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Mark Henry Discovered Jade Cargill, Samantha Irvin, Bianca Belair, Braun Strowman

in LATEST EPISODES on June 6, 2024 June 6, 2024

Mark Henry (@themarkhenry) is a WWE Hall of Famer, powerlifter and Olympic weightlifter. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Indianapolis to talk about his 25-year WWE career, his incredible weightlifting numbers, his son Jacob Henry breaking records, Nick Dinsmore helping him get prepared for his WWE career, his new foray into stand-up comedy, traveling with Mae Young, breaking the ring with Big Show, his eye for talent and discovering Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair, Samantha Irvin, Braun Strowman and more.

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On his son’s success:

“Yeah, man, he’s doing really well. Tomorrow he’s competing in the Texas relays is the biggest track meet in Texas bigger than state. And he qualified and he’s going to compete and I think he’ll do well because. It’s shotput, he went to state in wrestling, went to state with choir. His life is consumed with being the best and when you work with the work ethic of trying to be the best, even if you don’t ever become number one, which he was number two and stayed in wrestling. And he’s going to do well tomorrow and throwing the shot. They won first place in choir. Like, even if you’re not number one, the work that you’re putting in to be number one, wherever you fall, 20th place, puts you above all the people that didn’t try. That’s who I’d hire. I’m not going to hire somebody that’s doing nothing. Yeah. Fortune 500 companies. The margin between them making a billion dollars a year and then making a few 100 million is who you hire. So I tell my kids, I’m preparing y’all for the world. I’m not preparing you for the individual sport you’re doing that’s that’s just a byproduct of what you’re doing and on the journey.”

On always being strong:

“Yeah. All my childhood pictures of me flexing, posing like I was a bodybuilder or something. Just because I just felt strong. And I knew when other kids my age, like we touched, it wasn’t the same. It was never fair. And at 10 years old, I boxed. And because I weighed over 220 pounds. I had to fight in the other category [against] 12-year-olds, they beat the shit out of me. It was horrible. I don’t know if you ever box before. Boxing is like playing chess. And you make the wrong move. Your game is over like Checkmate. Boxing is serious. And, man, I was not 12 years old. The kids is not it’s not fair.”

On wrestling being a gamble:

“I had no clue that I could even do that. Seriously, like I was a fan and they got wind of the fact that I was a fan. My coach knew a couple of people and said hey man this boy wants tickets to a show he’s a big fan. And they were like sh*t, he should wrestle, he’d made a killer. And Vince McMahon called me one day. And I hung up on him. [Why?] I thought it was one of my friends just f*cking around. Dead serious. I was like, yeah, yeah, all right Wes. I thought it was Wes Barnett, who was also a super fan like I was. We lived at the Olympic Training Centre in Colorado Springs, and neither one of us ever missed Raw. There was no such thing as SmackDown. So my coach and manager called me back and was like, Hey, did you hang up on Vince McMahon? He said you hung up. I said that was him for real? and he was like. I answered the phone, he was p*ssed at me. And he called Vince I was like, hey, I apologize. He’s like that ain’t the first time I’ve been hung up on. So me and Vince had a good relationship?”

On his 10 year deal:

“Part of it was, we don’t want to do all the work training you and getting you ready. And then you go sign with the opposition. I’m loyal, I wouldn’t have done that anyway. But nonetheless, he did say that is going to take about three or four years for you to really understand that and get it, then we will still have you on contract for another five or six years to, reap the benefit of being able to draw money and I more than paid for my career.”

On scouting talent:

“I want to give black people opportunities in wrestling that would not have gotten those opportunities hadn’t somebody saw that they have all the skill set for wrestling they just don’t know that it exists for them. And overall, I mean, Bryan Danielson is as lily white as you can be, but his talent was undeniable. And the WWE want big people. And I was like listen, I saw a guy wrestle last night that was good. I don’t give a sh*t what his size is. He’s one of the most entertaining guys. I work with Steve Austin and I said this dude is like, really good. And then a lot and say he’s six one and about 300 pounds. But I got him in the door. And he did the wrist. Some people just need the look I didn’t help him at all. Really? I just opened the door.”

On Bianca Belair:

“She got my attention, because she wore a tutu. And a big Mickey Mouse bow in her hair. And you’re supposed to work. You’re doing apparatus, and you put that down and then you go to something else. She did a damn backflip on her way to doing another. I’m like, What are you doing? You’re exerting the energy that you don’t need to. She couldn’t help it. She’s an entertainer, that’s wrestling.”

On Jade Cargill:

“Before she went to AEW she had a try-out with WWE. I’m the one that got her the tryout. I knew Jade when it was an idea. She was a basketball player. She said that she wanted to wrestle. And I said you’re a pretty girl and everything but wrestling is hard. I was like, no disrespect to you, your pictures are great, but there’s a lot of pretty girls. She says I’m different and that’s my gimmick, I say I’m different. So when she hit me with that, I was like, Ah, you different? I tell you what? Why don’t you go and see Rip Rogers? Because Rip Rogers is the litmus test. The mentality of wrestling is you have to eat sh*t and like it. You got to take verbal abuse, browbeating and persevere. When it gets tough, you got to be like the hell with that. Give me some more. That’s wrestling. I didn’t think she had that in her. That’s why I sent her to him. Rip called me and said Mark I don’t know where the hell you got this one. But I bent her over and hit her across her back as hard as you can hit a human and she told me that’s all you got old man? And I went she didn’t say that. He said Yes, she did. And I was like let’s go! I knew she had it.”

On not having a retirement match:

“Yeah, my body said man f*ck your plan. My back said listen, we go into your House, right? Yeah, I guess we’re going to go into the house, like my back gave out. It just never allowed me and I can probably have a surgery. I keep putting it off, because I just want to keep moving around. But eventually I’m gonna have to just gonna get it fixed.”

On struggling to break into a steel cage in WWE:

“It was a padlock on it. It wasn’t a door. I mean, I could have jumped up and grabbed the door and just ripped the door off the hinges. They wanted me to pull the chain and break the chain. I had committed to pulling on that chain to break that lock. Jim Ellis was busy. He had so much sh*t going on. He forgot to take a hacksaw and kind of saw the Master Lock. So Master Lock Mark Henry broke it. He didn’t score it. So he didn’t weaken it enough. So I could just pop it. So when I started pulling on it, it wouldn’t go. That’s why it took so long. I had to go back and look but it was supposed to be like, instantaneous. Do it and go like three or four minutes. Maybe longer. It took for me too, I really broke it. But it was a success. We did the business. But that was a case where you saw something real happen in wrestling that probably will never happen again. I would like to do a reenactment and challenge people to go try it, it will humble, strong, strong people. Because what did that was Mark Henry, the strongest man in the world, lost his sh*t and had to do it. Because I was on TV and failure was not an option. So I mean that’s probably the greatest feat of strength you ever seen in wrestling. I could never do that again. My hands hurt for like, two weeks.”

On Mae Young:

“Sometimes whenever Moolah and the ladies were not on the road, she rode with me. And bro, she used to tell me stories. She was like, You know what, Mark? I understand who you are in the business. And I was like, What do you mean? And she’s like, I see how you help these other kids that and I heard people talk about you when you first started. You know what? F*ck them people. She was tough. She said I went through the same thing. And she told me stories about the boys flashing her, like saying belittling and really horrible things to her, not letting her dress in[locker rooms], she just in broom closets, janitors rooms, stuff like that, so they wouldn’t rib her. Like somebody stole all our clothes one time, put them in a water bucket. Like they hazed the shit out of her. And she just started kicking people in the balls and punching people in the throat. She was like, Hey, if you talk trash to me, at least zip your pants. Gotta learn to look down, kick them in the balls, stomp the sh*t out. And she told me that. She said you know when I was young woman none of these girls in here could touch me, she was confident. I love that, especially with athletes and people that’s doing something like you confident that you’re good interview. I can hold my own against some of the best. If you don’t have that level of confidence, you’re not gonna make it. She had it man. She was just tough. When Bully Ray powerbombs her to a table from the ring to the floor she was like, Do not treat me like an old woman. You better lay it in.”

On breaking the ring with The Big Show:

“I think they told me that day when I got to the arena, and I was like, what? And I’m thinking we got to do it for real. So the easiest way to make a ring fold up cuz I’ve seen rings fold up before. Underneath the rings, they’re all on wires that wire them together to a central point in the middle. And I mean, it’s got so much support. So all you got to do is just not put the wires on. But what if in the middle of the match, something happens? So all of that stuff is set up it’s a magic trick to let all of that stuff happen at the moment that is supposed to happen. Not before. Because then you put people in danger. And I’ve been in the ring where I broke the ropes legitimately. I run to hit the ropes snap broke the steel ring in the corner, fly out tore my quad. So the danger of the ring breaking is a reality but that he and I are doing it. There it had been done before. Right. I mean, I think Show did with Brock before.”

On Paul Wight:

“He was a monster. Like one of the if not the best if not the best, big man athlete of all time. I will put him over me. I will put him over Andre he was a better athlete. Doing this stuff at 6’11 and change almost exactly seven feet tall. Like shoot height, he got billed at 7’1 or whatever. That dude is seven feet tall, basically. And 500 pounds doing Moon salts and Kip ups. Drop kicks. He used to do drop kicks. Just crazy athletic.”

What is Mark Henry grateful for?

“People who make wrestling their life, health, my career and my family.”

Christian Cage Is Doing The Best Work Of His Career! AEW, Coming Out Of Retirement, Adam Copeland

in LATEST EPISODES on June 4, 2024 June 4, 2024

Christian Cage (@christian4peeps) is a professional wrestler signed to AEW. He is also known for his career in WWE where he was simply known as Christian and was part of a legendary tag team with Edge (Adam Copeland). He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at West Coast Creative Studio in Hollywood to talk about his legendary career that started in 1995, getting into the best shape of his life at 50 and why he created Pure Plank with Adam Copeland, doing the best work of his career right now in AEW, pushing the envelope with his patriarchy character, how he was able to come out of retirement after 7 years, his WWE return in 2020, being part of the Royal Rumble in 2021, signing with AEW a month later, the reaction to his debut, being part of the first ever TLC match, memories of his WrestleMania 18 match against DDP in Toronto, what made him leave WWE for TNA in 2005, proving himself as a singles wrestler, how much longer he wants to wrestle before retiring and much more!

Quote I’m thinking about: “Do not fear failure but rather fear not trying.” – Roy T. Bennett

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On the turtleneck:

“I mean, I’ve managed to bring the turtleneck back into fashion. And nobody wears it the way that I wear it, obviously. But you can see my influence, you’re starting to see it sprinkled out throughout not just wrestling, but also in pop culture. People starting to pull out the turtleneck.”

On accepting retirement and mental struggles:

“I accepted it only for the fact that I had a young child and because it was concussion-related injuries, I didn’t question it. My only thought was, I wanted to be able to have a conversation with my daughter when she turned 13 years old. So I took it at face value. I didn’t explore it any further and realised later on that I could come back, but that was the reasoning. Plus I managed to stay busy outside of wrestling, I was doing other things, managing to stay busy. I was doing a show on Fox at the time, Backstage, I was doing the pay-per-view pre-show panels, I was doing a number of other things outside of wrestling. Then when the pandemic hit, much like everybody else, everything that I had that I was working on went away, it all went away. So I found myself, it was a tough time in my life. I had just gone through a divorce, feeling pretty low after that. I’m a pretty private person so I haven’t talked about this much in public but I think it’s an important part of the story for Pure Plank. And yeah, I was going through a very dark period as far as that goes, my work had gone away. My marriage had just dissolved and now on weeks where I didn’t have my daughter, I was literally alone 24 hours a day, seven days a week and it was a very, very lonely existence. I found myself trying to do things to keep busy, I went on my old man walks at night, I would just put my headphones on and just go outside and go for a walk just because I had nobody to talk to, nobody to see, anything. And I got into a little bit of, I was probably a little bit of depression, I’m sure. Feeling low and down on myself and just feeling sorry for myself and I started making unhealthy choices. A lot of that was with the food choices, I was eating not great, I would sit down on the couch at night and what’s better than half a box of Cheez-Its? That’s pretty much what happened on a nightly basis at my house. Maybe drinking a little bit too much, and other things like that. Like I said, I just wasn’t making healthy choices. And my body was feeling it. One day, I happened to walk past a mirror without a shirt on and I did not like what I saw.”

On outworking everyone:

“I’ve always had a bit of a chip on my shoulder, I’ve always felt like [I’m] not being the biggest, the fastest, the strongest. I always felt like I was going to have to work a little bit harder. I used to have a saying every time I went into an arena. I would get out of a car, whether it was a live event, a pay-per-view or a TV, I stepped out of the car. And in my head, I would say to myself today, they’re going to know how good you are, and that was just something to motivate myself because like I said, I always felt like I was fighting from underneath, so to speak. And that was just my mindset that I was gonna just keep fighting.”

On fans who preferred Edge during their tag team days:

“Well again it’s just I go out there and you can’t control [the reaction]. You have to have thick skin in this business or any [business] when you’re out there in front of people because you’re gonna read things about yourself that aren’t flattering, that you don’t like, or people are always gonna have an opinion, especially now with social media. People just will say whatever they want and say things about you and think that. How do you convert them into being fans? You just got to keep going out there and doing your thing, putting in hard work and grinding. That’s what I’ve done my whole career. If people appreciate it, they do, if they don’t, they don’t. That’s where I’m at at this stage of my career. If people don’t like me, I don’t really care.”

On doing the best work of his career:

“So like I said, when I got my career back after being retired for seven years, it was a gift to get it back. And it wasn’t just enough to get it back for me. Okay, I got it back, that’s great. Now, it’s like, how far can we push it? How far can we go with it? I had seven years of lost time to make up for, I didn’t feel like I had accomplished everything that I accomplished. Was I content with what I accomplished? Yes. But did I feel like I’d accomplished everything that I could accomplish? Not even close. So the goal was even to prove at an advanced age that you can still go out there and do it if you apply yourself and you push yourself. It’s taking chances and risks to write. Sometimes you have to go and do things that other people are unwilling to do to stand out and that’s what I’m doing.”

On being allowed to say what he says in his promos:

“I’ve never told anybody what I’m gonna say. Never had it cleared with anybody. I’ve never asked anybody, I just go out there and do it. It’s one of those things, you have to be willing to go places that others are unwilling to go in order to stand out, especially in this day and age. I saw an opportunity that I could jump on, I took it and I rode it, and sometimes things happen you’re not expecting to happen. I said one phrase and it turned into a wildfire. I just embraced it and ran with it.”

On ‘Go f*ck yourself’:

“When he hugged me, and most of the time, 99.9% of the time, you’d hear somebody say no, yes or no. I wanted to leave people’s jaws on the floor with my response, something so out of left field that they weren’t gonna believe that was my response to my childhood lifelong friend. Closer than friends, brothers. I just wanted something that would just get people talking, and it did. I was at a Tool concert. I went in to watch soundcheck and guitarist Adam Jones. I could see him whispering to his security guy that knew that I was there. And he pointed over to me. He’s playing, getting ready for his big show. He looks at me and goes ‘Go f*ck yourself’ from the stage.”

On targeting late fathers:

“Yeah, like I said, I don’t even know how this happened, it just did. It’s like when a shark senses blood in the water, you attack it. So that’s what happened. I saw an opportunity in that and I attacked it. Like I said, the only way to stand out to me in this day and age is to be different. And it’s hard to be different when a lot of things have been done or are being done, and it’s very much a copycat business, if something’s working, you see people start to do it. I’m seeing the influence that a lot of characters not just on our show, but on other shows as well. So when that happens, you start saying, Okay, what I’m doing is working here.”

On where the viciousness comes from:

“I don’t know. It’s like something happens when you step through that curtain, you can’t explain it. I don’t know, I’ll just like look for one thing or one response from the crowd. And then we’ll just kind of roll with that. And go with it.”

On being told he couldn’t wrestle again:

“So the last one [consuccion] that happened, I was kicked in the back of the head. I didn’t lose consciousness but I did have spins, I was spinning, I couldn’t stop spinning and things like that. So they sent me to the concussion center at USF University of South Florida in Tampa. At that point in time too I’m pretty sure that I had post-concussion syndrome. And I probably should have maybe even rested before I started to do these other tests, because I was still having issues, obviously. And anyway, I failed the tests. And I didn’t think anything, they didn’t tell me that I failed them at that point in time. So then I had to go to Washington and this was right before WrestleMania. And I think I was in some sort of multi-man match. I can’t remember what it was. But I saw all the names on the board except for mine for this match, and I was like, that’s weird. So I went into the training room, and I was like, does anybody know why my name is not on this list? And they said I think somebody’s going to talk to you a little bit later. I was like, that doesn’t sound good. So yeah, we got pulled aside a little bit later and they said they were going to medically disqualify me. So it was taken out of my hands, I had no choice in the matter. I couldn’t say, okay, yeah, do you want me to rest for six months? [They said] We’re medically disqualifying you, you’re not allowed to do this anymore.”

Were they saying this was permanent?

“They said it was permanent. I never was sent back to have it reassessed after any amount of time, to be honest with you, so that’s why I took it at face value. I just thought that was probably what was best for my health and all those sorts of things. So then when I got myself back in physical shape at where I wanted to be, I decided that I will go back to that same place that retired me at the USF concussion center and that I wouldn’t tell anybody about it and I would just see what happened from that. So I did the tests and the doctor came in after the test and he said, your test scores were great, you were above average on everything. You weren’t below average on any of your test scores. He said, What are you looking to do? I said I’m looking to finish my career on my own terms, if you’re telling me that I’m crazy, then it’s fine. I’m in no different position than I was when I woke up this morning. But if you tell me that I can do this, it’s opening up doors and opportunities for me. He said I don’t think you’re crazy at all, If you want to do this, you can do it. So then I was motivated even more to get myself back in shape. I’ve never been of the opinion to be like, Hey, if you do this for me, I’ll do this for you. I’ve never been that kind of guy. I’ve always been like, this is what I bring to the table. So then I was super motivated to get back in the best shape of my life, and then go back to whatever entity it was and say, I’m ready to go. If you hire me, this is what you get, instead of hey, if you hire me, I’ll get back in shape in a couple of months. You can’t do that. That’s not the right way to approach it.”

Were you cleared when you had that unsanctioned match on Raw?

“I was not. [But you took a punt?] Probably not the smartest thing to do, but there were ways around it at the time in the Performance Center. So that’s what we did. But I was not happy about that day, because I felt that I could do more. And then when the ratings came in, it was the highest-rated show in a long time. I was like, wow, people really thought I was gonna wrestle and they were excited to see me wrestle. I feel like I kind of let them down. So that was another thing that was in my head that is this how I want to go out? It was unsanctioned. Do I want that to be the last memory people have of me being in the ring?”

On not returning to WWE full-time after the Royal Rumble return:

“I think we were back and forth a little bit and we never got as far as numbers or anything like that. I think it was more like scheduling stuff like what I was willing to do. I think we were trying to get some traction there. A friend of mine, Jon Moxley, called me and we were talking and when he found out that I wasn’t signed he was blown away by that. And he said you should have a conversation with Tony Khan. I was like, I don’t know. And he said, Well, you’re actually an idiot if you don’t, you hold all the cards here. He said you have the ability to pick where you refinish your career.”

On his hyped AEW signing:

“You know how wrestling fans are, right? Nothing’s ever good enough. So when my name was announced, there were some people that were thinking it was going to be somebody else, maybe hoping it was going to be somebody else. I mean, there were a lot of people who were happy with me too. But when you do something like that, that’s not a surprise. When you hype something, you’re giving people the opportunity to have an opinion. Either good or bad and they’re gonna voice that after. I heard all those things that were said after, that maybe it wasn’t big enough for the hype and all those sorts of things. When we were doing these press conferences after I took the TNT Championship, which was basically thrown on the scrap heap, and I revived that title to make it at one point, I’ll die on this hill, that it was as prestigious, if not more prestigious than the world title when I had that run. We were main eventing WrestleDream with it. We were sitting in the scrum after and I had my opportunity to basically say there were people and there’s a lot probably a lot of people in this room that thought that the signing was overhyped, and I just wanted to make them eat their words.”

