Scrypts Reveals How He Landed A Job In WWE

Before WWE, Scrypts, real name Sidney Bateman, was a professional acrobat who performed for the critically-acclaimed Cirque du Soleil. He performed at the circus for 16 years and accomplished many personal goals in that span. 

But later on, Bateman felt the need to make a change in his career. He revealed on the "Tapis Rogue!" podcast that he had done many of the hardest tricks to perfection and simply didn't feel as fulfilled with circus performing as he once did, so he turned to writing and real estate investing. Then, an exciting opportunity presented itself.

"It was 2019. We're in Orlando and the first week the coach comes to us and goes, 'Hey WWE wants to do an exchange with you. Would you guys be willing to go to their headquarters and train a day as a wrestler, then they would come here and train a day as a Cirque du Soleil artist?' I said, 'Heck, yeah. Been a huge fan of wrestling my entire life. Let's do this.'"

After the exchange, Bateman felt rejuvenated and knew that wrestling was what he wanted to do. He reached out to head trainer Matt Bloom, better known as A-Train, about how to get into WWE, who invited him to a tryout. During the multi-day tryout, Bateman impressed scouts with his in-ring performance and story that he was offered a contract.

Scrypts was originally told he would start in July 2020, but when he received the contract, he saw his start date was January. WWE clarified that he could start any time between January and July. Ultimately, he chose the earliest date, and went on to debut on the main roster as Reginald Thomas featuring alongside Carmella, and was then known as Reggie.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Tapis Rogue!" with an h/t to Wrestling Inc for the transcription.