Despite Competing in His Final Strongman Championship, Brian Shaw Inspires Ex-WWE Contender: “Just There to Be Lifted”

4X World’s Strongest Man Brian Shaw recently invited fellow Strongman and ex-WWE wrestler Evan Singleton for the recent episode of his podcast, SHAWSTRENGTH. Shaw recently retired after placing at 7th rank in the 2023 World’s Strongest Man competition. 

In episode 37 of SHAWSTRENGTH podcast, the duo talked about Singleton’s childhood and the challenges he faced throughout his life. Singleton also discusses his experience as a professional wrestler while being a part of WWE NXT before switching to Strongman. He also reveals how Shaw has been a motivation for him. 

Singleton reveals his only constant thing in life

 Singleton disclosed that despite of all the hardships that he went through his entire life, “gym has just always been a therapy for me, it really has…the gym has always been a constant in my life.” He continued by revealing that during his initial days as a strongman, he used to look up videos on YouTube of Strongman champions like Eddie Hall, Brian Shaw, etc for motivation.

Continuing on the topic, ‘T-Rex’ admitted that one of the quotes that Shaw once said is still saved in Singleton’s playlist. “At the end of the day a 45-pound bar doesn’t care if you have a good day or a bad day…it’s just there to be lifted…that’s one of my favorite videos,” said Singleton. Adding to this, he said, “I would watch that before I would go into the gym and it would kind of help put me in the right mindset to go after my training.”

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T-Rex also admitted that life has not been easy for him. He disclosed his struggles with mental health issues. Singleton has been open about this in the past as well. A while ago, he talked about a very traumatizing phase that he went through in a podcast hosted by Eddie Hall.

How Singleton battled mental health issues

During an episode of ‘Feast with the Beast’ hosted by Eddie Hall, Singleton revealed that he has tried to end his life multiple times. “I’ve tried to kill myself more than once… I was two times going to jump, and one time I had a gun in my mouth.” said the strongman.

“The s**t situation that I was in was just making my mental health decline. Feeling stuck, feeling just trapped.” However, while being on suicide watch, he realized the true meaning of life. He regained his mental strength to keep fighting instead of taking the easy way out. You’ve got your health, you’ve got your youth, you’ve got your family, friends, parents…” said Singleton.

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A person who can fight and recover from mental traumas is certainly a ‘strongman.’ Singleton proves that toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in the muscles.