‘No one believed me’: Ex-NRL star-turned WWE phenom wants to ‘prove people wrong’

Daniel Vidot has burst onto the scene as one of WWE’s latest stars, but his switch from NRL to wrestling wasn’t all smooth sailing.

Aussie Daniel Vidot is “living the dream” and says he’s intent on proving his “doubters” wrong as he continues to take the world of WWE by storm.

Vidot played 124 games in the NRL before retiring in 2017, announcing his plans to pursue a professional wrestling career with WWE.

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The 31-year-old, who is known in the ring as Xyon Quinn, signed a development contract with WWE in 2018 and made his on-screen debut on Smackdown last year, losing to WWE superstar Sheamus.

Following years of training, Vidot has recently been rewarded with weekly appearances on WWE’s high-profile shows 205 Live and NXT.

In recent weeks he has burst onto the WWE scene, notching up eight wins in a row and capturing the attention of fans with his unique style.

In his match against Ru Feng at 205 Live last weekend, Vidot stunned viewers with an innovative move, turning a botched “leapfrog” into an epic “slingblade”, hooking his leg around Feng’s neck and slamming him into the canvas.

He explained the mid-air move was no fluke and based on pure instincts.

“I’ve always been that person to just think on my feet, that creativity thing,” Vidot told news.com.au.

“I’m always thinking, I’ve always got the thinking cap on.

“I was in the moment, trying to jump over him, obviously didn’t clear him. So I thought, ‘Mmh what can I do with this’. Ended up pulling it off and we played on.

“I call it the ‘Quinn Blade’ now. That’s my thing.”

Vidot turned a mistake into a mastertroke.

His improvised slingblade move sent WWE fans wild.

And earlier this week, he also showed he is equally adept at the entertainment side of wrestling, dancing in the ring and singing “Sexy Boy” — the theme music of WWE legend Shawn Michaels — during his victory over Robert Stone.

Vidot revealed he had been inundated with positive feedback from fans, reassuring him he is on the right track in his wrestling career.

“I’m pretty happy with how the crowd’s loving it and the fans are liking it,” he said.

“I’m getting daily messages here and there.

“Things have been going real good so far.

“I’ve won eight matches in a row. Xyon Quinn is yet to be defeated so obviously they like me. There’s something there.”

Vidot, who is also nicknamed The Untamed, said it was crucial for him to get a strong positive or negative reaction from crowds, otherwise WWE’s bosses could end his career at a moment’s notice.

“To be honest, I’m just happy that they like it,” he said.

“It’s just one of those things where it’s do or die over here. It’s a very thin line, extremely thin line. Some people make it, some people don’t.”

It’s been a long road for Vidot, who has undertaken three years of rigorous training to get himself in the position where he can contest high-profile WWE matches.

“I got a lot of questions (when) I just joined WWE,” he said.

“Within the first year, ‘Why aren’t you on wrestling?’, ‘Why aren’t you doing this?’.

“I’m like I just finished rugby, there’s just so much you need to learn. It’s not easy like that.

“You’ve got to learn so many different things so you don’t get yourself seriously injured.

“It actually takes three years to get to the first step and I’ve just hit three years.

“So with what I’ve done with the three years, I’m over the moon.

“Right now, I’m actually very happy with where I am.

Vidot is now making regular appearances on prime WWE TV shows.

“I’m living the dream. I was singing Shawn Michaels’ “Sexy Boy” in front of probably millions of people viewing it on the television worldwide. So I’m happy.”

Vidot’s training has involved acting lessons, “talking in front of the camera, learning how to flip and do all these dives and not kill yourself”.

“That’s literally what happens in these rings, it’s a dangerous place. They don’t say, ‘Don’t try this at home for nothing’.”

Vidot is in WWE for the long haul and is excited to keep revealing different elements of Xyon Quinn’s character, which he describes as “heavily inspired by John Wick, Jean-Claude van Damme, (and the movie) 300”.

“There’s a lot of stuff about my character that people don’t know yet and that will be revealed soon, just bit by bit,” he said.

“I think Xyon Quinn, it’s the fact that I’ve put that much effort and time into my character where people are starting to appreciate it and be like, ‘Oh OK there’s more to it’.

“That’s what I like to do. I don’t like to come out over the top. I like to do my stuff kind of like the dark horse.”

Vidot, who played for four NRL clubs and made 10 appearances for Samoa, said he fell out of love with rugby league and wanted to pursue a passion where he could express his personality more easily.

“When I get comfortable I leave a situation, which is what happened with rugby,” he explained.

“I lost my passion, my drive. It was something I did every single day. People would ask me the same questions.

“It just became a rotating wheel. I needed to get out of that and start something new and something fresh.”

The former NRL player was won eight WWE matches in a row.

He’s glad he made the decision to hang up the boots and said making the switch to wrestling has given him a new zest for life.

“What I love about it (WWE) is I’m not limited to a team where I’m just in a team game and you can’t really display who you are on a footy field, you really can’t,” Vidot said.

“I’m fortunate enough now to have that.”

But the transition from the NRL to wrestling wasn’t all smooth sailing as Vidot revealed no one gave him a chance to crack the big time in WWE.

“It was just things like, ‘Come on Vidot, you’re gonna go do that?’,” he recalled.

“And I’m like, ‘Yeah!’. No one believed me, no one. I’ll tell you right now, no one believed me.

“I’ve always been that person, I like to prove people wrong, it’s my motivation. Now I’m here, now I’m in this position, eight wins in a row. Just try to keep going, try to build that snowball.”

Since he has hit the mainstream in WWE and gone on his winning streak, Vidot has received countless lengthy messages, which he refers to as “novels”, from the same doubters backtracking on their criticism.

“They were the same footy mates who were saying, ‘You’re going to WWE?’,” he said.

“They were the same ones and now it’s like, ‘Oh OK, wait a minute’.

The Aussie is happy to be proving the doubters wrong.

“I’m not angry at any of my doubters because the people that doubted me were the ones that motivated me and I need that and if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be here. So thank you to them and shout out to them.

“The greatest form of revenge is success right. Even though this isn’t revenge, this is just me doing my thing.

Vidot admitted it has been satisfying to prove his doubters wrong through his success in WWE.

“Now I’ve got some novels, I’m talking like over 20,” he said.

“There’s a lot of messages I’ve been getting and it’s just like novels of them just saying like, ‘Mate I’m just so proud of what you’ve done and how you’ve proved me wrong’ and all this stuff.

“I like to always be trailblazer. I like to start my new path and try and create that path for someone else later on down the line.

“Hopefully someone else in Australia has that dream and hopefully one day when I hold that championship above and I wear that on my waist, that inspires another little kid to do the same thing and follow his dreams.”

WWE NXT airs each Wednesday morning from 11am (AEDT) on Foxtel’s FOX8 & is available on KAYO.