Johnny Gargano‘s decision to return to WWE came to him while watching the latest season of Stranger Things.
WWE RAW Superstar Johnny Gargano was the latest guest on WWE After The Bell with Corey Graves to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about his decision to return to WWE, Gargano said it was decided for him while watching the fourth season of the hit Netflix show Stranger Things.
“So I’ll tell you guys a story, and this is how my mind works apparently,” Johnny Gargano began. “So you guys have seen Stranger Things, obviously, right? Okay, so the song ‘Running Up That Hill’, by Kate Bush became very popular. And so I was watching, and I might have texted you at this time, Vic [Joseph]; I can’t remember. This is when I knew what I wanted to do. I was watching Stranger Things, and the song came on, and the first thing that popped into my head was, wait a minute, that’s Shawn [Michaels] versus The Undertaker’s song from Wrestlemania. Placebo did a cover of it. But that’s where my mind went.
“And I was like, I remember that. That’s right, and I watched the hype video of Shawn and Taker from Mania. I sat there in the kitchen, and Candice was right there. She can tell you this. I sat there in the kitchen; I watched his hype video as she’s doing baby stuff. And it just hit me watching this video was like, ‘This is what I want to do. This is where I want to be, and this is what I want to do. This is why I got into this.’ To have videos like this about me but also to have these WrestleMania stories and matches. And I haven’t had that yet. I haven’t had that WrestleMania moment. I haven’t had that Wrestlemania match. So in a roundabout way, Stranger Things playing that song and me correlating it to Shawn vs. Taker from Mania, which led me to watching the music video again in my kitchen, led me being like, that’s what I want to do. I want to wrestle at WrestleMania, so that’s a long-winded story of how we ended up where we are.”
When asked if he ever considered going elsewhere, Gargano admitted that the thought did cross his mind while he was a free agent.
“I mean, yeah, obviously it crossed my mind,” Johnny Gargano admitted. “Because I watch everything. I’m a wrestling fan at the end of the day. Like we’re all just wrestling nerds, you know? So I watch everything, but it always just came back down to when I was a little kid. I said this in my return promo. When I was a little kid, I dreamed of becoming Intercontinental Champion. I dreamed of becoming WWE Champion. I dreamed of wrestling at WrestleMania. Those things hold so much weight to me because if, say, 20 years down the line, 30 years down the line. If I can forgive myself for not trying because I never really tried. I didn’t try! I did everything in NXT, and I was very fulfilled with everything I did in NXT. Very proud of it. I didn’t really try it on that scale yet. I haven’t done it, and I want to do it.”
READ MORE: Theory On Johnny Gargano’s Return: I’m Going To Show Him The Way
What do you make of Johnny Gargano’s comments? Are you surprised that Stranger Things was the catalyst that led to Gargano deciding to return to WWE? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
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