Chris Masters (@ChrisAdonis) is a professional wrestler best known for his time in WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at West Coast Creative Studio in Hollywood, CA to discuss making his WWE debut at such a young age, having one of the best physiques in pro wrestling history, never winning a championship in WWE, being the first wrestler to be put in the STFU by John Cena, his pec dance to Crazy Train when Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne hosted Raw, fans calling him “Sexy Jesus”, and more!
When you had the beard, people were calling you sexy Jesus.
“Well, they still do. I just have to trim every once in a while. I like to do the sideburns.”
So tell me about sexy Jesus.
“Okay, so basically, somebody dropped hashtag Sexy Jesus in my Instagram comments. I just got a little chuckle out of it, didn’t think much of it, but it was funny. It was silly. So fast forward to its maybe NWA 77. I’m wrestling Thom Latimer, and I have the thought of I have a pre-tape, so I’m like, maybe I should drop that Sexy Jesus line, but subtly. It doesn’t need to be a big thing or anything, just subtly drop it in the promo. So I did, and then you fast forward to the match, and I’m working with Thom Latimer out there, and we’re in the heat of the match, so to speak, and the crowd starts chanting “Sexy Jesus.” It was just really cool, because I’ve never seen something pay off so quickly in pro wrestling. You say it earlier, just hoping that maybe it’s stupid, maybe it’ll catch on a little bit, and then they’re chanting it later. So I was like, okay, maybe I can run with this a little. I mean, it’s blasphemous, so it’s kind of hard to use it in any of the big companies, but at least it gives me something to play off of now. I told you before we came on that I’ve been working with GCW so that’s a good promotion for something like that. Circle Six, another one out here. I actually was Jesus for their Halloween show. We had a Master Lock challenge with the devil. It was amazing!”
When you started in wrestling, you started out in UPW, which is in Orange County. Were you there at the same time as John Cena?
“Yeah. So I don’t know this for certain, but we might have even started the same day. So yeah, my earliest memories are with Cena and there’s another guy named Bad Boy Basil, UPW, I was only 16 years old.”
So you’re 16, Cena would have been early 20s.
“So I can remember some of our trainings together. I remember one practice specifically where, do you know Andrew Bernardski from The Program? He’s a big dude. But anyways, he was training with us, and he went to give a leg drop off the second rope, and literally landed with all of his ass on John Cena’s head, almost killed the franchise before he ever became the franchise, and it was clunky as hell, man. Some of the stuff I remember, because I remember us working some tags and stuff over there, because it was originally in Huntington Beach, it was maybe three months in that I was doing a leapfrog, and again, with Andrew Bernardski, and I didn’t clear him. So I kind of landed on him, and then landed on my ankle, fractured my ankle. I tried to keep training on it, but I knew something was wrong. Literally, a month had gone by, and I couldn’t extend my foot. So, long story short, I ended up having surgery, and then I took a couple of years off. In that time, Cena obviously got signed, went to OVW, and then I ended up coming back to UPW a couple of years later, by the time I was 18.”
I don’t think it’s talked about enough that you were only 22 when you made your WWE debut, looking as jacked as you did. I think because you had that much muscle, people assumed [you were older]
“I was 21. I know that because I was turning 22 when I worked the Elimination Chamber. That’s how that always stands out to me. So I definitely didn’t look my age. I think most of the guys didn’t even treat me like I was my age because of that. I was a kid. It was me, Muhammad Hassan and Renee Dupree, just a few young guys amongst locker room of men that most of us kind of grew up watching. So yeah, I just think most of them just kind of treated me like I was a grown man, when really, I was a kid. If you think, because when I do seminars or even just indies, I’ll see guys who were right around that age, and they still look like kids. So I’m like well, that was me. I was that age too. I just looked older. It doesn’t mean I was necessarily more mature or had any kind of wisdom or anything like that at point.”
Did you feel the pressure being in the Elimination Chamber at that age, and really early into your WWE career?
“Yes, I did. Also I made a huge mistake. I took a red-eye flight into New York, and that was a mistake. I learned that at that time, because I was so kind of off for the day, it’s hard to get back on track if you take a red eye. You got to get a really good nap. But yeah, it was a lot of pressure too, because it’s such a different match. You don’t know how it’s gonna feel, necessarily. I mean, when you have a one-on-one match, you kind of know the flow of it, and you have a better grasp of it. With a match like that though, there’s so much going on and stuff that can go wrong. Like in the first one, Hunter getting his throat squashed, but I just remember it was a lot of fun, though. Things that stand out to me. I always see the clip of Kurt Angle entering, and I always remember being in the pod and watching him and just being like, my God, he’s one of the best ever. I already knew that. But I’m just saying, watching him and that intensity that he brought, it was just like he’s my top five in-ring work. He could do everything, obviously. But it was at that intensity that he brought, I was like, oh man. Because I have to come out after him. I did pretty good in my entrance in there. But you’re seeing something like that, it’s like you got to try to match [him]. You’re not gonna outmatch that intensity, but you got to definitely bring it. I don’t know, it was always cool. I just had this realization, Kurt is just freaking amazing. Obviously Shawn was in it, which was really cool. Kane, Carlito. The story of it was real cool, too, how Carli and me tried to band together, and then he screws me. Honestly, none of us knew about Edge coming out after, none of us knew. I mean, Shawn probably knew, I guess. But I just remember that day Carlito just thinking the finish was odd, because it would have just been a roll up, Cena rolls up Carlito, that’s it. So it just kept saying, Something’s not right, something’s not right. Then we’re out there, and then Vince comes out, and then Edge, I didn’t suspect anything. I don’t even know if I thought about but Carli knew something was involved.”
