WWE NXT star talks getting bullied as a kid, how he overcame it

One-half of the NXT tag team champions Murphy

WWE NXT tag-team champion Murphy talked to Foxsports recently.You can check out the interview at this link. The Australian wrestler who came up through the ranks after signing a developmental contract back in 2012 talked about how he was a red-haired kid from Melbourne who was bullied during his childhood days.

The 26-year-old, who is the first Australian ever to hold a title, revealed that he used wrestling as an outlet for his frustrations and even adopted a new way of dealing with his detractors when confronted in the schoolyard by using the no-fear attitude of his heroes on television. Here’s what he had to say:

“I was a skinny little red headed kid and didn’t like going to school because I was bullied,” Murphy revealed.

“(I’d watch wrestling) because the wrestlers were what I wasn’t in real life. These larger than life people, they were like superheroes I could live through.”

He further stated, “Then at school I would try and rein act what they did at school. (Former champion Stone Cold Steve) Austin got hit in the face and it didn’t faze him so if I get hit in the face I’m not going to let it phase me.

“Just taking that kind of mentality where in my head, I was Stone Cold Steve Austin. I walked around like that as well.”

With 14 years of experience behind him, the Australian wants to spread the message to others going through hard times that they too can rise above their bullies and turn their pain into success.

“The only thing I loved and thought I was good at was wrestling,” he said.

“A lot of people use wrestling as that outlet. It is a time when they can suspend their belief. Half of the roster did it. We’re all wrestling fans at heart. To be successful in that one thing that I loved is huge.

“Now if I can get that across to people in primary school and high school, they may be like ‘I’m in the same shoes as him’ even if it’s not wrestling. If they hear my story hopefully that can drive them to do the same and follow their dreams,” he concluded.

Image credits: Foxsports