[2] Taylor started training at Jeff Kaye's Wrestling School in Leeds, England in May 2002, with his first professional match taking place on 24 January 2003.
In November 2005, Taylor wrestled two tryout matches for WWE during a tour of the UK, losing to Carlito and Simon Dean on Sunday night Heat.
On 16 April 2007 Taylor signed a WWE developmental contract with Florida Championship Wrestling, winning his debut match where he teamed with Robert Anthony against Shawn Osborne and Chris Gray.
In August, Taylor and Gray made their debut for Full Impact Pro wrestling with a loss to Rex Sterling and Damien Wayne.
On 3 October, at Fallout 2009, Taylor and Gray would defeat Erick Stevens and Roderick Strong to win the FIP Tag Team Championship.