to read books and he wants to do his thing. Christmas morning, it was very apparent that we have such a set regimen where he wakes up and he gets like a bottle

or he goes and sits at the table and eats his food. Christmas morning, we get all this stuff and we're like, Christmas is going to be great. He's going to kind of know what's going on, but not really. We buy all these presents. We set it all up near the tree. We're like, it's going to be a big reveal

when he walks on the steps. Me and him walk down the steps. He grabs my finger and he's like, okay, let's just go sit at the table now. Didn't even care. There were a bunch of presents underneath the tree. He said, I just want to go sit and eat now. So he sat down in eight. And normally Christmas, we open all our stuff up in the morning and Christmas is done. That year, it took from, I'm going to say, 9 a.m.

until 10 p.m. of just like, we're going to open some gifts now, man. Let's go open some gifts. And I'll open a gift. I'm like, okay, I'm done doing that now. So it took literally all day. of opening gifts. We had to do the point.

We're like, okay, just open this really quick, man. But again, he's his own person now who wants what he wants and he likes what he likes.

Yeah. And next Christmas may be very different. That's the thing. So that's what I've heard. Like when they turn around three is when they really start to understand what Christmas is and what's happening. And so I'm very excited for that.

Are you wearing quill around your neck? I am. Yes. So that's a nice Easter egg. Nice Easter egg there. So I literally wear this. You can catch it on raw. You can catch it on any backstage I do,

any thing where I'm not in wrestling gear. I wear a quill feather as a kind of a little shout out to him that one day he would appreciate. Oh, that's a really cool way instead of like just having his name. Yeah, it's a nice little Easter egg. When we talked last,

did you know where you were going to end up? I had an idea. Like, I always had an idea, you know. When people ask me all the time, like, did you think about going other places?

Obviously, we all entertained the idea. But when I left, I always felt like I had unfinished business. in WWE. And when the conversations were being had, it was one of those things

where when I was a little kid growing up, I watched WWV. I dreamed of wrestling at WrestleMania. I dreamed to becoming intercontinental champion. All these things I said

in my return promo pretty much. They're all very real, very true. Those are very real dreams I still do have with this day. And I can only do that one place. And I am very lucky to call WWB my home

because it did feel It felt like you watched my last night in the company. It was sad for me because I spent so much time in NXT around those people. I saw them almost every single day for almost seven years. And I wasn't going to have that anymore. And that was my own choice because I felt like I needed to move on. And I needed that time away to be with Candace, to be with the baby. And just step away from wrestling for a bit and just recharge.

But luckily, everything worked out. I think everything happens for a reason. And we're back. This episode is brought to you by Green Chef. I love eating clean, but I don't love how much time it takes sometimes to make those healthy meals. And that's why Green Chef has been an absolute game changer in this household. Every week I get to choose from over 80 different flavor-packed options that are delivered right to my doorstep. So everything that I need to make those convenient, wholesome, and delicious meals are delivered right to me.

That's why Green Chef is the number one meal kit for healthy eating. And on the menu this week, I can't wait. Crispy Chicken with Honey Drizzle. That's one of the many things. Like I said, 80 plus menu items every single week. That's one that I will be. Huh, man, I will be down in that so quickly. I love it, and I know that you're going to love it too.

Go to greenchef.com slash 60 Insight Pod and use the code 60 Insight Pod to get, you guessed it, 60% off plus 20% off your next two months. So that's greenchef.com slash 60 InsightPod. Greenchef.com slash 60 Insight Pod. Green Chef, the number one meal kit for eating well. I feel like your contract coming up at the time that it did, like happened for a reason. Like think about it.

It's crazy. That's so unique, right? You get to be there while quills growing up. Yeah. People say all the time that I had like insane like galaxy brain or I was like he had his contract growing up at that time and everything. went down and he came back. Like it's crazy.

The foresight he had. It's like, no, I'm incredibly lucky. But also, I'm incredibly patient as well. I wasn't in a position where I was luckily in a position where my contract was coming up and Quill was being born. And we talk about all the time. If Quill wasn't in the picture, if the baby wasn't being born, who knows what happened.

I could have resigned. I could have just stayed with me. I could have up my contract. And Quill, luckily at the time, was being born. So it gave me the opportunity to kind of be at home and hang out with him. and be around for those first, I'd say, six months, which are very important, as you know. Yeah. How close were you to resigning?

Because it was December 2021 and your contract ended. Yeah, I made up my mind way earlier that like, and again, like, people always try to count down to like what was going on and it and exceed the time. Johnny wanted to leave or they were forcing Johnny out. No, I made in my mind months prior that I needed to take a break and I needed to leave just for myself. And again, like we knew the baby was coming to and that kind of. I already had it in my mind, but that really kind of nailed my decision home.

And they wanted to keep me, and they were very generous. They wanted to have me stick around NXT, stick around the DV family and things like that. And I appreciated the offer, but at the same time, they appreciated the fact that I told them, like, look, like, if anything else happens, if I decide I want to go somewhere else, I will come to you guys and let you guys know first because I feel we have a great relationship. So I did tell them that that if I decided to go anywhere else, I would give them the opportunity to match or opportunity to make a counteroffer

if that would come up. Did it come up? I did not even try. Like I said, I was so outside the realm of focusing on wrestling. Luckily, I have an agent and I have people around me that go and do that for me because I told my agent,

I told everyone around me like, look, I want to focus on being a dad. You can go and you, You can talk to people, you can have those discussions. I do not want to because I want to be so far removed away from wrestling. And so far removed from that side of things. That's like the business side that I'm like, I don't want to dig in that stuff. And like Candace was a free agent two at the time.

