Ahead of his WWE in-ring debut at SummerSlam, country music star Jelly Roll revealed that he suffered a broken pinky finger during his first week of training.
The Grammy-nominated musician appeared on ESPN’s ‘Get Up’ on Friday alongside his tag team partner, Randy Orton. When asked about the toughest part of his training, Jelly Roll pointed to the physical toll.
Listen man, that “wrestling’s fake” stuff has got to go out the door. There’s no fake way to land on a piece of plywood in front of 60,000 people, you know what I mean? There’s no fake way to go over a cable rope in front of 65,000 people, man. I broke my pinky week one of training by accident. That thing, it’s a constant collision, dude.
The 40-year-old, who has been training daily at the WWE Performance Center, expressed a newfound respect for professional wrestlers.
These men and women put their body through hell. I knew it, and I think as a fan my whole life — I’m a real fan, that’s how I ended up here — but I really understand it now that I’ve went in there. I gave it everything I had for a couple of months. I dedicated my whole life to it. And I still can’t crack half of the code, a quarter of the code, that actually is this thing.
Orton praised Jelly Roll’s commitment, telling the hosts, “He’s working as hard as anyone, if not harder, than anyone that I’ve ever seen come into our world.”
Jelly Roll will team with Orton to face Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre on the first night of SummerSlam on Saturday, August 2, at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
