Having been awarded two five star matches this year in bouts against Andrade “Cien” Almas and Tomasso Ciampa (at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia and NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, respectively), Johnny Gargano provided a refreshing take on the star rating system when asked, “[…] how much does that really mean to you? Is that kind of a yardstick to you in any kind of way?”
Speaking with Alex McCarthy during a WWE media event, Gargano responded “I take great pride in my work. To me, if the fans enjoy it, if they’re having a good time, if they’re making noise, that’s all the really matters to me.”
“But trust me,” he continued, “I am still a wrestling fan, and I am a wrestling historian and a wrestling purist at heart. So, getting five stars and things like that, it is cool because people do care about that, and it’s cool to see, and it’s a notch in my belt, I guess.”
“But at the end of the day, I think wrestling is all subjective. What Dave Meltzer gives five stars, some people give two stars, some people give three stars, it’s all personal preference,” Gargano shared. “And I think that’s the beautiful thing about professional wrestling, is that is it all just an art form. It’s all just personal preference.”
Grounding his comparison, Johnny Wrestling would juxtapose the subjectivity of wrestling to other pop cultural touchstones, like Marvel movies.
“I love Marvel movies, some people hate Marvel movies. I love 2K19. Some people may not like it. […] Video games, movies, music, television shows, it’s all personal preference, and I think that’s like that with wrestling, too. I take pride in it but at the end of the day if people enjoy it, that’s what matters.”
I asked @JohnnyGargano what he thinks about @davemeltzerWON's star system after being rated five stars twice in 2018 against Ciampa and Almas. Do superstars care about Meltzer's stars?
Pretty cool answer. pic.twitter.com/yzaGgZuj1Z
— Alex McCarthy (@AlMac_GMS) October 5, 2018
