Stevie Richards (@bWoStevie) is a professional wrestler and fitness influencer known for his time in WWE, ECW, WCW, TNA and Ring of Honor. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about his recent health scare with a spinal infection he had earlier this year, his road to recovery, his YouTube channel Stevie Richards Fitness, the breakdowns he has been doing as a wrestling analyst, why he feels bad for that infamous chairshot to JBL in WWE, his thoughts on the Right To Censor theme song, being part of that faction with Ivory, Val Venis, The Godfather and Bull Buchanan, the advice he got from Raven about the Blue World Order, being the 21-time WWE Hardcore Champion and much more!

 Subscribe to Stevie Richards Wrestling Analyst YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@stevierichardswrestling

 Subscribe to Stevie Richards Fitness: https://www.youtube.com/@StevieRichardsFitness

On the road to recovery from a spine infection:

“Yeah, it was, it was pretty scary. But also it was, looking back on it, and obviously 2020 has hindsight. And, you know, having perspective after the facts were really easy, during it is the hard part. Yeah, it was something that being a wrestler for so many years, and any athlete will understand even entertainers and people in Hollywood who you talk to, when they do stunts or they get injured doing physical things. If there’s a blueprint, and there’s obviously a predictable diagnosis right away of you broke your ankle, you broke your neck, you tore your ACL, it’s pretty easy to see, within a short amount of time. This spine infection was a dormant thing that became a mystery and hit me out of nowhere. And it was something that an illness like that is so unpredictable. And then you factor in my age of 51, you factor in other things that are unpredictable when it comes to an infection, and that moves so quickly when it gets to your spine. That’s what makes it more scary, the unknown, of not only the diagnosis, but the unknown of can I get treated? And then even after treatment, what percentage am I going to be after the treatment is complete? I’m thankful to say that, in a lot of ways, I feel like I’m back to 100%, but in a whole bunch of other ways, we’re very early in the stages in my road to recovery.”

On when did the infection start:

“I couldn’t [walk] at one point, I did do a what happened video because there was kind of like these pictures that I wanted to update people and just didn’t want to disappear off social media or YouTube. And even though my ego and my pride didn’t want to share myself in my low point, I’m so happy I did now, because it did speak to a lot of people. I’ve made a lot of friends since then. But going back to the beginning, the morning like late January, on a Sunday morning, I had one of the best workouts which is must be a sign of the jinx that’s coming. I had one of the best workouts I had on a Sunday morning around 9am. But my back was a little stiff. But I thought, you know, obviously, you’ve spoken to a lot of wrestlers, our backs on our necks are eventually going to hit a wall at some point. And about three hours after my workout. I was completely stuck right in this chair that we’re talking to each other in right now. I could not get up, my back was completely at the time thought locked down. And my wife literally had to come home and peel me out of this chair and put me in the bed threw me on a heating pad, then it just progressively got worse within seconds, not minutes. Now I mean, literally, after it was over, it just accelerated whatever pain I had from the beginning. And then I turned into for having a heating pad with assistance from her to walking with a walker. So from 9am to about 12:15pm, my entire world, my entire life just completely changed. That’s the very beginning. And then the, just the desperation of trying to find a doctor, trying to find a surgeon, trying to find a hospital that can correctly diagnose me. You know, we went to a first hospital where they couldn’t find a diagnosis, we ended up in the Mayo Clinic and they saw from the week I had a CT scan in the previous hospital to the week that I was admitted in the Mayo Clinic. It had already eaten like half my L4 and L5, and like the entire disc was gone and it was already working into L2 L3. So Mayo Clinic was really scared and at this pace within a week this happened. Number one, even if we don’t know what’s wrong with this guy after a painful spine biopsy, we’re going to start them on broad spectrum antibiotics right away because we got to stop this infection. Because if it gets to his brain, it doesn’t take a super intelligent person to figure out if an infection gets to your brain, it’s over. So it was really like, We need to hurry up and figure this out. So that was the beginning stages what I needed to get done.”

On realizing something major was wrong:

“So, about maybe eight, nine months before that, I was over one of my best friends houses, and his dogs got kind of freaked out by something. At the exact moment, they got freaked out both of them, you know, I was leaning over petting and this was like maybe the third or fourth time I pet the dog and it’s same exact manner in this visit. But something freaked them out and spooked them to where the one dog bit me right in the face and kind of like right through my lip here, all the way through. And then the other dog bit me in the leg, because I got scared by the other dog that bit me. So it’s like a recipe for disaster. But, you know, it was a dog bite. I was like, Okay, well, it’s a dog bite, no big deal with, not a feral [dog], not any of that stuff. So we went to the emergency room, they stitched me up here, they left the leg open. And then I got COVID Four days later, which knocked my immune system down. By the way, this is still absolute pure speculation, but maybe an educated guess on the doctors, infectious disease. And then us trying to piece it together. We think that might have lowered my immunity. Then even with that the doctor claims, this is where I was like, I’m in great deal of pain. But at the same time, I’m like happy that the doctor put me over because he was like, Hey, thank God, you work out so hard. And you do this and that because other people it would have been a lot worse or would have happened a lot faster. I forget I was sick for half a second. But hey, I still had an ego. But the fact that I worked out so hard and tried to take care of myself as best I could over the years definitely did, according to the doctor, saved my life. So overtraining is awesome.”

On being grateful that he is still here:

“Maybe I’m predisposed to the fact that those sad cat videos, like the SPCA videos are when somebody is really like mourning the loss of a loved one. And that spoke to me too, because I’m still here. Like I can, there’s people, you’re right, there’s plenty of people that, unfortunately, are just waiting around the die. They’re not really living their life to the fullest. I don’t mean redlining or going and jumping off a cliff or climbing a mountain. I just mean live the life that you want to live, make the choices and try to do the things that you want to do. You know, and fail at them. I failed plenty in my life. And I look forward now that I’m still here. Thank God, I look forward to failing and a lot more and getting feedback from Trolls everywhere. I look forward to that day because it’s all part of life. And it wasn’t like that every day. I’m not trying to sugarcoat it. But like I said, my wife was there, and then she trained me to retrain my own mindset that when I started to hear that it was like, no F you, I can do this and it would make me more productive. So, thank you for giving me credit, I turned around and took the credit off myself once again.”

On the success of the YouTube channel:

“Well, thank you, that’s, that’s always been me. I’ve been really wired in a positive way that the three things I’m most passionate about, never get old, they always change, they always evolve. Fitness, technology, which we were geeking out before we started recording, giving each other credit, well, you don’t have a better setup, no, you have a better setup. And the third thing is pro wrestling and, uh, you know, people kind of crap on it, or it’s not like it used to be or it’s different. But in essence, when I was looking at matches from the 70s and 80s, I see stuff in 2023 that actually do mirror that. So it evolves and and it kind of revolves back into what’s old is new again. And what’s new, is the old school, it’s kind of kind of a cool place to be.”

On being in the right place at the right time in multiple promotions:

“Yeah, I would think so. I think in ROH too, the short run I had. Jay Lethal, Adam Cole, Silas, they and a great crop of talent. But it was still kind of what the old identity of Ring of Honor was and it motivated me to get in the ring. And then the newer guys like Adam Cole, who was new at the time, Silas. Jay was even new even though he’s World Champion and TV champ. They really did, they were carrying a new era and I wish Ring of Honor had more of a chance to see that crop of talent do what they can. I mean, mostly all of them became stars after Ring of Honor. And if they didn’t, it was just politics because they were all immensely talented. But I was blessed to be in Ring of Honor and TNA during the height of that, when 2 million viewers was like, oh my god, we’re an abject failure. When obviously ECW during the BWO, and then WWE right at the end of the Attitude Era, to be able to if I didn’t go there during the Attitude Era, I don’t think the Right to Censor wouldn’t have been born at all.”

On hearing the Right To Censor theme for the first time: 

“No [I didn’t hate it], I was just happy to have something, and when I heard that music, it’s funny, we talked about it on the first interview. When I had, well, it could be on, I was gonna say it’s never gonna make the volume, whatever on music, I stopped myself. But when I look at that, like I knew it was an opportunity. I knew I was on TV as a character. And even if it sucked, I had custom entrance music, I had the Titan Tron, and looking at that, Chris, that made me think back to Raven, when I was putting on the half shirt and daisy dukes telling me you’re gonna stand out. You’re completely different. Nobody will ever take your gimmick from you. Because everybody wants to be tough, be a shooter, be a badass. He goes, You will cornered the market on a specific type of heel. That’s the voice that I heard in my mind. When that music hit. I was like people are gonna hate us so much. This is awesome.”

On Ivory in Right To Censor:

“The fact that Ivory was so over as the female in the group, she was way more special than us. As a matter of fact, I would have been all for Ivory being the next leader to replace me because that’s even more heat at the time. You’re looking at a woman bossing these big guys around and a woman, she would have been the original Karen if you think about it.”

On the chair shot to JBL:

“You guys with this chair shot. I still feel really bad about that. I mean, we’re laughing about it. But you know, I really do. I mean, John laughs about it now to thank God, but, you know, that’s not what we’re in the business for and you know, people can think the way they want to think. I told this story when I did the interview with James, you were talking about James from WSI. And he asked me about it and I was talking and I literally said, once again, the reason why I have this kind of overthinking mindset, which works with this, I’m talking to John and I said, Dude, you’re so tall, I don’t know if I can hit you properly with the chair with you standing. The dude’s like, what? 6 foot 6, 300 pounds, he’s a monster. I asked him Is there any way you can be on one knee or something where I can get you? And he was like, no, no, just lay it in, no big deal. He was totally cool about it. So even in my mind, I knew he’s way up there. I’m not going to be able to hit him fully with the seat. I never knew it was going to be what it was. But I knew it was going to be a live round to some extent that he was going to get.”

Why does Stevie Richards still feel bad about the chair shot:

“I feel bad about it because it’s not what I was trained to do. I was not trained to hurt people. I was not. I didn’t want a reputation, I never had a reputation for hurting people on purpose. And I knew after this. I mean if Vince released me for hurting him to that degree. It might not have been fair in people’s eyes. But I could understand it because that’s not what we do.”

Is Stevie Richards retired from wrestling:

“I really don’t know about that. I mean, but the spine infection and the fact that two discs and four levels of my vertebrae are eaten away, and I need them to naturally fuse over 12-18 months, essentially right now I’m done.”

What is Stevie Richards grateful for:

“The gift of life that God gave me, my wife and everybody who has reached out to me.”

