Johnny Gargano Describes How Being A Fan Of Superheroes Sparked His Interest In Wrestling

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.

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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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