"I thought I was gonna die" – Ex-WWE star reflects on grueling tryout
WWE's next generation of in-ring performers must prove themselves during tryouts to earn developmental contracts with the company. ZZ, real name Zamariah Loupe, recently disclosed details about his 2015 tryout.
ZZ is best known to wrestling fans for his appearance on the sixth season of the Tough Enough reality show. Aged 18 at the time, he finished as a runner-up after WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H saved him from being cut.
In an interview on Developmentally Speaking, ZZ highlighted how difficult the tryout process can be:
"I thought I was gonna die. Man, I can pull a tree out of the ground. I could pick up a real big alligator. I could entertain the masses with my voice. But some of the things that they were doing in there with us for our physical conditioning and stuff, you couldn't prepare yourself for that." [15:05 – 15:27]
Despite finishing second, ZZ received a WWE contract after the Tough Enough series ended. He only spent a year with the company before being released in 2016.
ZZ elaborates on WWE's tough training
More than 12,000 people applied to appear on Tough Enough. WWE officials cut that number down to a 40-person shortlist, which was later reduced to 14 contestants for the main series.
Although ZZ passed the tryout, the training was more intense than he ever expected:
"Unless you knew how to control your breath and your speed at the same time, you were gonna get gassed. You were gonna get winded. So it wasn't bad. In fact, everything they did was completely justified. But, boy, I tell you, I thought I was gonna die. I've never done cardio like that before in my entire life. That mixed with all those eyes on you at the same time." [15:28 – 15:49]
ZZ also opened up about why he received backstage heat after Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes passed away.
Do you have any favorite memories of ZZ on Tough Enough? Hit the discuss button and let us know.
Please credit Developmentally Speaking and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.