Former WWE Superstars Emma (@realtenilledashwood) and Riddick Moss (@themikerallis) are professional wrestlers known for their time in WWE. They sit down with Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood to talk about the recent wedding, being released from WWE, their plans now they are not under contract, their new travel YouTube channel called “Where To Next, Honey?”, Mike talks about the scary moment when he got dropped on his head in the ring by Drew McIntyre, being renamed from Riddick Moss to Madcap Moss, what Emma learned from working with Santino Marella, her time in TNA, cold plunging and much more!

On life after WWE:

Tenille Dashwood: “Well, I will say that I was that person the last time I got released, I literally had everything lined up. I had new entrance music I had tours planned. And I went and wrestled for, the top companies around the world. I did, like different countries too, everything. So I definitely have been there. And I think this time, it was more of that thought of now let’s do all the other things that we haven’t been able to do, like, the new businesses were starting. And all of those things. It was like an opportunity and like a positive in that sense.”

On what they are doing now:

Mike Rallis: “So there’s a few of them. Yeah, I mean, because there really is it kind of was like, when we first looked at it as like, oh, we want to do this, and this. And then a week later is like actually, I kind of want to do that too. And it got to the point where it’s like screw it, let’s just try it all. And so, for me, I mean, the YouTube series we’ve already mentioned. Then there’s The Rallis Regimen, which I just launched with my brother. It’s a holistic health and wellness programme for people that basically you just have to sign up and you get all of this for free. And it’s completely comprehensive guides to training, nutrition, sleep and environment. They’re easily digestible, and they’re immediately actionable. So basically, there’s so much information out there. And we help people sort through that, make it simple and actionable right away, and implement it right away.”

On travelling:

Tenille: “That’s the thing was we talked about what we were most passionate about, what we enjoy and things that we like to share with people in our lives or our audience. And for me, it’s very clear, I love to travel. So this website has a travel blog, I talk about places I’ve been or new opportunities. I also have a shop where I sell itineraries and guides so people can literally go purchase them and it tells them exactly you know the best spots to go for meals, the best hotels, and hikes it tells them hidden gems best photo spots, like for instance, probably by the time this is I’ll have a new Paris itinerary up as a guide with a free itinerary actually. And that will tell them some of the best places to take photos for the Eiffel Tower, but that people don’t know about so. So you know, you see like my page and I have these pictures and these places and I find people always saying to me, how did you find that place or how did you go there or how did you arrange this? And so basically, I’m just kind of putting it together and saying, This is how this is how you do it. Just go click the button and get it.”

On Tenille being released hours after promoting Elimination Chamber:

Tenille: “It was a rough day. I will say, since I returned to WWE it was definitely a thought and a goal of mine to be able to do a big show in my home country, and even just to return there in general on a tour. And it’s something that I did ask many times about when I was there. When’s the next tour? They hadn’t been there for years, because of all the lack of travel and the restrictions for years. But basically, I kept asking, and I thought it wasn’t happening. And then so was kind of a surprise, when I saw that tweet that there was a show happening there. I still hadn’t been told by anyone. So then I was like, wow. And I just thought what a dream to be able to wrestle there. And then throughout the next few hours or so we started hearing that people were getting released. And at that point, I mean, I can’t say that [we were safe], we were basically expecting calls at that point. Like we were kind of in that position where we thought we’re probably gonna get released. And then we did.”

Did they call you together?

Mike: No, we actually weren’t together at the time. So I was just at the archery range, and that I felt bad not being there with Tenille when she got the call, especially given what had happened earlier that morning, I was with her when they announced the Australian show.

On the possibility of one getting released and one staying:

Mike: I’ll tell you, for me personally, I would have felt very guilty if it were me staying. I probably wouldn’t have wanted to stay. If it was her who was staying, I would have been totally fine with that. I would have been happy for her and I don’t [know], maybe she would feel the same way. I’m not sure. But I just felt like and maybe for me, it’s partially the fact that I mean, obviously I didn’t get to do everything there is to do in the industry. But I had that year, year and a half as Madcap that I felt pretty good about where I got to really express myself at least in this character and have a tonne of fun with it, you have no idea how much fun I had as Madcap. It was just a great time. I got to do goofy stuff. I still got to wrestle in long matches against great opponents. I mean, and just part of the team. I was a mainstay on the television show with a defined actual role. And I felt good about that. And I just felt like of course no one [feels like they are being fully utilised] I’m sure there’s literally Roman Reigns who probably feels he’s not used to his fullest potential. And maybe he’s not, it’s just like, that’s probably not going to happen for 99.9% of people. But I really felt like Tenille had so much more she could contribute do and she just really never got the chance to do especially the second time around. So I definitely felt like I wish she had gotten more.”

On wrestling again:

Tenille: “I will say I was a little disappointed with that last run, and a little upset with how things went. But I do think I had a lot more to contribute. I had very high hopes when I returned, and it just didn’t turn out the way that I would have liked. But in saying that, we did see it as a positive, we just weren’t being used, you know. So when we finally got released, we were like, Okay, let’s go do the things we want. And that has been very exciting. So I think at this point, we’re kind of focusing on that. And we do have a tour coming up in Australia that we have committed to.” 

Mike: “We are wrestling again.” 

Tenille: “There are some autograph signings and a match that will both have. But past that, we are kind of just focusing on all our other things right now. And yeah, I guess I can’t imagine ever fully stepping away from wrestling. It’s been my dream since I was a little girl and that was the only thing I ever really wanted to do. And I mean, I’m so glad I’ve gone after it and had the career I’ve had. So it would be hard for me to say I’m done with wrestling. But in that same instance, I am not actively pursuing anything or don’t have a plan moving forward at this point, either.”

Mike: “I mean, I would probably echo a lot of what she said. Like I just mentioned, I had so much fun wrestling, and I met so many cool people, I love wrestling. Having said that, there’s a lot of other things I really love that I want to pursue. And the one thing about wrestling and when I was a football player I used to say this, the one guaranteed thing is like it’s going to come to an end. And it’s very physical and I’ve taken my fair share of punishment with Achilles, ACL surgery, I’ve got a wonky eye from a few too many concussions and blows to the head, so like, it, that’s definitely a consideration is is the health. And as much as I love the wrestling part of wrestling, there’s a political side of wrestling that I don’t necessarily love. And all of these businesses that we’re doing have its own, I mean, feel like we’re we’re way busier than we were with WWE. As anyone who’s tried to do anything on their own, or have their own entrepreneurial venture of any kind knows, there’s a lot of work that goes in upfront. It’s stressful, and it’s exciting, and it’s fun. But there’s something to it being all on you, and not having to worry about who you’re rubbing the wrong way or anything like that. And just am I standing the correct way to not anger the wrong person? Or what is so and so think of me, there’s just, it’s really freeing. No drama.”

On Madcap Moss being pitched:

Mike: Well, first I came up, to summarise my career real quick on the main roster. I was Mojo’s lineman, that’s its own story that was not at all what they wanted. It was what was written on the paper, but someone got confused. They didn’t want him doing football references. Anyway, a few weeks later, I turned on him and I had a run as the 24/7 Champion. When COVID hit that kind of took the 24/7 thing to the side for a bit. And then I came back on Raw Underground, I tore my ACL on that. And then I came back and I felt really good about where I was at and I made some Riddick Moss pitches, and they were bringing me up, I did one dark match on SmackDown. And then the next week, they said, Yeah, we’re gonna bring it back for another dark match. And then the night before, like, Thursday night, they said, Actually, you’re gonna be on SmackDown with Baron Corbin, Corbin is doing Happy Corbin. And you know his game, he’s got the custom-tailored suits and all that stuff. And so I’m like, Dude, I brought something like this, I do not have the appropriate wear. So we were in Philly, my brother was living in Philly at the time, so I went and raided his closet. I got some stuff, but not enough. And then went shopping and just like, got a nice thing. And so I was like, I have no idea what I’m doing. And then I sat down with, first was Corbin, but then, Vince, and basically he told me what the schtick was, but I didn’t have a name yet. And so, and Corbin, to his credit, he warned me, he said, he’s going to make you laugh. So be ready for that. And so, you know, he explained like, basically you guys just think everything’s hilarious.” 

Couldn’t you be Riddick Moss?

Mike: So then he [Vince] said, we have to come up with the name. And I said, just to be clear, we’re talking like a moniker or like a whole new name, right? And unless I misheard, I’m pretty sure if we said moniker, and so I’m thinking okay, so that’s gonna be like Riddick the clown Moss. So, then I’m on my way to SmackDown the next week on the plane, and I get a text like, hey, from the writer, you’re gonna be Madcap Moss now. And so I thought that was pretty funny. And like, well, probably there goes to the main event of WrestleMania. And then a couple of minutes later said, here’s the idea we have for your look, but on the plane, you can’t download pics. So I had a whole flight across the country like what is this? And I hit download when we landed. And it was what the look was basically, you know, the suspenders and the shirt and the kind of short pants. And they were like you didn’t happen to bring suspenders did you? So anyway, that I had to go buy those, I think I think maybe they helped me out with that. But yeah, so it kind of just came together like that. And like I said, Vince made sure I could laugh. And you know, at this point in my career, I think in a good way I had kind of done a good job of relinquishing the things that you can’t control.”

On the Alabama Slam from Drew McIntyre:

Mike: “So first of all, 100% my fault. Let me just, not at all trying to throw Drew under the bus. He walked it through with me. And it’s just one of those things that I guess it’s like a guy thing not asking for help when you need it or clarification. But when we run through it. He was doing it half-speed. You know what I mean? He’s not actually finishing it. So it felt to me like Oh, I gotta help them a little bit. But I didn’t have to help them. And so anyway, that’s what happened. I was fine and I knew what went wrong, just because I didn’t land flat. But I was never loopy or anything like that. So when the ref came and checked on me, Jess, she checked on me multiple times actually because she was like you Good? Are you sure you’re good? I was fine. It didn’t feel great. But mentally and everything, I was all there. And after the match, I knew, well, actually what happened was we went to the outside after that, and Drew was throwing me over the table and stuff. And I heard Corey Graves say, I don’t even know how he’s walking right now. And I thought, maybe that was a little worse than I thought. But anyway, I felt fine. And so I knew everyone was gonna be like, Oh, my God, are you okay? And I was just like, Guys, guys, I’m fine. And they brought me up to Gorilla and showed me that super high definition super slow motion, where you’re talking about where my spine just looked like it just shrunk, vertebrae by vertebrae. And I thought, Okay, let’s go check this out just to be safe, because that looks nasty. And I gotta go call my mom. [Did you get an MRI?] I did. And we got all the scans after that. I had a sore neck. But it was never anything worse than that. And, but it just looked so nasty. I thought, I don’t care what I’m feeling, we got to check that out. And they were great about it.

On Tenille’s dance:

Tenille: “It was just back at NXT or even, maybe FCW, that old building back in the day, We were going through entrance music to pick and then I was like that one’s kind of like weird, a bit quirky, kind of. I like a little dubstep kind of music or club kind of music. And anyway, so that came on and I was like, It sounds a bit different. And then I think it was Saxton was kind of like [dance] What would I do? He’s like, you could try some kind of like dance. And at first he did, it was very like Egyptian I kind of think like, like, yeah, it was just completely I was like, that’s just like an Egyptian dance. That’s what he did it back to me. So I was like, Well, I don’t know, I could play with it a little bit. And that’s kind of what happened is, it was some kind of just do something, move around something with your hands or your arms. And then the more I kind of did it, the more silly I just kind of went, whatever, who cares, you know. So I just like spin in circles or this or that. And then it became like, I started bringing bubble guns and then popping my bubbles. And I was just thinking, What can I do with this that makes it like in someone’s face and, and I just kind of had fun with it. And that’s when I started doing the whole, all the puns with my name, Emma, Emmalution. Just silly things, but I was just having fun with it.”

On Madcap Moss going back to Riddick Moss:

Mike: “I actually found out via Twitter question from a fan tweeting me. [They said] Hey, they updated the website. He’s back to Riddick Moss. So the communication for that one? Yeah, I mean, it was just, when you’re a priority, you’re a little bit more involved in those decisions. And then, for whatever reason, I’ll let everyone draw their own conclusions. But when I was in NXT, I wasn’t much of a priority from the beginning of the Madcap run until about halfway through, I think, to 2022, I think I was on every Premium Live Event, that what they’re calling them now? I was on TV every week, and then never again.”

On wrestling at WrestleMania 30 the match after The Streak was broken:

Tenille: “I guess it really hadn’t crossed my mind that Taker would lose, those thoughts hadn’t really gone through my mind. And then, basically, I remember everyone was just super excited to be in that position, have this girl’s match and going out there. My first WrestleMania, something I’ve always wanted to do. And then that happens. And I remember then the girls taught to kind of like, look around and talk and then there’s people saying oh, a match might get cancelled because of like the reactions or what’s happening or if it’s going long. So we thought maybe we weren’t even not even gonna go out. I was like, What do you mean what’s happening? And then I’m then I’m seeing you know, the, on the cameras and the screens, the reactions of people and everyone’s devastated. There’s an awkward silence. And, and then it just became awkward for us or for me anyway, because then they will just kind of like alright, we’re going to do it. We’re going to have the match and they’re just like, Come on, get out there. So we just file it out side ramp to the ring. And then we will just kind of stood in the ring until we came back from whatever it was, and like they were ready to start the match. But it was just, we were out there in front of everyone. And probably the last few entrances need to happen with the music. But the rest of us were already in the ring. And then she was looking around like, no one wanted to see our match. At that time. No one cared about Battle Royal.”

What are Madcap and Tenille grateful for?

Mike: “Being alive, quality time and our lives together.”

Tenille: “My health, my family and my friends and I have Mike in my life.”

Paul Walter Hauser (@paulwhausergram) is an Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor. He is known for his roles in Black Bird, Richard Jewell, Queenpins, Cobra Kai, I Tonya and many others. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood to talk about his upcoming wrestling match against Matt Cardona at Wrestling REVOLVER, why he decided he wanted to become a wrestler, training with Paul London, his appearance on AEW, taking a guitar shot from Jeff Jarrett, his approach to acting roles, singing Fozzy’s song “Judas” on Cobra Kai and much more.

Quote I’m thinking about: “Dedication makes dreams come true.” – Kobe Bryant

On getting in shape:

“I mean, if you look at my body, you wouldn’t think so. But I’m transitioning back and forth. I kind of have that, you know how Jonah Hill kind of had like weight fluctuation? Now he’s like, super healthy. I’m kind of in that space of fluctuating, but yeah, I’m trying to get ready for the match with Matt Cardona March the 16th. So I’ve been I’ve been hitting the weights.” 

On wrestling before:

“Sammy Callihan and I are mutual fans. And he hit me up and was like, Do you want to do something at the at the show with Ronda Rousey It’s like to raise money for the fires in Maui, the victims and I was like of course I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever. Like a week later he is like you want to have a match. And I was like, Alright man. And I had been training a little bit with I took a couple of classes with Darien Bankston, who’s been on AEW Dark and doing the indie circuit. I had a little bit of help from Preston Vance and Anthony Ogogo, and even DDP a little bit, but then my real trainer is this guy, Paul London, he’s got his own school, Kayfabe Academy. And I’m now working with him out of there, but I’ve probably done like 15 16 hours worth of training with Paul London. So like, I only had about 20 hours total and I just went in there and did the match and was like we’ll keep it simple to what I actually know how to do. I’m not gonna do a poisonrana off the top rope. Like I can give you a Side Russian Leg Sweep. I can take some bumps.”

On his wrestling Mount Rushmore:

“I think Hogan Rock, Flair, Austin. Those four Hogan, Rock, Flair, Austin, I think is what I would say for the world. Not my favourite, but like okay, yeah. To the world of wrestling. Yeah, it made the biggest impact. My personal Mount Rushmore is Sting. Bret Hart, Ric Flair and Chris Jericho.

On Chris Jericho:

“The Jericho addition, and he’s such a controversial figure right now. But Jericho reinvented himself like nobody else has. He has made things work that should not have worked. He can work in the Attitude Era, he can work in crappy WCW, he can work in the PG era now he’s working in AEW and it’s like he can do New Japan or he can bleed his face off with Nick Gage. I just think the ability all around is really underrated. And I think after he’s done and hangs up his boots, people are gonna go back and go holy crap. This is like he’s like the Willem Defoe of wrestling where it just, he just nailed a million different things while doing it.”

On Kenny Omega:

“He’s one of those weird guys who has the crazy strength and the crazy speed. It’s like it’s usually one or the other, right? It’s usually a Vader or a, you know, Guerrero, it’s not usually both and anytime you find both in a Keith Lee or Kenny Omega, it’s like, all the respects of the world.”

On getting into wrestling:

“I literally remember what it was. It was I watched Clash of the Champions with my uncle Robert, my mom’s brother in Florida back in the summer of 94, something like that. I think it was Arn Anderson and maybe Barry Windham versus Brian Pillman and El Gigante. And I just remember seeing Arn Anderson and Gigantae. And thinking, one guy looks like somebody out of a comic book. And the other guy looks like my friend’s dad. And then the pendulum swinging, the polarity, the polarity of the dad has to fight the giant from the comic book. And actually the giant from the comic book is the good guy and Arn Anderson’s the bad guy. It was like it was just a very, unclear layered thing that now you know, people are like wrestling is dumb it’s fake. And it’s like, but it also plays with the reality of duality. And the reality of polarities. And I think it’s almost like politics, right? It’s like, you can have this politician that looks perfect and then you find out they’re doing something egregious behind the scenes. It’s like that’s what wrestling plays with. It plays with the duality of nature. And that’s why if you don’t have someone like Paul Wight going heel and face every five weeks, the poor guy, when you do have a great heel, turn or even a face turn, it can be the most meaningful, powerful thing because you the audience member is like, Wait, he just saved so and so. And it’s like, it plays with that. I think it’s psychologically really interesting at times. From a storytelling standpoint.”

On wrestling angles in real life:

“Let’s call it out. Will Smith slapping Chris Rock is the most wrestling moment I’ve seen in culture since I’ve been alive. And what’s crazy is, people were so attracted to what it was they were affected by it. And they were so attracted to it. There were people who even said they thought it was staged and it wasn’t real. So it’s like, when you take all that into consideration, it’s like, people would like wrestling if they really engaged and understood what it is. Because there are many moments that are just like that, that we all talk about with the same kind of energy and appreciation as everyone else does.”

On referencing wrestling in his Golden Globes speech:

“I don’t think I mentioned anything about wrestling in The Golden Globes speech. It was the next night I brought the globe to Dynamite and Rampage, taping. I texted Tony Khan before I won. So like three days prior, I go, Hey, man, I know you’re gonna be in town Wednesday, I wanted to come to the show regardless. But if I win the Golden Globe, can I bring it and you guys can use it as a foreign object where like, they pan to me and they’re like, wrestling fan wins Golden Globe or whatever. Then like, during a match, somebody grabs it and uses it to win. And I just thought it would be a funny little pop of a moment. And then true to form just like Callihan asked me to have the match for Revolver. Tony’s like, I arrived there. And he’s like, we’re actually gonna put you in the ring. I was like, Cool. And he’s like, we’re thinking, you and Jeff Jarrett could kind of have a moment together. And I’m like, Cool, not knowing. And so they tell me what to do as far as like, you’re gonna have this moment in the ring with Jeff and talk smack to him. And then I think somebody’s going to come out to save you or whatever. I’m like, Cool. And then the moment, it’s that thing of watching wrestling your whole life, you so want to do something in the ring. The moment Sonjay Dutt grabbed my shirt. I was like, I’m slapping this guy. And then Jay Lethal. Just wham. I went down. And then when I saw the guitar, I’m like, Oh, this is what he’s talking about.” 

On the guitar shot not being planned:

“This is Jarrett legit, just like being Jeff Jarrett. And I’m gonna take it. I’m not gonna not take it. So I was wiggling around a little bit, but I was also just like, oh, sh*t, bam. Heard a ringing in my ear for about six or seven seconds. Mind you, I don’t think people are dumb enough to think it’s like a totally real guitar. But it didn’t hurt as much but like, I heard her ringing in my ear and was down for the count. And then they came and checked me. Then I hear the music. And I’m like, oh, yeah, they show up now.”

On the Golden Globe being real:

“It was the real one. Yeah, I had a case for it and everything. So I hope we get to finish that story. I don’t know if we ever will. Tony has been super cool, always helping me with you know, here’s some tickets to the show or come hang out. He’ll invite me into gorilla and I’ll just stand there and watch him do this.” 

