Nicholas Cole Mitchell (born November 9, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist and retired professional wrestler who is best known for his work in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as Mitch of the Spirit Squad. Mitchell played football for the Beaumont Drillers while at Blinn College. After not being accepted for a National Football League combine, he focused on a career in wrestling and participated in the fourth season of Tough Enough. Despite not winning, he signed a developmental contract with WWE, and was assigned to their developmental territory, Deep South Wrestling, where he wrestled as "Big Time" Nick Mitchell. He was later moved to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) where he joined the Spirit Squad faction. After the Spirit Squad were called up to the Raw roster, they debuted in January 2006, and won the World Tag Team Championship three months later. Following the split of the team, Mitchell was released from his WWE contract in May 2007. Mitchell then began a career in mixed martial arts. American football career In high school, Mitchell played four years of varsity football, on both sides of the ball. He received a full scholarship to Northwestern State University of the Southland Conference, but was expelled for fighting during his freshman season. After attending Blinn College in Bryan, Texas for two semesters, Mitchell joined the Beaumont Drillers of the National Indoor Football League in 2003. After a season with them, he attended a National Football League combine, but was told to go home after officials found out he had been expelled from college for fighting. World Wrestling Entertainment Tough Enough and developmental territories (2004–2006) Mitchell took part in the fourth season of World Wrestling Entertainment's reality series Tough Enough in 2004. He was the first to be eliminated. Despite not winning, he was still signed to a WWE developmental contract and assigned to the company's developmental territory, Deep South Wrestling. Several other competitors from Tough Enough were also signed, including Daniel Puder, Mike Mizanin, and Marty Wright, but near the end of 2006, Mitchell and Mizanin were the only two left on the main WWE roster. He began wrestling under the name "Big Time" Nick Mitchell, and competed against wrestlers including Kid Kash and Johnny Parisi. He later suffered a knee injury, and although it was feared that he had torn his ACL, he was moved to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) where he joined