'Big Trouble' Ben Bishop Interview : Independent wrestler discusses WWE tryouts, transition from basketball, social media branding, fitness regimen, and more

Sportshadow got the opportunity to interview independent wrestler 'Big Trouble' Ben Bishop recently. The 7 feet tall former collegiate basketball player discussed on his transition to pro-wrestling, WWE tryouts, building a brand on his social media from scratch, fitness and nutrition, and much more.

Here are the excerpts:

Ben Bishop on transition from basketball to pro-wrestling

I think the only two active pro wrestlers right now who played Division one or made it to the NCAA are me and Lash Legend. I did it twice. I think she did it about three or four times.

I've always loved wrestling since I was a kid. I started watching it around, like '98, and fell in love with guys like Kevin Nash, Psycho Sid, the Undertaker, Kane, and the bigger guys.

I would always go outside on my trampoline and do the moves. I'd always use my imagination and make up scenarios in my head and it was so much fun.

But, I was like. "Where's wrestling going to really take me?" I didn't know that. So I got into basketball. I thought I'd play because I was tall and I was big.

So basketball, I played that since I was 9 years old, all the way through college.

I went to a prep school in Massachusetts for basketball, then went to University of Vermont, where then my career with basketball was done.

And then kind of real life hit me. I was like, "Now what do I do?"

I've been an athlete my whole life. I was not sure exactly what to do from here.

I actually played a little bit of Australian football in the States.

I really made some cool connections, played that for about three years, and then that ended because I was like, "Man, I can't."

I couldn't keep up with all this running. My knees were screaming.

I just went to a wrestling show one day, and I ran into Gillberg, who's a Maryland guy.

He was at the show. He asked me, "Are you a wrestler?" I said, "No." He said, "Do you want to be?"

I said, "Sure!" And he introduced me to James Ellsworth. And the next day I started training.

And that was a little over six years ago. So it's been a wild ride since then. I've enjoyed every second of it. It's been a dream of mine to do this.

Then when I got involved in wrestling, I just couldn't wait to have at least one match.

And from there, it's like, "Oh! I'd love to get to work a match on TV." Then I did that.

So the goals keep on increasing and things keep going in the right direction. And I've been very fortunate to have all the opportunities that I've had.

Ben Bishop on choosing to not have a monster type persona despite being a giant

When I started in wrestling, I wanted to do this, but I didn't want to be just the brooding big monster.

And this is no offense to guys like the Kanes and the Undertakers of the world because they did an outstanding job. They're two of the greatest big men of all time and they made it work.

I couldn't see myself doing that. I couldn't see myself wearing a mask. I couldn't see myself being the silent monster type.

I've always had a fun, outgoing personality and I always thought that the best characters in wrestling are really just your personality turned up to 11.

So, I always loved the cheesy 80s movies, like the John Carpenter movies. The place from where I got my name from is 'Big Trouble in Little China'.

I thought Jack Burton was an awesome character. Him being kind of the anti hero, charismatic, witty type of character in that movie is so endearing.

It can also be a good guy or a bad guy, just depends on how you kind of see Jack Burton.

And I thought that fits me more. I thought people will see me in a more genuine light if I am this type of character instead of being the big monster.

I've tried to do the big monster character. I worked for Juggalo Championship Wrestling for a few shows in 2024, and it was a cool experience there. They got some great wrestlers there. It just wasn't my vibe and I just didn't like it.

I didn't like it very much and I couldn't feel like I'd give it my all because it just wasn't.

So I thought having a character that's more like my real personality, just exaggerated a bit would endear more to the wrestling fans and would get me more opportunities.

Ben Bishop on transitioning to content creation in 2023

Ever since I started, everybody would tell me, "Oh! Look how big you are. You're gonna get signed. Vince is gonna love you. If WWE doesn't work out, AEW will pick you up. If AEW doesn't work out, TNA will pick you up."

I heard that for the first few years I was wrestling, and I took it as a compliment. But with time, it kind of felt insulting because it was not happening (that way).

I kind of got to the point where I said maybe this isn't for me. Maybe I'm just gonna quit wrestling.

I feel like I'm giving a lot to it, and I'm not really getting what I wanted out of it.

I'm not saying that's unfair, because a lot of people put a lot into it and don't get a lot out of it.

And then I talked to a few people, Sam Adonis being one of them, who reached out to me and kind of motivated me to try something.

I started working with this guy, Nick Buono. He used to work for Barstool Sports. We did a podcast together called the Meat Pop Express for a bit, and we talked about continuing to put content out.

And I was like, "What am I going to do for content?"

I would always make these jokes about wrestling, especially with Ellsworth, when we're driving in the car.

We poke fun at wrestling and all the silliness around wrestling. Maybe I just try to put this in video form. It was cathartic to me. It was almost therapeutic where I have an outlet now where I can poke fun at the silliness of this industry and everything that goes along with it.

At the end, when you boil it down, it's a carny industry. It's a circus. It's almost archaic sometimes and how things are run. Maybe people will relate to it.