On Matt Cardona:

“He also knows I’m a big action figure guy and that I collect them so he’s he’s definitely hitting the right nerve. Man, Matt Matt Cardona. Let’s put him over first. I thought he was great as Zack Ryder in WWE. His following online was way ahead of its time clearly. And like many brilliant performers in WWE, they didn’t know what to do with them, and basically made them into the job guys and then you can have the US title for five minutes or the IC, the ladder match?  But I think he’s really great now that he’s doing his own thing. And he’s actually who he is. And he’s, appreciative that he’s putting over the Indies by engaging them in the exact same enthusiastic manner as he did being on television.” 

Why he wants to wrestle:

“Part of it was just because I wanted to know what it was like. Kind of like when you do research for role and I was like. I can see Cardona now, he’s probably like, Oh, you’re gonna do the Bastion Booger biopic. I learned it because I thought it was interesting. And I never done it and I wanted to. And in doing so, I had people like Dallas Page, Sean Waltman. Anthony Ogogo, and Paul London all telling me hey, you’re actually really good. And you’re taking to this pretty quickly. I sent footage to people like Natty Neidheart. She’s saying you have it, but it just needs to be refined. So it’s like, and also from a physique standpoint, they can say what they want about me being a big guy. It’s like, some of my favourite wrestlers are you know, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Kevin Owens and Vader. These guys are not known for being in shape. They’re known for being agile and strong, and having some form of charisma or something. So I look at it like this, too, because I’ve had some people, there was an interview with Tony Deppen indie wrestler, he, I guess he’s a GCW guy. But somebody mentioned my name to him. And he was like, Tony is like, yeah, I don’t know who that is. But they’re probably just copying what me and Ron Funches did. And I’m like, maybe you and Ron Funches copied what Dennis Rodman did before you. And maybe Dennis Rodman copied what Lawrence Taylor did at WrestleMania 95. So it’s like, everybody likes to think that it’s like, oh, some actors coming in to do their 15 seconds of wrestling fame. And it’s like, no, I’ve been a student of watching it my entire life. Now I’m actually doing it in the ring. And to be fair, I don’t know who Tony Deppen is either. So it’s mutual bud.”

On following the David Arquette path:

“I disagree, I don’t want to pay my dues, I want to learn the craft. I don’t have to pay dues. And you know why? Because when a guy like Dave Bautista comes into Hollywood and gets Guardians of the Galaxy, I don’t say to him, Whoa, get in line, you have to go do a guest star on NCIS before you get to this Marvel film, it’s not really the way the world works right? Now, wrestling thinks that that’s how it works. And they try to put people in line. The reality is a guy like Maxwell Jacob Friedman, or Goldberg, or Sheamus can have a very quick rise out of nowhere because they’re just good. So I can pay respect, which I’ll always do, but paying dues. It’s like if somebody asked me to be in a WrestleMania match and do the Snooki routine, where they’re like, you’re gonna be the random celebrity who gets in a tag match. Like, I’m doing it. I’m not doing seven years on the Indies until then. I’m just going to do what comes across my plate. In fact, I got hit up, I was talking with somebody from high spots, and they’re doing this show WrestleMania weekend at the ECW arena. They were like, if you came here and did a match, would you like to wrestle? I was thinking it over and I was like, well, maybe we could do like a Philly Street Fight type of thing. And the guy who came to mind immediately was Sami Callihan, he’s the guy who kind of put me on and gave me that spotlight at the Revolver show. So you know, I think I’m gonna hit up Sami. Or if he’s watching, I guess we can also just say, Hey, dude, you want to wrestle me on WrestleMania weekend at the ECW arena for High Spots because I would love to get in the ring with an absolute hardcore wrestling legend. And a hell of a booker, I must say for Pro Wrestling Revolver. He’s probably busy.” 

What is Paul Walter Hauser grateful for?

“My wife and nice people.”

Sydney Zmrzel aka Maxxine Dupri (@maxxinedupri) is a professional wrestler with WWE. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood to talk about her journey to becoming a WWE Superstar, getting signed after her tryout in Las Vegas, being a cheerleader for the LA Rams and Phoenix Suns before starting her wrestling career, her experience at Super Bowl LIII, getting called up from NXT to Smackdown and being given the Maxxine Dupri character, learning from LA Knight, teaming up with Chad Gable and Otis in Alpha Academy, continuing to improve in the ring with every match, making her Royal Rumble debut, her goals for this year and much more!

Quote I’m thinking about:

“You don’t get results by focusing on results. You get results by focusing on the habits and behaviors that produce results.”

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On the move to the main roster:

“So I’m in NXT, I get my name. I’m on TV But I am not wrestling and I am paired with Mr Stone and Von Wagner. [My name was] Sofia Cromwell, I was very adamant that I wanted it with an f and not ph. I don’t know why, maybe because of Sofia Richie. I don’t know, was a weird thing but they agreed to give it to me so that was awesome. I didn’t have a big role, I think I talked a couple of times but very minimal. Then LA Knight gets called up and turns into Max Durpi and they start promoting his sister Maxxine for weeks. No one knows who Maxxine is, not me. I don’t know if creative knew to be honest it was like we are going to do something and we will figure it out. The other part of this is that I had actually gotten injured while I was Sofia on TV. I was out with an ankle injury and I wasn’t cleared, so I wasn’t training. So I was on TV but not doing much, I couldn’t do any physicality. Of course in the moment I was like, my life is over. But it hindsight that was the biggest blessing because I was one of the few that they saw as TV ready in a sense in NXT that was not in a real story. I could be plucked and it didn’t change anything. My name could be changed, no one knew who I was. I think it worked out for me in hindsight that I was able to be called up as Maxxine. But it is really crazy because my boyfriend and I were at that SmackDown the week before I debuted, it was in Orlando. We go and it was up in the 300s. They were promoting Maxxine again and we both looked at each other and giggled and were like there is no way. But we kept seeing it every now and then. Everyone thought it was going to be Gunther’s wife, it was all over Twitter, I could totally see it. Because at that point she had done NXT UK and had this fashionista brand and I could totally see her doing it. Then there was maybe 2 Tweets that said me, but you best believe I was like oh, 2 people think it may be me. Then alas, Thursday they tell me and I flew out that way.” 

On the backstory of being told:

“I don’t even know if I was supposed to tell this story because this is I’ll give you the backstory is what happened was. No, I didn’t hear from creative or anything. So Wednesday night, I go to sleep and I’m like, Okay, I would have known by Wednesday night. It’s not me, give it up. Thursday morning, I wake up to go into the PC. And it’s like 7 am and I get a text from travel, saying, Hey, I heard you’re needed for SmackDown I’m gonna book your travel. And I’m like, okay, okay, don’t get your hopes up. But it could be me. And when I went to the PC, I pulled my coach aside because I’m shaking and I’m like, wait, me going to SmackDown like what’s going on? And he’s like, don’t even stress like, it’s they probably are bringing all three of you up, they just want to see you in person. Like, it’s probably just you as a fraction. No big deal. So I’m like, okay. Then I go to the lead writer at like noon, and I’m like, Hey, what’s up and his phone have been dead so he’s not seen the email yet. So he’s like, Sofia Cromwell being called up as Maxxine Dupri. Okay. And then because my name was Sofia. I didn’t even get like my flight info, didn’t get put into my app, because my names were not lined up. Yeah. So then I’m like, what time is my flight? And they’re like, it’s at four. And I’m like, I gotta run. I gotta Get out of here. But what was crazy is I told that story one time and then I was talking to travel. And they were like, Yeah, that’s why like, now we have to really make sure that creative tells you guys first because creative was like, I think they were supposed to tell me not travel. And I accidentally, like fully exposed them, which I wasn’t meaning to. I just thought that’s how it worked. Yeah, I was like, oh, yeah, travel tells you and you go.”

On figuring out the character:

“I really had no idea. The benefit was that Mace, his younger sister actually signed with my class. So I had at least met him and I was friends with her. So I had a little comfortability, at least with him, which was really, really nice. Because it’s first of all, it’s scary. You’re going up there and then when you don’t know anyone, and you have no relation to anybody so at least I had a little like something of like a little safety net. I felt like or at least I kind of knew these guys. And I was like, okay, and I had met LA Knight a couple times at the PC before he got called up but not much like our past did not really cross. So it was very interesting.” 

On pointers from the Maximum Male Models:

“All three of them were awesome with me. We went to the PC and like worked on like, I’d never done an in-ring promo, I had never really done backstages. I did a few on an NXT. But the way that NXT films is very different than main roster main roster is very like one and done. Gotta get show on the road where NXT is developmental. So you’re gonna do multiple takes, it’s more analyzer learning and everyone’s learning. So it’s a very different speed and different flow. So I’m very lucky that I had all three of them to guide me.”

On advice from LA Knight:

“So he actually wasn’t there on my first day. So that was the day when he ended up not coming in that week. They had me there and then the next week, he was there as my brother. So day one was just me, Mansoor and Mace. And that day was also really crazy because things were changing a lot, which is how it is. So live show. It’s entertainment, but I just hadn’t experienced that yet. So even when I walked in, let me give you the backstory. I’m packing, I pack 20 outfits. I’m like, I got it all. Originally, they had said that they were doing a swimsuit debut thing with the models. So I was like, Okay, literally I have options of everything they could ever need me to where I’m like, I got this on lock. I landed like 10 pm and creative says hey, can you wear a black dress tomorrow? You best believe I did not pack a black dress. And I was like you got it. I woke up, went to the mall. Found a little black dress. And I did Monday morning I called Natalya. They told me not to tell anyone. So I told no one when I was going, my boyfriend knew. And that was it. And I actually think I told Brennan’s sister because I knew it was going to be with them. And then I call Natalya, because I was hoping she was gonna be there and I had trained with her. And that was the one week probably in her entire career that she was not going to be a TV. And I was like, oh, no, but gratefully I walked in and Liv was like the first person I saw in the locker room. And she took me under her wing, showed me catering, brought me into the makeup room, just really helped me so much because I was shaking in my boots.”

On her first main roster match:

“So our first one was a six-man with The Viking Raiders. And it was amazing because I had the comfortability of being with the boys. And I had them as my safety net to fall back on. I was extremely nervous as I am every single Monday, just because you want to be great, but I’m also so new. I haven’t performed in front of a crowd like that ever. So it was scary. The thing that I was grateful for in that moment was I had done a little bit of physicality. We had done the arm drag on the outside the suplex on the outside and like shout out Valhalla for just taking bumps from me on the outside all the time. I love her for that. I think having those interactions helped a lot for that first match. I was way more nervous for the first singles. Because just, you know, it’s us, we’re out there.”

On the Women’s Royal Rumble:

“Back to being prepared. I didn’t know if I was gonna be in or not. I found out a week before. But you best believe I had gear coming in four months prior for the rumble. But I didn’t know if I was. And I was very nervous just because I’m like, it’s obviously it’s a huge platform. There’s only so many spots. So you want to like to represent well and do well. And it’s always nerve-wracking. As much as I feel like for some people, maybe it’s less nerve-wracking. There’s a lot of people in there. I think because I’m so green. It’s more nerve-wracking for me when there’s that many people in there because I’m like, Am I in the way What do I do my like, I don’t want to you know, step on anyone’s thing. It’s there’s so many moving parts. And I’m not quite to the headspace yet where I can just like be calm.”

On learning from being in the ring with Rhea Ripley:

“I think a lot of things. I think, one for me timing in that match. I was so nervous. I think that I was just a little scatterbrained, I think that she is so calm, cool and collected. And I think that’s the coolest thing about her. Like, I that’s some energy that I want to take and run with, like, she knows who she is. She knows what she’s doing. And like there’s not an ounce of worry or anything on her face. And I think that’s so cool. And that’s something that I would love to steal from her and, and carry with me just a little bit of that kind of confidence.”

On WWE goals:

“My goal is, honestly, I want to do this as long as I can, as long as they will employ me I want to be in. God, I have so much fun and I am happy to do whatever they want me to do. I just, I love going to work. I love performing. I love the people I work with. I just feel so lucky to be in this position. Of course, I would love to win some gold or something fun like that and I really want to improve in the ring and just continue to prove myself there and even like with promos goes everything. I think my goal for this year is I just want to look, I want like to have a match or something in December, where I look back at January and what I did and be like, Oh, it’s not even the same person. Yeah, that’s my goal.”

What is Maxxine Dupri grateful for:

“Quality time with good people, a body that works hard for me and to get out of bed every day and do something I love.”

John Cena (@johncena) is an actor and professional wrestler known for being a 16-time World Champion in WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood, CA to talk about his new comedy “Ricky Stanicky” that he stars in with Zac Efron and Andrew Santino on Amazon Prime, what he thought of Zac Efron’s wrestling skills in “The Iron Claw”, what he said to MJF when they met at the premiere for The Iron Claw, his approach to making movies now compared to when he made “The Marine” 20 years ago, his recent WWE return, fans singing his theme song instead of singing “John Cena sucks”, his detailed plans to turn heel for his match against The Rock in 2012, his favorite Championship win, how much longer he thinks he can wrestle for, why the phrase “control the controllable” is so powerful for him, what his match with Bray Wyatt would have looked like at WrestleMania 36 if there had been a crowd, how he recovered from his torn pec so quickly in 2008, his favorite lyric from “Basic Thugonomics”, three things he is grateful for and much more!

Quote I’m thinking about:”Control the controllable.”
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On who is the GOAT in wrestling: 

“I would say people who elevate the business to new heights from a performance standpoint. I mean, this is just my perspective, and again, we’re talking objectivity. So it’s only opinion, there’s no truth to what I’m saying. Hulk Hogan would have to be in there, Steve Austin, Dwayne Johnson, and Roman Reigns. When the company went public, I think they started to trade. And then my tenure has kind of helped everybody put the pieces back together again. And Roman has done a fantastic job of taking the business to heights it’s never been to before.” 

When did you feel like you were the guy in WWE?

“Never, never. And I think that’s a perspective that has gotten muddled, again, just my opinion. You just used to want the championship. Now, as the area’s become grey, people want to be, the term like locker room leader is thrown around and the guy is thrown around like that, the championship should be on an identifiable instrument of that. And I think it helps the believability of the championship, either one or any Championship. The importance of that is you channel whatever you want to say on inside industry terms through the prompts that we give you. And that’s again, just my perspective.”

On taking the moment in: 

“So life in the WWE is fast. And I’m a performer who enjoys being present. And my head is always on a swivel, because the objective is obviously to give the audience the best show that you can possibly do. I also have a lot of stress off of my shoulders. Because when you’re one of the pieces of the machine that is responsible for the financial well-being, if you fail, the bottom line is directly affected. You’re hypersensitive to that. If I go out there and fail now, the bottom line doesn’t matter. It’s the class carrying the torch now that needs the stress that I had. And I think before I had that weight on my shoulders, it was the stress of how do I get there. And then once you’re there, it’s the stress of am I doing enough, is this working? And then you finally get to a place where it’s somebody else’s turn, I saw this firsthand with the DX run when they came back with the glow sticks. And they were just having fun. And I remember a European tour where Shawn and Hunter came through the curtain after doing some sort of match that was heavily entertaining. And I was going on last. And they were the match before and I was like man, you guys get to have all the fun, I’m paraphrasing. They said, We hope someday you will too, but it’s not today. We’ve been where you’re at and you’re in a very important place, go out and do that stuff. And then hopefully one day, you’ll get to goof off and have fun and say to the other person when they come to the curtain all right, I made them laugh. Now you’re gonna make them believe. I just think I’m in a spot where I can be more present, which is great. Because that’s the thing I was trying to do before I was trying to hear every voice, acknowledge every noise, live every moment, try not to miss a beat. But like now, I just operate with that construct, but don’t have the stress of like, if I mess up, it’s all going to crumble, or they’re going to fire me. Both of those things, the crumble thing is going to happen and they can fire me That’s it, they can do that.”

On not politicking despite having the resume to:

“I guess you’re not wrong. But what does that even mean? Like if I want to write the story, cool, great. I’m relying on the wisdom of someone who is somewhat, the people creating the show saying, hey, we need you here. So rather than say, I need to be here, they say we need you here. Okay, how can I make here the best spot? Not steal the show. Not go into business for myself and ruin the whole broadcast? How can I just make this meaningful? What do you need from me? Well, we need to make each night exciting. We need to help LA Knight. And then we need to help Solo. Cool, what’s the best way we can do that? That’s just one example of the way to operate.”

On the difference between 2002 John Cena and 2024 John Cena:

“I think the things that they share in common are gratitude, grit, perseverance, and humility. I think the difference is the younger version lacks self-worth and the younger version lacks wisdom. So John Cena in 2002 gets to go out and fight Kurt Angle under the impression of two words, Ruthless Aggression. It was a failure because I was neither ruthless nor aggressive, and I wasn’t able to see the opportunity. My blinders were, you’re getting a chance to go out there. Do everything you can and show him you can wrestle. No, I was given a golden ticket and a gimmick. Ruthless Aggression. And sure I wasn’t ready. The match was at the last second because Undertaker was sick. So the gear doesn’t match. But neither did the attitude at all. Like sportsmanship and grateful, especially after I slapped the guy, I should have been doing more than the match to gouge out an eyeball or rip at his tights, or be the exact opposite of ruthless aggression. Be a pacifist, whatever it is, but I didn’t dive into the opportunity I was given. I just went out there to do stunts. Even the handshake thing with The Undertaker, somebody who’s ruthlessly aggressive would have slapped him like he slapped Kurt Angle. And now you’re like who the f*** is this guy? But I didn’t understand. Because I had blinders on about what the business is about. And now, I love to go to NXT because everybody has a different personality. And I was like, what would I do? Have you ever thought about this idea? But people are thinking the same way I was about I just want to go out and do these moves. Man, you need that, but you got to also get them to believe.”

When will acting overtake wrestling?

“I don’t think I’ll ever not be a member of the WWE family first. So, to answer that question in my perspective, the switch has never happened. As you know me, I always speak fondly of WWE in my time and experience there. I can’t tell you how much the audience has made me the man I am today. Having to deal with all the polarising audiences, we’ve seen a lot of performers not be able to do that. And to have to do that for so, so long. It teaches you about you and you really go through a journey of self-worth. So I don’t think I’ll ever not be WWE family first.” 

On being really close to another heel turn:

“It was Cena Rock 1. I got word that they were going to do it. I went out and recorded a new song. I went out and got all new gear. I wasn’t prepared for ruthless aggression, that was the last time I wasn’t prepared. I mean, I heard rumblings of we’re going to do it. And in 48 hours, I had a new track, a new studio mix theme song, final mix. I had seven new singlets, low-cut singlets with boxing-type robes. I already had the boots in storage, so I dusted them off. I was ready to go and already thinking about like what I could do with the story. Okay, what is a heel? A heel is not just new gear. The objectivity, or the message behind the singlet and the boxing robes and the boots is the exact opposite of what you saw with the street gear, the jeans shorts, the t-shirt, the ball cap, the sneakers, no, go the opposite route. And now lean into the opposite of everything you stand for. So I would begin to not work as hard. I would show up less, I would be untrustworthy and unloyal. I would lack respect in what I did. Like all you have to do is turn that on its [head]. I would give up a lot. All those things you can take and make interesting stories. And this is the stuff that’s running through my head, not what moves can I do. It’s like how can I take the intellectual property that people are familiar with and twist it so it’s like this guy’s f*cking insane. It’s everything I’ve come to love and now I genuinely hate it. And in being a real bad guy, and I think that was the conversation that was eventually had where it’s like, okay, it’s a bad idea. I’m like, Hey, I know this is going to sting but I’m not going to sell another T-shirt. I’m going to take all merchandise off the market. I’m not going to put on anything new. I’m not going to do any more appearances. I’m not going to do any Make-A-Wish. I’m not going to do anything like that. I’m going to be a bad guy to make your good guy so your good guy does all that. And that’s what I was like our we’re kind of into deep. So it worked out the way it worked out. But bro, I was ready.”

On the remixed theme song:

“I recorded it with saxophones instead of trumpets. It’s called Fear my Name. I still have it locked away somewhere If it ever sees the light of day, I want to remix it with trumpets instead of saxophones. But it has the hit of time is now.”

