When Russell Dickerson first began laying the groundwork for his 2025 tour, his idea was to create show more massive than just a two-hour showcase of hits—a setlist that’s been accelerating faster than even the shredded showman has even anticipated.

What the platinum-selling artist came up with was “RussellMania”—a country music spectacle that resembles a WWE supershow, albeit with a bit more guitars. RussellMania has been an equal mix of fireworks, muscle flexing, topped with an added touch of personal emotion. To get the full wrestling vibe to his already high-energy performance, Dickerson enlisted WWE announcer Austin Romero to introduce the artist. From there, Dickerson would make his dramatic entrance into a makeshift wrestling ring. He then kicks off the concert with a Triple-H inspired water-spit ritual.

To make it authentic, however, required Dickerson to build a physique worthy of a wrestling main event. Going shirtless each night required the most demanding and focused training of the 38-year-old’s career.

“You can’t name a tour ‘Russellmania’ and not have the body to back it up,” Dickerson says with a laugh. “So, yes, I definitely dove in January, February, March, before we started touring. And I went pretty hard—cut out drinking, and really focused on diet and being serious about a workout plan.”

Now, when he tears off his shirt, which has become his own personal homage to the show’s inspiration—Hulkamania and the late Hulk Hogan, the 6’4, 215-pound “Bones” singer resembles the behemoth wrestlers he once and still admires. The tour’s already blown away all expectations—successful enough to already announce show dates for Russellmania 2026.

“I’m so pumped,” he says. “I’m so excited to go out there and see my fans, and sing together.”

Backing up his onstage musical antics has been the popularity of Dickerson’s recently released Famous Back Home, which features arguably country’s hottest track, “Happen To Me.” Initially what was thought to be an album afterthought, the upbeat anthem has already earned platinum status and became Dickerson’s biggest streaming debut, with 187 million global streams. The song is surging through the Top 5 on Country Radio, hit No. 1 on SiriusXM’s The Highway, and spent weeks at No. 1 in Canada and the UK.

“Happen to Me,” honestly, was just an album cut that was supposed to be a fun one to play live,” he says. “As soon as it came out, everybody on my team was flabbergasted to say the least.”

Making music that fans can feel upbeat about has always been Dickerson’s objective. But for this tour, he’s added the goal of creating a body that can compete for the intercontinental title—or at least look like it can. His training goals go beyond aesthetics, however. Running from rope to rope for two hours means his workouts focus on stamina and stage presence.

“I’m not just, like, going and sitting behind a desk and sending emails—I’m running around for 90 minutes and, like, singing, singing,” he explains. “So, yeah, I definitely incorporate HIIT cardio, biking, and just other little HIIT things to increase lung capacity for that reason.” The training tweaks has allowed Dickerson to command the stage with the intensity of a main-event wrestler—like his tour’s sponsor, the late Hulk Hogan.

“Hulk Hogan and his beer brand sponsored our entire tour,” he says. “He wrapped our whole semi truck. And just like that, life looks very different from a year ago.”

The Training Behind the Russellmania Transformation

Dickerson’s connection with WWE has been organic, but a crazy connection nonetheless. A year ago, he and the band drove cross-country in a tour bus previously owned by Triple H. Fast forward to this year. The tour bus is now decked out in American Beer logos donated by the late wrestling icon who passed away in August. Prior to his passing, Dickerson says the wrestling icon was very into lending his voice to the tour.

“He sent us videos and all this content for us to collaborate,” he says. “The fact that he even knows who I am—one of the most famous men in the whole world. He’s, like, ‘All right, Russell Dickerson fans, go get you a real American beer,’ and I’m just like, I can’t believe he just said my name.”

While American Beer has become a major sponsor, Dickerson’s key to getting RussellMania ripped  was laying off adult beverages. Staying dry was just one component of a more focused approach to diet and nutrition, and training. Dickerson’s workouts, by his own admission, wouldn’t make a WWE champion jealous in its intensity. But, his three day a week,  Monday, Wednesday, Friday workout routine required a consistency he had never fully given to his training. Using the Mind Pump app, his sessions normally lasted anywhere between 45minutes to an hour. “I’ve never been an in-person trainer kinda guy,” he admits.

