I Broke My Neck 3 Times, Started 2 Careers, and Had 1 WWE Tryout... My Decade.

A decade in review:

2010 - I was in my 2nd year at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. I was a redshirt freshman working my ass off trying to earn a starting spot on the defense. I started the season on special teams and by game 4 I was in the starting lineup at Will Linebacker. In my first game, I was named defensive MVP against Western Carolina. Several weeks later I suffered a season-ending injury, a hairline fracture in my C5-C6 vertebrae. I was named to the SOCON All-Freshman team.

2011 - I started the year off trying to rehab and recover from my neck injury which shut off my left arm for several months. I started partying heavily for the first time in my life. My grades started to slack in the classroom. I was back at full strength going into fall football camp this year but I had to wear the 1980s looking neck roll to get through the season injury-free. The upside was I started every and played every game. The downside was the neckroll limited my ability to play how I wanted to play. During this year I became friends with the Ultimate Warrior (a pro wrestling hall of Famer). The warrior would send us motivational videos for pre-game and call me often just to check-in.

2012 - I broke the school's Power Clean record at the time with a 355-pound lift. I was in possibly the best shape of my life at that time and was playing really good football in the spring and fall. I decided to take the neckroll off and wear a small cowboy collar to prevent any injury. I was having my best season and then at Western Carolina near the end of the season, suffered another season-ending injury. Another hairline fracture to my C5-C6 vertebrae. This time I lost the ability to move my right arm for a couple of weeks. This was the first time in my life that I contemplated quitting a sport. I was beaten up, constantly getting hurt with a serious injury and I didn't want to risk a serious injury that would affect me in the long term of my life. I made the decision to finish out my career and play my senior season.

2013 - I went all-in with everything I was doing. Procrastination at the highest degree when it comes to academics and football. My grades were the best that they had ever been. I was by far in the best shape physically than I had ever been in. I set the all-time lifting record at UTC. Squat was 620 (record), my power clean was 390 (record), my bench was 410, for a total over 1400 pounds.. the first person ever at the school. I was voted team captain by my teammates and was having a really good season. Banged up but having a good year. My last play was a tackle for loss against App St.. I'll take it. But it was another hairline fracture to my C5-C6 vertebrae and I lost both arms for a couple of weeks. I graduated at UTC in December and was gifted with my puppy, an Australian Shepherd named CASH.

2014 - The first month of the year I went through spinal decompression to fix my neck issues from football. Then I started training for a career in Professional Wrestling. I had my WWE tryout in June, I started Pro Wrestling in June, and I started my career in Logistics at Lipsey Logistics in Chattanooga, TN. I wrestled every other Saturday starting in October. At Lipsey I started out in the tracking department, learning the terminology of logistics and starting at the ground floor. I also bought my first car, a 2012 Dodge Challenger R/T.

2015 - My first full year of Pro Wrestling every other Saturday and a few spot matches at different promotions here and there. My first full year in Logistics which I made a move to being a broker by the middle of the year. This was the year I moved out of my parent's house and got an apartment. Also, I went to Atlanta for a month and filmed the movie "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" which starred Vin Diesel, Kristen Stewart, Steve Martin, and Chris Tucker, this was cool.

2016 - This year I was Pro Wrestling every weekend out of town in the Atlanta area and taking other bookings when I could. Along with working a full-time job. By the end of the year, my direct manager at work committed suicide and I was named the manager of the tracking department during the most stressful time of the year... FEMA... Hurricane season, something we strive on at Lipsey.

2017 - Probably the busiest year of my decade. I was Pro Wrestling on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday each week.. along with working a full-time job at Lipsey. Hurricanes crushed Texas and Puerto Rico this year and we were busy for 3 months straight working Emergency freight. This was the most money I made in a year but it took up plenty of my time. I missed a lot of family events. I was named the 2017 Georgia Pro Wrestler of the Year.

2018 - I started the year off being named Pro Wrestling Illustrated's "One to Watch". I kept up my busy weekly wrestling schedule in the following cities; Washington, DC, Atlanta, GA, Chicago, IL, Nashville, TN, New York, Tampa, FL, Charlotte, NC, & Chattanooga, TN. The last week of May I tore my PCL and that was the end of my Pro Wrestling year of 2018. We had another Hurricane at Lipsey and that kept us busy at the end of the year. In December I met the girl of my dreams...

2019 - I took my last Adderall on Jan 1st, after taking it since 2009. I cleaned up my life. I attended my first UFC event live which was the best sporting event I have ever been to. My Girlfriend and I moved in together. I started a weekly podcast in March which compiled 43 episodes "60 Minute Broadway". I came back to Pro Wrestling in November. I helped a friend and coworker lose over 100 pounds by training him in the gym. I pretty much became a utility player at Lipsey between Hurrican work, Warehouse work, Night shift work, and trying to transition to sales.

I'm looking forward to 2020 after summarizing a brief view of my last decade. I'm writing this here to document it as a "Spark Notes" version of my decade so that I can go back and review it at any time. Adversity is going to continue to strike year after year but it will continue making me stronger. I've learned so much in the past decade. I'm not even close to the same person. In 2010 I didn't even know what logistics was, Pro Wrestling was just something I watched on TV, and Podcasting wasn't even big. Now going into 2020 I will have been in logistics for 6 years, in Pro Wrestling for 6 years, and going into my first full year of Podcasting. I have my goals set, I know the rituals and habits I have to apply in order to achieve these goals and I can't wait to see what all I learn over the next decade.

The People's Captain,

Gunner Miller

[email protected]