Johnny Gargano

Johnny Gargano is a professional wrestler known for an underdog mindset, exceptional stamina, precise execution, and story-driven matches. He began in the Cleveland independent scene in 2005 with Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling (CAPW), then rose to prominence as a cornerstone of Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA) and Evolve.

In DGUSA, he won the Open the Freedom Gate Championship twice, including a first reign that lasted 873 days, one of the most dominant runs in that title’s history. He also collected tag honors in Chikara and made appearances in Ring of Honor (ROH) and TNA, which built the foundation for his later success on a national stage.

Gargano joined WWE’s NXT in 2015 and soon formed the tag team #DIY with Tommaso Ciampa. #DIY won the NXT Tag Team Championship, then split and launched a long rivalry that defined NXT’s next era.

Their saga included Gargano’s reinstatement win in an Unsanctioned Match at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans in April 2018, a high point that cemented him as a top singles act. The mix of teamwork, betrayal, and intense stipulation matches remains one of the brand’s most celebrated stories.

In 2019, Gargano reached the peak of NXT. He captured the North American title in January, then won the vacant NXT Championship in April to complete the first NXT Triple Crown. He added two more North American title reigns in 2020, setting the record with three total, and appeared in more TakeOver events than any other wrestler of his era. This led the company and its fans to tag him as the “Heart and Soul of NXT”.

After his contract expired in December 2021, Gargano returned to WWE in August 2022 and reunited with Ciampa in 2023. The team moved to SmackDown in the 2024 draft and won the WWE Tag Team Championship on July 5, 2024, defeating A-Town Down Under.

They later lost to The Bloodline tag-team made up of Jacob Fatu & Tama Tong, but regained the belts in December 2024 by defeating The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley). They later had a strong title defense at Royal Rumble 2025, defeating The Motor City Machine Guns in a two-out-of-three falls match, but lost them again to The Street Profits in March 2025.

A televised TLC rematch among the Profits, #DIY, and the Motor City Machine Guns saw the Profits retain the belts in April 2025, but the match drew wide praise and extended #DIY’s presence in the title picture.

Gargano’s style blends babyface fire with meticulous counters and timely bursts of speed. His primary finisher is the Gargano Escape, a crossface he can shift into out of scrambles. He also uses the slingshot DDT known as One Final Beat, plus a superkick and a slingshot spear. With his tag team partner, Ciampa, they’ll often finish teams with their “Meeting in the Middle” move, which is a knee and superkick combination.

Today, Gargano competes on SmackDown, usually as part of #DIY with Ciampa, and rotates between title pursuits and feature tag programs. His legacy rests on consistent big match performances, a defining rivalry with Ciampa, and a connection with audiences that has carried from small halls to network television.