Karl Fredericks Looks Back On His ‘Abysmally Bad’ Tryout Match In 2016 In Front Of WWE SmackDown Roster
Karl Fredericks looks back on the experience.
An extensive interview with Karl Fredericks was conducted by Ray Petree of the Augusta Free Press. As Fredericks went over his journey to signing with WWE in 2023, he recounted the tryout match he had in front of the SmackDown roster in 2016.
Fredericks stated that it was ‘abysmally bad.’
“I got up early, because I’m on the West Coast. I sent the email at like 4 AM. By 4:30, I got a response and I was invited to TV in San Jose. I had a tryout match there in front of the whole SmackDown roster that was abysmally bad. I thought it was all dead in the water there, but then on (Adam Thornstowe’s) advice, I talked to (William Regal) for about 30 minutes to plead my case there. Then, they flew me out to Florida the next month for my first official tryout with NXT. So just a couple months in, I had already peeked behind the curtain and went to Florida for a week. It was the same tryout that Bianca Belair got signed out of. So, there was a lot of cool, really good talent that weren’t wrestlers. I met a ton of other wrestlers that were in and out of TNA and things like that, but for the most part, it was just right away, in my head at least, you know, I could do this. I saw it. I saw it for real. I saw the competition. I saw what it was. I saw the coaches, how they took to me, and I was one foot in the door.”
Fredericks is back in the ring after recovering from PCL injuries. He is scheduled to be in action at a PRODUCE Wrestling show on October 12th that he is curating in celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
