Johnny Gargano knows a thing or two about WWE NXT; he was the brand’s first Triple Crown Champion, and he was arguably the face of the show for several years.
Though “Johnny Wrestling” left WWE when his contract expired in December, he still watched NXT drastically change right before his very eyes. This evolution reached a new level when Team 2.0 beat Team Black and Gold at NXT WarGames to signal the official shift into a new era.
In an interview with Connor Casey of ComicBook, Gargano shared his thoughts on this shift and noted that things change all the time in wrestling. The former NXT Champion noted that, sometimes, shaking things up is the best way to reinvigorate it. He also credited the revamp with the way it has helped new stars shine on the brand.
“It’s just one of those things where I don’t think there was any moment in particular that was like, ‘Oh wow, things are way different now,'” said Gargano. “We knew that a rebrand was coming, but like anything in wrestling, things change all the time. Things constantly evolve…. If you do something for so a certain way, things get boring and you kind of need to refreshen things sometimes. I think honestly, it definitely needed a little bit of a kick. I feel like they’re incredibly happy with how things are going and you have to be happy with how some of those guys have already developed on, in front of your very own eyes.”
Gargano then emphasized Breakker’s growth by calling him a “diamond” and giving him credit for capitalizing on the opportunities he’s getting.
“Bron Breakker’s a guy that I think I mention all the time, you can pay people to learn how to wrestle, right?” said Gargano. “You can pay people to do this, but you can’t pay someone to genuinely love it or you can’t pay people to want to be better at it. There’s one thing to say, “Okay, teach me how to do a wrist lock” and you’re going to pay me to do that. And I’m going to learn the wrist lock and that’s all I’m going to do. It’s another thing to genuinely want to be better.
“And when you find someone who has both those qualities where they want to be better and they are getting better, that’s a diamond. I feel like Bron Breakker is a diamond. There’s so many people I can name that I feel like are really taking advantage of the opportunities they’re given right now but Bron is definitely one of them that I believe in.”
Gargano has previously made it clear that he’s taking a break from wrestling, as he and his wife, Candice LeRae are expecting a child. Meanwhile, Breakker won the NXT Championship last week when he defeated Tommasso Ciampa at NXT Year’s Evil.
