Johnny Gargano

**Jonathan Anthony Nicholas "Johnny" Gargano** (born August 14, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. He works for WWE and wrestles on the SmackDown brand. He is one-half of the tag team #DIY, along with Tommaso Ciampa. Before working on the main roster, Gargano wrestled on NXT. He was the first-ever NXT Triple Crown winner, as he won the NXT Championship once, the NXT North American Championship three times and the NXT Tag Team Championship once with Ciampa. He was nicknamed "The Heart and Soul of NXT".

Gargano started his professional wrestling career in 2005 with the Cleveland All–Pro Wrestling (CAPW) promotion. He later worked for some of the top promotions on the American independent circuit. These include the promotions Chikara, Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA), Evolve and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). Titles Gargano has held include the Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas, the Evolve Tag Team Championship and DGUSA's Open the Freedom Gate Championship. He held the Freedom Gate Championship two times. His first time as champion lasted a record 873 days.  Gargano also made appearances for national promotions Ring of Honor (ROH) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

Gargano made some appearances for WWE early in his career. In June 2015, he took part in the company's tryout camp. After that, he began appearing regularly for NXT. He signed a contract with the company in April 2016 and formed a tag team called #DIY with Tommaso Ciampa. They held the NXT Tag Team Championship once. The team later ended and they often fought each other. In January 2019, Gargano won the NXT North American Championship. He won the NXT Championship in April the same year. In 2020, Gargano won the NXT North American Championship for a second time. He later won it for a third time. He is the first person to win it more than once. He left WWE after his contract ended in December 2021, but returned in August 2022. He and Ciampa reformed #DIY in October 2023. They went on tp win the WWE Tag Team Championship twice.

## Championships and accomplishments

- **Absolute Intense Wrestling**
    - AIW Absolute Championship (1 time)
    - AIW Intense Championship (2 times)
    - Gauntlet for the Gold (2012)
    - Jack of All Trios (2010) – with Flip Kendrick and Louis Lyndon
- **CBS Sports**
    - Feud of the Year (2018)
    - Feud of the Year (2019)
    - Match of the Year (2019)
    - NXT Match of the Year (2018)
    - WWE Male Wrestler of the Year (2018)
- **Championship Wrestling Experience**
    - CWE Undisputed Championship (1 time)
- **Chikara**
    - Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas (2 times) – with Chuck Taylor
    - The Countdown Showdown (2010)
- **Cleveland All–Pro Wrestling**
    - CAPW Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- **DDT Pro-Wrestling**
    - Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (1 time)
- **Dragon Gate USA/Evolve Wrestling**
    - Evolve Tag Team Championship (1 time, first) – with Drew Galloway
    - Open the Freedom Gate Championship (2 times)
    - Open the United Gate Championship (1 time) – with Rich Swann
    - CITIC Cup (2014)
    - Evolve Tag Team Championship Tournament (2016) – with Drew Galloway
- **International Wrestling Cartel**
    - IWC Super Indy Championship (1 time)
    - IWC Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Michael Facade
- **Legacy Wrestling**
    - Legacy Championship (1 time)
- ***Pro Wrestling Illustrated***
    - Feud of the Year (2018)
    - Feud of the Year (2019)
    - Ranked No. 6 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the _PWI 500_ in 2019
- **Pro Wrestling Ohio/Prime Wrestling**
    - PWO/Prime Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
- **Smash Wrestling**
    - Smash Wrestling Championship (1 time)
- **Sports Illustrated**
    - Ranked No. 9 of the top 10 men's wrestlers in 2018 <small>– tied with Tommaso Ciampa</small>
- **Wrestling Cares Association**
    - Race for the Ring Tournament (2014)
- ***Wrestling Observer Newsletter***
    - Feud of the Year (2018)
    - Feud of the Year (2019)
- **WWE**
    - WWE Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Tommaso Ciampa
    - NXT Championship (1 time)
    - NXT North American Championship (3 times)
    - NXT Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tommaso Ciampa
    - First NXT Triple Crown Champion
    - NXT Year-End Award (5 times)
        - Match of the Year (2016) –
        - Match of the Year (2018) –
        - Match of the Year (2019) –
        - Rivalry of the Year (2018)
        - Rivalry of the Year (2019)

## Other websites

- Interview with 411mania.com

## Infobox (professional wrestler)

- **name**: Johnny Gargano
- **image**: Johnny Gargano June 2018.jpg
- **caption**: Gargano in June 2018
- **birthname**: John Anthony Nicholas Gargano
- **children**: 1
- **names**: Cedrick Von Haussen
Joey Gray
**Johnny Gargano**
- **height**: 5ft 9in
- **weight**: 199 lb
- **birth place**: Lakewood, Ohio, U.S.
- **billed**: **Cleveland, Ohio**
Cleveland, The Land of Cleve, Ohio

Schaan, Liechtenstein
- **trainer**: Josh Prohibition
J.T. Lightning
- **debut**: 2005