5 AEW stars who come from humble backgrounds - Former champion was homeless, Former RAW Tag Team Champions

Wrestlers quickly become larger than life and it's difficult to imagine them as normal people. This is no different for AEW wrestlers.

While they entertain us each week, we might not know how they reached where they are. Some wrestlers speak out about their difficult backgrounds and use it to inspire with. Others are very private about where they come from.

This list dives into a few AEW wrestlers who have openly admitted to coming from humble backgrounds and how they got into wrestling.

5. AEW's Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood both came from humble backgrounds

Both members of AEW tag team, FTR, grew up in North Carolina and had difficult upbringings.

Dax Harwood grew up in Whiteville, North Carolina, and had to work three jobs to pay for his college degree while wrestling over the weekend. That was his father's only condition for him to wrestle.

“I worked three jobs while I was wrestling on the weekend and paid for my own college at UNCW and got two degrees, and that’s all (my dad) asked and he supported me the whole way,” Harwood said. “I just wanted to work harder than anyone else in the world and become a professional wrestler.” (H/T: The News Reporter)

Meanwhile, Cash Wheeler grew up in Ashville, North Carolina, a four-hour drive from Whiteville. Wheeler goes as far as crediting wrestling for saving his life.

"I feel like we owe wrestling so much. We had nothing growing up. I can tell you now that if it wasn’t for wrestling – I come from a family of addicts and I would have went that path. It was the easiest path and the one that I knew other than wrestling. If I didn’t have something to hold onto and grasp at to lead me in a different direction I would be… not good," Wheeler said. (H/T: Metro)

For both wrestlers to have come from humble backgrounds and make it in AEW as multi-time champions tells of their hard work and courage.

4. Tay Conti grew up in a poor area of Rio de Janeiro

AEW fan favorite Tay Conti grew up in one of the favelas in Rio de Janeiro. Favelas are notorious for their high rates of crime and poverty and many young people get lost in criminal underground activities.

"I grew up in Rio de Janeiro in a really poor neighborhood, and I felt like martial arts was my escape to have a better life. I actually started gymnastics when I was 7, and then right across from the club was a judo school, so I took up judo. I was the only girl, so I felt a little bit weird," Tay Conti said. (H/T: Kung-Fu Kingdom)

Growing up in an area with a high crime rate stacks the cards against you, but Tay Conti made the most of this and is now a beloved wrestler in AEW.

3. AEW stars Santana and Ortiz grew up in one of the 'projects' in New York City

Collectively known as Proud & Powerful in AEW, Santana and Ortiz came from humble beginnings. Both wrestlers are of Puerto Rican descent and struggled through their early days.

Ortiz has only spoken about it during promos, while Santana has reflected on his upbringing on social media.

Both wrestlers are amazing in the ring and have the potential to be AEW champions despite where they came from.

2. Former AEW Champion, Jox Moxley grew up in a tough area in Cincinnati

AEW star Jon Moxley might be a household name now, but growing up young Moxley was surrounded by terrible influences. According to Moxley, the area he grew up in was so bad that stealing became something normal to do.

“I started getting mixed up with some of the bad kids. You have to. That’s survival. Then you get strength and empowerment by hanging out and being on the team instead of outside the team. We got involved in car dipping where you go through the neighborhood and check every unlocked car. If somebody didn’t lock their car, you get in and run your hands along the floors and the seats. You check the glove box and get change or CD’s or whatever you can steal from the car. Everybody shoplifted everything. Everybody stole because we didn’t have money. That’s how you got stuff. Stealing to me wasn’t even a thing. It was just how you were supposed to live.” (H/T: WrestlingNews.co)

Moxley eventually started wrestling to escape from this lifestyle. Fast forward twenty odd years, and he has become one of the biggest names in AEW and professional wrestling.

1. Darby Allin was once homeless and lived in his car

Everyone's favorite daredevil, Darby Allin, once lived in his car. The former AEW TNT Champion tried many different things before wrestling and was always a rebel at heart. But a few decisions resulted in Allin having to live out of his car while trying to make it in wrestling.

"Atlanta [Georgia]. Yeah, I started wrestling in Seattle [Washington]. Then, I moved to Florida once I signed to EVOLVE, and from there, I moved to Atlanta because I didn't feel like I was getting out of Florida what I wanted training-wise, so I just left and went to all these different schools around the country, and just living in my car," Allin admitted.

The wrestler also slept in his car the night before his match at AEW Full-Gear 2020 to remind himself where he came from. Allin has since become an unlikely star in pro-wrestling, loved by AEW fans.

These days he hangs out with The Icon: Sting, and jumps from heights for a living.