Alex Obert: I have a feeling that Bubba will test those breaking into the business in order to see if they can tough it out and to earn his respect. Would you say that is accurate? If so, did that happen with you?
Samuel Shaw: I think for him, hes just very old school minded. That old school mentality is If this kid really wants it, lets test him. Lets test him not only physically, but mentally. And I think that weeds out the guys that cant really fathom this business. Theres a lot of people that want to be wrestlers, but when youre actually grinding and not making very much money on the indy scene and possibly living on somebodys couch for years and just grinding, grinding, grinding, it wears on you. And then going into Team 3D Academy four to five times a week like I was doing. There was just times when I was just like, I really dont want to go to training today. I dont want to deal with Bubbas shit today. But at the same time, I knew this is what I wanted to do. Even if he was gonna say something to test you or make you feel like you dont belong, I always took it as like, Okay, thats a challenge. Im here to prove him wrong.
I do have one particular story regarding this. I was getting a lot of extra work at TNA years and years ago. Bubba would always call me and I would be at work, I was a caricature artist at Universal Studios. So that was literally my plan, to live in Orlando, its a wrestling hub. You had WWE/FCW an hour and a half away in Tampa, you got TNA in Universal, Team 3D Academy, you had a bunch of indies. I was in Orlando, trying to be as close as I could so I could possibly knock on the door at TNA each and every day. I just wanted to see if there was any opportunity. Bubba knew that, he saw my work ethic and I think he saw my talent. He may not have necessarily liked me as a person, but he definitely gave me the opportunities because he knew I wanted it.
Hed call me and hed say, Hey, can you come up to TNA? We got a spot for you today. On one particular occasion, he called me the night before and he said, I need you to get three or four other students and you guys dress nice. Come up here and youre gonna do some stuff with Jeff Jarrett, the Team Jarrett MMA gimmick. And I said, Sure, well be there. We show up there and some of us are wearing jeans. I think he expected us to wear suits. Thats a lesson that I learned. Every time I go for a tryout, Im wearing a suit. I am dressing extremely nice now, no ifs, ands or buts about it. And Ill tell you why, we show up and some of us are wearing jeans and just not looking as sharp as guys that are trying to represent Team 3D Academy, Bubba and D-Von, and be professionals. Were not looking very professional walking in. You can just tell that Bully is just so pissed and just giving us that death stare and making us very uncomfortable all day long. They still used us that night and we performed well. We thought everything was gold. Bubba kinda cut a promo on us. Like I said, we were uncomfortable all day, but we did a good job for Jeff Jarrett. Bubba said, Theres no heat, everythings good.
Well I didnt go to the training the next day because I was working, but a bunch of the guys did that were involved with this thing in TNA the day before. Bubba tells them all to get in the ring and he tells them, Do a thousand squats. Right now. Otherwise youre kicked out of the school. He felt like we needed to be disciplined for not being a good representation for the school. I got text messages from all these guys and theyre all like, Oh my God, Bubba made us do a thousand squats. None of us could do a thousand. Guys were puking. Some guy ripped his asshole out, tore his hamstring. Guys are just dropping like flies. Bubbas disappointed in everybody. He said Dont think I wont get Sam cause Ill go to one of his little indy shows and Ill make him do it in front of all the boys there.' I was just waiting for mine. I was like, Okay, Ive never done a thousand squats before. Im gonna go in every day and if thats what he wants me to do, Im ready for it.
I went in every day and he never showed up for about two weeks. And then all of a sudden, he showed up one day. Everybody thought hed forget about it and that its all water under the bridge. But nope, he sees me and he says, Get your ass in the ring. A thousand squats. You gotta go past parallel. If you dont do a thousand, Ill just know what kind of man you are and youre not welcome back here. I proceeded to do a thousand squats and I never thought that I could do that. It was a challenge. The thought of doing it sucked, but once I completed that, I realized that was all mental. He tested me and I did it. I went in the office and I thanked him. Im not saying that he had ultimate respect for me after that or anything, but I think he was like, Okay, I see this kid. He fessed up to fucking up. He paid the price and he did it. Hes always gonna test you. Youre gonna screw up in this business, especially as a young guy just trying to come up and make it. Hopefully you dont screw up in front of a Vince McMahon or something like that. Screwing up in front of a Bully Ray, thats probably worse. I just made it a goal of mine to just always make him proud.