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WWE star Johnny Gargano says you are flat out "STUPID" if you think NXT is inferior to Raw and SmackDown ... telling TMZ Sports it's the best wrestling show in the world!!!

We talked to Gargano -- one of NXT's biggest stars -- earlier this week ... and JG had a message for all the people who sleep on his brand.

"That's BS. That's complete garbage, and it's something that me and a lot of guys have worked to dispel for a very long time," Gargano told us.

"Anybody out there that uses the words 'main roster' when talking about Raw and SmackDown, how about you watch the show on Wednesday night. You'll see the real main roster. You'll see the best wrestling show on the planet. You will see the best locker room on the planet led by me."

NXT was launched 10 years ago, and started out as a place for WWE to develop talent. However, NXT now has a TV deal, and a bunch of their wrestlers have become massive stars.

In fact, during last weeks NXT Takeover: Portland -- a big PPV event -- Gargano betrayed his friend and tag team partner, Tommaso Ciampa ... and cost him the title.

It was big news in the pro wrestling world.

In closing, Gargano has a message for anyone who thinks NXT ain't every bit as good as WWE's other brands.

Hidden within this stretched out snap is an award-winning actress that has quite the resume! This famous face has racked up a number of awards over the years ... She received her first Oscar last year for her supporting role in, "If Beale Street Could Talk", she has also won a Golden Globe and three Primetime Emmy Awards.

Recently this actress was the star in HBO's sci-fi mini-series that ended back in December, "Watchmen."

'Mad' Mike Hughes is believed to possibly be dead after launching himself in the air with a self-made rocket that crash-landed -- and it was captured on camera.

The well-known daredevil and amateur rocket-engineer was doing a rocket launch Saturday in what appears to be near Barstow, CA -- where a reporter says Mike propelled himself into the air with a "self-made steam-powered rocket" and then crash-landed into the ground.

The reporter, Justin Chapman, adds, "Very likely did not survive." He tells TMZ ... Mike is confirmed to be dead there on the ground as well.

In the video, you see a parachute fly out of the rocket, but it doesn't appear anyone is using it. The presumption, for now, is that Mike might've stayed in the rocket as it ascended hundreds of feet into the air.

Mike's rep, Darren Shuster, tells TMZ he was NOT at the launch Saturday, but does believe his longtime client to be deceased based on what he's seen and heard. Darren says Mike was a "one-of-a-kind" adding, "When God made Mike he broke the mold. The man was the real deal and lived to push the edge. He wouldn’t have gone out any other way! RIP"

For Saturday's experiments, Mike is said to have been attempting to get as close to space from Earth as possible -- otherwise known as the Karman line, about 62 miles above Earth's surface -- without the use of advanced tech you might find at NASA or SpaceX.

Much more tragic, Mike seemed pretty stoked for the launch this weekend. He posted a video describing his rocket, where it would go down and what he was aiming to achieve. BTW, he was a big flat-earth believer -- and a doc was even made about him trying to prove it.

We've reached out to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Dept. for comment ... so far, no word back. However, we were told by a dispatcher at the Victor Valley Sheriff's Station that a call for service had been placed Saturday out of Barstow -- the nature of which is unclear.

Mike was 64. RIP

Quentin Tarantino just became a dad for the first time at age 56 -- because his wife, Daniella Pick, has finally given birth ... TMZ has confirmed.

A rep for the acclaimed director tells us ... "Daniella and Quentin Tarantino are happy to announce the birth of their first child. A baby boy born February 22, 2020."

According to reports, the child was actually born in Tel-Aviv, and thus ... he's half Israeli by birthright. Daniella -- a singer and model -- is from Israel, so it looks like they went back to the homeland for the delivery.

This would be Quentin's first kid -- same for Daniella actually, who's 20 years his junior. They got hitched in 2018 after first reportedly meeting in 2009 during production of 'Inglourious Basterds.' They first announced they were expecting back in August of 2019.

Hilary Duff got in the face of a photographer whom she felt was invading her privacy by snapping pics of her kids during a soccer game -- but he didn't back down on video.

The 'Lizzie McGuire' actress posted the confrontation on Instagram Saturday, showing her walk up to a guy on the sideline of her one of her kids' soccer game and ask him who he's there with ... and what exactly he's doing taking pictures of the children.

It's pretty tense ... the man says he's not there with anyone but himself, and HD demands to know why -- if he isn't with anyone or isn't affiliated with anyone on the team -- he's out there taking pictures of 7-year-olds. His smug answer ... 'cause it's legal, lady.

The implication here is that this dude may be a paparazzi photog, and was only out to snap pics of Hilary and her children ... something she's dealt with before in similar fashion.

