“As a 4-year-old, I saw two men competing in the ring, and I thought it...” — Aleister Black Quote

“As a 4-year-old, I saw two men competing in the ring, and I thought it was martial arts. I asked my parents if I could do martial arts. So, I was 5 or 6-years-old, and I was doing karate and jiu-jitsu. Later on, I started kickboxing. Then, it just progressed. I did a little bit of everything, but predominantly, I did kickboxing.”

“I'm an atheist. I don't have a religion.”

“I feel like in order for something to connect to an audience there needs to be a form of authenticity.”

“I'm covered in tattoos head to toe, I have this striking style, I'm smaller than most competitors, and people are like, 'Yeah. That's my guy.' Why? Because they can see part of themselves in me.”

“To a lot of MMA fighters, pro wrestling is a very popular thing and I'm very thankful for them to try and make the transition into professional wrestling. But then they figure out its not as easy as a lot of people think.”

“I watched professional wrestling at a very early age.”

“I am always competing with my body. I am always thinking my body is going to do things it won't do.”

“Paul Heyman has known my family from before I was even born. He's seen me as a little guy, he's seen me as a medium guy, and now he's seen me full-grown and competing on the same level.”

“As a competitor you want to be out there starting and competing.”

“The first event I vividly remember was competing at the Junior Olympics in Seattle, Washington. It was my first major competition outside of Texas, and I remember being very nervous. I could not control my nerves, and I threw a few fouls.”

“These days you're not just competing with the tedium, you're competing with the cellphone.”

“I wasn't thinking of competing with any artists as such, I was more thinking of being among them, and sharing thoughts with them; like sharing views, ideas, etc.”