10 Insane Stories From WWE Tryouts
Secret dream matches and the most insane feedback ever: featuring the Young Bucks and more...
So you want to be a WWE Superstar?
Well, tough t*tties. The process of getting there seems really quite difficult.
Ideally, these days, you must be a collegiate-level athlete ambiguous about how much you care - can't be a mark, can't disrespect the business - and if you don't get great within a short timeframe in a system that doesn't encourage you to make an organic connection with fans, there's a more than decent chance they'll bin you off.
Your poor ACL is at the mercy of what appears from the outside looking in to be an excessively intensive training regimen. If you can survive with that ligament intact, you'll appear on LVL UP (which you probably do not know exists) before debuting on NXT after a curriculum of shocked faces under some wacky persona or other.
You could wake up one day and discover that you are a person who thinks they are a bird, a mob boss, the dean of a university, a British late-night TV host or a yokel incel. Those aren't jokes; they are actually NXT characters.
Becoming a WWE Superstar TM is harder than it needs to be.
Opening the friggin' door is even harder...
10. One Of The Pro Wrestling's Biggest Ever Dream Matches Happened During A Tryout
After the Young Bucks voluntarily departed TNA following an ill-fated spell, during which their falling out angle went under nine minutes across two Xplosion matches, Matt and Nick Jackson signed with Ring Of Honor - but not before "trying out" for a second time with WWE in 2011.
Per Nick, they didn't expect an offer; it was a publicity stunt engineered to put their names on news sites. They didn't fancy WWE after their previous experiences working as extras (more on which imminently).
If you are unfortunate enough to be chronically addicted to Wrestling Twitter, the following two words will haunt you: Usos better.
That, or you'll read all about how the Usos actually spam more superkicks, if you analyse the statistics. This discourse is one of the worst battles in the WWE Vs. AEW culture war, since both teams aren't dissimilar at all - both really like thrust kicks and melodrama - and yet it persists with no correct answer.
And, depending on how Tony Khan is able to finesse the looming CM Punk situation, you'll never get to see the teams in action to determine which is better. You won't, but various WWE officials and roster members did when the Bucks wrestled the Usos in a match at said (unofficial) tryout. In 'Killing The Business', Matt put over the Usos huge for their selflessness, cardio and improvisational skills. William Regal put over the match, too.
But - inciting a ripple effect - Nick Jackson leaned on a guardrail after the match, only for an infuriated Booker T to wander into the scene, whose coat was under Nick's arm (unbeknownst to him). This furthered the narrative that the Bucks were disrespectful and aloof, which of course became their brand. No offer was forthcoming after that.
So, about those other times the Bucks learned what life in WWE is like...