Featured image: WWE

Margot Robbie & Ryan Gosling join Chris Van Vliet to talk about the new Warner Bros movie BARBIE which will be released on July 21, 2023. They talk about the expectations people have for the roles of Barbie & Ken, how WWE Superstar John Cena got a surprise cameo in the movie as a merman, Barbie’s existential crisis, being “Ken-adian” and much more!

John Cena was such a lovely surprise in this film as a cameo, I feel like you had something to do with this?

Margot Robbie: “I did. It was actually quite fortuitous. Yeah, it happened while we were shooting in London, I ran into him at a restaurant in London and we had worked together before. Actually, I ran into him because I went to go and pay the bill and they were like, John Cena already took care of it. I was like, what? Where is he? He’s quite a big guy. Yeah, I couldn’t see him, but I was like he’s hard to hide. Anyways, I found him and I was like what are you doing here? He was shooting at Leavesden where we shot the film as well. I was like, that’s where we are shooting Barbie. Do you want to come and be a merman in Barbie? And he was like uh, yeah. I was like surely he is not going to agree to it like that, and he did. But he’s so awesome like that.”

So much of the movie is about the expectations that people put on you. When you get cast as Ken and you get cast as Barbie, there are some big expectations that are put on you guys. Do you feel that from the moment that you get cast?

Margot Robbie: “I guess that I was on board for so long, because I was developing the project for a couple of years before that moment happened. So I guess that moment crept up on me as opposed to, Oh my God, I’m going to play Barbie now.”

Ryan Gosling: “Yeah I still feel it. Especially now as you’ve just brought it up. I had a weird 5 minute window where I wasn’t thinking about it, but now I am.”

When those first photos of you guys rollerblading on Venice Beach came out, that’s when it was like oh look at this! This feels real now.

Margot Robbie: “That was a crazy day. Because we were shooting everything in the studio in London in the studio, that was our first venture into the real world both for the movie and in the film. So, the reaction was massive, and yeah, fun.”

Ryan, what is the most Barbie thing that Barbie does?

Ryan Gosling: “Hmm, just be awesome all the time, forever, times infinity.”

Margot, what is the most Ken thing that Ken does?

Margot Robbie: “Give answers like that. He’s always there to support Barbie and big her up and, you know, everyone needs a Ken in their life.”

Ryan Gosling: “Ken needs a Ken in his life.”

Margot Robbie: “Ken’s got Alan. We know how dedicated Alan is.”

So much of this is not just about who Barbie is, but also what Barbie is. How did you figure that out? With other roles you can figure it out and you can shadow someone and figure out how they do their job. You can’t shadow Barbie.

Margot Robbie: “Well, Barbie has been around for 64 years so actually the research is pretty straightforward in regards that you can look at the brand and how it has evolved over the years and how people have reacted to Barbie when she was first invented and how they react to her now and how they reacted in the 90’s. It’s pretty fascinating, and I think when you are asking yourself what is Barbie like, you are kind of asking yourself what are we like, based on how we react to Barbie. And she has been a complicated, iconic figure over the years. So, I think there is a lot to pack about humanity and society, not to get too deep. But, and this is what it is like on the Barbie movie, you start with a simple question like what is Barbie like? And then you end up having a deep, existential conversations.”  

Featured image: People

Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) is a wrestling journalist and since 1983 has been the publisher and editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about how started covering pro wrestling in the 1970s, the matches that made him a fan, the Wrestler Observer Newsletter, how his star rating system works, he explains why wrestlers like Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Chris Benoit, Triple H or Rob Van Dam have never had a 5 star match, his take on the current state of pro wrestling, TV ratings and much more!

On what people think Dave Meltzer does:

“I’m not sure. I mean, I think they think I just rate wrestling matches, which is like the smallest thing that I do, but I do try to do that, too. You know, and that’s recommendations for people who, you know, just like, hey, go out of your way to see this match. And this is how much you should go out of your way to see it is essentially what it is. And then just kind of, you know, the opinions on what are the matches that you should see, matches of the year, you know, things like that. Which is always a great debate, you know, at the end of the year, and during the years. I mean, everybody has the term now match of the year candidate now that you know, I mean, it’s and, you know, so yeah, I add my two cents, like, these are the ones that I think you know, and it’s like, that’s pretty much it. And so I’ve been doing that for a long, long time. It wasn’t my system, but I guess I get credit for it now.”

On people complaining about wrestling more:

“Yeah, I know. Like, I mean, it’s one thing it’s one thing like there’s valid complaints, but sometimes, like, you’ll see, you know, things are hitting really strong and the crowd reactions are great. And then trying to say somehow that’s wrong, that’s bad. I mean, I’ve had some people go like, Oh, you know, it’s like, it’s you know, it’s not fair to to watch this stuff now. Because the crowds are so easy, and it’s like, they were easy, you know, when guys are over. It’s always easier. What can you say?”

On people saying wrestling is not as hot as it was in The Attitude Era:

“And it won’t. Oh, I mean, as far as it was popular. Who knows? I mean, it goes up and down. Like if you go a couple years For the Attitude Era, we’re talking about mid 90s, it was dead. You know what I mean? It was like, that’s a real learning thing. It’s like, it was WWF and WCW. were so weak. And then it, you know, the Monday night wars, and it became the hottest it ever was. And then, you know, things happen. You know, I mean, right now we’re stronger, it’s probably stronger than it’s been in many, many years. I don’t know that it will ever be. I mean, viewership wise, it’ll never be like the Attitude Era, because, you know, TVs changed, life has changed, things like that. And there’s just so many more forms of entertainment out there. But it’s very, very strong, and, you know, people are willing to spend far more money on it than in the Attitude Era. So there is that difference. The crowd is more interesting. It’s a much smarter crowd. It’s not just, you know, I mean, it’s not it’s not as much of a fad as it was in, let’s say, the late 80s, late 90s. But it’s more solid economically than it’s ever been by far.”

On AEW struggling in Canada:

“AEW has some shows that are struggling and maybe you know, look when we look at WWE I mean one thing and again when you’re number one, it’s easier to move and be hot. When you’re number two it is tougher. It’s not impossible, but I mean with WWE I think the perfect thing to learn from is it really isn’t that much that changed a lot. I mean, I look at the WWE and its growth and popularity over the last year. I really look at signing Cody Rhodes and of course, The Bloodline angle, and that and then everything else, you know, certain things got cool like singing Seth Rollins’ song, you know, it’s like a real big deal right now. And that all helps. But I mean, it’s really you know, you just have this great Bloodline and one of the greatest angles and scripted things that they’ve done so many years and they’ve gone from doing what I would call well to doing excellent. And you know, you can look at historically when it comes to wrestling, you hit right on a good angle, you know, you can really move the numbers a lot, and you know, AEW is one angle away from it. Now, of course at the same time, you know, it’s like those angles don’t last forever. You know, it’s kind of like, hey, let’s look at the NWO, right? And who I mean WCW just got so popular. But you know, you have to follow up because nothing lasts forever. Well, The Bloodline angle won’t last forever either. You know.”

On the biggest shift in wrestling journalism:

“I mean, everything having to do with the internet, you know, that’s, that’s it’s changed it and it’s opened it up. And like, news is so much quicker. Like when I started news, you know, it took much more time and rumours spread that weren’t true that stayed, you know, like, for weeks and weeks. Now, you know, things pretty much, you know, it’s a minute by minute thing as opposed to a week by week or month by month. You know, so that’s different. You know, I mean, there’s access to a lot of information and at the same time, it’s really tough in a lot of ways. It’s not tough to get information. But it’s tough because everything is so how would I say this? You know, people have their view, have their sides and they’ve already picked their sides. So if you try to be down the middle, you’re going to be an enemy with everyone. So it’s that. But you know what I mean, there was that probably always existed, but now it just seems more prevalent now than before.”

On dealing with haters:

“I don’t know if I ever did [listen to them]. But I mean, I respond more than I probably should. But like I respond, you know, I always think I’m responding because I’m trying to, you know, explain, you know, why this, you know, premises is wrong and use math and things like that. And I think that the majority watching or watching this will go okay, you know, we learned something from this, and there will be some who will refuse to learn, and I just basically block them and move on. And you basically get one chance you Oh, hey, I didn’t think that way. That’s a great response. Oh, you know, like, whatever, you know, some negative thing, you’re trying to double down and it’s like, okay, you’re not interested in learning, that’s fine. And I don’t have time. So you know, but sometimes, you know, you read it, you go, hey, it’s a good point of view. You know, you learn, you can, you can learn, you have to learn from things like that. But a lot a lot, a lot of it is bad faith. And a lot of it is not even people who you know, sometimes I’ll look and go, like, you don’t even believe what you’re writing. You’re just saying it to get a response, and that’s like a waste.”

On Cody Rhodes leaving AEW to return to WWE:

“I think in some ways it was [shocking], I was a little surprised. But I mean, the one thing was when the renewal wasn’t done, you know, because Tony had an option on Cody to renew the contract like he did with The Young Bucks and, and others. And when January 1 happened, and there wasn’t a renewal, I mean, and he was out of contract. I mean, to me, that was very interesting. Even then, I didn’t think he was going to WWE. And, you know, I mean, I had contact with him, and he was always like, what were we are negotiating. And then, you know, all of a sudden, it was kind of like, weeks are going by, I mean, mostly assumption, we’re going to work it out. And then all of a sudden, it was like, I wasn’t hearing that anymore. And that’s when it was like, you know, something happened, which obviously, Vince flew down to meet him is what happened. And, you know, and then it became different. And, you know, he accepted the offer, and, you know, the benefit of hindsight, man, what a great move that was for all concerned. Not for AEW, but for, but for Cody. I mean, Cody became a much bigger star than he would have been had he stayed. And WWE, I mean, I thought that, like he would help them a decent amount. But it was way more than I thought. I mean, being the first guy to make that jump, and being a good talker really helped too. But you know, his right place at the right time and instinct and everything like that. And I mean, I think he played it well for him, you know? You know, I mean, he, and if he had never left, he didn’t he’d never be in the spot. If he’d stayed there, he’d been a midcard guy.”

