Fandango

Beginning in 2010, Fandango, under the ring name **Johnny Curtis**, began competing at house shows for the Raw brand, with his first match being a loss to Evan Bourne on January 8. After losing several matches to both Bourne and Paul Burchill at house shows, Curtis wrestled his first dark match, which he lost to Kung Fu Naki on the January 19 episode of *ECW*.

Curtis was part of the fourth season of *NXT*, with R-Truth as his mentor. He made his in-ring debut on the season premiere on December 7 episode of *NXT*, defeating fellow rookie Jacob Novak in singles competition. The following week, Curtis was unsuccessful in the "Karaoke" challenge, but was successful in the "Obstacle Course" challenge, earning points towards immunity from elimination. On the December 21 episode of *NXT*, Curtis lost the "Wheelbarrow Race" challenge, and suffered his first loss in a rematch to Jacob Novak. Curtis was then defeated by pro Dolph Ziggler on the December 28 episode of *NXT*, and afterwards won both the "Power of the Punch" challenge and a "Talent Show" contest. On the January 4, 2011 episode of *NXT*, Curtis was defeated in singles competition by Brodus Clay. It was later revealed that he was immune from elimination that week. On the next week of *NXT*, Curtis lost both the "Slingshot Challenge" and the "Superstar Password" challenge, and competed in singles competition defeating pro Ted DiBiase after a failed interference by his rookie Brodus Clay. Curtis was unsuccessful in the "How Well Do You Know Your WWE Pro?" challenge on the January 18 episode of *NXT*, and was safe from elimination that week. On the January 25 episode of *NXT*, Curtis was unsuccessful in the "Out-think the Fink" challenge, and competed in a fatal four-way match with Brodus Clay, Derrick Bateman, and Byron Saxton with Clay winning the match.

On the February 1 episode of *NXT*, Curtis won an "Arm Wrestling" challenge, but was unsuccessful in the "Talk the Talk" challenge, and also lost in a tag team match along with R-Truth against Derrick Bateman and Daniel Bryan. On the next week of *NXT*, Curtis was unsuccessful in a "Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Rookies" challenge, "WWE.com" challenge, and in singles competition against Brodus Clay. On the February 15 episode of *NXT*, Curtis lost the "Smash and Grab" challenge and the "Save Your Trivia" challenge. During the season finale on March 1, Curtis was declared the winner of *NXT*, defeating Brodus Clay in the final.

After various dark matches, Curtis debuted on *SmackDown* on the June 3 episode in a bizarre backstage promo where he said that his promised tag team title shot was "not going to happen" in light of R-Truth's recent villainous turn. He then began to sarcastically cry and proceeded to pour milk onto a plate and then over his head, in reference to the saying "don't cry over spilled milk". After weeks of backstage promos playing on words, Curtis made his SmackDown in-ring debut on the August 12 episode, being squashed by Mark Henry in less than a minute, which was his only non-battle royal match on SmackDown in 2011.

Curtis then made his return to the fifth season of *NXT* as a heel on November 2. Curtis turned his attentions to wooing Maxine, and therefore ignited a feud with Maxine's storyline fiancé, Derrick Bateman. As the weeks passed, Bateman and Maxine ultimately broke up as Maxine gave a kiss to Curtis on the December 28 episode of *NXT Redemption*, thus solidifying their relationship. On the January 4, 2012, episode of *NXT Redemption*, Curtis and Maxine revealed that they would marry in two weeks time in Las Vegas during Bateman's match with Darren Young. On 100th episode of *NXT*, Derrick Bateman interrupted Curtis and Maxine's wedding ceremony. Derrick showed a clip of Curtis sending a message on Bateman's iPad to Teddy Long (Maxine had dumped Bateman because he had allegedly sent a message to Long saying he didn't need Maxine and wanted to leave her on NXT whilst he had a chance at getting a contract on Smackdown). Maxine then slapped Curtis and reunited with Bateman once again after finding out that it wasn't true. Curtis then started to use his new catchphrase "Let's Get Weird" which was also printed on his trunks. In the next weeks, Maxine dumped Bateman for Curtis again. On the March 14 episode of *NXT Redemption*, Curtis and Maxine were defeated in a mixed tag team match against Derrick Bateman and Kaitlyn, who kissed at the end of the match, solidifying their relationship to the annoyance of Maxine.

