John Garea

John "Johnny" Garea (born 1949) is a semi-retired New Zealand professional wrestler, known by his ring name Johnny Garcia, who competed in Steve Rickard's All Star-Pro Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling and occasionally for the World Wrestling Federation during the 1970s and 80s. The youngest pro wrestler in New Zealand at the time of his debut in 1970, he was a regular on the Australian wrestling programme Big Time Wrestling and its New Zealand counterpart On the Mat as well as a two-time NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Champion. Garea is the real life brother of four-time WWWF World Tag Team Champion and WWE Road Agent Tony Garea.

Career Born in Auckland, New Zealand, the son of Croatian-born Ivan Gareljich, Garea began training at the Mt. Roskill gymnasium with "Wild" Don Scott in English-style catch-as-catch-can wrestling and made his pro wrestling debut in 1970, a year before his older brother Tony Garea. At age 21, he was the youngest professional wrestler in the country. Garea's early career was spent in the South Pacific Wrestling Association for Auckland promoter Ernie Pinches and quickly became a regular on the New Zealand circuit. As Tony Garea left for the United States, Johnny Garcia made his way to Australia where he wrestled for Jim Barnett and World Championship Wrestling.

Garea often appeared on WCW's wrestling programme broadcast on the Nine Network while in Australia. He was the first New Zealander to appear on Big Time Wrestling, a short-lived Australian programme aired in his home country in 1973, and joined New Zealand promoter Steve Rickard's All Star-Pro Wrestling after Barnett left for the United States the following year. In 1975, he and The Sheepherders (Butch Miller and Luke Williams) were among the first standout talent of On the Mat and started touring the country. Garea also wrestled overseas as well visiting such faraway countries as Thailand, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Japan in Asia, the South Pacific islands of Fiji and Tahiti, and in the United States.

Garea would continue to appear on On the Mat for nearly a decade Garea went into semi-retirement with All Star-Pro Wrestling closing in 1992 and eventually became a rancher with a sizeable lifestyle block in Warkworth. In June 2008, he made a public appearance with his brother Tony, Butch Miller, and Rip Morgan ay a WWE event in New Zealand. He was also interviewed at his Warkworth ranch as part of a documentary on professional wrestling in New Zealand, A Kiwi Century on the Mat, in August 2010.

Championships and accomplishments All Star-Pro Wrestling NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship (2 times)