- The official WWE website recently spoke with former two-time NCAA Champion and WWE fan Jake Herbert. The freestyle wrestler will be competing for the gold medal in the 185 lb. weight class on August 11th at the Olympic Games in London. Here are some highlights:

WWE.com: Has the Warrior influenced your game plan on the mat at all? Have you considered wearing tassels or trying to gorilla press opponents? (Herbert went as Warrior for Halloween a few years back)

Jake Herbert: (Laughs) That’s how I try to run out there. I try to run out like Ultimate Warrior. I do a lot of pacing, I pump myself up a lot. I like to think when I go on the mat and I wrestle, I block out whatever happens. When I wake up, my hand’s raised, [and] I look all over, there’s blood everywhere and a guy who’s crying, and I’m not responsible for anything. I unleash my inner warrior. (Laughs)

WWE.com: Clearly, you’re a sports-entertainment fan.

Jake Herbert: Huge, yeah.

WWE.com: You practiced judo as a child before finding wrestling. Have you ever considered trying to make the jump to sports-entertainment?

Jake Herbert: I wouldn’t mind it. I was just talking about that to people today. They’re like, “Aren’t you too small?” because I’m only 185 pounds and most of the guys are like 240, 245 pounds. I was just joking with my coach today that maybe I could be like Jimmy “Mouth of the South” Hart and be one of the managers. I could jump in and wrestle people, which I think would be awesome.

WWE.com: What would your hypothetical finishing maneuver be, if you ever found yourself competing at WrestleMania?

Jake Herbert: I love the Spike Dudley Acid Death Drop. It’s one of my favorite moves, especially with me being a smaller guy compared to all those other guys out there. I think that would have to be one of my finishers. It’d have to be a double, where I hit him and he falls down, I pick him up and do it again. A double dose, if you will.

WWE.com: You went pretty deep in the catalogue with that one. We don’t get too many Olympians referencing Spike Dudley’s finisher by name.

Jake Herbert: He’s one of my favorites. I was a huge fan of D-Generation X and then turned on to ECW. It’s sport entertainment. It’s awesome. I read Kurt Angle’s book, “It’s True, It’s True,” right before the Olympic trials. So that was really cool because it went from his regular wrestling career to his sports-entertainment career.

WWE.com: Did you take any lessons away from the book?

Jake Herbert: He had a lot of injuries and he was really banged up going into the trials, and I was the same way, so I think if he could do it, I can do it to. I want to be just like him. He was one of my heroes growing up.

You can read the full article at this link.

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