On the ratings system:

“I just watch the match. And when it’s over, it’s kind of like, what did they accomplish? You know, I mean, did it look good? Did the crowd get off on it? I mean, sometimes the crowd will get off on it, because the two personalities are so strong. Sure. And I don’t necessarily think [it’s good]. I just give an example of Nick Bockwinkel, who was brilliant guy. And he would always say like, if you start the match in the crowds going crazy for the ring entrance. And that’s the hottest part of the match, then how great was the match really, even if the match is much hotter than a match that starts at zero, and you build it up to a level in the entire match, build, build, build, build, build, which to him, and to me as well, is like as the most successful matches. You start at this point, you build, build, build, and you peek at the finish. That’s, you know, which means having a good finish, that doesn’t, but sometimes that, you know, involves like, you know, a lot of people think the most brilliant finishes, you know, all the referee bumps, and the run-ins and all that. And if it works for the crowd, and that’s fine. But a lot of people also hate those finishes, because they want the clean finish. So they get mad. And it’s like, sometimes if it doesn’t work, and people boo at the end or groan, I think groan is worse than booing. But you know, just go, you know, bullsh*t or, you know, whatever, then to me that finished in work. But, you know, it’s like, it’s, it’s certainly about crowd reactions, but it’s not like depths. It’s not necessarily decibel levels, although that’s a big part of it. For sure. You know, if you do a lot of unique cool things, and you know, just do things out of the pattern, do things that kind of, like, shock you like your, I think the one thing with with it’s like, if you’re expecting something and then they do something different and go, Oh my God. If they do that can do that real well, like surprise the audience in a good way where they react. I like that, you know, rather than just pattern. But pattern when it works simple pattern is not wrong either. And, you know, it’s at the end of the day, it’s just kind of like, what’s working and what’s getting the crowd going. And, you know, just execution. It’s a complicated thing, but it’s another way it’s, it’s not complicated. You just kind of watch it and like when it’s over and where the audience is at that moment and how it’s built and everything like that, it’s like, Oh, whatever. And I mean, I know, like, tonnes of people and we’re all, you know, like, we’re all kind of close, you know. But one of the things, it’s like, it’s like, I think people, to me, like, I’ll just give examples, like, if I’m sitting at a show, and my best friend is sitting in with me and go, like, would you give the match and I go four, because I thought it was four and a half. The general thing is, is okay, we agreed, it was a great match is a great match, you’re never going to be like, like my thing. You know, it’s like, you’re not supposed to agree with four and a quarter. But if you think it’s a two, then we disagreed. And there’s nothing wrong with that, either. It’s just what we did was disagree. But sometimes people go like, Oh, you know, why’d you get this for three quarters and not five? And it’s like, well, if i gave it for three quarters and gave it five, and it’s fine, it means we agreed 100% we agreed, that’s a quarter of a star. Of course, that’s, you know, it’s like a movie critic. You know, where it’s just the same thing. If you’re, if you’re within a half star, you agreed, if you’re willing to star you’re pretty much agreeing. You know, if you’re two stars apart, you’re disagreeing.”

On Kurt Angle never having a 5* match:

“Yeah, he’s had tonnes of four and 3 quarters, which is basically the same thing. I think anything over, to me mentally, anything over four is great. And so if you say I’ve never given Kurt Angle a four star match. But I mean, five, it’s like, it’s like, yeah, could you say that The Chris Benoit match at Royal Rumble was a five star match. I was pretty damn close.”

Why didn’t Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker get 5* for their WrestleMania 25 match:

“There was, you know, I mean, at that time, when I watch, I mean, there’s a couple of things. I mean, number one, when I watched it, I thought this is pretty damn close. And whenever I say pretty damn close, that’s a 4 and 3 quarters star match. I gotta be like, 100%. Okay, so, and I mean, two of the greatest wrestlers, I mean, literally, after that match, which just, you know, I mean, I’d already rated the match, but I just remembered, I mean, these are two of the all time greats. [Someone] Called me up you know, what do you think? And I go, I thought that match is freakin awesome. That match was fantastic. And it’s like, you know, basically, one was if I tried to do a match like that, if I did a match like that, I’d have to fight my way out of the dressing room because so many guys would have heat for me for killing the finisher. And, you know, I mean, and you could say that about a lot of other matches too. But it was a perspective. And then you know, another one was just you know, and I think subconsciously, I thought the same thing. When I Shawn and Undertaker the first one, which was great and I almost did give it five stars. And some people think it’s because of the dive spot that went wrong. It’s like, it really wasn’t, it was, it was, I’m gonna say, there was a predictableness to it, that I could feel, like I knew what they were doing. And sometimes that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But it was so long, and I always knew what they were going to do. And it was thrilling as hell. But it was not, it didn’t give me that, Oh, my God, this was brilliant. It was like, Okay, this is what they were doing, my turn, your turn. And it worked. It was like, again, like, look it won match of the year, I easily could have given it five stars. But whatever it was, you know, when it was over, it was like, I was debating. And I’ve done that at many matches. You know, I mean you know, where it’s just kind of like, you know, is it 4 and 3 three quarters or five? Well, that means it’s four and 3 quarters. When I say that, if I say five, no debate, then it’s fine.”

On liking the New Japan style more than WWE:

“Well, I mean, I think, you know, the certain dynamic aspects of it, in the sense of, with New Japan, the wrestlers are, are technically so much better. And they’re also better at building the perfect time for the finishes. And they do, and they do a lot of cross ups where you think you know, what, where they’re going, and then they’re not they take you and they twist you. And with WWE, it is different in the sense that it’s built around repetitiveness. And, you know, teaching the audience to pop for certain moves, and then doing them, and there’s some cross up. But it’s really about repetitiveness, and teaching people to pop for a certain thing, and you do it over and over and over again so they learn, this is where we pop. And in Japan, it is, it certainly exists. But there is a lot more thought to going that one step deeper of, this is where we’re going and they’re about to pop for this, so we’re gonna do this, and then they’re gonna pop even bigger. And so that’s kind of, I think that that’s, you know, they train in basics a lot better. So their stuff looks better. So there’s always that aspect too. And they hit much harder, and I think that that adds to the realism aspect. You know, I mean, it’s just, you know, yeah, it’s just, it’s, it’s harder hitting, it’s better technical. I mean, I’m talking to the top level, I’m not saying that there aren’t guys in, in, in anywhere, in every company who do that, or can do that. But it’s definitely more of a thing. And, you know, so that’s probably where, you know, the New Japan matches, well, you know, and but again, like people who watch everything, you know, the New Japan matches usually end up getting, I mean, any of these, you know, not just me, but everyone you can look at Cage Match or you know, Grapple when it existed, or, or, you know, it was, it was it was consistent, you know, I would look at some of those and go like, man, you know, unless it’s like a historical WWE match at WrestleMania, which, which I actually think that a lot of Mania matches because they’re at Mania kind of get overrated, but that’s a good thing. It’s actually a good thing that you don’t have to do as much, but you’re at Mania, so it makes it a little bit more special. That aside from those, it’s very difficult to see a WWE match near the top of those lists at the end of the year.”

On WWE not having any 5* matches from 1997 to 2011:

“That’s an interesting thing. I at the time, it was very, very hard to get a five star match. And I mean, it still is it’s super hard. The only difference is that guys are so much better now. Like like if I look back at my match that I would have given five stars, and I look back 30 years I look at it, and there are exceptions. And they’re usually you know, like in Japan Believe it or not, but but for the but for the men but even in Japan I mean I’ve seen like, you know match that I’d given five stars that I would look and go like as a four and  a quarter four and a half star match today.”

On should The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 18 get a higher rating:

“Look, we’re talking about matches from decades ago. I think that probably you know what I mean? Like, maybe, maybe we should, but I don’t look back. I’m looking at the future. Yeah. But I mean, yeah, it’s probably I was probably wrong on that one. In some ways. I mean, heat wise of course, but it’s all about memories. You know, it’s like that match. You know, two other guys did that same match move for move? It would have been nothing special. But, you know, that’s part of it. And maybe that’s what I was going like, Okay, if the, if any two of the guys. I mean, but yeah, it should have been for probably Sure. Why not? If you want, whatever, you know, it’s like, when I watched it, the day I watched it, it was very predictable to me. And maybe that was the problem, you know, that I knew everything they were going to do when they did it. And which isn’t necessarily bad either. Because that is always you know, whatever.”

What is Dave Meltzer grateful for:

“My kids, my friends and everyone in my life.”

Featured image: WrestleTalk

Hello friends! We are back again for another AskCVV episode! A huge thank you to everyone who sent in their questions on social media and if you want your question answered next month just submit it using the hashtag #AskCVV. We’ve got a range of topics from wrestling to content creation to being a girl dad. 

I loved your interview with LA Knight, YEAH, how would you feel if Logan Paul won Money in the Bank? 

“That’s a very interesting question, because I feel like leading into this it was like man the odds on favourite to win this is for sure LA Knight. In fact, you can put your money where your mouth is mybookie.ag use the code CVV you’ll get an additional 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit but he’s the odds on favourite if you want to make a little bit of money on this my bookie.ag. Of course the promo code is CVV, nice little plug there thank you for supporting the show. But I feel like it seemed like Damian Priest could make sense to win that match with what happened this week and then Logan Paul thrown into the equation is like Well, yeah, there’s a lot of eyes on Logan Paul. But to answer your direct question, how would I feel if Logan Paul won? I would feel surprised because I still believe that this is LA Knight’s game, YEAH. I feel like LA Knight should be the one winning this match. He is so organically hot and so organically over going into this. And if you think about it, LA Knight not even officially a babyface. LA Knight is like technically on paper, a heel, and he’s getting the biggest crowd reactions in WWE. So he is the biggest babyface in terms of the reactions that he’s getting. WWE would be making a massive mistake if LA Knight doesn’t win the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match. I would have to guess if we’re going to take it one step beyond this and assume that he does win on Saturday, I just think that unfortunately, they make him cash in on Seth Rollins, which is great. Like, Eli Drake was a world champion in IMPACT Wrestling and a lot of people forget that. A lot of people say man LA Knight deserves deserves a world title. Well, LA Knight has won a title as Eli Drake. So I feel like LA Knight should I mean, the Roman Reigns [match], LA Knight would actually be a really interesting match. Big heel versus massive babyface put them together. Obviously, you’d have to switch over. But I mean, just that would. That would make so much sense. I don’t know if that’s going to happen. I feel like it’s going to be him and Seth, but give LA Knight the briefcase and let him cook.” 

What did you think of Forbidden Door? And what was your favorite match?