On when he will retire:

“I always said that I would do it till it wasn’t fun. And that was my barometer on it. How can I not be having fun right now? have no timeline, I signed a contract. I think I have another three years left on this contract. So we’ll get to the end of that, and then see what happens. But you know, I feel like, I have a lot of knowledge. I feel like I don’t know everything, but I know a lot. And I feel like, I think the business differently and I layout matches and I see matches differently than other people do. I would like to, at some point, when the time is right to obviously give back to the business that has done what it’s done for me.”

On having his original finisher stolen:

“Marc Mero stole my TKO. So funny story, he was training to come back from an injury and I was training at Bret Hart’s place in Calgary. When we were training, I did a version of the diamond cutter where I would scoop the guy up onto my shoulders, but I’d spin them off and hit a cutter out of the air. So I did it in the match. And Mark was sitting on the floor watching. He said hey, can you do that again? So I did it again and then he said to me, Hey, man, you want to grab a bite to eat And I was like, Sure. So when we grabbed a bite to eat and then we were just talking about some Japanese wrestling and some different stuff. And then he said, Hey, I’m going back in about a month. I said, okay, cool. And he goes, would you mind if I use that finish? I was like, this is a guy that’s already signed. This is when he was coming back with the boxer gimmick with the shorts and the jacket and the whole deal. So I was like, what are you supposed to say? This guy’s is where I want to be. I said Yeah, I’ll think of something else go ahead and use it, take it. And so he was nice enough to buy me dinner. But like I said, Everything happens for a reason and this finish suits me much more.”

What is Christian Cage grateful for?

“Me, myself and I.”

Sonya Deville On Returning From Injury, Liv Morgan, MMA to WWE

in LATEST EPISODES on May 30, 2024 May 30, 2024

Sonya Deville (@sonyadevillewwe) is a WWE Superstar appearing on the Raw brand. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Philadelphia during WrestleMania week to talk about recovering from her torn ACL, winning the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship with Chelsea Green, how she met her wife, her particularly violent match with Liv Morgan, transitioning from MMA to WWE, being the Smackdown GM, a possible match with Rhea Ripley and much more!

Quote I’m thinking about: “When success finds you, it’s because you were looking for it.” – Larry Fitzgerald

On not realizing something was wrong when she injured her knee:

“I had no idea. I must be so naive to this. I’ve been an athlete, I was like, I’m fine. I tagged out. Alright, I’m lying. I knew something was wrong. It felt a little weird. I kind of like my knee buckled and I was like, Oh, that was weird. But like, I’m fine. I have eight minutes left in this match. We’re about to go to a commercial break. I need to get it together. And so I tagged out to Chelsea and I got on the apron. Luckily, we’re in a commercial break. So I was like alright, let me suss out the situation. So I’m hopping on the apron and anyone in the live audience was probably like, What the heck is she doing? But I’m hopping up in down on the apron trying to gauge if I can trust my knee. And sure enough, it was sketchy at best. I was like, Oh God, well, I’m in a match with Bianca, Charlotte, Chelsea, it’s a tag match, no less. I’m not about to change the entire match right now on live TV. So I was getting the comeback run on me and I had another eight minutes to wrestle. So I was like, we just got to do this. So Chelsea tagged me in for the hot tag. I had two comebacks ran on me. We did some falsies, I think a superplex. And the whole time I was like, Oh my God, I hope I don’t fall flat on my face. And sure enough, we made it to the end and I limped back, I got my rental car, went to my hotel, tried to pretend like it didn’t happen, because in this business, no one wants to be injured and out of play. Because I just won my first title. I was so sad, I was like, It’s fine. It’s just a sprain, I’ll wrap it. Long story short, I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. And I fell face-first into the wall. And I was like, Oh, I think something’s wrong.”

How much pain were you in?

“No pain. I swear. I know that sounds very weird. I’ve torn my ACL and every ACL is different. We’re not all created equal in that sense, but I didn’t feel any pain. I just felt instability. And it wasn’t even swollen. And then the doctor looked at the MRI, and he’s like, your ACL has probably been torn for a long time.”

On having to vacate the championship:

“20 days, 21 days [before] who’s counting? 30 seconds. I was so devastated. I mean, I’d been with the company for nine years. And of course, part of being in the WWE is to one day grab that brass ring and get gold around your waist and that’s what I had been striving for, of course. So I finally got my first championship and I was so happy. I was so elated. I was ready to make those titles mean more than ever before. And the injury came, which is probably why I ran back to my hotel and hid in my room and didn’t tell anyone I was injured.”

On common fan questions:

“Okay, it’s one of two things. Funny enough I think it’s mostly I loved you as GM. Which was always like, Oh, wow, really, because I loved I loved being GM. I think it was a natural fit. It was great. It was the evolution of my character. But when I think of, you know, I want to be in the ring. I want to be hitting people. I want to be hurting people. I want to be cutting promos and hurting people with my words too. But that’s what a lot of people say also a lot of people throw back to the pandemic era when me and Mandy had that huge rivalry, which was probably one of my favourite durations of my career also me and Naomi had a really cool feud. So those are like, I think the maybe the top three Yeah.”

On her amazing suits:

“My wife would love to enter this conversation. So we have our closet that we share. And then we have another bedroom in our house. It’s no longer a room. It is the Sonya Deville suit display. And my wife, you know, it’s the ongoing beef between us because I take up probably 60% of our closet that we share and the bedroom next door. She’s not happy about it. I think I need to do something we need to do some rearranging. But for now. Yeah, it’s the suit display. So basically looks like um, maybe 50 suits or so. And then it goes into Sonya Deville. Then we have the MMA gear from back in the day. So there’s a bunch of that. Yeah, there’s a wide variety.”

On the Otis and Mandy kiss in the pandemic era:

“Bittersweet, but life works in such mysterious ways. I always say everything happens for a reason. And I’m a firm believer in that. But it was one of those moments where I was like, wow, I think I just had the run of a lifetime. And it was in front of nobody, except the millions, of course watching at home. There was so much interaction and love on socials and online and everything. But being a performer, being in the WWE, my favourite part is walking out there and hearing you guys. I want to hear the audience whether you’re booing me out of the building, whether you’re cheering, whatever it is, I just want to hear and feel the passion from that. So walking into the empty arena, when we know we’re having iconic moments like the Mandy, Otis kiss, like the Sonya Mandy turn, like, all these moments, I’m like, oh my god, the crowd reaction would be so good. And, you know, at one point, it was like 20 NXT talent in the audience. And they’re booing and I’m like, This is crazy. This would be so iconic in front of in front of a crowd. But it was iconic nonetheless, to be a part of a cool story like that.”

On future dream matches:

“So it’s not a real answer, but it’s an answer. One of my favourites, I’ve had a million matches with her but not a lot televised, and never a singles televised to my knowledge. Asuka is one of my favourite opponents. We would have awesome matches down in NXT seven years ago, eight years ago on live events and road loops. And it was my favourite match to this day, but we never got an angle on TV. And then it would be like, I go to Raw she got to SmackDown she go to SmackDown I go to Raw and we just keep playing tag and not catching each other. So I was like, if I could paint the perfect picture, I would love to have like a two-three seg match with Asuka and just mess each other up.”

On meeting her wife Toni:

“She slid in my DMs. Yeah, it works. Well, okay, I’ll give you the full story. She’ll kill me if I just say that. But she was following me for a while. So I followed her back. And, you know, we’d stalked each other’s page as us millennials do. And, yeah, I always thought she was like, dream, like goals, like, just everything I wanted in a future wife, but she was in a prior relationship and so was I, and we were respectful. Then we both got single. And she said, Hey, and of course, I saw it, because I stalked her page and then popped up in my little primary folder, because the algorithm knew that I wanted to see that. And I was like, Oh, she’s just saying hey, like, she want to just ask me a random question. And I was like, Hey, what’s up? And she was like, I haven’t done this in a while. Haven’t been single in a while, like something, implying she was newly single. And I was like, Oh, now I was like, Where do you live? Do you come from the northeast? And she’s like, Yeah, and I was like, awesome. I have a show in Albany, New York. Come, I’ll get you tickets. And I’ll take you to dinner after. And the rest is history.”

What is Sonya Deville grateful for?

“My wife and family, my health and being able to do what I love.”

Brooklyn Brawler’s 33-Year WWE Career, The Term “Jobber”, The Rock’s First Opponent, Beating Triple H

in LATEST EPISODES on May 28, 2024 May 28, 2024

Steve Lombardi (@brawlerreal) is a professional wrestler known for his 33-year career in WWE where he wrestled under the name Brooklyn Brawler. He was also known as Abe “Knuckleball” Schwartz and Kimchee. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Indianapolis, IN to talk about how his career got started, having matches with pretty much everyone including Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff, The Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart and many others, being The Rock’s first WWE opponent in a dark mark in 1996, getting a win over Triple H on Smackdown in 2000, the hilarious backstage segment he did with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, his legacy as the greatest enhancement talent ever, whether he should be inducted in the WWE Hall Of Fame and much more.

Quote I’m thinking about: “Going from being worried about what might happen to being excited about what might happen is only a mindset shift away”

On his in-ring career:

“Well, the career is beyond my expectations. It all began when I was 16 years old. I used to watch wrestling on television in Brooklyn, New York, but it was called Lucha Libre, all the competition was in Spanish. I did not care about the commentary I was looking at the guys and I was saying holy cow. It was Bruno Sammartino, The Valiant Brothers, people like that, Superstar Billy Graham… and I’m 16 years old, I’m in my mother’s backyard, looking at wrestling magazines with my brother and my friends not realising I am going to wrestle every one of these guys on their way out. And I actually had Bruno Sammartino’s last match of his entire career, which he reminded me of every autograph session I was on, he was a great guy. He really was a fantastic person. He had no ego. And he just had all good intentions in life.”

Did you ever think this would be possible?

“It was possible to me because I got a spark inside that became confidence. And when you get confidence inside of you, and you believe it with all your heart and soul, people around you can feel it. But the people around me were telling me that I was never going to make it. [They said] It’s a dumb dream, you’re not going to reach that goal. I call those people inspiration. I said You’re telling me I’m not going to do it, you just drive me even more towards doing it. They said don’t you feel it? Aren’t you worried about it? I was 16, why is the 16-year-old able to say fear and worry does not exist? Because it has never changed the outcome of any situation. They looked at me like you’re too young to say that. And I knew it.”

Where’d you get that from?

“I always felt that I just made it up or I’m think I read it because I was 16, I said just crazy things when I was 16. The teacher says What’s your theory? I raised my hand, I said upon a possible explanation, why did I say this? It’s freaky things like that, the speed of light is 186,000 miles per second, things are retained in my mind. So anyway, just as I got older, I started getting more into wrestling, mostly bodybuilding because I was looking at the wrestler’s bodies. I looked at Bruno Sammartino and I worked my chest and I got really big. My brother was looking at Superstar Billy Graham, he got biceps like bowling balls. So it started like that. So then finally, someone gave me tickets to Madison Square Garden. I’m watching the show. The guy next to me says to me I could tell this is your first wrestling match you’ve been to. I said how’s that? He goes, because the way you’re watching the match, you’re watching it like you’re like you’re intrigued by it. You’re looking at it in a way that no one else looks at. I said, I’m fascinated. He said to me, Well if you want to meet all these guys, they go to this bar that’s about four blocks away. He goes, wait about an hour, first of all is gonna take you about an hour for The Garden to empty because it’s 23,000 people. Go to that bar, and you’ll meet all these guys that you’re watching in the ring right now. So I looked at my friends, because they were with me and I said what do you think? They said, We’re in. So we walked because you take the train, there are no cars in New York we were kids. I walk up to Mr. Fuji, I said, Mr. Fuji, I’m so I am so intrigued it’s my first wrestling match. I can’t believe it or not, I think I fell in love with this one. And he says to me, can you not see we are talking?! you’re interrupting me! I said, Okay, I apologise. I went and sat at the bar. And I said, Holy cow, who’s sitting next to me at the bar, Jimmy Superfly Snuka. So I say, Jimmy, he goes, brother, he became a very good friend of mine. And I said, Jimmy, I just wanted to let you know, I’ve never been to a wrestling match before. I watched you fly off the top rope and I watched you wrestle, it was amazing. And if for some reason, I want to put all my heart and soul, I want to be a wrestler. He turned to me and said, If you believe in what you want to do, and you have in your heart, you could do anything you want. If you want to be a wrestler, you will be a wrestler. I never forgot those words. Later, Jimmy and I became really good friends. I know his daughter. We travelled together, we shared rooms together. Just my first year in wrestling, when I first got into WWE, they give me a deal where they said, if you show up and somebody doesn’t show up, we’ll will pay everything. And if everybody shows up, you will not work, you will not get paid, you will not get your expenses paid. And I said fair enough, I’ll do it. So I did it. I made $43,000 That year, because everybody was, not screwed up but they had demons and they would miss shows and do all this and that.”

“But the thing is, as time was passing I was getting better and better and better. Then Ricky Steamboat came in. They used to put a paper on the wall and show all the matches. And my name was next to Ricky Steamboat. And I wne tup to him and said Mr. Steamboat. My name is Steven Barnett I’m going to wrestle you tonight. He says, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I just want to let you know, I do not beat dish rags. He goes, I’m going to give you a competitive match, you’re going to have offence, and you’re going to really, really have a great match. I said, really? So then we go in the ring. Ricky Steamboat was a fantastic wrestler, he’s over in the Carolinas, and we had a great match. And I mean, this guy was selling for me. He’s doing double leapfrogs he’s doing this. He’s doing that. And then I come back and all the other wrestlers have seen it. I remember Tito Santana came up and says How did it feel? I said I could always do this. I said, you guys were always just not giving me any offence. From that day on they started giving me offence. Then time was passing and all of a sudden, four years pass or something, Bobby Heenan comes up to me. He says, Steve, I’ve been watching you, you learn how to wrestle, now I’m going to teach you how to make money. He goes, I am going to create you as the Brooklyn brawler. You’re gonna wrestle with a rival of mine who’s in my family right now Terry Taylor and I am going to take you under my wing, you are now in the Heenan family. So all of a sudden I go from Brooklyn Brawler getting beat every night. And now he says we’re a Yankee shirt.”

On wearing the Yankees shirt:

“The only reason I wore a Yankee shirt is that in the 80s Everybody hated it. He says wear a Yankee shirt because you’re gonna get a lot of heat. He said wear a leather cap, and put on a cigar. And then we were in Hershey, Pennsylvania and he goes, come outside with me. He says you see that mud right there? He goes roll around in that mud. I said, Bobby, come on, stop joking with me. He goes, No. wants you to be a grimy, greasy, dirty-ass-kicking Brooklynite. I said anything you say, Bobby, I’ll do anything you want. And then I just, I just started winning every single night he was walking out with me. And people were weird. Like when I went to the God who they were asking for autographs of the Brooklyn Brawler and not knowing that I was Steve Lombardi because I had a leather cap on. They weren’t putting two and two together.”

On having The Rock’s first match in WWE:

“Then the magic phone rings, it was Howard Finkel. He said, ‘Steve, Vince told me to give you a call. We want you to wrestle a new guy who has never been in the ring, and never wrestled, ever. He is going to wrestle you in Corpus Christi, Texas, it was in 1996, that man’s name is Dwayne Johnson.’ I’m The Rock’s first match ever in front of 15,000 people. When I talk to Rocky he says, Well, you had my right dad’s first match in WWF too. And he actually did an episode on Young Rock, season two episode eight. But I met Rock. I was driving with Rock and I said, How many matches did you have? He goes, Steve, this is my first match. I said your first match in WWF? He says no. My first match ever in my life in front of an audience. Then we went to the dressing room, we wrote down, we talked about the match. I told him let’s do this. Let’s do that. First of all he said to me, we were walking with Michael Hayes down the hallway and he goes how’s the Brooklyn Brawler gonna beat me? I turned to him and I said, Vince did not bring you all the way here to lose. You are going over. And then Rock says going over? That is unheard of for a person’s first match, and in front of 15,000 people. I said to myself, this is going to be fun as hell for me. This is going to be so fun and so easy it’s ridiculous. Because he had a great look. People would say that’s 90% I say it’s 10% because I’ve wrestled football players, I’ve wrestled bodybuilders. I’ve wrestled guys that look like they could win Mr. Olympia, but they got two left feet. I knew he had agility, because I’ve seen him work out in the ring. So he walks into the ring in Corpus Christi. First of all, it goes to Bruce Prichard, he says give me some music. And then Bruce Prichard gives them some really crappy music. And he goes, that’s the last time I’ll for music. He says it in in the commentary in Young Rock and he and he walks out. And he just gives generic like, hey, and people are going get out here. We don’t want to see you, go back to Florida. And he’s taking it to heart. I loved it. Not because they booed him, but because I know psychology. The psychology is, the more they boo you, the more they’re going to cheer you. So I went to ring and I took him to the ropes. I said just listen to me, believe in me. Self-belief is the secret to success. And that is the bottom line. And he goes to me Kanaka, which means friend in Samoan. He goes, I will believe you. I took him to the ropes and I hit him once and I go I’m the man on the man. I went to throw him in he gave me a backdrop. And then people booed him again. And he says these people hate me. He’s whispering to me, these people hate me, I said watch the magic. Then I said to him, watch what happens. Then he did a bunch of high spots where he jumped to the second rope. He did a flying press and then he tried to show boat and he did a kip up, it was like showboating but he was showing me his athleticism. He was showing the people his athleticism. They were booing the hell out of him. I said, Watch. I kicked him in the stomach and I beat the hell out of him to the point where people thought he could never win. Then I flipped them over and I put them in a reverse chin lock, which means he’s on his butt. I’m on my knees. I got him in a headlock. Then he takes his hand and he puts it straight out. Then he starts shaking his hand. Then he starts raising it. Now this is the psychology of the business that no one realises. He says to me, first of all, he stood up he looked up at me. He goes, what do we do now? And then he says, this is where my dad taught me it’s not about the wrestling. It’s about what the people think. I said, if people believe in you, they are going to let you know. And you could hear us say that in Young Rock. And then as He’s raising his hand, people are going silent. Then all of a sudden, as his hand gets all the way up. We’re both standing up, I still got his head. I said, Now here’s your comeback, make it a good one. And then he gives me two elbows in his stomach. He throws me around like a rag doll beats the hell out of me. He gives me a sunset flip 1 2 3. 15,000 people stand up out of their seats yelling We love Dwayne. That was the creation of Dwayne Johnson. After that, he got a contract. Then he became The Rock and then he got confidence. He had confidence. And I just talked to him on the phone like, a week ago. I told him, I said, you believed in yourself. The guy is like, he’s not opening doors. He’s kicking doors open. Today’s the first day of the start of his football company and he just put a video out today. This man has got self-belief. He’s got confidence. He realises that you don’t get opportunity, you make opportunity. He sent me a giant picture that’s about the size of a 46-inch TV set. And it’s got him hip-tossing me in the first match we ever had at the top of the picture. And he’s got $7 in glass. And in gold on the bottom it says, Steve, I had $7 to my name when I had this match, I can never thank you enough. I mean, to me, it’s just hanging on my wall at home. I love it. Even though he was worth, millions and millions and millions and millions of dollars, that meant more than the money.”

