35-year-old WWE star considers Triple H and Shawn Michaels his 'wrestling dads'

WWE RAW Superstar Johnny Gargano has detailed his special relationship with Triple H and Shawn Michaels.

Gargano made his long-awaited return during the August 22 episode of RAW. Before his exit last year, he had a remarkable stint in NXT and formed a close bond with The Game and The Heartbreak Kid.

In an episode of Out of Character with Ryan Satin, the recently returned WWE Superstar highlighted that the Hall of Famers are his 'wrestling dads.'

"I have a different relationship with Hunter [Triple H] and Shawn than a lot of other people. Like I've known them for a long time now at this point, I've always said they're like my wrestling dads 'cause they are. Last time I talked to them, was on Father's Day. I got a text from them saying 'Happy first father's day' and things like that, cause that's been our relationship." (7:32 - 7:50)

Believe in yourself.
Nobody will do it for you.

Welcome to #WWERaw, @JohnnyGargano! twitter.com/WWE/status/156…

The King of Kings became WWE's Head of Creative after Vince McMahon's retirement but was recently promoted to Chief Content Officer. Meanwhile, Michaels has become the Vice President of Talent Development Creative.

Johnny Gargano credits Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker for his WWE return

In the build-up to WrestleMania 26, The Deadman and The Heartbreak Kid engaged in an epic feud. The teaser video for their rivalry featured the song Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush as background music. As it turns out, this promo clip reignited the former NXT Champion's love for professional wrestling.

In a recent After the Bell podcast episode, Gargano shared that the above song immediately reminded him of the legendary feud.

"The first thing that popped into my head was ‘wait a minute, that’s Shawn [Michaels] vs The Undertaker’s song from WrestleMania’. But that’s where my mind went, i was like ‘I remember that.’ 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.'"

In Your House: Ground Zero ⏩ #NXTTakeOver: In Your House 2020. ✊🚪👀 @ShawnMichaels @JohnnyGargano

🎥: @WWENetwork https://t.co/3uGvmJXB1O

Gargano recently made his in-ring comeback and has entered into a program with former stablemate Austin Theory. It will be interesting to see what lies ahead for Johnny Wrestling on WWE programming.

What did you think about NXT with Shawn Michaels and Triple H involved? Sound off in the comments below.

If you use the above quotes, please credit Out of Character with Ryan Satin and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.