“Forbidden Door top to bottom was just such a great card stacked card from top to bottom. And last year, I was so excited about the concept of Forbidden Door. Because it’s funny to think it wasn’t that long ago, when AEW people wrestled in AEW, IMPACT people wrestled in IMPACT and New Japan people wrestled in New Japan. And when they opened up that forbidden door when first it was IMPACT in AEW and vice versa. Then they opened up again with New Japan. That was like, Oh my gosh, we’ve got all these dream matches that are possible now. And forbidden door last year was solid. But I don’t think it gave us any of those like, oh my god matches, like any of those, like, what would happen if this person took on this person? But that’s what we saw this year. And there were just so many great matches top to bottom. To answer the question of what was your favorite match? I think it’s pretty obvious there. Kenny Omega and Will Osprey stole the show. And if you listen to my interview with Will Ospreay, I’m a fan of the work that he does. So I feel like it was just such a great chance for fans that live in the United States and North America, because obviously this took place in my hometown in Canada, in Toronto. It was just a great opportunity. Because I think there’s a lot of people who haven’t, who are aware of Will Ospreay, and maybe they’ve seen some of his clips on Instagram or Tiktok or Twitter or YouTube. But I don’t think there’s a lot of people in North America that have seen a full Will Ospreay match. So this was such a great introduction to who Will Ospreay is and what he’s all about. So that match was so so good. And I don’t know how they’re gonna top it, that’s a clear contender for match of the year if you asked me.”

Who’s your favorite guest so far this year?

“It’s been a really good year. It’s been such a great year so far and we are officially at the halfway mark here which is crazy. But I would say that my favourite guest this year has been The Undertaker. And it’s gonna be tough to top The Undertaker because that’s an interview that I’d wanted to do for years. I mean, when you think of the all time greats in the WWE, The Undertaker is one of the names that immediately pops into your head. And I didn’t just get him for like, two minutes or five minutes, we talked for like 20, whatever it was, 23, 24 minutes. So a great conversation with someone who is so humble for everything that he’s accomplished. So humble. And you heard at the end of that interview, you listen to it, he goes, I would love to do another one with you. And I said, Well, let’s do the next one in person. And he says, Absolutely, I’m a man of my word. So maybe that means The Undertaker can be episode number 500. Could we make that happen? I guess we’ll see, but that would be really tough on to top. So The Undertaker is definitely up there. I would love to do the next one in person. So let’s see.”

I saw on Instagram that you’ve already seen the new Mission Impossible movie. What did you think of it? 

“It’s true. I went to a screening on Tuesday of this week of Mission Impossible. Dead Reckoning part one. And first of all, it was so cool to be able to see that at the Paramount Lot in Hollywood. It was good. And the review embargo does not lift until July 5. So I can’t give you a full review of everything that happens in the film. I’ll say it’s good, but it’s not great. And I hate to say that. I liked it, but I didn’t love it. Don’t get me wrong, the action is insane. The stunts, you’ve seen the motorcycle stunt. And if you haven’t, Tom Cruise rides a motorcycle off of a cliff, and then base jumps off of the motorcycle as it’s falling. That’s just crazy. And the way that they work that into the narrative of the film is so impressive. That’s badass, there’s actually a train sequence and a stunt they do on the train, which I think is actually a more impressive stunt, and like a bigger set piece for the movie. All that is so good. The storyline being centred around AI, and this thing that can see and hear you at all points in time. But they’ve got to track this down, it’s just a bit silly. And there were my friend Kristian Harloff, who I was just a guest on his podcast called The Big Thing. He said there were like some moments in the film that felt very Fast and Furious ish. And I tend to agree with him, not as far-fetched as Fast and Furious. But there’s just a few moments where you’re like, I don’t know, Mission Impossible six, Mission Impossible Fallout was so good. And the bar was set so high on that one, that it was gonna be hard for them to live up to it with this one, but it’s just, it’s good. Like, I’m not gonna give you a full rating. I’m just saying it’s good, but not great. If you’re going in for a popcorn flick, and you’re looking to just be entertained, you’re gonna have a great time. So go see it when it comes out on July 12. And just be prepared to be entertained because it is highly entertaining.”

Any advice for aspiring sports/wrestling podcasters and content creators? 

“Yeah, I love getting questions like this. Because we live in a time right now, where it is possible for anyone to be a creator. If you can just pick up your phone, hit record, and you could turn that into a podcast. You could pick up your phone, hit record, boom, that’s a tick tock, that’s an Instagram, that’s a YouTube video, and I love that. I think that it’s a crowded space. And I think that the first thing you gotta do is find a way to stand out. So if you’re looking to be in the sports or the wrestling space, find a way to stand out. With that said, though, find somebody who you look up to who is crushing it, and reverse engineer how they got there and what they’re doing and find your way to put your own spin on it. Nobody’s reinventing the wheel here. Everybody’s doing a version of something that’s already been done in some sort of way. But I would say find a way to be unique and be authentic. People can see right through you if you’re not being authentic. So, you may have seen the tweets that I put out, and also I kind of teased this on Instagram, I’m building something out with my good friend Travis Chappell who is just a killer when it comes to content creation and podcasting. We’re building something out here to help people like you who are looking to either start a podcast or start a YouTube channel. Or if you have one, and you really want to grow it and you want to be a full time content creator, we’re building something out so we can work together to help you to help give you the tools that you need to be a successful creator. So keep an eye out for that I would say in the next month. And I’m really excited about this, because it’s truly a chance that we can finally work together and anybody who wants to reach out and find out more information about this kind of early, send me an email cvv@chrisvanvliet.com, or send me a DM. And I’ll give you a little bit more info about it. But there’s going to be an opportunity for us to work together and all be full time creators together.”

When you’re doing promotional interviews, like the Chris Hemsworth one. How do you come up with topics to squeeze in so the subject is not answering the same 10 questions that they’ve been asked a million times?

“That’s a really good question. And the thing is, you’ve only got like four minutes, usually. So that interview with Chris Hemsworth, is about four minutes. And you know, he’s going to be asked about the action in Extraction 2, and that that interview is on, it’s on the podcast, it’s also on my YouTube channel, if you want to go check it out, you know, there’s certain things that he’s going to be asked about. And you know, there’s certain talking points that are going to really help to sell the film. And I think it’s just about asking a question in a way that it’s never been asked before. So if you can ask a question in a different way, that will evoke a different response. And the quality of your life is the quality of the questions that you ask. So if you’re not liking the answers that you’re getting, whether that’s in an interview, or just in life in general, start asking better questions. What I like to do for movies in particular, is I like to, like, try to find a quote, or a moment in the film that I can relate back to their personal or their professional life. And I think that that’s an interesting way of being able to tie in the movie that they want to promote, and also tie in like an interesting spin on that. And of course, with Chris Hemsworth, you know, we’re wrestling fans here. It’s the rumours that you know, he’s going to be Hulk Hogan in this film. Of course, I had to get an update on that, although the update wasn’t, you know, really much, but it was an update of some sorts. So, of course, when you’ve got Chris Hemsworth sitting in front of you, you can ask a question like that. And I just figured, you know, let’s just say I’m a fan, I’m a fan of Hulk Hogan. I’m a fan of pro-wrestling, of course, a fan of Chris Hemsworth. Let’s put that all together. Let’s make this film, baby. So it sounds like it may still possibly be happening.”

What is the most important thing to build a brand? 

“The most important thing to building a brand is authenticity. You gotta be you, you can’t pretend to be something that you’re not. And I think that it may take some time to figure out what your lane is and where you fit in. But I think that’s the most important thing, and kind of piggybacking off of that, and also, just being a content creator in general is, if you want to sound authentic, and be authentic, I think you got to use to hearing yourself. Whether you’re on a podcast or seeing yourself, and then also hearing yourself in a video. Because that’s the biggest, that’s a huge step towards becoming authentic. You think that you sound a certain way, and then you see yourself in a video and you hear yourself in a video and you’re like, oh my gosh, do I really sound like that? Yeah, that is your voice, the rest of the world hears you just like that. So I think that the most important step that you need to take is like get used to being who you are. And if it takes some time, I would say just put, you know, we’ve all got these super computers and these cameras that live in our pocket all day. Take it out and just start to like, get used to seeing yourself on camera, just start filming videos talking right to the camera and going. Yeah, okay, I do that thing with my eye when I talk or my lip curls a little bit when I talk. So authenticity is the key.”

What is the best way to grow your professional network and build connections that last?

“An another great question about this. And this is all gonna end up tying into the thing that I’m building right now that we’ll be announcing in about a month here, where you can be a full time creator and figure that out, and we can work together to see what is the best possibility for you to grow your content. But I would say to answer your question here, the best way to grow your professional network and build connections that last is lead with value. So often, people are looking at what’s in it for me. And I get a lot of emails from people that are basically like, here’s the thing that you can do for me, and I think it needs to be the other way around. It needs to be, here’s the thing that I can do for you, is there anything that I can do to in turn help you. So I think just lead with value, lead with as much value as you possibly can. So I’ll give you an example. If I was looking to have a guest on my podcast, instead of saying, like, dear so and so I have this podcast, could you come be a guest on it, which is basically saying like, hello, very important person, could you give me an hour of your time, and I mean hour of their time is obviously tremendously valuable. I would instead say, like, I have this podcast, some of my previous guests include, it gets X amount of downloads on the audio version, X amount of watches, or plays, views on YouTube, my two YouTube channels combined have 630,000 subscribers. Here’s all the value of like, if you give me an hour of your time, and I know that your time is very valuable, there’s a lot of things you could be filling that with. But if you were willing to give me an hour of your time, here’s the exposure that I could give you in exchange for that. And that may lead to all of these other opportunities for you. So the short answer is lead with value.” 

I love the term vague goals get vague results. Where do you get that from? And do you have any other motivational quotes? 

“I mean, if you’ve been listening to the show for a while, you know that I love quotes. And I end every episode with a quote at the very end of the podcast version of these. I love quotes, and one that I’ve been saying a lot recently, and I actually said it to the man himself, this is a quote from Arnold Schwarzenegger. I said this to him when I interviewed him, like a month and a bit ago, is, you either get results, or you can either have results or excuses, you can’y have both. And that one sticks out to me so much. Because that can be applied to literally anything in life. You could apply that to fitness, you know, it’s results or excuses, you’re gonna go to the gym or not. If you do go to the gym, you’re gonna get results. If you don’t go to the gym, well, you’ve got an excuse, but you can’t have both. That could be content creation, are you going to do it or not? You’re going to do it and get the results, you’re not going to do it, you’re gonna make an excuse to not do it. It applies to everything. So that’s one quote that’s really been rattling around in my head a lot lately, and hopefully one that means something to you. results or excuses. You can’t have both.”

Have you ever considered stepping into the ring and having a wrestling match, or matches? 