On being many top star’s first opponent:

“I had Bret Hart’s first WWF match. I had Mark Henry’s first match of his whole life. I had Ricky Steamboat’s first WWF match. I had so many, Warrior. I wrestled him about 47 days. One time during our tenure, they came to me and they said, We’re going to ask Warrior to have you win today to test his attitude. And I know he would have said f*ck this I don’t want to do this. I don’t care about this. I took him in the room and I said, Jim, I shouldn’t I don’t know if I should do this or shouldn’t do this. But you’re my friend and I care about you. They’re going to ask you to do a job for me. What I want you to do, and this is your choice, is to say anything for the business, I will do anything. And he did it. I beat the Ultimate Warrior that night. And then after that he became The Ultimate Warrior after they tested his attitude. And then after that he beat Hulk Hogan and was on top of the world. And he was on bad outs with the company then he was on good terms and he went into the Hall of Fame.”

On losing a lot of matches:

“You know what the funny thing about it was I enhanced talent, I didn’t lose. I chose to do that. I could have fought the other way and chose to be a big star and my longevity would have never been 32 years. But they realised my talent was I can hide their weaknesses, and I can accentuate their strengths.”

On becoming Doink:

“So The Rock match passes and it was always a phone call to me. I don’t know why my life is like a phone call. The phone rings, I’m washing my car in the driveway. My wife goes. Vince is on the phone and wants to talk to you. I said Vince? She goes yeah, it’s Vince McMahon. She’s covering the speaker. [Vince says] Steve, I need you to do something. I said anything you want Vince. [Vince says] I know that. I need you to fly to Calgary. I need you to wrestle Bret Hart in the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in his hometown, which is the biggest match you can be in. I says no problem. I had Bret’s first match in Cincinnati Gardens when he came in. I love Bret, I would do anything for Bret any day of the week. I said to him I’ll do it. He goes, but the only thing is I want you to do it as Doink. I said to him, Vince, I don’t mind the wrestling. I have no worry of fear of wrestling Bret because I wrestled him many times and I’m comfortable with him. And I like him and he likes me. I said but the paint job? I mean, come on.”

Was this the first time you played Doink?

“The regular Doink was suspended for some reasons that I don’t even know, so I can’t comment on. It was Matt Bourne. So I said to Vince, that’s the only thing I worry about. He goes, Oh, I knew you were gonna say that. I have the plan right here. Here he goes. The plan is we’re gonna follow you from Detroit. We’re gonna fly you to Cleveland, where Matt Borne’s wife is gonna give you the Doink outfit in baggage claim in Cleveland. Then you’re going to get back on the plane. You’re going to fly to Calgary. You’re going to meet Jill the makeup girl. She is going to teach you how to paint the Doink face and give you a diagram and all the necessities you need to paint it up as Doink that we’re gonna fly you to Calgary and you’re gonna wrestle Bret in the main event. I did all this in two days, I said to Vince, you can count on me. He goes, I know I can. I know I can count on you. And I did it. And the funny part about it was, it’s going from I’m The Brooklyn Brawler! I’m gonna get my hands on you to [clown music]. When I walked through the curtain, he was the hottest heel in WWF. People erupted and it was Brett’s hometown, sort of the pop was bigger than ever. So we had that match that was dark, unfortunately. But you could ask Bret.”

On being called a jobber:

“They see it now. They used to say the word jobber. I don’t care, because my comeback used to be ‘Everybody’s a jobber and your boss is your jobbee.’ A job just means you have a job. They call it enhancement talent and they are starting to get it, then they call it an architect. Then they call it ring general and they even called me a ring general in The Rock’s show. [They said] ‘Rock, he’s a ring general, listen to everything he says.’ I said I’m not a ring general. I’m the most humble guy that you know because all I want to do is make everybody look great. I did fail at times, I wrestled bodybuilders that had come out of Mr. Olympia who looked like they could do it, but they had 2 left feet and they just couldn’t do it. They moved like robots.”

On a possible Hall of Fame induction:

“I think The Brooklyn Brawler has more contributions more accolades to be in the Hall of Fame. I believe that being in the Hall of Fame is their choice. I am not losing sleep over not being in the Hall of Fame. But I believe that there’s no way in life that one day I won’t be in the Hall of Fame. I just hope it’s not when I’m dead. You know what I mean? I’ve done so much. And the one thing that no one can ever take away from me is my memories. My memories are second to none.”

On nearly becoming WWE Champion:

“Bret Hart said to Vince, and you could ask Bret this. He said ‘I will not drop the belt to Shawn Michaels’, that’s the Montreal Screwjob. ‘But I will drop it to Steve Lombardi.’ And he said that I quote him, and he would tell you right now if you interviewed him, he will tell you that he said that. But of course, Vince wouldn’t do it. I told him that and he goes to me if you did wrestle me in The Garden I wasn’t gonna kick out. I said, ‘You know what would have happened Bret? I would have got fired. Because if I didn’t throw my body off for you, Vince would have said it was my fault for pinning you.’ He goes, That’s not fair. I said, Life isn’t fair.”

On his popularity in New York:

“I could walk out right now in Barclays Center on Monday, which I tweeted out. I don’t know if you’ve seen that. I said, ‘What would happen if the Brooklyn Brawler walked out in Barclays Center on WWE Raw?’ That’s all I said, 200 likes in like 20 seconds. People would become unglued because I was at one time the first show ever in the Barclays Center, and I won a six man match. It was me, The Miz and Del Rio against 3MB and I beat Jinder Mahal in a Boston crab, they call it the Brooklyn crab, whatever, they put a spin on it. But the funny part about it was now this is something no one knows about. After I did this, they put a picture on the wall in the Barclays Center of me and Jinder Mahal on the wall, right next to Madonna, and all these different people. And Vince hated it. He hated it. So Vince said, ‘You should take it down.’ So then all of a sudden, he’s like, it’s your fault the picture is up there. I said, ‘How’s it my fault? I don’t own the building. I don’t own anything.’ He was playing a stupid joke. But anyway, he took it down. He took it down and the picture the boys were loving it. They were like freaking out, I move the boys would take a picture of it, tweet it out, and it would do all this stuff. And then he said to me, ‘Well, I’m putting you in the ring with Ryback.’ He wanted to punish me the following day. Ryback comes up to me, he goes, You know what? I’m gonna give you a match like you are a main eventer.”

What is The Brooklyn Brawler grateful for?

“My past, my wife and the future.”

Ivar On His Singles Run, Crazy Athleticism, Injury Update For Erik, Viking Raiders

in LATEST EPISODES on May 23, 2024 May 23, 2024

Ivar (@ivar_wwe) is a professional wrestler with WWE. He is in a tag team with Erik called The Viking Raiders. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Philadelphia to talk about the incredible athleticism he has his size, how he got paired with his tag team partner Erik, working as a pro wrestler since 2001, the name changes from War Raiders to War Machine to The Viking Experience and now The Viking Raiders, William Regal being the reason they signed with WWE, his recent run as a singles competitor, Valhalla putting antlers on Michael Cole, how his match with Kofi Kingston changed his career and much more!

Quote I’m thinking about:
The biggest mistake we make in our life is thinking we have time.” – Kobe Bryant

On being surprisingly athletic:

“When I was a kid, I had a trampoline and I definitely did a lot of flips on the trampoline. But having a trampoline builds the confidence to even attempt it. So having that confidence then slowly becoming a professional wrestler then trying in the ring. Having the confidence to do stuff on the trampoline gave me the confidence to do it in the ring.”

On building the confidence to do it in the ring:

“You just do it. At least for me it was just do it. I know guys who have to work on the backflip, go from the first rope or have someone in the ring and guide them over with the flip. But with me, it was just go and do it, that was it.”

On being paired with Erik:

“It was Ring of Honor, it was the 2014 Top Prospect Tournament in Ring of Honor, we’d never met before. And we ended up wrestling in the finals, where I won. I beat Eric in the finals, 2014 top prize for winning. But then Ring of Honor wonder what to do with us. And they put us together as a team and then we set the world on fire.”

On previous ring names:

“So the beginning half of my career I was handsome Johnny. So much so that there’s still a lot of guys who call me handsome, Kofi still calls me handsome, Tommaso, my wife calls me handsome, we get in a fight and she still calls me handsome, it’s hilarious. So handsome Johnny was a big one. I did the Duke of Elegance Don Chesterfield for a minute who was also a backyard wrestling character I brought into into pro wrestling. Todd Hansen, the brand new bad, Warbeard Hansen and then ended up in Ring of Honor as Hanson Rowe.”

On the name change when signing with WWE:

“We knew coming into NXT that our names had to change. Mainly because right around time that Ring of Honor names us War Machine there was an MMA fighter who got in a lot of trouble. A lot of things. We don’t want to mention it. So we had the conversation with Triple H, he said I can’t have kids Google that, right? So we’re like Alright, so then we came to a bunch of names and War Raiders is what we settled on. So we had a little bit of the element from the Indies where we were War Machine, and a little bit more Viking going forward with the Raiders, no problem, and the fans were fine with it. They were fine with it. And I think we asked if we could keep our Hanson and Rowe names because we were associated with that, with the titles in New Japan, Ring of Honor like so if people did searches they pop up, lineage. Hunter was totally cool with that.

So that’s how it started but when we got called up, yeah, that was a little rough. So the way the story goes, Vince loves Vikings. So he found out there’s a team in NXT that were Vikings and he’s like yes, I want them, and now he wanted Viking in our name. And they couldn’t pass anything through legal, there’s already a Vikings football team, already a Vikings TV show. So none of the names they were trying, whatever they were, they weren’t getting through. Then somebody, I won’t say who, because it was asked in the meeting, what are they? How to describe them? Then somebody describes us as like oh they’re this, they’re that, they’re like a Viking experience and it was that’s it, they’re The Viking Experience. Not one person was happy or okay with that except for the one man. So we were stuck and then our debut, we find out last minute that were coming in. We get flight cancellations, it was in Montreal. We don’t land internationally in Montreal until, I didn’t even get into the building until almost 5 pm the day of our debut, so we couldn’t even talk to him. We get there and we just see like on the Tron Viking Experience, Oh man, what is going on? So we went to talk to him and be like, Look, we can’t be this amusement park ride name. And we talked to him and like, he respected it and we went there and we were told about the whole Viking thing. So we were told, like, if you’re gonna pitch names, just make sure it says Viking in it. So we had like, six or seven names like names that we had picked. We’d already given up on our real regular names Eric and Ivar, no problem, whatever. That wasn’t worth even trying. So we’re just trying to change because the tag team name was so bad. It was awful. Still haunts us to this day. And when we are listing off these names, we got to Viking Raiders. And he stopped to say look, this is how we’re going to introduce you to the audience, the main roster audience and if it doesn’t work, we’ll change it going forward. And literally two days later on the website, it changed.”

On how Erik is recovering:

“He was just here. We just did the meet and greet for the weekends. It’s just, I mean, it’s neck surgery. So yeah, it’s just a matter of time. And everybody’s neck and heels differently. So it’s a matter of getting cleared. So that I mean, he’s doing great, physically great. It’s just doctors need to clear him. And he needs to get back to in the ring and so it’ll take some more time.”

On who he has helped to train:

“I’ve trained guys like Kofi Kingston, guys like Tommaso Ciampa. Guys, like Dijak in NXT, Oney Lorcan for an NXT. I trained Mercedes Mone. I was one of her trainers, she had three trainers I was one of them. So it’s just it’s a long list. Pretty much most people who came through New England at some point, I helped train.”

On the match against Kofi Kingston:

“I mean, you could say that. But I think it’s because Kofi is an amazing human being. That’s what it comes down to, unselfish, and all the stars aligned. It was the night that started this whole singles run, it was the night that Eric was taken off TV because they discovered atrophy and he needed the the neck thing. So we were scheduled for two out three falls match with The New Day, that match got scrapped. And then they had they decided to put me and Kofi into a singles match instead, but they didn’t cut our time. So we had the same amount of time as we would have had for two or three falls match. Then I’m like, this is probably my last match because historically, when the one tag guys goes out, both tag guys, so I said to Kofi this is probably my last match, I’ll be out with while he’s getting fixed up. It’s like, alright, let’s just do it, let’s just do the match, let’s kill it. And that’s what we did. And after the match, I got called over and they said, Hey Ivar, do you mind sticking around in singles stuff, while Eric’s out? Absolutely!”

What is Ivar grateful for?

“To be here, the love and support and I can still be here.”

Hornswoggle Is HILARIOUS! WeeLC, Fit Finlay, WrestleMania Moments

in LATEST EPISODES on May 21, 2024 May 21, 2024

Dylan Postl (@dylanpostl) is a professional wrestler best known for his time in WWE where he performed under the name Hornswoggle. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Indianapolis, IN to talk about his book “Life Is Short And So Am I”, how he started as a backyard wrestler, getting discovered by WWE, debuting with Fit Finlay, being involved in the storyline as Vince McMahon’s illegitimate son, why the WeeLC match was so memorable for him, taking Mr. Kennedy’s finisher off the ladder at WrestleMania 23, his friendship with Kofi Kingston, being named the Anonymous Raw GM, his son Landon wanting to be a pro wrestler, his podcast called “Going Postl” and much more!

Check out Dylan’s podcast “Going Postl” here: https://www.youtube.com/@dylanpostl

Quote I’m thinking about: “Don’t yuck other people’s yums”

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On the WrestleMania 23 bump from Mr. Kennedy:

“The first WrestleMania, we’re talking through the match and we’re planning it out WrestleMania week at the hotel. They always had separate rooms with practice rings or walkthrough rings. And we’re like, at one point Swoggle you’re going to try to climb for the thing and Kennedy is going to powerbomb me off it, the original plan was a Power Bomb. I don’t like power bombs never have. Because when I was backyard wrestling, I took a bad one like scorpioned weirdly, and it was very weird. And I never took them because I’m falling backwards really high. Every time he was like practising on the crash pad I would turn and I remember Fit and Johnny going, I don’t know about that. I’m thinking like, Sh*t, this is my WrestleMania moment. I’m screwing it up. So they’re talking through the match and I go over to Ken [Kennedy] I go, Hey, I have an idea. Can you give me your finish off the ladder? And he goes I don’t know, man. I go, let’s try it. So we set up another ladder while everyone’s talking on the outside of the ring we’re in the ring. We’re setting up our ladder. I’m climbing one. And he picks me up on the other crash pads here. He picks me up on the other. And all I hear is Finley. And with his typical echo, here we go, and it was one of those he did it under the crash pad. And I was like, Yep, it’s happening. I look right at Johnny. Let’s do it. And it was one of those things where I legitimately did not think it would be such a moment. At that time, the day of WrestleMania, we walked through the pickup, because now we’re in the ring, and the ladders are moving. And I’m going, alright, let’s do it. That’s what I knew. I was like, this could be big. And I didn’t think it would be such a lasting moment. I mean, that was 17 years later.”

On WrestleMania 24:

“I had that entrance and I just saw faces. And we had the whole thing with Bradshaw in that match. And it was such an awesome story, I come to find out years later it was supposed to be Finley and Vince at that WrestleMania. Not only that, but they were going to try to make it for a WWE title. I was like, man, if it was against Vince, the JBL match was enormous, build to it and everything. If it was against Vince, can you imagine how much of that build would have been like at that time? Yeah. But man, I am very grateful, the match was so fun. And JBL is just the man. He’s the absolute man. And he’d been nothing but great with me. There’s a spot with a trash can in that match that wasn’t talked about. Literally, the last second I saved my own life by just going no, he just whips his trash can because he saw me that’s him thinking on the fly. And he whips the trashcan. I had no idea of it. It wasn’t talked about. But it’s like the highlight of the match.”

On being the punchline:

“It always made me laugh because it was like, Oh, we don’t have an answer. It’s Hornswoggle. Vince’s son, Anonymous GM. All of this stuff was like, Oh, we don’t have anything. Oh, it’s just it’s Dylan. But I love it. It was great. There’s two things I didn’t care for the whole time being there. And it was like when Mae Young gave birth to me as the New Year’s Baby. I remember that. And then when they dressed me up as a cow, again with Torito it was like those two I was like I can see the writing on the wall here guys. I was at my heavy stage in my life. I can see the writing on the wall. But I wasn’t about to go, nope. It was TV time, man, letting me live my dream. The only thing I wanted to do since I was four years old, was work for WWE, and be on television. Why would I say no? Why? So I can spend more time at home not booked or in catering not booked or all that? Why would I say no? Again, my dad put it very, very well, one time when I was home for a year straight I was home, not booked. He goes Dylan, there paying you to get you to live your dream. Whether you’re used once a year, or once a week, get to live your dream.”

On blood coming back in WWE:

“Why did people want blood? I truly feel it’s not because of The Attitude Era. It’s because we were told online absolutely no blood. No blood anymore. All these sponsors don’t want blood this, that, the only thing. When they got it. That’s like the f*cking Attitude Era. They’re just doing it. They’re just doing it. They’re not going back to the man we need to go to 96 we need to do 96 All over. Who knows if we ever see it again. I don’t think we’re gonna see it weekly like we did in the Attitude Era. But it’s cool man. Like, I truly feel like everything is compared. Why can’t we as wrestling fans, including myself, because I still find myself doing it. I’m a wrestling fan like we all are. Why can’t we as wrestling fans just enjoy wrestling?”

On when he didn’t enjoy wrestling:

“When I was unbooked at WWE and sitting home. I was bitter. I was still pitching stuff weekly.”

Were you still watching?

“I was still watching it. I think out of spite, very unhealthy things. I think out of spite. Like I should be on this show that sucked, same as today’s fans. That sucks they should be doing something else. But I don’t think ever again I’ll ever not be a wrestling fan. Especially with my son now, man. We love it. We watch everything. Literally, we love wrestling. Love it. And it’s just fun. It’s our bond. It’s like, I don’t know, sports. Shocking. I wasn’t a sports player growing up. I didn’t have the body for it.”

On being paired with Great Khali:

“It was just a random Hey, you weren’t booked, we’re gonna do this. [Impersonates Vince McMahon] God dammit. Can you imagine them two next to each other? And then Natalya. It’ll be great! Misfits look at them! Damn freak show. [Normal voice] I loved it. I was on TV. It’s great. Khali was a buddy of mine. He turned into my first riding partner. Me, Daivari, Khali and Mark Henry. Daivari drove, Khali rode shotgun, me sitting behind Khali, I don’t need legroom and then Mark Henry behind Daivari. Mark Henry would fall asleep. Khali liked to smoke in cars, pissed all of us off but we’re not going to tell the giant, he was in the Longest Yard. But Khali would smoke and Mark Henry would smell it and would say God dammit put it out. It’s f*cking fires them up too. I would like to as I did with a few a good amount of locker rooms. I like to poke the bear I like to maybe start the anger and argument. And then I would just leave. I love it and makes me happy. I’m called the Cartman of group chats. I just literally just enter get people going and then I will not respond for a couple of hours. But I loved Khali man, I still do. He’s the best and he didn’t need to do it. He had an acting career. Didn’t need to do, he’s the best.”

On the scariest moment of his career:

“Wee LC. That’s the most talked about match I’ve ever done. I will never top it. I will never do anything cooler have never done anything cooler than that match. It was scary because it was in New Jersey, who behind Chicago is the most like heel crowd, wanting to get themselves over crowd. But it was like, I didn’t know how they would react, it’s two midgets. One a bull, a midget bull and a midget Rockstar going into a match on the pre-show. First thing that crowd sees that night. With mini ladders and mini tables, mini chairs, mini commentary and mini announcer I didn’t know how they’d react. I thought they’re gonna blow the sh*t up. I really did. And I remember being backstage in my heart knowing we’re going to kill it. In my mind going, if they start booing, we’re done. The coolest moment of my life match of my life, going into it is gonna be the worst thing ever. I never thought it would hold up like it has I never thought it would be such a not even talked about thing. [It was] A shove it up the ass moment. I’ll say to the fans, I guarantee the locker room didn’t take it seriously. Shove it up their ass. I get to gorilla and everyone is on their feet clapping for us. One of those moments where I was like, okay, it was pretty awesome. And then I remember being in my gear literally to like, two matches left and Torito was leaving. He goes ‘You Okay?’ I go I’m okay. [He says] ‘Why aren’t you changing?’ I go I’m still in the moment, man. All right. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

On injuries:

“I have no feeling in my feet. My legs are pretty much dead. [What can we do to fix them?] Nothing. I had another back surgery that I had two back surgeries about three years ago. One to try to fix the problem the other to try to fix that one. We’re good. I’m good. I truly am Okay. But my body tells me you need to stop. My mind tells me you need to stop. The ego in me and I fully admit it. It’s a full ego. All Ego told me it’s my ego. [He said] People love Hornswoggle you need to love Dylan from Oshkosh. And that’s when this stops, all of this and signing my fake name. I’m Dylan from Oshkosh, I’ve always been Dylan from Oshkosh, I have the mindset of Dylan from Oshkosh. But I still love Hornswoggle I still love being able to sign my fake name. I need to have a time where Okay, let’s go back to being Dylan. I don’t know if that will ever happen.”