So we were both just sitting at home and enjoying being a mom and dad for the first time. And it's so very rare we get that opportunity. I remember reaching out to you that summer because I was in Orlando. And I'm like, dude, I'd love to do a workout video with you. And you're like, I'm not. I'm not really in shape right now. I'm like, what do you mean? You're not in shape right now.

No, no, I was so far away. And that was like, I'm a fat kid at heart. So to be able to have that time period and not worry about dieting and exercise and, and people are going to see me and be like, oh, man, he doesn't work. Trust me. Trust me. I have, I say this, I have horrible genetics. I have the worst genetics in the world.

I have to diet so incredibly hard and work out so incredibly hard for what I do have. So, like, doing that for, I'd say at that point, 15 years, I was just like, I want to break. Because I've been very lucky, again, knock on wood. I haven't had any surgeries. I haven't had any major injuries. I've been pretty much going nonstop for at that point, probably 16, 15, 15, 16 years. Yeah. So I just wanted time off.

The before and after photos are actually what really got me inspired to work with AJ Sims. That's cement factory. Yeah, yeah. Like I wanted to get in the best shape of my life for 40. And he works with a lot of like bodybuilding, like jacked dudes, right? So I went and I worked out with AJ at his house when Rawl was in town. At the dump, right? At the dump.

And AJ is absolutely fantastic. He is a magician on what he's able to do. Yeah. But the other guys in his house that are working out, I'm like, come on. Like, come on, guys, this ain't fair. I couldn't relate to any of his other clients. And then I saw your before and after anyway, oh, we're like relatively the same size. If Johnny could do that in only 16 weeks.

What could I do? And you look fantastic, too. Oh, thank you. Probably not anymore. I did for that, like, little brief period as I'm. I mean, the cereal's fun. The cereal's fun to eat. How much cereal did you have?

Do you have a lot? It was just post-workout. Yeah, huh? Did you? Two cups? That's not bad. Yeah. You?

I'm at 300 grams of cereal now on my high days. So I guess I would have been close to that. I don't know how many grams are in a cup. Yeah. I don't know either. I just go on what he tells me. Yeah. I remember reaching out to you, I'm like, is it difficult?

And you're like, no, he tells you what to eat. Like, what do you mean? Yeah. You're like, every meal is accounted for. Yep. And that was like, that took all the guesswork out of it. And I've done like counting my macros and doing things like that many times in my career. But it just, it is so handy to have someone else just handle that for me.

It reminded me of like getting like when you're building IKEA furniture. Like if you don't do step three, then you can't do step four. If you don't do step four, you can't do step five. He breaks it down for you. This is meal one with this amount. of this and this amount of this and this many grams of this, you just laying it out for you. Yeah. All it takes then is discipline.

That's the only other ingredient that you need to add in. Because he's basically saying, here's the framework. It's up to you to follow it. You're very discipline is hard. Really hard. Because cookies are delicious. Like, I'm sure Tomaso talked about this with you. But when we were dieting down for takeover New Orleans, we were starving ourselves.

Like we were eating probably like under 2,000 calories. We were very depleted. With AJ, he makes it so easy to where you're not. You don't feel hungry, right? You're getting leaner, but you're not starving. And that's the most important thing, especially with what we do, where we're very active and very physical.

Like, I never feel like I'm starving when I'm going to bed at night. I remember seeing the break down and being like, how can I eat that much food? It's a lot of food, right? It was way more food than I'm going to lose weight by eating all that food? Yeah, it's crazy.

He's a magician, man. He is absolutely a magician. I've talked about him with you, Tomaso. I just had mousse on. I feel like E is just working wonders around the wrestling industry right now. I mean, if somebody wants to dial it in,

he's the guy. He's the guy you go to. And I'm super grateful for what he was able to do for me. And it just made me also realize what I was possible, you know, what was possible for me. Yeah. And when you see you in the ring, like, I feel like you don't have an eight pack. You have like, I don't know, there's many abs. I think I'm very, I say my genetics suck.

But I for some reason I have really good ab genetics. I talk to Candace all the time. Candice has like really good genetics where she doesn't have to work out that much, but she still has like great shoulders and stuff. I just have good abs. So hopefully one day Quill is blessed with my abs And can't

Canis is every other thing Like my ultimate goal Like just my abs and maybe like a little bit of my wrestling brain And everything else He can have Canis aside Because I say all the time Like if you can get Because Candace's dad

It's really tall So I'm like look If he gets like He's like over six foot We got the magic in us But everyone's like Oh he's going to be a wrestler I'm like

Cleveland Brown starting quarterback More than That's my goal here. How are you feeling about the Browns? Outside of maybe the one of the top five saddest losses I've ever experienced

just because the hype was so high. I felt so good going into that game. And then we just got crushed. I thought like the score at half time like this is not good. Me and Vic Joseph always watch the games together and there's McKenzie and

Candace both posts videos because we're both up the whole time. We never sit down during the games ever. We're pacing all over the place. We're going nuts. That game, by halftime, we were both sitting down pretty sad. Not a good sign. If you see me and Vic sitting down, never good. What's amazing, though, is like there's things that happen every season that are so inherently things that happen to the Browns. And I've been a Browns fan since I moved to Cleveland in 2010, just because, you know, you grew up in Toronto, you don't have an NFL team. I moved there, and the thing I love about Cleveland is it's not if you're watching the game on Sunday. It's where are you

watching the game on setting. You're going. You go to a bar. You go to someone's house. And I just got so, like, ingratiated into this world. So then, you know, the Browns have some issues at quarterback. And then they're like, Joe Flacko. Yeah.

