10 Weirdest WWE Cameos By Wrestlers Before They Were Famous
1. Johnny Gargano - Liechtenstein Champion
Heading into his WrestleMania bout with Chris Benoit for the United States Championship in 2007, Montel Vontavious Porter prepared for his big time, championship match by squaring off with hand-picked champions from around the globe as warm-up opposition of his own.
Beginning with the "Honduras Heavyweight Champion", El Grande Latte, MVP would move on to Europe by challenging the "Liechtenstein Heavyweight Champion" on the 23 March 2007 episode of SmackDown. Introduced as Cedric Von Haussen, the faux-Liechtensteiner was, in reality, future NXT Tag Team Champ, Johnny Gargano.
Long before he became 'Johnny Wrestling', Gargano appeared wearing traditional lederhosen, complete with pointed Robin Hood-like hat, and oom-pah music for his entrance theme. Mercifully, MVP would make short work of his "European" opposition, roughing him up before finishing him off with the Playmaker neckbreaker for the win.
MVP would continue the shtick the following week by defeating the "Ethiopian Heavyweight Champion", Viko Batomango, which would be his final stop en route to Benoit at WrestleMania. Meanwhile, Gargano wouldn't appear in WWE again until May 2010, this time playing background security guard for Michael Cole. Luckily, his hard work eventually paid off and he signed with NXT in 2016.