What is Hornswoggle grateful for?

“My kid, my dad and that people give a sh*t about me signing my fake name.”

Liv Morgan On Rhea Ripley, Cashing In MITB On Ronda Rousey, Riott Squad, CHUCKY

in LATEST EPISODES on May 16, 2024 May 16, 2024

Liv Morgan (@yaonlylivvonce) is an actress and professional wrestler with WWE. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet during this WWE Priority Pass On Location event in Philadelphia to talk about being a huge wrestling fan growing up in New Jersey, how she got discovered at a Hooters, her time in NXT, how she came up with her Oblivion finisher, the love triangle storyline she was in with Rusev, Lana and Bobby Lashley that didn’t lead anywhere, winning the WWE Woman’s Championship, her role in on the CHUCKY series and much more!

Quote I’m thinking about: “If you don’t sacrifice for what you what, what you want becomes the sacrifice”

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On the Royal Rumble return:

“It was great. I mean, I had a very pretty serious injury that we kind of even haven’t really disclosed the details of. So basically, I dislocated my shoulder in a match with Ripley. And I went and got an MRI, the MRI showed a labral tear. I don’t know if you guys know anything about MRIs, but they’re only 60% accurate. I did not know that. And so pretty much they’re like, hi, we recommend getting surgery because of the dislocation. So you’re gonna dislocate it again, whether it’s in five years, whether it’s WrestleMania next year, you’re going to have another dislocation. And so I sat around with it, because I really, I really didn’t want to miss time, obviously, but I also didn’t want to have this injury again. So I opted for the surgery, but luckily I did because like I said, MRIs are only 60% accurate. So when my surgeon opened up my little shoulder, he was like well, bicep tear, rotator cuff tear, labrum tear. And so I had all these extra tears and rips in my shoulder that we wouldn’t have known about had I not gotten the surgery. So if I chose to just rehab I wouldn’t have healed properly and we wouldn’t have known why. And so I got the surgery. But I honestly forgot I’ve had the surgery. I feel normal. I feel great in the ring. I only remember when I see my suture marks. So it was it was pretty crazy.”

Are you pain free?

“Pain-free, full rotation, full mobility. Work on getting my full strength back. My right is a lot stronger than my left right now, but I’m feeling great. It moves great. Yeah, so I’m happy, I got very, very, very lucky because shoulders are a little bit iffy. I’ve asked a lot of people on some people with shoulder surgery, they said like, it kind of feels worse than it did before. And I’m very, very, very lucky that mine feels 100% normal.”

On being murdered by Chucky:

“Honestly, I’d never thought ever in my life that I would get to be on the Chucky series and get murdered by Chucky so gruesomely. It was such a pipe dream come true, something that I genuinely did not think could ever conceivably happen. And it was so graphic, I don’t even think we’d allow it to happen. [How did it come together?] So I grew up just loving Chucky like I loved wrestling, I love Chucky. So I saw that they were working on a series and so I asked WWE, Hi, do you think we can just reach out and see if there’s any kind of way that I can be involved, even if it’s just like being on set and just like watching on set. And so WWE reached out to Don Mancini, the creator of Chucky. And I had a Zoom call with him that week, and he roped me into the show. And it was just as easy as that. And I had such a great experience. He treated me like family. And it was cool. I love Chucky, we have a great relationship despite the murder.”

What was the direction they gave you for that?

“None, just die, be Liv and then just get murdered. And obviously, I had never died before. So I didn’t know what that looked like. So I just tried to just like be in the moment and just die.”

From Hooters to WWE:

“So with a little backstory, everyone at Hooters knew I loved wrestling. I’d be doing my bar shifts I’d put WWE on the TV. I’d be serving with WWE on the TV like everyone kind of knew was my thing. And apparently before my time, there was a wrestler who will not be named that used to manage this specific Hooters. So anytime they came around in town they would go to Hooters. Me being the big WWE fan that I was I saw this wrestler coming to Hooters and I knew who they were exactly and I introduced myself. My manager was like, Hey, we have this girl. She just like loves wrestling and because you’re a wrestler, like maybe, you know, talk to her. So I talked to this wrestler for a while, and I was like I want to wrestle and they’re kind of just like, Haha, yeah. I kind of just spent all my wrestling knowledge to them. So they introduced me to this man, Joe DeFranco, he is like a world-renowned strength and conditioning coach, he only trains professional athletes, and he actually trains Triple H on a weekly basis. And so I went to his gym and he threw me right in with his NFL guys. I’d never worked out a day in my life before that. I didn’t even know what workout gear was, I think I wore sweatpants and a sports bra. And he’s like, Go, and I was like, Okay. So in my mind, this is my WWE tryout. So I’m giving it my all and I worked out with him for a couple of days. And I guess he just was impressed by my resilience, I don’t know, because I’m struggling through everything, but I wouldn’t quit. And so he reached out to WWE for me, it was like the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me so shout out to Joe DeFranco. He reached out to WWE for me and was like, Hey, we have this girl, I just think she’s worth a look. And I actually just missed the try-out camp and they were like, we have another one in six months. So keep training with her, then we’ll fly her in. And so I trained with Joe DeFranco every single day for hours a day, I train with him in the morning, and then go to my Hooters shifts. Then my trial finally came and I was very well prepared. Not in wrestling, of course, because I had no wrestling training. But as far as strength and conditioning I absolutely killed those cardio drills. And I got signed and it was just the craziest blessing in my whole entire life. It was bizarre.”

On improving:

“Honestly, probably when I got called up to SmackDown. I don’t know what it was, I think because in NXT, I felt like I was trying to make it to the next level so I felt, I guess very insecure because I felt like any mistake I made would enable me from making it to the next level. Then when I finally got called up I didn’t really have that fear anymore. So I don’t know, it’s just I was able to flow better. I had less pressure and less fears. And I had The Riott Squad with me, I owe so much to Ruby and Sarah for kind of taking me under their wing and guiding me and teaching me. So I feel around that time is when I really progress. Also we were doing so many live events. When you’re doing so many reps it’s hard not to get better because we were just working so much.”

On winning Money in the Bank:

“I feel like at that point it was probably the most opportunity I was given up to that point. I was getting promos in the ring, I was getting a lot of singles matches. They were kinda building me. I remember during that time, Sonya Deville was the GM and she would not let me into this match. So there were actually no qualifiers, she just was like, Yeah, you could be in this match, you could be in this match. And then I was qualifying and winning matches, and she still wouldn’t put me in this match. And remember, it was, week after week, I was having to prove myself, hey, please just give me the opportunity to put me in this match. And so I kind of had this build, leading into it and she finally let me in the match. And so I feel like there was kind of, the start of the rise.”

On cashing in on Ronda Rousey:

“I just knew with every fibre in my being that I had to pull this off. I was like, if it’s not right now, I’m probably going to never have another moment, an opportunity like this. And so I was just ready and willing to do whatever it took to grab that briefcase and be the last one standing at the end of the night. I didn’t think I was gonna cash in. I was in Vegas. I was like well I just won Money in the Bank, this is like the biggest victory in my whole entire life. I’m gonna go celebrate, I’m gonna go gamble, I’m gonna go have some drinks, I’m gonna celebrate my victory. And then I noticed that Ronda gets injured during the match and I’m like, oh, man, should I go? Should I not go? I’m kind of having this moment of what do I do? And then I finally was like, I’m gonna go. And so I just, again ran my little heart out and this time it paid off.”

On becoming champion:

“It was so much more. And also, like I said, I was very bad for a very long time, so it was a validation that I needed. I just was like everything was worth it, I am quite literally at the top of the mountain, so I just wanted to really sit with myself and just appreciate what just happened to really absorb. So I sat in my room with my briefcase all night. And that’s what I did. That was my celebration, but it was the best celebration I could have had in that moment.”

On helping CM Punk find his air pods:

“I’m on a Tampa flight heading to Chicago for Monday Night Raw. A couple of us live in Tampa so it’s a couple of us on the flight. He is just right in front of me in first class. And so I’m just like, Hi, I’m Gionna. And he’s like, Hi, I’m Phil, and we just introduced ourselves. I think I’d fallen asleep for most of the flight. I wake up to him kind of scrambling, he had lost his air pods, and everyone’s deboarding and I’m right behind him. So I’m like, oh, maybe it’s in my seat, maybe it fell in my bag. So I kind of just stayed to help him find the air pods, but he actually found the air pods, I think they were stuck in a seat. I wanted to help him find his air pods. And like I said, I’m right behind him, so it’s very possible that it’s maybe somewhere in my stuff or in my seat. And I like to give a helping hand when needed so I wanted to help out where I could.”

On saving herself and CJ Perry from disaster:

“So like two weeks ago, I fly home from Monday Night Raw and CJ is staying in my house, we’re best friends. So she’s staying at my house and she’s like, do you want tacos? And I’m like, yeah. So she puts taco shells in the oven because she wanted to toast them a little bit. And in typical CJ fashion, she hit broil instead of bake. I don’t know if y’all know what broil is, but broil is like fire. So pretty much my oven went on fire and we’re like, oh my god. I know I have a fire extinguisher and I only know how to use a fire extinguisher because of Extreme Rules 2022. So I swear, in that moment, you don’t even know I’m like, Thank you wrestling. So I put out the oven fire and then it burst into flames again. And I’m like, Oh my gosh, so I put out the fire again. And then that was it. I don’t know if you guys ever put out a fire but the fire extinguisher leaves a crazy residue, this crazy residue all over my kitchen. So then we were on our hands and knees with toothbrushes scrubbing the tiles and cleaning it all up. It was the best-case scenario for a house fire though there was no damage. We cleaned it up and it was kind of just ended up being a funny moment. But it could have been bad but luckily it wasn’t. No tacos. You know what’s funny about it is I don’t even like hard shells, so it would have been for nothing.”

What was the payoff to the Liv, Lana and Bobby Lashley triangle?

“The world may never know. I don’t know. But I was just down for the sickness. And who knows? You know, I’ll never know so you guys will never know.”

What is Liv Morgan grateful for?

“My health, my family and my job.”

Teddy Long: Smackdown’s Best GM! One-on-One With The Undertaker, Buckle Up Teddy & More!

in LATEST EPISODES on May 14, 2024 May 14, 2024

Teddy Long is a WWE Hall of Famer known for his tenure as Smackdown and ECW General Manager and as a referee in WWE. Big thank you to Chris Hughes from Appalachian Championship Wrestling for helping to make this interview happen! Teddy sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Indianapolis, IN to talk about this legendary career as a WWE personality, his role as the Smackdown GM, his iconic lines like “One on one with The Undertaker”, “Lemme holla at ya, playa” and being part of the “Buckle up Teddy” segment. He discusses how becoming friends with James Brown led to him working in wrestling, how he got hired by WWE, working as a referee before becoming an on-air personality, his dance moves, being chased by “Stone Cold” Steve Austin on an ATV and much more!

Quote I’m thinking about: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.” ― Winston S. Churchill

Sponsors:
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On his upbringing:

“Just God is your blessing. You don’t ever know where they are. I never dreamed I’d be running SmackDown [and have] a Hall of Fame ring, beyond my wildest dream man. I never really thought about [what I wanted to be], the way I come up. I don’t have any parents. I come up in the street, I was a heroin addict man, you’re looking at a guy that shot heroin into his veins. Okay, I survived all that, God brought me out of all that. So that lets me know that there’s a plan or there’s something here from me, so that tells me that you need to straighten up, buddy, or are you gonna be gone? So like I said after heroin I guess I went back to work for Jamie in wrestling and I’ve just been going ever since.”

On previously working for James Brown:

“He [was] a character. He was used to me, but he’s really serious. Here’s a guy who had no education, none whatsoever. But he could play every instrument in that band. And he was so critical of, he was a perfectionist, and they’d be performing on stage I mean live performance and he’d hear somebody that hit a bad note. He’d hear that but he didn’t stop performing, he kept on dancing but then he let him know he heard it so he’s telling them this is gonna cost you 5, 10, he’s doing that to them while he’s performing. That’s right a lot of people don’t know that.”

On managing Mark Callous [The Undertaker]:

“Mark is one of the greatest guys you could ever meet. Me and him started way back in the day when he was Mean Mark Callous. I had a chance to ride with him and stuff, even before I even start managing. We just became friends. But Undertaker is one of the nicest people you could ever meet. He’s a guy that don’t forget about where you come from, don’t forget about the young talent. Mark was always consistent. Whenever he got the TV he would always go to ringside and watch and sit down and observe. And always, if he saw something wrong out of some of the young talent, he would call them, take time to talk to them, and always want to try to help them. And there’s a lot of guys in this business who don’t give them time a day. But anyway, like I said, they don’t come any better than The Undertaker.”

On The Undertaker becoming a locker room leader:

“You started to see that when things were out of control, sometimes the locker room gets a bit out of control. You got some guy coming in with a big mouth, I’m gonna be the guy today. No, you’re not. Like when we were working for [John] Laurinaitis. I’ll speak for myself. I had this problem with John Laurinaitis with this racism. And so he told me one time, I went to him and I asked him why I did not have an action figure. He said to me, ‘Well, the reason you don’t have one is because we went and talked to the consumers and they said that they wouldn’t buy your doll.’ But I’m the General Manager of SmackDown. I’m the face of the company for nine years, but nobody will buy my doll? How can you tell somebody that? That got me so hot man, but I had to catch myself. Because you have to play the game here or you’ll expose yourself. So I just Okay, no problem. And I went straight to Taker. And I go you won’t believe what he just said to me. And I told that to Taker and I think Taker, I don’t know if Taker said anything to him. I’m gonna say it, because I don’t know. But anyway, I went to Taker with it and I just left it at that.”

On John Laurinaitis:

“I’m just saying the truth. And if the truth will get me in trouble, then I’m ready to go and get in trouble. Trouble sometimes can be good trouble. I’m just telling the truth. I got a lot of other people that I can speak out on, but I let it go. I’m done with it. That’s in the past. God has blessed me to make it, so I don’t have any reason to keep talking about all this mess that they’ve done back in the past. But to me to sit down and speak about this mistreatment, not because I’m not doing my job. I stayed in my position nine years. So Vince McMahon won’t have you on his TV as the face of his company for nine years if you’re not doing your job. But you fire me? He wouldn’t even give me my Legends deal. Nothing. Didn’t give me nothing.”

On Vince McMahon:

“I had a great relationship with Vince. Vince McMahon told me right to my face. He said Teddy, they wasted you down south. And the other thing he said to me that let me knew he was interested in me. He says I can’t believe I’ve had you read here under my nose all this time. That’s what he said to me. Those two things. So Vince McMahon, when he said those two things to me, that led me knew then my position. So that don’t mean go crazy. I don’t mean hey, look, I can do what I want to do. See, that’s the trick. You don’t do that. You still be the same guy, no matter what. Don’t let nothing go to your head. Then the other thing I found out, I went to Laurinaitis, I was trying to get a raise. He told me I didn’t qualify for a raise. Or somebody said to me, and then the next thing I knew, and he didn’t know one of the referees told me how much money he made. And he was making more money than me.”

On always telling people they would go one on one with The Undertaker:

““I’ll tell you how I put so much emphasis on that. One night we were in Madison Square Garden. Stephanie went out and she introduced somebody. She came back and Vince was talking to her. He said ‘Stephanie. I want to put emphasis on that when you introduce the guy.’ I was just standing back, so next time I did Undertaker [I said] ‘One on one with The Undertaker!’ That’s how I learned to do that. Well when they caught on to it and saw that it was catchy. People liked it then they always wrote it. They put it in there. I’m gonna do it anyway. Not that I’m going off, not doing what I’m supposed to do. But I know Vince didn’t mind, Vince gave me free rein to say what I wanted to say. But he knew I was gonna say nothing that would get the company in trouble. And I never really sat down, they’d write stuff. I just add my stuff to it.”

On the origin of ‘Playa’:

“I had a golden retriever, his name was Boss. I got him as a puppy but as he got bigger and bigger and started getting in the way. So every time, I’m like ‘Come on Playa. Get out of the way Playa.’ I’m just talking to him and one night I went to TV I started using slang, calling people playa.”

On how the iconic dance started:

The way I got the dance, my grandson, he’s 19 now. Well when he was about 2 years old, we were trying to teach him how to walk. So we bought this walker that we put him in. At that time we were taping SmackDown on Tuesday night and then you could go back home on Friday. Every time we put him in this walker, all he would do was bop up and down like that. So I went to TV one night and I think they were playing my music but I was just thinking about him and having fun. So I was having fun and just started doing the dance. I get back home and we are getting ready to watch the show I say ‘Come here, look, I’m doing your dance!’ One night, I got ready to walk out, and just as I got to the curtain right there, Vince was standing up. He’s yelling ‘Do that dance!’ [I say] ‘What dance?’ And he starts doing it! And that’s how the dance started.”

Were you aware of the incidents alleged against John Laurinaitis:

“Not aware, but not surprised. I spoke to somebody, I remember a little bit, one of the girls one time came now I forget her name. Tiffany might have been a name. She was supposed to be my assistant. I was trying to help her as much as I could. Anybody they brought in, I don’t care what you do, you won’t be Teddy Long. Just that simple. I don’t care who you bring. They tried it, Palmer Cannon, you remember him? They stuck him there. Okay. All right. They brought in Santino Marello. He was my assistant at one time. Then it had been that when Johnny gave me the girl Tiffany or whatever, that she was my assistant at ECW. One day we were just talking she said Teddy. She said I thank you for all your help. But don’t ever mention this and I don’t care now, but Johnny brought me in to take your job.”

On refereeing the match after Owen Hart’s fall at Over The Edge 1999:

“That night, Kansas City, Missouri. And on that day, it was me and Godfather and Owen. Owen had been just pranking, he’s a prankster. And he was just pranking people all day. We just having fun. Just a fun day. And me and Owen and Godfather had been playing around all that day. And then finally, when the fall happened, I was standing there, and I was getting ready to go out. And I saw on they brought him back on this table. And he had his whole body like he had just turned white, like snow. And I don’t know whether he was dead or not. But it was just, I’ve never seen that colour before. But it was pretty rough.”

On refereeing the match between D-Lo Brown and Droz:

“This was a pure accident. D-Lo, I think he put a little bit too much oil on that night. A lot of guys did that, Tony Atlas, a lot of guys like that always oil up. And as I can remember, I think D-Lo went to pick Droz up like a Piledriver. But some kind of way Droz slipped right out of his hands. Like I said, I don’t know how it happened. Next thing I knew Droz was down and I never forget, I walked over because this is my first time witnessing an accident really actively happening. So I look over Droz and Droz looks up at me and he says Teddy, Teddy, I’m dying. I’m dying. I remember those words out of his mouth. I’m really scared now because I don’t know what to do. So they are on headsets, they’re talking to me and I give them a signal. Let them know that this was real. And I just like I said the first time I experienced that too. That was pretty shocking.”

