Arturo Ruas Says WWE Encouraged Him To Pursue Olympics While Signed
Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman recently sat down with former WWE NXT star Adrian Jaoude, f.k.a. Arturo Ruas, on a recent episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily. During the talk the two discussed Jaoude's desire to compete at the Olympics before signing with WWE.
"In Brazil, the sport managers, even for wrestling that time, they weren't able to feed the sport with sponsors and money, and I wasn't training as I should have been training," Jaoude said. "I could go to the Olympic Games, and I could win or not, but what next? And I had some plans in my head, but I was finished. I needed something bigger than to just retire, and that's why when WWE came in, I just felt that it was God's plan. God knows everything.
"I was training with the Nogueira brothers from UFC, Rodrigo and Rogério, and we were talking about going to UFC after the Olympic Games. And I was like, 'Hey guys, do you think you can get me a contract?' because I was training with them, and they told me, 'Yeah, Let's see. If you really want it, we can make it happen.' And when WWE came in, and I am a big fan of of wrestling, I felt WWE was more in my heart. I love UFC. I train in MMA. But I kind of just felt my heart was more in pro wrestling."
Jaoude competed in amateur wrestling and finished fourth in the 2011 Pan American Games. He discussed what his Olympic training was like.
"When I moved to Orlando, I kept training for the Olympic Games," Jaoude noted. "I did the trial because at that time, you had to do all the trails. Because the Olympic Games were in Brazil, all the spots, all the weight classes were already kind of filled. On the last trial, they kind of changed the rules, and that wasn't being applied.
"You had to win, at least to, tryout, and at that time, I was already done. I was already training here. Actually, at that time, I went to Paris, Ukraine. I did the circuit, and in the end, it didn't happen. I was like, no big deal. I have something bigger in my head."
Hausman asked what WWE's position on his Olympic training was.
"That was kind of part of my deal coming in," Jaoude revealed. "They knew about my situation, and they allowed me to compete. I was the Performance Center in October 2015. In 2016, in January, was the circuit. I had to go to Brazil to win the trials in Brazil. I had to compete in the circuit, and I did it. WWE were just waiting for me to be there, and everything changed and it didn't happen."
You can follow Adrian on Twitter and Instagram @AdrianJaoude. You can find part one of Adrian's interview via the embedded players below, part two will be released as part of this Friday's The Wrestling Inc. Daily.
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