Johnny Gargano Reflects On His Meaningful Connection With SmackDown Venue

Former NXT World Champion Johnny Gargano and his tag team partner Tommaso Ciampa are the number one contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championships. They have been feuding with the current champions, A-Town Down Under, the team of Grayson Waller and Austin Theory.

DIY will be challenging A-Town Down Under this Friday night on the final SmackDown before the Money in the Bank Premium Live Event.

This week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown will be taking place live from Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the Scotiabank Arena. It is the same arena where former NXT World Tag Team Champion Johnny Gargano made his WWE main roster debut. Not only that, the first time Gargano and Ciampa won the NXT Tag Team Championships was also at the same arena.

Ahead of Friday Night SmackDown, Johnny Gargano took to Twitter to reflect on his history with the arena.

“You could make the argument that no arena has meant more to my @WWE career than the Scotiabank Arena (Air Canada Centre) We won the NXT Tag Titles there in 2016, I returned to WWE there in 2022, and now we have a chance to win our first WWE Tag Titles on Smackdown this Friday,” Johnny Gargano tweeted.

WrestleZone spoke with Tommaso Ciampa, who reflected on two of his favorite matches in his career. Ciampa picked two matches from NXT; his unsanctioned match against Johnny Gargano from NXT TakeOver: New Orleans in 2018, and the aforementioned title win in Toronto in 2016.

“Takeover New Orleans [vs Johnny Gargano] is up there. The entrances alone. That was my first one back after major surgery, so that one was real sentimental. And our match at Takeover Toronto with The Revival [FTR], the two out of three falls when we won the titles is one of my favorite tag matches I’ve ever been a part of.