“Yes, yes, yes, I have. In fact, when I was 16, I was a backyard wrestler. Chris Sharp was my name, sharp talking sharp walking, sharp dressing. So I was a backyard wrestler for like two years, there’s videos if you want to really dig deep on the internet, you can find those. And my goal was to be a pro-wrestler. And I went to wrestling school when I was in college I want when I was 20. And I started to figure it out. If you watch that video, I mean, everyone always keys in on the last part of it where I get chopped by Shawn Spears and Tyler Breeze, everything that led up to that before that I was taking bumps with them. I was locking it up. I was running the ropes, like I know the very basics from the few months that I went to wrestling school. But long story short, I was going in the middle of I think it was summer I was going in the summer right before my junior year of college. And I just felt like I was kind of at this crossroads. Wrestling school was about half an hour from where I lived when I was living with my parents that summer. But it was about an hour and a half away or close to an hour and a half away, like an hour 15 away from where I was at college. And I just kind of had this like, I had to make a decision. Was it going to be school school or a wrestling school, and I didn’t want to do both. Because, speaking of quotes, I firmly believe that the man who chases two rabbits catches none. Because you can’t put your full attention on both rabbits. You can’t put your full attention on both careers, wrestling, or in my case, it was a Communication Studies degree. So I just kind of had to make a decision like do I focus on school or do I focus on wrestling and I chose school because I wanted to get my degree, and I knew that wrestling would always be there. And I’m fortunate now that the job is communication based with the TV show that I still do work on. Obviously podcast and content creation with YouTube and social media, but I still get to dip my toe into the wrestling world. I still get to be a ring announcer on occasion, I still get to interview some of the biggest wrestlers on the planet. And I have stepped into the ring that was about 10 years ago. You can check it out on my YouTube channel but I got involved in a match in Cleveland at prime wrestling. It was so much fun. I gave a Rock Bottom to Nicky Valentino. And I gotta say, I gotta say there’s a pretty good Rock Bottom. So go check out that clip. I hit him with the Rock Bottom, the middle of the ring, a little bit of celebration and it was pretty cool. I would love to hit another Rock Bottom. Maybe I hit one every 10 years so maybe we could we get another one coming up here soon. I don’t know.”

Any chance of getting an interview with Paul Heyman? 

“I would love an interview with Paul Heyman. When you look at the list of the people who I haven’t had conversations with he’s damn near close to the top of that list. Other people on that list include AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Kane, then there’s a few others in there. Triple H would be a really good one, Vince McMahon, of course. But yeah, Paul Heyman would, I mean just look at the career that he has had, so good. And then every time you do see an interview with him, I especially love the conversations that he’s had with Ariel Helwani, who is a past guest and is going to be a future guest, by the way, on Insight. When you see the interviews that they have together, it’s just Paul Heyman just is not afraid to speak his mind. And also, obviously, Roman Reigns is doing an incredible job with the character work he’s doing. At least a little bit of that you’ve got to thank Paul Heyman for. The heel turn worked, because he aligned himself with Paul Heyman and everything that’s come from that the wise man and you know, him being a pretty crucial part of The Bloodline. So I’d love to have a conversation with him. We are both partners of My Bookie. So maybe there’s some sort of tie in there, as we head toward SummerSlam. So I don’t know.”

How do you find your motivation to interview? 

“I gotta say, I’m just curious. I’m a naturally curious person. And I think that it stems from that the motivation is just like, What can I learn from this person that, you know, kind of selfishly, I can apply to my own life. That’s a really big part of it. And also, like, think of the people who I’ve been so fortunate to be able to spend some time with. That wouldn’t happen without an interview. Like I couldn’t just call up Tom Cruise or Ric Flair or Chuck Liddell or Will Ospreay, well maybe Will Ospreay. But I couldn’t just call up any of these people and say, Hey, do you want to have lunch for an hour? And I can just talk to you about stuff. They’d be like, Get out of here, of course not. But when you throw the interviewer in, and this goes back to the idea of like, bringing value, it changes everything. It’s the same type of conversation I would have if I went out for a beer with them, but now we get to record it. They get to promote whatever it is they want, and everybody gets to hear it. So I really think that the motivation just comes from being naturally curious. So really good question there.” 

What is your Mount Rushmore of wrestlers? 

“Dude, if you listen to that LA Knight interview, he rattled off his Mount Rushmore like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. It was Hogan. Flair. Rock Austin, I think is what he said. And my Mount Rushmore is like very similar. And I really hadn’t thought about it until I think it was five years ago. Yeah, it was five years ago almost to the day, I interviewed Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair at the same time. And I was just thinking the whole day like for me, those are two absolute so my Mount Rushmore. I think that anybody who’s about my age, would have Hogan and Flair or maybe it’s Hogan or Flair. You know, if you didn’t watch a lot of WCW because a lot of flair stuff later on was in WCW. But I think that they would be on your Mount Rushmore. But so for me, Hogan, Flair, The Undertaker, and then it’s so tough for this last spot for I go between Rock and Austin on this one but I’m gonna give it to Stone Cold Steve Austin because, like I love The Rock and it’s obviously nothing against The Rock at all. You know, you know the admiration that I have for The Rock and he’s always been so kind to me every time we’ve talked but The Rock’s wrestling career is really only like seven years, six, seven years. And I know Austin’s isn’t that much longer when you really think about it, but the Attitude Era owes a huge debt of gratitude to Stone Cold Steve Austin. I wouldn’t be a pro-wrestling fan if it wasn’t for the Austin McMahon storyline, that’s the storyline that got me into wrestling. And then it was Austin you know really just elevating himself during that. And it was you know as Austin getting injured that allowed The Rock to rise up and, you know, The Rock and Triple H and everything that happened there. So for me it’s Austin gets that last spot. So Hogan flair Undertaker and Austin, as not the last spot, it is just the fourth spot. So those are my those are my four people. They’re so tough though because you can, there’s so many different qualifiers for Mount Rushmore like, you know, best Canadian Mount Rushmore, best technical Mount Rushmore, but that’s, those are my four there. And I don’t see them changing anytime soon. But there’s a lot of other very talented people. And that’s not to say that they don’t deserve a spot on your Mount Rushmore.”

What’s your favourite film that most people don’t know about? 

“Well, I think most people at this point know about the favorite film that they do know about, I talk about Back to the Future, great length. And that is my favourite movie of all time. I think it’s a perfect film. So Back to the Future, definitely up there. I’ll give you a few other ones. Like these are like, you know, I think it’s Back to the Future is number one. And then it’s the rest for me. Jurassic Park, certainly there. Huge Christopher Nolan fan. So I think you could really put any of his films on there. But I think in particular, probably Inception, although Interstellar, after you watch that a few times. That Matthew McConaughey scene where it comes back from the water planet, watches the video ah, gets me every time. It gets me every time. And also, by the way, I can’t wait to see Oppenheimer. I really hope I get an early screening of Oppenheimer. I can’t wait. I’ve been wanting to see that movie ever since they announced it. I recently re-watched The Town, and I think that Ben Affleck doesn’t get enough respect for being an incredible director. I mean, Argo is where he won the Oscar, but The Town and Gone Baby Gone are both such great films. And then I’ll give you one more here, Ex Machina. And I love the concept of Ex Machina. If you don’t know anything about it, just go and watch it. Don’t read about it, don’t look at the trailer, just go and watch it. And it’s ironic because the movie in itself is a social experiment. But watching the movie also feels like a social experiment. Because if you watch this with somebody, you’ll end up having a conversation once it’s over, and you’ll be like, oh, man, what would you do? What should they have done? So there you go. There’s there’s some of my favourite films. And yeah, I hopefully can add Oppenheimer to that soon.” 

What web camera do you use for virtual interviews? 

“I’m thinking you might be asking this question because I don’t know if you guys noticed or not, but over the last month, really stepped up the webcam game. I’m really proud of this actually, I’m a bit of a gear nut myself. But I stepped up my game, levelled up the game with the camera here. So I’m now using a DSLR, I was using a DSLR before but now I’m using a much better DSLR. So I’m using the Sony A74 as my camera with a Tamron 28 to 75 lens. So like a really good setup. And I just, I’m really happy because like, this is a camera that I’ve also been taking photos of my daughter on and been taking like family videos on this. And it’s also been doubling as my web camera. And it was also the second camera in the Will Ospreay interview and the Chavo Guerrero interview. So if you look at those interviews, it’s so crisp, colors are so good. The depth of field we get the blurred background behind you. But as a web camera, like it’s an 11 out of 10. It’s so good. And I love the Sony interface. You literally just plug it into your computer with a USB port and you plug it into the USB port and that’s it. There’s no software to download, there’s nothing else just plug it in and your computer goes Oh, that’s a web camera. So thank you for noticing. Thank you for noticing that we stepped it up here. I just will put the disclaimer out here. It’s not a super cheap camera. So if you aren’t In the market and you have a budget, the Sony A74 in my opinion can’t be beat. And it can be used as a video camera for podcasts because it doesn’t shut off at the 30 minute mark. A lot of DSLRs are, you know, it’s like this weird category thing where those cameras are classified as photo cameras, so they have to shut off the video capabilities at 30 minutes, or else they’ll be classified as a video camera. This camera has no recording limit, which is one of the reasons that I love it. So the Sony A74 you don’t have to get the same lens that I have. But it’s a really great lens.”

What is your favourite part of being a girl dad so far?

“So as I sit here and record this, my daughter Logan just turned one month old. And this month has flown by. It’s been, it’s crazy. And I feel like every time we wake up, or I, every time I go off to work somewhere and I come back, I feel like she’s gotten so much bigger. The best part about her just just, she has these big blue eyes. And when she looks you dead in the eye, oh my gosh, it’ll melt your heart. But I think the thing that I’m most excited about, my favorite part about it, is knowing the person that she’s going to become. And I love that. I love that, you know, she’s a month old right now, and her entire future is in front of her. And I’m so excited about that, like the amount of opportunities that she has in front of her. It’s just, that’s what’s so exciting about me, and I’m so glad that I’m gonna be along for the ride, I’m so grateful that I get to be there to watch this journey, and also to help guide her on this journey with my wife, Rachel. And that’s, that’s my favourite part. And I’m also really nervous about her getting any bigger, because this is already flying by so fast, this last month, boom like that, what allowed snap that was, I think that’s the thing that I’m really nervous about. So I’m trying to appreciate every moment that we have, and every day that we have. And we had tried to put those in the memory bank, that’s been a really big thing. Like, we all get to do really cool special things over the course of any given month or any given year. And I think it’s really important sometimes to take those moments, and to make them memories like, and I want to like to be intentional about like storing that in the memory bank. And there’s been a lot of times when she’s doing something, or when I don’t know I’m at an event or something I can’t believe I’m there. I’m about to interview so and so. And I’ll just be like, let’s just take a second, take a second to like, look around, take it all and take in, you know, the five senses here. And remember this moment like to actually truly committed to memory intentionally. And I’ve been doing that so much with Logan. And I love it. And I’m going to continue to do that.”

