Contrary to rumors, a current RAW star was never close to joining AEW: "I did not even try"
A current WWE RAW wrestler who was away from the ring for a while in 2021 finally spoke up on the rumors of him joining AEW that spurted online during that time.
Johnny Gargano, whose contract with WWE expired in December 2021, was heavily rumored to be joining AEW at the time. He was out of action for several months, with many thinking that the star would be roped in by Tony Khan. However, that did not turn out to be the case, as he returned to WWE in August 2022.
He has now revealed that he was away from the wrestling world during that time and wanted to concentrate on being a father to his newborn son, Quill.
The former NXT Champion revealed all about his mindset at that time during an interview with Chris Van Vliet. He was asked whether he thought of going anywhere else apart from WWE.
According to Gargano, his contract ended right about the time his baby, Quill, was due, and he decided to spend six months with his newborn as he was growing up. Quill was born in February 2022, and Gargano returned to the ring in August of that same year.
"I did not even try. I was so outside the realm of focusing on wrestling, luckily, I have an agent and people around me that go and do that. I told my agent, I told everyone around me, that 'Look, I want to focus on being a dad. You can go and talk to people, have those discussions, I do not want to. I want to be so far removed from wrestling, and so far removed from that side of things, that's like the business side and I don't want to dig into that stuff," he said. [3:10 - 3:45]
During his NXT stint, Gargano was known as the 'heart and soul of NXT' because of his incredible performance in the ring and numerous achievements, including being the first-ever NXT Triple Crown Champion.
Tony Khan has signed several WWE and RAW wrestlers over the years
Tony Khan has signed several wrestlers well-known for their stints in WWE. Today, he has stars such as Chris Jericho, Adam Copeland, and Swerve Strickland on his roster. The stars have had great runs in WWE and found a new home after their contracts either expired or they were released.
Ric Flair also joined the promotion a few months ago as a surprise for Sting, who is set up to hang up his boots after Revolution in March this year. The promotion is also rumored to sign Sasha Banks, aka Mercedes Mone, in the coming weeks.
Should Tony Khan poach someone from WWE RAW, SmackDown, or NXT? Tell us in the comments section below.
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