UPW Partners

 Student of the Month, October 2002 

Sam Culver

By Les Honig

Balancing the pressures of attending college, holding a full-time job, working out religiously and giving a total commitment to learning the pro-wrestling game might prove just too much for most other young guys his age to handle, but in Sam Culver’s case, it is something he not only accepts but relishes.

Typical of his life story so far, 21-year old Culver has often met adversity and turned it into opportunity; ever trying to prove to himself that he could surmount one more hurdle towards ultimate success.  And judging by this young 5’9”, 190-pounder’s already superb physical conditioning, as well as his rapid advancement in the training ring, it is quite evident that such dedication to achieving his personal best is beginning to show rewards.  

Admitting that “being constantly active” was a continuous thread running through his life so far, Sam began playing baseball and soccer as a young kid, but the moment that was to prove the launching pad for his ultimate dream-turning-into-reality occurred at the age of 10 when he visited a buddy who was watching The Hart Foundation on WWF-TV. “I had never seen professional wrestling before but I looked at it and said, ‘Oh man, that’s cool!’ From then on I was hooked.”

With a promising entrée into high school football, the true point of turning from fan to future sports entertainer occurred when he tried out amateur wrestling in the gridiron off-season and was amazed by how much he enjoyed it. “From the moment I walked into the practice room, I knew it was for me.  I knew it, but I don’t know if the other people there did.  Most of them looked pretty conservative and here I was walking in with this bleach blonde haircut really short on the sides with a ponytail. When the practice was over, however, the coach came up to me and admitted that despite my unconventional look I was actually pretty good." 

Still it was an event on the amateur mat his junior year that Culver traces to the real inspiration for a potential future career as a professional.  Wrestling an opponent from a cross-town rival school in a large gymnasium, he remembers that signature moment clearly: “I had pushed myself really hard for the dual meet and when the time came I was able to beat the guy with a pin that would decide the whole competition.  I just remember that as I scored the win, I could hear my teammates, the coaches, the cheerleaders and the crowd going absolutely ballistic. The rush I felt was incredible and I just knew I wanted to repeat it again and again. It’s a feeling you didn’t get on the football field when it was a whole team effort rather than just you and the other guy. I was finally able to relate to how those professionals feel when they go through those curtains and the crowd just erupts.”

While realizing that the pro business was really where his future lay, he continued to hit the weights and gather tuition money together, but it was the untimely passing of his dad that made him take the final step of trying out for a slot at UPW’s premiere training school.  “It was tragic but it did convince me that we never know how much time we have so I knew I had to get started immediately.”

Since then Culver has become one of UU’s most outstanding recruits; recently celebrating his six-month anniversary in the learning ring.  For him, though, just a tiny inkling of what it will be like if he does actually fulfill his life dream and make it to the ultimate fed, WWE, was felt when he recently had his first Galaxy encounter as part of September’s University Gauntlet match.

“Nate and I closed it out and we were only wrestling for three minutes but I still felt that same rush I did during those big high school meets, “ this hungriest of young lions recalls with obvious pride and some emotion.  “Even though most of the people didn’t know who I was and I got booed because everybody loves Lil' Nate, that was fine with me.  What was important was that I got the opportunity to go out there and do something I had always dreamed of doing and learn even more by doing it.”

And as with many other of his fellow Raw Center recruits who, too, hold a universe of stars in their eyes, for Sam Culver ,those dreams do indeed inch a little bit further towards reality three times a week, with each bump and bodyslam he sustains in Ultimate U’s vaulted training squared circle.