LA Knight (@reallanight) is a professional wrestler currently signed to WWE and is also known for his time in NWA and Impact Wrestling where he is a former World Champion and former Tag Team Champion with Scott Steiner. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about Money in the Bank, why he would want to cash in on Roman Reigns, how he was able to organically get so over, the moment he realized the crowd was on his side, will he ever bring back the “Dummy” catchphrase, the first time he ever said YEAH, what happened during his first run in WWE in 2013-2014, his favorite matches as Eli Drake in IMPACT Wrestling, fans thinking he sounds like The Rock and much more!

I feel with Money in the Bank right around the corner, this pay-per-view is just set up for you to win that briefcase.

“Well, you know, somebody just reminded me, this is the second money themed ladder match I’ve been in, and we know how that one ended last time. So I don’t know. Maybe I’m a shoo in.”

It’s funny when you type your name into YouTube. I don’t know if you’re aware of this. Almost all of the top results are LA Knight, huge pop LA Knight massive crowd reaction.

“No, I don’t know this. But now I feel like I’m gonna have to go check it out.”

I’m curious. At what point did you start to realise like, Man, I knew the crowd was making some noise for me. But this is really loud now.

“I can tell you exactly. It was back in March, we were in DC, Sheamus and Drew were in the ring. And then all of a sudden, that music hit, and I walked out and I remember it just kind of hit me. And I was like, that’s different. But I was just thinking to myself, I was like, ah, they probably know I’m from up the road. Hagerstown is like, an hour away. Maybe enough of them know. Then we went to Pittsburgh the next week, went to New York the week after that. And everywhere we went beyond there, it just continued to pick up more and more, and I’m just like, Okay, well, I guess it’s not. I’m not from New York, not from Pittsburgh. So maybe it’s not that. And since then, it’s just kind of picked up. LA got to a fever pitch, obviously. Hell, Triple H is out there doing a presser in Saudi Arabia and he’s getting interrupted. So something’s happening. I don’t know why, and maybe I don’t even want to know why. But for some reason or another, the people are demanding me.”

When you saw that footage of the crowd chanting LA Knight at Triple H in Saudi Arabia. What was your reaction to that?

“Well, first of all, I was sitting in my hotel room in Saudi Arabia. So I wasn’t even there. I wasn’t even at the actual press event. So somebody sent it to me on Instagram, I think, actually, first before they even sent it to me. I saw somebody else in my stories and they were chanting LA Knight’s name at the thing. I’m like, okay, yeah, sure what it was probably like three people doing it. Then I see the video, and I’m like, Oh, damn, all right. I was, it’s right there. So that was pretty wild. But, you know, I’m also the worst at that really letting something like that get to me. Like I can acknowledge it, but that’s like, Okay, that’s cool. Now what? So, I love and hate that about myself. Because I’m like, sometimes it’s like, Well, why don’t we just take a second to appreciate this? But I, for whatever reason, whether it’s a flaw or virtue or mix of the two, I just can’t. And I’m just like, alright, that’s cool. Now let’s continue on and make this better and bigger.”

But look, man, I texted you this the other day, like anybody with ears can hear you are like mega over right now. And the great thing about this is it just keeps increasing every single week when you go out there just keeps getting louder and louder.

“Yeah, but you have to remember there’s a lot of people out there without ears.”

I’m so curious because I’ve known you for a while. I’ve known you in the ring and out of the ring and you just have this magnetic personality. Just this charisma that just oozes out of you. What were you like as like a five year old?

“Oh man shy, shy, shy kid, but I always wanted to be out of my shell I always like so. You know is hand mixers and it has like the little silver thing you pull it off and, your mom mixes some cake batter you can lick it or whatever. I used to pretend to pretend those are microphones. And I would, my first tape I ever had was Thriller, Michael Jackson. So I would like stand there behind a door where I couldn’t see anybody else. So in my head they also could not see me and they also could not hear me, and I would stand back there and sing and do all this stuff until they came around. And were like, what are you doing? And I was like, I would freeze up. Super, super shy kid. So, you know, a lot of this was, you know, get to high school and all of a sudden you start to see, I mean, I’ve been watching wrestling since I was a kid, but like now it was like the Attitude Era, started to pick up a little bit and you got The Rock and Steve Austin and, and like those two guys really kind of fed me a lot of my confidence in high school, and and a lot of it was fake. I was faking the hell out of it until eventually it kind of became more natural. And so came out of my shell a little more after that, but I’m still, I go into a room and I don’t know people I’ll stay to myself for the most part, less than a person or two, then maybe I’ll go in and just talk some trash, who knows.”

There’s a lot of people that say like, I do see a little bit of Rock, and we talked about this in our first interview.

“You’re ruining my life. My God. Did I say it? I thought you said it? I don’t believe this. This is bull. No, I. So when I’m talking in my like, I guess normal? I don’t know. There’s times where it kind of happens. But like, I don’t know if I hear myself like, actually on TV. I don’t think it’s, I don’t think it’s there. But like, if you’re talking to me now, maybe more now? I don’t know. Right? Because that’s when I was watching the hero 10 years ago, and I remember there’s one particular scene where we’re walking through this jungle, whatever, and go figure the Rock in a jungle. And so we’re watching this and you see people walking through the jungle and there’s a voice. And I was like, I think that’s me. But it turned out to be him. Or it might have been the other way around. I can’t remember. But whichever way it was, it wasn’t just me, it was the other people in the room who thought that, like I was talking but it turned out to be him. But it’s just when I’m talking like this, but when I’m actually doing my stuff on TV, I don’t hear it at all. But that’s just me. But yeah, so from those guys, those guys were like bread and butter for me back in high school, where it was just like that kind of took me out of this like, quiet, kind of meek, you know, whatever standard myself guy were like, actually, I started carrying myself differently and like had like a different sense of confidence and whatnot after that.”

There’s a lot of fans that say, Man, I love this LA Knight character. It’s a throwback to like, I like a character that I watched in the Attitude Era. And I don’t know what it is. I don’t know if it’s the way you cut the promos. I don’t know if it’s the swagger you have when you walk to the ring, but there certainly is some sort of a throwback to that.

“Sure. And I could speculate on many reasons why it is and I don’t really know, I can’t put my finger on it. But I think maybe there is just something different. Or maybe something that’s been lacking for a long time, which has always been kind of my view, and why I guess I’ve never given up this whole damn time and just kept pushing for 20 damn years where it’s like, I know, I’ve got something to give here. I know, I’ve got something to incorporate here and, and through all the no’s and well, you know, I just I don’t know what else you’re bringing to the table or blah, blah, blah, well, I guess we’re finding out now. So whatever it is, whatever that quality is, I can’t put my finger on it. But there’s something.”

Not everybody gets a second chance. And I mean, a lot of people know, but not everybody knows that you were in WWE developmental. You were in the PC 10 years ago. It didn’t work out. You got another chance. What do you think led up to you getting another chance in WWE?

“Well, because when I got let go the first time it wasn’t because of talent issue. And that was made very clear to me. It was very much a professional issue. There was a perception with me and the head coach at the time and the way that things were going were not good. Because I was poking the bear because things that were happening and the way things were going. Well, eventually he was out, and then I was kind of floating around the ether here. And I had run into some people and they were like, hey, what do you think about coming back? I said I’d love to come back. And the only issue was, since leaving with heat, I was kind of given the same offer I had the first time around, and I was making more money where I was. So I was like I’m gonna stay here for a year to hang on to this. And so I did, and for the immediate future, that was probably the best move long term, not the best move. Because I quickly hit the ceiling financially, professionally, whatever where I was, and at some point it was like I’m gonna have to take this short term downgrade in pay, because even though I’m making more here, I’m stuck. But if I take this downgrade here, eventually I can be well above here.”

That’s so ironic because you were the world champion in that other place.

“Yeah, well, that didn’t mean anything. Because about three people were watching the show, apparently.”

But when we talk about second chances, you know, you were on fire with LA Knight, Max Dupri happened. And then LA Knight came back. And I’m curious what the conversation with Triple H look like, when LA Knight was allowed to come back as we know him now?

“Well, let me just go ahead and say this, I’m pretty sure I was fired. And it just hadn’t officially happened yet. Without getting into too many details, some things happened. I don’t remember what it was, but some things happened. And then I had gotten a FaceTime. Hey, you know, we want to keep you around. We want to do this, this, that whatever. And, okay, cool. Good. So somehow I had been saved from being thrown off the cliff. At least this is my interpretation of it. Maybe I’m incorrect, I don’t know. And so eventually, just things kind of worked out. And I think that maybe again, maybe some of the testament to why things are working the way they are and the people reacting the way they are, is because one of these was not me, and I didn’t know who it was. And one of these is very much just me, like, I don’t have to think about LA Knight, I don’t really have to dig in like, what is this? Who am I? What am I doing? I just go and do, because it’s just me heightened. You and I have been to a party together, I think you’ve been to one of my parties. I am a heightened personality at the party. So like, to me, my personality on TV is an amalgamation of me at a party and me in an argument. And when those two together, you’ve got LA Knight.”

You’re missing out on a huge opportunity by not having a YEAH shirt. When is this happening? 

“Well, it’s actually in the works. I think we already came up with one and it should be coming out here in the next I’m gonna say a week or two if I’m not mistaken.”

Who’s a match for you? Anybody? Any era, who’s the dream match for LA Knight?

“Everybody always asks that and I really don’t have an answer to it. I mean, I guess you could take anybody off my Mount Rushmore Hogan, Rock, Austin, Flair. I don’t want to think about it. I know. Those are my four Hogan, Rock, Austin, Flair, any of them. You can throw Cena in there, but I mean, the aim has and has always been and still is to be the guy. And to do that, I gotta wrestle the champion. So for me the dream match is who’s got the title? That’s the dream match.”

So let’s do a little speculating here. Money in the Bank, you grab that briefcase, you are now Mr Money in the Bank. How long do you think you want to wait before you cash in?

“Well, I mean, we gotta get there first. I don’t know that there’s so many options there. I mean, you got that brand new World Heavyweight Championship and that’s a beautiful piece of gold. But at the same time, I mean, what’s bigger and better than being the WWE Champion? And the guy who disrupted years of a title reign? Something to talk about there I don’t know. I there’s options. There’s options we’ll see. But I gotta get there.”

You were roommates with Jon Moxley What’s life like with Jon Moxley, Dean Ambrose?

