By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

Maybe not all of you reading this have ever seen Johnny Gargano wrestle. He’s really good and his story of becoming a top independent wrestling performer is fascinating. Gargano is one of my favorite wrestlers to watch perform on the independents. He’s a well-rounded worker and there’s something about him that makes you want to see him win when he wrestles. Personality-wise, he reminded me of a hybrid between Chris Jericho and Alex Shelley when I first saw him wrestle in 2009 in DGUSA. Fast-forward nearly three years and Gargano became the Open the Freedom Gate Champion and he holds the top prize in DGUSA/EVOVLE.

Maybe not all of you have interacted with Gargano and had a chance to talk to him at an independent wrestling event. Unfortunately Gargano suffered a severe back injury earlier this year. As Gargano ascended the ladder in DGUSA going from the pre-show to winning the top prize in the promotion, he developed a quality in the ring that made him likable. It’s hard to put a finger on it, but the best way to put it is that he’s a man of the people.

When Gargano was injured earlier this year, he received an outpouring of support from fans, especially young school-aged children. Gargano shared some of the fan letters he received telling him that he had provided motivation to them when they were facing a tough situation and offering support to him during a rough time. You see, Gargano goes out of his way to be nice to fans. You won’t hear a bad story about him from anyone.

Gargano faced long odds to reach the spot he’s now at in wrestling. A self-professed “fat kid,” Gargano has provided motivation to young people that it’s alright to be who they are. Gargano is a perfect example of someone bound and determined to meet his goals no matter how long the odds are.

I will always admire what Gargano does in the ring. Heck, when he returned to in-ring action last weekend, it was as if he hadn’t lost a step. What I will admire even more is who Johnny Gargano is as a person and the lives of the young children that he has impacted.

My goal has always been to positively impact the lives of young people through teaching. It’s what I have always wanted to do. Today, Gargano posted a letter sent to him by the father of a young fan that he met at a wrestling show. It reminded me of a letter that I got from a student several years ago telling me how I had made them want to do better in school and that I had motivated them to reach their goals. The letter Gargano posted really touched me because Gargano had found a way to touch the life of a child in a positive manner through wrestling.

As much as I admire Gargano the wrestler, I will always admire him even more as a person because of the role he’s taken as a role model to young children on the independent scene.

I want to share Johnny’s post in full that he tweeted earlier today:

“This is why I am who I am, and why I do what I do. I've gotten the opportunity to do A LOT of cool things thanks to professional wrestling.. BUT.. all of them pale in comparison to things like this. This is a school paper written by a young fan named Peyton in North Carolina that was sent to me by her Father. This one hits close to home to me, especially considering my childhood. I'm at a loss for words. Truly amazing. Reading things like this, and being able to touch just one persons life with what I do makes everything worth it.”

"My Hero, Johnny Gargano

“The person I chose to write my hero paper on was professional wrestler Johnny Gargano. He wrestles for several different companies, but I have seen him with my dad and sister twice in NC. The first time was at my first wrestling show ever, for a company called Dragon Gate. The second time was for a company called Chikara, which is my favorite that I have been to twice. I bought a shirt and he autographed it for me at one show, it’s the pink one that I wear to school most weeks. Some of the other kids have never heard of him, but that’s because they don’t watch good wrestling, they just watch WWE. I tell them that Johnny and the other guys in Chikara are a lot better than those guys.

“Why is he my hero? There are a couple of reasons, the first being that he is a really good wrestler and he is also tough. I like the way he moves around the ring and he wins a lot. He is the champion in Dragon Gate. He is really tough, as he hurt his back really bad in a match recently. Johnny did not let this get him down though, as he is going to come back. I like the fact that he doesn’t give up and get depressed when things get bad, instead he tries his best to get better. I hope he gets better and comes back to wrestling soon, especially if one of his companies comes to NC so I can see him. He has been trying really hard to get back in the ring. Watching him go through that made me realize that no matter what happens I need to just keep trying my best in I want to succeed. Johnny G doesn’t give up and that’s a good role model for anyone. I wanted to make him a card, but I don’t know his address, so if I see him again my dad says I can just tell him that I was hoping he would get better.

“The other reason he is my hero is because he takes time to talk to everybody at the wrestling show. I don’t always fit in at school and I don’t hang around with all the cool kids a lot, but Johnny is cool and he always talks to me and let’s me get my picture took with him at wrestling. He does this for everybody I know, but it helps to make people feel special, even if they don’t always feel that way. I think it’s great that even though he is famous that he takes time to make everyone feel like they matter, that’s something I try to do, even though I am just in fifth grade. When I see someone having a bad day, I think about how Johnny always made me happy by being nice to me at the shows and I try to be nice to them so maybe their day will be better. It’s fun going to wrestling with my dad because it’s somewhere where nobody makes fun of me and we just have fun. Nobody laughs because I am a girl who likes wrestling or that I am fat, and even cool people like Johnny Gargano talk to me. That is why he is my hero, because he is great at what he does, he never gives up and he cares about his fans. I hope they come back to NC soon so we can go see them and have fun.

“That is why Johnny Gargano is my hero. He is great at what he does, he never gives up and he cares about everybody, not just his friends or the pretty girls. I know he doesn’t know me but he has really helped me when I get sad, as I can look at the pictures we take or my shirt and know that there are really good people out there who take time to make others feel special. He’s a great wrestler but he’s also a great person."

“Thank YOU Peyton. You're my hero too.”

Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@gmail.com

We suggest these recent related articles...

RADICAN'S Beyond Wrestling "Greatest Rivals Round Robin" review 9/26 - incredible show of the year contender, Busick-Edwards top-flight MOTYC, more!

RADICAN'S "The Pull List" (Vol. 5) "Young Bucks Too Sweet Journey" doc review, The Flash season 1 Blu-Ray, Top Ten MOTYC for 2015

RADICAN'S ROH "All-Star Extravaganza VII" PPV BLOG 9/18: Booking issues dampen excellent in-ring action