On speaking to MJF at The Iron Claw premiere:

“So the whole totality of the thing is I knew he was going to be there. And I don’t think the old me would have associated with him just because of how maybe WWE I was, I still am WWE, but there is room for competition and competition is great. And just because you don’t wear the company brand I have doesn’t mean you’re a bad performer. Sports entertainment is a finicky business. And again, there’s a lot of chance to make moments. So this is one of their top performers for AEW. And I don’t know if I’m going to be the target of a moment. I’m just going to support my friend in a movie. He couldn’t have been nicer. He couldn’t have been more cordial. And we meet each other and I got pulled away to take some pictures. And then we were about to go do everything else before I even got to you. And I was like, hold on, give me two minutes. I shook his hand. I said, Man, I’m so sorry. Excuse my ignorance, I didn’t know what to expect from you today. You are a class act, I can’t believe you’re as professional as you are. That’s just my ignorance. I’m sorry, I had that judgment, I want to thank you for being so special, thanks for making my night. And then we got back I was able to talk to him more. And I kind of [said] maybe we can get you to play for the right team one day all that. There’s no denying the fact that he’s doing good work. And I don’t think that I should ignore that. Honestly, I was floored by his professionalism, where it would have been an easy target at a wrestling movie premiere, to have yourself a moment. And we did have a moment. And it was one that the internet paid attention to. And it was one where I was hoping that this person that I met, I could once bet on like, Man, oh, we just get you over here. That’d be awesome. But it was great. It was great to meet a professional, classy, driven young man.” 

On the quick return at the 2008 Royal Rumble:

“So I completely respect James Andrews who did the surgery and Kevin Wilkin, who did help me with physical therapy. They have to put a realistic timeline on their work. And that timeline is based on the construct that you do physical therapy three times a week. I would do physical therapy three times a day. And I moved to Birmingham, and my goal as a professional was to get back on the field in a safe manner. So because I just did a lot, six days a week, you heal.  I was pretty much put in a heal tank, I didn’t have to go back. The reason they say six months for a pec tear, is because a lot of people that tear their pecs, maybe they did it during recreational sport, or maybe they’re a student athlete, or they have other responsibilities, people’s got families or whatever, you have to split time. I was like, a physical therapy Terminator. Show up for the morning session, go get some food show for the noon session, go get some food show up for the afternoon session as they’re closing. Alright guys see you in a few hours. And I just did that for three months. And everyone Dr. Andrews was fine. Kevin was fine. I passed all my tests. And I passed it like two and a half months in and the Rumble was coming up. And they’re like, Okay, we’ll keep it a secret. I don’t want to advertise you. Because I don’t even know if you’re gonna be there. But then when everybody gave the Okay, they’re like we really have the chance to keep something secret. And it was only let out to like a few people. And, once again, we only remember the moments. Tell me anything I did in that. [You won]. Bingo. But the action to win was very slim. The action was very simple. Because it was as it happens, we couldn’t really plan anything crazy, because we didn’t want people to tell people to tell people to spoil the surprise. So it was like he’s coming out. He’s gonna win. That’s happening now. Oh, so it was great.”

On Logan Paul:

“I actually told him, I’m like, the old me would have hated it. And the old me would have been like, what are you trying to take from us? And that’s just an archaic way of thinking that I was taught. And I understand why. Old carnival business don’t trust this guy who’s coming into our territory. That idea was archaic in the 80s. We bring in outside influence to help us. And then you have someone you don’t really need to convince that much to come on in. And then somebody who embraces our world and is completely respectful and risks a lot more than I would in the ring, like does stuff that I’ll never be able to do every single time he’s out there. And he knows how to set a story. He knows how to drum up interest. He’s using all of his talents that he’s built over the years in our universe. He’s been doing what we do, he’s just been over on his own channel. The me now appreciates the fact that he is bringing his world into ours and respectfully so.”

On the Bray Wyatt match in 2020 being originally a standard match:

“Yeah, and then things happened. And I remember three days before we filmed the Firefly Funhouse match. It was the last TV taping where they came in and they’re like, you’re gonna have a Firefly Funhouse match. And I remember there was three people in one of the conference rooms in NXT with me, I said, What’s a Firefly Funhouse match? They said, I don’t know. I said great! What can we do? And that was like, oh, man, again control the controllable. I wish we had an audience. Performers are like I wish there could be blood. I wish we could do chair shots to the head. I wish we could swear I wish I could flip people off. Control the controllable, use the tools in your tool belt. How do we make something entertaining over a two day period with no audience? And they gave us a stipulation. Everybody else has a regular match. And it’s your stip like it’s your stip. It’s not a doctor of Thuganomics match or hustle, loyalty, respect match, that’s completely different. You have these definitive characters, you have all this ammunition, you have all this personality. And that’s what people really radiate towards. Holy sh*t we can make this a meta look at my life and we can get away with it. What do we have up in the warehouse, we have the fist, we have the blue cage. I can get some NWO stuff, we can make this work. And I remember this the only match I’ve ever written from start to finish. And my poor wife, I made her print it out and I’m writing and giving her paper. [She said] What is this? What does it even mean? I said just print it, I need it. And somewhere I still have the original draft in my handwriting of the Firefly Funhouse. But man Bray couldn’t have been better. He knew what was up. And he knew the whole thing. I wrote it the night before. So I’m trying to text these guys like I got something weird and I think I might have sent a picture of the draft. And I still in my phone. I don’t have it with me. But I have saved a text that I sent him the night of the match, especially after we saw The Undertaker’s match tonight before Oh, my man, they crushed it, and there was a whole lot more physicality, we got one punch. And I text him how nervous I was. But I wanted to thank him for being so brave and trusting me and I think I couldn’t have done any more. And I think we gave it our best shot. And hopefully it works. And it was an effort that I am very proud of.”

On the you can’t see me jokes still going on:

“I love it. And I gotta be honest with you, I went through a period of being frustrated with that. And it’s the same thing with trying to be empathetic with fans. I went through a period where I deserve my time, I put on a show for you guys. I deserve my time when I’m out. No, I don’t at all. The trade-off for getting to do this is understanding that your work has affected people. And even if someone’s being a dick, they’re trying to tell you like, Dude, I know you and your work has affected my life. And I operate under a construct of respect. And if someone is disrespectful, I can try to calm down the situation the best I can. But pretty much everybody just wants to say what’s up. And when you go outside a place that’s not your home. You got to understand that that’s awesome. And it’s also going to stop. And there’s going to come a time when nobody gives a sh*t. And I’m probably gonna remember where people used to come over and say hello, yes. Hey, guys. Hey, what’s up? What’s going on? So I haven’t always felt like that. It’s taken a lot of work to get there. But dude, when you can land in that pocket. It’s sweet doing 60 interviews today. I’m still good.”

What is John Cena grateful for?

“For those I love in my life, my health and that every day I get to open my eyes.”

Roderick Strong (@roderickstrong) is a professional wrestler with AEW and is known previously for his time in WWE NXT, Ring Of Honor and TNA. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about his match against Orange Cassidy for the International Championship at AEW Revolution, being on the same card as Sting’s last match, reflecting on his first year in AEW, why he decided to leave WWE for AEW, his neck strong gimmick, getting cheering for yelling “ADAM!”, the first time he met Adam Cole in Ring of Honor, his role in The Devil storyline with MJF, how his workouts have changed since getting injured and much more.

Quote I’m thinking about: “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” – Wayne Dyer

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On AEW highlights:

“Wembley Stadium, my debut, my match with Chris Jericho, and just the whole story leading up to where we are now. It was just interesting because it gave me an opportunity to test myself with becoming more of a character and doing more of that stuff. And for me, that was my favourite part. Honestly, it was just from how it started to how it ended. I don’t know, I really, really enjoyed that time.”

On keeping the debut a secret:

“It was just a situation of like, when my contract came up with WWE, I was injured. So I wasn’t even sure if I could wrestle again. So then it was one of those things that once I got cleared, it was kind of what is best for me at this time. And through the injury and stuff, I went through a huge self-reflective period just of who I was at the time, and where I needed to go, just for life. And then that’s kind of when the decision to go to AEW was a little bit easier for me because it was like, I want to use all the knowledge I’ve acquired over these years now. I can’t do that WWE, but it was just a different opportunity to have a little bit more freedom in that sense. And really, put me in a situation that happened, where I’m doing something outside of the box, and it’s by choice and really being able to grow and lean into it. I don’t know, it was just amazing.” 

On wrestling on the same card as Sting’s last match:

“I mean, it’s a big honour. And to be going against somebody like Orange Cassidy, whatever we have going on aside. He’s been a tremendous champion. I mean, he’s just an amazing wrestler and a great human. So it’s just one of those things that the right opponent at the right time. And, I haven’t wrestled as much as I thought I was going to my first year, and I’m okay with it. This gives me an opportunity to kind of blow the door open because people don’t really know exactly what to expect of me in these kinds of matches. I haven’t been in a big match like this in quite some time. So I’m very excited to show the world and I get to do it on the same show as Sting in his last match.”

On the neckbrace:

“I think because I was all in on it. I would wear that neck brace freaking everywhere. It didn’t matter where I was going. All the time. It didn’t matter. It was one of those things that like, honestly, our medical team was like, Hey, you can’t wear this as much, because it’s like weakening your neck muscles slightly. So then I would give it a little bit of a break. But yeah, it was something and it was a real-life thing for me. I came back from a bad neck injury. So it wasn’t something that was too far-fetched to my mind. And my son loved it.”

On if yelling Adam would catch on:

“Some of the production people started coming who worked behind the scenes. And they’re like, yeah, the fans are screaming it before the show. It’s like, whoa. Then I was just like, Oh my God, because a lot of stuff was pre-taped and or, you know, filmed off-site. So then, like, the first time that I got to really, like after a stretch go out in front of the people. And I was like, Oh, my God, this is ridiculous. And it’s and it’s kind of funny, because whatever, like the yelling happened. But then it was like, I can’t just yell everything. It’s funny because my son does the thing when he’s fired up. And he’s so mad. He just will yell one of the words he’s saying. Sometimes it’s the right word. Sometimes it’s not. And then he just talks really calm afterwards. And I thought, like, oh, man, that’s hilarious. So that’s kind of the yelling and then like this monotone speaking was kind of just mimicking him.”

On meeting Adam Cole for the first time:

“It was in Philly in the locker room. He was just an extra. But I just know, a lot of people were mentioning, this guy has a lot of potential. So it was one of those, like, where I came up, because at that time was, trying to be as helpful as I can. I still didn’t know much. But we’re going back to yeah, it’s Ring of Honor, I think 09 maybe? Yeah, it was just one of those things. I approached him and obviously, so many people that said good things about him, and then sort of just talking, give them some feedback or whatever. And he was very responsive to it. And it was like, Okay, this is one of the guys that, I will give my time to now, at the moment. From that, because we started conversing so much from that. It was kind of like, Hey, you want to come hang out? Like we’re all doing this and then it grew from there.”

On advice for younger wrestlers:

“One thing I would say is don’t bump until you’re older. You can learn the basics, the technical aspects, the footwork, and all that kind of stuff without bumping. That’s one thing I wish I wouldn’t have done as much of, because you feel invincible when you’re young. And then, so my style I like doing that, I like taking bumps. I like the physical aspect of it. So that is just one thing I wish I would have been a little bit smarter about because it’s not necessary.”

On the Spanish Fly spot:

“[Was it scary?] Oh very much so. But because I immediately checked everything like, Okay, I felt it at its worse. Oh, this just feels normal, I’m fine. No, I’m saying. And then it just made me super grateful for the training that I was doing, because a lot of it is creating the space in your joints and like my vertebrae and working on my flexibility. I was just thankful for that.”

On Wembley Stadium:

“Oh my God, it was surreal. I couldn’t sleep after that at all. It was so, so intense. And it was overwhelming. It really was, like, in a good way, though. I had been in the company 4 months. And just was like, wow, look, what these guys did before I got here. Like, they’re the ones that laid the foundation to kind of set the situation up. And for Tony to take the risk, I don’t know, it was just awesome to be a part of it. And, you know, just see, good people get an opportunity to show themselves to the world in such a big way. It was awesome.”

On wrestling into his 50s like Chris Jericho:

“It depends on how I feel. And if I keep doing the things I need to do, and obviously, my goal was to improve the stuff that I’m doing, especially as science continues to improve and more stuff comes out and what’s going to help like, Yeah, I mean, I’d love to. I will always be a part of wrestling no matter what, like some aspect of me will be involved for the rest of my life. [As a producer?] For sure. And I’d like to open a little school. I know, there’s a lot of them, but you know, like, small, more personalised Dojo style school and take a crack at that. Because I feel like, that’s something that I really love to do. And, you know, giving people the best opportunity that I can with what I know, and people I know.”

On AEW goals:

“One day World Champion is on that list. But currently, the most important one for me is to win that International title and do with it how I think I can. Because that’s the thing, like I was saying earlier about Orange. I have so much respect for the kind of champion he was his work ethic. I’ve said I can do it better. And that’s kind of my thing. I want to wrestle all the random people I want those opportunities, I need to test myself against everybody, for every part of the world and against our roster. I mean, there are so many people there for me to work with. And I think I can make memorable moments with all of them. So that is something that’s like on the front of my mind and my main focus currently.”

What is Roderick Strong grateful for?

“My family, my friends and health.” 

Glenn Gilbertti (@therealdisco) is a professional wrestler best known for his time in WCW and TNA Wrestling. He is also the co-host of the podcast “Keepin’ It 100 with Konnan & Disco”. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at the Blue Wire Studios in Las Vegas to talk about how he got into wrestling, his six years in WCW, winning the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, Television Championship and Tag Team Championship, Jimmy Hart singing his entrance theme, the recent tweet Tony Khan sent calling him an “irrelevant parasite”, co-hosting K100 with Konnan, his job at Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club in Las Vegas and much more.

Quote I’m thinking about: “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” — Nelson Mandela

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On being called an “irrelevant parasite” by Tony Khan:

“I do a podcast, fans mail in me mail me and letters, I answered the mail. And I review the shows. I mean, I’m not doing anything. [Fans only see online the negative things] Unless you’re a listener of our show. And you listen to our review, and we put over, we review Dynamite. Here’s the things we liked, here’s the things we didn’t like. What goes viral? Everything I didn’t like, right? Because there’s, there’s no positivity in promoting anything I say. Like SportsKeeda was funny. They would always take negative things I say, honestly, and put them up on their website, everybody thinks I’m just this big hater. I have an opinion of certain things. They’re pointed. I think they’re accurate. I just have opinions on things I don’t like.”

On getting heat on his podcast: 

“It is what it is. You know what, I think one of the reasons that I got more heat than I used to. When me and Konnan were doing the podcast before it started growing, I did a podcast with Vince [Russo] but that was on a paywall. So it never really went viral that much. But when I did that, I went back to Impact and I did like the Andy Kaufman thing. You know, the women’s wrestling stuff, they’re all that. People took me way too seriously. But I read the room in professional wrestling. Okay, these people are very easily offended. You know, wrestling fans these days, right? Plus social media is very polarising. So we’re the old-school guys. So we’re in that camp. And then there’s the new school, people choose sides. But I just embraced it, the women’s wrestling sucks. That was fine. Thank you to like, they can’t do as good as me. And just people, like when I walked out in Philly, the old ECW arena. Joe Feeney, he was an old-school ECW fan. He’d been a fan and has been in that arena a million times just ECW. He said, it’s like, I got like the second most heat of anybody that has ever seen in that building before. These people just hated me. [Who was ahead of you?] I think the night that they Shane Douglas with the neck brace thing that he did. But look, it was very well done, it looks real. So people think that like, I was like this guy, I hate women, misogynist. But it was so easy to do because it was so as I saw how easy it was to trigger the fans. I don’t know that’s like a skill, I don’t even want to call it a skill, an idea. If you just look, you know, what people get upset about? You see it on social media. Just embrace it. It’s what I want to do, you want to be a heel because ultimately it got Tessa Blanchard over pretty good the way we did it.”

On playing a character on his podcast:

“Not really. What’s the word I want to use here? It’s called ribbing on the square in professional wrestling, where you’re joking but you’re half serious. It’s a joke but there’s a good chunk of truth behind the joke. I had been very critical of some of, we would review the shows. See we’re watching these shows, some of the matches stink, in my opinion. I used to be an agent I used to wrestle. People criticise my work back in the day, so I’m very free to do it to what I see if that’s what people want to hear, right. So just some of the women’s matches I was watching. I don’t want to personally attack these people, but some of the matches were terrible. And I’m like, it’s fair to criticise the work collectively if everybody wants to be pro women’s wrestling, okay, that’s fine, I’m very for it, women draw good numbers. You can’t deny that that’s a recipe. They’re like, it’s a male audience, attractive women, they draw, the people don’t really change the channel? So my whole thing was like, what? I’m not allowed to critique a women’s match the same as a men’s match. That doesn’t seem very fair. Well, why are they like a protected group? There’s tonnes of them in the business. Back in the day, we had the Nitro girls and there weren’t that many women wrestlers on the card. Remember, like growing up what it was just Moolah and Wendy Richter. When it was just like two girls, and once every two, three months, they would be on TV for three or four weeks and they have a match, The Divas era changed that and all of a sudden, there’s a considerable amount of women on the show. My whole thing was like, I’m watching somebody who’s bad. So I have to watch all these shows, and I’d be critical to some of the work and people say, Oh, you’re just being a misogynist. So like, come on. I can stay true to my principles. If I think something’s not good I’ll tell you. If I like something, I will tell you I like that a lot. You know, so it’s just honest criticism.”

On the nature of the podcast:

“Honestly, when we do the show, it literally is, I’m not trying to do anything. Our show is we take mail, anybody can ask us a question, mail your questions, and we generate the discussions because usually the questions are about the topical stuff of the week, what happened and stuff. So we don’t really format the show. Like say, Hey, we’re going to talk about this. We know we’re going to get asked questions about stuff that happened to wrestling this week, right? We read every email. We read every word of every email, we read the insults and stuff, we read it out loud, we answer everything. Just our honest opinion. You know, Konnan has got skin in the game, because he’s the booker for AAA, he has a working relationship with Tony Khan. But yeah, but neither of us will compromise. Like if you’re telling me something, I’m like, did you like this match? I’m not gonna lie to you? If it’s like two guys, two friends of mine, I’m like I really didn’t like it. I’m just giving my honest opinions of what I’m seeing and then viewing it as a fan. Now the funny thing is, I get hated for having certain opinions because I’m not being a fan of the product enough. I’m not supporting it. Dude, I have no skin in the game. I go, my skin in the game literally is like when I talk about professional wrestling. I would love it, people don’t really think of it this way. I would love professional wrestling to get back to where it was as popular as it was. Because our shows would grow in popularity too. So that’s where my skin in the game is, is that if professional wrestling became more popular, we would have more fans.”

On AEW: 

“I love MJF, love Christian Cage. Jericho is my boy, love a lot of his stuff. The product, It’s different. Okay, because then this was my show, Guys like Cornette and they’re very polarising, too. But we all share the same basic philosophy, there’s a way to promote professional wrestling. And what we talked about is like, it’s very easy for the WWE to engage the fans. Tremendous video packages or like movie trailers with music sometimes if there’s just engaging fans. AEW does not do that at all. They’re constantly always trying to like to talk about the ratings, the demo number now. They talk about the ratings all the time, but they’re not drawing. And I’m like, sitting there looking at you guys. You’re not doing some of the basic things that you need to do to draw, which is if somebody’s tuning into your show, they’re completely confused. Like, there are guys on their show, Ring of Honor characters. I don’t watch Ring of Honor. And I don’t think a lot of people watch it and I think they’re only doing like 30,000 people on that subscription service they have. So they’ll take these guys and put them on the show. And I’m like who is this? I watch Dynamite every week. I don’t know who any of these people. And they’re acting amd announcing like I’m supposed to know. They booked their show basically for their fans. Okay, that’s fine. The guy’s a billionaire. Tony Khan is not going to run out of money Tony Khan has way more money than Vince McMahon. That’s what people don’t understand. Everything’s well they’re gonna go out of business. No they’re not. A guy that’s got $8 billion that’s investing $30 million here, let’s say he loses $30 million this year in a hobby that’s nothing like billionaires I think spend way more than that. But the thing they do, there’s basic principles to promote that they do not do and we don’t necessarily, me and Konnan are constantly critical of it’s like I don’t know the storylines. You got a storyline on here on Collision on Rampage. I’m just watching Dynamite. So when I’m watching Dynamite, you’re not filling me in on what happened on those other shows. That is very difficult for fans to engage with it. If I’m watching this I don’t know what’s going on. What’s he gonna do, you change the channel? I don’t know what’s going on, change the channel.” 