“I don’t think I can get into too many details there. It was, it was a wild time. I mean for a little bit. For the first little bit he moved into my one bedroom apartment which was kind of a familiar thing. When I was in Ohio. I had lived in multiple one bedroom apartments with other guys because we just couldn’t afford it. So like one guy would post up in the living room. The other one takes the bedroom. One one time, we had three guys in a single bedroom apartment where it was like I was in the bedroom, one dude was in in the living room and another guy was in what we call the space and it was legit just the space like you’d walk out of my bedroom, and then it walked into this kitchen and there was enough space for his twin mattress to stay. And you kind of had to step over the corner of the mattress to get to the kitchen. So that was kind of a familiar thing with Moxley. It was like I had a somewhat decent place at the time. So he had a little more space in the living room. Eventually, we ended up moving into a two bedroom. But there were a lot of fun nights, a lot of craziness happening in that apartment. We’d play like a flag football league we were in and we’d come back and have some beers and stuff and there’s a good time.”

What is LA Knight grateful for:

“My two little puppies, my girlfriend and my health.”

Featured image: WrestleView

Chris Hemsworth (@chrishemsworth) is an actor known for his role as Thor in the Marvel Avengers movies, Men In Black: International, Snow White And The Huntsman, 12 Strong, the Extraction franchise and more! In this episode, Chris Hemsworth and Extraction 2 director Sam Hargrave sit down with Chris Van Vliet to talk about the 21-minute one-shot action sequence in Extraction 2, the training that goes into making an action scene, the foods that Chris missed eating the most while filming and he gives an update on the rumored Hulk Hogan biopic and more!

Walk me through this 21 minute, one-shot action sequence. I’m curious what the script says.

Sam Hargrave: “The script says, the heading was, And here follows the greatest one-er in cinema history, and other inspiring words such as a scene to rival Old Boy, like that fight in the prison. So, what Joe [Russo] did, was masterfully drop in these challenges as film makers to lay down the gauntlet and say this is what I think can be done. Then it is up to us a creative film makers to be like alright, this is going to be our version, the best in time.”

Chris, when you are going through the fight choreography and all the sequences and trying to remember your lines, what is going through your mind in all of this?

Chris Hemsworth: “At that point, you want it to be intuitive and instinct. The worst thing I think is going into a stunt and thinking ok I’ve got to do a punch and then thinking of this. Like, you can’t. It’s like getting ready to play football and trying to figure out how do I throw the ball again? Or how do I kick the ball? It’s preparation, preparation, preparation. We have weeks and months of rehearsals, and at the end of each shooting day we rehearse again. It is exhausting, but a lot of, I wouldn’t say the pressure is removed. But there is a lot of comfort going into it going I’ve done everything I could have done. There’s no stone left unturned. It’s preparation, switch off, and let it be.”

Sam Hargrave: “Yeah, the preparation allows him to be in the moment. It’s crazy, you can see it too. Not with him, but you can sometimes see it in the eyes of are they thinking about the next move, or are they in the moment? And it is in the moment where they really shine, not counting the moves and be like what comes next? That’s where the spontaneity happens and happy accidents. But there are no happy accidents, he has so much preparation that he is free to perform, that’s where the beauty lies.”

Chris, what’s the food that you miss the most when you get into shape for a movie like Extraction, or a movie like Thor?

Chris Hemsworth: “I didn’t have the strictest diet on this. I generally eat pretty healthy. For Thor, it is largely about caloric intake. It’s high protein, all the boring stuff. With this, I didn’t have a big window to slim down and become more functional and flexible. There were more moving patterns and martial arts training, and it was freezing. To be honest, I was just eating whatever. I was eating healthy but it didn’t matter, it was just fuel.”

What’s it like when you are punching people and your arm is on fire?

Chris Hemsworth: “That was wild! There’s enough burn liquid on my jacket that by the time I have finished that sequence it should have burned out. The instructions I was given was if it doesn’t then just start patting it out. But also, it’s flying up your shoulder. I was throwing punches and it added another layer of complexity, this looks so cool!”

I just got to say I still hope that you are going to be Hulk Hogan at some point.

Chris Hemsworth: “Let’s hope. I don’t know what is happening with it at this point. But there is a good story there I would love to tell. I know Todd Phillips has been deep with The Joker and we have had conversations. Fingers crossed.”

Featured image: Netflix

Mark Henry (@themarkhenry) is a professional wrestler and commentator currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is also a WWE Hall of Famer. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about why he left WWE and signed with AEW, what his initial conversation with Tony Khan was like, his thoughts on having one last retirement match, the prank that Vince McMahon pulled that lead to his “Hall of Pain” gimmick, the original plan for his storyline with Mae Young giving birth to a hand, why he chose a salmon-colored jacket for his fake retirement speech, his son Jacob’s incredible size and strength, the talent he has discovered like Bianca Belair, Braun Strowman and Jade Cargill, working on Busted Open and much more!

On Big Show saying that John Cena is stronger than Mark Henry:

“And I gave him the business about it too, how are you gonna say John Cena is stronger than me because he’s, he’s, he’s more over than me. But if it came to strength for strength, like there’s nobody else on the planet that compares to the things that I’ve done.”

On being the strongest pound for pound wrestler ever:

“Oh, there’s no doubt about [in] wrestling. Like I’m when I’m when I’m talking about strongest. I mean on the history of recorded, documented proof of what people have done on earth. They got cartoons, The Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, I’m the Earth’s mightiest hero. And it’s not bragging when it is true.”

On Mark Henry’s son wanting to be a wrestler:

“I’m fine with it. I mean, right now, he could come into wrestling right now and be good because of his aptitude and his understanding. And I’m his dad, so like, we talk wrestling, like I talk wrestling to the fan base on Busted Open. And, you know, we have a podcast version of our show on Sunday called The Masters class. And we talk about all things wrestling, and it’s specific to wrestlers. If fans tune in and they listen, they’re going to get the same understanding that we would give John Cena if he asked me a question, because John Cena is a brilliant guy and understands the gravity of what pro-wrestling it is not just from a physical standpoint, but from a psych psychological and psychology driven standpoint. So I don’t have to teach him. He’s a teacher. But there’s a lot of people that get the same training.”

What are people missing that are breaking into the business now vs. back in the 90’s:

“I think that the respect for the veterans teaching you is expected now, because it’s corporate, and the people are employed to do those jobs. But at the end of the day, you should be appreciative that a Jerry Lynn, Dustin Rhodes, Jamie Noble, comes up to you and says, Hey, man, if you fix this, you’re going to be great, and don’t be afraid to ask me a question. I know you don’t know it all, because I don’t know it all. But I’ve had some experience, and I want to put that into you. And those are gifts. Those are jewels that it’s hard to be able to quantify it to monetize it, because your success is dependent on you being able to make people care and feel. And that has to be taught.”

On not wanting to wrestle anymore:

“I mean, all things come to an end. But I did not think that they would not hire me being that I knew the things that I knew. And sometimes I guess that can be a bad thing, people don’t want to know where the bodies are buried. But from a business standpoint, I wanted a position in the office, because I didn’t want to wrestle anymore, and they wouldn’t hire me because I didn’t have the experience. And you know, like on the corporate side, or the business side or the executive side, or what have you, how you want to phrase it, in a position where you’re telling people what to do, I was not given that opportunity. But when it comes to storytelling, and getting wrestlers ready to go, like I could do that, like, as good as anybody that’s doing it. The difference between me and everybody else is I could also work the room. You know, whenever there was upfront events, corporate outings, things of that magnitude, they always sent me because they knew one, I was going to put on a good face for the company. I was well respected for my career. But what people didn’t know is guy gave me vision and a sense of discernment. And I can see where a wrestler can make it or not. And there’s people that are not even in the wrestling business, that I see them and I go, wow, they will be a great wrestler. And I am and I’ve done it. I’ve gone to people, Jade Cargill, who was the Women’s Champion, Bianca Belair headlined Wrestlemania, and was world champion, Braun Strowman was a strong man. And I said, bro, you should be wrestling. And he came in seventh at the nationals. And I said, the guys in front of you, that’s first, second and third, all are gonna be in the top five for the next 15 years. Like unless you miraculously grow and get stronger, you’re going to be middle of the road here. You can be a big fish in pro-wrestling. And it took him two years to say, You know what, hey Can you still get me into wrestling? And I said Hell yeah, let’s go. And you know, he became a world champion and is making millions of dollars. Like that was not a possibility without me. And not that I’m saying oh, look at me, I’m saying look at my ability to recognise talent is what I’m saying. And the same thing with Baron Corbin and you know, short story, you know, once you get me talking brother, it’s hard to stop. Apollo Crews and Rich Swann were in Japan as a tag team. And I saw them in Japan. And I said man, like they bigger than this. And I went to Vince and I said hey man, like I saw these two guys in Japan, they crazy man. Like they doing stuff that our cruiserweights are not doing. And he said, Well, what do you mean? I was like, the bigger they’re more muscle, the extremely talented, and they’re doing moves that I haven’t seen I guys do. And he said, Well, can you get them to come in? And I was like, Yeah, I got them flights with my money. And found out, reached out and found out that their contracts were up. And that they were going to come back to the States and they didn’t know what was next. I was what was next. And Apollo Crews has been multiple time champion over there. Rich Scwann was champion, Cruiserweight Champion there and think the IMPACT 24/7 Champion before he left and went to TNA, and he became a champion over there. So like that, when I see people, I just know what I know. And we can teach you how to wrestle. I don’t teach how to wrestle. They got coaches that do that, and agents that do that. And guys all over their wrestling schools. I don’t teach you how, I teach you why, teach you when to do it, where to put it. And those are the things that make you great, you can be good, but I’m gonna make you great.”

On transitioning to AEW:

“No, I didn’t reach out to no talent. Like, you know, I talked to Tony Khan. And, you know, Tony is a big fan of wrestling. And we talked, and he asked me, you know, why was not wrestling. I said, Man, I don’t. I don’t want to do anymore wrestling, I’m old. And he laughed, and I was like, I want to be more on the executive side. I want to be able to help build the business. And he said, man, don’t tease me. And I said, Tease you how I was he was like, You come AEW. And I was like, hell yeah I’ll come to AEW if you hire me on the executive side, and I get the help with talent. And he was like, Man, I’m gonna have my legal call you today. That’s how it happened in one day. It was not like I knew that. I was going to talk to Tony Khan. Who knows you’re gonna run into a billionaire wrestling company owner. I didn’t know that.”

