Johnny Gargano says he got into wrestling because he realized he couldn't actually be a Power Ranger, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, or a superhero.
Gargano is known to be a passionate fan of comic books and superheroes, and this interest dates back to his childhood. As it turns out, it also sparked his interest in wrestling in the first place.
Speaking on El Brunch de WWE, Gargano was asked to describe where his love of wrestling comes from. He described how, when he was a kid, he loved superheroes and larger-than-life characters, and the first time he watched wrestling, he saw the similiarity between the two worlds.
"As we talked about already, I am a big nerd, and I love superheroes and larger-than-life characters. So when I was younger, I was a fan of the Power Rangers and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. One of my best friends at the time was a big wrestling fan, so he was watching this thing called professional wrestling, and he showed me it. I was like wow, this is kind of like superheroes and larger-than-life characters in the real world, like come to life. I think I realized at that point like I can’t be a Power Ranger, and I can’t be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in real life, as those aren’t real professions and real jobs that I could attain," Gargano said.
He continued, noting that he realized he could be a quasi-superhero by wearing colorful costume, doing athletic moves and entertaining people in the wrestling world.
"But I can be a professional wrestler, and I can do that in real life, and I can wear these crazy costumes and do this larger-then-life acrobatics and have this crazy entertainment value. So I think those kind of things kind of go hand in hand. I kind of always think wrestling is like a comic book come to life. So the fact that I’m able to be a kind of real-life kind of quasi comic book character/superhero guy, I think it kind of goes hand in hand there. So I think that’s why it really appealed to me when I was younger. Like I can’t be Batman, but I can be Johnny Gargano I guess," Gargano said.
In a recent interview, Gargano discussed his return to WWE and how the regime change was an influential factor in his decision.
Gargano is set to compete on the October 3 episode of WWE Raw. Check out the card here.
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