"He is the reason I got into this" - Top WWE NXT star reveals how Shawn Michaels was an inspiration
Former WWE NXT Champion Johnny Gargano recently discussed how WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels has influenced his career.
Johnny Gargano signed with WWE in 2015 and after rising to the top of the tag team division as a part of DIY, he has gone on to a successful singles career. A three-time NXT North American Champion, a former NXT Champion and a former Tag Team Champion, Gargano was the first NXT Triple Crown winner.
Speaking to Sony Sports India, Johnny Gargano discussed how Shawn Michaels has been an inspiration for his career:
He [Shawn Michaels] is the reason I got into this whole thing. He was my favourite wrestler growing up, I used to dance around my house to 'Sexy Boy' on a daily basis. I used to dress like him for multiple Halloweens. He was on my birthday cake and my mom actually painted him on my wall and to be able to work with him now in NXT and to see him on a regular basis it's a dream come true. What I was able to do was to do to kind of inspire my ring geat after him to kind of pay tribute to him as a way to pay tribute to The Kliq, it's super cool and no, there will never be another Shawn Michaels. Ever.
You can check out Johnny Gargano's full interview with Sony Sports India HERE.
Johnny Gargano on the first time he met Shawn Michaels
Johnny Gargano also opened up about the first time be got to meet Shawn Michaels. It took place at an autograph signing and Gargano revealed how he was almost at a loss for words:
The first time I met him [Shawn Michaels] was at an autograph signing when I was young. I was in high school and I went up to him, got a picture with him and all I could mutter out was "You're my hero, man" and he just said thank you. So that was the first time I officially met him.
Gargano went on to reveal a funny story about what happened the first time he saw Shawn Michaels at the WWE Performance Center:
The first time I saw him in a wrestling environment was in the WWE Performance Center. Me and Tomasso Ciampa heard he was there that day when we were first starting in NXT and we were walking down a hallway and we saw him coming down the same hallway so we were gonna go right into him and we were like, okay this is the first time we're going to meet Shawn Michaels in person. Me and Tomasso both looked at each other and dipped out the other way like we can't do this right now.
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