He's going to be our guy. And then he starts to play. And you're like, he is our guy. To be around for Flacco fever. That was like, that five week stretch of everyone being wacko for Flacco was incredible to see. Because it was like, man, Joe Flacco? Like, that's where we're at. And then he, like, plays.

I'm like, okay, maybe he still got it. And then he's, for some reason, the best quarterback I've ever seen play for the Browns since 1999. Like, literally, he has slinging that ball. And I'm like, I've never seen throws like this in my life as a Browns fan. So, like, I was so confident after watching him play. And we went to the Thursday night game where they clinched the playoffs. Yeah.

And the energy in that building was insane. People just, everyone in this stadium chanting, flak, go, flak, fly, go. Like, that just shows you. If you are a good quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, you are made in that city for life. But that's insane because Flacco was an opponent for so in the same division. Uh-huh, yeah. And now he was our guy. He's our guy.

He's probably not our guy next season. No, probably not. I mean, I hope they do bring him back, even if it's in a backup role. I'm sure he's going to want to be a starter somewhere. I do have a Joe Flacco jersey now. I'm just saying. I saw that. I do.

I have a Joe Flacco jersey. I got Joe Flacco autographed card from his Brown's debut. I went all in. I was like, ah, screw it. I'm going to go all in. Because it's such a cool story, too, that, like, this guy came off the street. He just was throwing the ball to his kids in the parlorat. And then he's, like, just starting in for the Browns and they're doing great and they're playing well.

It was such a great story. And, like, for me, as a Browns fan, I was like, that's what it's going to take, right? Like, we've had all these years of horrible stuff happen. And, like, all these injuries this year, everything we have to overcome. And Joe Flacko coming off the street. I was like, this is going to be the year that we finally do something because everything went wrong. And then, you know, but still. There was a moment where they're talking about how he's like later on in his career.

He's an older guy. He's like, he's younger than me. And he's like a little older than you, but I'm like, is that I mean we're old? I think it does. We're quarterbacks, I guess we're kind of old. Yeah, I guess it's football age and wrestling age is different than like real life age. Yeah. And wrestling age is different now too because like, you look at AJ, you look at Randy,

and guys like that, they're freaking yoke to the gills. Those guys are in their 40s look great. Then you've got guys in their 50s who are still working, Chris Jericho, PCO. Yeah. It's a different time. I always said that I was going to be done by 40. That was always my go-to age.

And then as we get closer to that, and I'm still four years away. But as we get closer to that, I think I got a little more in me. We'll see. Is there more that you think you need to accomplish? Yeah. I mean, like I said,

like I came back to DWB for a reason. And obviously, like, there were discussions to go other places. And like my agent obviously had those discussions. But at the end of day, I told him my heart was with WV. Like, I still want to wrestle at WrestleMania. I haven't done that yet.

I still want to be an Arkansas little champion. I haven't done that yet. I haven't won a title on the main roster yet. I want to do that, too. There's still a lot left for me to accomplish and a lot of stories I still want to tell. And I'm very excited to do that. And like I said, the last night in the company was very sad.

And I think, like, you said, Tomaso brought up my tears and where they came from in that show. And in a story, I think I've only told maybe once before. But I have such a great relationship. And I'm very lucky. And it's crazy to say with Sean Michaels. He was my hero growing up. And I spent a lot of time with him.

And I made the shadow boxes for people that are really special than me in that building. Like, I made a shadow box for Sean. I made a shadow box for Coach Bloom. And I made, I gave cards to all the coaches, everything. I've been when I spent seven years with. Terry Taylor, uh, Steve Carrino,

people like that. I gave them special cards and stuff of all of pictures of us together. Um, because it was, my last night did feel like it was like a goodbye for a while. Um, and it was funny. I say a goodbye for a while,

but I was literally still going to the performance center with Candice. We brought the baby performance center like literally like two months later or maybe like three months later or whatever. Um, but like, so I, I had that gift for Sean. It's a shadow box.

It had my headband from a takeover. He's the only, only person other than me that has a piece of my takeover gear. Like, because I did it for in your house where I was like kind of the Sean Michaels of my Sean Michael's gear. Yeah. So I had that headband put in a shadow box. Again, I luckily have a great wife that helps me with these things by the way because I'm not making shadow boxes by myself.

I like the headband with a picture of me and Sean from when I was in high school and a picture of me and Sean in that gear from that takeover in the house. And I wrote like a really nice note on the bat. Sean actually has it hanging up in his office. if you see any interviews he does where he's at his desk, it's actually behind him in his office, which is cool. So I brought this gift to him and I said, I'm going to give you this gift, but there's a catch. You can't open it until I'm getting ready to go through the curtain because I want to be emotional out there and you're going to be the one that's going to give me that emotion. Like, I'm going to see, I'm going to see how this affects you and it's going to transfer to me.

And I'm going to go through the curtain right when that happens. And literally I give him the gift and Road Dogg is counting down the time. He's like, okay, Johnny, give him the gift. And literally like, we're in a commercial break. Yeah. And Road Dog is like, okay, 30, 29. And Sean opens it up. And Sean looks at it.

And he starts getting really emotional. And he hugs me. And of course, like, I get emotional. Then my music starts playing. So when I walk through that curtain, you're seeing literally the direct reaction of me feeling that moment, but also giving that gift to Sean and seeing how it affected him. And just that that's me walking through the curtain for my last time at NXT for then.

and then, you know, there you got it. And then you start cutting that promo and you get emotional during the promo too. Yeah. It truly felt like it was coming from your heart. It is. I mean, like I put so much of my heart into that company into NXT in general for years of my life. That place was incredibly special to me. I thanked the writing team.