But they didn’t even tell you?
“No. I get it now, though, because it’s just one of those things, just like nowadays, sometimes the less that know the better. It’s not really about being disrespectful or trying to be secretive. It’s more just like, the less that know the better, because everything gets reported, stooged, especially now even more maybe with the social media and stuff. So I didn’t at the time, I was kind of like, why’d you have to keep us in the dark about it? But again, you just get it with time. It’s just better less people know. When they talk about the screwjob and some of the guys they didn’t tell on that, you kind of get it. It’s like, okay, well certain people needed to know. But you didn’t necessarily have to tell everybody. The more they know, the more hands are dirty, right?”
Where do you think you fall in terms of best physiques in wrestling?
“Well that 20- 22 range would definitely be, probably, I don’t know, maybe top 10, top 15. It’s hard to compare yourself against guys you kind of grew up watching, and you kind of looked up to and all that. I just know the guys that stood out to me always were like Ultimate Warrior, Lex Luger, Rick Rude, Buff, Scott Steiner. I mean, there’s guys that weren’t necessarily known for their bodies that obviously had good builds too, but I mean, those were the guys that were really known for it. Then I think more in this era, I guess it was Bobby Lashley.”
If you had to give me a Mount Rushmore of your best body guys in wrestling, who are they?
“Okay, Mount Rushmore. This is gonna be tough, but I’m gonna probably lean Scott Steiner, Lex Luger, I guess we could say that version of Hunter, Madison Square Garden, that one, and Ultimate Warrior.”
How hard was it to stay that conditioned?
“It was hard, but it was more about just making it a habit. You did everything you could to not miss the gym and get your five workouts in a week, get whatever cardio it is you intend. It got harder on the road. But initially, I would pack enough food so that I’d have food to get me through till Saturday and stuff like that. So little stuff like that. I won’t do that anymore. Brian Cage will walk around with a big thing of food, you know, he’s got it all for the day.”
Do you feel like you were ever close at any point in time in WWE to winning a championship? It’s crazy to think you didn’t win one.
“There was a point. I mean, Carlito and me were supposed to win them at that WrestleMania, but it literally got switched like the day before. We were penciled in to win it. But then Carlito, they wanted him to turn baby and The Spirit Squad, they kind of wanted to get the belts on them somehow, to give them some steam, so that was that. Then the Intercontinental title. I was actually supposed to win that, but it was the same point where they had given me intervention for my prescription painkiller abuse at the time. They even told me, I remember having the meeting with Johnny [Ace], and because there was a four way match that night, it was in Vegas for the Intercontinental title that I was slated to win. But then they caught wind of the issues I had, and I had an intervention, and basically told me you’re going to rehab. I screwed that. So tag belts, I had no control over that, just happened. IC, I f’d up. There was a point there, because you can even watch back to those old Raws where Vince was playing with the idea of making me the youngest champion. But, you know, he was feeling out a lot of guys at that point. I’m pretty sure Cena gave me probably the thumbs down at some point.”
Was there an issue there?
“Oh yeah, we never mixed too well for whatever reason. I don’t know, Massachusetts guy, California guy, I don’t know, just kind of oil and water. But I don’t take away anything from the fact that he’s this generation’s Hogan, and he definitely worked harder than anybody probably would have in that spot, especially for that long.”
You were there during a time when a lot of your colleagues, a lot of your friends were passing away like that. Was that a really rough period?
“I don’t even think it was just pro wrestling. If you look at the grand scheme of the country, the US had an opiate problem. Obviously the pro wrestlers had it. You know, out here in Hollywood, there was an issue, just a lot of people. I think there’s a better awareness of the fact that these things can be addictive now, and they control that stuff much better. Yeah, I lost a lot of guys, Lance Cade, Test. I always think about and, you know, the list goes on and on. But I just, you know, it would be sad to lose your life over that. It really sucks, because I think back to it and being in it sucked. But like, I could see, you know, looking down from heaven and just being like, Oh my god, why did I jeopardize everything to do that?”
Didn’t Cena give you the very first STFU?
