Wardlow Reveals Batista Is Why He Got Into Wrestling

In an interview with Muscle & Fitness, Wardlow credited Batista as the reason he eventually became a wrestler and spoke about his steel cage match with Cody Rhodes last year. Here are highlights:

On making the decision to be a wrestler in high school: “I grew up on the Hulk Hogans and the Ultimate Warriors. It was the Arnold and Sylvester Stallone era. In elementary school, I had a Bowflex cable system in my bedroom … a very small bedroom [laughs], and it took up the entire bedroom, but that’s how much I loved working out. Dave Bautista was blowing up in the wrestling world, and I remember looking at him and thinking, ‘That’s it, that’s what I am gonna be.”

On his first wrestling match ever: “I think there may have been 25 or 30 people there. But it’s so much adrenaline, like you can’t even comprehend it. I was asked how long I had been wrestling, and people were surprised that it was my first match. In that moment, I knew that this was what I was meant to do.”

On his cage match with Cody Rhodes: “I remember me and Cody squaring off in the ring. And that’s it. I don’t remember the entrances, or anything else. When I got backstage, I was so overcome with emotion because I had put so much pressure on myself. This was my literal dream coming true.”