After that, Dutch’s group spent 45 minutes watching wrestling matches on tape. The performer said he couldn’t complain, however, because it was a nice break. They were apparently shown a series of matches that Jim Cornette believed every wrestler should watch.

Dutch recalls wrestlers such as Rip Rogers and Al Snow being in attendance at the tryout, and the group followed up their tape session by spending 45 minutes focusing on promos. The tryout attendees lined up to do promos in front of Snow, with Dutch recalling that he was the last person in line for his group, leaving him to cut a promo alone in a room with Snow. According to Dutch, the focus of his promo was WWE megastar John Cena. Because he was the last one in line, Dutch remembers getting some extra feedback from Snow, indicating that he was on the right track.

The tryout went on to a second day, and the wrestlers began having matches against each other. However, instead of straightforward matches, everyone was put in eight-man tag bouts where they each had roughly 30 seconds to show what they could do. Dutch reached out to John Laurinaitis in person before leaving, and he credits that or the performances in front of the camera for getting him an offer to join FCW.

Less than two months after the tryout, Dutch received a call from WWE letting him know they were offering him a three-year contract. It was, understandably, a life-changing moment for the young performer, even if the money wasn’t quite what he thought it would be. Though he didn’t stay with WWE long-term, Dutch’s dedication eventually led to a contract with AEW.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Developmentally Speaking” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.