After William Regal was appointed as NXT's authority figure, Maxine enlisted Curtis' help to allow her to get close to Regal. On the March 21 episode of *NXT Redemption*, Maxine and Curtis knocked out Matt Striker with chloroform so that Maxine could join Regal on commentary. However, Striker was then kidnapped (kayfabe) by unknown persons, later revealed to be Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks, who intended to blackmail Curtis and Maxine into using Maxine's charms to get Regal to leave Hawkins and Reks alone. Striker was rescued by Bateman and Kaitlyn on the April 11 episode of *NXT Redemption*. On April 18, William Regal forced Maxine to sign a contract as Curtis's manager if the two still wanted to be employed to *NXT* and then handcuffed them together. On the May 9 episode of *NXT Redemption*, Regal allowed Curtis and Maxine to be uncuffed.

For the rest of 2012, Curtis formed an occasional tag team with Michael McGillicutty. On the final episode of the fifth season of *NXT* on June 13, Curtis teamed with McGillicutty but lost to the Usos. After the conclusion of the fifth season of *NXT*, NXT transitioned into WWE's developmental territory. Curtis continued appearing on *NXT*, where at the October 11 tapings (which aired on November 28) Curtis finally received his tag team title shot from winning season four of *NXT*, when he teamed up with McGillicutty in a loss to champions Team Hell No (Kane and Daniel Bryan).

At the October 23, 2012 *SmackDown* taping, Curtis debuted a new ballroom dancer character named **Fandango** in a dark match, with vignettes for the character airing by November. After months of promotional videos, the character of Fandango debuted on the March 1, 2013 episode of *SmackDown*.  As part of his act, Fandango was portrayed as fussy, flamboyant, and sultry-voiced. He was also accompanied by a female dance partner, mostly by a dark-haired and unnamed dancer and later Summer Rae.

Despite his debut, Fandango refused to wrestle his first match on numerous occasions because the ring announcers and his opponents could not pronounce "Fandango" to his satisfaction. On the March 18 episode of *Raw*, Chris Jericho mispronounced Fandango's name intentionally and repeatedly to start Fandango's first feud. At WrestleMania 29, Fandango defeated Jericho in his first match. Fandango wrestled in his first *Raw* match against Kofi Kingston the following night. Despite Fandango being a heel and winning via disqualification from Chris Jericho attacking him, he still received an enthusiastic ovation from the live audience as they boisterously sang his theme music and created a dance for it as well. Not only did this take place during and shortly after his encounter, but it also took place long after the show itself. The song became an overnight hit as many fans took to iTunes to buy the single, causing it to gain considerable momentum and move from #175 to #11 in one day on the UK chart, before settling at #44 by the week's end. In spite of the phenomenon which WWE labelled as "Fandango-ing", the Fandango character continued to insult audiences. At Extreme Rules, Fandango was defeated by Jericho in a rematch to end their feud. Fandango moved on to a three-way feud for the WWE Intercontinental Championship against champion Wade Barrett and fellow challenger The Miz. Days later, Fandango distracted Miz by dancing at ringside while Miz was wrestling Barrett; then he attacked Miz, resulting in Miz gaining a disqualification win over Barrett. Fandango later pinned Barrett in a non-title match after Miz, who was the special guest referee, attacked Barrett. A triple threat match for the Intercontinental title was set for Payback. However, he suffered a legitimate concussion during a SmackDown taping against Zack Ryder in June and was removed from the match. His replacement, Curtis Axel, won the match and the championship.

Fandango returned on the July 1 *Raw*, losing to Sheamus via count-out. At the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Fandango competed in the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank ladder match, but was unsuccessful as the match was won by Damien Sandow. On the September 2 episode of *Raw*, Fandango had his nose broken during a match against The Miz, which he lost. Fandango then lost a dance contest to The Miz, which also involved R-Truth and The Great Khali, as well as losing another match to him at Night of Champions. His losing streak came to an end on the September 16 *Raw*, where he defeated R-Truth. At Hell in a Cell, Fandango and Summer Rae defeated Natalya and The Great Khali in a mixed tag team match. On the December 23 *Raw*, Fandango defeated Dolph Ziggler in a "Present on a Pole match" to earn a WWE Intercontinental Championship match against Big E Langston the following week, however he was ultimately defeated. On the March 3 episode of *Raw*, Fandango and Summer Rae lost to Emma and Santino Marella in a mixed tag team match, when Emma once again made Rae submit.