I thanked the coaches. I thanked everyone in that locker room because it was such an incredible place to be in for so long. And I guess it still holds us. special plays in my heart. I still do go to the performance center sometimes. And it's just that moment to be able to cut that promo, which is crazy too when you think about that. When you think about the fact that they gave me that moment to go on live television with a microphone and I wasn't under contract anymore the next day. Like I literally could have said whatever I wanted in that moment. But we had, I have such a great relationship with everyone. I wasn't going to

do anything crazy, obviously. But like I said, that just speaks to the trust we all have with each other building. Not everybody gets to say goodbye. No, no. Actually, that's pretty rare. Yeah, I know. And that was a big thing for Sean, too, as he said, like, look, like, we're going to try to give you what you deserve on the way out because you deserve it. And I had many conversations with Sean when I was leaving. And I basically told him, like, look, I got to go and I got to, you know, I want to help raise the baby and I want to be there around for that. And I just want to try and do other things for a while, right? Like, I've been here

for so long. I've been here for seven years. I just want to step outside here. And I want to be on Twitch and I want to, you know, do these appearances and see what the world's like out there for a little bit, just to not be on call. That was the most important thing for me for that period was to not be under contract and not be on call, not be told like, oh, hey, we need you to go to this city. We need you to go do this. Just to control my own schedule, especially with the baby and with Candace, just be around as much as possible. You didn't wrestle anywhere else. Never, never. Yeah, yeah. Like not even a match back in Ohio or something. No, no. And that was, it was, it was tempting. Obviously, there was many offers. Yeah. As soon as like,

I opened that booking email up for appearances, many people hit me up and they threw a lot of big numbers out there to give me to have one match. And I was just like, I don't want to do it. I can't do it. Because for me, I was like, it's going to got to be special, right? It's got to be something that, and if I am taking a break from wrestling, I got to stick to the break.

I can't just go and start wrestling on the Indies and stuff like that. Even though I am an indie kid at heart and I would love to do that again. One day, I just did those signings. And those signings, too, were so cool. Because I didn't get a chance to do. I did some of them in NXT, but to be able to be out there and be at WrestleMania weekend and see, like, a line go around wrestlecon.

And, like, people be so excited to meet me. You really start to see your effect you had on people and what the stories I was able to tell in NXT how they affected certain people. And it was very cool to see. And I was very lucky for that. I'm very lucky that I was able to support myself just doing signings.

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and take advantage of that 50% bonus on your first deposit. MyBooky.orgie. How long do you think it took until you finally felt like you could like take a breath and like relax? Like the schedules go, go, go for so long. And then it comes to an end so quickly. I was pretty okay immediately after that. Like as soon as like my, like I did my last night at NXT and I left and like literally it was funny. Like I did my last night at NXT.

And then I think my contract was coming up on that like Friday. And so I did my last night at NXT. And then that was Tuesday. And then like I, they had like a. a heart test because they test our hearts to make sure everything's okay while you're on their contract. And like that was there. So I was like, okay, I'm going to get my heart tested. And I was great. So I got that done. And there was like the NXC Christmas party on Friday. So my last official night in NXC was at the NXC Christmas party. And then like they literally, they were so great to me.

Like they said like look like you'll always have a home here. Like if you need anything, if you need medical, if you need any like if you're hurt, if you're feeling whatever, coming to the PC, we'll take care of you to. Wow. Wow. So like I said, it's just, I have such a great relationship with people there. How did you know it was time to go back? Uh, I just kind of felt it. Like, it felt like that's where the wind was blowing.

And I've had such a great relationship with Hunter. I can't say enough great things about Hunter and Sean. Like, it's going to make it sound like I'm just going on and out about Hunter and Sean, which I am. I will. I have such a great relationship with them. Like, so much so that I always kept in contact with them.

Even when I was gone, the day Quill was born. I got a text from Hunter. I got a text from Sean, like unprovoked. Like they just saw that Quill was born. They reached out, like said, congratulations. Let it keep in touch. And Hunter literally said when Quill was born, he's like, I can't wait to meet him.

Like, I'm very excited. And I literally said that day, like, do me a favor though. When you meet him, you need to do the finger point picture, okay? He said, you got it. It'd be my honor. So like I said, I just, I enjoy them so much as human beings. Yeah. That I just really wanted to work with them again.

And when the opportunity came up or the world. old change and everything went down. Sean reached out to me and said, hey, are you open to coming back? And I'd say, I'd definitely, you know, talk about it. And literally like, maybe like a couple hours later, Hunter called. Wow. And then we had a conversation.

And then he talked to my agent and like things were in motion really, really quickly. Because then like you wanted Candace back as well. And then it was just one of those things, you know, his Candace is ready. Yeah. Look at him, I ready. And I wanted time to get ready to get ready to. Because I wasn't no, I wasn't ready to come back yet.

