#9 Johnny Gargano
Gargano has made several appearances on NXT in recent months, but he does remain active on the independent circuit too. He is probably best known for his time in Dragon Gate USA/Evolve, where he was a multiple time champion who regularly wrestled some of the top independent stars in the world.
Gargano has faced several of the men competing in the Cruiserweight Classic, such as Akira Tozawa, Rich Swann, Brian Kendrick, and Drew Gulak. Gargano also formed a tag team with former WWE Superstar Drew Galloway (McIntyre).
In 2015, Gargano signed a contract with NXT that also allowed him to work independent shows, and immediately got himself noticed as part of a tag team with Tommaso Ciampa, winning their first NXT match as part of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.