Raised in the
Richmond suburb of
Midlothian, Virginia, the young Harnsberger was described by his mother in a 2017 interview as a child who "always demanded our attention" and someone who "never quit". He began following wrestling after watching a tape of
WrestleMania III and later seeing a
WWF house show in Richmond. Harnsberger played basketball in high school, and after graduating from
Concord University in southern West Virginia in 2003, started training in wrestling. During his training, he supported himself as a reporter with the
Daily Telegraph of
Bluefield, West Virginia, but left the newspaper at about the time he made his wrestling debut for an independent promotion run by Beau James, who went on to establish AMW and serves as a mentor to Harnsberger to this day. James gave Harnsberger his ring name of Daniel Richards. He continued to work odd jobs to help make ends meet during his early years in the business. While he tried several gimmicks, he was unable to develop a memorable character; he moved back to the Richmond area in 2005, and left wrestling in 2009. For the next five years, he worked many jobs and frequently traveled abroad. ==Character==