So I needed to get in shape really, really quickly and things like that. But everything happened. happened so fast. And it's like, people ask me like, why? Like, literally, I think there was a Cleveland show. And then like, two weeks later, I came back. And like, why didn't you come back in Cleveland? Because literally, I wasn't, like, I wasn't in a contract yet. Those things are so being discussed. And luckily, it was fun to come back in Toronto because everyone expected Cleveland. And to be able to come back in Toronto in a building I've wrestled in before and have it be an absolute surprise. Yeah. Like, no one knew. The only people that knew I was back in the company. And I, like,

be fair, I wasn't even officially under contract yet. Terms were agreed upon and I was ready to go, but I wasn't officially back back yet. Luckily, like, it was kept under, that's luckily the way it was kept under wraps, too, is I think only people that knew was like me, my agent, Candace, and I think Hunter and maybe like one other person in TR, and that was it. Yeah, there's very few surprises in pro wrestling. And the fact that you came out unadvertised, no rumors, your music just hits out of a commercial break. That's so funny, too.

It's like, people always talk about the reaction. And it's like, people are like, oh, man, what didn't they? Like, they should have gave them a much better return. I'm like, that's the reaction that's awesome about it. It's like, it's out of commercial. Yeah. It's not built up at all. Like, literally the music hits.

People are like, wait a minute. That kind of sounds familiar. Yeah. Then my name comes up on the Toronto. They're like, wait a minute, what's happening? And I walk out and people are like, oh, big Johnny wrestling chance and things like that. And it was just such a cool moment to be able to have, like, to keep that a secret and make that happen. And Candace is too.

Gannis was also kept a secret. Like, no one knew that me and Candace were at the Performance Center together training, like getting her ready to come back from having a child. So, yeah, it's just, we're incredibly lucky and incredibly cool that everything worked out the way it did. The United States Soccer Federation presents the U.S. Soccer Podcast. My name is David Goss, and I'm joined by my co-host, Megan Clemenberg. And now we're giving people an inside look at the World Cup. Time's ticking.

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Do you think there's still a place for you if you went back to NXT? Like, I feel like you could really lift the roster there. Yeah, definitely. And I think like my goal, and I think everyone else's goal. And we've said it for years. And I think NXT shouldn't just be labeled as development. right? I think it is a viable third brand. I think there are developmental aspects of it. I think people are learning. I think there should be an influx of new talent all the time

from different walks of life. I think they should come from the Indies. They should come from pro sports. He's from college. They should come from people that just want to wrestle. I think it should come from all different realms. If they're talented, they're talented. At the end of the day, like there's no question there. It doesn't matter where you come from. So I do think there is still a spot for me in an NXT one day. I said, I still have so much unfinished business. here on raw and so many things I do want to accomplish and make happen. But at the end of the day, NXE will always be in my heart. And whenever I can go back there and visit that place, it is an incredible experience.

What do we got to do to get you a title shot on the main roster? Well, I have one coming soon. This weekend, DIY tag team titles against judgment day. Incredible. I know. And let's get you a U.S. title shot. Yeah, yeah. Cleveland versus Cleveland.

That is true, Logan Paul. Why is this, this feels like a storyline. It does, right? This feels like it needs to happen. You never know. We'll see. He's from the west side, right? Yeah, I'm from the west side too, though. Well, you're Lakewood?

No, so that's, don't, Wikipedia lies. This is going to be the third time in the last probably two months that we've corrected Wikipedia on the podcast. Really? Wikipedia is a liar. Everyone always asked me, you're born in Lakewood. I'm like, no. I was literally born in Cleveland, Ohio. Okay, so let's correct that right now. Yeah.

I went to high school in Lakewood. Okay. I went to St. Ed's high school. Dolph Ziegler also went to St. The big wrestling high school. Yes. Phil Donahue also went there, not a wrestler, but he was there. What a throwback.

What a reference. So I was born and I'm like, so like, I'd say when people asked me like, what part are you from? Like, I'm like probably like five minutes from downtown. So the bad part of Cleveland. Like Tremont? Like, so my mom's house wasn't, wasn't Tremont. So you're pretty close to like.

Like Ohio City, like things like that. The Christmas Story House. Yes, love the Christmas story house. That's really close to where you grew up. Yeah. So I literally visit the. Christmas Story House every Christmas Eve without fail. Every single year, I have to go back.

And that's like my tradition. And Candace probably hates it by now. We literally, like this past Christmas, woke up at like 7 a.m. because the Browns were playing on Christmas Eve. So that throws a wrench into things again, too, because you can't. You got to watch the Browns. Of course. The Browns were playing at one.

It was like, here's what we're going to do. Here's our Christmas Eve. We woke up at 7 a.m. Went to the Christmas Story House right off the rip. Actually, no. We went to brew nuts first. Pick up a dozen donuts. Went to the Christmas story house.

Went to the gift shop. Visited there. Then we're like, okay, we're going to go to Crocker Park and we're going to see Santa Claus. Because Quill hadn't seen Santa Claus yet. So we're like, okay, let's go. So we go to Crocker Park. And we go in line to meet Santa. And as we're in line to meet Santa, Quill starts getting tired.

We're like, oh, no. You got to stay up, man. It doesn't work if you're sleeping. We're not meeting Santa. Like, this isn't for us. He falls asleep. We're like, oh, my God. What are we going to do?

I'm watching my car. I'm watching my clock. The Brown's playing like 20 minutes. I'm like, we can't wait in this line anymore. We got to go. So we go home. We live in Avon now.

We go home. We go and he's still sleeping. I watch the Browns. Santa's there until five. So luckily the Brown, there was a blowout that day against the Texans, which didn't end up any for us good at all. So we went at like 4.30 and we took him back to meet Santa.

And he saw Santa like cut off time. You're living in Avon now? Yeah, so we live in Orlando, but we also have a house in Avon, too. So, like, we split time here and there. Yeah, that's smart. Like the family's there. Yep. Work is, for the most part, Orlando.

