Some Background info on some of the wrestlers.
The Muscle
“Actually, I didn’t have much of a wrestling background to begin with,” admits Thomas Kindgon. “I was surprised I was looked at to become a new talent.”
While Kingdon may not have been a wrestling fan growing up, he did have something that made him stand apart from others: a chiseled 6-3, 285-pound physique created from years of amateur bodybuilding.
The product of Traverse City, Mich., loved working out and playing football when we was young but admits he didn’t really know anything about bodybuilding until he was 19 years old. And after his first show in his hometown nearly a year later, he fell in love with competing. Kingdon would go on to win at the 2013 NPC Central States Competition in the Super Heavy Weight Class. Afterwards, he was approached by someone who was helping recruit for the WWE.
“I had been told many times, as far as my character was and me as a person, my personality was that I would be perfect for it,” recalls Kingdon. “So I decided if this is what other people around me perceive, maybe that might be right.”
While growing up, he wasn’t raised in a family that watched professional wrestling. Instead, he was doing a different kind of grappling.
“My dad left when I was real young and I was basically in a household full of women. My mom, my older sister, my grandma. My grandpa was sick very often and they didn’t have a huge upbringing in wrestling. As far as the wrestling, it was wrestling the remote. It was either ‘Golden Girls’ or ‘Murder, She Wrote’ as far as the TV.”
More recently, while competing in bodybuilding, he started to see more and more wrestlers on the cover of fitness magazines. He took notice and became more interested in the business.
“The Rock was a huge inspiration. Not only because of his physique but because people loved him. People of all statures, of all age ranges. There’s not a person I know that didn’t admire or what to be next to The Rock. Other people had great physiques like John Cena. He started out as a bodybuilder. I can’t do anything but look up to him and respect him because of where he started.”
When it came time for the tryout camp, he admits that the physical drills were “pretty brutal” and that he was out of his element being in front of the camera doing promos. Still, it didn’t compare to the awkwardness of being on a bodybuilding competition stage. .
“It’s hard to be more embarrassed than basically being up there almost nude. You’re basically up there in a tiny little suit.”
Kingdon admits that he wasn’t very outgoing when it came time to talk in front of everyone during the tryout, and had a feeling that he held back at first. But he gave a speech about what he wanted to do with his life.
“I wanted to inspire others to thrive to become better than themselves. Everyone wants to chase fame and fortune but being remembered as a name and people not only remembering you but remembering greatness about you was more important to me.”
http://www.sportingnews.com/sport/s...neth-crawford-thomas-kingdon-levis-valenzuela
This new class includes seven international members and four stateside. The home-grown talent has backgrounds far and wide, including a former Marine, a competitive bodybuilder, a lifelong fan who has already traveled the world wrestling, and even a collegiate ballroom dancer.
The four hopefuls were invited to a WWE tryout camp late last year -- three of them in September, which included a group of 30 total while the other took part in an October camp with seven others, all of them trying to impress coaches with athleticism and passion.
These standouts will be joining the 55 other men and women who already train at the Performance Center -- home to NXT -- in hopes of realizing their dream to make it to it to the biggest stage in sports entertainment, WWE.
The Marine
Kenneth Crawford first tried out with the WWE nearly two years ago and was given some advice from the trainers: put on some more size and then come back. That was all the former Marine needed. So when the opportunity came again in Sept. 2014, it was one he took advantage of.
“It was like going to heaven,” said Crawford when he got the call that he made it to the Performance Center. “You’re working hard for that life and your dreams and it’s now so real. I think what most of the emotion came from was all the leg work. Family, military, just putting it together into one piece to show that everything you’ve done in life is coming full circle now. Just showing everybody that it all paid off. It’s one of the biggest rewards ever.”
Crawford is no stranger to hard work, having served in the US Marine Corps for four years (even scoring a perfect 300 on their physical fitness test). That discipline he learned in the Marines helped push himself through the grueling three-day WWE tryout.
“Being mentally prepared and being physically prepared because all four years they were big on endurance and that’s what most of the workouts were at the tryouts. Endurance and mental endurance.”
The 24-year-old remembers fondly watching the WWE while growing up in Chicago, seeing the stars of the Attitude Era like The Rock, Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels and Triple H. After the first time he watched it, he knew that was what he wanted to do. But Crawford wouldn’t stay in the Windy City for long - his mom moved him and the family when he was just seven years old.
“There was a lot of stuff going on in Chicago,” Crawford explains. “It was a hard time at that time. Chicago was rough and she moved us down to the south and transferred jobs.”
“We moved a lot. By the time I was in first grade we had been at four different places. We finally came to the south and it was trying to fit in. I always used to adjust and adjust and adjust. That helped for the military because there they move you around a lot. I think I was fortunate to experience that during my lifetime.”
The south was Anson County, N.C., where he and the family eventually settled. There, he excelled in track and field, being named the Anson High School Athlete of the year in 2007. He still holds the North Carolina South Piedmont and Anson High School records in the 200-meter, 400-meter and 4x4 relay.
While he was a star on the track, he still dreamed of being a star in the wrestling ring. He and his high school friends even created their own wrestling company and would have local shows.
“I remember even walking inside my cafeteria I thought that I was making an entrance that everyone was watching me. I thought I could do this someday. I did that all throughout high school.”
That passion helped him during the tryout, especially when it came time for do a promo -- an interview for his character -- in front of the coaches including WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes, one of the greatest talkers in the history of the industry.
Crawford admits that it was an “overwhelming experience”, he welcomed the pressure and wanted to show that he could be a part of the WWE’s future.
