Anthony Robles was born on July 15, 1988, in La Mirada, California. Anthony was born with one leg (the cause of the condition is unknown) but refused to wear a prosthetic, deeming his appendage to be his "challenge." Anthony instead elected to use crutches as they allowed him to keep with his siblings and other kids in the neighborhood.

In addition to physical adversity, Anthony faced a lot of social adversity, such as kids looking at him funny. This lit a fire in him and pushed him to perform the same activities as other kids, such as riding a bicycle. In sixth grade he set a school record for the most push ups done by a student.

At the age of 14, Anthony and his family moved to Mesa, Arizona. The summer before his freshman year in high school, Anthony’s cousin had talked him into trying wrestling. After struggling in his freshman year, Anthony was ranked as the sixth-best wrestler in Arizona during his sophomore year. In his junior and senior years, he went 96-0 and won two state championships.

Upon graduation, Anthony was not recruited by any of his top college choices. He eventually went to Arizona State University, where he was a walk-on for the wrestling team. He would earn All-American honors in his sophomore and junior years before going undefeated in his senior year, culminating in beating Iowa rival Matt McDonough in the 2011 NCAA championship.

Anthony credits Matt with forcing him to maintain his discipline, work ethic, and effort in order to compete with him. He concluded his Arizona State wrestling career with a record of 122-23, a three-time Pac-10 wrestling champion and three-time All-American. He ranks 8th in wins by an Arizona State wrestler.

After graduating, Anthony documented his story in a book titled Unstoppable: From Underdog to Undefeated: How I Became a Champion.

In March 2023, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's production company, Artists Equity, announced its partnership with Amazon MGM Studios to produce a biopic titled Unstoppable with Jharrel Jerome tapped to play Anthony.