Yep. And I think Logan Paul's Westlake, right? I think so. He's just down the street from you. He's also Puerto Rico, too. Actually, you're right. He lives in Puerto Rico. I don't know how often he's in Westlake anymore.

It's like Puerto Rico and L.A., I think. Yeah. True's family's still in Westlake. Yeah, that's true. At the point. I don't know. What's the match. from NXT that you think that you are most known for?

Probably, I'd say me and Tomaso in New Orleans is a big one. You guys work that match so stiff, by the way. That's what you can do when you're wrestling your best friend, right? That's like what everyone says. When you're wrestling your friend, you can hit each other a little harder. The stuff you guys do on the apron, it's painful to watch. Yeah, it hurts. So everyone's like, oh, magic tricks.

No, it really does hurt. So that one, and then I always say three. my match with Tomaso from New Orleans, my match with Andrade from Takeover, Philadelphia, and then my match with Adam Cole at Takeover, New York. Those are your three match of the years, right? I think so, yeah, yeah. The fact that you have three NXT match of the years.

Yeah, very lucky. I had quite a run. Oh, yeah. It's just lucky. That's it. Yeah, I was just lucky. And how many five-star matches do you have? I don't know if me and Tamaso got two of them.

I know me and Andrade got one. Me and Tomasso got one in New Orleans. Me and Adam Cole got two. I don't know if our match in Chicago got another one. So either four or five. It's like five more than Kurt Angle. Which is stupid because Kurt Angle's one of the best wrestlers in the world. Kurt Angle's way better than me.

I think Sean Michaels has won. Sean Michaels is way better than me too. A lot of people way better than me. I don't know. Got a lot of five-star matches. And then again, I do appreciate it and I appreciate the, because Dave has been around forever. Meltzer is a man.

Yeah. He's been, he's seen everything. He knows everything. But again, at the end of the day, it's all opinion. Wrestling is all opinion-based, too. Some people think I'm the best restaurant in the world. Some people think I'm the worst wrestler in the world. It's all subject to what you enjoy.

How do you deal with that? Because there are both ends of the spectrum. Oh, yeah, it sucks. Because for every bunch of haters you have or people that love you, there are those haters. Oh, yeah, especially me. I feel like I'm like a cog of like, I collect all the vitro and all the hatred just because like I am I am undersized.

I'm a I guess I'm an average white guy. Like I'm working with what I got here. Like I think like I'm not super athletic I guess. I'm just I'm just nagging myself like crazy right now by the way. But like I don't have the, I myself don't have the best. And I'm probably talk to you about this too. Myself a seam is horrible. Like I hate all my own matches.

I hate all my own work. So anything anyone tells me is bad. I'm like, yeah, it is bad. I just believe you, sure. You're not telling me anything I don't already know. And I think, like, I'm like an easy target for people to be like, that guy doesn't look like a wrestler. He's bad.

Like, sure, I guess. But I think wrestlers, especially in 2004, can come in all different shapes and sizes. And I think what I do have is a very relatable factor to where people can see me. I think there's two types of stars. I think there starts like The Rock. They're like, I want to be the Rock. Man, I would love to be the Rock one day. And there's people like me.

They're like, I can see myself in Johnny Gargano. I can be Johnny Gargano. I feel like that's what I really have going for me. And trust me, though, it does eat away. Because every good comment you have, people can tell you you're the best rest of the world. Like 15 people can say, that match was amazing. But the one person that says, you suck.

And like, you have no charisma. And whatever the heck else they're going to say to me, that's the thing that sticks with you. So that's the thing you hear and you're kind of like, well, I try. But also you're insanely jacked. You have great gear. Yeah.

Like, you do look like a wrestler. Thank you. I appreciate that. But I mean, it's just the truth. But like to some people, that's not what a wrestler looks like, right? Wrestlers look like six foot five and they look like 300 pounds.

And they look like that. And like, that's not me. And it's never going to be me. And it's just one of those things where I'm accepted this. I'm pretty comfortable with myself in this day and age. Yeah. But like, what's your shoot weight?

My shoot weight, probably like 180. Okay. Yeah. I remember ring announcing you in Cleveland. I'm like, what's your weight? You're like, oh, what do I want to be today? How much did he say he was? It was you versus Jimmy Jacobs.

Yeah. I'm like, he's 199. You're like, I'm 201, man. It all depends if I'm cutting down or not. If like, if I'm bulking, I could probably be like 185, 190. But if I'm cutting down, if we're me and AJ are like cutting my calories and stuff, I get to probably like 180. Are you working with him year round?

Yeah. Oh, that's crazy. Yeah. And I just enjoy having like a soundboard to bounce things off of. Yeah. Because if I'm like, oh, I'm feeling this way or I feel like I need to lean up a bit or need to get bigger. And I'm always going to professionally try to get bigger.

But like at 36 years old, like I've kind of hit my physical peak on what I can be without, you know. Really? Talk to AJ Styles. Yeah. That's true. It looks insane. But like I feel like those guys also had it. like the luxury of like they were off for a little bit so they were able to really like focus on that.

Like as a wrestler, like I feel like I'm either like like like trying to cut for TV or I'm trying to like game. But I'm like, oh, I'm getting fat. So I got to cut some more. If I had like a serious like year off. Yeah. Like that's why I think guys who get injured who take time off are really lucky in the aspect where they don't have to be on TV. So you don't have to be lean. So you can eat, need, need, eat, eat and eat like gain weight.