On Buckle up Teddy:

“Taker brought that up. That was just his line. I remember the day we went over that. And this is another thing I have to say about Vince, that day as we leading up to all that. So that day before we talked about the coffin, putting me in the casket. And so Vince sent for me and Taker. So it’s just me and Taker in the room and Vince and we’re talking and I’m sitting here and the only thing I’m thinking about Wow, I’m sitting here with Undertaker and Vince that’s all the thing I’m thinking about, what a hell of a position on me. But I didn’t let it go to my head. So next thing you know we’re talking about the match. So I don’t say anything, because, you know like I’m saying I ain’t got business opening my mouth. Let me hear what y’all want me to do. Vince looks at me. ‘You gonna say anything? Goddamnit we’re going over the match here anything here you think you can add?’ I don’t know if I can add anything. I don’t know, I guess. So they started going over something man. And so I stepped in and I put Oh, the coffin. They were talking about breathing and all that, you know, and I’m like, I got it covered Vince. I say what I’ll do, when they start to roll me down. I’ll take one finger and I’ll ease that lid as much as I can so that you can’t see it but I get some air. [Vince said] ‘God damn it that’s good sh*t!’ That’s exactly how it went down. But my thing is, you ask me for input and that made me feel good. [Undertaker] just said that [line], that wasn’t written or none of that.”

Did you ever refuse to do anything?

“No. Do you know why? Because I learned that whatever Vince would ask me to do, he would do it. So how in the hell am I gonna do this man what I ain’t gonna do when he would do it? You’d watch Vince go out on TV and do stuff that he didn’t even really have to do, he’s the boss, the owner of the company. He got to go out and get in the ring and get beat up by CM Punk come back all bloodied, and he’s the owner of the company. So if this man can go out and do what needs to be [done], he let Rikishi sit as big ass right in his face. Vince don’t care, this is not real, it is a movie. You don’t want to do it, you don’t work here.”

On a WWE return being unlikely:

“With the changes now, I think they’re going in another direction. You know that GM stuff is probably going to be played out a little bit. I don’t know. I just think I’m not gonna go. Somebody else may think of something else. I don’t know, but I just don’t think so. Unless there are some major changes there.”

What is Teddy Long grateful for?

“To be alive, to have the success I had and my wife.”

Adam Copeland: 25 Years Of Edge, Choosing AEW Over WWE, WrestleMania Moments, Christian Cage

in LATEST EPISODES on May 9, 2024 May 9, 2024

Adam Copeland (@ratedrcope) is a professional wrestler signed with AEW, he is also known for his 25-year career in WWE where he performed under the name “Edge”. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at his home in Asheville, NC to talk about being in the best shape of his life at age 50, why he designed Pure Plank with Christian Cage to help with core fitness, his decision to leave WWE for AEW, how he almost signed with AEW in 2019 instead of returning at the 2020 Royal Rumble, being forced to retire in 2011, how he met his wife Beth Phoenix, spearing Jeff Hardy off the ladder at WrestleMania 17, being on the receiving end of a leg drop off the cage from Matt Hardy at WWE Unforgiven 2005, his funny moments as a tag team with Christian, wanting to retire in a year and a half, being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and much more!

Quote I’m thinking about: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ― Maya Angelou

On being in the best shape of his life:

“Yeah, I mean, I’d like to think I am. But it’s things that I took for granted before I can’t now. And I have to work harder now than I did before which is a good thing. Because by working harder than I really dove in, and I was like, okay, it all started with just being around for my girls. And then it led to this and then it led to that and that and then here we are four and a half years into a comeback that I never thought would happen. But it really just started with wanting to be around for my girls. I’ve already come to grips with the fact that I’m gonna look like Gandalf when I take them to their high school dance or whatever, but at least I’ll be here, knock on wood.”

On wanting to become a wrestler:

“Maybe stubbornness, I’m pretty stubborn. Once I latch on to an idea, I at least have to see it through. And then if it doesn’t work, okay, it didn’t work, maybe it can work a different way and I’ll try this way and I’ll try it that way and then I’ll try it that way. But it’s all I ever wanted to do. So to me, I would rather try and do everything that I could to make it happen rather than go I wonder. I didn’t want to be that guy, and there’s nothing wrong with this. But I worked on an assembly line building car seats, and I didn’t want to be that guy at 60 getting ready for his gold watch. I wanted to go out and chase it. And if it didn’t pan out, okay, but that just wasn’t an option to me. I just knew, I was like, I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna get this. However long it takes, I’m gonna get it. And I won’t have a family and I won’t really set roots until [I made it]. Everything was geared toward this and doing this to the point where like, I stopped playing hockey, I didn’t ski I didn’t do a lot of the things that other kids did. Because like, I can’t risk a broken [bone], I can’t do this that or the other whatever that is. So yeah, when when the high school yearbook, I think they kind of knew at that point, but I don’t think anyone actually thought, Okay, if we say this will end up happening. But for me, I knew it was going to, it’s just a matter of how long.”

On being told it is time to retire:

“I mean, I had to pretty quickly wrap my mind around the idea that I was being told I could never do this again. [Do you remember that day?] We had done WrestleMania 27. Me and Del Rio, world champ. So I’m thinking okay, we’ll get to the next pay-per-view, it’s a ladder match, I’ll drop the title there, then I’ll take a little break. Because I was sore, but I’d been sore for a while. And did Charlotte, NC, just did commentary and a quick little Spear and but even that, that single spirits like, Ooh, got a bit of a zinger there. So I drove up here, because I just bought this house drove up here was sitting on my deck and got a call from Vince. And he told me we’re told you gotta retire. And I went oh, right.”

Did you think that was an option?

“I always told myself by 40 I’d be done and I was 37 at that point. So I assumed I had a few more years with a bit of a break.”

On how Adam Copeland felt after the phone call:

“I’m surrounded by my four dogs and I just kind of sat down and felt sorry for myself for a little bit. Had a cry, because it’s the only thing I ever wanted to do, right? So even though I assumed I was close to retiring, at least initially it wasn’t easy. But fairly quickly, I realised, okay, if I don’t have a choice in this at all, then I have to wrap my mind around this pretty quickly, or this is going to be an unhealthy, emotional climate for me. And then luckily, the executive producer for Haven saw my retirement speech. And they were looking for a tie-in with Haven because SmackDown aired before it. They wanted something to coincide with the lead-in and they they asked for me because I guess they were almost in tears watching the retirement speech and that wasn’t acting ability at all, I was just me retiring from the only thing I ever wanted to do, right? That was my audition [laughs]. And then I flew to Tampa, and then Jey and Del Rio had their ladder match was part of that. And then I took off for Nova Scotia, and 1 episode turned into 41. And then from there, about halfway through the second season, I was like, I really enjoy this. I better start putting some work in instead of just showing up. That’s when I started taking classes and diving into and pulling apart movies, and why certain actors made certain decisions and what were they doing, then going back and studying, okay, like Tom Hardy studied apes for this role. Okay, interesting. And De Niro studied cobras for Cape Fear. Just little things like that. Okay, interesting. And it tapped into the creative vein still. And I realised that was really important to my makeup. If I’m not creating some form of story it just feels, I don’t know, I get antsy. And so that still kept that alive.”

On wondering if there was a chance to come out of retirement:

“Honestly no. I felt good, but I didn’t assume good enough for that, because that’s just a different beast entirely. There’s nothing I found that can prepare you for having a pro wrestling match, except just having one. You can train, you can do all those things. But until you factor in adrenaline, getting the wind knocked out of you, and then having to get up and run, and how do you train for that? Okay, you can get in the ring. But if there’s no audience, it’s not the same. It’s not the same endorphins, it’s not the same, dopamine, it’s not that same adrenaline and the adrenaline dump. You’re probably just working, but going through the motions and training. Getting out there is an entirely different thing. I didn’t know, I didn’t think that was ever possible, because I was told it wasn’t. I started doing stunt scenes and I was doing my own stunts. I thought, I feel okay, I feel good here, but it’s still not that. It really truly wasn’t until I wiped out my mountain bike with Sheamus because that was uncontrolled. And that was the first kind of uncontrolled fall that I had taken. Because on a set, everything’s very controlled. And maybe you have padding this, that and the other. The mountain bike was going downhill, wiping out off a jump, flipping in midair, and essentially taking an arm drag on rocks, and rolling up to my feet and going I’m fine. I’m okay, interesting. And that’s kind of when it all started, the light bulbs [went off].”

On how close he came to signing with AEW instead of making the return at the Royal Rumble:

“Really close, we had great discussions. [Was this late 2019?] Yeah.”

Were you cleared?

“So when I first started talking to AEW, I wasn’t yet cleared. I had made it, we talked about it like the bosses of each video game level. But I still wasn’t cleared by company doctors, right? So once all of those clearances started to come, I was like, Oh, this is real now. Okay. So before I did anything, I had to go kind of get the final clearance needed for either company. But I had negotiated with everybody. I was like, Okay, here’s where I’m at, here’s what I’ve been told I can do and started the process. And then in going to WWE, and sitting down with Vince, he goes well, it’s got to happen here. At that stage, I looked at the equity built and it felt like having to start over, especially having to start over after having been gone for nine years felt really daunting, if that makes sense. It felt like at least with WWE that’s one thing off the table that I don’t have to worry about. I can come back and walk into the history of this character. I do feel like it needed to have happened there initially. I really do, if only for that Royal Rumble moment right before the pandemic hit and just feeling and experiencing that I’m happy the way it turned out.”

On keeping the WWE return a secret:

“Nobody saw me. They took me right to the Astros manager’s office. And that’s where I was all day sequestered in there. Beth was heating up my meals and bringing them to me like, and even she had to be a little bit clandestine, even though she was in the woman’s rumble that night. So it was a weird day because I didn’t come out of that room until about 10 minutes before I was supposed to go out. And that’s when I got up to Gorilla. And I think in the documentary, you start to see people going what the hell. Oh sh*t!”

On why he chose AEW in 2023:

“It felt like I’d done everything that I was going to do with WWE. I’d worked the people I’d wanted to work, 95% anyway. And it really just felt like they were in a direction and I was in a direction and they were kind of going separate ways. I wanted to be with this limited window that I have, I wanted to be involved. I wanted to be there kind of on a weekly basis in order to tell proper stories, and it’s tough to do that popping in and out every three months or so. And I also get the idea of, well, that keeps it special and I understand that. But again, I’m working with such a limited timeframe here that I got to go while I can go. And I looked at the roster and I just thought man, so many people that I’ve never laid hands on and been in the ring with. The one that seems to blow people’s minds is Samoa Joe. In all the years that him and I have both been wrestling we’ve never touched. Then I see Moxley and I see Claudio and Bryan and I have never had a proper singles. Swerve and Hangman. And then if you look at the tag teams, FTR, Young Bucks, Penta and Fenix, man, that’s just the tip of the iceberg, let alone all the young guys that have already wrestled since I’ve been there. It’s just really exciting and almost feels, I don’t want to say I feel like a kid again because I think that saile. But I’m just having fun. With each match I’m going to try something I’ve never tried before. I was against Brody King the other night, I’ve never done a blockbuster, I’m going to try that blockbuster. Never done a Davey Boy powerslam, let me try that. It’s fun to get out there and just try new things, especially at this stage of the career. But I think in working new people, and a whole roster of new people that I don’t know, it’s just opened up my brain to all the different possibilities.”

On having to make a decision when AEW presents him with a new contract:

“I mean, if I can still keep performing at a level, but more importantly a level that I can feel proud of. I just don’t want to get to a point where I’m like really struggling and just it’s like pulling teeth to get it done. I don’t want to do that. And thankfully, because of my career, I’m at a point where I don’t have to do that. I’m doing this because I just love it. I also think, and I’ve talked to the girls about this, I’m hoping they see the work ethic and the work that I still put in to do this thing that I want to do even though I don’t have to do it. I’m hoping that they see that and can rub off and they pick up some lessons from that too. But by the same token, I want to be here for everything for them. And I’ve been able to manage it and be around for the Shakespeare plays and be around to run drama club with Beth and take Lyric to her audition tonight. I’m still able to be there for those things. I haven’t missed a birthday. So it’s just a matter of being able to balance both so far. It’s possible.”

On Christian Cage doing the best work of his career:

“I think so. And that’s only because I do feel like he was limited beforehand. Throughout the years, I think, again, you keep hitting the glass ceiling and some will break through, but I don’t think it was ever meant for him to break through and that has got to be frustrating.”

On mocking dead relatives:

“And I think that was a happy accident. I think like so many things that end up working. It just ended up being a happy accident and then you start to like go oh, well if this person will be that. And I am in virgin territory for that, never met my dad. Are you kidding? Like he’s gonna have a field day with this.”

On tribalism in wrestling:

“I think silly personally. Only because when I was growing up, I wanted to watch everything I could. If I could get my eyeballs on Continental or Mid-South or NWA or BC All-Star, I wanted to watch it all. Because I wanted to see what was going on you know, at that stage it was you you got what you could get from the after magazines. And that was it. So wait now I can watch Pro Wrestling Plus with Ed Whelan and maybe get my eyeballs on Hennig and Lawler okay, right I want to I want to see what’s going on. So I don’t know, I don’t understand the the allegiance to initials. But then I think about people with their favourite teams or this or that, but I’ve always been the same with like hockey. I love the Maple Leafs but I love hockey. So I’ll watch the Boston Bruins against the Florida Panthers because I know it’s gonna be a great game.”

On trying to get Gangrel for his WrestleMania match:

“I tried and I just got shut down. Every person shut it down. [Why?] So this isn’t a knock on WWE, but I’d always get the well nobody remembers. People remember, wrestling fans remember and I think wrestling fans want to be rewarded for remembering. And that’s a way to reward them. That’s what I’ve always felt. I think you know, you fast forward to me and Matt Cardona doing a Cope Open. And his music hits and he comes out. I mean, they remembered. And so I’ve always been a fan of pulling in things from the past and kind of integrating them into current things. But yeah, that was one I just kept getting shut down. I realised, okay, that was not a hill to die on because it didn’t get to happen. It’s not my sandbox, I got to do with what I’ve been given.”

On the Mania match with Mick Foley:

“The one with Mick I had a giant chip on my shoulder. Because I felt like I was at least in my mind kind of pushed back from the main event scene. And I felt like finally I earned my stripes and my spot there. So that was a chance for me to kind of show everybody that’s where I belong. And I knew Mick was the perfect person to help make that come to fruition. And we both had agendas that night. Mine was I really wanted Mick Foley to get a WrestleMania moment, that was true. I felt like he deserved that and he’d be the first to say that he hadn’t had that. So that was important for me and when I have a mission to accomplish, I work better. His mission was to solidify me as a main event guy and also to solidify me as someone that people might start looking at in a different light like oh he is tough. Even through all those TLCs and ladders it was still like oh he has long blonde hair, you know all of those things and so it felt like we both needed something out of that and when you get two maniacs both working toward goals some brutal things can happen. So the tone the mood was far different than it was with Taker.”

Was the flaming table a part of the plan?

“It was part of my plan. I’ve always said this, if you see something stupid that I do, chances are it was my idea. Whether it’s the AA off of a ladder through two tables, whether it’s the flaming table, chances are it was it was my stupidity. Yeah, I don’t even have like a good answer as to why. I mean, obviously, I’m a masochist on some level. But I think every pro wrestler is.”

On taking the steel cage leg drop from Matt Hardy:

“Even with everything that he and I had been through, that was never a doubt in my mind. We’d all worked each other so much and we all had just natural chemistry with each other. And you’re pros. So you just, you got to have a lot of faith in a person, you got to have a lot of trust in the person. And generally speaking, those moves are usually worse on the person doing them, you just gotta lie there. And just okay.”

On when he reconciled with Matt Hardy:

“I mean, honestly, it wasn’t that long. I think kind of once we went through that and once we both realised, okay, still the same guys, and still have the same chemistry still have the same everything. So, I feel like the fan base took a lot longer to come around to the idea that we were okay than we did. It was pretty quickly, and then you just got to move on.”

On not liking the Rated R Spinner belt:

“I don’t know. Again, I think for me, I come from that timeframe where the designs meant something. I understood the, you know, the commercial appeal, but I feel like that was truly done just to sell titles, and it worked. But I don’t know, I just as a World Heavyweight Champion, you walk out and something spinning on you. It just didn’t, I don’t know, to me, it just didn’t fit.”

What is Adam Copeland grateful for?

“Family, my mom and friendship.”

Max Caster’s Most Controversial Raps, The Acclaimed, Scissoring, AEW Tag Champions

in LATEST EPISODES on May 7, 2024 May 7, 2024

Max Caster (@PlatinumMax) is a professional wrestler signed with AEW where he is part of The Acclaimed. He joins Chris Van Vliet in Philadelphia, PA to talk about how he comes up with the lyrics for his freestyles, his most controversial raps, being paired with Anthony Bowens in AEW and forming The Acclaimed, learning from “Daddy Ass” Billy Gunn, the origin of “Scissoring” in AEW, advice Cody Rhodes gave him about his raps, filing a trademark for “Best Wrestler Alive”, the tweet he made about not wanting Shelton Benjamin in AEW and much more!

Quote I’m thinking about: “By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin

On how much thought goes into every freestyle:

“Man, we would sit for a long time, especially when it was just me and Anthony [Bowens] before Billy [Gunn] had come on. We would just sit there and throw lines back and forth. And Anthony was my perfect sounding board. He would tell me okay, too far, I go, okay let me bring it back a little bit. He goes, Okay, maybe try it this way. And I go, okay, So I would walk away and I would attack this line from a different angle, and then it would be perfect. So it was really collaborative. At a certain point, I think we kind of got away from that and we don’t talk about it as much. I would have to chase him down for whatever reason. He’s busy. He’s got his outside stuff or he’s getting warmed up for the match. I’m just sitting there we got to attack these guys. And, you know, we wrestle the same guys over and over, hey I need a new way to insult The Dark Order. We’ve wrestled them so many times. They’ll joke about it. They’re like, I’d like to see what you come up with this time because I don’t know what you got left, I’ve killed all of them so many times. So it’s a lot of thought and a lot of reading the news and what does this guy look like? What is middle America gonna find funny? It can’t be so niche that only I laugh at it. Because that’s a lot of things for me. But, I watch Jimmy Fallon’s monologue, [Stephen] Colbert’s monologue. What are these people joking about? Okay, let me try something in that realm. And just go from there.”

On realising he had this skill:

“The whole story of why I started rapping is actually wrestling-related. John Cena was in a music video with an underground rapper named Murs. And Murs was a big wrestling fan and he had John Cena do a feature in his video. So John did a verse he did the music video. And me at like 14 years old was like, amazing, let me look up more Murs. And growing up in New York, we get a lot of like 50 Cent, a lot of Dipset, The Locks so all this like hard gangster rap. And then Murs was like, a little bit more relatable to me, a guy from the suburbs. And I was like, Man, he’s not rapping about all the stuff they rap about on the radio. Maybe I could rap about my life. And so it kind of went from there and just reading interviews and listening to songs. Oh, how do you write a verse? How does music structure work? I taught myself how to make beats, because I had nothing to rap over. So I go, let me try and sample stuff and I would do that on the desktop in the kitchen. And that worked up to my own computers and stuff like that. And no one was rapping over my beat. So I’m like, I guess it’s just me. So I’m like, the one man band in my house. It’s just me humming and then on the computer like, Okay, let me start writing.”

On being homegrown AEW talent:

“I think me and Anthony are the best, purely homegrown talent AEW has ever created. We have not been on major wrestling television as signed wrestlers prior to that. We literally had our first match together on an AEW show. And who went as high as us? And at this point, we’re still doing fine. We’re still very, very popular. I mean, we just showed up at the Ring of Honor show, the pay per view and that crowd was super excited to see us with no announcement. I think if we are announced that’s appointment viewing because they want to know what I’m going to say. They want to see Anthony and Billy interact with the people. And it’s really like a big feel-good party when we’re out there. So for us to kind of cultivate all of that and create scissoring, the pink, Daddy Ass.”

