10 Best Stories Of First Time Wrestlers Met Vince McMahon

2. Johnny Gargano Watched The Condemned Trailer With Vince

Vince McMahon Daniel Bryan
WWE Network

Before turning up in NXT as one half of the DIY tandem for the inaugural Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, Johnny Gargano's first appearance under the WWE banner came back in 2007 - appearing as Champion of Lichtenstein, Cedrick Von Haussen, against MVP on an episode of SmackDown.

Not only did Gargano get to meet Vince McMahon at that blue brand taping, he found himself watching the trailer for Steve Austin's The Condemned alongside both Vince and Stephanie McMahon.

Speaking about this slightly surreal experience during an appearance on Lillian Garcia's Chasing Glory podcast, Johnny Wrestling detailed how the trailer was playing in the arena as he was waiting to go out for his match with MVP.

There, he found himself stood next to Vince and Stephanie, as all three watched Austin cracking skulls on a nearby TV - a moment the current NXT North American Champion described to Garcia as "freaking weird".

After his match, Gargano would get a "great job" from the two McMahons, although it wouldn't be until April 2016 that the Cleveland native formally signed with WWE.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.