Prior to departing WWE in 2021, Johnny Gargano gave a farewell speech on an episode of WWE NXT.
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet on a recent edition of the “Insight” podcast, Gargano commented on his WWE NXT farewell address, not being under contract at the time of his promo, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On his WWE NXT farewell: “The last night in the company was very sad, and like you said Tommaso [Ciampa] brought up my tears, and where they came from in that show, and a story I think I’ve only told maybe once before but, I have such a great relationship, and I’m very lucky and it’s crazy to say, with Shawn Michaels.”
On Shawn Michaels’ influence on him: “He was my hero growing up and I spent a lot of time with him, and I made the shadowboxes for people that were really special to me in that building. I made a shadowbox for Shawn, I made a shadowbox for coach [Matt] Bloom, and I gave cards to all the coaches, everyone I spent seven years with. Terry Taylor, Steve Corino, people like that, I gave them special cards and stuff of pictures of us together.”
On being able to say what he wanted in his farewell: “They gave me that moment to go on live television, with a microphone, and I wasn’t under contract anymore the next day. Like, I literally could’ve said whatever I wanted in that moment, but I have such a great relationship with everyone I wasn’t going to do anything crazy obviously.”