On being one of Bobby Lashley’s sisters:

“Sure. You know, young wrestler, hungry, $500, quick drive three hours here. Catering is great, what else could you ask for? I think most other aspiring wrestlers would have taken that booking. It was very last minute thing from what I remember. They called I think the week of like, can you come to Raw? Okay. No idea what they wanted me to do. Gotta be in a dress. I don’t know about that, you know what Katt Williams says about guys in dresses. It’s a little like a slippery slope but again, it’s like getting paid. You’re getting on TV. I’m like this is this will be good for my career. They thought of me, they’re like specifically Yeah, let’s bring you in for this. I go okay, that makes sense. Sami Zayn has dressed up three men to lure Bobby Lashley to the ring and now we have to beat him up. Very, very cartoonish. Very, like Bugs Bunny Elmer Fudd I thought. I don’t think people really responded to it. It still gets brought up as one of the worst things on their show of all time, but I thought it was great.”

Did anything else come from that appearance?

“No, that was kind of it. I didn’t expect anything. I think after that I had my WWE tryout at the Performance Center, which was completely independent of that. And at that tryout, they told me, You did great, go make a name for yourself and we’ll talk to you then. And it took me I think, another year and a half before it came down to the decision of AEW or WWE. They were both offering [deals] at the time.”

On choosing AEW over WWE:

“That’s a good question. Because I gave it a lot of thought and I almost did the NXT thing. [This is 2020?] Yeah. The full story is they had a guy on Dynamite that they did a match with on one of the live shows. And then the very next week or something he signed with WWE. They swooped in, boom, grabbed this guy right up and he’s still there. I’m sure he’s doing great. I don’t keep up. But I think Tony or whoever got word that WWE had been interested in me, I’d done a couple of shows on pay-per-view with David Marquez and that’s when they called me, I go, Oh, okay, this might be it. And then I think AEW got wind of that and then they go, in my opinion, let’s swoop in on these guys and take this guy that they want. I was I think the beneficiary of that. And just the environment there, even when I worked there as an extra at AEW, it was night and day different than working as an extra for WWE. I think I changed in the men’s locker room as opposed to a curtained-off area at the back of the arena. The only memory I have of Brodie Lee in person is me and him just sitting across from each other, him as him, and me as an unsigned guy just putting on my my boots. And I’m like, wow, this is actually way different. And no one even cared, everyone was just like, oh, yeah, you’re here, you’re wrestling today, good for you. I feel like that put me more at ease. And then the fact that it was Tony’s idea to put me and Anthony together to be The Acclaimed to give us that name and he seemed, yeah, this is this is an exciting thing, this is my idea. And I hadn’t heard anything specific. I technically didn’t have a deal on the table with WWE, but they were flying me down to come meet and hang out and see if I was a good fit. They put that contract in front of us and that was it was like a leap of faith for me and Anthony together to do that.”

On the possibility of The Acclaimed breaking up:

“I don’t feel the animosity yet. And you would think [it’s been almost four years] it doesn’t feel like that, we can look back on the start. It seems like yesterday and again, like for me, I feel like I don’t give myself enough respect to say I am a veteran in wrestling. I am one of the most popular wrestlers in AEW, I am a locker room leader. Even if it’s by example, people could watch us and say I want to aspire to be that. I don’t know if I give myself enough credit for that because I don’t even know if there’s a reason. That’s one of the things I want to improve this year. [It is hard to give yourself praise though]. It’s for some people, for me definitely and that’s where the best wrestler alive comes from. It’s just we got to reiterate that we got to drive that into everyone else’s head but also my head and come out of that. On the other side, way better and actually the best and when people call me the best, that’s the validation, and they will. It’s not going to be tomorrow. But one day, it’s going to start and it’s going to keep going and keep going. And everyone’s gonna say, Wow, I never realised how great Max is. And I think it all just starts with me and in here. So that’s what we’re working on this year is along with the physical improvements it’s just making sure that I know that I am the best.”

Do you think you have ever gone too far with one of your raps?

“No. There are raps that other people have thought I’ve gone too far on for sure. But everything that I’ve ever said and done has led to my career being at this point right now and I can’t regret it. I’ve never walked out there and been like yeah, this is too far, but I’m gonna say it anyway. I think it’s funny. Whatever I say, I think it’s funny. If it’s a bad joke, it’s a bad joke. It didn’t land, Oops, you know, stand-ups, they work material out in front of a crowd. If it doesn’t land, they just go well, okay, next joke. That one didn’t work. I kind of don’t have that luxury. If it’s really on the line I’ll kind of walk around to different people that I trust and go what do you think of this and If they really, really don’t like it, I might try and rework it. But, you know, I might also say it too.”

Did you have to run your raps by people after the Simone Biles line?

“For a time. But that stopped pretty quickly. Of course, I wasn’t gonna go there again. It wasn’t even that line in that rap. It was the Duke Lacrosse, and that is a whole to me grey area because it’s an accusation, but a false accusation. But it’s also referencing something that is very sensitive in the world, which is sexual assault, and I get it, it’s a very touchy subject. Probably shouldn’t have said it but in retrospect, how could I ever regret that? Because when I returned to TV, it was like a hero’s welcome. So why was I being rewarded for the most horrible thing that anyone’s ever said? We walked out, it was I believe Chicago. And it was a Dark, I want to say 2021. Chicago, one of these shows before the pay-per-view. And we walked out, and it was, yeah, so happy you guys are back. Anthony had been wrestling singles matches in the time that I was away following that, and you could feel the energy just wasn’t in the room. As great of a wrestler as he is, if he kept going it would have come together and people would get on board. But that’s the yin and yang of us is he’s gonna have the platform to do what he can do as long as I’m there, and vice versa. I think we’ve closed the gap on each other. He’s become a great interviewer and I’ve become a more outstanding wrestler because I’m trying to focus more on that not so much on the rap. And we’ve kind of closed the gap, and we’re becoming more one and the same. But it helped, that suspension, that thing that I said the outrage helped my career and Anthony’s career in turn.”

On how the suspension helped his career:

“Say what you want in the moment, people were really upset. I thought it was great, because I go, Oh, well, I’ll just do some more like that. It was a little too far. Things got really, really touchy when the network starts calling. And that’s what really did me in. Something had to be done and I agree with that. I’m cool with that. I only apologise to Tony and Anthony Bowens and they both appreciated that and accepted that and we moved forward. And when I came back, we figured out wouldn’t it be funny if I just read off a sheet of paper, a corporately written rap? And we started doing it and the fans are booing, and then we rip it up and they start cheering. So it’s like this is what they want. They want me to be me. Everyone wants me all the wrestlers to be themselves really, or extensions of themselves. And I feel like I’m one of the only wrestlers who’s not afraid to be himself. I use my real name, my government name, you can look me up. I will say what I want to say I’m, okay with that. I’m okay with the consequences. And we keep going. But our popularity speaks for itself.”

On referencing WWE:

“That’s a double-edged sword. Because you can get them on some things, and it’ll be a good burn, but you’re also putting more light on their product, which they don’t need it. They’re already however many years they’ve been in business 50, 60, 70 If you count all the way back to the territories, they have that credibility built in, that longevity, so do they need that from the four or five-year-old wrestling promotion in AEW? No, they really don’t. And at a certain point, you know, people would say, hey, stop doing that. And I listened. I really try not to do it anymore because it just creates more eyes on their product and not ours. It makes us seem second-rate.

I mean, there were certain things that had nothing to do with the TV show. Reference Vince McMahon I think the very first time that any sort of allegations came out. When he retired, I referenced him. And that was like news, it was news news. So I thought that’s a little bit better than me saying, their TV show they did this, on their internet show, they did this. It’s way different. John Laurinaitis had done something, I think that’s different than reacting to their TV show. So I would pick and choose, but honestly, it was never a good idea. Because it would just create shots back and forth. And now you see them taking shots at us. And of course, they are, if they’re running hot and anyone’s going to ask them about AEW, of course, they’re going to take shots because we took all the shots at them. Fair is fair. I’m cool with that. But when it comes back around, not no one’s gonna complain.”

On getting away with scissoring on TV:

“Scissoring is great. I’ve heard a lot from the lesbian community about how they, like scissoring how only some lesbians scissor, one lady was like, you have to be skinny to do it. So it’s not every lesbian. I’m like, I never said it was, it’s just something we do as a handshake. So there was a certain point where we were asked to stop, and then we tried some other stuff. And we’re throwing the A down. And I’m like, man, a scissor would go so good in this, but I’m like, um, milk it like udders, and Anthony’s just like, What are you doing? Scissoring was the thing. I can’t tell you, when I knew for sure that it was going to lead us to success. But once people started making their own, like cardboard scissors that would like open and close. And I’m like, Oh, yeah. If they’re making art out of what we say, yeah, that’s moving the culture.”

On the Shelton Benjamin discourse on social media:

“We don’t want him [Why?] what’s he gonna do? Take up my TV time. This is one thing I learned when I was getting signed to AEW, I got a call from QT Marshall. Who I love and respect because he’s a great wrestler. And he’s very honest. One of the most honest guys I’ve ever met, if not the most. He called me up. And he’s like, Tony wants you to come in. I go. Is this a joke? I don’t know. He goes, Look, I’m a wrestler. I’d prefer it if you didn’t come here and work because you’d be taking a spot that I want. And I go, Oh, that was some real sh*t. I respect that guy. And ever since then, he’s always kept it on that level with me so I gotta keep it on that level with everyone else. Every single free agent that comes up in professional wrestling fans want to go, they’d be great in AEW. We only have so much TV time. Some of that needs to go to me. I don’t want all of it. I’m not selfish, but I’m the best. But if people start calling for Shelton Benjamin, or Motor City Machine Guns or whoever, it doesn’t matter, and not to single anyone out. My sentiment is, why would we want them? We already have the best roster, you already have the best wrestler alive. If you want anyone to come in and do whatever role they’re going to do. I bet I can do it better. I bet Anthony could do it better. I bet we have a guy on there that’s not even getting used on our roster that could do it better. So what are we really doing? We’re just bringing in stars that were made other places to do what? Less work ourselves. I’ll work for that. If you want me to fill someone’s role, I can work and do that. It’s not going to be overnight. It’s not going to be okay, Max is now this guy. No, but I could work there. But it’s insulting to me as a veteran and a top wrestler, and one of the most popular wrestlers that fans will go. Well, we want this other guy now. Why? You have the best, literally the whole roster you have the top of wrestling.”

Just to be clear this is not a Shelton Benjamin thing?

“Not at all. I will say right here, great wrestler, and I respect him a lot. But why would I campaign for anyone to join the company when we already have the best wrestlers? I’m here. Put me in that spot and it’ll be great. But if I’m gonna sit here and go, Wow, yeah, we need more on this roster. No, we don’t.”

How do you feel when someone gets signed?

“I’m insulted. I really am. I want to see them prove themselves. And, you know, talking about the people that we signed recently, I think Will Ospreay has proved himself. Give him all the credit in the world. He’s an amazing wrestler. Okada, I think once he’s situated in the country, and he’s on TV every week, we will see. But that doesn’t take away from how great of a wrestler he is. He’s here, we got to live with it. But if you had asked me before we signed him, Max, do you think Okada should be here? I go if you want, but I can do that for you.”

On Adam Copeland:

“I’ll be honest, when he was brought in, I was sceptical. Because you go, he’s done so much, what else could he really want to do? This is my company. Again, you’re stealing our TV time. But he’s proven himself to be a leader and someone who’s gonna go out there and put in the work in the ring and pull guys aside. He’s pulled me aside and said, Hey, I saw your match. Here’s what I think. And I go, thank you so much and I appreciate that, but there’s a lot of guys who wouldn’t do that.”

On new signings possibly bringing in more people:

“They could, I don’t know if they have. Wrestling and TV is a lot about how you make people feel. But not just once, over a long period of time. So these guys can come in and there’s some general excitement when they first show up. But are they going to sustain that? We have to wait and see, but we’ve worked so hard to get to where we are in the company from literally ground up, homegrown, purely. And then to just have guys who were stars somewhere else, did their whole career somewhere else come in, and now they’re perceived to be on top of us, it’s an insult to me. I’m speaking for me, I don’t want to speak for my partners or anything like that. It’s an insult to me because of all the work we’ve put in. If other people help along the way, sure. But not many of these guys have ever campaigned to wrestle me and Anthony. I think there’s a reason for that. One because they don’t want to get embarrassed via me on the microphone. And they know that we are younger and hungrier and ready to go and they want to be in their comfort zone, wherever they are. I get that, but we have the tendency to bring people outside their comfort zone. So I again, take that personally when me and Anthony are the number one thing in wrestling period. And then none of the top wrestlers are saying we can actually better AEW if we put on a top-level fight with two of the top teams. FTR was the only one team that agreed to wrestle us and that was great. Again, I respect them for that. But there wasn’t that clamour from everyone in the locker room, like, put me with Acclaimed, none. And I again take that very, very personally, because that shows that people are afraid to try and help the company as a whole.

What is Max Caster grateful for?

“My genetics, my brain, my creativity and professional wrestling.”

Braun Strowman On Bray Wyatt, WWE Return, Neck Injury, Brock Lesnar Receipt

in LATEST EPISODES on May 2, 2024 May 2, 2024

Braun Strowman (@adamscherr99) is a professional wrestler with WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at a WWE Priority Pass On Location event in Philadelphia during WrestleMania week to talk about the neck injury that kept him out of action for over a year, returning to WWE after being released in 2022, his friendship with Bray Wyatt, how being part of the Wyatt Family changed not only his career but his life, the receipt that Brock Lesnar gave him in the ring during the 2018 Royal Rumble, wrestling The Undertaker and Kane early in his career, getting into the best shape of his life and much more.

Quote I’m thinking about: “The greatest lesson I’ve learned in life is that I still have a lot to learn.”

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On being massive:

“Honestly, I don’t realise that I’m this big. I just feel like a normal person until I see pictures with my friends and fans and things and I go Holy sh*t. I’m pretty frickin big.”

Were you always this big?

“Honestly, no. So when I was born I was a normal size kid. I think I was 17 inches or something like that and seven and a half pounds and I was kind of normal-ish for a while. And then around 11 or 12 years old, I went through this crazy growth transformation. I remember how miserable it was with growing pains and stuff. And I started high school at five foot eight or five foot nine. And then when I graduated at 17, I was six-five and 300 pounds. Yeah, thinking about that I still have PTSD from the good growing pains and everything that I went through when I was a kid, but it all worked out.”

On how his neck is feeling:

“It feels great. I mean, look at this range of motion I got in this thing this thing. I’m pretty much Wolverine I got some titanium in there and things like that. I was a little nervous, I asked doc when they put all this hardware and I was like so am I going to set off metal detectors when I go to the airport? Because we are in airports more than we are in our houses.”

On when the return will be?

“We’re getting close. So I’m actually having dinner with my doctor tonight Dr. Cordover, an unbelievably talented doctor one of the absolute top neurosurgeons, spinal surgeons in the world. I was very blessed, and fortunate to be able to go to have him do the surgery on me at Andrews Medical down in Birmingham, Alabama. So actually gonna have dinner with him tonight and talk and I have another CT scan in I believe, like two weeks, so we’re getting really, really close.”

On realising this was an issue:

“So I didn’t know. I come to find out, I didn’t know I had stenosis to the spine. So stenosis of the spine, yeah, it’s basically where it’s tightened around your spinal column. So I only had nine millimetres of clearance around my spine between my C4 and C5 vertebrae. I didn’t know that and I got hit wrong during a match and my head whipped back. When my head whipped back and pinched my spine it felt like a lightning bolt shot out both my arms and my arms went limp. So if you watch the match back, you can see in the match where it happened. There’s a point where you see me, my arms dropped to my side, and I kind of look around really weird and I find my hands and stuff start to move again. And I’m like looking at my hands and I go to take off running and I’m all wobbly my balance is off and things like that. We got the match finished and got in the back, and it felt like someone was pouring boiling hot water down both of my arms, it was on fire. So I was in this really terrifying place for a couple of weeks of not knowing am I ever going to have a normal life again? Am I going to be able to do what I love? Am I going to be able to just do anything? So it’s very fortunate that I’ve become friends with so many of the legends and things like that in this business. So I called Stone Cold, because I know Stone Cold went through something like this, because come to find out his injury was almost exactly like mine, it was just a little bit more severe. So he had stenosis in his spine when he got the Piledriver. And it pinched his spine and it pushed all the fluid out of his spine and bruised and he was actually paralysed from the neck down for like 30 seconds. So having him talk to me and kind of almost giving me the proverbial it’s gonna be okay, it was a very big breath of fresh air. Because like I said, I didn’t know what was going on. And WWE takes unbelievable care of their talent and, talking with Hunter and stuff like that, and him going look, what we’re doing right now is not as important as what you’re going to be doing in 15 years of your life, get it taken care of, you’re important, you’re not going anywhere. If you can wrestle again, you can, if you can’t, we’ll figure it out. So having that pat on the back again, like giving that reassurance because you’re not guaranteed anything. So having them be able to put me in the place to have the best surgery that I can, go into the WWE Performance Center, having the best rehabilitation that I can. I couldn’t be more thankful that I’m taken care of by such an amazing company.”

On not wanting to be off TV:

“I was like, How can I work around this? Because that’s what I’ve done my whole career. A lot of people don’t realise WWE stars are banged up all the time. There is no offseason, like this the longest break that I’ve had doing this in 11 years. So for me to be sitting at home and doing nothing for four months, losing my mind, like watching my muscle mass that I work so hard for diminishing and just sitting there like, I’m not gonna lie it weighed. 2023 was rough. I mean, my neck injury and then you know.”

On the passing of Bray Wyatt:

“I see him all the time. It’s crazy. It really is crazy. I don’t know how spiritual anyone is or this and that, but I had a very deep connection with him. I mean, I see him and there’s things that remind me of him and constantly, every day there’s something, I can feel him he’s still around.”

On how much The Wyatt Family changed his career:

“It changed my entire life. I was this kid that was told he was never gonna make it, never gonna be anything, bullied, fat kid growing. Having a group of guys, three talented, unbelievable human beings take me under their wing and show me the ways through this crazy business. Words can’t really explain how grateful I am for that because I’m not where I am in life without those guys.”

On the Bray Wyatt entrance:

“I’ll never forget my first WrestleMania walking out at AT&T Stadium with 101,000 people shot in their flashlights when we’re about to go out and face off against The Rock and John Cena. Like it doesn’t get any bigger than that. I mean, how like, for this kid from Sherrils Ford, North Carolina, walking out with two of his best friends in front of 101,000 people to wrestle two of the absolute most iconic wrestlers of all time. I constantly have to pinch myself because I don’t believe there’s a reality, I’m living an absolute fairy tale.”

On winning a championship:

“In my mind, I didn’t know how long it would take, but I knew it was gonna happen. I’ve been very good at manifesting things in my life because I just grew up with nothing. So I had to work for everything. The only thing I’ve ever had given to me in my life is a f*cking hard time and pardon my French. But yeah, so like just knowing that, I can’t remember what documentary it is I start off talking at the beginning of it, it shows the full circle where at one point, we were getting close for me to be the champion, something happened and Vince had changed his mind on it. And the show comes to this interview after I had this meeting with him and I was pissed off about it. Because I was like I don’t know what I’m not doing right what I’m not doing wrong, this and that. And that whole documentary leads up on me being told that it’s not my time to be champion. And it led to me beating Goldberg to become the Universal Champion. And it’s so crazy to see all that come to fruition in the story.”

On what it meant to win the championship:

“It meant the world because I like I said, as a kid growing up idolising him to becoming friends with him you know, unfortunate circumstances with everything going on with the pandemic and what happened, he wanted me. So he picked me to do that and do the honours and pass that torch. [Did he reach out to you to tell you that?] Not initially they reached out but when we got there was a whole thing. He goes to me he’s like, look let me not paraphrase it wrong. He said I can count on one hand how many people that I would do this for and I still have three fingers left.”