On AEW dropping the ball:

“I think the first month they dropped the ball. Okay, you can understand, nobody realises this. If you looked at the TV ratings as a stock, and like it was an IPO and they went public on October 2019. 1.4 million fans watch the show. So if that number represents a stock since that date, you’ve never been able to sell that stock and make a profit, that stock has been at a loss, they’ve never reached that first show that benchmark, they’ve never been back to that mark. And the whole first month, they lost say 400,000 fans during that first group, then they teetered between like 1 million to 900,000, that that number is pretty consistent for about a year until the pandemic hit, which screwed everybody. But yeah, I always say that was your mistake right there. Because they took basically independent wrestlers, and independent wrestling. And instead of putting it through the professionalism that the WWE does, which is incredible packages for the guys, outfits, just as branding of their characters stuff. They just threw them out there on TV, had them wrestle and had Dave Meltzer give his star ratings for the matches. And what great wrestling this was, what great matches this is like, I’m just sitting there watching going like, Okay, that’s great, guys. There’s been nine hours of wrestling on for 20,30 years. I’ve seen enough of wrestling matches, I go, that’s not what interests me in this product. I don’t think that’s what interests a lot of people this product. Are you interested in the matches or the storylines? Well, what’s the most important thing to you? If the storyline stinks, are you interested in the matches?”

On wrestling fans: 

“Well, if you look at the wrestling fan, they’re on like a bell curve right? In the middle, you have your basic fans that will they turn on the product, they get nothing else to do, they’re not going to change the channel, they just watch the show, right? Then on the extreme end, you have people that are watching it, on one extreme end you’re having people that hate watching. Okay, and then on the other extreme end, you have people that watch it with way too critical of an eye, which is not the way we want people to watch a product. I don’t want people like the Dave Meltzer fan base, okay, that have never wrestled before, they’ve never done this. And they’re just fans, you know, doing critical commentary over professional wrestlers work in the ring. And the thing is, like, a lot of these people don’t even really know what work is. When I grew up in like anybody from my era who trained to be professional wrestlers, you were taught how to do it to make it look as real as possible, while protecting yourself and your opponent. Okay. One company tries to do that. Okay, the other company if I told you that this, you watch some of the things he’s doing the shows like, these guys are going to get hurt. I’m scared watching some of this. For me, watching one his career, it’s uncomfortable for me watching Bryan Danielson out there wrestle now, because I know the guys had like a lot of concussions. I know he’s had like your issues and seizures and everything. And I want you to he’s still beating himself up out there. And I’m going like, why is he doing this?”

On the evolution of the modern style:

“And that I think is one of the problems okay. If you go back and watch, just pull up a Mr. Perfect versus Bret Hart on just a random YouTube clip, and you watch two minutes of these guys. You’re going this doesn’t look like wrestling today, okay? They’re not slapping their thighs, they’re not standing there letting the guy like you stand there and let me hit you and then you stand there and I’ll hit you back and you stand there in the middle of the match. Like when they shoot guys in and you’re trying to clothesline the guy, and the guy is ducking your clothesline, you look like you’re trying to take the guy’s head off. You’re diving out of the ring, the guys aren’t standing there looking right at you and then catching you. There’s a lot of basic things that make it look a lot faker than it used to. When we would lock up, punch sell, just like the basic ruggedness of professional wrestlers we had. Okay? Today it’s very choreographed and smooth and it doesn’t really look like combat a lot. But that’s what everybody’s doing, so it looks completely different than back in the day right? And like you said they raised the bar. Guys are trying to outdo the guy that when went before but they’re doing more risky versions of the exact same stuff. The original thing was back in Lucha Libre the suicide dive, which is basically just you run and dive through the second and third ropes. Even when we did that back in WCW had a Lucha guy, you would eat it. Like the guy would come like a missile. He would hit you, you would fall back but they try to have him fall on you. But it would look very violent, right? These days it’s like, you run you do the dive. The guy claps hands and lands on his feet like he just did a gymnastics move. I was like, that didn’t look like you’re trying to hurt the guy or anything. So now guys, since everyone just dives into the second third rope. Now we gotta run, now we gotta dive, off the top rope and we got to flip off the top rope. And now we have to dive, jump on the top have to turn yourself backwards to do moonsault off the top, all these different variations. Somebody’s gonna ever really hurt 1 time. I don’t want it to be, people don’t think about this right? With the way social media is, the mobs will just come after you right? If somebody gets seriously hurt like breaking their neck on a professional wrestling show. It’s like you don’t tell me that there’s gonna people coming out of the woodwork going like, like wanting to try to ban professional wrestling or you have to throw a wet blanket on professional wrestlers. Because that’s just a way things are these days and I’m seeing guys do this and like I think wrestling if you continue to do that very high-risk stuff. You’re looking down the road it may be these people coming after the professional wrestling business you know and I don’t want to see that happen because. I’ve dealt with the commissions these people are a joke. You know, these wrestling commissions come there and they act like wrestling is real. You know? I remember that we’d be in Baltimore these had these old school like gangster-looking guys, you know, maybe the guy was standing by the tables I know blood denied. If I catch it if you bleeding, he’s yelling at us. You don’t want the government coming in trying to regulate this again, which could happen if somebody gets seriously hurt.”

On WCW having issues:

“We would be at Nitro. Okay. And literally, me Konnan, Kidman, Benoit, we would find a TV and we would be watching Raw okay. The Rock and Stone Cold was there, it was just like entertaining and they were doing kind of cutting edge and they were doing the edgy stuff. And we were still, it was Hogan, Macho, Flair with him is still like just like all of our you know all those guys were still kind of on top there was a glass ceiling. We called it the we had what we called the top 12 by 12 stars.”

Why didn’t you go to WWE?

“I had done a stint in booking, right. So they put me on the I was on the booking committee for a while, like there was a nine-month period where it was near the end just wasn’t good. We didn’t have a boss kind of, you know, like Eric was kind of out of the picture but Eric would come back to the picture. But Brad Siegel was our boss. Okay, we be in the booking committee committee, asking, we had a question for the board. Hey, can we do this? You know, it’s like an edgy thing. Put in a call to the guy, wouldn’t return the call. So it’s like that. That’s when you knew like, and plus we were we were competing. I wouldn’t say competing, but they were like, butting heads with production. Just like one time, we wanted a limo at a show. And they brought like a Volkswagen Audi or, you know, just I don’t know. It was just like, we were asking for things. And they say like, it wasn’t in the budget. I was like, Well, how are you? I’m watching Raw and like, they look like they have like a ridiculous budget. You don’t like that they’re spending tonnes of money. We weren’t spending any money on production.” 

On not going to WWE after WCW ended:

“I was burned out. Because I was wrestling and booking. And it was just stressful. And I was in the first quarter of making $350,000 a year. My contract was 250, 300, 350. Okay, so when I was in the first quarter of collecting $350,000 is the most money I’ve ever made and what they did, they had a clause in your contract every quarter, they could terminate your contract. Okay, so I like started the first week of the 350. So I could have either forgone like $80,000 For three months for doing nothing. Okay, or just gone to WWE. And I was burned out and Nash was a good friend of mine. He was taking the money. A lot of the other top guys like Goldberg lay like guys were taking the money. Yeah, you know, and I was like, I’m just gonna take the money and hang out, me and Jeremy Borash and Kevin Nash would like, each day we’d come over like, they play video games, we’d watch TV, we go eat sushi separately, we just just just just go to the gym and stuff that we just kind of chilled. And after that happened when it was a kind of like maybe like time if I could have got a WWE, Johnny Ace was the guy, was the point man. Me and Johnny Ace didn’t get along.”

What is Disco Inferno grateful for?

“Health, my mom and still making decent money.”

Bobby Roode (@realrobertroode) is a professional wrestler and producer for WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Tampa, FL to talk about his incredible career, growing up in Peterborough, Ontario, wanting to play professional hockey as a kid, how he started training with Val Venis, getting his first big break with TNA, joining Team Canada, seeing Petey Williams do the Canadian Destroyer for the first time, being randomly paired with James Storm to form Beer Money Inc., becoming a 2-time TNA World Champion, getting signed by WWE in 2016, how important his “Glorious” entrance theme was to his character, winning the NXT Championship, his tag team with Dolph Ziggler, how a neck injury and surgery has kept him out of the ring, his current job as a WWE producer and much more!

Quote I’m thinking about: The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. – Carol Dweck

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On still working for WWE: 

“Yeah, I had two neck surgeries. I had my C5 and C6 fused in November, on November 30 2022. And then May 11 2023, my birthday. I had my level four and five fused. So I have a two-level fusion.”

On the injury: 

“A lot of wear and tear over the years. I can kind of relate it back to almost 10 years to the day that I got re-injured. It was just a weird circumstance. I was in a match with Rob Van Dam and just something happened. I don’t know what it was. It wasn’t his fault, wasn’t my fault. It was just something that happened and I just landed on the ground. He does that front suplex thing where he lands you on the barricade and then jumps off and does a twisting Leg Drop. And Rob and I worked together for a month at least doing live events doing this exact same thing. And just so happened to be on pay-per-view that this happened and my leg went numb for it that felt like, you know, a minute and a half, two minutes. I felt like my leg, I had no feeling in my leg. But watching it back was more like 10 seconds. But I had no feeling in my leg. And then I ended up finishing the match and that was a ladder match. Finishing the match ended up wrestling the next day and the day after. I want to say I wrestled AJ on television the next day, and had like, no issues, totally fine. And I remember waking up Friday that week. And it felt like I had a golf ball in my back. And I had noticed I went to my cupboard to pull out a coffee mug to make coffee and I grabbed the coffee mug and my wrist just went like this. I had no strength and just lost everything. And I thought it was just you know, I’ll go to the gym and roll out and workout. It’ll be fine, just a stinger. And man, I lost all kinds of strength. I lost a bunch of muscle and I had a lot of nerve damage in my neck. But at that time, I just became the world champion at TNA. I didn’t tell anybody I was hurt. And different time of course. Yeah, I worked through it and miraculously enough, you know, the injury kind of repaired itself so to speak, I guess for 10 years and was able to continue on and do what I’ve done and then just so happened to be in Amarillo, Texas in a match with Omos and just landed wrong and nobody’s fault again. Just you know, I think just the wear and tear over the years, just kind of my neck said that was it.”

On wrestling again:

“Ironically enough, I just got green-lighted. The fusion has completely fused. So as far as like, looking at it from a medical point of view, it’s safe to get back in the ring, I guess. But at almost 48 years old, given the opportunity that I’ve been given now to work as a producer, which was my goal coming to WWE almost eight years ago. I’m quite happy doing this. And I feel like I’ve had a good run, as they say, and I’m happy to do what I’m doing now.”

On wrestling in the future:

“Could I do this full-time? There’s no way I could. Look, to be honest, the injury I have three levels that are bad. The level six and seven are not good either. So when I got my injury, back in 2022, when I re injured it, I got an MRI done the next day. And like, I mean, they said that your three levels are just not good. Two levels are not great. You need to get fixed. So I went to Birmingham and saw Dr. Cordova who was amazing. And he thought we need to do a two-level. Because the thing was, is that I wasn’t living in any pain. I didn’t have pain. I could go through the day without feeling any sort of pain that the issue with me was my strength. And then because I was losing strength, I started to lose muscle in my right arm. It just scared me because the first thing I thought it was like Paul Orndorff, right. And his injury and that’s what was happening to me, I was starting to atrophy really bad in my shoulder and in my bicep. So long story short, I was set to get a two-level fusion back in November 30, of 2022. And Dr. Cordova called me the night before, and I was in the hotel room in Birmingham, getting ready to get up at 5 am the next day to get up and go to do the surgery. And he’s like, I talked to you know, a couple of the doctors and I think we can just get away with doing one level, I think you’re gonna be fine. So we went in, and we did the one level and I felt great. Not great the next day, but like after the six weeks of doing nothing, and once I started, the physical therapy and all that other stuff, I felt pretty good, like my strength was coming back. And I felt like the muscle was coming back. And then just out of the blue, I remember March the 10th. I just remember having such wild pain that I never experienced before. And I don’t know what happened. We really don’t know what happened. But I remember getting really sick and vomiting and blacking out and then kind of coming to and not being able to like raise my arm up over my head. So what happened was the level above it just went. So level four and five just kind of went for whatever reason. So in hindsight, maybe we should have gotten both done at the same time. But look, that’s life and we just move on. But I had to get this other fusion done. And that level six and seven, like I said, is still not great but I’m feeling better. And so I just don’t mentally, I don’t think I could take the risk of going back in the ring and working a full-time schedule. Just knowing that as well. I just feel like I look differently to you know what I mean? I always kind of prided myself in the way that I looked on television. And sure, no, I love being in the gym and working out. And it’s just when you physically don’t look the same, it’s just a mental thing as well.” 

On one final match: 

“I think everybody would like to have one last match, right? But sometimes you just when the wheels fall off, the wheels fall off. It’s just that’s the nature of the beast in this sport.” 

On transitioning to a producer role:

“I mean, it’s like I said, that was kind of like the game plan. When I came to WWE, I had my conversation with Triple H, before coming to NXT. And at that time, I was almost 40. So I remember him, I was on a three-way call with him and Matt Bloom and I remember him asking me, like, what do you want to do? Do you want to be a coach? And I’m like, Well, maybe one day, like, that’s my goal, but I feel like I have a lot left in the tank. And yeah, he gave me that opportunity, which I’m super grateful for and here I am today. I had a pretty good run in NXT and then had a pretty good run on the main roster. And it is what it is. Like I said, when the wheels fall off, the wheels fall off.”

On not being hired by WWE in 1999: 

“A lot of things I guess. Look, this is not a bad thing, because I appreciate them telling me I was a good hand. They just creatively never had anything for me. I was also Canadian, I needed to get a proper visa. And back then, I’m six foot and 225. Back in the Attitude Era I’m not a big dude. You know what I mean? Back then, like there was some giants. I was a good hand and I could make guys look good, I was a good enhancement guy. But I was never I don’t think considered for a full time job in WWE as a performer. I mean, we talked about a developmental contract I did a developmental I guess it was like a camp in Cincinnati. And I did quite well there Dr. Tom ran it. And, everything was pointing towards me being hired finally in 2002 I believe it was and then Cincinnati ended up closing down HWA, it was one of the developmental territories for WWE. So when I finished that camp, I went home thinking I’m gonna get signed. A week later they shut it down and fired a bunch of guys and move the guys that they kept OVW, and just again just never got hired but kept coming back and kept showing my face and doing these enhancement and dark matches for the next two years until 2004.” 

On the Canadian Destroyer: 

“Chris Sabin, I think he’s probably told the story, but it was all Chris Sabin. It was Chris Saban’s idea. And Chris was like, I think he was the first one to take it. Because basically, you’re just doing a backflip. Petey [Williams] is just hanging on for dear life. But Petey got the credit. But it was the guys that were taking that that really made it look good.”

On Beer Money:

“Dutch Mantell was pretty instrumental in that. And Jeff Jarrett too. If it wasn’t for Jeff, I don’t think I’d be here doing this still. I mean, Jeff gave me the opportunity in TNA when nobody else really would. So Jeff, I owe a lot to Jeff Jarrett. But it was Dutch that came up with the Beer Money thing. At the time I was doing my singles run and James was doing his singles run. And we were just kind of floating around, kind of midcard guys, and they had an idea to put us together and just like and throw away tag team match. And we just kind of had this spark there. I don’t know when Dutch saw it. And Dutch just, you know, once you’re in Dutch’s sights and he’s any like something he sees, he kind of runs with it and makes it his baby. So yeah, we were just we were paired together I think we had a match. Again, we weren’t Beer Money yet. And we had a match. And we did a backstage promo right after and I think it was Vince Russo that wrote it. But it was I think that end line was something to the effect of the two things that make the world go round was beer and money. Because I was like the Wall Street, James was the beer-drinking cowboy. And we just said like, the two things that make the world go round or beer and money. And then it was like a light bulb went off. And we’re off to the races.”

On the Hogan and Bischoff era of TNA: 

“It definitely changed. I don’t know, it was different for sure. And I can’t really put a finger on what exactly changed, but I could just feel it. It was great for a while it really was. I can’t really say anything bad about Eric Bischoff or Hulk Hogan. They made me their champion. And I had a really good run. And you know, but it was different for sure. It’s just like this the changing of the guard. I don’t deal with change very well, and I think it just that’s just the nature of the wrestling business, when change happens, people kind of freak out a little bit. But yeah, I don’t know what it was. I think it was okay, for a while it was good. And then I think just the kind of the wheels just kind of fell off and everybody just stopped caring. And I think there was too many cooks in the kitchen.”

On losing the six-sided ring:

“I mean, I heard rumblings of it. Like when Hogan and Bischoff came in that they were going to switch back to the more traditional style, more traditional look. And yeah, it was just one day we just walked in, and the six-sided ring was gone and the traditional four-sided ring was there. And it was just one of those things.”

On his theme song being originally planned for Shinsuke Nakamura:

“I believe so. Yeah, I believe so. I think you’re right. I remember just being, look, when I signed, I had no idea about this song. We kind of talked, we being Triple H and I, talked a little bit about what I wanted to do character wise and what I was doing at TNA. I always like wearing the robes, I always like being like a throwback guy. Not that I wanted to be Ric Flair. But I always just love that look. I wanted to bring the robe back. I was at NXT TV one day, this was before I debuted and he’s like, I want you to listen to the song. I listened to it and it was like meh, It was just it was different, right? It wasn’t like a traditional theme song. But then I was like, Wow, this might work with like the robe and like, if the presentation is right, this will work. The presentation was above and beyond what I ever imagined right? But yeah, definitely that song changed my career.”

On WrestleMania 34:

“It’s quick, I remember that. Our time got cut, I remember that. That was a little bit disappointing. I remember our time got cut. I think the girls went a little bit long. But I was really looking forward to obviously getting a chance to work [WrestleMania], and it was for the US title. So getting a chance to work with Randy, who I worked with a couple of months prior, I think I dropped the US title to Randy the month prior, a couple months prior in a singles match, which was one of my favourite matches, by the way. But yeah, getting a chance to work with all four of those guys at WrestleMania in front of 80,000 people. But the thing that I was looking forward to the most was my entrance, and it got cut. Yeah, so I mean, it is what it is. But like, Yeah, I mean I can always say I got the opportunity to work WrestleMania that was like, bucket list, for sure. I got the entrance. But it was like a quarter entrance. The entranceway was like a mile long, of course. But like, I think I got three-quarters of the way down in the next guy’s music head. So I didn’t get to do the full Glorious entrance. But you know, it’s WrestleMania.”

On transitioning to WWE producer:

“So for me, I was off for almost a year, at least a year with my surgeries. So I was kind of, during that time, after my first surgery, I was like, Okay, I’m gonna get through this, I’m gonna be back in the ring in six, nine months. And then I remember going last February, going to while I was injured. I had my surgery in November and February was, I believe it was a Raw in Ottawa. So I drove two and a half hours to the show and see everybody. And I was there. And I was like, walking around ringside and thinking to myself, Man, I don’t know if I could do this full time anymore. This is with the one fusion, and I was like, I don’t know if I could. I don’t know if I could go out there and do this every night again. And then I saw Jason Jordan and saw Bruce Prichard. Bruce came up to me, he’s like, Hey man. Obviously asked me how I was doing from a physical standpoint, and have you ever thought about working as a producer. I just kind of thought about it for a second, not at that moment with him. But I kind of walked away thinking I think I’d really like to do this or at least give it a shot anyways, and see if I’m any good at it. Because I feel like I have a pretty good mind for the business. I have some good ideas. And look, I still have a long way to go. I’m still learning the creative aspect of it. I think I could be a really good coach and help guys in the ring. The younger guys, the younger talent coming up, I really like to help them with their in-ring stuff. But I really want to get good at the creative stuff. I’m good at it, but I want to be great at it.” 

What is Bobby Roode grateful for?

“Family, health and the business.”

O’Shea Jackson Jr is an actor known for his roles in movies like Straight Outta Compton, Long Shot and Den Of Thieves. He is also a HUGE wrestling fan. He joins Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood to talk about being Ice Cube’s son, how he didn’t want to be an actor, playing his father in “Straight Outta Compton”, his preparation for a role, the best advice he ever received about acting (“Never do a movie that you wouldn’t go see it”), how his wrestling fandom began, why he loves Roman Reigns but doesn’t like Cody Rhodes, The Rock’s return to WWE, his thoughts on WrestleMania and much more!