Yeah. And then when it's time to cut, you cut, and you still are much bigger. Yeah. What are you most proud of about Candace and the career that she's had in WWA? I say all the time that Candace has raised my favorite wrestler. And I don't think she's scratched the surface on what she's able to actually be. I am incredibly excited for her future, too. And it's funny, like I mentioned all the time, like how my dream is still to wrestle at WrestleMania.

Candace already did. She was in a battle royal at WrestleMania. So she already has that over me. She's wrestled in WrestleMania. She's done numerous Royal Rumbles. She's on Survivor Series. SummerSlam is the only one she hasn't done yet. So she's got me beat in a lot of aspects

and what she's able to accomplish. But yeah, I mean, it's just so cool, honestly, to sit back as a very proud husband and just to know what she's capable of because obviously I work with her numerous times on the Indies. I think that in ring,

she's absolutely fantastic. And for Quill to be able to sit at home and watch mom and dad on TV is pretty cool, even though he falls asleep a lot. Not because... Not because of our matches. He's tired. It's tired.

It's nap time. It's really cool, too. Like, he has, like, an action figure of me. And whenever he, like, gets the action figure of me, he, like, looks at me and, like, shows it to me. Like, this is you. Like, every single time he does it. It's just so cool.

Dude, that's so cool. Yeah, yeah. You came up at a really interesting time of Indie Wrestling when there was a lot of eyeballs on indie wrestling. And we've talked about this before, but I remember talking to you years ago in Cleveland and you're like, it's WWE or nothing.

And Impact, TNA was doing the gut check at the time. And you're like, yeah, that's a really great idea, but I want to go to WWE. Yep. And it was interesting because you didn't have those opportunities for a while. Like, you weren't getting looks from WWE and you weren't getting offers from them. And then all of a sudden it happened.

Yeah. What do you think changed? William Regal. That's my, as always, my go-tebris. to answer. I will not. I will always be the one to give William Regal his flowers because he was coming to indie shows at the time. He was going to PWG and

he was seeing all of us. And I remember I literally wrestled Kevin Owens at a PWG show before Kevin got his WV tryout. And Regal told me after that match, he's like, look, you'll be in WV one day, but not yet. Like, you still need more time.

Like go out there, get more experience. Like, not get more experience, but also like, just get older, you know, just keep doing your thing. like when the time's right you'll be there trust me um and literally like there was that tryout where it was a lot of indie guys it was like me and tamaso and uh chuck taylor and drew gulac and tm 61 and athena and like riddle was there and like it was just all these guys it was like very much so and biff busick it was very much so like an indie tryout and we all were like oh maybe we might get signed and then we were told no like me and tamaso were

both don't know. And for some reason, like, at that tryout, me and Tamasso were paired together. We were in the same car. We were in the same hotel room. And we knew each other

from the Indies. We wrestled each other a few times, but we weren't super close. And then being put through that and being told no together. And then weeks later, like, Regal Kong being like,

hey, there's just Dutty Road's tag team class. Like, we're going to put you and Tomaso in it. Like, are you okay with that? I'm like, yeah, it's great. Like, he's like, it's just a foot in the door. We'll see what happens.

And then to just continue to be, brought back month after month not being under contract, which is crazy at the time. Yeah. But like that was Regal's way to get us in. He just found a small opening. Yeah. And he knew we would try to take advantage of that opportunity.

And we did. And like you look years later to again go from both of us being told no to being in one of the hottest storylines in wrestling. And then seven years later to be able to give that goodbye speech in that building, the same building that I had my tryout in, same building I was sold No-in. It just, just, wrestling just changed as a whole, too, because during that time period, indie guys wasn't the hot thing. Like a couple of them were signed here and there, but the stigma of the indie guy got

washed away after the Cruiserweight Classic and things like that. And many, many more guys were brought in. Did you believe him when he told you'd be in WWE one day? I always believed I would. Because that's also just a nice thing that someone says. It is. But I've always trusted William Regal. Like he is always shot straight

And everything he's done And he enjoys just a certain style And a certain passion And he sees your passion And he sees and he feels it And I always believed One day I would be in WWE I didn't know how

I didn't know when Obviously and I talked about how It was kind of a stigma To be an indie guy But watching guys like Brian go there Watching Kevin go there And Sammy go there Like it felt like

okay, the wind's blowing in that direction. And luckily, everything worked out. And you got to keep your name. Yeah. And you got to keep Johnny wrestling. Yeah, yeah. That's pretty crazy. Which that was all indie stuff, right?

Johnny, that was inspired by Johnny Mansell. Of course it was, yes. I don't know if people remember this. They don't. Johnny football was a huge thing in Cleveland. And literally it just spawned from a joke I made, like on Twitter. I was like, if Johnny Mansell can be Johnny Football, can I be Johnny wrestling? And literally the next indie show I did, people were chanting Johnny wrestling.

from a tweet from a tweet and I was like oh this might be a thing and it was in AIW yeah but then like it happened in AIW then I went to a show in Buffalo and it happened in Buffalo and I went to California it happened in California it just it just spawned because then I started making merch from it and then the Johnny wrestling thing just took off on its own and it became as my most marketable thing I still have that t-shirt yeah yeah yeah at AIW there you go it's the white one with uh that was the original one yeah that's the original one uh and then like some people nowadays don't like he said don't even remember Johnny football. Like Johnny wrestling is superseded.

That was even a thing. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Was there ever talk of like, we know this is your real name, but you're going to need a WWE name? Never. That's great.

