Chad "Gunner" Lail was born in Hickory, North Carolina. This patriot served his country in the Iraq War in the United States Marine Corps, as a machine gunner. In the USMC, Lail earned the rank of Lance Corporal. After his military service, Lail trained for professional wrestling and debuted in 2001 around the age of 19. During his early career he worked for NWA Anarchy, based in Cornelia, Georgia from 2006 until 2014. A ferociously intimidating 6'2", 245-lb competitor, Lail wrestled much of his early matches under the names Phil Shatter and Shatter before later taking on the ring name of Gunner. His presence in mainstream professional wrestling did not occur until he signed with Impact Wrestling (originally called Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)) in 2010. During the six years he spent in TNA, he became a one-time TNA Television Champion and a one-time TNA World Tag Team Champion. By 2015, Lail made the decision to become a part-time pro wrestler and shifted his focus towards competitive bodybuilding as well as a career in films. He made his film debut in 2015 as a soldier in the action-horror film Navy Seals vs. Zombies (2015).