The Tuckman looks back on his WWE tryout experience.
In February 2026, talents from across the world gathered at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida for a tryout. Among those farthest traveled was The Tuckman, the Soul of PWA Champion and native of Australia.
Much like his tag team partner Scott Green, Tuckman found the tryout experience to be “surreal,” especially given that he once watched WWE as a young fan.
“First getting there and just walking into the PC, as a kid growing up during that NXT era, you hear a lot about the PC. You see a lot of it in the reality TV show side of things. Then just watching people wrestle at the PC every day, it’s super surreal to just be there and be in that environment,” Tuckman told WrestleZone’s Ella Jay.
“The tryout itself was actually so much fun. We prepared so much for it that we were ready to take on anything. It was just really fun. Everybody there was so lovely and just ready to have a good time. The athletes and influencers who weren’t necessarily from the wrestling world were just so excited to be there. They had no idea what they were doing, some of them, but they were just so keen to be there. It was so nice and refreshing to be around people who were just excited to be in a wrestling ring or be around this new crazy world. Everyone at the tryout was so lovely.”
Coaches present at the respective tryout included Matt Bloom, Norman Smiley, and WWE NXT booker Shawn Michaels. WWE stars, such as Kelani Jordan, Bayley, and Shawn Spears helped as well.
“All the coaches were fantastic,” Tuckman said. “Shawn Spears was one guy that was down there who just really nice guy just gave us extra time, extra advice talking to us. Just a really decent nice guy. But everybody there honestly was fantastic in their coaching and giving advice and stuff like that.”
Watch our full interview with The Tuckman:
