Current WWE star is not on Shawn Michaels' level of believability, veteran claims (Exclusive)
Former WWE writer Vince Russo thinks Shawn Michaels made himself appear believable whenever he fought larger wrestlers like The Undertaker. However, he cannot say the same for Johnny Gargano.
Michaels is widely regarded as one of the greatest in-ring performers of all time. The 58-year-old mentored several main roster stars in WWE's NXT system, including current RAW talent Gargano.
On Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws show, Russo explained why Gargano is not as credible as Michaels when he faces larger opponents:
"Shawn would get right in 'Taker's face, and literally looking up right in his face because in Shawn's mind he literally believed, 'I can beat you.' He literally believed that, so he never backed down, and somehow, some way, bro, even if he got beat, he gave him the fight of his life and it went toe-to-toe. I don't feel that with Johnny Gargano. I felt that with Shawn Michaels." [0:35 – 1:09]
Watch the video above to hear more from Russo about Chris Jericho jumping from WCW to WWE in 1999. He also discussed a canceled plan to give Jericho one of the biggest wins of his career.
Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker inspired Johnny Gargano to return
In 2010, Shawn Michaels retired from in-ring competition after losing to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 26. In the build-up to the match, WWE created a memorable video package featuring the Kate Bush song Running Up That Hill.
The song went viral in 2022 after appearing on the TV series Stranger Things. Gargano later revealed on After The Bell that the song reminded him of the Michaels-Undertaker video, which motivated him to return to WWE:
"I watched the hype video for Shawn and 'Taker from Mania and I sat there in the kitchen, I watched this hype video and it just hit me watching this video, I was like, ‘This is what I wanna do. This is where I wanna be and this is what I wanna do, this is why I got into this.'"
Gargano made his WWE comeback in August 2022 after a nine-month absence. He has not wrestled a televised match since participating in a Battle Royal on the May 15 episode of RAW.
What do you make of the Johnny Gargano-Shawn Michaels comparisons? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws and embed the video if you use the first set of quotes from this article.