8 Wrestling Megastars That Started As Backyarders

Those that DID try that at home

Liv Morgan Daniel Bryan
chwbackyard.com

WWE's PSA's over the years haven't really had much need to change in tone. Most remember the ones the company rolled out from the Attitude Era and beyond, with various wrestlers describing their extremely painful injuries over shots of them suffering them - or at very least other times where they were in utter agony.

The audio-visual assault should have really been enough - it takes a particularly driven (and arguably damaged) person to want to drop themselves hard onto the floor every night in pursuit of a glory dictated by so few at the top of the profession. There's a sub-divide of those that may have all the aspiration but not enough of the talent, dedication or aesthetic possibility to make it out of their own back yard. So they don't.

Backyard wrestling has never been promoted by WWE as a thing to do to get a foot in the door. Outside of rare and accidental exceptions (some of which feature in this list), it's not even been glorified. Much in the same way MTV's Jackass refused to accept submissions of fans aping the stupidity on show, the company have professed to never entertaining backyard footage during talent assessment or acquisition.

That's not to say those that started at the bottom of the garden haven't made it to the top of the wrestling world. Once only famous in front of locals in lawn chairs, these later became familiar to millions...

8. Josh Matthews

One of the few original WWE Tough Enough competitors to actually carve out a career in the industry, Josh Matthews also actually admitted to being a fan of the product when he entered the training/reality vehicle unlike some of the others terrified of being labelled as marks.

Much of his backyard work is available to view on YouTube, and - unlike some of the competition on there - sort of stands up to scrutiny. The brawlers are at least wrestling in a ring, have assembled a small number of local fans, and are trying to ape their favourites rather than bludgeon one another with the nearest (household) implement of destruction. Not all that different then to some of the matches he called during Impact Wrestling's darkest days.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett