Getting a sweat on in the gym is hard enough for someone who regularly eats two ice creams a day no matter the weather but when you throw a pair of menacing WWE behemoths into the mix, it becomes a different beast entirely.
While it was a cold and fresh morning in London, the heat soon took over as I desperately attempted to perform burpees while the WWE women’s champion Jade Cargill put her hand on my back to ensure my form was better. A unique experience.
This was me, an average Joe, getting a different level of insight into the type of training required to thrive in the Royal Rumble, arguably the arguably the most iconic match in WWE history.
“We’re on the Road to WrestleMania so we got to take things seriously,” Cargill, a physical specimen, told SPORTbible on how her training is shaping up.
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“I do this year-round. I don’t slack off. If anything I just slow down on the weights a little and I do more cardio or around this time I'm lifting heavier weights. At any given time I can do anything.”
While I am a life-long WWE fan, I have been well aware that my trampoline wrestling exploits as a youngster was my ceiling in the business.
Nevertheless, when invited for a ‘Workout like a WWE superstar’ event by Netflix, I jumped at the opportunity.
Along with a number of journalists and content creators, I arrived at the BXR Gym in Marylebone of which Anthony Joshua’s world heavyweight belts are on display, to be put through a brutal WWE style workout.
WWE superstars' strict diet and training routines
For full disclosure there was no ring but led by an elite personal trainer, this was a glimpse of the work WWE’s top talents put in away from the squared circle and that includes eating the right foods.
Imagine my shock when the returning Matt Cardona, formerly Zack Ryder, informed me about a typical day of eating for him.
“I’m very cautious of my diet, especially as I got older,” Cardona admitted.
“When I’m home, ninety per cent of the time it’s just healthy foods.
“Breakfast I’ll have like oatmeal but then I’ll have three eights, eight egg whites. Post work-out I’ll have a protein shake and bananas or oats.
“I try to have meat and carbs with every single meal. Five or six meals a day.”
Trick Williams, the newest signee to the Smackdown brand and already a huge hit with crowds, added: “I eat carbs because you need the energy. I just do white rice normally, some proteins, whatever vegetables and some fruit. I try and stay away from the sugars.”
Not quite following the same flow, my workout was fuelled by a squares bar and two flat whites which had me extremely worried that an accident might be waiting to happen.
Hyped up by a banging playlist which included ‘Ayo Technology’ from 50 Cent, Timbaland and Justin Timberlake as well as ‘Headlines’ by Drake, our warm-up saw me attempt to use a resistance band with some steps and then before you know it we went straight into a punishing circuit which had five cruel stations that were not fun at all.
For someone who despises the gym and his only exercise is running and playing football, I wasn’t quite equipped.
But at least we were all training/suffering together. Former NXT star Williams and his fellow WWE superstar girlfriend Lash Legend, who he met at the company’s performance centre in Orlando, regularly train alongside one another to stay in top shape.
“We do hot sauna workouts, hot yoga, hot pilates,” Legend explained.
“That’s just good for your endurance, to sweat out a lot. We do some heavy lifting.
“He’ll do his thing and I'll do my thing and then we’ll come together.”
Already I could feel the photographer making a beeline for me, spotting my struggles and capturing it perfectly.
We’d barely kicked off and the sweat was dripping down me as the group performed a series of different, high-intensity exercises including weights, steps, chest press, twisted sit-ups with plates and the horrible planks – where I was shaking like a sh***ing dog.
There was also some weird grip exercises where we had to do what I can only describe as standing press ups.
I was well aware that my form and posture was miles off but when the two WWE champions turned up, immediately there was a different energy.
Cargill, a former basketball player with washboard abs, hyped me up as I tried to do weights-assisted burpees and Scotland’s own McIntyre, proudly displaying his shiny new title, did the same with other suffering members of the class.
The 40-year-old won the Royal Rumble on route to his first title triumph when he dethroned Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania in 2020 and was happy to share some insight into the type of training which enables one to outlast 29 other competitors.
“Cardio’s the key for Royal Rumble,” he explained.
“Especially if you’re in for a long time, you’re just going and going.
“It’s hard to train for. You can’t just do cardio because you’re using your entire body, you’re up and down – using your upper body and lower body.
“Fatigue sets in. At times you’re lying down recovering and then you’re getting back up, your muscles can cool down. You’ve got to punish yourself with all kinds of cardio.
“I don’t like cross-fit training with some of the lifts but that kind of rapid movement and doing circuits is the best way to train for a match like that.”
We finished off the painful workout with some stretching and I then enjoyed a Club sandwich and chocolate flex smooth from Joe and the Juice – quite possibly the best part of the whole morning.
For days after the session, my body was still aching in multiple areas having used muscles that I did not called into action for a long, long time.
On the contrary, WWE superstars are always on the go and with absolutely no off-season, there is no time to rest.
The Miz, in WWE’s esteemed Grand Slam champions club and a WrestleMania main event winner, has been grinding for two decades in and out of the ring.
When not getting thrown around in the ring, he and fellow WWE superstars are putting in the work in the gym in and around their matches and do not slack.
While I’m still recovering from my Christmas dinner and selection boxes, the 45-year-old stepped things up as soon as we entered the New Year and has locked in for the most important period in WWE’s calendar.
He stressed: “Going into the Royal Rumble that’s the start of our Road to WrestleMania. I always start my Road to WrestleMania on January 1. The holidays are over, let’s start boiling down to get in my best possible shape for WrestleMania.
“I think everyone kind of does that. We’re year round so we’re always in shape, it’s just when I lock in even more is this time of year.”
This year’s Royal Rumble has sadly come a bit too soon but give me a year of training and I might just be equipped for a five-minute spot in 2027.
Netflix UK & Ireland subscribers can watch Raw, SmackDown, NXT and all WWE Premium Live events as part of their subscription, including Royal Rumble on Saturday 31st January 7PM GMT.
Topics: Royal Rumble, WWE, WrestleMania, Spotlight
Josh Lawless