Dickerson is currently rebuilding his home fitness facility. He says the new setup will feature an outdoor area with perhaps turf and sleds for condition along with a sauna and cold plunge for post-training recovery. For now, the “Blue Tacoma” singer sets up his Rogue power rack and hits the bench press regularly, perhaps one of his training day favorites. He normally sticks with with the 8-10 rep range, and rarely with more than a plate per side. For him, making it to the next workout injury free matters more than setting PRs.

“I’m just a normal workout dude,” he says. “I’m just doing 135 pounds. I no longer really try for heavy lifts because for me, the consistency is what’s shown to be the most valuable asset in my workouts.”

Touring presents its own challenges, but Dickerson adapts. His tour bus, once stocked with a power rack and free weights, now hauls RD merchandise from city to city. “I do miss our big rack and bar and plates, for sure,” he says.

If there’s no Planet Fitness or Crunch nearby, he and the band will pull out the PowerBlocks he keeps on the bus. Or he may just bang out pushups. The adjustable dumbbells are a space-saving game changer for on-the-road workouts. “We did a whole with a whole circuit the other day,” he says. You had your curl and your press station, and then with the extra weights that we’re not using, we would do shoulder flies. There’s more you can do than you think. You can also get by with body weight.”

Keeping his 20-plus frame filled for showtime means focusing on protein. For Dickerson, it’s the only macro that he keeps track of. Although he may scale back on carbs, Dickerson has no problem loading up on chicken, steak, or even fish. “My only macro I really focus on is protein,” he says. “There’s no way that you can overeat true animal protein. For me personally, I’m like, there’s no way I can overeat ground beef to exceed my caloric intake. So I just focus on ground beef, egg, red meat—they’re definitely very animal based.”

Cooking a ribeye on the bus is tough, so he relies on pre-made meals before shows. “I keep MegaFit Meals stocked on my bus,” he says. After shows, he tries to avoid the after-party food temptations. “I try not to do the freaking pizza, wings, fries, all that stuff,” he says. “I try. I’m not perfect, but I try.”

Spreading Positivity, Breaking Records, and Living the Dream

The success of “Happen to Me”—boosted by Dickerson’s viral dance-alongs—helped the unlikely hit explode worldwide. It has more than 58 million streams on Spotify. “It’s one of those feel-good moments,” he says, “where something so unexpected creates such a positive result.”

The hit song also became another important reason Dickerson cut back on drinking, although he still may enjoy a post-show brew every now and then. Shedding excess calories was a bonus, but mental clarity was the real reward. “I have stopped drinking before the shows at all,” he says. “So I just—mental clarity, vocally, way better. And I want to be there—I want to be present. I’m so pumped. I’m so excited to go out there and, you know, see these fans, see my fans, and sing together.”

Russell Dickerson has carved out a unique space in country music by keeping his songs upbeat and full of optimism. While many artists lean into heartbreak and sorrow, Dickerson’s approach is rooted in his own life experience and a desire to spread positivity.

“I don’t pour whiskey on my heartache,” he explains. “I wake up and I’m like, yo, let’s make today the best day ever. That’s why I wrote ‘Good Day to Have a Great Day.’” For Dickerson, life is too short and busy to dwell on negativity. “There’s no super heavy, negative, dark songs on this album, he says. “I want to bring positivity into the world. If somebody is down and heartbroken or whatever, I want them to put my record on and be like, Oh yes, let’s go get them up.” His music is a celebration of joy, resilience, and the good in everyday life.

However, while his performances are typically energized enough to wear out a WWE champion, one show—this past spring at New York City’s Pier 17—became an emotionally defining moment for Dickerson—one that brought him to tears on stage.

“There was a moment that it just kind of hit me, you know, like a, like, kind of a made it moment,” he recalls.

He played to a sold-out crowd in the city where his career began. During his song “What a Life,” Dickerson saw a childhood photo of himself at the Statue of Liberty projected onstage. As he looked out and saw the real Statue of Liberty in the distance, the significance overwhelmed him.

“I just, like, broke down, like, weeping, crying,” he admits. “Little eight-year-old me, to look and see Pier 17, to look, to see what I’m seeing, what we’re doing—it was just a crazy, full-circle moment.”