I did it for a while and the views were okay. I had a few buddies reaching out and were like, "This is so funny!"

Initially, it was just doing a thousand or two thousand views.

And then I started making more and it started catching more fire. And that's how I got the opportunity on to work on AEW Rampage against Roderick Strong.

What we have to do is make sure that we celebrate the little wins. Like building up my brand from scratch. I didn't have any big company backing me.

I didn't have big companies retweeting my stuff. WWE, TNA, AEW, Ring of Honor, NWA, MLW.

So, all my whole brand was really just built up from the ground up.

I'm very proud of myself for that because it's tough to find niche and find something that will set you apart.

I already had the height that sets me apart in the size. But in 2025 professional wrestling, you need more. And that's when I decided I got to figure out something else. And I did it.

Ben Bishop on his experience in WWE tryouts

So the first WWE tryout for happened at the height of COVID. It was February 2021 and they brought in about 12 of us. I think two failed the COVID test and three quit. So, it was only 7 of us.

And for two days they ran us ragged. They really blew us up.

We were doing some crazy drills non-stop for three hours at a time.

We had an hour break, another three hours strength and conditioning session. We came back the next day, had a match, then another three hour session.

I kind of knew I wasn't really ready in 2021.

So when they called me and sent me an email, "Hey, we're not interested this time!" I wasn't surprised. I was kind of just like, "Yeah! I get it."

I knew I have a lot more work to do and I just wasn't ready.

I was contacted by Gabe Sapolsky, who is the scout in the North America.

He told me around March, "I think I'm gonna try to get you a Summer Slam tryout because of social media."

My size is one thing and my ability as a wrestler is one thing, but the way I set myself apart is by creating engagement on social media, which now is a huge deal.

So when I found out at the end of May that I was going to have the tryout at the end of July, I just went balls to the wall.

I was doing everything I could do in the gym. I was getting in the best shape possible by trying to keep my cardio as high as it possibly can go because I didn't want to end up blown up like I was in the first tryout.

So this tryout, it was much different. There were 51 people. There were about 34 athletes and 17 wrestlers. It was in a much better facility in New Jersey Institute of Technology.

The first one was like a back room center which just had two random rings.

But this was in some beautiful facility in New Jersey where they were running Summer Slam later that week.

They had four rings set up and all the bells and whistles. They had a big stage. It was incredible.

I'm not going to say it was easy, but it definitely was not as physically demanding as the first tryout was.

I also felt like I was a little bit more prepared for this tryout and I thought it went well.

I had a lot of people come up to me afterward and just say, "You did great!"

A month later, Gabe Sapolsky called me. I could tell he felt bad because I think he thought like it was going to work out (but it didn't).

He was extremely empathetic about it. I was bummed for a few days.

But I ended up telling myself, "You did what you could." Maybe that's just not the route for me at this time and see what I can make happen. I'm still having fun, I'm still enjoying it.

And just because one company said no doesn't mean I'm going to just pack it up and say I'm done.

Ben Bishop on his fitness regime

When I played basketball, I wasn't one of the most agile big men, but I'm one of the most agile big men in wrestling because it's just a different (sport).

I do train like an athlete, but also with wrestling, you need to train like a bodybuilder.

You can't just do the training I did for basketball because that's very high cardio. If you do way too much cardio, you start losing muscle. The muscle doesn't build as much because that's where it's taking the energy from.

So I try to do a good amount of high intensity cardio for at least four or five days a week. I'll do like 100 burpees through my workout because that's really the best thing to do if you're not in a ring.

My lifting consists about 45 minutes to 50 minutes. It's kind of moderately heavy. I don't need to be the strongest guy in the world. I'm training to have an aesthetic and have to look good with my shirt off.

When it comes to cardio, I try to pride myself on that. I do a lot of stairmaster. I do a lot of jump roping.

I try to mix it up because I get bored a lot with cardio. I do different things that keeps me bouncing and jumping. I just need to keep the body continually in motion and continually moving at a fast pace, because that's another thing that will set me apart. I'm more agile than many big men in wrestling. So I'm trying to keep that as long as I can.

Ben Bishop on nutrition

I eat pretty boring. And I learned this from Cezar Bononi, who I worked with last year. He really kind of gave me a great foundation for eating because I always thought I ate pretty clean until I started working with him.

He's helped a lot of wrestlers get in great shape. He has a great personalized plan and he gave me a really good idea of what to do.

For me, it's simple. It's like egg whites and simple carbs where it's just tortilla wraps. I should add in a little bit more vegetables. I do a pretty bad job at that.

I try to do grilled chicken at lunch and then at night, it's just rice and ground beef.

It's boring. I kind of eat the same stuff every day. But that's what you got to do if you want to be at that level.

I'm 35 now. I don't have the metabolism of a 22 year old where I can just go and have McDonald's three times a week and be fine because I'll just burn it off. I have got to be cognizant of it.

