Johnny Gargano has commented his views on his handling of a heel character in WWE NXT.
JOHNNY GARGANO RECENTLY LOST THE NXT NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP TO BRONSON REED
Gargano recently lost his NXT North American Championship to Bronson Reed, but that does not take away from the fact he is possibly the most successful talent in the black-and-gold brand’s history. The current leader of “The Way” held the NXT Tag Team Championship once and went on to capture the NXT North American Championship in January 2019 and won the NXT Championship in April the same year.
With the win, he became the first ever NXT Triple Crown Champion. He kept on creating records in 2020, when he became the first man to have held the NXT North American Championship on multiple occasions, winning it for a record-setting second, and later, a third time. Much of Gargano’s success took place after former tag team partner Ciampa’s betrayal on him. He grew to become a beloved babyface but “Johnny Wrestling” finally did turn heel. He is still a villainous character on NXT, being the leader of the stable “The Way”.
HE LOVES BEING A HEEL
Speaking to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, the former NXT Champion spoke about his heel turn. He had mostly been a heel in the Indies and could not wait to return to his comfort zone.
“I loved it. Honestly, l could not wait for it. I felt like I was stagnant for a little bit. I think if you do anything for so long, you get bored after a while and I just felt like there’s another side of me I haven’t had a chance to show yet and I was kinda keeping it inside. People don’t remember I was a heel on the indies forever. That was the main thing I did. So to have this underdog babyface role, that was new for me,” Gargano commented.
When the heel turn was being discussed, he wrote email documents with idea for his new look, music and other parts of the gimmick. He also idealized some of the storylines he could be a part of.
” I had a huge long email that I sent to Hunter and the writers. I could not wait to have this different incarnation of me and show the world this side of me. Honestly, I’m having the time of my life doing it,” He said.
