NXT’s Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae Announce They’re Expecting Their First Child

NXT’s Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae took to Twitter on Thursday to announce they’re expecting their first child. Gargano wrote, “The secret’s out! Our team is getting a little bigger. The best is on the way! Baby @CandiceLeRae,” while sharing two photos — one with a sign that read “Baby Wrestling Coming February 2022!” while the other had the happy couple holding up an ultrasound along with their dog Pawdme. The wrestling couple announced their engagement back in January 2016 and were married in September of that year.

Together, the pair formed The Way faction in late 2020 with Gargano and LeRae serving as the “parents” for young wrestlers Austin Theory and Indi Hartwell. LeRae and Hartwell won the women’s tag team championships back in May, then dropped them to Io Shirai and Zoey Stark during this year’s Great American Bash. LeRae has not wrestled since, though she has appeared in a number of skits trying to stop Hartwell from forming a relationship with Dexter Lumis.

While Gargano was the brand’s first triple crown champion, LeRae’s tag title win marked her first championship reign since joining the WWE. Gargano talked about how proud he was of her during a recent interview with ComicBook.

“Yeah. I’ve seen everything she has done. I’ve seen all the hard work she’s put in, and I wrote that tweet out over that message about how no one is more deserving than Candice LeRae and I firmly do believe that” Gargano said. “I’ve been really lucky to have a lot of success in NXT, but one of the main things I needed to see happen, I wanted to see happen, one of the things I thought deserved to happen after everything she’s done, all the hard work she’s put in, not just in NXT, but her entire career, that validation for her of holding a title in NXT, holding a title in WWE, that was really special. Not just for her, but for me as well.”

“But I think she, for my money, is one of the best to ever do it. So to now see her get that validation of holding a title, it means the world to me, man. It’s so cool to see and it’s so not just deserving, but she earned that thing,” he continued. “For everything she’s done not just in the ring, but behind the scenes, all the struggles she’s gone through just to get to that moment, I just had to keep reminding her, ‘Please just enjoy this. Enjoy this while you have it, because it doesn’t last forever. And I just want you to enjoy the moment because you have earned this thing.’ And like I said, it’s not just for The Way, but as me being Johnny Gargano, husband, it’s so cool.”