Mason Ryan is living his best life in Cirque du Soleil a decade after leaving WWE and undergoing an incredible transformation.
The 42-year-old wrestler, whose real name is Barri Griffiths, grew up in North Wales and caught the eye of the sports Entertainment giant 2009 before appearing on TV two years later and working with the likes of John Cena and current SmackDown star Randy Orton.
In 2014, he left the company and returned to the independent scene, but WWE still changed his life even after letting him go.
Speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk, the musclebound star explained how WWE put him forward when Cirque Du Soleil got in touch looking for a wrestler to play a ‘big, tall, imposing figure’ in Las Vegas.
After auditioning against fellow wrestlers Chris Masters and Lance Hoyt, Griffiths got the part and moved to Sin City to play the chief archer in KÀ by Cirque du Soleil.
He’s still in phenomenal shape, but he has dropped just over two stone from his ‘average’ weight in wrestling to meet the different demands of the daily shows.
‘I’m still 6’6″, about 260, whereas when I was with WWE – I was still 6’6″, I’ve got a little bit older, hopefully, I haven’t lost much height,’ he quipped. ‘I was about 290, on average, when I was with the WWE.’
He was eating ‘nine meals a day, every day’ with ‘intense’ workouts to maintain that figure, whereas Cirque has a different focus as he’s now down to ‘five or six meals’ with around 8 or 9% body fat.
‘It’s more about injury prevention. Yes, being in good shape, but having that longevity on stage, because we perform 10 times a week,’ he explained. ‘I’m trying to take care of my body in a different way. Of course, you have to be in good physical shape and you have to be able to perform.’
Griffiths’ life has led him here, after coming up on the UK wrestling scene and getting his first taste of ‘fame’ on Sky’s 2009 Gladiators reboot, before joining WWE shortly after.
‘[Gladiators was my] first exposure of the big time, being on TV,’ he said. ‘It probably helped a bit [with WWE]… having some self confidence and some knowledge of what I was getting myself into.’
After signing, he reported to FCW (the predecessor to NXT) from 2009 to 2011, where he trained alongside the likes of Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt, AJ Lee and Seth Rollins, learning from Dusty Rhodes and other icons.
‘I look back very fondly at that time, even though it was hard,’ he reflected. ‘You’d be training for three hours in the morning, and then you’d have two hour strength and conditioning in the afternoon. I’d get home at the end of the day and fall asleep on my couch.’
In January 2011, Griffiths (under the name Mason Ryan) was called up to the main roster and debuted in a high profile spot on Raw, helping CM Punk attack John Cena.
‘I guess you’re never really ready for it,’ he said of his sudden success. ‘I was very new, but I really fit the mold of what they were looking for – tall and pretty jacked, just had a certain look to me. So I was thrown in pretty soon – maybe too soon, I don’t know.’
Things took an heartbreaking turn in May 2011 when he tore his hamstring (‘my leg was black and blue, I couldn’t walk’) just as he was set to face Cena on a tour of Australia, which could have been career changing.
‘These little things can really affect your career,’ he said. ‘If Roman Reigns had an injury, or something happened at the wrong time, he could have just been be nothing.’
WWE tried to bring him back but with no real ‘direction’ for him, and it was difficult to recover. After a return to FCW/NXT and a run in live event matches, he was released in 2014.
But everything happens for a reason, and the Cirque Du Soleil offer came in the following year.
‘At that point, I was 33, 34,’ he recalled. ‘Going to work for Cirque Du Soleil, doing five shows a week, that would probably be the end of my wrestling career. It wasn’t an easy decision, because obviously, I’ve worked work really hard to get where I was. And I loved wrestling.’
He found the opportunity ‘very exciting’, and seized the chance to move to Vegas, where he lives with his wife and three children, getting use to some of the skills he learned in WWE.
Pointing out that they’re both ‘art forms’, he added: ‘It’s a little bit of a different world. Of course, I’ve performed for a long time in wrestling, but it’s a different type of performing.’
Reflecting on where he’s come – from a small town in North Wales to the Strip via WWE – he has ‘zero regrets’.
‘Everything works out,’ he smiled. ‘I’m working for an amazing company in Cirque du Soleil, putting on an amazing show every night.’
He teased: ‘And it’s not over yet. I’ve still got a long way to go.’
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