On being released in 2021:

“It f*cking sucked. I mean, at the end of the day how else do I say it, it sucked. I had no intentions of going anywhere. But that’s an unfortunate part of the business, you know, business is business. And that’s the time that was the decision, I guess that they needed to make. And clearly it wasn’t the right one because I’m back.”

On knowing he would return:

“I knew, I knew for a fact. And that’s what I said, I got reached out by everybody, come here, come wrestle for us. And I’ve said it time and time again. I’m loyal to this company. Because what this company has done for me, my family, my loved ones, I’m just loyal. And I knew for a fact that I would be back because this is where I belong. I truly believe I was put on this earth to be a WWE Superstar.”

On the 2018 Royal Rumble with Brock Lesnar:

“I got a little overzealous with him and he had to check me. And that’s just at the end of the day it’s two big, dominant dudes out there going at it and things happen. This ain’t ballet. I stiffed him on accident with a knee and he wasn’t happy with it. So he clobbered me on the side of the head. And I like to think I’m the only human on Earth that’s ever taken a right hand for Brock that didn’t go night-night. I went 20 more minutes in the match. It didn’t feel good. I mean, you see the slow motion my skull moves and then the skin catches up.”

On his favourite match:

“Honestly, as hard as it was, the swamp match I had with Bray. Because that was my teacher, my mentor, my master. Being able to go out there and use the tools and assets that he taught me and he gave me and be able to go out there. What a lot of people don’t realise with that match and stuff that we had, it took us like 32 hours of continuous work to film this in hot-ass Florida. And it really put a toll on both of us, I ended up in the hospital after it. So I got home and I collapsed in my house with full body cramps, I had to be pulled out of my house by the EMS and have double IVs hooked up. It took four litres of fluid to get my body to stop cramping. So that’s when I got a little you know, you got your critics on the internet and people were bashing it and I’m like, I get it, it’s your opinion you’re entitled to it but like, I almost killed myself to make this happen for y’all. So it’s kind of hard dealing with the critics at times when he when you’re sacrificing your health and well-being to put smiles on other people’s faces. [Was it dehydration?] Yeah, it was just a lot. I mean, you’re out in the middle of a swamp all day long and then literally getting it done and then going straight to Monday Night Raw right after. I went home, took a shower, went to TV got that done and then got home and collapsed while I was taking a shower. But I wouldn’t change the thing. Because I know how important what we do on television to the people out there in the world when they need an escape from reality. As I said, nothing I would change, all the surgeries I’ve been through the pain, the missing out on normal life, whatever normal is anymore. To see in the videos of kids that are going to have brain tumours removed as they’re going under anaesthesia, they’re holding my action figure. That’s what it’s all about.”

What is Braun Strowman grateful for:

“My family, my loved ones and the ability to travel the world.”

Tiffany Stratton On TIFFY TIME, Rhea Ripley, Ludwig Kaiser, Prettiest Moonsault Ever

in LATEST EPISODES on April 30, 2024 April 30, 2024

Tiffany Stratton (@tiffstrattonwwe) is a professional wrestler signed to WWE. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet at a WWE Priority Pass On Location event in Philadelphia during WrestleMania week to talk about her background as a gymnast, her WWE tryout, getting trained by Greg Gagne, how she came up with the name Tiffany Stratton, being inspired by Paris Hilton, her incredible athleticism, how she developed the PME (Prettiest Moonsault Ever), her boyfriend Ludwig Kaiser, making her main roster debut at the Royal Rumble, the loud crowd reaction she got at Elimination Chamber in Perth and much more!

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On trying out for WWE:

“So I’m originally from Prior Lake Minnesota, which is like 20 minutes south of Minneapolis. I was originally a gymnast, so I grew up in the gymnastics world. One day, I was flipping through the channels and I saw Charlotte Flair on SmackDown. And I immediately was like, Who is this woman? She’s jacked. She’s blonde. She looks amazing. She’s doing all these cool flips. And immediately I was just drawn to it. So I went to my nearest wrestling school and I signed up for classes. However, my mom actually had a contact who knew Greg Gagne, who is a wrestling legend. He’s been in the business for a long time. And he agreed to train me and get me a tryout with WWE.”

On what helped her hone her skills:

“I would say gymnastics definitely. It teaches you coordination. It teaches you how to move your body, how to flip, how to roll and I feel like a lot of that is the fundamentals of wrestling. So I kind of picked it up quickly because of gymnastics.”

On the Prettiest Moonsault Ever:

“I did it in like every single one of my routines, it’s like a skill that everybody does in their routines. It’s part of your compulsory routine so I can do it in my sleep.”

On what else comes easy in the ring:

“Obviously being a gymnast I’m not really scared of heights. So going off the top rope is something very easy for me. I’m very good with my air awareness and knowing where I am in the middle of the air. So definitely think that the acrobatic stuff that I do, especially off the top rope, is something that I am very good at.”

On what surprised her about WWE:

“Honestly, there’s a lot of just behind-the-scenes stuff you really don’t know when you’re getting into the business. So I would say going to the Performance Center and the insane schedule that you have, when you first start out, it’s Monday through Friday, you’re training, you’re going to the gym. And then on the weekends, you’re having Coconut [loops], which is basically live wrestling shows in front of fans all around Florida. So you’re constantly going you’re constantly wrestling, and it takes a toll. I’m not gonna lie.”

On dating Ludwig Kaiser:

“So we’ve actually been dating for, it’s gonna be two years in May. So we kind of always knew of each other because we both were at the Performance Center. One day he was out and it was my birthday weekend, and I was out and we actually played rock, paper, scissors and the loser had to ask the person on the date. So he lost and he had to ask me on the date. [What was your first date?] Kres Steakhouse in Orlando.”

On being on separate brands:

“It’s definitely like the last couple of months since I just got called up. It’s been kind of hard. You know, we only get to see each other for a couple of days. But when we do see each other, it means a lot more.”

On debuting on the main roster:

“So I guess I kind of debuted at the Rumble. I didn’t really know that I was making my debut on the main roster, but I had the rumble. Then that Tuesday, I was kind of waiting to hear if I was going to be on NXT that night, and I wasn’t. So I kind of asked them I was like, am I getting called up? And they’re like, Oh, we’re not sure. And then I get a text saying that I have travel for SmackDown. And then I asked am I called up? They’re like, we’re not sure. And then Friday, I got the confirmation that I was being called up and then I had my in-ring debut and the rest is history.”

On the Royal Rumble:

“I was extremely nervous for the Rumble. I just feel like I don’t know, it’s the first time that the main roster fans kind of got to see me. And I was kind of worried nobody’s gonna know who I was, you know, coming from an NXT. It was awesome. I tried to be in the moment and it was a super amazing experience for me.”

On what match cemented her skills in-ring:

“No Mercy in California, I had a match against Becky Lynch, we main evented that PLE. I would say that that match was definitely the one where I kind of cemented myself into okay, she has what it takes. And yeah, that was a transformative day for me as well.”

On Becky Lynch:

“Overall Becky is such a great leader for everybody. And especially for someone who’s kind of just getting their name out there and stuff because she was there. She knows what it’s like to be the rookie and be the one like, nobody knows who you are. So I just think she was so helpful in kind of guiding me through those big matches.”

On the sudden rise of Tiffany Stratton:

“My entire NXT run I feel like everything just happened so fast. I had only trained for eight weeks before even debuting on TV. Yeah, so that was scary. And my first match was atrocious, it was so bad. Then I got taken off TV for a couple of weeks. And I was like, I’m gonna come back better than ever. So I worked really hard. I came back I had my second match against Iyo Sky actually. And it was amazing. And then just I kept learning and I kept getting better with every single rep. And I think they saw that. And yeah, like, the sky’s the limit for me right now.”

Why was that first match so bad?

“Back then I really didn’t know how to work a crowd or even, I didn’t really know who I was in general. You know, it was kind of just thrown out there and, like, told to figure it out a little bit.”

On a dream opponent:

“Obviously, I’m going to have to go with Charlotte Flair. She is the reason why I got into wrestling. She’s my inspiration. I really look up to her. But also Bianca Belair. I think me versus Charlotte versus Bianca would be such a cool matchup. I feel like we all kind of have similar styles in the ring. So I’m really looking forward to those two for sure.”

On her own WrestleMania moment:

“I’ve heard that, or it’s been rumoured that next year’s WrestleMania is going to be in Minnesota. And I’m from Minnesota. So I think, you know, Tiffy Time in my hometown in the main events would be the perfect moment for me in my career.”

On winning the NXT Women’s Championship:

“So that day, I’m trying to remember, I’m pretty sure it was a bit chaotic, which is like every single TV. But I honestly was just so nervous. I actually did not like my gear at all that day. I just didn’t like the fit, I didn’t really like the colour. I don’t know. It’s just when something doesn’t look amazing on you and it’s like a big moment. It’s kind of like, oh, so that was kind of a little downer. But yeah, that day, it was intense. And afterwards, honestly, I had like no feeling like I was numb. I feel like it didn’t hit me until I came back and then I got emotional. It was my longest match I’ve ever had so I was so tired, I was so blown up, I was just exhausted, I hurt my shoulder a little bit. But all in all, it was a great day.”

On where Tiffany Stratton came from:

“So actually, my mom’s name is Tiffany. And Stratton, I honestly don’t know where I got that last name from. I think I heard it on Wolf of Wall Street because the brokerage his name Stratton Oakmont and I think that’s where I heard it. And it just sounded good, so I kind of threw it in there. And then they picked it was actually between Tiffany Stratton and Veronica Swanson. So obviously, I had to go with Tiffany Stratton.”

On the reaction in Australia:

“I was not expecting it at all. I realised that I had a lot of fans behind me at the press conference when they were chanting Tiffy Time before I even came out. So that was kind of like the moment was like, Okay, I think they kind of know me.”

What Tiffany Stratton is grateful for:

“The life that I live, my family and food.”

Will Sasso’s Spot-On Impressions Of Jesse Ventura, Macho Man, Arnold Schwarzenegger & Stone Cold 😂

in LATEST EPISODES on April 25, 2024 April 25, 2024

Will Sasso (@willsasso) is an actor, comedian, podcaster and huge wrestling fan. He joins Chris Van Vliet at West Coast Creative Studio in Hollywood, CA to talk about the rising popularity of wrestling, his show “Loudermilk” on Netflix, his podcast “Dudesy” and being the current Episode Champion, having a match against Bret Hart in WCW, taking a Stone Cold Stunner from Steve Austin in WWE, getting chokeslammed by Kane, why he should be in the celebrity wing of WWE’s Hall Of Fame, his guest appearance on Entourage when he got Jeremy Piven to break character and does incredible spot-on impressions of Jesse Ventura, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Quote I’m thinking about: “A day without laughter is a day wasted” – Charlie Chaplin

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On the recent beatdown angle between The Rock and Cody Rhodes:

“It was very worth it. I don’t know what it is. is not well, I think there’s a lot of things, super wrestling, dorks will say, okay, Triple H has run of creative, right? And that’s a different situation, obviously. I don’t know, because I look at WWE from afar. And I kind of go this is a this is a television show they know what the f*ck they’re doing. They’ve got an amazing group of characters that they’ve built and the storytelling that they do and I kind of feel like yeah, right now they are, they are in the zone and the whole, let them cook thing. More than I have been in years and years going, I can’t wait to see where that goes, instead of f*ck that kind of dropped off on this because it’s sort of and again, I’m just speaking as a layman, as a fan. It seems like, in years past, it was sort of booked, like, wrestling is booked. It’s like, Yeah, this is working, this isn’t. So let’s let this fall over by the wayside when you have a massive TV audience and fans all over the world. Some people are interested in that storyline that you think no one’s interested in. And the more stories that drop off, I think that creates bad will with the audience. Whereas now, I think everything they do is very deliberate.”

On his guest spot on WWE to promote The Three Stooges:

“That would have been the last time that I was hanging out doing the WWE thing. And we’re the Three Stooges but oh, where’s Curly? and he comes out as Hulk. But it was like I was pitching this thing, and really goofy and then they come out. And they were wonderful. They’re like, sounds good. And I’m like, Oh, shi*t, hey, what if Kane comes in? Okay, cool. What? this is what it’s like. Then the mild-mannered and extremely helpful Glenn Jacobs is like, you’re sure whatever you want to do. And this is incredible. And he chokeslammed me and sh*t.”

On how the segment was put together:

“We went out there in the afternoon. I had this promo that I had as Hulk Hogan, where it’s like, Curly comes out. And he’s like, Look at me. I’m dressed as whatever. Then I was out there cutting a promo as Hulk Hogan. [I said] ‘Well, there’s only one movie I want to see. I don’t want to go see Hunger Games dude. I don’t want to see The Cabin in the Woods, bro. I want to see The Three Stooges. And there’s few wrestlers around going this is f*cking long. Then Paul Triple H Levesque is out there, of course. And let me go through the whole thing. And he said ok, We’re going to do about 10% of that. Yeah, and I know. And then the idea was to have Kane and we just stood around in the ring talking about it. And then that was it. And I was like, okay, all right. I gotta tell you this so we go backstage. I have Shawn Hayes who plays Larry and Chris Diamantopoulos who plays Moe, with me, of course, and we’re there and they’re not wrestling fans per se. And I’m like, you know, it’s going to be bedlam. We’re going to head out to the ring. You’re going to hear all sorts of sh*t coming from the audience. They’re going to love to hate you. This is at the point where WWE had a lot of celebrity stuff and you gotta wait you know, Hugh Jackman is punching Dolph Ziggler. And as wrestling fans were like f*ck off, we don’t want any of this sh*t.”

On possibly going into the WWE Hall of Fame:

“Is Pete Rose in yet? I think he took the chokeslam well. I think before we get anywhere near me, we got to do Andy Richter, Kevin Federline, Jeremy Piven, Ken Jeong need to get in before me, Snooki needs to go in. Because we’re wrestling fans here, don’t disrespect the hall. We have to we have to really, who else?”

On Logan Paul:

“It’s interesting when you see someone with the mechanics you watch like, I don’t know like I remember as a kid just going like holy fuck Bam Bam Bigelow is 350 pounds or whatever and moves like he weighs 100 pounds. And there are guys that just get [it], all the second and third generation wrestlers I feel like have that. You see a guy like you know the legendary Randy Orton obviously, who’s just it’s in his blood. Logan Paul has no business being that good.”

On Logan Paul in the Elimination Chamber:

“I was laughing at a clip I saw online of him after the Chamber match in Australia, where he’s like outside, he just got eliminated by Randy Orton. So it’s Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton is in the chamber still. And they’re trying to get Logan out of there. And he’s like, Ah, I’m in pain, I can’t move but he’s like kind of whining. He’s doing the chicken sh*t heel thing and it’s so entertaining. And it wasn’t on the broadcast. It’s like just these cameras over here and it ends up on social media. And then the opportunity presents itself. He gets the knucks on he hits Randy Orton with the knucks and he rolls out and the refs are playing. And he’s like, I tricked you. I tricked you like na na na and the ref was with him was like no, I knew. No you didn’t I tricked you know, I knew no you didn’t. I tricked you. I’m gonna be a real dork now, when Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho were doing the we’re best friends thing with the list. There was a moment when I was watching a match and Chris Jericho is like in the ring and he’s dizzy from whatever the other guy and Kevin Owens is going don’t fall down, don’t fall down. And you can see Chris Jericho smiling because no one says that in wrestling but that’s exactly what he’s doing. He’s about to fall down. But a guy who’s as good a wrestler as there has ever been like a guy like Kevin Owens, who’s [says] don’t fall down. That’s the sh*t that a guy like Logan Paul comes in goes I don’t know what the rules are. So Yes, Chris I’m eager to get back into the WWE. And Logan Paul, if you’re looking for a mouthpiece, why not have a big, tubby manager with pretty solid calves who can take a bump for you every now and then cuz you’re gonna get injured.”

On Raw going to Netflix next year:

“If Loudermilk can come back on Netflix, and then Raw is on Netflix. Now we have a situation where with the Bret Hart thing, we did a crossover with Mad TV. With Stone Cold did a crossover with Mad TV both of those Superstars appeared on Mad TV and they sent my big ass to go get tossed around on their respective programmes Nitro and Raw. We are promoting the Three Stooges. Again, end up on Raw getting chokeslammed by Kane now. Not as iconic a character, Curly Hulk Hogan, Ben Burns. That’s my name on Loudermilk. Know what? Oh, Ben Burns is coming out here folks. Huh? That’s isn’t that that fat guy from late night? He’s got big calves and then I come out there.”

On why The Rock takes the best Stunner:

“He pushes himself backwards. I probably talked about this last time I was on your programme, when we did the thing with Stone Cold and I take the stunner at the end. We went out there in the afternoon. And he’s like, so bang, I hit the thing and you just crumble boom. And that’s it. And I think he was thinking about all the bad Stunners that you see people take, they don’t have their knees or their feet underneath them or even one knee and it just looks like sh*t.”

On how he got into wrestling:

“So for me, it was seeing Hulk Hogan for the first time, sort of being aware of him a little bit, and then going, like, not really watching. Also, back when I was kid. I was born in 1975. So in 83,84, I’m sort of aware of it. There’s older kids who are watching it. I knew what Hulk Hogan kind of looked like and sh*t but it all came together watching Rocky III when he comes out as Thunder Lips. And then it becomes destination viewing. He’s coming out to the Eye of the Tiger. He’s hanging out with Mr. T, he’s showing up with Cyndi Lauper and Roddy Piper. They’re on mainstream TV. He’s showing up on Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show. And it was like this guy is larger than life. And I became a Hulkamaniac at that point. So for me growing up, it was always Hulk at the beginning. And then you start to appreciate all these other guys. And by the time the Attitude Era came around, I mean, we were spoiled. Rock and Stone Cold, Mick Foley, The Undertaker Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart coming out and doing what they do just on TV. We were spoiled and The Rock was incredible on the mic. Speaking of viral there’s like a clip that was just going across Instagram. And all it is is the rock going and it makes you realise as a wrestling fan, how much we kind of want to be done with the PG era or whatever. Can’t wait for Netflix. But he he was just like, there you know, he’s got his sunglasses on. He’s in the ring and Triple H is out of the ring. And I don’t know what the situation was. But he says shut up b*tch!”

On wrestling signs coming back:

“Yeah, there’s some good signs out there. I don’t know how they are now, it’s this massive merger, obviously and the formation of TKO. It’s like, things are obviously and for so many reasons, run completely differently. As a TV nerd I’m just sort of very curious about the way that they’re running things. And because as a wrestling fan, I want it to be successful, I want it to flourish. And because then we enjoy what we’re seeing more than more than we would otherwise. And I do feel like with Triple H running creative, and again, and I’m talking out of my ass because I don’t know, who’s the bottom line and blah, blah, blah, but obviously, they’ve put him in control.”

On The Rock returning:

“It’s so good to see him doing his thing again. It’s so good. It’s like, again, you know, my poor wife. I’m trying to explain the significance of him in the $500 Versace shirt. I’m trying I’m like, you don’t understand. Because when Rock joined the Nation of Domination, Boo Rocky sucks. That’s when The Rock had well these Versace shirts and you know, he would wear these it’s very funny because now it’s incredible. He’s so entertaining.”

Jinder Mahal: “Don’t Hinder Jinder”, WWE Championship Reign, AEW Tweet, 3MB

in LATEST EPISODES on April 23, 2024 April 23, 2024

Jinder Mahal (@jindermahal) is a professional wrestler known for his time in WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet to talk about starting the year doing a segment with The Rock on Raw Day 1, his World Heavyweight Championship match against Seth Rollins, the Twitter exchange he had with Tony Khan about his title shot, being released from WWE in 2014 and coming back better than ever, being part of 3MB with Drew McIntyre and Heath Slater, beating Randy Orton for the WWE Championship at Backlash in 2017, being the first Indian WWE Champion, growing up in Canada and training to be a pro wrestler, his Modern Day Maharaja character, winning the US Championship and much more.

