With WWE SummerSlam just around the corner, Jelly Roll is gearing up for his much-anticipated in-ring debut. However, the Grammy-nominated artist has revealed that the road to the event has not been easy. In a recent interview with ESPN, he opened up about an early injury that occurred during his first week of training, resulting in a broken pinky finger.

Jelly Roll also used the opportunity to address critics who still call professional wrestling “fake,” insisting the physical toll of training is very real. “The physicality. Man, listen, that whole ‘wrestling is fake’ idea? That needs to go out the window,” he said. “There’s no fake way to land on a piece of plywood in front of 60,000 people. There’s no fake way to flip over a cable rope with 65,000 people watching, you know what I mean?”

He went on to describe the experience as an unforgiving grind. “I broke my pinky finger by accident in the first week of training,” he explained. “It’s just constant impact, constant collision, man. It’s real, and it’s tough.”

Although the injury was minor, Jelly Roll is not slowing down. He is set to appear on tonight’s go-home edition of Friday Night SmackDown in Newark, New Jersey. He will join his partner Randy Orton and their SummerSlam opponents Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul for one final face-off before they step into the ring this weekend.