At WrestleMania XXX, Fandango competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal match in a losing effort. The following night on *Raw*, Fandango and Summer Rae were once again defeated by Emma and Marella in a mixed tag team match, with Emma making Rae submit. The following week, Layla replaced Summer Rae as Fandango's dancer and valet, and quickly became embroiled in a feud with Emma and Santino Marella. Rae returned on May 19, attacking Layla. On the July 11 episode of *SmackDown*, Fandango lost to Adam Rose by countout after Summer Rae started attacking Layla. Later, he got a kiss from both women and started dancing, leading to both women attacking him and dancing together. Layla and Summer Rae went on to cause Fandango numerous losses on WWE television.

After months of absence, Fandango returned with Rosa Mendes as his new dance partner to compete in the pre-show match at Survivor Series, defeating Justin Gabriel with a salsa dancer gimmick and new theme music. Fandango participated in the Royal Rumble match, in which he was eliminated by Rusev.

On the April 13 episode of *Raw*, after losing to Stardust, Fandango brought back his old theme and dance and dissolved his relationship with Mendes, turning face in the process for the first time since 2010. Mendes then cost Fandango a match against Adam Rose, joining his "Exotic Express" and sparking a short feud between Fandango and Rose. Fandango earned the majority of victories between the two over the next few weeks on television and at house shows, ending the feud in mid-2015. Fandango then appeared on *Superstars* and *Main Event*, defeating the likes of Adam Rose and Heath Slater. Fandango suffered a loss to Rusev on the episode of *Main Event* on August 17.

On the March 21, 2016, episode of *Raw*, Fandango faced Chris Jericho in a losing effort. At WrestleMania 32, Fandango was the first participant to be eliminated from the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

On the April 14 episode of *SmackDown*, Fandango teamed with Goldust in the WWE Tag Team Championship number one contender's tournament, replacing R-Truth; the two were defeated by The Vaudevillains in the first round. On the May 12 episode of *SmackDown*, a match pitting Fandango and Goldust against R-Truth and Tyler Breeze ended in a no-contest when Fandango and Breeze turned on their partners who had refused to fight each other. Fandango aligned with Breeze, adopting the name "Breezango". The new team defeated Golden Truth (Goldust and R-Truth) a week later on *Raw* but lost a rematch at  Money in the Bank, ending the feud. After being drafted to *SmackDown* as a result of the 2016 WWE draft, Breezango defeated The Usos on July 24 at Battleground. Breezango then entered a tournament which would determine the inaugural SmackDown Tag Team Champions, they were eliminated in the first round by American Alpha. On the November 8 episode of *SmackDown Live*, Breezango defeated The Vaudevillains to qualify for Team SmackDown for the 10–on–10 Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination match at Survivor Series; they were the first team eliminated from the match, which was ultimately won by Team Raw. During this time, Breezango began to refer themselves as "fashion police". On April 2, 2017, at the WrestleMania 33, Fandango took part in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which he failed to win.

On the April 25 episode of *SmackDown*, Breezango defeated The Ascension in a Beat the Clock challenge match, becoming number one contenders for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at Backlash. During the feud, Breezango turned face in the process. At Backlash, Breezango unsuccessfully challenged The Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. Breezango lost to Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn on the Survivor Series pre-show and to The Bludgeon Brothers at Clash of Champions. On March 11, 2018, on the Fastlane preshow, Breezango and Tye Dillinger defeated Mojo Rawley, Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin in a six-man tag team match. At WrestleMania 34, Fandango competed in the André the Giant Battle Royal but was unsuccessful.

During the Superstar Shake-up, Breezango were drafted to *Raw*. On the April 16 episode of *Raw*, they defeated Cesaro and Sheamus. On July 6, it was reported that Fandango has suffered a left labrum tear in his shoulder and that he could be out of action for around six months. Fandango returned from injury almost a year later at the June 13, 2019 tapings of *NXT*, saving his tag team partner Tyler Breeze from The Forgotten Sons. In December 2019, Fandango announced he had undergone surgery on his elbow.

On the June 3, 2020 *NXT*, Fandango returned alongside Breeze and proceeded to win a triple threat tag team match for number one contendership to the NXT Tag Team Championships. On the June 17 episode of *NXT*, Breezango failed to win the titles from Imperium (Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel), after interference from both Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch and Indus Sher (Rinku and Saurav).

At NXT TakeOver: XXX, Breezango defeated Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch and Legado del Fantasma (Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza) in a triple threat tag team match to become the number one contenders for the NXT Tag Team Championship. On the August 26, 2020 episode of *NXT*, Breezango defeated Imperium to win the titles, marking Fandango's first title in WWE, nearly ten years after his *NXT* debut. On the October 21 episode of *NXT*, Breezango lost the titles to Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan, ending their reign at 56 days.