Something Hilary might wanna take into account the next time she encounters one of these photog hounds trying to get photos of her and/or her kids ... it actually ain't legal like the man claimed -- at least according to California law, where this appears to have happened.

In 2013, Gov. Brown signed SB 606 into law, which made the photographing of minors because of a parent's "employment" (AKA celebs) illegal if it falls into the area of harassment, annoyance, alarm, or torment without legitimate purpose ... punishable by up to a year in jail.

Meghan Trainor's father has been hospitalized after being struck by a vehicle in what appears to be a hit-and-run -- but, fortunately, it looks like he'll be okay.

Sources close to the family tell TMZ ... Gary Trainor was transported to an area hospital in Los Angeles Friday night, after we're told he was hit by a car. The accident took place as Gary was crossing a busy street by foot, near the San Fernando Valley -- he was admitted to a nearby emergency room.

We're told he's currently listed as being in stable condition, so it sounds like he'll recover from his injuries. No official word on the whereabouts or description of the driver -- we've got a call into law enforcement to see if they're looking into it.

Meghan and her dad are super-tight -- he mentored her to become the star she is today, and even showed her the ropes of the music game. The guy's a known piano player himself, and reportedly contributed to one of Meghan's earlier EPs ... being featured on two tracks.

One song he apparently produced was her song "Cupid." Another song he helped out on for that same "Only 17" record was called "Tumble." He's credited with helping launch her career, and has appeared at multiple awards shows and other public events with his kid.

Just as recently as last month, Gary and Meghan were together -- on TV, no less -- when Gary made a surprise guest appearance on 'The Voice UK,' for which Meghan serves as a judge.

Gary's currently at least 70 years old, according to online records.

Clint Eastwood is doing a flip-flip of sorts ... endorsing former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg instead of President Trump -- whom he supported in the run-up to the 2016 election.

Dirty Harry gave his thoughts on this year's candidates to the WSJ, saying on this year's competition ... "The best thing we can do is just get Mike Bloomberg in there." Clint doesn't appear to elaborate beyond that, but did have something to say about DT.

CE says he wants Trump to act "in a more genteel way, without tweeting and calling people names." He adds, "I would personally like for him to not bring himself to that level."

What's interesting, of course, is that Clint -- a well-known Libertarian -- said he'd have to choose Trump over Hillary if it came down to it, back in August 2016 ... and while it wasn't an official endorsement, it was clear where his allegiance was during that cycle.

Now, he's backing a Dem -- who used to be a Republican for a while, BTW -- although it's unclear why. Funny enough, Bloomberg has tried positioning himself as a solid establishment Democrat, who'd further Barack Obama's policies and follow in 44's footsteps.

Of course, Clint skewered Obama at the 2012 Republican National Convention when Mitt Romney was selected as the party's nominee, talking to an empty chair on stage during his speech that he likened to BO's presidency at the time ... empty (in his eyes, anyway).

Taylor Swift and her boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, have been seen out in public before -- but on his 29th birthday ... they seemed to go above below and beyond to hide for some reason.

Here's the deal ... paps got photos of these two goofballs Saturday walking out of London's Bob Bob Ricard restaurant, completely covered in umbrellas. They were following each other out to a waiting SUV and a flock of photogs ... and clumsily boarded the vehicle.

Fact is ... we're being told this is supposed to be Taylor and Joe -- and hey, it was the guy's 29th birthday on Friday -- but you never really see them, so it's hard to say for sure.

That said ... one of T-Swift's BFFs, Ed Sheeran, was also seen leaving the restaurant shortly afterward -- so it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility that these two umbrella-heads were, in fact, the man and woman of the hour. Plus, frankly, this is kinda Taylor's M.O.

She famously tries to hide from lurking paparazzi, sometimes going to extreme lengths ... like when she put up an entire makeshift sheeted walkway while serving as a bridesmaid in 2017. Some of the fans that had gathered outside even booed the cloaked gesture.

Now, when it comes to Joe ... Taylor's also been pretty low-key about being spotted out with him -- although, they absolutely have been seen holding hands and packing on a little PDA.

They made a run for it once while hitting up the Jingle Ball concert in NYC, not giving paps a chance to snap some decent shots. Now, they appear to have upped the ante more so.

As cops try to figure out who targeted Pop Smoke for death ... we know the rapper shut down one of his own performances just days before his murder out of concern there were gang members in the audience.

Pop was scheduled to play the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn last Sunday night, but took to Instagram just before the show to cancel. Pop blamed it on cops, saying, "Unfortunately NYPD wouldn't let me perform."

