Johnny Gargano stepped away from wrestling talk to share something considerably more important. His 84-year-old father is battling Stage 4 lung and prostate cancer, and Gargano says he’s been privately carrying the news for months.
Gargano revealed the diagnosis on Twitter, introducing his father as the man responsible for much of the life and career he has today. Then Gargano revealed what his family has been dealing with behind the scenes
“Gonna take a break from the TV bit for a minute to share some important real life stuff that’s been weighing on me with you all. This is my Dad. He’s 84 years old, and up until a few years ago when our family restaurant unfortunately burned down, he’s worked every single day of his life. He is the most stubborn, resilient, hardest working person I know (definitely where I get it from). This past year he was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung and Prostate Cancer. Something I’ve privately known about for a few months, and something especially after Pawdme’s death, I don’t think I’ve actually had time to fully process, but we’ll save my current mental health for a different day, this isn’t a post about me.”
Instead, Gargano wanted the post to be about the person he called his “Hero.” His father’s connection to Johnny Wrestling goes all the way back to the beginning. When Gargano was eight years old, his dad ran an independent wrestling show in the parking lot of the family’s restaurant just so his son could finally step inside a wrestling ring.
“This is a post about my Hero.. My Dad. A lot of what I have today is because of my father. He ran an indie show in the parking lot of his restaurant when I was 8 years old just so I could get in a wrestling ring, he waited in line for tickets for me to WWF shows at The Gund Arena. He always wanted the best for me, and I hope I made him proud.”
Their schedules had prevented Gargano from seeing his father recently, but WWE’s upcoming calendar finally gave him an extended stretch in Cleveland. He went to see him while his father was finishing chemotherapy and radiation. Even then, Gargano said his dad wasn’t worried about himself.
“Because of our work schedules I haven’t had the chance to see him recently. But with the upcoming calendar we’re able to be in Cleveland for an extended period right now. So I saw him today, a midst finishing chemo and radiation. He still just worried if I was doing okay, how work was going, and when my next match would be.”
Now that Gargano has a four-year-old son of his own, he’s also looking at his father from an entirely different perspective.
“My Dad had me at 45 years old but you wouldn’t have known it with how active he was with me. Having a crazy 4 year old now.. 7 years younger than he was then.. Man, I don’t know how he did it! But seeing him interact with Quill now (even in this incredibly difficult time) is something I’ll always cherish.”
Gargano admitted there is plenty more he’s going to want to say eventually. For now, the experience has left him with one message for everyone reading.
“This is a rambling and I’ll have much more to say at a later date, and I definitely need to get better at expressing my feelings but I guess the moral in all of this is cherish the moments you have with the people you love. They won’t last forever. I know that’s cliche’ and I’d like to think I’ve always known that but have somehow learned to appreciate it even more so recently.”
There wasn’t a wrestling angle attached to this one and Gargano wasn’t looking for sympathy for himself. He simply wanted people to know about the man who gave an eight-year-old kid his first chance to step inside a wrestling ring—and who, even while finishing chemotherapy and radiation at 84 years old, was still asking his son when his next match would be. For Gargano, that’s his hero.
We send our best wishes to Johnny Gargano, his father and their entire family during this incredibly difficult time.
