It felt like the only way out was to party and drink, and in my pain, I started to understand my mother better. Growing up without a father, my mother tried her best but fell into alcohol abuse. As the older brother, I took the protector role and tried to uphold the facade. In the process, I suppressed my feelings, and when my wrestling career evolved, I tried to put my pain behind me. Years later, when I suffered an injury in a world championship, I came home empty and spiraled into depression. As a man with no experience sharing what I felt, loneliness took hold of me, and I didn’t know what to do. See how a breakdown helped me decide to open up about my past, how I felt, and why I was partying and drinking. This allowed me to release my pain and reconnect with my emotions. Learn how this showed me that there was more to life than wrestling and how I started practicing openness as a coping mechanism. This allowed me to grow more resilient as a human and athlete. That was vital when I lost my cousin to suicide to help me give space for my grief. Today I still strive to become a world champion, but I also use my experience to spread awareness about men and mental health.