NXT’s Bron Breakker: Amped-up wrestler also is an avid fisherman
Nearly every Tuesday night, Bron Breakker can be found on USA Network, amid the lights, cameras and screaming fans, usually holding his NXT championship belt. The 24-year-old wrestling superstar is amped up, and his intensity level hovers around 100 mph.
But when he’s away from the spotlight, you might find him on a lake, holding a fishing pole, enjoying the peace and quiet and trying to find the perfect bass.
That’s a microcosm of life for Breakker in the eight months since he debuted for the Orlando-based NXT brand — learning his craft, building his body and skills at the WWE Performance Center in east Orlando, then heading with some buddies to Lake Apopka, Lake Tohopekaliga or whatever lake he finds next. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“On my first day training at the Performance Center, the first time I stepped foot into the ring, I knew this was where I belonged,” Breakker said. “It’s what I was born to do.”
Soon, fans will get to see more of Breakker as NXT resumes house shows in smaller venues across Florida beginning June 10 in Tampa. The once-traditional Florida loop reaches Orlando on July 9 at the Englewood Neighborhood Center. For more information, visit wwe.com/nxttix.
Breakker, whose real name is Bronson Rechsteiner, really was born for this. As the son of Rick Steiner and the nephew of Scott Steiner, both perennial stars, he grew up in the business. During the same month he was born in 1997, the Steiner brothers were wrestling Public Enemy, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash on WCW Nitro.
But Breakker said it was a WWE encounter that first let him know he was destined for wrestling. His older brother attended a major show in Atlanta, not far from their Georgia home, and came back with a souvenir.
“The first time I really saw WWE as my future was after WrestleMania 27,” he said. “The Undertaker and Triple H in Atlanta. My brother brought a cup home with all the pictures on it, I looked at Triple H on the cup, looking all jacked, and said, ‘I want to be like him.’ I was 13. I realized my father and uncle did this [for a living], but right then I realized it was all I wanted to be my entire life.”
Breakker was a star football player and amateur wrestler in high school, then at Kennesaw State where he earned a degree in criminal justice. He was even signed by the Baltimore Ravens as a fullback and given an offseason tryout. But for Breakker, those might as well have been hobbies. He knew where he was headed.
When asked if he had a backup plan if wrestling didn’t work out, Breakker paused before replying: “To be honest with you, I didn’t have any. Wrestling was in my blood. In my family, it’s what we do.”
The fishing side came naturally as well. The family lived in Woodstock, Ga., not far from Lake Allatoona, and Breakker said he spent a lot of time in the woods and the water.
“I’m a big bass fisherman,” he said. “I loved being outside as a kid, and we were kind of out in the country. Now, I just love going out on a boat with my buddies, all the peace and quiet. I’m still learning a lot of the lakes around here, but Lake Apopka was a good spot, and Lake Toho in Kissimmee. I hope to find a lot more.”
Still, the majority of the focus stays at the training facility and in the ring. Breakker had poise from Day 1 in NXT, but his game has improved in the physical aspects and on promos since then. He gives credit to coaches Robbie Brookside and Fit Finlay for his growth.
“I’ve had to learn the art of sports entertainment and the art of storytelling,” Breakker said. “It isn’t always about how you do things, it’s about why. And that’s what I’m still learning every single day, in the ring, in the gym, in the film room. I’ll never stop.”
Contact Jay Reddick at jreddick@orlandosentinel.com. For more pro-wrestling coverage, visit orlandosentinel.com/prowrestling.
