If no one else is going to hype you up, you have to do it yourself.
Mojo Rawley
I've been working really hard in this business for a very long time and I've had my share of ups and downs - and to be honest, most of them have been downs. It's a motivation point.
I'm the hype guy, I'm the high-energy guy.
I've always said just give me an opportunity and I'm going to make the most of it.
I am not one of these guys that looks to the locker room and points fingers. That has never been my MO.
If my character is over the top talking about partying and chicks and living the dream, then I'm going to go out and want to party more.
If you're in the WWE, you're a superstar.
The vast majority of my career anywhere I was essentially the only guy who believed in myself.
This is life right here. This is what happens. You get knocked down. You've got to step back up. How are you going to handle a loss? This is what Mojo Rawley is all about.
When you take someone's best shot in the mouth, there's nothing more they can give you.
I'm an A-Level player because I have the strength to look upon myself in the mirror and master my reality.
It can be a little bit of a turnoff if I'm too over the top.
If I'm going to be doing a Zumba class I'm going to be wearing Zubaz.
Everybody goes home at the end of the day and looks at themselves in the mirror and sometimes they see things that they want to see that they like, and sometimes they see some things that they don't like.
Dan Gronkowski and Chris Gronkowski played with me at Maryland, two of my closest friends.
I won at WrestleMania which was pretty awesome.
The monster that NXT has grown into is nothing short of unbelievable.
I wrestled in front of seven people one time.
That's kind of the beauty of WWE, is everyone's got their own story, they all have their own path in getting here. It's just a very diverse and unique locker room.
I feel like I was born to do this. When I signed with the WWE, the newspaper and TV stations in my high-school community of Alexandria, Virginia, were like, 'Oh my gosh, this is so perfect.'
I was a walk-on at Maryland, I had to earn my scholarship and starter spot, and the things that've come after.
I took opportunities and made it work because I worked harder than everybody else. That's really where 'Stay Hyped' came from, that's my mantra because it's about always being up and being ready to go. That's what I've always had to do.
All it takes is one guy to change a locker room. To change the complexity or nature of an atmosphere.
For me, the grind never stops.
That's what Stay Hyped is all about, is 'I can go when others can't, I won't tap out when others will.' It's kind of just living my mantra.
I played football my whole life, pretty much.
Wrestling was always the first thing I ever wanted to do.
I made it to the NFL and I had an injury, a really bad injury, actually, where I was out for 18 months in football. And the doctor said it was career-ending.
You can't sign up for this kind of wrestling in school, so I went the football route first and I was successful at it.
The Full Sail crowd was one that I had a very special relationship with, when I first debuted they were right there with me and very supportive.
I need to get hit in the face. I need to get dropped hard before I can really circle the wagons and proceed. It breaks you out of being complacent, of being in your comfort zone.
I have a lot of shortcomings. I'm aware of that. I work on those things.
These losses, when they mount up it's hard to keep your cool.
Ever since I was a little kid the only thing I've ever wanted to do was be in the WWE, and not just be on the roster but to be a champion.
When I was a little kid, I'd always go to WWE shows and I was a huge fan of Razor Ramon.
Making an impact behind the scenes with 'Be-A-Star' and 'Make-A-Wish,' how cool is it to do those things?
I watch a lot of tape. Anytime I have a match on TV, I watch it back, 10-20 times alone.
I don't make excuses.
You're always reinventing yourself and looking for what's new and what you haven't done before.
When I am a good guy on TV, my character tends to be almost identical to how I am as a real person. However, as a bad guy, I get to be the opposite. I get to be a jerk. I get to talk trash, I get to say all the things that I'm thinking but have to restrain myself from saying out of respect or decency.
I take my training very seriously but I also take fun very seriously too.
Even when I'm having fun, I'm constantly thinking of ways to incorporate it into my WWE persona, as that way I'm serving two purposes at once.
I credit all of my life's successes to my ability to 'Stay Hyped.'
If you're an outsider, you don't know how to get signed by the WWE. It's not like football where you can sign up and segue your way in. You've got to know somebody.
I was in the business school. I was on the executive board of the business school and I kinda gave all that up and forewent a full scholarship to walk on at the University of Maryland. I just wanted to challenge myself, play at the top level and see if I could hang with the big boys, kinda get that national spotlight and play in prime time games.
Sparring is probably the best cardio, but strength training is the best way to prevent the kind of injuries that come from roadwork and sparring.
I'm a very humble guy.
You know, I analyze my faults and my weaknesses very carefully. I'm very hypercritical of myself.