Our law enforcement sources say it wasn't the NYPD that shut the show down ... they say the decision was made by Pop himself. The rapper was out on bail in a federal car theft case and was ordered to stay away from gang members, so cops say canceling the show was really self-preservation.

There's been a buzz in L.A. among Pop's circle that gang members might be behind his murder. The fact that Pop himself had concerns about gang members was something that has not escaped the attention of police.

TMZ broke the story -- the feds busted Pop last month for allegedly transporting a stolen Rolls-Royce -- and that's why he was on bail.

As we first reported ... Pop Smoke's death appears to be a targeted hit based on accounts by those who saw surveillance footage from outside the Hollywood Hills home where he was gunned down.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are calling bulls**t on the Queen of England, saying she has no authority to strip them of their right to say they're royals.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex posted what seems to be an angry response to the Queen's decision that they no longer can use the "Sussex Royal' brand.

They said in their post Saturday, the Queen doesn't own the word, 'Royal.'  Specifically, they said, "While there is not any jurisdiction by The Monarchy or Cabinet Office over the use of the word 'Royal' overseas, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex do not intend to use 'Sussex Royal' or any iteration of the word 'Royal' in any territory (either within the UK or otherwise) when the transition occurs Spring 2020."

So they say they won't use the word, but it's their choice, not Her Highness's.

Wendy Williams hit the town Friday night with what appears to be her new boyfriend.

Williams grabbed dinner in New York City at Aroma Trattoria with Big Will, aka Willdaboss. He's a jeweler in the Big Apple and he gave everyone a big hint the other day, after Wendy went on her show and said she had a new man.

Wendy said on the show her man bought her 2 pieces of jewelry from which to choose and she picked a diamond, heart-shaped necklace. Good selection.

Willdaboss then seemingly connected the dots by posting her video talking about a new boyfriend on his social media.

Wendy posted a pic Saturday of her and Willdaboss snuggling together.

Well, it seems Wendy's fear will not materialize. You'll recall, last month she vowed, "I won't let my coochie rot!!!"

Deontay Wilder isn't only known for his devastating knockout power ... he's also famous for his epic ring walk costumes, and the heavyweight champ tells us he dropped 40 grand on this weekend's epic outfit.

TMZ Sports talked to the 34-year-old Bronze Bomber on Thursday ... 2 days before of one of the most anticipated fights in heavyweight boxing history.

As you'd expect, Wilder says he's gonna flatten Fury ... but we also talked about what's really important -- the walk out uni.

So, what does Deontay have planned?

"Oh my goodness! It's going to be amazing man. Come Saturday night, one of the things that I made a promise to myself talking to my advisor Al [Haymon], when I got to a certain point into my career, I said, 'I wanna give the boxing fans, I wanna give the world something that they can remember me by.'"

"Not only just the knockouts, but me expressing myself before coming out and entering into the ring."

Wilder says "expressing" himself this weekend is gonna run him $40,000 ... but it's worth it 'cause the costumes are part of his legacy, and will end up making him a crapload of money in the future.

"Spending money on these costumes and stuff, whether it's [$10K to $40K], I know they're going to turn to millions. It's gonna be 10 million, 40 million, after I get finished, because of the things I've done in boxing and the way I was able to do it in."

If you're not familiar with what Deontay does ... this was his outfit for his last fight against Luis Ortiz. It sounds like he's even going bigger this time around.

Congressman Adam Schiff is not only Donald Trump's arch-enemy, he's also now a celebrity.

The Democrat from Burbank was flanked by security Friday afternoon as he showed up to the Coffee Bean on the Sunset Strip.

When he left the java joint, he mugged with a few supporters who recognized him and asked for selfies. Schiff obliged.

There was a funny moment. An eyewitness tells us at one point Schiff gave his coffee to a security dude while he took a selfie, and the hired muscle didn't look too happy.

Kobe and Gigi Bryant's memorial at Staples Center Monday promises to be one of the most moving events in a long, long time, and another young rapper lost to gun violence. So we gotta ask ...

Floyd Mayweather celebrated his 43rd Birthday in grand fashion Friday night ... with tons of celebs to help him out.

Floyd and co. shut down the Sunset Eden nightclub in Hollywood where hundreds of folks lit up the room, including Snoop Dogg, French Montana, Lil' Kim, Reggie Bush, Tiffany Haddish and Quavo.

There were sexy ladies riding "Air Mayweather" planes flying up and down with smoke and fire. Check out the woman on the shoulders of a man surrounded by golden flares.

There were plenty of 100 bills with Floyd's face on them.

Some of the biggest stars are spending their downtime getting pumped up and are happy to show off what they've been working out -- and when it comes to social media ... these jacked stars are bringing out the big guns!