Quote I’m thinking about: “Used to is a rooster that don’t crow no more” – O’Shea Jackson Jr’s mom

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On having a famous father: 

“You know, I don’t really go nowhere. It’s rare anytime people see me out. I’m a homebody. Super family-oriented. I just have a great team that kind of keeps me grounded. Plus, I just be on the sticks at home. You know, I’m on PlayStation.”

On Bray Wyatt: 

“I was waiting for Bray to just make films, because the way that his presentation was, he could have gave us a monster-like indie horror game as well. And I just loved his creativity. Him coming back at Extreme Rules this last year, that was cinema dude, that was something that still gives you goosebumps. And it’s terrible to just have him taken away the way that he was so suddenly, I couldn’t believe it. I was in the kitchen, talking to my sister. And all of a sudden I looked at my phone Twitter blowing up and I told her she didn’t believe me. And so like we did the research, and it’s heartbreaking. You know, thinking about Bray.”

On getting into wrestling: 

“It was my older brother Darryl. It was Sega Genesis, I can’t think of the video game. But video games actually led me into wrestling because I saw him playing. And he told me who everybody was. I would pick the Undertaker, he would pick Shawn Michaels and we would just kick ass. That’s just what we would do.” 

On not wanting to be an actor: 

“I wanted to be on the other side of the camera. I always believed in being rich not famous. I didn’t have the dad that can just take you to the mall, because it’s gonna be a frenzy. You know, going to amusement parks. You need security, it takes a lot more to set up simple things living a simple life. And so I wanted to have the perks but without the chaos. So I wanted to be a writer. I went to the University of Southern California to be a screenwriter was probably the biggest accomplishment of my young life. And then in the middle of my second year of college. My dad says, hey, they’re taking this NWA movie seriously and I’m like, good dad, I’m happy for you. He’s like, Nah, in a perfect world I need you to audition. I need you to play me. So I was like, All right. Can I leave school he was like, only if you make it work. So I have just been trying to make her work for almost 10 years.”

On auditioning to play his father:

“Remember, I convinced him to let me leave school. So I’m in the middle of my second year. So for two years, I’m going to these auditions. I’m going to my acting coach. And you know, just trying to get it down trying to get it right. And in those two years, I’m on Instagram, watching all my friends graduate. I’m feeling like an idiot, like I ruined everything that I set up for myself. And when you’re going to USC to see everybody. And they’re like, oh, so what’s up with the movie? And you’re like, Oh I don’t know. So, it got to the point where it bothered me if I didn’t get it. Once we finally got the ball rolling, there was nothing you can tell me.”

On the hardest part about playing his dad:

“I think the hardest part was the story, and trying to make sure that how my father is viewed by others is how I view him. Just making sure that like, there was a scene where Dr. Dre loses his brother. And everybody’s on the side of the bus crying and all that it’s very deep and emotional scene and we’re being there for Dre. And as his son, I’m like, man, I’ve seen my dad cry, maybe twice. I don’t know if I want the world to see that side of him. Anyway, so I was like, man, somebody’s got to be the shoulder to cry on in this scene. And it’s just those things where you’re fighting your want as an actor to like, show the world what you can do. But then I know my dad man. I know my dad is gonna let you get your cry off. He’s not going to break down, unless it’s around my mom and I don’t see it. I just couldn’t let couldn’t let that happen.”

On getting into music:

“There’s no way you can be in the world I’m in and not think to dabble in music. And I still get the itch. I still make beats. But as far as rapping, when I started my acting career, Hollywood typecast rappers, it just is what it is. Nobody wants to see Superman throw $100 bills at a girl at a club. It’s just they’re not going to see you as nothing but that you know, and like, personally, I know, my, my dad, if he was given the opportunity for certain roles, he’d smash it, kill it. But a lot a lot of Hollywood has to see, no we see Ice Cube right here. And you know, they’re always in his ballpark, he always smashes them. And then you know, it goes on. But I know that there’s there’s just certain roles that they won’t see a music performer in. And so I made a conscious decision to step back because I’m never going to be as big or bigger or take the family further than my dad did in music. But I have the opportunity to take our family name further and acting in movies than we’ve ever been. And that’s what I want to do.”

On his wrestling fandom: 

“I’m cutting promos. That’s really what it is. At first, it was just me talking wrestling with people. Then when it came to Roman and The Bloodline I took on this this persona of just an ass. I know I’m a jerk. But that’s my favourite part of my day and I will never let it go. And yeah, man, The Bloodline is the best thing that happened to wrestling, and to my wrestling fan career, and I’ll never let it go. I acknowledge my Tribal Chief.”

On always being a Roman Reigns fan:

“I get it. Blue contacts were a little funny. But like, man, after a while, I’m like, Dude, What are y’all not like? And you know, it was it was painful to see things like when The Rock tried to lift his hand and everybody’s still just trashing this dude. And then when he would win the belt, it just never felt like he was accepted. And me and my buddies that I watch wrestling with, we all watch and we’re like, do go heal. Please just go heel. They want to boo you give them something to boo about the same thing that happened to The Rock. You guys want to trash me everywhere? All right, I’m gonna give you something to boo. And then you’re so good at it. They can’t help but love you. And then he goes away, you know, due to leukaemia, and then he comes back and he says he’s in remission. And everybody is, you know, still waiting to see how he’s going to be. And then all of a sudden during the ThunderDome, which is a dark time as a wrestling fan. The Feind Bray gets speared out of nowhere. Roman Reigns has a wreck everyone and leaves shirt. The Tribal Chief is born. And he’s here.”

On Cody Rhodes:

“He’s box office. He should be on a damn cereal box. You know, Cody is the man. But when you come in at mine, your, our Tribal Chief. No disrespect because obviously, I look at people like Rock. Randy, Roman Cody, you know, second third generation. Those people who are walking in their family’s footsteps and wanting to take the name to new heights. How can I not connect with you? But Triabl Chief bro. And no disrespect to Cody because like I said, You are the man. But if we’re being real Chris, what’s the name of Roman’s belt? The Undisputed Universal title. Now it had to become Undisputed because he went up against Brock and unified those belts. So should a man be able to just come and take the Universal, Undisputed title? Or should he have to earn the name undisputed? So shouldn’t Cody have to beat Seth first? Take that belt in order to unify.”

On Roman beating the Hogan record:

“It’s a little bit past SummerSlam you know, if you want to drop in Survivor Series, whatever. But like, I think with everything that they set up with this guy, so you got obviously, John Cena is Cena, you know, the 16 titles, all of that. And after Cena, the company was looking for the guy and they wanted to make Roman that guy. And so you’re in a position now, where you had Cena, ultimate baby face 16 titles, yada, yada, yada. And now you have the ultimate heel. And it will forever be what’s better. Cena’s 16 times, or Roman’s reign. So now you have the ultimate heel, the ultimate face debate forever. The guy that you wanted after Cena, and at this point when you’ve already given him the most WrestleMania main events ever, why not in this thing with a perfect bow and make him the longest reign in the WrestleMania era? It would be the perfect battle for wrestling debates to come.”

On CM Punk: 

“I’ve known Phil maybe a year or so before he went to AEW. And it was just like on Twitter. We went back and forth one day and then started following each other, exchanged numbers. I’ve invited him to the premiere of Cocaine Bear, which is still my favourite title ever. Mu man showed up for me, you know, didn’t have to. It was a situation where I only really had like, my girlfriend, my best friend and my brother’s there. So I was you know, I was feeling a little like, you know, I got a little small group and Phil came out for me, showed me love my best friend. Shout out to Roman looks at me and goes that’s CM Punk. He’s watching the movie. And he’s just a good dude straightforward. calls it like it is won’t lie to you. You know, he’s he’s a straight shooter. And yeah, man he’s he’s had my back. He’s giving me advice on things and I’ve always had his back.”

On riling up AEW fans:

“I don’t mean to. But like, the issue I have is okay for people who don’t watch anything besides the two. Whether you’re you’re younger or older stuck in your ways, if I’m watching someone on AEW, and I as who is this guy? I don’t need you to tell me I’m not a real wrestling fan to tell me how could you not know such and such? Who gives a damn? Like I need you to inform me bro. Or at least have your programme and in a way to let people know why you should love this dude, why you should f*ck with this guy. That’s something that I feel like is missing. Konnan, when I was on his podcast he brought up when you watch UFC and they give you a little backstory about this dude backstory about that dude. What this guy’s had to go through what he’s done and vice versa. And then they put them in the room and they cuss each other out. And then by watching those videos you’ve picked a side us of who you’re with. What they have is this this nice group of people who watch all of these wrestling shows and they’re already in the know so when they see these names together, it is a dream match for them. But you’re trying to sell this to American television baby. You got to move that up a little bit, you got to give me some cinema to follow, something to hold on to besides the announced team running down a list for me while there’s dudes walking down the ramp. And I feel like that’s missing it when you are trying to get involved and trying to really give something a chance and when you question it even a little bit and you get 80 no faced accounts coming at you at any given time you like me f*ck this noise bro. I’m gonna cool off of it if y’all like it I don’t. I have people over there that are that I’m cool with you know I talked to Swerve at least once every week or so you know just talking about wrestling talking about stuff that’s going on how Daniel Garcia almost killed and when that announce table. But you know that type of stuff. Dante Martin when he broke his foot after a while I asked about him got his Twitter page DM them and was like Yo, you know, are you alright? What’s your recovery looking like? Told him how explosive I think he is and there’s people over there obviously all my old WWE people that I still care about. Anyone who follows me knows when Aleister Black made the move over and became Malakai, I was crushed. I thought we were idiots to let that guy go. Aleister, I was such a huge fan of him during his NXT and I was waiting for his push on the main roster. Same thing with Andrade now and Andrade is back. When I see things like the LWO I was pissed that Andrade is not in it. When I see things like Judgement Day. I’m pissed. Aleister Black isn’t there. So now I still watch those guys. Adam Copeland as well over there in AEW. I don’t hate AEW, I hate their miserable faceless fans who got not even a picture of themselves and have the nerve to try to stand on their words. I hate your guts.”

What is O’Shea Jackson Jr. grateful for:

“Family, opportunities and health.”

Johnny Gargano (@johnnygargano) is a professional wrestler signed to WWE. He is a former NXT Champion, NXT North American Champion and NXT Tag Team Champion. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Tampa, FL to talk about his return to WWE, reforming DIY with Tommaso Ciampa, his favorite matches from NXT, why NXT shouldn’t be looked at as developmental but as a third brand, being a Browns fan, why his wife Candice LeRae is his favorite wrestler, being a dad to their son Quill, his love of Marvel, whether or not he was close to signing with AEW after he left WWE in 2021, how Shawn Michaels got him to cry real tears during his goodbye promo, his relationship with Triple H and much more.

Quote I’m thinking about:
“Clapping for others does not take away from your own success.”

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BETTERHELP: Get 10% off your first month with the code INSIGHT at http://betterhelp.com/insight

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MYBOOKIE: Bet on WWE! Get up to $200 cash bonus when you use the code CVV and sign up at http://mybookie.ag

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On life on the road away from family:

“It gets worse and worse. It doesn’t get better because Quill is getting way more advanced now. Me and Candice talk about how he’s 2 next month. It’s like someone turned a dial up on him like to 11 now, because immediately, just overnight, he just started like, copying the cadence of words, and speaking more and being more aware of what’s going on, and how he wants dada. He wants mom and he wants to read books, and he wants to do his thing. Christmas morning, it was very apparent. We have such a set regimen where he wakes up and he gets a bottle or he goes and sits at the table and eats his food.
Christmas morning, we get all this stuff. And we’re like, Christmas is going to be great. He’s going to kind of know what’s going on, but not really. We buy all these presents, we set it all up near the tree. We’re like, it’s gonna be a big reveal when he walks on the steps me and him walk down the steps. He walks on the steps. He’s grabbed my finger, and he’s like, okay, let’s just go sit at the table now didn’t even care there are a bunch of presents underneath the tree. He said, I just want to go sit and eat now. So he sat down and ate. Normally Christmas, we open all our stuff up in the morning and Christmas is done. That year it took from I’m gonna say 9 am until 10 pm of just like, we’re gonna open some gifts now, man, let’s go open the gifts and open a gift. Like okay, I’m done doing that now. So it took literally all day of opening gifts. We’re heading to the point where like, okay, just open this really quick, man. But again, he’s his own person now who wants what he wants. And he likes what he likes. I’ve heard when they turn around three, they really start to understand what Christmas is and what’s happening.” 

On knowing a WWE return would be coming: 

“I had an idea. I always had an idea. People ask me all the time, did you think about going other places? Obviously, we all entertain the idea. But when I left, I always felt like I had unfinished business in WWE. And when the conversations were being had, it was one of those things where when I was a little kid growing up, I watched WWE. I dreamed of wrestling at WrestleMania. I dreamed of becoming Intercontinental Champion. I think all these things I said in my return promo, pretty much. They’re all very real, very true. Those are very real dreams I still do have to this day and I can only do that one place. And I am very lucky to call WWE my home because if you’ve watched my last night in the company it was sad for me because I spent so much time in NXT around those people. I saw them almost every single day for almost seven years. And I wasn’t gonna have that anymore. And that was my own choice because I felt like I needed to move on. And I needed that time away to be with Candice, to be with the baby. And just step away from wrestling for a bit and just recharge. But luckily everything worked out. And I think everything happens for a reason. We’re back.”

How close were you to re-signing:

“I made up my mind way earlier. Again people always try to count down to what was going on in NXT at the time, [they thought] Johnny wanted to leave, or they were forcing Johnny out. No, I mean in my mind months prior I needed to take a break and I needed to leave, just for myself. Again we knew the baby was coming too and I already had it in my mind. But that really kind of nailed my decision home. They wanted to keep me and they were very generous. They wanted to have me stick around in NXT, stick around the WWE family and things like that. I appreciated the offer. But at the same time they appreciated the fact I told them look, if anything else happens, if I decide I want to go somewhere else, I will come to you guys and let you guys know first because I feel we have a great relationship. So I did tell them that that if I decided to go anywhere else, I would give them the opportunity to match the opportunity to make a counteroffer if that would come up to come up. [Did it come up?] I did not even try. Like I said I was so outside the realm of focusing on wrestling. Luckily, I have an agent and I have people around me that go and do that for me. Because I told my agent, I told everyone around me like, look, I want to focus on being a dad. You can go and you can talk to people, you can have those discussions, I do not want to, because I want to be so far removed away from wrestling and so far removed from that side of things, that’s like the business side that I’m like, I don’t want to dig in that stuff. And Candice was a free agent at the time. So we were both just sitting at home and enjoying being a mom and dad for the first time. And it’s so very rare we get that opportunity.”

On considering in-ring retirement: 

“I always said that I was gonna be done by 40. That was always my go-to age. And then as we get closer to that, I’m still four years away. But as we get closer to that, I think I got a little bit more in me. I mean, like I said, I came back to WWE for a reason. And obviously there were discussions to go other places. And my agent obviously had those discussions. But at the end of the day, I told him, my heart was with WWE. Like, I still want to wrestle at WrestleMania. I haven’t done that yet. I still want to be the Intercontinental champion. Haven’t done that yet. I haven’t won a title on the main roster yet. I want to do that too. There’s still a lot left for me to accomplish and a lot of stories I still want to tell. And I’ve been very excited to do that. And like I said the last night in the company was very sad. And I think Tommaso brought up my tears, and where they came from in that show. And a story I think I’ve only told maybe once before, but I have such a great relationship and I’m very lucky and it’s crazy to say with Shawn Michaels. He was my hero growing up, and I spent a lot of time with him. And I made the shadow boxes for people that are really special to me in that building. I made a shadow box for Shawn, I made a shadow box for Coach Bloom. And I made, I gave cards to all the coaches, everything I’ve learned, spent seven years with Terry Taylor, Steve Corino, I gave them special cards and stuff. I have pictures of us together. Because it was my last night did feel like it was like a goodbye for a while. It was funny I say goodbye for a while but I was literally still going to Performance Center with Candace. We brought the baby to the PC like literally two months later, or maybe three months later or whatever. But I had that gift for Shawn. It’s a shadow box, it had my headband from a TakeOver. He’s the only person other than me that has a piece of my TakeOver gear. I did it for In Your House where it was like kind of my Shawn Michaels gear. So I had that put in a shadow box. Again, I’m luckily I have a great wife that helps me with these things, by the way, because I’m not making shadow boxes by myself. The headband with a picture of me and Shawn, from when I was in high school and a picture of me and Shawn in that year from that TakeOver. And I wrote a really nice note on the back. Shawn actually has it hanging up in his office, if you see any interviews he does, where he’s at his desk, it’s actually behind him, which is cool. So I bought this gift to him. And I said, I’m gonna give you this gift, but there’s a catch. You can’t open it until I’m getting ready to go through the curtain. Because I want to be emotional out there. And you’re going to be the one that’s going to give me that emotion. Like I’m going to see how this affects you. And it’s going to transfer to me. And I’m going to go through the current right when that happens. And literally, I give him the gift. And Road Dogg is counting down the time. He’s like, okay, Johnny, given the gift. And literally, like we’re in a commercial break, and wrote, I was like, okay, 30 29. And Shawn opens it up. And Shawn looks at it. And he starts getting really emotional. And he hugs me. And of course, like I get emotional, then my music starts playing. So when I walk through that curtain, you’re seeing literally the direct reaction of me feeling that moment, but also giving that gift to Shawn and seeing how it affected him. And just that that’s me walking through the curtain for my last time at NXT for then, and then you know, you got it.” 

On knowing it was time to go back:

“I just kind of felt it. It felt like that’s where the wind was blowing. And I’ve had such a great relationship with Hunter. I can’t say enough great things about Hunter and Shawn. It sounds like I’m gonna make it sound like I’m just going on and on about Hunter and Shawn, which I am, I will. I have such a great relationship with them. Like so much so that I always kept in contact with them. Even when I was gone. The day Quill was born I got a text from Hunter. I got a text from Shawn, like, unprovoked. Quill was born they reached out and said, Congratulations keep in touch. And Hunter literally said when Quill was born, I can’t wait to meet him, I’m very excited. And I literally said that day do me a favour though, when you meet him, you need to do the fingerprint picture okay. He said, You got it, would be my honour. So, like I said, I just enjoy them so much as human beings, that I just really wanted to work with them again. And when the opportunity came up, where the world changed and everything went down. Shawn reached out to me and said, Hey, are you open to coming back? And I’d say I definitely talk about it. And literally a couple hours later Hunter called me. And then we had a conversation. And then he talked to my agent and things were in motion really, really quickly. He wanted Candice back as well. And then it just one of those things is Candice ready? Am I ready? And I wanted time to get ready too because I wasn’t ready to come back yet. So I needed to get in shape really, really quickly. Things like that. But everything happens so fast. Because I think there was a Cleveland Show. And then like two weeks later, I came back. [People asked] Why didn’t you come back in Cleveland? It’s because I wasn’t under contract. Those things are still being discussed. And luckily, it was fun to come back in Toronto, because everyone expected Cleveland. And to be able to come back in Toronto, in a building I’ve wrestled in before and have it be an absolute surprise. Like no one knew, the only people that knew I was back in the company, and I wasn’t even officially under contract yet. Terms were agreed upon and I was ready to go. But I wasn’t officially back back yet. That’s luckily the way it was kept under wraps too. The only people who knew was me, my agent, Candice. And I think Hunter and maybe one other person in TR and that was it.”

On the surprise comeback:

“So funny too, is like people always talk about the reaction. And people are like, oh man,they should have gave him a much better return. And that’s the reaction that’s awesome about it. It’s out of commercial. It’s not built up at all. Literally the music hits. People are like wait a minute, that kind of sounds familiar. My name comes up on the tron. They’re like, wait a minute, what’s happening, and I walk out and people are like, oh. Big Johnny Wrestling chants and things like that. And it was just such a cool moment to be able to keep that a secret and make that happen. Candice’s was also kept a secret. Like no one knew that me and Candice were at the Performance Center together training, like getting her ready to come back. Having a child. So yeah, we’re incredibly lucky and incredibly cool that everything worked out the way it did.” 

