Grew up in EL Centro, California. In high school, played on the football and basketball teams, sticking more to basketball as his dominant sport. A good friend of his, who came from a broken home, ended up living with his family, and the two were very good friends till after graduation.Mike got into wrestling shortly after high school, and as the local community college was nothing to brag about. The closest school was in Phoenix, which was a four hour drive away. Mike would go two times a week. The school was run by one of the wrestlers who played the Doink the Clown role. As he got better at wrestling, he started doing amateur wrestling with another high school friend, Paul Farrier, in Paul's empty pool. They practiced moves, showmanship, and portraying characters, just like WWF was doing at the time. From this humble beginning, Mike was able to create his character "Mike Knox," originally a cowboy influenced persona, with some cues taken from "Stone Cold Steve Austin." One of Mike's biggest influences was the wrestler Terry Funk.After 2000, Mike moved to Phoenix and pursued wrestling full time. Eventually moving to Las Vegas and working with a financier, Mike attempted to begin a new wrestling group that would either rival or be bought out by WWE's Vince McMahon. Around 2005, Mike signed on to join WWE.