Born To Perform: Will Allday Didn’t Let Society Norms Deter Him From The ‘Perfect Mesh’ Of Pro Wrestling

With a college education and an innate ability to balance life, Will Allday was well on his way to assimilate himself with the expected “American Dream,” but the former collegiate athlete from Rice University knew he wanted something that wasn’t your typical pragmatic. He found that opportunity right in his very backyard of Houston, Texas.

“I actually went into the workforce after I graduated for like five years and kind of doing the whole what society tells you, what your parents want for you. They want you to go to college to get a degree, to go get a job, go get a girl to, go get the house, get a dog, the white picket fence and I was on my way. I was well on my way to do that and I just realized—and it wasn’t a one day thing, it was a gradual thing that it just wasn’t for me. I was meant to perform in some way whether that be sports or acting or on stage or in the wrestling ring and this was just the perfect mesh of what I was really interested in and obviously, I just loved the projection and all the characters of wrestling as well,” Allday told WrestleZone’s Dominic DeAngelo in the latest episode of Meet The Wrestler, “so finally it was a ‘crap or get off the pot type moment.’ I was like, ‘Man, if I don’t do this it’s gonna to be  too late,’ and so I did my research (while I’m at work, getting paid) and I realized that Booker T was right down the road from me.”

After seeing one of Booker’s Reality of Wrestling shows, Allday applied the work ethic he took from his upbringing and experience in organized sports and channeled that into going against the grain of convention.

“I don’t like to do things just to do things either. I like to be very prepared and I like to do them very well. I’m a perfectionist so I wanted to make sure that I could do this at an elite level. So I saw the show and once I went in there and trained a little bit I knew that I had the potential to do that as long as I busted my ass and worked hard and did the right things and made the right decisions. It was, again, just luck of the that he happened to be in my backyard and I’m so thankful for that,” Allday said, “and I just haven’t looked back since.”

The education Allday received ROW had plenty of hands-on trainers such as Ryan Davidson, Gino Medina, Blake Jones  and Rex Andrews, but also received an imperative form of tutelage from Booker T.

“He’s meticulous with his detail. He is psychological and that’s a lot of what you get from him. You get a lot of sometimes life lessons, sometimes business lessons. He does a lot of mind training and he’s so good at that,” Allday explained, “because he’s been doing this at this elite level for, goodness, twenty-something years now? Right? And he’s still in the game. He still finds ways to make himself relevant and that is so important in our business and that’s the type of stuff you get from Booker T.”

“If you want to get to that top level which is what I want to do, go to somebody who’s been there, somebody who’s done it. That was very important to me in my decision-making process because I had done all my research and like I said, I like to be very thorough with it. So I’m very, pleasantly able to say that that’s what I get from Booker is ways to just handle yourself in the locker room,” Allday noted, “or in front of superiors in booking and ways you put matches together or handle losses. There’s so many different lessons he could teach you.”

Will has not only been able to apply his craft in ROW, but recently received some opportunities to compete on AEW Dark and AEW Dark Elevation as he took on the now-current TNT Champion Miro. Will cited his time in Rice University’s D1 football program in giving him that added knowledge of keeping things in a team perspective.

“You’re not just responsible for yourself which is a lot of what this business is as well. You have multiple people in the ring that are all either at fault or can claim this like ‘applause’ at the end of the day, and so it teaches you to help your brother out and bring people up with you. There needs to be at least two people in that match, plus the referee and so if that guy’s not on your level then the match is gonna suffer,” he explained. “So I think a lot of people nowadays are—and not ‘nowadays’ this this just how it is—a lot people are just worried about themselves. I think if people were to try to help bring others around them up to their level, oh man, I think viewership would be huge, right? Or at least bigger than it is because it does take two to tango and so that’s a lot of what it taught me is just helping your teammate you know? You got a guy who’s struggling, bring him up with you and team sports teach you that.”

Other Meet The Wrestler Episodes:

JOHN SKYLER: Serendipity Knocked For John Skyler, But Determination Opened Many Doors For Him In Pro Wrestling

MOONSHINE MANTEL: Moonshine Mantel Brings Intensity To The Texas Wrestling Scene And Beyond

MIKE VERNA:  Meet The Wrestler: ’Man Of Steel’ Mike Verna

BARRETT BROWN: Meet The Wrestler With Dominic DeAngelo Episode 1: ’50 Caliber’ Barrett Brown