After receiving the approval of his sons, O'Neil later received a phone call from WWE's Executive Vice President of Talent Relations at the time, John Laurinaitis, on the ride home from the FCW event. On it, Laurinaitis informed O'Neil that he, Rhodes, and Keirn had collaboratively decided to offer him a three-day tryout, which included full pay.

"At this point, I ain't got no job, I just got divorced, and I'm going to Florida on that Monday," O'Neil recalled. "This happened on a Thursday. I'm going to Florida on that Monday to speak with the head coach about being an assistant defensive line coach. Laurinaitis said 'We're going to give you a tryout. We'll pay you X amount of three days, see if you like it, see if we like you, and go from there.' 

"I go in, he say 'You're in shape, right?' I said 'I've never wrestled before, but I work out.' I felt like I was in decent shape. That Friday, I work out in the morning, I'm driving home to go get my boys from daycare, and get a call 'Hey, [this is] John Laurinaitis calling you back. The guys say they love your work ethic, I think they see some potential there. We're going to sign you.'"

Along with O'Neil's WWE contract offer, Laurinaitis also assured that he'd be paid the sum of all three tryout days. In the days following, O'Neil flew out to Pittsburgh for his physical examination, which he passed, and subsequently signed his contract with the company. Finally, he reported back to Florida Championship Wrestling to begin his official in-ring training.

In November 2009, O'Neil made his in-ring debut against Lennox McEnroe. Fast forward 15 years, he is now a Global Ambassador for WWE, with a tag team title reign and a WWE Hall of Fame Warrior Award to his name.