next four years playing football semi-professionally for the Hickory Hornets, supplementing his income by working as a doorman and mechanic. Scherr attended the NFL Scouting Combine in 2007, but he ultimately did not turn professional. In the late 2000s, he began competing in amateur strongman competitions. Strongman career Scherr earned his Strongman Corporation (ASC) Professional Card by winning the NAS Amateur National Championships on November 5, 2011. He won the 2012 Arnold Amateur Strongman Championships on March 4, which took place during the Arnold Sports Festival alongside the 2012 Arnold Strongman Classic. This victory earned Scherr an invite to the 2013 Arnold Strongman Classic. He competed in the SCL North American Championships on July 8, 2012, finishing in 5th place overall as well as competing in the Giants Live Poland event on July 21, finishing in 7th place overall. Professional wrestling career WWE Training (2013–2015) Scherr signed a contract with the professional wrestling promotion WWE in early 2013 and was assigned to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, where he adopted the ring name Braun Stowman (with the first name a reference to Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun). In 2014, he made appearances as one of Adam Rose's "Rosebuds" in his Exotic Express gimmick. He made his professional wrestling debut at an NXT live event in Jacksonville, Florida on December 19, 2014, defeating Chad Gable. On June 2, 2015, Strowman appeared at a Main Event taping in a dark match, where he defeated an unidentified wrestler. The Wyatt Family (2015–2016) On the August 24 episode of Raw, Scherr, under the tweaked ring name Braun Strowman, made his main roster debut by attacking Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns and establishing himself as the newest member of The Wyatt Family alongside Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. Strowman had his first televised singles match on the August 31 episode of Raw, defeating Ambrose by disqualification. Strowman wrestled in his first WWE pay-per-view event match on September 20 at Night of Champions, where The Wyatt Family defeated Ambrose, Reigns and Chris Jericho in a six-man tag team match after Jericho passed out to Strowman's lifting arm triangle choke. On December 13 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, The Wyatt Family defeated The ECW Originals (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley (collectively known as The Dudley Boyz), Rhyno and Tommy Dreamer) in an eight-man tag team elimination tables match. On January