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.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I was an amateur wrestler, which I loved. It was my passion, but I started really late; I was a junior in high school when I began.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be either a rock star or a wrestler.
I grew up a wrestler; for a long time in Oklahoma I was a wrestler.
I think I was given a gift to wrestle. And I think when I came back, I had a much better appreciation of that. And I believe the way I went about doing it made me better at it. I didn't identify myself with the job as I did so much in the '90s. In the '90s, I didn't know who I was other than 'the wrestler.'
I'm the man that made wrestling famous.
I wasn't a wrestling fan growing up; I knew who Hulk Hogan was and stuff but I didn't watch it. I started watching wrestling about three years before I got involved with WCW.
As soon as I found out there was a school you could go to to become a WWE superstar, I was immediately hooked.
My very favorite wrestler of all time was Andre the Giant. He was sort of like my best friend, believe it or not, and I have a picture in 'People' magazine of me sitting on his lap when I was 8 years old after 'WrestleMania I.'
Ric Flair, The Freebirds, and The Rockers were great influences in my decision to become a wrestler.
I grew up on WWE. Eddie Guerrero is my everything. He's my hero, as are Shawn Michaels and Tiger Mask. I tried to model myself after them.