“Yes, and it was a shoot STFU. I mean, again, I’m not saying that Cena was purposely doing it to shoot on me. I used to think sometimes with Cena, he got so fired up in the moment that he wouldn’t even know his own strength type of thing. So, yeah, he did it to me for a shoot. You’ll see my face starts turning red, I start trying to get it a little bit looser. I’m pretty sure that I heard later on that he was working with Kurt, and Kurt had to tell him to loosen it up a little bit. But Kurt with his neck issues and stuff. But my Master Lock could be kind of brutal sometimes with guys, because I didn’t really know how to work it either. So sometimes when I look back at those videos and I look at me putting on Kurt, I’m kind of like, oh man, I was probably rougher with him than I needed to be. Because when you’re that green, you don’t know how to shake spirit as much. You do do stuff a little more real than you have to. I can remember, actually, there was a time with Shane Helms, we were working at a live event, and I Master Locked him, I guess, way too hard. So I released the Master Lock, and they ring the bell, the match is over, and he gets up, and I think he tells me to f off, and just walks off. I’m not even saying it to heel on him, I was too stiff, I didn’t know how to work it, and it became a big drama with everybody, because then it was like, you know, he no sold the hold, I’m obviously doing it too rough, and I know that too. Because with Shelton, one time, he was telling me, I was about to pass out. I mean, if it’s too tight, some of the guys were so broad here that it’d be so tight that it would be tough, because you start twerking their neck from the start. [It’s a legit hold]. You’ll pass out, cuts off the blood flow, and you’ll go out.”
Who is it the hardest to put the Master Lock on?
“Probably, Bobby. Just look at his build. I mean, I say that just because I remember just holding that thing for a long time on anybody can be kind of tough. I’m saying not for 20 seconds, but like with Bobby. I mean, it was hard, you know, because by the time I got it around his neck, it was probably not even fully locked in, just because he was so kind of broad up here.”
I thought for sure it was gonna be Big Show.
“Well, I don’t even think it was possible with Big Show. Honestly, we went through this one time at a TV where we were trying, we tried to get it on, everybody was so excited when I got there to try it. They got me to the ring, or they want to see it, and then we had this idea of maybe using a chain. But I guess it didn’t make sense. You rap a chain, you do it there, but it’s like, well I guess it didn’t make sense, so we didn’t do that. Then it’s funny, because I feel like there was a point where I could have put it on him, and maybe he just was a little heavier when he was heavier. But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I was just was never able to get it on.”
Give me the pitch for when they told you to pop your pecs to Crazy Train.
“Oh, boy. I don’t know whose idea that was, but I didn’t like it right from the start, because I didn’t want to be doing comedic stuff really. But I also knew that there was a point where I was like, All right, well, if I’m going to do this, let me just try to do it the best I can. So then I did it, and the crowd really responded to it like crazy. And unfortunately, it’s one of those situations where I look back and I’m like, maybe I did it too good, because then they kept wanting me to do it, and then I was just like this is stupid. This is funny once or twice, but to do it [every week], if I was a fan, by the third time of it I’m like enough. So when I always think about that, it was funny, but I always hate the fact that it’s like okay, now let’s do this every week in some fashion. As a fan, I don’t think I’d like this. So we lost Ozzy not that long ago, so a lot of the clips came up of that segment. One thing I will say that I love about that is the genuine enthusiasm. When you see Ozzy’s face, he just loves it. To me, I thought that was really cool. After his passing, I thought about this, and I watched it, man, it’s really cool that I entertained Ozzy to that extent. He just thought it was hilarious. Yeah, it’s cool. And, you know, Sharon was very flirtatious. It was pretty funny. Honestly, the funny thing about it is, they wanted me to win, right? But I don’t think that’s the way it was worked. The whole thing. There was some gimmick finish. But honestly, I actually won the freaking thing. But I don’t remember what the finish was. It was some whatever, some angle or something.”
What is Chris Masters grateful for?
“My cats, my biceps are still here, and the sexy Jesus hair.”
Please support our sponsors:
HELIX SLEEP: Flash sale! Go to https://helixsleep.com/cvv for 27% off sitewide!
COZY EARTH: Go to https://cozyearth.com/CVV for up to 20% off!
AMERICAN FINANCING: NMLS 182334, nmlsconsumeraccess.org. APR for rates in the 5s start at 6.196% for well qualified borrowers. Call 866-721-3300 for details about credit costs and terms or visit https://americanfinancing.net/Chris
BEAM: Go to https://shopbeam.com/INSIGHT and use code INSIGHT for up to 40% off Beam’s Dream Powder
DELETEME: Use the code INSIGHT to get 20% off your DeleteMe plan at https://joindeleteme.com/INSIGHT
FACTOR: Get 50% off your first box, plus Free Breakfast for 1 Year with the code INSIGHT50OFF at https://factormeals.com/INSIGHT50OFF
PURE PLANK: The future of core fitness! Use the code CVV to save 10% on Pure Plank designed by Adam Copeland & Christian: https://gopureplank.com/cvv
SEAT GEEK: Use my code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/CVV Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount
NORDVPN: Exclusive deal! https://nordvpn.com/cvv Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!
PRIZEPICKS: Download the PrizePicks app today and use code INSIGHT to get $50 bonus credit in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup!