Before the gymnastics legend Simone Biles got engaged to NFL star Jonathan Owens, she had been in another high-profile relationship. Her ex-boyfriend Stacey Ervin Jr. was also a gymnast, though he left the sport to pursue a career in WWE.?

It?s only fitting that Biles, the greatest gymnast in World Championship history, had a relationship with a talented former gymnast. In the above video, we see Stacey Ervin Jr.?s last run as a competitive gymnast. He came in fifth!

Simone Biles? ex-boyfriend was a senior-level gymnast

At age 7 or 8, Stacey Ervin Jr.’s mom, Stephanie Hayes, suggested gymnastics after he ran across a balance beam at a rec center. ?I just ran across it and kind of freaked out the instructor there and they pointed us to a different facility which was Michigan Academy of Gymnastics,??he?shared?on a podcast.

Ervin proved to be a natural. He was a U.S. junior?champion in vault at 16. When Ervin got into the University of Michigan, he became part of an NCAA champion team. In his first NCAA Championships in 2012, he placed third on the floor exercise. He graduated from Michigan in 2015 and the 2016 Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas marked his last competition as a gymnast.

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Before the former gymnast left Michigan, he won a bronze medal on the floor at the collegiate level (NCAA Championships) as well as the national level (US Championships). He wrote a heartwarming message for his team on Instagram.

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He dated Biles for about three years, from 2017 to 2020, but they met in 2013 at Nationals, then called the P&G Championships. Afterwards, Stacey became a US men’s national team member, and Simone was selected for the?women’s national team.

Stacey Ervin Jr.?s stint in the WWE

Stacey Ervin Jr. tried out for the WWE in February 2018, with a little?help from his then-girlfriend and gymnastics G.O.A.T. Simone Biles. By next year, he started with the WWE?s developmental NXT promotion. And he was the first male gymnast to do so.

Eventually, Ervin decided he would turn away from WWE. His priorities lay somewhere else. While Ervin managed to walk out of a 17-year gymnastics career without serious injury, WWE carried a much higher risk.

?It occurred to me that the risk versus reward through my path at WWE just wasn?t worth it to me personally. I felt there were other ways for me to achieve my personal vision without risking life and limb,??he told NBC. He retired in 2019 and shifted gears to focus on his health and fitness mentorship endeavors.??

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