I am the underdog – the 5-foot, 6-inch wrestler. The kids don’t say, ‘I can beat Rey.’ Instead, they say, ‘I can be like Rey.’
I’ve always been really passionate about music. My dad was, too, before he became a wrestler.
In terms of being honored at the TNA Hall of Fame, I think that’s something that every pro wrestler dreams about.
Everybody told me I was too small to be a wrestler.
My mom found a wrestling school that was in Maryland, and she told me to go down there. From there, I really got my head out of any negativity, and I focused on trying to become a professional wrestler, living my dream from when I was a kid. Wrestling saved my life.
I was never an upper body wrestler. I am a shooter.
There have been many matches where a wrestler gets hurt. The referee usually senses it and stops the match, but the referee doesn’t always know.
My uncle inspired me, and it was because of him that I become a wrestler, but besides him, the one Superstar that really caught my attention growing up as a kid was ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage.
Everyone that watches wrestling as a kid dreams of being a wrestler for WWE.
For me, I like to be different. I didn’t want to imitate another wrestler. I always try to find something from other genres, like movies, books, art, and musicals. That’s how I made my style.
I started competing on boxing, so I have my hands. I’m an O.K. wrestler, so why not?
Obviously, just from being an athlete, from being a wrestler keeping in shape just in general is something that stayed with me even being out of the ring for a while, but then eventually been lucky enough to be here in Chicago.
I see myself as a career professional wrestler. The end goal wasn’t always to go to Raw or SmackDown, it was just to create a body of work that I’m proud of.
I’m the best Crusierweight, X Division, Junior Heavyweight wrestler whatever you want to call it.
Everyone thinks of me as some weird swamp trash pro wrestler, and that’s okay – think what you want – but I’m an intelligent person, and I have my own views on the world.
Johnny Hendricks has better credentials, but in MMA, I might be the best wrestler for the style.
I hate when someone gets the better of me. A Division 1 wrestler comes in and takes me down and I get frustrated.
I’m not the strongest, I’m not this amazing wrestler, but I believe the skills I’ve honed over a period of time – my stand up, my takedown defence, the way I position myself on the ground – I just believe I can be the full package.
I remember watching Anderson Silva fight Dan Henderson at UFC 82. I had never really watched MMA, but I looked up to Dan Henderson. He was a wrestler, like me, but also a tough, powerful mixed martial artist.
I like to think I proved a wrestler’s skin color doesn’t matter.
I am a Division 1 wrestler.
My parents could have told me, when I was 12 years old and telling them I wanted to be a wrestler, that it was silly and to be serious and find something more secure and safe, but they didn’t. They pushed me as hard as they could.
I had three intentions when I became a wrestler. One was to keep my integrity. Two was to give pro wrestling a more respectable image. And three was to be a role model to Jewish kids, who may not have thought they could do what I do.
When I think of a world class wrestler, I think of Mo Lawal.
When I wrestled, I always considered myself an athlete and a wrestler.
My grandmother started as a ticket-taker and basically became the CFO of my dad’s company. It was a very important first impression for me – I’ve always looked on the business with more eyes than just as a wrestler.
I love the ending of ‘The Wrestler.’
I think a wrestler can say something from fighting, from wrestling.
If a guy’s a very good wrestler or a really good boxer or has a really good high kick, you prepare for that. It’s the same when you’re going to fight someone who talks a lot of crap.
I’ve sort of always pulled for the heels, like the bad guys. So I think if I were a pro wrestler, first I’d need to bulk up, and second I’ll need to get sort of a bad-boy persona.
Sonnen doesn’t know martial arts. He’s a wrestler; he doesn’t know how to respect people. Some say he’s promoting the fight, but he disrespected my country, my family and fans.
I’m not a WWE wrestler and that’s how it feels sometimes out on the court.
The biggest thing about being a wrestler and being Goldberg gave me, was the ability to be a superhero for kids. I want the ability to be that guy again.
