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Watch: Cleveland native Johnny Gargano makes WWE Monday Night Raw debut

Alongside Tommaso Ciampa, "Johnny Wrestling" earned a victory over the WWE Raw tag team champions, The Revival.
Credit: WWE, Inc.

Three weeks ago, Johnny Gargano paid homage to Baker Mayfield after making his debut at the WWE Royal Rumble.

As it turns out, the Cleveland native's dangerous streak was just getting started.

While his Royal Rumble appearance initially appeared to one-off, it didn't take long for Gargano to make his return to the WWE's main roster. Opening Monday Night Raw, WWE legend Triple H -- who is the founder and senior producer of the company's developmental brand, NXT -- announced the upcoming debut of four new superstars, including Gargano, a 2004 graduate of St. Edward High School.

In his debut match on the WWE's flagship show, Gargano teamed up with former tag team partner-turned-NXT-rival Tommaso Ciampa to face The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson). After performing its signature superkick-running knee combo -- which it calls 'The Meeting in the Middle' -- the duo formerly known as 'DIY' picked up a victory over the Raw tag team champions.

After the match, Gargano, who wrestled locally for Cleveland-based independent promotion AIW, reflected on his first match on professional wrestling's biggest stage in a backstage interview.

"It's a weird feeling," said Gargano, who is currently the NXT North American champion. "I don't really know how to feel. I don't think anything's really set in yet. I'm one of those type of people that kind of just take things as they come. This has all been such a whirlwind. I don't know. I'm numb right now. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. But I am incredibly numb."

Ciampa took a more adversarial approach.

"This is not a surprise," the NXT World Champion said. "We're the two best performers in all of WWE. We turned NXT into the A-show. We walked into Monday Night Raw and we beat the tag team champions on our first night. This isn't happenstance."

"That's one way to look at it," Gargano said.

With his debut, Gargano joins a list of Ohioans on WWE's main roster that already includes the likes of The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose, Alexa Bliss, EC3 and Dana Brooke. And while the wrestler known as "Johnny Wrestling" was in Cleveland as recently as Sunday according to his Instagram, he won't have to wait long to make his return. NXT is scheduled to run a show at The Agora on March, while the WWE Fastlane pay-per-view will take place at Quicken Loans Arena on March 10.

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