Johnny Gargano’s family restaurant destroyed in fire
Johnny Gargano and his family were dealt a tough blow over the weekend when their Cleveland restaurant was destroyed in a fire.
Gargano’s Restaurant & Catering — owned and operated by Gargano’s father Frank for decades — was badly damaged in a fire on Sunday night. Thankfully, Gargano’s father was not at the restaurant when the fire broke out. There were no serious injuries reported, but one responding firefighter did suffer a minor back injury.
Cleveland Fire Department was initially able to get the blaze under control, but a water main break complicated the response and led to the fire resuming. The roof of Gargano’s Restaurant & Catering collapsed and the building was lost.
Johnny Gargano shared a statement on social media calling the situation “extremely heartbreaking,” but he’s grateful that his father is doing okay.
“I figured I should touch on this because people are finding out, and I know a lot of wrestling fans were looking forward to going to my Dad’s restaurant when they were in Cleveland for Summerslam. Last night, there was a fire, and my Dad’s restaurant was badly damaged,” Gargano wrote. “I’m grateful that my Dad was not there and is okay. He is 82 years old, this is his life’s work. He has worked in that building every day for almost 50 years. I basically grew up there.. and now it’s just gone. It is extremely heartbreaking for my family.”
The restaurant was featured on NXT television in 2019 during Gargano’s feud with Adam Cole.
SummerSlam is being held at Cleveland Browns Stadium on Saturday, August 3, Gargano — who currently holds the WWE Tag Team titles with Tommaso Ciampa — has said that competing at the show would be a dream come true.