On fan backlash:

“I feel like I’m like a cog. I collect all the vitriol and all the hatred, just because I am undersized. I guess I’m an average white guy, I’m working with what I got here. I’m not super athletic. I’m just negging myself like crazy right now, by the way. I probably should talk to you about this too. My self-esteem is horrible. I hate all my own matches. I hate all my own work. So anything anyone tells me is bad. I’m like it is bad, I just believe you, sure. You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know. I think I’m an easy target for people to be like, That guy doesn’t look like a wrestler, he’s bad. Sure, I guess. But I think wrestlers, especially in 2024 can come in all different shapes and sizes. And I think what I do have is a very relatable factor to where people can see me. I think there’s two types of stars. I think there are stars like The Rock, [people go] I want to be The Rock. Man. I would love to be The Rock one day. And there’s people like me, they’re like, I can see myself in Johnny Gargano I could be Johnny Gargano. And I feel like that’s what I really have going for me. And trust me though. It does eat away. Because every every good comment you have people can tell you you’re the best wrestler in the world. Like 15 People can say that match was amazing. But the one person that says you suck and like you have no charisma and whatever the heck else they’re gonna say to me, that’s the thing that sticks with you. So like, that’s the thing you hear.” 

What is Johnny Gargano grateful for?

“Candice, my son Quill, my parents and health.”

Aron Stevens (@thearonfiles) is an actor and professional wrestler known for his time in NWA, TNA and also WWE where he performed under the name Damien Sandow. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet to talk about being part of NWA’s roster, what he has learned from working with Billy Corgan, his approach to comedy in pro wrestling, his hilarious storylines in WWE, his unsuccessful cash-in as Sir Money In the Bank, wrestling against John Cena, being The Miz’s stunt double when he was Damien Mizdow, being released from WWE, being on “I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson” and much more!

Quote I’m thinking about:
“I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than the things I haven’t done.” – Lucille Ball

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On being on the same wavelength as Billy Corgan:

“Well, I mean, again, the wrestling version of me and the acting version of me, those are very different people. Obviously, I think my resume in wrestling reads a little bit deeper than my resume in Hollywood. That’s true today, it certainly was true five years ago. Billy and I, when the first time we met was at Impact. And we had just like a, Oh, hey, what’s going on? We actually had a mutual friend from WWE and stuff. So we knew each other, at least we’re saying what’s up too. So, I meet him, and like, okay, cool. Because again, [he’s a] rockstar, right? If you grew up in the ’90s, yes, it’s the Smashing Pumpkins, everyone knows Pumpkin songs, they’re kind of ingrained in the subconscious of that generation. Now I mean, dare I say, some of those songs, like a Rat in a Cage, everyone knows that. The Rat in the Cage song, it’s everywhere, it’s in video games. It’s kind of a movie trailer. And okay, that’s all great, right? But when I met him, we get into this conversation about Roddy Piper and Adrian Adonis. And we’re talking and as someone who has admittedly, always thought outside the box, when it comes to approaching wrestling, and I’ve taken risks, admittedly. The way he was talking about the match, I instantly was like, okay, like, this guy knows what he’s talking about. Like, it completely went from, we have this weird wrestling relationship where even to this day, right? There was a tag team, that they were at a show that we were both at. And, the second I saw those people, oh, God, here we go. I saw that team and I saw Billy kind of do the same thing. And then we looked at each other was like, okay. We see the business, I think through a very similar lens, in terms of like what it is, is art.”

On taking time away from wrestling to recharge:

“Yes, 100%. Because I was mentally just in a very interesting place in my life. It wasn’t the best spot, shall we say? As people, not just as performers, but as humans, we have this spectrum of emotions that we go through. And as we get to different points in our life, depending on circumstances, or a number of circumstances, we can find ourselves in a good place a bad place, or just lost. I find that those times are where the most growth happens. Because it’s how you deal with it. When I left the WWE, I was really not in a good place. I had let myself down. I couldn’t look in the mirror for 18 months. I’d shave with the lights out, because it was just like this weird thing I was going through. But eventually, like with anything it came to a point where I said all right, I’m the same guy who wrestled the invisible friggin man and made it work, what is wrong with me? I had become [someone], especially in Hollywood, which is like a weird thing. WWE, they own the name Damien Sandow. But no one can rock Sandow like I can, but it’s your Damien Sandow, like Scott Hall Razor Ramon. And like the list goes on and on, whoever, we are right at our best. I think we need to kind of hold on to that when we’re at our worst because that just reminds us of what we’re capable of. So I said, Yeah, you know what, okay, and I had some management, some representation out there in Cali that I was like, No, you know what, they’re not my kind of people. I have to at the very least be true to myself and not try to conform to you know, lose 10 pounds, shave, you need to look more like this, you need to look more like that. And you need to be doing these kinds of scenes you need to be doing… It’s kind of like shut up, you know what I mean? It’s like, it’s at the end of the day in Hollywood. There’s a game, right? I mean, there’s not a game, there’s multiple games being played on multiple different levels. And this is no secret, right? And it’s like, there’s a saying those who can’t do teach, which is like, Huh? Is it true 100% of the time? No, because there are a lot of teachers, my acting coach is a working actor. And I booked more with him than anybody. So like he’s actively doing it. He’s actively engaged in the process. And people in Hollywood, they sell this dream. And it’s completely void on many levels of just common sense to where you have to wake up and say, You know what, no, you want me to do this kind of thing? You’re an idiot. You know what I mean? Because at the very least, I have explained to you, I don’t want to do this.”

On losing his identity when he left WWE:

“The long answer to that question is yes. But the deeper answer is, I had to make peace with myself is that wrestling was part of who I am. Because, it’s funny, right? I think the reason that I’m able to perform at the level I perform at is, and by the way, it’s funny when you work with people because, in NWA, I even have this reputation of I don’t really talk a lot in the back. When you go out there, it’s just like do it, because that to me was like, that’s where the fun is. But it’s an interesting place to be when you can have this realisation that although things didn’t turn out the way you wanted, although you put yourself on this trajectory, from the time you were whatever age, and I was always used to accomplishing every single goal I had, I find a way to do it. And then you find yourself in a spot and again, I don’t want to get into the why. When people look at my career, there’s a lot of why did this happen? What the reality is, is that it did happen for whatever reason. I’ve heard theories, but I don’t even want to publicly say them. Because it’s not for me to say, because I don’t know if they’re true or not. So it’s not going to improve my situation for talking about it. If I had to break any news, it would be to you, Chris. But no, it was just essentially saying alright, enough. I have to evolve. So many people in the industry try to hang on to this image, snapshot of who they were at their prime. And although we should embrace who we are and who we were at all periods of our life, provided we weren’t axe murderers or anything like that. But in terms of this linear development as people, it’s important to evolve. So for me, like the current character I’m doing now. It’s a it really is kind of like this cornucopia or Chop Suey, or like whatever. Chop Suey is probably the better analogy in this case. But the bits of my personality, like there’s a little bit of everything sprinkled in there. If you ask anyone really close to me, they’ll the character that I’m playing in NWA, it’s not that far off from who I am. You know what I mean?”

On the possibility of politicking a different Money in the Bank cash-in:

“I could have, but in the long run, it would have been futile. To look at the bigger picture, we were going up against Monday Night Football and the World Series, I believe. And look, as a performer, no matter what anyone says. So the internet’s an interesting place now in 2023. And I’ve really, for the most part, been extremely blessed of the feedback I’ve gotten from the internet fans and just like fans in general, not to get off subject again. But when I walk into a store, and someone recognises me, because I really kind of don’t look like Sandow anymore. But like, You are my so-and-so’s favourite wrestler, and they don’t even watch wrestling. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten that compliment. Because I want to appeal to everybody. I like wrestling fans, if they see me, one way or another they are getting everything I have. Whether it’s a promo, a match, I am putting every ounce of energy I have into that performance, every single night. And the non-wrestling fan that just happens to be flipping through the channels or happens to be at a show, if you can kind of make them go that is the cool thing, because that’s how you attract more and more people. And it’s better for the business that way. So like I try to appeal to like, some element, right?” 

On Damien Mizdow:

“I think there was no Mizdow without Miz. And if I didn’t have a subject to base my satire on, I wouldn’t have had that. So that’s a testament to the timing Miz and I had. Miz and I are, you know, I say we’re friends. Like, we haven’t really talked or anything. But if we saw each other, it’d be cool. Like, there’d be what’s up, man, we came up in OVW and stuff. And out there though, we had timing about it, because that’s all that was. It was Miz doing his thing. And then allowing me to do my thing. And then going into it, he was very, very cool about it. Our best moments were not discussed. Truly, they weren’t, we didn’t talk about them. They happened organically.”

On the birth of Damien Mizdow:

“That was born out of boredom. I was on Raw, like, what am I doing here? But the thing was, I had the thing happen with the briefcase. And then okay, they start giving me what I thought was a push, then two weeks later, I’m dressing up as different people. Alright, whatever, here we go. I embrace that. They put me with Miz. The only reason Mizdow works is because I was on television consistently. And if you put me in a role consistently on television, if I go to any company, like any owner of any company, right? And I would say this now, and I can say this, I hope this does not sound braggadocious or whatever. But this is just based on kind of my calculations. Based on the knowledge I’ve acquired. If you give me 30 seconds for three to four weeks I will be able to get myself over no problem. If you give me 60 seconds, we’ll be selling T-shirts. Because there is an art to how you do this. And now again, that’s 30 seconds of like, I would need some creative freedom in there. But wrestling shouldn’t be hard, because it isn’t hard.” 

“And I think now developmental systems are great but in the more kind of under a microscope developmental because I’ve been in both, and I’ve been involved in both. Like, I had never learned more in OVW when I got to like sit under learning trees I did there in OVW. I’m a Kowalski guy and I will always like that. That is who broke me in, that is who gave me my break. Mike Harlow, who is the head trainer of Kowalski’s. He has a wrestling school up in New Hampshire. And if anyone’s in the northeast, like Dare I say like, I would recommend going to high school Mike had a very big hand in laying my foundation to work technically. I knew how to bump, I knew how to feed. And then OVW, I just learned it was psychology on a completely different level. To be around the people and to actually work a territory, to actually go and have spot shows and do angles on TV and have to kayfabe like we couldn’t be seen together out in public and it was just really cool. And then again, like the Paul Heymans of the world coming in and taking over, it was just one thing led to another. And I know he’s controversial, and people give him, whatever shade they want to sling his way. But Jim Cornette taught me, I would say, damn near 50% of everything that I know about the business today. It wasn’t like I was having these like, in-depth conversations with him every single night, no. Working for him, the first time you ever do an angle on TV, and you have to take it around to a house show. What do people want to see? And that’s just like where the finer points or ring psychology come in that God they get lost today. And it’s so sad to hear like as a heel, right? If you’ve told this story, and a babyface is just like, you don’t have to do anything, but just back up and let it happen. Let the crowd happen because you’ll get yours at some point. You know, it’s like people trying to cram five pounds of rocks in a two-pound bag. That expression is usually you know, something other than rocks. That’s what it is right? And just like Remember, it’s about the people outside the ring, not the people inside the ring.”

On Cody Rhodes:

“Cody and I, we were I would say like in terms of the totality of wrestling, we were a very underrated tag team. If you look at what we did in the matches we’ve had with various people. And we tagged for a minute. And like, We travelled together and stuff, [did you win the titles?] I don’t think we did. I think Miz and I did. But no, Cody. He has always had a drive and a determination about him. And I’m just very, very glad that he’s determined and again, taking the risks that he has, and staying true to who he is. And I think that’s just wonderful. Because like when you see someone stay true to who they are, whatever that truth is. Because, like only they can define it. But they kind of reach the apex of what they would like to be and that’s awesome.”

What is Damian Sandow grateful for?

“My health, family and the ability to go forward.”

Chelsea Green (@imchelseagreen) is a professional wrestler currently signed to WWE and is known for her time with TNA Wrestling, Ring Of Honor and Lucha Underground. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Tampa, FL to talk about her return to WWE, the signature introduction that ring announcer Samantha Irvin does for her, breaking the Women’s Royal Rumble record for shortest time in the match, her character being a Karen, her love for acting and stunts, why her husband Matt Cardona isn’t back in WWE yet and much more!

Quote I’m thinking about:
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people just exist.” – Oscar Wilde

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On having a green card:

“I’ve said this to you before, and I say to everyone, like the weight I felt lifted off me when I opened that piece of mail that said I was approved. Nobody except a Canadian in America, getting our green card will understand that feeling. Especially because a lot of people during the pandemic when I was released from WWE, they were like, Oh, you’re good. You’re married. You’re with Matt, whatever. Like, no, that’s not how it works, you don’t just get a green card. You don’t just magically get to work in this country because you are with somebody. So I was still struggling all the way up until I got rehired last year by WWE. I was still on my fourth visa. I was spending five grand at a time for these visas and trying to find someone to sponsor me to get the visa.”

On Matt Cardona:

“Oh my gosh. He’s doing amazing and I know that he always says I knew that this is what I had in me. I didn’t know because I didn’t care about him in wrestling when we got together. So for me to see the evolution of Zack to Matt has been insane. I just had no idea that he had that in him to totally change and evolve and, and become this entirely new persona.”

On Matt being released from WWE:

“But let me tell you a little story about that. Because when he first was released from WWE, and this, I get so angry with him, because guess the whole world is like, Oh, I’m Matt Cardona. He’s the only person to walk through the forbidden f*cking door and all he does all these amazing things. Let me tell you something. Okay. When he got released, you know what I told him to do? I said, I don’t think you should sign anywhere Matt, I think that you should contact every single company. I have all their information, I’ve been on the Indies for, seven years. And I think you should do all of them. And you should do them all sporadically. So that each week people don’t know where you’re going to be. It paints a picture of you are literally everywhere and you’re unstoppable. And guess what? He laughed at me. He laughed at me and he was like, No, I don’t think so. And he pursued one thing, and it was like, one thing. And then he ended up doing what I said to him a year later, and it and it’s amazing. That why he is the indie Wrestler of the Year or whatever, because he’s everywhere. So you’re welcome. [Did Matt give you credit?] No, he never does. So that’s why I’m giving myself credit. And like, we should clip that and then make him retweet it.”

On not winning:

“Sometimes I think that we’re all so caught up in winning. And I’m just not. I’ve been doing this 10 years. It’s not about winning. What’s it about? It’s about making people feel a certain way. And when I became the hot mess in Impact that’s when I realised, that’s when the light bulb like friggin flashed in my face, like oh wow, people don’t care. People don’t care that I was cool and winning. They don’t care that I won the championship. They care that I turn crazy, they care that I feel like their crazy best friend. I feel like their crazy ex-girlfriend. John Mayer sat in front of me at All In and said, Oh my God, you remind me of a lot of people I dated like that’s the feeling I want you to feel with a character. I don’t need you to go home and be like wow, she’s a real winner.”

On wrestlers developing characters:

“It doesn’t [get discussed]. But I don’t know that everyone does it. I think a lot of people are themselves just turned up a notch but that doesn’t resonate with me. Because, for me, I am just a very normal Canadian girl. Like I played sports. Yeah, I was really good at playing sports. But I also danced, and I acted I tried to do a little bit of everything. And I was a bartender, and you know, I struggled and failed with a lot of jobs, is that a character? That’s boring. You know what I mean? Like, good for Bianca, that she is The EST. She believes that. But at the end of the day, she also she truly is The EST. You know, she was the best track athlete, she was the best, whatever. I want to be something different. When I step into the ring, the minute I go through that curtain, and I hear my entrance music, I want to be someone totally different than myself. That’s just what I like, and what I like to watch, too. That’s why I loved watching Bray Wyatt. That type of human, to my core, I feel I’m like, Oh, God, I love that so much. I feel what you put into this. I know the development that you did to get here and the process you took to get there.”

On knowing a WWE return would be coming:

“I knew the minute that I got fired. I got the call. And I was like, Okay, sure bye. And I knew that from that moment on, it was going to be whatever I did, those next steps that I took were just to get back to WWE, I didn’t want to be anywhere else. So it was great going back to Impact and seeing all my old friends and working with my old co-workers, it was great. Going back onto the independent scene, doing that it was really cool being at NWA and opening up a new door I hadn’t explored and ROH. But those were the steps I was taking. So that at the right time, I could text Triple H and say I want my job back. And this is what I’ve done. So I just knew I needed to give it a couple of little wins, whatever that may be and character development, and people noticing that I had up my skills, whatever it was, and then I could text him and I could really have something to share with them. And when I did, he said okay.”

How do you write that text:

“Well, that’s the funny thing is that for so long before I got the job at WWE, I had spent from 2014 until then, so five years, like just agonising over these text messages, just sitting in front of my computer and in front of my phone and debating over and over. Should I write the sentence? Should I not delete, delete, delete? I can’t let me type this. Oh, no, that’s too desperate. No, that’s too cocky. No, I know I need to add more. By the time this thing all happens I had no f*cks to give. I just wanted my job back and at this point, I had already worked with Triple H and I knew that he is a just shoot it straight. Like just tell me what you want. Tell me what you need kinda guy. I didn’t want to waste his time. So I wasn’t going to be like, and these are all the amazing things I’ve done. This is how good I am. And this is why you should have me it was like, Hey, I see you are hiring people. I really want my job back and that’s the only thing I want. And then that was it. Well, I was at impact when it happened. I was just about to go wrestle and he called me And I didn’t pick up because I was about to go wrestle. And I’m like, and I looked at Deonna and like, she was my tape partner at the time, and we were holding the tag championships and I was like, Triple H just called me. Can you just give me one second? And then I promise you, I’ll be out there with you. And I went back, and I sat in my locker room and had the conversation with Triple H, and then I went out and wrestled.”

On the conversation with Triple H:

“He was really honest with me like, Hey, do you just want to come back and see where it goes? Or do you want to wait and do you want us to give you a storyline? And do you have any ideas? I said, I just want to come back. I don’t care what you do with me. Because at that point I didn’t. I just wanted stability and to be back. And I knew that if they gave me the opportunity that I felt I deserved in the first run. I could prove to them I didn’t know how and they they had no idea. And then I think that it was like well, I mean, we’ve got her she signed why don’t we just use her in the rumble and we’ll go from there?”

Why is Matt Cardona not back in WWE?

“I would also love to know that, I’m waiting. I am patiently waiting. Because not that I want to be partnered up with him in WWE. That would be great. I think we could have an amazing mixed match, tag team division, whatever it is. But I don’t know. I don’t know why, I would love to know why I would love to be a fly on the wall of kind of like the meetings of the top guys in WWE. But I do feel like in my heart of hearts, it’s only a matter of time, it feels crazy that he wouldn’t be.”

On being inspired by Kelly Kelly: 

“She does because I have tweeted it about 30,000 times. She has no choice in the matter. She has to enjoy me. Because I love her so much. I tweet her all the time, my gear was inspired by her, all sorts of things.” 

On hearing Samantha Irvin’s introduction for the first time:

“I loved it. I loved it because to me it adds a little something. We see over and over again, Men in wrestling, the fans latch on to something whether it’s Seth’s thing, Shinsuke’s thing, Roman’s thing, they have a punch line, a song a moment a movement, like they latch on to that with men. And it’s really hard as women to get men to latch on to that. For a woman it’s hard. It’s kind of a hard thing because I’m going shh, are they going to do that? Are they? I don’t know. Maybe not. But that announcement is what they latched on to. Yeah, I love that. Perfect. That’s what I want. I want people to have something that’s like oh Chelsea Green, that announcement, or whatever. It is just one more thing for them to enjoy.”

What is Chelsea Green grateful for:

“My green card, family and my relationship.”

Lance Storm (@lancestorm) is a professional wrestler known for his time in ECW, WCW and WWE and currently works as a producer for TNA Wrestling. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Las Vegas to talk about the rebranding of IMPACT Wrestling back to TNA Wrestling, what exactly a producer does, how he came up with The Canadian Maple Leaf as his finisher, his thoughts on the current era of wrestling, the story behind his dancing gimmick in WWE, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin bringing out a pillow during Lance’s promo, how he got put into a tag team with Val Venis, his thoughts on match ratings and much more!

Quote I’m thinking about: “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” – Thomas A. Edison

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On possibly competing again:

“I’m not in ring shape. I could still go but I’m not putting on tights and taking my shirt off in the ring anymore. I’m 54 coming up on 55. But the cosmetic ring shape I am not in. I think I could physically do the other part sure. But I have high standards.”