If I have one cheat meal, I'll feel it for the next two days. So I try to really make sure that I'm on top of my nutrition especially if I have shows coming up.

I like keeping busy because I know I have to keep eating healthy. I can't afford it.

I can't afford a cheat day if I have a bunch of weeks worth of shows coming up. So nutrition is really important and I've really dialed that in over the past year.

I'm 35 years old, I look better than I did when I was 28. I think age is just a number. I think people get too wrapped up in it.

It's not the days of the '80s and the '90s. We're like boozing every night and drinking and doing all that stuff. So it's not like we're looking older than we should.

But it's another small win where I never thought I'd be a guy that has abs ever in my life.

It's because I've ramped up the training and to eating healthy.

I'm not going to say I am the healthiest eater and I stick to something perfect. 85% of the time I'm eating really clean. 15% of the time I might have a few snacks or something because I'm human at the same time.

I tell wrestlers all the time this when they ask for advice. You just control what you can control.

You should be able to control that you're in good shape and that you look like you're ready to be on TV. It should not be embarrassing for a company to put you on TV.

The opportunities may or may not come, but at least if they do come, you'll be ready.

Ben Bishop shares his views on wrestlers using supplements and performance-enhancing drugs

I don't know who uses it (performance enhancing drugs) and who doesn't.

I'm open about what I do. I take a little bit of testosterone because of my age. I just take a little bit of testosterone once a week and it gets me to levels I want to be at. That's helped me a lot too.

It keeps me more energized and work out the way I want to work out. It helps me stay in good shape.

I do it all through a doctor. I do the blood test and everything else.

It's not through any shiesty guy at the gym who just sells me something because it's just biology.

Some people are ashamed to say it, but I'm not ashamed. It's just levels drop and that's what happens in life. You can be the most in shape person, but your levels can drop.

I've talked to a few buddies of mine who do it as well, and they're 170 pounds. I tell them how much I take and they're like, "Oh! I take double of that." I'm like, "Yeah! I don't need a lot. I'm keeping myself in good shape."

I think nowadays people are more conscious about their body. They're more conscious about substances like alcohol or drugs or anything like that. It's not happening as much. I don't see it in locker rooms at all.

Guys will have a beer or two every now and then, but that's really it. Nobody's bringing in bottles or bringing in pills. It's much more professional now. Even on the indie side, it's much more professional.

That's why guys can wrestle into their mid-40s to late-40s now.

The CM Punks and Randy Ortons of the world might not work as much, but they're still able to go out and have good matches because of medical advancements. They're taking care of their bodies. It's not like it used to be earlier.

In the 80s and the 90s, when you hit 35, maybe you have two or three years left and you're kind of done. It's just not like that anymore. Now I think 35 is like the new 30.

Ben Bishop on wrestlers not willing to lose in the indies

It depends where they're at in their career (wrestlers willing to lose or not). Some guys don't care at all. I will say this. I don't care at all. I've lost a ton of matches.

I've lost a lot to guys smaller than me. I always tell promoters, I don't mind if someone smaller than me beats me as long as it makes sense.

I'm not having a guy that's 150 pounds, pick me up over his head and slam me down because it doesn't look good. It looks stupid. We're making it look more phony than it is.

You got to do good business with people. You can't have an ego.

At the end of the day, wrestling is what it is. It's entertainment. People are here to see a story. They're here to see people entertain them.

So you got to do what the promoter asks for, and you can have conversations.

I'm not trying to book your show. I'm not trying to say I should win. I just don't want to look stupid.

I want to make sure nobody in this situation looks dumb.

If a guy that's half my size beats me in a minute, it kind of looks dumb. People will be like, "Why did that big guy lose so quickly?"

You got to understand that everyone's going to lose, and we're not Goldberg who are coming in with undefeated streaks.

A few guys in the Indies, they make it their gimmick almost. They can't lose, which I think is the silliest in the world.

And who cares if you win? It doesn't. It's a show. The guys that come in with egos like, I can't win or I can't get pinned or I can't do this, I can't do that. For them, it's like we all do it at some point.

It doesn't mean you're less of a man than me because you lost. It's just what the story calls for. And that's how you get booked more.

I think guys who are tough to do business with are the ones who take themselves too serious and they act like, like if they lose that, it's a shot to their ego. In reality, it's just part of the show.

I tell a lot of wrestlers if you come in with an ego and you come in saying, like you need to win, you need this, you need that, you're coming off as a prima donna and it's just not something that will get you really far in wrestling.

But the guys coming from WWE, honestly, I've had nothing but great experience working with them.

With Matt Riddle, I've had two matches with him on the indies. With Nick Nemeth also, I had matches. Baron Corbin who now goes by Bishop Dyer. The same with Matt Cardona and Brian Myers.

I didn't win all those matches. I won a few of them. It's all about the experience getting in there with guys like that.

This is an exclusive article by Sportshadow. In case of using quotes from the transcript, please provide a backlink to the article or homepage of the website.