The Wild Samoans
Hill began his training at the age of 16 under "The Canadian Destroyer" Doug Chevalier and "Primetime" Tommy Johnson. He made his professional debut on September 9, 2000, with the ring name Don Crisis. After wrestling his first year in Michigan, Hill headed off to Pensacola, Florida, where he received further training from Sika Anoa'i, one half of The Wild Samoans. While training with Sika, he began wrestling for his promotion XW-2000.