Johnny Gargano memorably sported Captain Marvel-inspired ring attire during his NXT Championship defense against Adam Cole at WWE's NXT TakeOver XXV. This is far from Gargano's first Marvel-influenced set of wrestling gear, as he's a noted fan of the company and its characters. For instance, at April's NXT TakeOver: New York event, Gargano wrestled while wearing Iron Man-inspired attire. Another example can be seen in the picture above, which Gargano stated was meant to be a tribute to Star-Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy, although many fans at first took it to be a Daredevil-focused homage.
Gargano isn't the only WWE wrestler to perform in comic book-inspired gear either. WWE's current Universal Champion, Seth Rollins battled Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam 2018 while wearing purple and gold Thanos-esque attire. Rey Mysterio has cosplayed as multiple Marvel and DC characters over the years, including The Joker, Captain America, and Wolverine. Finn Balor's demon paint variations have also included some very Carnage-esque designs.
This past Saturday, at NXT TakeOver XXV in Bridgeport, CT, Gargano headed out to the ring for the main event decked out in a clear tribute to Captain Marvel. Gargano won the NXT Championship while wearing his Iron Man gear, but unfortunately, came up short when dressed as Carol Danvers, losing the title to Undisputed Era leader Adam Cole after a crowd-pleasing back and forth encounter. Check out an image of Gargano's Captain Marvel attire below, via Twitter user Andrew Power.
A perpetual fan favorite on the NXT roster, Gargano has spent much of his career as the underdog, which unfortunately extends to his record of holding championships. Gargano was the first wrestler to capture all three men's championships in NXT, but sadly, has lost all three titles in his first major defense. Gargano and former DIY partner Tommaso Ciampa lost the NXT Tag Team Championships to the Authors of Pain on the first TakeOver after they won them, Gargano abruptly lost the North American Championship to the Velveteen Dream mere weeks after winning it, and has now lost the NXT Championship to Cole, the man he beat to win the vacant title in New York less than two months ago.
Gargano will presumably receive a rematch for the NXT Championship, although that's not necessarily 100 percent certain. Earlier this year, he and Ciampa appeared to have been partially called up to WWE's main roster, and looked to be winding down their time in NXT. Ciampa then got injured, and Gargano returned to NXT full-time. If they want, WWE could easily now transition Gargano back to Raw or SmackDown.
Source: Andrew Power/Twitter