Not too long ago, Adam "Big O" Ohriner’s debuted with New York Wrestling Connection, but now the Mepham High School graduate is hoping to get a shot with TNA.
Ohriner, 27, of North Bellmore, is competing in TNA's "Gut Check Challenge", in which fans vote on one wrestler that will get a try-out match with Impact Wrestling.
Ohriner initially didn't intend on wrestling, but he was introduced to the WWE Universe by Merokean Zack Ryder, who made himself famous with the "Z! True Long Island Story."
Ryder too made his way through NYWC before cracking the main roster at WWE, and he's a close friend of Ohriner's. When people took notice, Ohriner changed his tune.
"At first I was just going to help write and edit it, because that’s what I went to school for," Ohriner told Newsday. "But then he asked me to make cameo appearances, so I said sure. I made some cameos, and after a few months the show blew up. People took note of me...It kind of rekindled the wrestling spirit I had as a kid."
There are 10 candidates vying for a tryout, including fellow NYWC wrestler Dimitrious Papadoniou, 35, of Oceanside.
Ohriner won the NYWC Championship in February at the Psycho Circus, and he will defend his "O-Zone" on June 15 at the NYWC Sportatorium in Deer Park.
For more on the contest, click here.
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