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ropes. I thought to myself, “I’ve done this thousands of times at Brad’s—I’ll show this SOB just how hard and fast I can come off the ropes, and how good I look doing it.”
    I got in the ring and, with a full head of steam, threw myself into the ring ropes just like I did every day back at Brad’s camp. But instead of launching my body back across the ring like I was supposed to, I went straight through the ropes and crash-landed on the concrete floor with everyone watching. I nearly broke my ass in the process.
    What I didn’t know at the time is that there are different types of “ropes” for wrestling rings. When I trained in Minnesota, Brad had an old-style WCW wrestling ring, with ropes made from steel cable covered by a garden hose with tape over it. Danny’s ropes were made out of real rope (just like the WWE used). Real rope has a lot more give to it than cable. I learned that the hard way.
    Looking back, I can see that making a fool out of myself was a good icebreaker, because it showed everyone I was human—I make mistakes and bleed like everybody else. I can laugh about it now, but it wasn’t the least bit funny to me then.
    Despite my initial stumble, I progressed quickly and excelled in practice every day. I understood what they were teaching, and I could do the things they wanted me to do in the ring.
    In a matter of weeks, Danny Davis decided to put me and Shelton together as a team, and we started going to all the little towns in the area, wrestling in front of tiny crowds in bingo halls, local community churches, high school gyms, you name it. We were working with a number of guys who are pretty well known today, but at the time were just starting out like I was: Batista, John Cena, Randy Orton, Mark Henry.
    It was a pretty easy life at OVW compared to the training I was used to. We were home every night, and the checks came in steady, without fail.
    Danny gave me the “honor” of transporting the ring to each show, and then back to his house for storage. He said he chose me because I kept talking about my work ethic, but I think it had more to do with the fact that I had a pickup truck. Regardless, the ring was my responsibility.
    Since I was in charge of the ring, I made sure all the other guys were there on time to help set it up. If they weren’t, Danny heard about it, because to me it was a team effort. I didn’t give a shit how long somebody had been there. And nobody was going to give me any back talk either, because if they did, they were going to have to get into it with me. I don’t think I was disliked for making everyone carry their own weight, but if I was, I really didn’t give a damn.
    I was there to excel, and I had made up my mind to be better than anyone I was training with. I wasn’t at OVW to win a popularity contest. I was there to learn so I could move up to the WWE where the big money was.
    Some guys at OVW would stay out late every night so they could act like they were somebody for the locals in the bar. I probably ended up at the bar only twice a month, at the most, because I had no desire or interest in trying to impress the locals down there. I wanted to hit the gym in the morning before practice, do my workouts in the ring, and then have the rest of the day off. At the time, we were only doing the local wrestling shows three nights a week, with weekends off, so I had a lot of time to myself—just the way I like it.
    I had a good time at OVW. Danny and his wife, Julie, were great to me. Just like with Brad, my relationship with Danny was more than just teacher–student. We actually became friends.
    Danny invited me into his home, and I appreciated it. I was at Danny’s house often (because the ring was there), and Danny and Julie would usually invite me in for lunch. In exchange for the free lunches, I did some handyman work for them here and there. That’s one thing about being a