On possibly still facing Chris Jericho:

“You’re omitting the next sentence where he said he doesn’t want to put an expiry date on his career and actually pick an endpoint. But it’s funny because the building is still there. I went to a wrestling show there a few years ago. But I remember Jericho, he was at a concert in Edmonton. On the drive back, he pulled into Ponoka and went to the building and took a photo out front. And he sent me the photo and then I was going up to Edmonton a few months later or whatever I’m like, I’m gonna stop in too. I stopped with a buddy of mine. And I had the photo of the Jericho sent me and I tried to stand where I would stand if I was beside him and like stood with my arm out like this. And I’m like someone’s gonna Photoshop these two together. And so I sent to him the photo of me standing in the same spot and then I had a bunch of people in the Observer message board do some Photoshop for me to get this put together.”

On not liking gimmick names for moves:

“I just think it’s all dumb. I used to joke with Edge because I always used to laugh at Edge because he had the Edgecution, Educator and there was a brief period of time where he was trying to get over a sort of reverse sharpshooter. You start with the Sharpshooter but then you spin to your belly, but you stay facing [the opponent]. And he was like trying to come up with a name and I joked just call it the Edgelicious.”

On his job in TNA: 

“Producer coach is sort of what I would consider it, used to be an agent job. But they like to call it producer now. So yeah, take what creative does and translate that to talent and then help coordinate all that on the headset.”

On his wrestling pet peeve:

“I think my biggest pet peeve, and I blame Vince, is what I consider just terrible, s*itty covers on pins. It was a couple of years, actually probably five or eight years ago. But Vince became obsessed you got to hook the leg, you got to hook the leg. And so everyone in WWE started doing this. And then I think everyone just copies it because that’s what they watch. But I would say nine out of ten pins today, the person goes towards the guy’s hips and grabs the leg and then rolls his back onto the guy’s stomach. And the guy making the pin is staring at the ceiling with no weight above the dude’s or female’s sternum, it’s like this is terrible. You’re not holding the shoulders down. It’s a terrible visual. Now there’s a lot fewer of them in TNA because I have been harping on the talent since day one. And it’s like, you can still hook the leg, but go to the shoulders, and you can just tell that everyone’s thinking leg because the person is laying there in front of them and they go towards the hips first. It’s like no, pin the shoulders, you can reach back and get the leg. And then the other thing that I harp on people is when you’re covering the shoulders, chest to chest, your head up, we can see your face. We’ve heard the expression Oh yeah, he always looks to the lights. He’s a loser. It’s a part of why she got over, but look at the way Rhea Ripley pins people. You know she won. And you know that she’s the boss. She’s in charge, she won this match.” 

On over-choreographed matches: 

“It’s a double-edged sword in that part of me doesn’t like it but part of me realises it’s what you got to do now. It’s just the situation where the speed of what we do now, or they do now more than me, because I’m not the one physically doing it. But what’s done now is so much faster, and so much more complicated. I’m not going to call a Speedball Mike Bailey spot just on the fly. I’d have to sit in a chinlock for five minutes to explain it to him. Like it’s just too fast and too many things that yeah, there’s a lot more than just gonna be a tackle, drop down block, hip toss, I’ll clothesline Yeah, yeah. So you have to go so much faster. So you have to sit down and put that together. Now, what the really good guys that do that do is you insert places where you can speed it up or slow it down accordingly. So that if the crowd is more into it, okay, well let it breathe here. If they’re not then move past it. And you would just sort of have to have an idea on what this crowd is going to like, put something together you think they will, and then adjust accordingly for time and crowd reaction. But I actually had a long talk with Mike Bailey, it was when he was putting the Ospreay match together. I was talking to him, it’s just so funny that this would not be done [in my era]. And he brings up so well how much [did you plan]? He brought up the singles match with Edge at SummerSlam. There’s a lot of stuff in that, he’s like, how much was that was actually called on the fly? And I’m like, oh, yeah, you’re right. It’s just that with that metric I worked with Edge for several weeks on the house shows before it. So we did eight simpler, similar versions of it over the course of a few weekends. So it’s like, yeah, 80% of it was stuff we’d done before. And could call real quick and easy. It’s not like we went into SummerSlam and just yeah, I’ll talk to you out there, Adam and we just went out there and called it because it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as good. And it’s just working into the environment that you have to and it really changed. And if we covered this last time, I’m gonna talk with somebody. But to me the moment that it changed was the Monday night wars when matches started being five minutes long.” 

On indie wrestling: 

“This is what I don’t like, because I don’t think it bodes well for learning. I think there’s too many people on the indie scene or trying to get noticed whatever else. And it’s like, that’s all they’re worried about. We have to come up with this really cool, innovative creative spot. So it’ll be gifable. And it’s like, well, that’s great. And Mike Bailey can have some really cool gifs, but Mike Bailey’s really f*cking good. He’s a great wrestler that really knows what he’s doing. So he has all the other parts and he does some really cool sh*t that’s giftable But if you don’t learn the being really good part first, I think you end up getting more injuries, more danger, and less actual true art form.” 

On issues with wrestling:

“That’s the part of the current wrestling product that I don’t like the constant comparing and grading. And that’s one of the things it’s like, it’s art. It’s not math. So like, I happened to like, Josh, and Osprreay better than Mike and Ospreay.”

On the angle with Steve Austin and the pillow:

“It started bad and thankfully they did adjust it, because it hurt Lance Cade for a long time too and actually started hurting everybody, because Jerry Lawler was like oh, yeah, grab a hold. That’s boring. And the crowd started chanting boring. Anytime on a house show someone grabbed a hold, [the boring] chant was there. Oh sh*t, what have we done here? But again, Vince pulled me into the office with a well we’re trying to get more crowd interaction. He’s like, everybody chants you suck at Kurt. No one thinks he actually sucks. It’s just something for them to say. We want to see this as that. And after the pillow with Steve, I went to Vince and I was like, Can we not make it more than that, Make it a shut up and wrestle gimmick where it’s like, Dude, get off the goddamn microphone, you’re boring as sh*t just go out and wrestle, it’s what you’re good at. And it started working on house shows because I go to the ring and grab a microphone and start explaining how I’m not boring. I even started reading the definition of boring from the dictionary to explain how it’s not doesn’t apply to me at all, which is boring as sh*t. And then the opponent’s music would hit. I do the head turn like I did in WCW the place would pop like crazy. And then we go on to have a match. Like it was working. As soon as I told Vince it was working, they changed it. But then again, part of me thinks they were trying to see if I would say no to something. I could be off base. Like Dean Malenko would come and he’s like, just to give you a heads up, someone said wouldn’t this be funny if Lance did this? And it’d be like, I’m dancing. And then the Dean came to me. He’s like, Yeah, just so you know, he said someone said something and Vince thought it would be really funny if it turns out you were a human tripod and had a large hose and I’m like, where’s that gonna go?”

What is Lance Storm grateful for?

“My kids, my health and my job at TNA.”

Torrie Wilson (@torriewilson) is a retired professional wrestler, fitness model and a member of the WWE Hall Of Famer. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Orlando, FL to talk about how a chance encounter with Kevin Nash started her wrestling career, getting signed to WCW, being part of the WWE Divas era, her friendship with Stacy Kiebler, posing for Playboy, her father Al Wilson being part of a storyline with Dawn Marie and much more!

Quote I’m thinking about:”You can have anything you want if you are willing to give up the belief that you can’t have it.” – Dr. Robert Anthony

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On learning to wrestle:

“There was a time in WCW where they were like, We want some of you girls to go down to the Power Plant just for like two days and learn how to take bumps. Not to wrestle but just how to take bumps. And I remember it was Stacy, myself, Molly Holly was there to help us, Medusa and Sharmell. And it was the most brutal two days, we were crying. We felt like we were in car wrecks. They filmed something for E! I think. We were literally like, What is going on? Why do we have to do this? And I remember Medusa dropped me on my head on purpose, I understand how frustrating it probably was for them. And we have this opportunity. And we didn’t know, we just needed to learn how to take bumps. So that was like a little smidgen taste.

But it wasn’t until years into WWE when they would basically, it wasn’t that it was never like we want to send you to a wrestling school or anything like that. They didn’t even have NXT or anything like that. It was kind of like, okay, you’re going to be a part of this match tonight. So we want you to learn a couple of things to do in your match tonight. It was always Okay, you’re preparing for what you’re going to do tonight. So you can see how if someone has years of experience, that’s great. But when you’re just learning a couple moves to do in a match that night, and you’re like, I better not f*ck this up, because I don’t know what’s gonna happen. Like, literally, if you forgot one spot, you’re screwed. Like deer in a headlight.

So that was really scary but it was also like it pushed us to try to learn more, to put more into the repertoire. And then we do mixed tag matches. So we’d get a little bit more time in the ring. But you know, I was thinking this morning and I was thinking about coming here and I was like, it’s just interesting, because back then there was no blueprint for women in wrestling. We didn’t really know what exactly we were there for. The entertainment, the T and A aspect, like cute bringing the femininity into it. But you didn’t have these women that you saw wrestling every week. Here and there you saw some that were kind of paving the way Victoria, Trish began that too, Lita.”

On being part of bikini contests in WWE:

“They were all mortifying, people don’t realise. I went out there and owned it the best I could and pushed through the fear, but it was mortifying, There were times when, I remember specifically a house show that I was in this bikini showdown with Dawn Marie and Sable and someone else. I was standing in the corner watching one of the girls dance in the middle, and literally fighting back tears. Like, I cannot believe I’m doing this right now. Because it got to like a raunchy point, and I’m like, I don’t want to be a part of this. But that was also my job.” 

With all this stuff you were doing, did you feel like you could say no?

“No. It was twice that I could remember that I [said no]. First of all, I’m a major people pleaser. So to say no to people is really hard, even if it’s someone you know, I’m recovering from that. There was one time when I had a thing with Sable where Vince wanted me to come out with the paint on my boobs like she did. And I was like, hard no, I can’t do that. I mean, it ended up being nearly nothing anyway. And another time was when I did Playboy Vince wanted me to do a pay-per-view also, the video. That one was very hardcore pressed. And it was really hard for me to say no, but I absolutely didn’t want that.”

Was it difficult to agree to pose for Playboy?

“That part was no. Becasue I thought it’s photos, I know it’s gonna look good and it’s Playboy. To be honest, this is gonna sound real dumb. But I hadn’t really even thought about the fact that I was kind of gonna be nude because Playboy was so such a popular magazine. I was like, This is gonna be awesome, right? Playboy parties and all that. Literally, it wasn’t until I was landing on the plane to go to the shoot that I was like, Oh, sh*t, there’s going to actually be other people in the room. Not just me and the photographer. It was kind of a closed set. So there wasn’t more than like maybe six people. And I always had a robe. But in between shots, it was so weird.” 

Do you still keep in touch with anyone from that era?

“I keep in touch with Stacey [Keibler]. Every one in a while I’ll get in touch with her if she is thinking about a signing. Michelle McCool, Victoria, Candice Michelle, Trish, there’s a lot of girls who are like sisters.”

Would you pursue wrestling today?

“I think so. Now that it’s easier to see what it could be for me, right? Like, I took the opportunity, then why wouldn’t I now? But, yeah, I don’t know. It’s hard to say because I know how I feel right now, too. So like, I also know what those girls do to go to NXT and spend years and years there before they even get their shot. So the old me, the old lady me is like, I don’t know.” 

On being criticized for lack of bumps:

“Well, it’s just dumb, because it’s like, I wasn’t writing the show. I wasn’t putting the matches together. I definitely know that when I was [wrestling], Fin Finlay was amazing putting matches together and just trying to make us look the best he could. And I often would ask him if I could please get thrown into the stairs or like crazy, not crazy things. But like, you know, I just really wanted to get hurt.  I wanted to do more of that. But it was kind of laughed at. Yeah, I’m never going to win over the naysayers and I don’t need to my ego doesn’t need to be stroked to be told that I was like the greatest wrestler of all time. I know I wasn’t, I did my best.”

On never winning a championship in WWE and WCW:

“It’s never bothered me no. The only thing that bothers me is that it’s bothered other people. They’re like you should have and I’m like, but that title that someone determines outside of the match doesn’t define who I am. And the fact of the matter is, like, there are people that won titles that people don’t remember.”

On the storyline with her father:

“I was actually home visiting my family over the holidays and I got this weird call from Paul Heyman. And he had this storyline idea. I was just happy to have a storyline because I hadn’t really up into this point. And he told me the storyline. And he’s like, at the end, he said, we can use your dad or we can use an actor. And I was like, Oh, we have to use my dad. When he was younger, he dabbled in like stage acting in San Diego and like, you know. So I knew he would be down. I knew it would be like an opportunity of a lifetime for him to just kind of like, see my world and travel. And then once he got in, I was like, Oh my God what did I do? People were like, you know, it was tough for him. But I’m just so grateful because he passed away a few years ago. And now I’m really grateful to have that opportunity with him. But he did a lot of crazy things. One time he actually was at the TV hotel and Vince went out to his limo. And he asked Vince for a ride in his limo to the arena. Vince did it.” 

Was that the storyline that was pitched:

“I mean, it was in a nutshell, that we didn’t go into like nitty-gritty details. So it turned into something that was a little more raunchy than I anticipated. Like the hotel room thing that I did with her. [Did you know it was going to be a wedding?] No, I feel like a lot of times storylines aren’t always complete when they started too.”

What are you most proud of in wrestling?

“I’m really proud of the fact that like, I stayed true to my values. Even though on screen it got a little raunchy, I was never that girl that politicked my way. I never slept my way to the top trying to get a little extra attention. And to me, that goes a long way. I was never a backstabber, I was, you know, on the up and up. And to me that’s something that I’m most proud of.”

On the women’s locker room:

“[It was] Mostly good. But there’s always I think, in a situation like that, like there’s always going to be jealousy, people that think they should have a push over you, or they don’t understand why you are getting a push, because you’re not the best wrestler. I had a few instances where like, I had an issue with Dawn Marie, where, you know, she would like, really kick me hard in the matches. And I didn’t realise you’re not supposed to say anything, you’re just supposed to do something. So I would say something, and then it would continue. And then my ex-husband was like, You got to kick her really hard back. And then it stopped after I did that.”

On life after wrestling:

“I didn’t watch wrestling. I didn’t want anything to do with wrestling for many years after I left. Mostly because I just had a certain amount of PTSD from being so vulnerable out there. And feeling like I was put in this kind of, like, raunchy role that wasn’t me. And I felt judgement from people, I felt like people look down on me for like, just stuff that I did the, bra and panty matches and all that. So like, I just wanted to shut that door. And for many years, I didn’t watch and it wasn’t until they called me to do like the Royal Rumble that I started to kind of catch up. And then I got like, really into it, like more into it than I ever was when I was wrestling.”

On needing back surgery:

“It was like 2008, I had a few matches where in between moments, my back would really lock up. And then I started having ongoing issues. I’d pick up my little dog and I would literally freeze and have to lay down on the floor for like 45 minutes in pain, I just couldn’t move. And then I went to see a chiropractor and they did this pulling thing every single day. And I had to take Vicodin and I would cry. And the whole entire time. And then it’s almost like that made it worse. And then finally I had a match that I was supposed to do on I think Raw or SmackDown. And I finally had to tell them like, look, my back, I’m nervous it’s gonna lock up out there. And I’m just gonna be laying there and I won’t be able to move in front of the crowd. So I ended up getting surgery.” 

On realising it was time to wind down:

“I was kind of at this chapter in my life. I was just kind of ready to be not travelling all the time. And the person that I was dating had been fired. So it was nice to be home, I’d open up a clothing store in Texas. I was like, okay, I can do this. I don’t need to travel anymore. So I just basically asked if I could have my release because I wanted to be home. And then also the thought of going back and trying to wrestle at that point in my career. I was wrestling more and I felt like I was getting better. But I didn’t want to go back to not doing that.”

What is Torrie Wilson grateful for?

“The morning walk I had with my dogs, my 14-year-old dog is still alive and the amazing husband I have.”

Matt Riddle (@superkingofbros) is a professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is known for his time in WWE and UFC. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at Knucklehead in Hollywood, CA to talk about being released from WWE, his appearance in NJPW, whether or not he will fight again in UFC, being a cast member on The Ultimate Fighter Season 7, why he wrestled barefoot, meeting RVD on WWE television, how “Bro” became his catchphrase, the original plan for him to win the Money In The Bank briefcase, being told he was going to win the 2022 Royal Rumble, his personal issues with Goldberg, the very personal comments that Seth Rollins made about him during their feud, becoming friends with Randy Orton and forming RKBro and much more!

Quote I’m thinking about:”All growth starts at the end of your comfort zone.” – Tony Robbins

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On life after WWE:

“You know what I’m not as busy. I’m probably doing less matches and less shows. Before I was probably working four days a week, I did Smackdown, Live Events and Raw. If it was an easy week it was probably live events and Raw. And then of course we got shows like The Bump and other things that they schedule around your already existing schedule. So when you work for WWE, all my credit goes out to the guys that are still there, the ladies that are still there, it is one of the toughest jobs, hardest jobs, and just to travel nonstop and not really be able to organise anything. But for me, it’s a lot. So it’s nice because I’m busier than ever, but I’m busy at my level. I kind of create my pace, all my shows, I get to pick my spots. And it’s nice to have some kind of control again.”

On fear of injury from wrestling barefoot:

“I get this question a lot. And for me, I don’t fear that. If anything, I make more mistakes when I wear shoes or boots or anything because I’m not as careful. Even if I wear knee pads I’m more likely to just jump or land on my knees wrong or do something crazy because I feel like I had that added protection. A lot of people ask me why do you wrestle barefoot. I do it for a couple of reasons. One it’s different. Most people don’t do it. Two I’m used to it because I fought in the UFC, and did a lot of jiu-jitsu, I still do. And then three, when I would wrestle with shoes, like I said I’d make mistakes. So I wrestled barefoot, I had to do everything perfectly. If I don’t wear knee pads, I had to do everything perfectly or I’m gonna get hurt. So it allows me to do things the proper way, and I feel like other legends that have seen me do that and they know what I can do and what I’m capable of and not getting hurt in doing it. They’re like, that’s a talent in itself.” 

On transferring his persona from UFC to WWE:

“I don’t know if I’m like The Miz. The Miz persona started out in The Real World and then transferred to the WWE. I feel like for me, I’ve always been this version of me of course, but I feel like I wouldn’t even say WWE, Pro Wrestling, but like even in the UFC, I was entertaining, but I wasn’t as entertaining as I could be. And once I started pro wrestling, that’s when I really started to connect with people, talk to people, really try to captivate an audience or make them feel everything I’m doing. And there are hints of that in my UFC career. Like I fought John McGuire, and I’ve rocked him and hyped the crowd before I go into finish them and things like that. But oh, I’ve done Randy’s taunt even before me and Randy tag. I’ve done Randy’s taunt when I got a submission to the night and when I TKO’d Demarcus Johnson, San Diego. So it’s like, I’ve always had that in me. But pro wrestling really gave me the platform to really deliver it.”

On his relationship with Dana White:

“I mean, I could communicate with anybody. I’ll talk to anybody. I don’t mind. I don’t think he would take my call. But I don’t blame him. I mean, he’s got a lot going on. And he’s not really into it. If I fought 10 times, or maybe five times, I knocked out five people in a row right now. And I’m like, I’m the best in the world. I think I might get a call. But if I’m not fighting top talent and beating top talent, he runs the UFC, runs the best fight organisation in the world. And he’s not in it for like, per se money fights. There had been in the past, but I don’t think that’s his objective. I think his objective is to have the top-ranked fighters and see who the best in the world is. And by default, you’re probably going to get entertainment out of that.”

On leaving UFC: 

“Especially if you fast forward to now because you know the rules and everything. And even when I was with the UFC I got fired for failing a drug test for marijuana two times and I had a medical licence and everything. And now you fast forward and it’s off the banned substance list. And funny enough, back then TRT was allowed and now TRT is on the banned substances list, that’s all I was saying. Then I go hey, you’re allowing fighters to use steroids and painkillers prescribed by doctors, but you’re not allowing like me to use medical marijuana because it’s a performance-enhancing drug and I’m super dangerous, you know? So that was why even then and even the athletic, I think it was Mark Ratner, he whispers and he’s like, you’re 100% right. But it took, what 10 years? But that’s that’s just kind of how it is. So it’s stupid. But at the same time I feel like being a victim of prohibition also skyrocketed my stardom in a way. Because even when I was in the UFC I wasn’t a household name or that well known. But then when I got fired for smoking weed, and Dana White put me on blast and called me a loser and this dad go, go make six figures somewhere else smoking weed this that. Well, now all these fighters are doing that right. And now I’m doing that easily. And I’ve been doing it for like, a decade now.”

