Strauss began watching professional wrestling at the age of 4 and was a fan of The Ultimate Warrior, Sting and Shawn Michaels. He knew he wanted to become a professional wrestler while at John F. Kennedy Memorial High School in his hometown of Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, even though he was skinny at 160 pounds (73 kg). He saw his first live event at a local wrestling show in Woodbridge Township, headlined by "Iron" Mike Sharpe and later became interested in becoming a professional wrestler. When he turned 16, Strauss began training at Kevin Knight\'s Camp IWF in Woodland Park, New Jersey, where he practiced regular drills and exercises for four months until his debut against Chad Warwick on October 1, 2000.\n', 'For a few short years, he taught at Woodbridge High School as a physical education teacher.\n', 'Eckos spent his early career in the Independent Wrestling Federation (IWF), a local promotion based in Woodland Park, New Jersey, defeating Damian Adams at West Orange High School on January 21, 2001. He also participated in a 12-man battle royal later that night which included Dr. Hurtz, Marc Verow, BJ Thomas, Damian Adams, Jade Divine, HP Walker, Hadrian, Josh Daniels, Psycho Bitch, Tony Rage and Rapid Fire Maldonado.\n', 'On February 11, he lost to Kevin Knight and Damian Adams in two separate matches at an IWF show in West Peterson. He and Hadrian lost a tag team match to Roman & Kevin Knight on March 4 and faced Kasey Coresh, Damian Adams and Tony Balboa in singles matches during the next few weeks. On May 20, he defeated Hadrian via disqualification and, on June 3, he beat Tony Balboa at the West Orange Community Center. He also participated in a 12-man battle royal which included Dr. Hurtz, Damian Adams, Josh Daniels, Rapid Fire Maldonado, Tony Balboa, BPA Barry, Ryan Lockhart, Kasey Coresh, St. Patrick, Mr. Mike and Biggie Biggs. Eckos lost to Hadrian at the Brookwood Lounge Outdoor Car Show in Jackson, New Jersey, several days later.\n', '

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