EVAN “T-Rex” Singleton is one of the biggest and best bodybuilders on the planet.
Here we take a look at his journey from bullied school kid, to WWE prospect and competing at the World’s Strongest Man.
Evan Singleton was born on October 9, 1992, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
He is an American strongman competitor and former professional wrestler.
His nickname is “T-Rex” because of his distinctive tattoos of the dinosaur’s claws which cover the top of his hands and fingers.
Evan had an unusual start to life, weighing an unusually big 13 pounds at birth.
As a larger child, he faced bullying from his peers during his school years, which was so bad he even considered taking his own life.
Evan told EssentiallySports: “I had to deal with a lot of depression and anxiety and it actually got to the point where on three separate occasions in my life I’ve tried to kill myself.
“I had thoughts about it when I was a kid OK, but I never had the means to do it.”
At the age of 13, following his father’s advice, Evan began working out and participating in various sports.
He tried his hand at a number of athletic pursuits before finding wrestling, which captured his heart.
After finishing high school, Evan pursued his dream of becoming a professional wrestler.
He signed with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) at the age of 18, competing under the name Adam Mercer.
This meant that Evan turned down two university scholarship offers and moved to Florida to train with WWE.
Evan’s wrestling career was sadly cut short by a severe head injury — a brain hemorrhage forced him to retire at just 19.
Evan worked various jobs before fully committing to strongman competitions, including working for a company that manufactured water heaters.
His transition to the sport began when he encountered a man log-lifting at his local gym in Lancaster.
Within two weeks, Evan was sold and decided to pursue it as his new sport.
Evan’s involvement in World’s Strongest Man competitions has been a journey of perseverance.
In 2019, he didn’t compete but attended as an alternate and equipment tester.
The following year, Evan made his competitive debut, but was unable to progress from his heat due to an injury to his biceps.
He participated in 2021 but was hindered by a bout of food poisoning.
Evan’s bad luck continued at the next year’s event — an allergic reaction affected his performance.
But in 2023 he finally broke through to the finals, placing fifth overall.
Evan achieved his best result to date in 2024, finishing third despite injuring his foot in the very first event of the competition.
During his career, Evan has placed first in a number of significant competitions, including:
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.