Miami was always a town that was kind to me as a wrestler. It’s a great wrestling town, and it’s a great town, period. There’s so much to do in Miami.
I told people I was going to be a wrestler, and they fell down laughing.
I was a dancer and didn’t ever think I could become a female wrestler, but here I am and doing it.
I know Cormier is a wrestler so you really got to get them hips down on him so I’ve been working them hips really good.
Like AEW, it kind of feels like they’re treating you like a professional athlete, and Lucha Underground is like a lot of TV production stuff. It felt like they treated you like a professional actor. The treatment was just above that for a wrestler.
I’m a wrestler, so I’m used to not being paid, and I’m used to doing five or six competitions a day and paying someone else to allow me into the event.
I wish I was fighting Jason High in his hometown. I would put him to sleep in front of all his fans. He’s mainly a wrestler, but I’m an All-American wrestler. So I’m really not worried about Jason High.
I didn’t do choreographed fighting for a living. I was a professional wrestler for 15 years; there’s a big difference.
I made the final decision to become a professional wrestler because I was able to look at Sting and what he was able to do inside and outside the ring.
I wanted to become a wrestler because I saw a tape of Wrestlemania XI. I thought to myself I wanted to be a WWE superstar one day, and now here I am.
If all you are is a pro wrestler, on some level you eventually become, I feel like, a mindless drone. It’s tough, man, if you’re on the road and you’re doing 200, 250 shows a year. It starts to take a toll on your personal life and who are you as a human.
After college I started training to be a wrestler which led me to the WWE.
I’ll use wrestling if I need to in fights, but maybe I’ll fight another wrestler, and you’ll find out how good my striking is.
Being a professional wrestler surely prepares you for any acting role in that we have to act on live television, so there’s a lot of pressure put there.
I was a big Hart Foundation guy as a kid. Bret was my favorite wrestler. I loved their dynamic.
I was never the most technical wrestler. But my coaches definitely instilled in me the belief that if you can push yourself and practice smarter than the other guy, you can beat him.
I grew up wanting to be a professional wrestler, and that’s exactly what I’m going to keep doing.
I was a striker before a wrestler. I’ve always wanted to knock people out.
I don’t want people to think I’m a wrestler.
I want my lasting legacy to be that I was a good wrestler but a better person. I want people to remember me as a good dude. I think that’s very important.
To be a true comic, you have to have a signature move. You ever watch wrestling? And your favorite wrestler has the one move that he always does to finish his opponent off, right? Like when he climbs on the rope, and he always jumps off the top rope and finishes off his opponent – that’s what a comic has.
You don’t become a wrestler overnight. Like everything, it takes time and I wasn’t born in this business.
At first everyone thought that wanting to become a pro wrestler was just a phase.
I think I had a really hard-working and authentic wrestling style, so people liked the way I was – that I was a ‘no-quit’ kind of wrestler – and I was very realistic and credible in my style.
I just want everyone to remember me as a great wrestler, that’s what I aim to do.
How could I not be the underdog, starting at 35 and a half and going from a manager and a fourth-string color commentator to being a wrestler?
I was a 19 year old kid; I was 170 lbs soaking wet. I didn’t have an identity. I didn’t have a look. I didn’t have the proper gear. I was just a young guy trying to be a wrestler. So, to be honest, WWE didn’t even give me a second look.
You’ve got to stay in pretty good shape to be a pro wrestler, and all the TNA wrestlers get a bit nervous when I wrestle them because they’re afraid I’ll tire them out, but the Olympics is a whole different level.
I always had a much softer approach to my interviews and promos. I was not so much that wrestler that was yelling at the screen; I was always the one that was talking to my fans.
For me, Philadelphia was always kind of that city you traveled to as an independent wrestler. I traveled there once or twice a month, doing that seven-to-eight-hour drive from Cleveland to Philly just to try and make a name for myself.
CM Punk was a great wrestler, and he has so many fans and made a lot of people happy with what he did over the years.
I don’t want to be the kind of wrestler that has to do it because he needs the money.