No one ever brought that. I don't know if that would happen in 2024. I don't think it would. And like I said, it was a perfect storm of things that happened that I was brought in at that time period. And it just worked out so well that I wasn't under contract. So I was just me. And then it got to the.

the point where like, I was already me for so long. When they actually signed me, they were like, well, like, we can't go back now. We're already too far gone. Yeah. You can't give you another name. Yeah, I know. Yeah. Was there talk before you became the first ever triple crown champion?

Or was it just kind of like, this is going to work with the storyline. So, oh, look at this. I got this up and you're now the guy. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I just, I was like, wait a minute. I think this makes me a triple crown champion. Like, oh, yeah, it does. But yeah, like, because like, I think I brought up like, because at that time, I held the tag titles.

I held the North American title. And Adam held the tag titles with the attitude era and like the Freiburg rule and the North American title. So when the match was announced, I was like, oh, whoever wins is going to be the first North American first Triple Crown champion. They're like, oh, wait, yeah, that's true. Oh, we're going to advertise that as well. But yeah, it just happened. There's something I was super pumped about too. What's something that's happened in the ring that has hurt a lot, but doesn't look like it hurts a lot?

Hmm. See, most things that hurt a lot. lot for me look like they hurt a lot. So the thing that I, the moment I always go to, there's a moment in my match with Tomaso in New Orleans where he superplexes me off the announced table to the floor. And that bump sucked so much. And stuff came out of me and you can guess what came out of me. And then I did the same bump kind of against Andrade, I take over Philadelphia.

and it was like a running. I did like a flip dive off the apron, but like he moved, so I just took the floor of freight's back. And again, stuff came out of me, and you can guess what came out of me. Is that just your body's reaction?

Yeah, stuff shoots out, yeah, I think, right? But the funny thing is, like those two matches were rated five stars.

So what's that tell you? When stuff comes out, we get in five. That's a secret. I think it's time for you to have another five-star match. I know, I don't know,

my underwear can take that. I think at some point, at some point, you know, you and Tomaso, I feel like there's going to be some sort of a turn again at some point. I think we've, so I think me and Tomaso have been through so much together in this company that we're really enjoying having the opportunity to show the world DIY. Because we never had that chance on a Rar Smackdown. Like we had like one match against Revival and we had like one match against Tizarro and Seamus. in like 2019, 2018, 2018, 2019. But other than that, like, I genuinely enjoy tag team wrestling. Like, I haven't had a chance to do it that much in a while.

And being able to do it again reminds me how much I genuinely enjoy it, especially with a guy I enjoy teaming with. So I'm very excited to see what the future holds for us now on wrong. So are you turning on him or is he going to turn on you? That is going to be the question at the end of the day, right? I think we're so years, we're still going to be good for years. trust me. Oh, that match is going to be great. Dude, so good to catch up with you. You too, buddy.

And congrats on everything. Thank you. You too. Thank you. Yeah, it's wild. It's wild. To think back at 2011 and here we are, these dads hanging out now. Completely, I mean, we were living somewhere else in completely different stages of our life. And here we are now. Yep, here we are. Yeah, it's amazing. Congrats. I end every interview talking about gratitude. It's such a big part of my life. I wake up every day. I say out loud, three things I'm grateful for. we do it before we go to bed. What are three things you're grateful for?

I'm obviously grateful for Candice. She keeps me sane that she keeps my life together. I'm obviously grateful for my son Quill. He is just the best. I'm going to piggyback because I feel like I have more than three things. Family number one. Family is number one.

I'm grateful for the health of my family, not just my wife and son and dog. But like my parents, So I have both my parents. Very lucky in that regard. Yeah. I'm grateful for their health. I'm just grateful for luck as well.

I've been incredibly lucky. I'm incredibly blessed with an amazing career, an incredible family, and, uh, I don't know. Is that life so far? There's that Thomas Jefferson quote, I think it is. So he says, uh, it's funny. The harder I work, the luckier I get. It's true. And I think that you are like a shining example of that.

Appreciate that, man. It's not luck. It's you've worked your ass off to be where you're at right now. maybe a little bit of luck. A little bit of luck here and there. Harder you work, the luckier you got. That was three, right? Yeah, I think so much. Thank you so much.

Thank you, buddy. Appreciate you. Johnny Wrestling, ladies and gentlemen, just such a good dude. Just such a good guy. And I said it in the intro, but I hope we get the chance to see at least one more

Johnny versus Tomaso match. And I also hope that at some point, as a Browns fan, as fellow Browns fans, here. Me and Johnny, I hope at some point we see the Browns win like more than one playoff game. That'd be cool. Like the Browns in the Super Bowl one year, that'd be pretty cool, I think. I think Vic Travelyanti and Dolph Ziegler and the Miz could all agree with me there. Logan Paul, I'm sure too. If you enjoy this snap a screenshot and tag us, let us know that you're

listening. It's just our names. At Johnny Gargano, at Chris Van Fleet. And this is a quote, I don't know who this is from, but I've seen this so many times. I've shared it myself on Twitter slash X. Are we calling this X? I feel like it's still Twitter. Because if it's called X, then what's a tweet called? Like Twitter tweet X, is it an X? Is it a post on X? I don't know. I feel very lost when it comes to that. The quote, though, clapping for others does not take away from your own success. Please remember that. Be great. Be grateful. We will see you on. on the next one for some more insight. Jim Rome takes on sports.

Why? Because I have a job to do. With rapid fire takes. So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs on this notion today. No idea what you're talking about. You're complaining more than you like to breathe air. It's like you get up in the morning only to complain and cry and moan on social media about things that you don't even understand. He's the spitfire of sports smack.

Take advantage of it. Get up in here. The Jim Rome show. podcast. What should be? Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You've been warned.