NXT’s TM61 on How They Fight Through Adversity in WWE

Popular Australian NXT Tag Team TM61 were part of the latest exclusive WWE.com interview by Byron Saxton. The team spoke about how they continue to push past adversity in the wrestling industry.

Nick Miller kicked things of for TM61, talking about how hard they have been working through all the problems they faced in 2017.

“We’ve been working so hard to get over the setbacks and roadblocks of 2017 and were looking forward to starting off 2018 rolling. Fate stepped in, and we ran into the biggest roadblocks in all of NXT.”

Continuing, Miller explained how it felt to be eliminated by the Authors of Pain in the first round of this year’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.

“AOP is a monkey on our back,” he said. “We lost to them in the finals of the 2016 Dusty Rhodes Classic, and when we saw that we had them in the first round of this year’s Dusty Classic, we trained as hard as possible. We were so focused, yet to go in and lose in the first round hurt a lot, both physically and mentally. It’s been tough.”

Despite being prepared for success in NXT, the team have been plagued with injuries that has prevented them from regaining any momentum.

“In NXT, both of us have been injured at times where it cost us some major momentum. While frustrating, you really learn a lot about yourself and your partner when you are standing still and unable to compete.”

One such moment, as Shane Thorne of TM61 recalls, is the knee injury he suffered that left him on the sidelines for most of the year.

“The worst part was just how long it took. I was always taught to be tough and keep going, but with this kind of injury and recovery, I couldn’t. Even when I felt like my body was good to go, I still had to wait and slow myself down so it could properly heal.

“The trainers at the WWE Performance Center would work on stretching and flexibility with me, getting the motion back. Then, slowly, we did more and more things to improve the strength. It took about half a year before I was getting back into more regular gym-based exercises for my knee. The injury forced us to expand our minds and work on strategies and techniques that could work around the fact that I might not be as strong as before. We are relying less on power and strength, and more on our experience to give us an advantage as more new talent joins the ranks of NXT.”

If you’re interested in learning more in-depth facts on TM61’s history, check out the video released by WWE.

Who are TM61?: WWE NXT, Jan. 24, 2018

Moving forward, Miller explains how the team is feeling and what they are prepared to do for success.

“Shane and I have asked ourselves recently how we’ve changed in the last year,” Miller revealed. “I can tell you that we’ve watched tape of ourselves from last year, and we don’t even recognize who we see. We were hurt, our confidence was shot and we weren’t in rhythm. We felt like we were being who we thought we were supposed to be, and not committed to being ourselves.

“The TM61 of today? Our eyes have been opened, and the TM61 that you see now is the one finding its lane. It’s been a tough road, but we know who we are now, and we know where we want to be and exactly what we need to do to get there. We say it all the time, and believe me when I tell you it’s not just some throwaway line: We are The Mighty, and The Mighty don’t kneel.”

What are your thoughts on the Australian team? Would you like to see them capture the NXT Tag Team Championship?

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