Johnny Gargano says he’s taking a page out of The Candyman’s playbook and tells fans that if they chant Johnny Wrestling enough at shows, he might just turn up.
The former NXT Champion brought the curtain down on an incredible six-year run in NXT following NXT WarGames where he represented the losing Team Black and Gold. Gargano then gave an emotional address on NXT 2.0 before being viciously attacked by Grayson Waller.
After the show went off the air Johnny Gargano was joined by Kyle O’Reilly for a curtain call with both men getting the chance to say goodbye to the NXT fans as they both embark on new adventures.
As Johnny Gargano explained on his Twitch channel the next adventure for him is fatherhood and he wants to enjoy that time and the time he has left before it with his family:
“A lot of people don’t realize, obviously the baby is due in February. Candice (LeRae) and I are really just trying to enjoy the next couple of months we have together. You don’t think about this stuff, but this is really going to be the last time it’s going to be me and Candice and Pawdme. I really want to enjoy as much time as I have with Candice and Pawdme before the little rascal arrives and it becomes a whole new world for me.”
Gargano then spoke about his good fortune throughout his career never to have suffered any major injuries. Although he warns that this streak of good health means a crowd has never got the chance to miss him so maybe now is a good time for a break:
“I’ve been very lucky in my career, I’ve been doing this for 15 or 16 years, I’ve been very lucky injury-wise. I’ve had a bad lower back and hip problems, but other than that, I haven’t had any surgeries or major injuries. I’m beat up, obviously, but that’s from doing this since I was eight.”
“My run in NXT was six years and I never missed any time. I was on television straight from the (WWE) Network, USA Network, six years and I never missed time. You look at guys who get injured, they are gone for a year, they are back and they are fresh. Part of me feels like people just need a break from me.”
“That might be weird to say now, but people have seen me non-stop for six years and I want to give people a rest from Johnny Gargano for a little bit. That could be me being weirdly self-conscious about myself.”
Although Johnny Gargano might not be looking to wrestle anywhere imminently he does tell fans that if they keep chanting for ‘Johnny Wrestling’ at shows, then you never know what might happen:
“The ‘Johnny Wrestling’ chants, they mean the world to me. If you chant Johnny Wrestling’ somewhere, loud enough, you never know what could happen. I could show up anywhere at this point, I’m free to do whatever I want. If someone wants to see me bad enough, those Johnny Wrestling chants come in, I’ll hear them. I watch everything. It’s just like Candyman. If you chant Johnny Wrestling 100 times, I will show up.”