The Creed Brothers have big goals.
Julius & Brutus Creed have made an immediate impact since joining NXT, linking up with Diamond Mine and winning the NXT Tag Team Championships.
Before they were WWE superstars, they were All-American amateur wrestlers with Julius competing at Duke and Brutus competing at Otterbein University.
Speaking to Jim Varsallone of the Miami Herald, the Creed Brothers discussed the path to WWE.
"We both have different paths. At first, it wasn't really a choice or opportunity because we didn't know how to get there. Then, I got in college and he started being an All-American and he was like, 'Hey, I have younger brother, he's always loved this, he would love to tryout.' I eventually end up being an All-America, I get the tryout, it was awesome. The experience of always wanting to do it was there, but the opportunity and how to go about it wasn't. We weren't really sure, we just knew it was something we inspired to be something great and we're taking that path one day at a time with it," said Brutus.
He noted that he was preparing to compete at the 2020 NCAA championships, but the event was canceled due to COVID. He was ranked number one heading into the tournament.
Julius added, "I was getting ready for the Olympic trials. He was obviously distraught and upset. I just told him, 'if the biggest thing you take away from these experiences are some materialistic accolade that will sit on a trophy shelf and gather dust, then you probably failed at what it was trying to teach you. It's the experience, the opportunity, and a launching ground for something bigger to come.' NXT In Your House was maybe something bigger than that. I certainly have goals to be in WrestleMania. I was born in 1994, the year of Bret and Owen (Hart), those are goals I have for myself and I have for him whether he wants them or not, I'm going to drag him and push him and make sure he gets there too. There are things I want to do in this business and I'm fortunate to get to do them with my brother. We don't have plans of stopping anytime soon. Growing up, it was what we wanted to do, it seemed like the natural transition from amateur wrestling to international style and eventually to WWE style. As you get older and some of the naiveness leaves you, you're not sure how the best go about it."
Julius continued by saying, "Fortunately for us, I have a big mouth, I like to talk. Jerry Brisco in 2016, I had just fallen short at making the Olympic trials and he was tweeting at the Olympic games and scouting. I tweeted back at him, 'Doesn't matter who you're looking at, I'm a better prospect.' I probably said, 'I'm bigger, faster, stronger, better looking than who you're looking at and I can certainly cut a better promo.' He had 30,000 followers or something at the time and I thought, 'there is no way he's going to see this.' Sure enough, he liked it, followed me right away, shot me a DM, 'I'm going to be watching you this upcoming season' and that going into my breakout year in college. I had the opportunity to breakout and a lot of the traction happened that year. Part of it was I had dreams and aspirations of doing this also pushing me on top of winning a National Title and going to World Olympic Games. Kurt Angle was 28 years old when he won his first World Title. I signed with this company when I was turning 25. That was definitely my goal and aspiration for a long time, but when I saw the platform the WWE provided, I let those things go by the wayside. I'm bought in, I'm 100%, I promise you there is no one here working harder every single day. Those were goals, but sometimes you have to sacrifice good for something that is greater. This is the greater opportunity and what I was brought up to do."
Julius & Brutus made their in-ring debuts in August 2021, less than a year after they were signed.
The Creed Brothers are set to challenge Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince & Kit Wilson) for the NXT Tag Team Championships on the September 13 episode of NXT in a cage match.
Fightful will have live coverage of NXT beginning at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.