On connecting with wrestling fans:

“It was way different. So I did some small shows. But then when I started to branch off and I did my first Evolve show, Evolve and WWE had that relationship. And that’s how I actually started our relationship because I did the tryout. Then I went back and they said maybe, maybe, maybe, hey, we got to take a pass on you for now. But you know, and I was probably gonna go to ROH and they’re like, Have you ever thought about Evolve? Evolve was a smaller system but I knew there was that connection to WWE. So I went to Evolve in the first week, I usually get cheered, but the first week I went out to Evolve and they booed me said I sucked. They said I couldn’t wrestle. They chanted baby Lesnar to me because I was like a small UFC guy, I guess I’m baby Lesnar. And that’s valid like that’s how my indie kind of run started. And then every time I’d come out and wrestle, I’m getting better and better. I’m getting more in time and time because I’m getting more trust from the promoter and everything like that. And eventually, before you know it, everybody’s chanting, bro. I’m selling tonnes of merch. Everybody wants to book me on their show.”

On the origin of Bro:

“When I started pro wrestling, I watched a lot of it. I see the greats, I was thinking, every great has some people would say a catchphrase or catchline, right? For me, especially in modern times, people’s focus, attention spans are quicker than ever I feel, mine included. So I can’t be like Smell What The Rock is cooking is great. It was great for the time. I don’t know that would work [today]. But if you notice right now Daniel Bryan Yes, you got LA Knight Yeah, you got Bro. You got Samoa Joe, Joe. There are certain things, and it sounds simple but bro, one I say bro all the time. Two, I’m a Super Bro, King of Bros. And then three, it’s just like, I could easily get this in a match, I get this in promos and I know people will feel it. And also I’m terrible at remembering names. So for me, it checked a lot of boxes. And it checked the box like Daniel Bryan, easy to change, easy to say easy to connect with an audience. And also when I think of an audience, and when I think that simple, I’m not just thinking simple because I think my audience is simple. I’m thinking simple because my audience is so vast, I’m not thinking about just the Americans. I’m not talking about just the Canadians or people from Mexico, or people from South America or people from England, or people from Germany. I’m thinking everybody from Japan to Italy to everywhere. I want everybody, I don’t care if you speak my language. You know one word that you can say to me when you see me in Tijuana, it doesn’t matter if I’m in Germany, bro you know, everybody knows how to say bro, it’s a three-letter word if that’s the sound bro. So everybody gets said, and I can connect with a huge vast audience because it’s that easy. Just like everybody knows.”

On the WWE 4:20 shirt:

“It took a lot of convincing. But I’ll tell you this, they’re not mad about it. They made quite a pretty penny on it. So did I and so did Randy I would imagine. But yeah, we were trying for months and months and then 4:20 came up. And now if you know Randy, he doesn’t like to advertise anything Randy does his job. That’s his job. Unless he wants to do something he’s not gonna do it. Which is why Randy so cool. So we want this 4:20 shirt, WWE hit us up on 4/19. They go Randy, Riddle, you’re gonna do an RK Bro 4:20 shirt. We’re only going to do a limited release one day only. Alright, they get told us any other shirt whateve, I probably would have shared it, Randy wouldn’t have shared it. Me and Randy text each other separately from that and we go, we’re sharing the hell out of this shirt. We’re getting this over, we need this to sell. We wanted it, we did it. We finally got what we wanted. We need to make this happen. We got to let them know how much money there is. And literally not even 16 hours into 4:20 we got a call. They’re like oh, we’re gonna keep the shirt going. We’re just gonna keep it going. And even after Randy left because of his injury. They had the Bro 4:20 shirt, which sold like hotcakes and the Bro 4:20 hats and everything else.”

It feels like it is walking a line.

“It is walking a line. But I look at it like this 4:20 is just a number baby. It only means what you think it means. And at the same time, I think the reason why me and Randy’s relationship worked so well and not just so well for everyone, especially so well. WWE is very family-oriented. There’s a lot of dads and a lot of kids, there’s a lot of moms and a lot of kids and I think when you got me and Randy together. One, I’m a 4:20 guy, I’m more of the childish side of riding the scooter around that you would with your parent and everything like that. So I feel like it almost felt normal to do that. If anything. It was almost like Randy’s my dad and I’m like doing goofy stuff and he’s like stop that. Or like when I was like spelling calibration I’m like, of like how I would weigh stuff on my scale at home and he’s like shhh. Then I still calibration perfectly. He was of course I know how to spell calibration. I have a scale that way grammes and ounces on.”

On early issues with Randy Orton:

“The first time I was on the main roster and we were sharing a locker room for real Randy met me. Yeah, Randy didn’t like me [Why not?] I look at it like this. I don’t like bothering people. So if you’re in a room and I see you talking to a bunch of people jibber jabber and laugh and unless I like know you, well, probably just gonna keep my distance because I don’t want to interrupt your little powwow and your fun, you know. So when I first met Randy. That’s kind of how it was his COVID. So we’re all like in a locker room spaced out this and that. So I guess I had a chance to say hi, and I didn’t take it or what have you. I think Randy took that as disrespect. Like I didn’t think he was cool enough or something. Randy is like, how do I get this asshole fired? And I was like, Oh man. But he didn’t say that to me. He told me that later when we were friends.”

Did he actually try to get you fired?

“I don’t think so. I mean, I feel like I would have had to do something else to really grind his gears. Plus, I feel like a lot of people when they first meet me they hear things about me or this and that. Then when they meet me and work with me and hang out with me, they’re like, oh, ok. Even Seth when I talked to him finally because we didn’t like each other for a minute. And I always liked him. But when we finally talked, he was like, well, you’re like a really cool guy. I was like, Thanks, man. He’s like, I hear all this crap about you. And I’m just like, yeah. [Why didn’t Seth like you?] Well, my ex-wife said some stuff about Becky and Mandy. Like kind of body shaming them and Seth assumed I was like, on that boat as well, which I was not I would never body shame anybody. So then I went up to say that I apologise for my wife’s comments, and I don’t feel that way. And wished the best of luck with Becky and his new baby that was on the way.”

On Goldberg:

“Goldberg, I’ll say this. Me and Goldberg have talked, I’m not gonna say we’ve hashed everything out. Because I’m me, he’s him, and I’m not a huge fan of his work. I’m not a huge fan of his wrestling style, per se. That’s all I’m gonna say. I think he’s great at drawing money. I think he’s great at sports entertaining. I think he’s an awesome action star, playing Santa Claus in a horror movie. I told him all this, I like a bunch of stuff. I’m just not a fan of his work. And that’s that. Now I think, if we wrestled, I would want to do a couple things differently. And I think it could be better. But that’s a whole different can of worms. But at the end of the day, me and Goldberg don’t get along, because I talked some trash about his wrestling. He didn’t like it, he took it as disrespect. And I said it’s not disrespectful, because it’s true. And then he didn’t like that told me how successful he’s been. And I know you’ll be more successful than I’ll probably ever be in my life. But nobody’s ever gonna tune back in to watch a classic Goldberg match. You might watch the spear compilation. These are tight, jackhammer compolation, cool. Maybe one or two matches, but you’re not going back. You’re not going back like you go back to watch Shawn Michaels versus Bret Hart and the Iron Man match. Or Razor Shawn in the first-ever ladder [match. I could keep continuing you’re not gonna go back like that, because he doesn’t have any of those in his arsenal. But he’s still one of the best of all time. And I’m not going to argue that I’d say that to his face.”

On the Seth Rollins rivalry:

“Well, part of it’s real because you know, my ex-wife did divorce me. And when you’re travelling as much as I am and everything it’s done, I really don’t have a leg to stand as though like I’ll be home to raise the kids. I’m gone all the time. My schedule is not consistent during the week. So you know, I didn’t really get full custody of the kids. I get to see them, I see them like every week. I pay child support, I pay for everything. But yeah, but at the same time I figured there was already some rumours, this that and the other thing, you might as well. When we started this, he had Cody and Randy got hurt. So my stuff ended with Randy because we were gonna go into something and then Seth’s ended with Cody because Cody got hurt. So they paired us up together, but we didn’t want to be just two good wrestlers just wrestling we want to make this good. And set doesn’t want anything to just be short lived. I set those how talented I was as well. So that’s what we’re trying to do. And we were talking about talking trash. I was like, Well honestly what you should say to me, because I know everybody will draw you should just call me a deadbeat dad. That’s why your wife left you took your kid I suggested it.”

On a possible WWE return:

“I’ll say this. And this isn’t a knock to anybody. Good luck to everybody. If CM Punk can come back, there’s definitely a possibility.

I’ll say this. I have no ill will. I really don’t. I’m thankful they gave me the opportunities they gave me. I’m super stoked on it. Super happy about it. And yeah, just even with the UFC. Not bitter. I’m grateful. I got to fight in the biggest fight organisation in the world. And even when Dana slammed me, it built my stardom for being like the 4:20 athlete of the year. So it’s like can’t knock it, WWE gave you a platform multiple WrestleManias multiple Royal Rumbles multiple Survivor Series, multiple everything. Sweet. Thank you no harm. Thank you for all the money in the championships and how people and kids look at me because they got to see me on their screens.” 

What is Matt Riddle Grateful for?

“My friends, my girlfriend and for me.”

Rhino (@rhinoterrygarin) is a professional wrestler known for his time in ECW, WWE, TNA and Ring Of Honor. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Las Vegas to talk about the return of TNA Wrestling, coming up on his 30 year anniversary as a wrestler, his memories of being ECW’s final World Heavyweight Champion and also the final ECW TV Champion, giving Sandman’s wife a piledriver through a table, how Paul Heyman got his gore over by famously shouting “Gore! Gore! Gore!”, coming up with the idea for Jeff Hardy to be speared off the ladder by Edge at WrestleMania 17, goring Chris Jericho through the Smackdown set and much more!

Quote I’m thinking about:“Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change.” – Bob Kerrey

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On the TNA name change:

“I got used to saying impact, and then they switched it up, which I thought was a smart move, going back to TNA. A lot of the overseas markets still called the TNA and presented it as TNA. And I actually sat down with Scott D’Amore, and I asked him, Why move back to TNA? And he explained to me, and when they announced that I mean, everybody in Chicago, everybody started chanting TNA and the support online for switching it back. I mean, it’s incredible. And it’s not just like a shock moment. I mean, people were wanting that.”

On the six-sided ring:

“To me when I first got in there, when I went over there in 05. I thought it was going to be a little difficult, but I just decided, okay, well, if I want to go to the ropes, I’ll head towards the ropes. If I want to go to the turnbuckle. So you had a little bit less rope to play, Well, more rope, technically, but, you know, not as much room in between. [Is it tighter?] About the same cable. Yeah, it didn’t take me long to switch, you know, or get used to it.”

On the Gore:

“Well, here’s the thing, Paul [Heyman] gave it the name to Joey [Styles] and I’d use it, I wouldn’t use it as a finish. Steve Lombardi gave me as a finish. And now that one of the old veteran wrestlers, when you’re younger, you’re like, Oh, that guy don’t want it. That old veteran don’t want to do this because he wants to be lazy, he doesn’t want to take this bump or that bump. And as you become that veteran, you realise, because of all that time you put in, you’re helping them out, right, so I’ll get back to Lombardi. would use a pile driver as a finishing ECW. Then when I went to WWE at the time, you can do a pile driver on only Undertaker could. So that was a blessing in disguise because my back would have been torn up. So I would work with Steve on the live events. And this is important for younger guys to work with veterans. And then I had hit him with a spear when he comes off the ropes or a Gore. And then I pick them up and do a TKO. So I settled on a TKO for a finish. I’d always use the gore as a cut-off. And, and it would get a good reaction. And then he goes, Why don’t you just cover me after you go me? And I go, this motherf*cker, shouldn’t It’s okay. Okay, so I go, he does not want me to pick him up and take a TKO. But he said, you get a better reaction off of that, then you’re going to pick me up and do a move that gets no reaction. And I didn’t know what a setup would be for a TKO. He goes plus, you can hit it on anybody. So I’m like, okay, he doesn’t want to take the move, but whatever. So I just started doing that as a finisher and just built from there. And I figured I’d do the thing in the corner, you know, for a setup because we would have setups and stuff, belly to belly or spine Buster before that. Yeah, listen to the veterans.”

On the final days of ECW:

“I didn’t think it was gonna be over. Wherever it was, it was in Pine Bluff, Missouri or something like that. And I’m just like, Nah, Paul’s [gonna save it] and I wasn’t drinking the Kool-Aid. I believed in the product. And I believed in Paul and I believed in everybody in the locker room. Yeah. So if that’s drinking the Kool-Aid then I was, but if you told me, Paul Heyman, farted rainbows. I wasn’t gonna drink the Kool-Aid enough to say, Yes, he does. But if everybody working hard for that product, and, and he was working on something, and he might have had something come through, like a TV deal or something like that. I was probably 50/50. He might, he might not.”

On that first TNA promo:

“When I went there, Scott D’Amore was producing and stuff. I think Dutch [Mantell] was writing the shows and Jeff and, and Scott. And Scott goes here we’ll give Rhyno a promo. Jeff Jarrett goes, he can’t talk. D’Amore says Yes, he can. And Jarrett goes, Well, if he could have talked, he would have talked in WWE. And D’Amore goes, I don’t know exactly what he said that you can actually ask him. So he ended up sliding my first promo in, then I’m in the production meeting. Jarrett sees it. He goes, I told you he can’t talk. He goes, it’s on you, he told Scott, When he crashes and burns. It’s on you. And I’m cutting a promo, and we’re underneath the bleachers, got lighting, and I’m cutting a promo. And I see Jarrett talking to him. And then and then we watch it back and he goes oh hell, he can cut a promo. And I didn’t know what that meant. And Scott told me that afterwards, he said Jarrett didn’t think you could talk.”

On WWE:

“I learned so much working with Jericho. And I’ll never forget, because see, I’m the type of person, I’ll watch and study and I’ll learn. I’ll go to people one on one, I’m better one on one than standing up in the middle of the locker room going Oh, hey, rah, rah, rah, all this stuff. If I have to talk in front of people in a banquet setting or whatever I can, it’s not an issue. But I’m better one on one, What’s your issue? Is it personal? I can help you out because I went through personal stuff. Is it professional? Sometimes you might start cooling off people start getting upset with themselves what’s going on? And I tell them, Don’t worry, I mean, you have ideas and everything, but it’s not a bad thing, and don’t get discouraged, so I’m pretty one on one. I was always watching and hearing other stories, Triple H, how he does stuff. And Stephanie and even Shane McMahon and even Scott, I have a lot of conversations. Vince said you don’t learn wrestling, you learn the business and you learn wrestling from town to town. You talk about it over dinner at Denny’s. But I learned so much from Jericho after the shows and stuff before I started working with him in the ring, and just with Edge and Christian and we’d all get together and we’d all meet up at a Denny’s or a Waffle House or something. And then when I started wrestling Jericho, especially with the Stephanie McMahon [angle], where she was the owner of ECW. I learned a lot off of Stephanie, because we do pre-tapes and the lighting crew is there. So I’d asked her questions and how she worked in the mailroom in the summers and stuff when she was a kid and work your way up. And her parents said you got to learn all parts of the business and you gain respect from the people that you will lead and you’ll know what they need to do their jobs, so a lot of stuff like that. So I’m thinking to myself, Wow, childhood labour. I could have worked for WWE when I was 12. So no, but you learn different things and you learn about people and then you learn how charitable people are and that they don’t brag about it and nobody would know, but you hear things, you see things. That’s what I tell guys especially now they can learn so much with their phones watching matches, watching promos. What was old can be new again. What didn’t work that night might work the next night.”

On planning the WrestleMania 17 match:

“So it’s a big match. Everybody’s down there. And I didn’t do any appearances because they took me off TV. Lita was taken out, Spike was taken out, I was taken out. So nobody knew we were going to be there. So we didn’t have any appearances or anything. And so, I kind of was, just go work out, lay low, go to bed early. And I go to bed early a lot whenever I can unless I’m on the road wrestling. So we’re all asked to be at the Astrodome in Houston. And I think it was like 11 When we got there, maybe 12. And I mean, I tried to take a nap before so I’d be awake. And I’m sitting in Michael Cole’s announces seat and I’m just sitting there and they’re comfortable, especially at one o’clock. And they’re just working and this and that. And they’re talking and I’m starting to doze off. And it’s you know, when you’re starting to doze off you are fighting it, but it’s not working. And all of a sudden, I hear this Rhino! And I jumped, it’s Edge. And Bubba’s glaring at me. Bubba, told him, Look at your boy, sleeping. WrestleMania is tomorrow. A big match. Yeah, I mean, that was a big match ahead. So anyways, now I’m like, Okay, I gotta get up, walk around, move around. I didn’t want to interrupt the match. I’m not in the match, but you’re part of the match later on. And, you know, and it was one of those things where you’re still the new kid on the block. You kind of want to know your role. You don’t want to be overly then it’s like, Who’s this kid? You don’t want to fall asleep. So I got up and started walking around, and that Spear spot, Edge and Jeff Hardy, they’re just kind of going over this and he can’t jump that far. And you’re 18 feet [in the air]. I think those are 18-foot ladders or something crazy. And I’m just like, I’ve got the answer. But I don’t want to say anything because I have got heat with Bubba. And we knew each other in ECW and he knew I wasn’t a jerk or anything. So that’s why I think he let it slide and he didn’t actually kill me. So I’m just like, kind of like wanting to raise my hand going, Oh, I know the answer. I know the answer. And I’m like, You got to get him swinging. You know, that’s the whole key to that. So you got to get them close enough. Everything else is on you. I go, why don’t you just pick up the ladder? Because you don’t see Edge up there. And, Bubba, if you’re trying to get the ladder out from underneath, so that all happens. So I redeemed myself to Bubba. It’s legendary. That’s probably the greatest Spear ever.”

On the best Gore:

“Believe it or not one of the best Gore I’ve ever hit on someone was in Cadillac Michigan at the Wexner Centrer. It wasn’t for WWE. WWE used to go up there a lot in the 90s. Then they grew out of the building. And then we went back there. They just added it to a little bit was sold out. Big Show and Rey were in the main event. And it was for an independent group that we had probably about 900 people there. And Sabu was on the card too. And the guy’s name was Gameboy, but I still see him really cold dude. And I don’t know what it was, but you could probably find it out there. It was so gnarly. I literally thought I was sending them to the hospital.” 

On Goring Chris Jericho through the SmackDown set:

“When they told me they’re like, Hey, we’re getting the set can you do something? I’m like, this ain’t gonna be memorable. But that is probably one of the most memorable moment. I think it hurt him more than a table but Jericho is tough, he can handle it. He’s like bring it.”

On The Rock taking the best Gore:

“Yeah, well he would flip and everything. And sometimes people would try to do that. And it just like kick me the back of the head. He jumps as well. I don’t know what he does, but he’s just amazing. Just an amazing athlete. I think he like jumps to the stunner too.” 

On his ECW Mount Rushmore:

“Sabu, Taz, Raven and Sandman.”

On being rehired for NXT:

“Hunter wanted to hire me back after TNA. Vince told Hunter I like Terry as a person but he’s never going to work for us again. I heard that in 2013. Terry Taylor actually told me, I’m not sure if he was supposed to tell me or if Hunter told him. Hunter was a big fan of my work, he knows the importance of veterans working with younger talent. He said It’s not a battle I can win. I see Pat Patterson who has always been a friend of mine in Montreal in 2014. When you hear that, I know I can change minds. So Pat goes to Vince, Steve Lombardi tells me I’m going to get a call. So, no call, Pat went to Vince, you gotta hire this guy, looks great, the crowd loves him, and we need him. Nothing. So Triple H, everything was going great in NXT. Vince likes everything to go through him because if it goes wrong he has no one to blame but him. Which is totally respectable, I get it, but he likes ideas. Hunter booked me for NXT and I worked with Elias. Hunter knew it would work, he knows how to book stuff and how to book wrestling. If something worked, Vince would be like ok, you don’t have to run stuff by me. I’m not saying I opened the door for Samoa Joe and the other guys, but if he had someone come out and it was a dud then it wouldn’t have gotten the leeway.”

What is Rhino grateful for?

“God, the career I’ve been blessed with and everybody who comes up to me and talks to me.”