“I basically wanted to talk about my life, about the sacrifices I made for my family. I made a commitment to sacrifice my body to the United States Marine Corps for four years. And I think by doing that, I can do pretty much the same thing for the WWE.”
The four hopefuls were invited to a WWE tryout camp late last year -- three of them in September, which included a group of 30 total while the other took part in an October camp with seven others, all of them trying to impress coaches with athleticism and passion.
These standouts will be joining the 55 other men and women who already train at the Performance Center -- home to NXT -- in hopes of realizing their dream to make it to it to the biggest stage in sports entertainment, WWE.
The Marine
Kenneth Crawford first tried out with the WWE nearly two years ago and was given some advice from the trainers: put on some more size and then come back. That was all the former Marine needed. So when the opportunity came again in Sept. 2014, it was one he took advantage of.
“It was like going to heaven,” said Crawford when he got the call that he made it to the Performance Center. “You’re working hard for that life and your dreams and it’s now so real. I think what most of the emotion came from was all the leg work. Family, military, just putting it together into one piece to show that everything you’ve done in life is coming full circle now. Just showing everybody that it all paid off. It’s one of the biggest rewards ever.”
Crawford is no stranger to hard work, having served in the US Marine Corps for four years (even scoring a perfect 300 on their physical fitness test). That discipline he learned in the Marines helped push himself through the grueling three-day WWE tryout.
“Being mentally prepared and being physically prepared because all four years they were big on endurance and that’s what most of the workouts were at the tryouts. Endurance and mental endurance.”
The 24-year-old remembers fondly watching the WWE while growing up in Chicago, seeing the stars of the Attitude Era like The Rock, Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels and Triple H. After the first time he watched it, he knew that was what he wanted to do. But Crawford wouldn’t stay in the Windy City for long - his mom moved him and the family when he was just seven years old.
“There was a lot of stuff going on in Chicago,” Crawford explains. “It was a hard time at that time. Chicago was rough and she moved us down to the south and transferred jobs.”
“We moved a lot. By the time I was in first grade we had been at four different places. We finally came to the south and it was trying to fit in. I always used to adjust and adjust and adjust. That helped for the military because there they move you around a lot. I think I was fortunate to experience that during my lifetime.”
The south was Anson County, N.C., where he and the family eventually settled. There, he excelled in track and field, being named the Anson High School Athlete of the year in 2007. He still holds the North Carolina South Piedmont and Anson High School records in the 200-meter, 400-meter and 4x4 relay.
While he was a star on the track, he still dreamed of being a star in the wrestling ring. He and his high school friends even created their own wrestling company and would have local shows.
“I remember even walking inside my cafeteria I thought that I was making an entrance that everyone was watching me. I thought I could do this someday. I did that all throughout high school.”
That passion helped him during the tryout, especially when it came time for do a promo -- an interview for his character -- in front of the coaches including WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes, one of the greatest talkers in the history of the industry.
Crawford admits that it was an “overwhelming experience”, he welcomed the pressure and wanted to show that he could be a part of the WWE’s future.
“I basically wanted to talk about my life, about the sacrifices I made for my family. I made a commitment to sacrifice my body to the United States Marine Corps for four years. And I think by doing that, I can do pretty much the same thing for the WWE.”
The Muscle
“Actually, I didn’t have much of a wrestling background to begin with,” admits Thomas Kindgon. “I was surprised I was looked at to become a new talent.”
While Kingdon may not have been a wrestling fan growing up, he did have something that made him stand apart from others: a chiseled 6-3, 285-pound physique created from years of amateur bodybuilding.
The product of Traverse City, Mich., loved working out and playing football when we was young but admits he didn’t really know anything about bodybuilding until he was 19 years old. And after his first show in his hometown nearly a year later, he fell in love with competing. Kingdon would go on to win at the 2013 NPC Central States Competition in the Super Heavy Weight Class. Afterwards, he was approached by someone who was helping recruit for the WWE.
“I had been told many times, as far as my character was and me as a person, my personality was that I would be perfect for it,” recalls Kingdon. “So I decided if this is what other people around me perceive, maybe that might be right.”
While growing up, he wasn’t raised in a family that watched professional wrestling. Instead, he was doing a different kind of grappling.
“My dad left when I was real young and I was basically in a household full of women. My mom, my older sister, my grandma. My grandpa was sick very often and they didn’t have a huge upbringing in wrestling. As far as the wrestling, it was wrestling the remote. It was either ‘Golden Girls’ or ‘Murder, She Wrote’ as far as the TV.”
More recently, while competing in bodybuilding, he started to see more and more wrestlers on the cover of fitness magazines. He took notice and became more interested in the business.
“The Rock was a huge inspiration. Not only because of his physique but because people loved him. People of all statures, of all age ranges. There’s not a person I know that didn’t admire or what to be next to The Rock. Other people had great physiques like John Cena. He started out as a bodybuilder. I can’t do anything but look up to him and respect him because of where he started.”
When it came time for the tryout camp, he admits that the physical drills were “pretty brutal” and that he was out of his element being in front of the camera doing promos. Still, it didn’t compare to the awkwardness of being on a bodybuilding competition stage. .
“It’s hard to be more embarrassed than basically being up there almost nude. You’re basically up there in a tiny little suit.”
Kingdon admits that he wasn’t very outgoing when it came time to talk in front of everyone during the tryout, and had a feeling that he held back at first. But he gave a speech about what he wanted to do with his life.
“I wanted to inspire others to thrive to become better than themselves. Everyone wants to chase fame and fortune but being remembered as a name and people not only remembering you but remembering greatness about you was more important to me.”
http://www.sportingnews.com/sport/s...neth-crawford-thomas-kingdon-levis-valenzuela