Quote I’m thinking about: “The fish don’t just jump in the boat”

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On the January 1st segment with The Rock:

“So I kind of pieced it together. So I got a text from creative Hey, you guys have nothing this week. And then actually travel text says, Hey, you guys are not flying out. I’m in a group chat with Indus Sher and our travel department. And 20 minutes later, I get a separate text saying, Actually, you are going. And I thought it was a little weird that it was just me and not Indus Sher. But I don’t think anything of it. And then like a few hours later, I saw the announcement on Twitter, former WWE Champion returns. I knew it wasn’t going to be me but I figured I’m going to be a part of it. I texted Indus Sher, Hey, are you guys going to Raw? They said no, [so] it’s just me going. So I’m like, okay, good chance I think it’s me. And actually, it was Christmas week. I was with my family in Calgary. I was flying back on the 30th and when I was on my flight, I got a text from one of the writers. Hey, can you talk on the phone? I said I’m in the plane for a few more hours I’ll call you when I land. One of the writers said, Yeah, so we got you in the segment with the Rock. Yes 100%. Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. So that’s how I found out man one or two days before.”

On speaking with The Rock before the segment:

“Oh, it was amazing. I met him at his hotel. And Brian Gewirtz was there, wrote an awesome promo. When he sent it to me [I said] can we say this? [Brian said] Yeah. Okay, I guess with The Rock anything goes. So no he just said have fun, let’s do it. He was excited to work with me and I was obviously excited to work with him. And he’s just a class act, The Rock is amazing for him to give me that moment. And especially Brian, telling me like we got time don’t rush, because I was actually kind of shortchanging myself. I was like, maybe I will walk and talk to the ring. He said no enjoy it, have a full entrance, get some heat. We were allotted 20 minutes, so it was an awesome experience.”

On what The Rock said afterwards:

“Yes, he actually kind of left a little bit of an Easter egg. He sent me a voice note like, Thank you appreciate, working with you, and I’ll be seeing a lot more of you around now that I’m doing things all across the board with WWE and it didn’t click in. After a few days later it did. I was like, oh, that’s what he meant by doing things all across the board.”

On improving his promos:

“I’ve gotten better with experience and time. There once was a time when I hated promos. I had to memorise every word. I remember being in FCW and every Wednesday we would have promos with Dusty Rhodes and I’d be so nervous because the hardest people to do promos in front of are other wrestlers. I feel like they are judging, especially in developmental every week matters so much, you’re trying to get to the next level. I used to have to memorise promos word for word. The morning of I’d be stressing, trying to figure it out word for word. And then actually when I became WWE Champion is when I really started working on my promos. When I became number one contender, when I came back in Gorilla, I knew that I was gonna have to step up my promos. So that day in Gorilla right when I came back, I told Vince I said, Hey Vince on every live event Can I please get a promo? He called over Road Dogg [and said] Every live event from now on Jinder has a promo. So every live event after that open mic, do whatever before-the-match kind of promo. And through that just got more and more experienced, more and more comfortable. But had I not asked Hey, can I please do promos? You know, I don’t think I would have progressed as much.”

On when WWE higher-ups viewed him as a potential champion:

“So, Vince appreciates a good physique. Not just because it’s a good physique, but he understands the discipline it takes and the hard work it takes, especially with the schedule at that time, the amount of live events we were doing. To maintain the single-digit body fat percentage while travelling that much is a sign of dedication. So WWE is a place that they reward hard work. But also that hard work and the right opportunity, at that time I had done the spot with Gronk at WrestleMania. And I remember WrestleMania week in Orlando, I’m at a hotel and I see Road Dogg in the hallway, and he’s like, ‘Hey, Jinder big things after WrestleMania coming for you.’ I said okay, okay. I think maybe I move up to the IC level or US Championship level, a little bit more TV time, which is good. So the draft happened, I got drafted to SmackDown. And Rusev was actually supposed to work Randy at that pay-per-view. Rusev gets hurt. He has shoulder surgery and I guess I was just picked. We had a six-pack challenge Match. How I actually found out, the night before we were on a live event and I remember I was taping my wrist. It might have been Luke Harper. I saw on Twitter that the six-pack challenge was for the number one contender. I think it was Luke Harper, who told me like you’re going over, you’re gonna work Randy because I was thinking Harper is gonna work Randy. I looked at the list of guys, me, Sami Zayn, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, one other I can’t remember, maybe Mojo? I can’t remember who it was, I figured is gonna be Luke Harper. And Luke told me and then Randy came a little bit later [and said] I guess we’re working. And then before the match, Randy told me, I think it’s just a one-off because I’m still supposed to work Rusev. I’m like okay, whatever, that’s great. I get a number one contender match at Backlash in Chicago. Okay, great. Even if that’s it, just one title shot. I was just released not even a year ago. And then I don’t know what changed. I got some momentum leading up to Backlash. Cut a couple of promos Vince really liked. And I found out the day of, like the afternoon. Say maybe 5 pm I saw Road Dogg in the hallway. He said, Hey, you’re going over. And I believe he told Randy Hey, go talk to Vince. Randy went and talked to Vince we put the finish together and yeah that was it.”

Did they tell you it would be a lengthy reign?

“No, no idea, I have no idea, just week to week, pay-per-view to pay-per-view. No, I had no idea. And then even when I lost the title to AJ, Vince brought us to the office day told me that day because it was on a SmackDown we were in Manchester the match got made while we were already on the Europe tour. The first week of the Europe tour the match got announced while I’m already there. And Vince called us into the office. Hey, we’re doing the title switch today. Jinder, you’re now going to chase, that easy. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Let’s go do it.”

On Randy Orton:

“All credit to Randy. I would say Randy is in my opinion the greatest. If you look at longevity, look, his ability in the ring, he’s pacing [as a] heel or babyface. Good babyface, even better heel. Amazing heel, an amazing babyface. Randy to me is the best and I really learned a lot. Actually, while I was number one contender we were also in Europe before the Backlash pay-per-view we were in Europe for two weeks and I got to have a triple threat match for the entire two-week tour with AJ and Randy. So like every night I got more and more relaxed in working the main event style. I never worked it, the WWE main event style is different. The pacing, Randy so over, AJ, these guys are so over, you don’t need to rush, they do a big kick out and you can take your time to react. I don’t know, just sometimes when you wrestle other guys lower on the card as I was myself, we got to do so much to like try to get a reaction and we kind of, I don’t know, we plan too much of the match. But like with those guys is completely relaxed. Just like in the moment, listen to the crowd. Okay, here, here, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and the crowd is really into it. So yeah, there’s definitely a big difference.”

On being the first Indian WWE Champion:

“It’s amazing. You know, representation and diversity matters so much. When I was growing up, there was no one like me on television. We had Tiger Ali Singh for a short period of time, but times were different back then and foreign characters were treated differently. So it was a huge moment, man, everybody, the South Asian community, the diaspora, we got like, 2 billion people on earth like one in four people on Earth are South Asian, you know, from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, just south Asian in general. The population there is huge, but also the diaspora. America, England, UK all over Australia. The Indian population, South Asian population is very, very big. And it was a big moment for everyone the whole community. Everybody still talks about it like everywhere I go, I meet people that’s it. Yeah. And then like, you know, respect like you did it.”

On the disrespect that came with Jinder Mahal being WWE Champion:

“So you know, what’s weird for a period of time there was disrespect. But now all of a sudden there’s respect, it is weird. I had the same thing with 3MB, at that time 3MB sucks, what are these guys? Release 3MB. But now everywhere I go, people are like 3MB was awesome, we love 3MB. You know what it is? People think that I was just given it like, I’ve heard Oh, because of India. But I was the same when I got released. And if I didn’t have that transformation, and really have that mindset change and apply myself fully I wouldn’t have become WWE Champion. Yes, it’s a business but so was every other champion. WWE is a business. So I think people believe I wasn’t deserving of it, I was just given it because of, oh, we want to expand in India. But India was there while I was released when I was in 3MB, when I debuted. The market has always been big since Great Khali.”

On nearly beating Seth Rollins shortly before WrestleMania 40:

“It would have been amazing. It would have been a great moment right before WrestleMania, creating some buzz. Even if he wins it back a week later or something. I would like to see more surprises. When I became WWE Champion it was a big surprise. We get surprises but I think we need a little bit more. [Most of the champions have held the titles for a long time]. Yes, Seth, Damian Priest with the Money in the Bank and the tag team and of course yeah, Judgment Day. Been some time. Logan Paul US Championship Yeah, all the champions have been champions for a while. Yeah, I would love to see one of the titles switch really quick, keep things interesting. But I get it, the championships, when whatever superstars hold on for a long time, it does really elevate them to the next level. So I understand. I see it and it’s kind of more old school where the champion is a champion for a long time. Yeah, I do like that.”

On going from WWE Champion to 24/7 Champion:

“Yeah, but at the same time I can become champion again. Like I don’t know, maybe that’s a unique thing with me like that’s what I always kind of, like view myself as almost like a utility player. Whatever I need it for. I can do comedy stuff, I can do serious. I can do promos. I can do main event. You know I can and I think that’s why maybe I’ve had some longevity in WWE, because you can put me in any position, I can do everything in a way.”

On how the segment with Gronk was put together:

“I didn’t know. So I didn’t know it was gonna happen ahead of time. I had Access that morning, not it’s WWE World, I had like a signing. Usually, the guys who weren’t doing anything on WrestleMania, the day of WrestleMania, they send them there for the meet and greet signings or whatnot. I’m at the signing and I don’t have my phone on me. And I do like two hours of signing. I think I was gonna go to the hotel and then to the arena go a little bit later. I’m just in the Battle Royale, or whatever. It’s all good. And I get to my phone. And I have like all these missed calls. Mark Caranno, Vince, like all these missed calls, what’s going on? I call them, they say hey, get to the ring right now. Where are you? I’m like, I’m at Acess. Okay, hurry up, we got a van for you. So I get in the van and I go straight there. And I get there. Road Dogg says hey, you’re doing this spot with Rob. We got rehearsal come right now to the ring. And it was pretty simple. We just had to map out how like, what was the spot with the beer or whatever what was going to bring him in? How are we going to get to the floor there? And then with the tackle, he asked me ahead of time, like hey, how do you work the tackle? I said just hit me. He hit me really hard. The back of my head or my neck hit the bottom rope was sore for like a few weeks after that.”

On seeing the Tony Khan Tweet:

“I was at home. I think it was early in the day. I think I just did cardio. Drew had texted me. And I got like a bunch of texts in a row I was like what I got to see this. And I opened up to Twitter. And that’s what I saw. Thank you, Tony you made that match with Seth more interesting. Yeah. People thought I was gonna win it just to spite Tony.”

What is Jinder Mahal grateful for?

“This platform WWE has provided me, my health and the relationships I have with everybody.”

Becky Lynch on Ronda Rousey Controversy, Becoming THE MAN, Punching Dom In The Face!

in LATEST EPISODES on April 18, 2024 April 18, 2024

Becky Lynch (@beckylynchwwe) is a New York Times bestselling author and a professional wrestler with WWE. She joins Chris Van Vliet in Philadelphia, PA to talk about her new book called “Becky Lynch: The Man: Not Your Average Average Girl”, becoming a New York Times bestselling author, balancing her career in the WWE with being a mom to her daughter Roux, her favorite stories about her husband Seth Rollins, not remembering anything from the night she became “The Man” and got punched in the face by Nia Jax, her viral moment when she knocked out Dominik Mysterio, main eventing WrestleMania 35, Ronda Rousey refusing to tap out, being part of the “Triple H Era” of WWE and much more.

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On the book feeling like Becky Lynch is telling the stories:

“Yeah, because I sat there wrote it and told you these stories. Yeah. And so that’s what I wanted it to be. I wanted it to be something where people wanted to turn the page and it was an easy read an enjoyable read, the people could kind of get lost in for a few hours. Because it’s such an undertaking to ask somebody to pick up a book and read it, because you have to cut everything out, you have to just take the time to pick it up to read. And so if I’m asking people to do that, I want to make sure that it’s good.”

On who inspired Becky Lynch:

“Mick Foley. Hence why I wanted to be the author of my own book. And because Mick was the person who I would see my brother be watching, wrestling, and walk past the TV, I’m like, Oh, don’t you know, that’s all fake, like, I was the worst. And, and my brother was like it’s gotten really good. And then I’d see it Mick on the TV. I’m like, wow, the way he talked and the presence that he had, he was so captivating. And then, you know, I could relate to him, because I was this kid who had been teased for being overweight and felt like I didn’t fit in, he wasn’t the typical superstar. And, and I could relate to that, you know, when he said, like, I can’t jump high, but I can jump off of high places. So everything about him spoke to me. And also we just look like such a good person. And then over the years have gotten to Nome. And you know, whoever says don’t meet your heroes, their hero wasn’t Mick Foley, because he’s so great. Like, when I told him I was writing, I wrote a draft, which wasn’t very good, I would say. And he went through it. And first of all, he was so complimentary, so encouraging, that I had a voice that I had a unique voice that needed to use my voice. And then the other thing was, he spent six hours on the phone, just going line by line through the book, picking out, even stuff like where I should have put a comma. And I was like, Oh, well, the copy editor will pick all that up. But like, he just took that time because he cares so much.”

On where the process began:

“I mean, it started back in 2020. I was pregnant, the world was shut down. Well, might as well start. I just started writing, and it was just like, word vomit onto a page, like no censoring myself in any capacity, just let me get words down onto the page. And then I’d reach a certain point, and I’d kind of get stuck, and then I leave it for months on end. And then I’d come back and I’d start again from the beginning. I would do this process over and over again, until like 2022 was right as I was having that match with Bianca at WrestleMania. And I decided to take a writing course. Then it took a year long writing course. And there was some stuff with my book deal where nobody had given me a deadline. And it turned out to like, just coincidentally, the deadline ended up being right at the end of the book course. And so it worked out perfectly that now I had accountability. I could do it. And so within that year, I ended up handing in a draft. And then I had problems with editors where one editor just disappeared, and then there was another editor and we didn’t click so much And then I got this other editor, Rebecca Strobel. And she was amazing. She was amazing. So I sent her off the draft. And then she came back with a bunch of questions. And then I read it for the first time, read it back in one thing, and I was like, Oh, I hate this. I hate this. And then I scrapped the whole thing and rewrote it in like about five weeks. Yeah. So that’s a very long story about how long the process took but like, you know, it kind of took within three years, but also took five weeks.”

What was difficult to write?

“Anything with WWE I thought needed to be handled with great care. Because I don’t think you can absent-mindedly write about people that are in the public eye. You have to have a good representation of them and an accurate representation of them. And so I wanted to detail everything very honestly, very factually, without letting my bias come into play. Like when was I the asshole? I need to own that. Let me try and see the other person’s point of view, because these people are in the public eye and you want to represent them in the way that is most honest. And here’s another thing that Mick Foley told me, never use a book to get back at anybody. Like, never use it as a revenge tool, they don’t have the chance to defend themselves. And I took that as I’m going to be the hero of my own story, right? If you’re reading this, I’m likely painting myself as the hero of my story. It’s not fair for me to paint anybody as a villain, especially somebody who doesn’t have the chance to respond. So I really wanted to handle all of that stuff with care.”

On her first date with Seth Rollins:

“I don’t know what counts as that. Maybe it was Bring Me the Horizon in the Forum in LA. I think that was our first kind of official date because it was right before the Royal Rumble and he showed me this song by Bring Me the Horizon. I’d never heard of them before. I’m like, I love this song. And allegedly it reminded him of me. And he was like, look at how different they are. And he showed me their other stuff. So then we got to go. See them live. And pretty soon after. And that was cool. Look at us now, married with a 3-year-old.”

On how being a mom has changed her career:

“It’s complicated. Because there’s both, you just want to spend time with your kid. I’ve gone [away] and she’s gone don’t leave me Mama, don’t leave me and especially, you know, the last week with the book tour, and then this week is crazy because it’s Wrestlemania. And then we’ve got a lot of tours coming up. And we were in Perth. And so we had to leave her in and stuff like, that is so hard. It’s so hard. And like, I have to remind myself that my mom was also a flight attendant, she was gone, but I don’t remember her being gone. I just remember her being present. I remember her always making cakes for the bake sale. I remember snuggling with her. I don’t remember the absence of her, I just remember the presence of her. And so I need to remember that whenever I’m feeling. But I feel so lucky that I still get the part of me that was me before I became a mother. Because you changed so much. And you become a new person, your priorities switch. And that’s an adjustment for a lot of women, I think maybe every woman, because you now have a new identity. And sometimes you lose that person that you were before. And you almost have to in a way and I’ve talked to other people, like you have to grieve the person that you were before. And it’s an amazing thing and it’s a wonderful thing to be a mother. But you also in some ways miss that person you were before I get to keep that. And I get to still keep that thing that, you know made me feel like me the thing that I love, and I get to have my daughter so I feel so lucky.”

On her most perfect wrestling match:

“[There’s] definitely no such thing. Oh my gosh, there’s no such thing. I really loved the match that Trish and I had. That was one where I didn’t leave going ah! Because even, like I’m thinking of all my favourite matches, like Charlotte at Evolution, there was still some things where I was going ah. Bianca at WrestleMania 38, one of my favourite matches of all time that I’ve had. There were still times when I was like ah, I kicked her right in the face, you know what I mean? Like stuff like that. That maybe ended up making it better but sometimes that’s also the thing, not that kicking Bianca right in the face and giving her a massive black eye made a better, maybe more brutal, but obviously I apologised. But sometimes the flaws in things that make them better make them give them that great [feeling]. I don’t like pristine things. I like a little bit of grit and roughness, especially in a wrestling match. I don’t like everything to look clean and perfect and crisp. It shouldn’t, it’s a scrap. I love a scrap. I love a match with a scrap.”

On the end of WrestleMania 35:

“I was in the moment. But I couldn’t see it. But the discourse afterwards, and also the sound of the audience made it seem like something had gone wrong. But obviously, at the time, I wasn’t aware. And yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know if that was intentional, or accidental. I could see the motivation for it being intentional, like, oh well, this will be my out to get a second match. You know what I mean? In the long game, or could have just been accidental.”

On the original finish being Ronda submitting:

“Well, so that the creative that was laid out. So she had her driver take her to the wrong spot. And so she showed up, I think, like an hour [late], and we’d been talking through stuff. And TJ, our producer, an amazing producer, TJ Wilson. I’ve known him since 2006. And we were road-tripping across Canada and into Washington and Portland. It’s a wild journey. And anyway, he’s like, maybe you have Rhonda in an armbar, she looks like she’s about to tap out. And so Ronda comes and we tell her the creative and say and then you’re almost about to tap out. [Ronda says] Oh no, my mom wouldn’t look me in the eye or talk to me again if I looked like I was about to tap out. All right, well, she’s probably not going to tap out on the finish. So you know, she never tapped out in her career. So I understood it, respected it and moved on quickly. I was gonna win two titles in the main event of WrestleMania. It was not a big deal whether she tapped out or not. It was I was winning and she was doing the honours.”

On WWE being hot right now:

“I think it is the leadership that we have right now and that things are thought out. Because it was no secret that before the show would be rewritten as it was going on. I talked about it in the book. It wasn’t unheard of for them to have a show on paper and we’d show up and Vince would tear it up and we’d start from scratch and then at 6 pm Your creative changes. And then you’re like, oh, okay, well, what are we doing? And it didn’t always play off of what we had done last week. And now with Hunter in charge, he has a vision. He sees it through and that’s what you need for a TV show. You know what I mean? You don’t start filming Succession episode one without knowing where you’re going in episode 5. So I think that’s been a huge change. And then the reins are off a little bit in terms of letting people have a bit more freedom to try things out. See if things work, see if they don’t. And have a conversation there. I think that just makes a world of a difference.”

What is Becky Lynch grateful for?

“My daughter, my husband and being a New York Times bestseller.”