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WWE Superstars always seem to be enjoying ample fortune and fame, both on and off television. The men and women who we see on our TVs may get paid fairly well by WWE, but that doesn't mean that they’ve always enjoyed a comfortable life before joining the company.
Several former and current WWE Superstars had to struggle to reach the largest wrestling promotion in the world, and some had to work minimum wage jobs to pay for travel expenses or even a bed to sleep in.
Over the years, we’ve been introduced to the real-life stories of several such WWE Superstars who overcame extreme poverty. Even though they may be enjoying the fortunes of their sucess today, life has not always been as easy for them.
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In this article, we will look at seven such WWE Superstars who overcame extreme poverty in their early days to make it to the biggest wrestling promotion in the world.
#7. Adam Rose
Adam Rose had several interesting gimmicks during his WWE career, and though the Superstar could have become one of the top stars in the company, he was never used to his complete potential.
Personal life problems forced him to request his release from the company in 2016, and we saw several of his Rosebuds entourage go on to make it bigger in WWE than he ever did.
Rose was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He dropped out of school and ran away from home at the age of 14. He lived on the streets and in abandoned buildings for two years of his life and had a life full of violence and alcohol.
WWE Behind the Curtain revealed a lot about Rose's early life
On an episode of E:60’s special "WWE: Behind the Curtain" by ESPN, the former WWE Superstar and his wife claimed that he had loving parents but did not want to lead a normal family life, and only returned home after being promised wrestling lessons by his parents.
Even though Rose had a tough time during his teens and was forced to live on the streets, he managed to change things around after becoming interested in a sport that helped give him a career.
After watching the ESPN special on Rose and several other WWE Superstars, one can’t help but have respect for what they went through to get to where they are today.
#6. Dean Ambrose
Dean Ambrose, current AEW World Champion and who goes by the ring name Jon Moxley, may have left WWE for various reasons, but was one of the top Superstars during his stay in the company. After finding a lot of success with Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns as part of The Shield, Ambrose had a fruitful singles run which led to him becoming the WWE Champion.
Speaking to SLAM! Wrestling, Ambrose revealed that he saw Bret Hart as an idol while growing up amidst a lot of problems.
“My neighborhood was pretty much a big stretch of government housing and all these torn up apartment buildings all owned by different people. It was easy to get the feeling like all the garbage from the city ran down and washed up there, so that gave me a chip on my shoulder very early on.”
“But I hated it because every day was a struggle. For instance, there were times that I would have to cave in and do something like sell somebody's drugs, just so I wouldn't get beaten half to death. But then there were other times where dudes would catch me walking by and try to push me around, and I had to draw a line, even if I was gonna get pulverized. I ended up earning respect that way -- not that I cared, I just wanted out.”
The former WWE Superstar had to work hard to reach where he is today
During a conversation on ‘The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast’ Ambrose revealed that he worked minimum wage jobs in his home town of Cincinnati to help him pay the bills while working wrestling shows. This included working in factories, warehouses, and restaurants.
#5. Booker T
Booker T is arguably the most influential and accomplished African-American WWE Superstar of all time. While Booker T had his problems while growing up, he focused his energy in the right place at the right time to make it big in the wrestling industry.
Booker T was the youngest of eight children and both his parents passed away by the time he was 14 years of age. Thankfully, his elder brother and future tag team partner Stevie Ray decided to raise him, even though they were extremely short of funds.
Early life problems led to the WWE Superstar getting into some massive trouble
This led Booker T to move in the wrong direction and he found himself as a part of a few gangs and inevitably got involved in criminal activities which led to a long jail term. After his release, he decided to turn to wrestling as an escape, a decision that proved to be extremely wise.
While speaking to The Philidelphia Inquierer, Booker T revealed:
"All the mistakes I made coming up prepared me to be the man I've become today. I needed those experiences to mold the person people see before them today.”
Booker T managed to make it big not just in WWE but also in several other top wrestling promotions and is currently an analyst in WWE.
#4. Roddy Piper
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper is regarded as one of the most influential wrestlers of all time. Even though he did not win too many titles in WWE, he managed to make a big impact on the wrestling industry.
Piper was the son of an officer and was expelled from school for bringing a switchblade to school. According to his biography ‘In the Pit with Piper’, the WWE Superstar had a fallout with his father and left home at an early age. He lived in a youth hostel and picked up odd jobs at local gyms. It was there where he met several professional wrestlers and started taking an interest in the sport.
He did not have any financial assistance and used the money from the odd jobs to pay his bills and work on towards his dream of becoming a professional wrestler.
Roddy Piper has become a major part of WWE history
Things turned out in the legendary WWE Superstar’s favor as he went on to impress a lot of people in the wrestling industry and managed to leave a mark on the world of wrestling.
He passed away at the age of 61, but continues to inspire a lot of younger wrestlers to carry on and follow their dreams.
#3. AJ Lee
The 2012 WWE Diva of the Year, AJ Lee, has been an important Superstar in the women’s revolution in WWE today. While she may not have won as many Championships as she should have, she still managed to leave a mark on the product.
AJ Lee retired from wrestling quite early in her career due to various reasons, but many current WWE Superstars still see her as a major inspiration in their lives.
The former WWE Champion has revealed a lot in her memoir
Lee released her memoir “Crazy is My Superpower: How I Triumphed by Breaking Bones, Breaking Hearts, and Breaking the Rules” that talks about a lot of things she has gone through during her early days, including her struggle with poverty, mental illness, and drug addiction.
She has gone on to state in an interview with ESPN that her inspiration for writing her memoir were the struggles she and her family faced in her early days:
“Yeah. I think as a child my sister and I had an ongoing joke to get us through the hard times, and that was, "One day this will make for a really great chapter in your book." We went through a lot, and a lot of it is in the book (a lot of it isn't, and that'll be for the next chapter). It was just a way to get ourselves out of whatever situation we were in by trying to channel it into something positive, "One day this'll be worth it."
While Lee may have done everything one can do in the wrestling industry, she will likely never forget the problems she and her family faced early on.
#2. Edge
Edge’s illustrious career has been nothing less than an inspiration for many young talents in the industry today. The Rated-R Superstar did not start on the right foot in WWE and injured his first WWE opponent on debut.
However, he went on to become one of the biggest Superstars in the history of WWE and made a miraculous return to wrestling in 2020 after suffering an injury that cut his career short, almost a decade ago.
The Rated-R WWE Superstar struggled a lot during his early days
Edge was raised by a single parent as his father left his mother while Edge was still in her womb. He claims that he never met his father or even saw a picture of him. His mother worked two jobs to make ends meet, and Edge revealed the following in his autobiography titled ‘Adam Copeland on Edge’ (page 23):
“We also didn't have a shower. Instead, we had an old claw-foot bathtub. Looking back, there were quite a few classic elements in the apartment, which, with the proper money, could have been nice. We, however, did not have the proper money floating around. We struggled to make the rent. Sometimes I’m sure we even got behind on the rent so I could eat, but my mom always struggled on. She was too stubborn to give in.”
He also revealed in his autobiography that he had few possessions as compared to other people, and was always impressed by his friend’s houses which were much better than his own.
#1. Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson
Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson is the biggest WWE Superstar who has made a huge name for himself outside the wrestling industry as well. While he followed in his father’s footsteps and became a legendary wrestler himself, he also found success in films.
Forbes has named The Rock as the highest-paid Hollywood actor of all time, while he even holds the Guinness World Record for being the highest-paid actor in one calendar year.
While it may seem like he’s enjoyed life to the fullest, it has not always been easy for the man who carried on the legacy of his father and grandfather in WWE.
The Rock has been seen as one of the biggest WWE Superstars
In an interview with Las Vegas Review-Journal, Johnson spoke up about the troubles he had as a child growing up in poverty before making it to WWE:
“The worst time was maybe that night when I didn’t have a bed, so I drove around. I ended up at this dumpster behind an hourly-rates motel. I found the mattress that looked the cleanest — which wasn’t that clean — and took it.”
“I know what it’s like as a kid to have your (family’s) car repossessed. I saw the look on my parents’ faces. It haunts you. Even when we didn’t have a lot, I was still told that the world was at my feet. I was told I could do anything I wanted in life if I just worked hard at it. I guess I knew from that early age that I wanted to have a different kind of life.”
When asked how one tries to overcome past struggles, the WWE Superstar had the following to say:
“I believe in goals. One of mine was to graduate from college. I also really wanted to be successful enough to buy my parents a home because we always lived in apartments. And I wanted to fix my grandmother’s situation because she had a rough life and had always been the matriarch of our family. She had even been homeless. It makes me proud to say that I accomplished those goals.”
While The Rock may be one of the richest men in the entertainment industry today, it was not always as easy for the WWE Superstar during his early days.
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