CLEVELAND — Professional wrestlers do not have home games like regular athletes, so much as they do homecoming shows when their brand makes a tour stop in their hometowns.
For superstar Johnny Gargano, that hometown is Cleveland, and the Lakewood St. Edward High School graduate is slated to be one of the featured performers at tonight’s WWE NXT show at The Agora Theatre.
“There’s nothing like it,” Gargano told WKYC.com earlier this week.
“There’s just such a special feeling when it comes to wrestling in my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. I am such a huge supporter of Cleveland. I don’t know if it’s a ‘guys from Cleveland’ thing, where all of us are rooted in our hometown and we care so much about it.”
Earlier this month, Gargano made his main roster debut with an appearance on WWE’s flagship show, Monday Night Raw, and he paid homage to his hometown by putting the Cleveland skyline on his wrestling trunks.
“That’s a little Easter egg on my gear, and I’m very, very open about how much I love Cleveland, Ohio and being able to perform in front of my family and friends,” Gargano said. “I actually have 16 tickets for family and friends at The Agora. It’s going to be a special night.”
Because of his past experiences, every night Gargano gets to ply his craft, especially in front of his home fans, is special.
At this time a year ago, Gargano was said to be wrapping up his obligations to NXT after losing a match against then-champion Andrade “Cien” Almas with the stipulation that he would leave World Wrestling Entertainment’s developmental territory if his title bid was unsuccessful.
The NXT Cleveland show was one of the final remaining dates for Gargano to fulfill last spring, and the hometown fans serenaded him with a minutes-long chant of his nickname, “Johnny Wrestling.”
“It feels like there’s always uncertainty,” Gargano said. “I think that’s the special thing about what we do. You never know what can come next. You’ve always kind of got to live day by day and expect the unexpected.”
Although Gargano lost the match against Almas, he was given a chance to revive his NXT career, and went on to have the 2018 Rivalry of the Year with former tag team partner Tommaso Ciampa and win the North American Championship for his first singles gold under the WWE banner.
Because Gargano has learned to expect the unexpected during his 14-year professional wrestling career, he is “going to try to” enjoy Saturday’s show even more than last year.
“That’s why this Saturday is going to be a very special because you never know what’s going to happen,” Gargano said. “It could be my last time performing at The Agora. It could be my last time performing with NXT.
“I’m not sure. I don’t know if anyone knows at this point, so I’ve been taking it day by day, but one thing is for sure, I’m going to take everything in, every little moment. I remember last time, there was a ‘Johnny Wrestling’ chant for like four straight minutes. I think we might be able to break that this time and get like five, six, seven. We’ll see how long we can go.”