What role does Mark Henry have in AEW:

“You know what, man, I do a lot of the psychology. I teach, you know, I’m considered a coach, but I don’t, I don’t do the matches. You know, I don’t produce the matches that you see on TV. I go to each individual guy, and I talk to them about their personas. I talked to them about their character. And hey, man, I think if you change this, can you try to do this differently? You know, so we go back and forth. And there are some people that listen better than others. And you can see the development of those people. I love working with Orange Cassidy. I love talking to him. He’s a sponge, he’s smart as hell, and he wants to be great, and I like passion. I like people that’s like, man, they got me on fifth, it’s gonna suck for everybody that going after me. I’m like, sh*t, let’s go. I love it. I love people like that, man. Orange Cassidy is like that man. Will Hobbs man, golly.”

On the backstage buzz regarding AEW All In:

“People are excited, man. I remember when we had the first show at Arthur Ashe, 22,000. It was electric, you can feel electricity. And when the whole crowd yells your clothes vibrate. Imagine what it’s going to be like, with 70 plus thousand. You will not be able to hear somebody one foot away from you. Like it’s, the thought of that is driving people to do better, because they want to be on that show. For the experience and for the money, because there’s going to be a big payday for everybody involved.”

On an official Mark Henry retirement match:

“You know what I’ve thought about it, and every time I think about it, I think who? Who would be the person? And I guess you could put up a poll someday and say, Who would you like to see Mark Henry have his last match against? You better do it fast, because every day I wake up, I’m thinking I might have to just go put that to bed. [Would you be open to doing it in AEW?] You know what, I have to think about it and I have to start training and see how my body feels, I haven’t took a bump in years. I’d be open though, to a conversation.”

On the choice of the salmon jacket:

“Because I was feeling salmon that day. Like, I saw that jacket and I was like, that is my retirement jacket. There was blues and greens and different colors, but that one like, that’s the one, it chose me when I saw it. I was like chef’s kiss. [Where is the jacket now?] That jacket now is being shipped to me. I put it on loan with WWE so they can do the exhibits at WrestleMania, and their different things but now it’s coming back to me. I’m going to set up my own exhibit.”

On the dimensions of the casket used in the match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania:

“I don’t [remember the exact dimensions]. but it was probably a foot wider than my shoulders. So back then I was 400 something pounds and, you know, I was 62 [inches] in diameter around me, a 62 jacket. And so I mean, it had to be at least 84 Maybe to be comfortable in there. And when I say comfortable, there’s no such thing as comfortable in a coffin. I don’t know if you’re claustrophobic or not, but I am. And just to be in there for how long I was in there, it was really rough. And, you know, I tell people all the time that the greatest and the worst moment in my career happened the same night. Having a co Main Event at WrestleMania with The Undertaker, and being put in a coffin and having to be in there for like, 16 minutes.”

On the prank where Mark Henry was left alone in the ring:

“They robbed me. When I looked at Scott Armstrong. And he said, It’s not me. And he had fear in his eyes. And you can smell fear and you can see it, and he was deadly afraid. And I asked for the microphone. And I started talking and they turned the microphone off. And I said, Okay, I get it. And like that was one of the maddest times, that was the maddest that I had ever been at that point. And I’m just glad that they had, you know, got in the limo and drove off because the conversation that we’re having right now may not happen because I’d have whooped all their ass. And I don’t know if I could have controlled myself. as mad as I was back then. I felt disrespected, I feel trivialised. Out of all the work that I did. Like all of the sacrificing. And you people say Oh, you got paid a lot of money. You know what, man, I didn’t get paid enough money to dummy down my pride and my respect as a man. Ain’t no price for that. And when that happened, I felt like okay, I’m expendable, I’m useless to them. They don’t respect me. That’s kind of feeling that it was. And you know, I got a lot of counsel after that, about how I felt as a man, because like, it was troubling. But being that I am a man and that I was able to say my piece to Vince and everybody involved, like, just know who I am, because that won’t ever happen again. If it does, like us talking will not be an option. And I quit. And you know what, man, I probably owe my wife more of an apology and thank you, because she was the one that got me to come back to wrestling. And go and talk to them again, because I didn’t have any interest in coming back and then none of that, none of the things after would have happened if that was the case.”

Why did Vince do it:

“Vince just thought it was funny. He said that he thought it was funny. And they wanted to get to the cars and get to the airport. And that was gonna give them time to get out of there without any traffic. Not thinking how’s Mark gonna feel after this?”

What’s Mark Henry grateful for:

“Life, health, my family and the fans knowing who I am.”

Featured image: Post Wrestling

Nick Patrick is a retired professional wrestling referee known for his time in WCW and WWE. He joins Chris Van Vliet from his home in Atlanta, GA to talk about how he started his career as a wrestler and then became a referee, getting hired by WCW, turning heel as part of the nWo, what really happened at the end of the Hulk Hogan vs. Sting match at WCW Starrcade 97, was he told to do a fast count or a slow count?, his match with Chris Jericho where Jericho had one hand tied behind his back, being part of the WCW Invasion angle in WWE, teaming with The Dudley Boyz against Mike Chioda, The Rock and Y2J, the art of taking a ref bump, why he believes WWE doesn’t highlight referees anymore and more!

On facing Chris Jericho:

“Oh man, that was a blast. They came to me and asked me if I wanted to do the match and I said yeah. I got to know Chris and went to a concert with him. And we talked and he constructed the whole thing, man, and I knew from very early on that he was going to be a big star. It’s a matter of being in the right place at the right time and giving him a chance. But he come up with all of that man. The only thing I come up with was him slamming me off the top at the end to set up a kick and the rest was him. And it was so fun. I wasn’t in shape either man. I tried to start working out a little bit, back then I smoked cigarettes, I’m and idiot right? But I smoked cigarettes and stuff back then man and I had to go out there I got going 13 minutes live with a kid like Jericho, he will have one hand tied behind his back, you gotta go a little bit. And I was taking the hip tosses and stuff, you know, but I always bail out of the rig and regroup, catch my wind. And he was gracious man, he let me get some heat on him. And it lets me do a couple of things to him to set him up to beat me up in the end. And it got a great reaction, man. And it’s funny. We did a German tour right after that happened. And for some reason, I guess they had trouble getting buses, so they rented a bunch of cars, and we had drivers for every car man. And it was so cool. Me and Booker T got in one car. And they let us just have our own car. We let people pile their extra bags in there. It was me and Booker T and our driver. And we went to all these different towns and it was fun. It was hey, but let’s stop here, where can we eat? We wanted a good bar. It was a lot of fun. So anyway, it was the last day of the tour. And we all kind of gotten to know our drivers a little bit and everybody got to let their hair down and drink because we didn’t have to go anywhere. Last night, you know, last show was over. And we’re in the bar and all of a sudden on the damn Sports Network on the bar that match comes on. And we’re all in there hammering getting drunk. And now these drivers of the cars they’re like haha! They hadn’t seen it yet, right. And man, those that whole bar went wild man, they were laughing their butts off at me every time I’d make it one of them on faces or I do something. I made a lot of my mean faces that they popped for me, man. And at the end of it. They all gave me the round of applause at the end. And we all drank a beer to it. It was really a cool experience. But the match itself was so much fun. And Chris is so good and so smooth. And like I said I knew back then he was gonna be a big star. And then he did and still is.”

On the Invasion match vs. Earl Hebner:

“Oh, that was fun too. Earl is a good friend of mine. And it was funny, they got us together. And Earl had heat from doing the Montreal Screw Job. And they weren’t sure who was going to really be the heel in this thing because they knew. First off when WWE bought us, they, all the WWE fans hated everybody from WCW. They hated us. Even if you were a babyface they hated you. So I already had heat from being the nWo thing. Plus, they hated me because I was WCW. So I said, they’re gonna hate me. And I guarantee they’re gonna take me as the heel. They said, Really, you think so? I said watch this, because I had the next match. And I popped out through the curtain and I did like I used to do and I was a heel in WCW and I was on my way to read I bust out through the curtain with that mean mug face and looking at everybody, like I was challenging the whole dang world. Because to me, it really gets heat. Which if you see somebody and in your mind, you know like that I can whip this guy’s ass. You know, and he’s given you the mean mug and that gets heat to me, you know? And I did it. I walked up to that curtain and I walked to the top of the ramp and I looked at both sides of the arena with my face and man, they went off booing me. They already hated me because I was WCW and the nWo thing too. But doing that ignited it man, and so when I come back to the match, they went okay, that’s okay.”

On being in the era of referees having names:

“Yeah, they kind of try to keep them off, I think they don’t want to pay them residuals for down the road. But I think that’s why they do that. But I was very fortunate to come through the time I did. I started back into territory gauge, and made that transfer from where the big companies, you know, Vince gobbled up pretty much all the top guys and little territories all started dying off. And it turned out to have been two big companies battling against each other and the transfer from territory days and you know, with cable TV being so big and all sudden, you know, down in Georgia, Channel 17 was huge for Georgia Championship Wrestling and which turned into WCW eventually down the road. And we went from just being Georgia company to going, we had, we’d be in Georgia and Alabama, and you know, all of our locals, but every other week, we was going up to either northern Ohio, and Michigan, or southern Ohio and West Virginia, and just back and forth, you know, because those territories was hot for us at the time. And then next thing you know, they realised Well, damn, we’re being seen everywhere, wow. We thought we travelled a lot back then when we was just like every other week going to town. Little did we know what lies ahead of us.”

On nearly becoming a wrestler instead of a referee:

“I did wrestle. I started off as a referee and in 1984 I became a wrestler. I wrestled for two years before I blew my knee out real bad. I started off, I shot an angle, I was with Georgia Championship Wrestling, right before Crockett bought it back from Jim Barnett. I was there when Barnett still had it. And they shot an angle with me and Bob Roop, I was gonna become a wrestler there right before Crockett bought it, and then Crockett came so I didn’t really want to go back to being a ref or you know, especially up there for them. If I wanted to go up there, I wanted to work and try to make money and not be a ref and they kind of expected a lot of the refs to come run and tell and stuff, you know, and that was never my gig. So I ended up working independent and my dad was down and wrestling in Pensacola territory, which was Continental Wrestling. And Johnny Rich was down there. They had a group of babyfaces called The Rat Patrol. It was Johnny, Scotty, Scott Armstrong, Steve Armstrong, I think Tonga kid was there at first, but he had already phased out by time I’d come along. Well, anyway, Johnny was at a party with Tommy and Vic beef broke out, and Johnny was like trying to cover Tommy’s back and somebody stabbed him several times. And he was out for a while. He was hurt man, you could have killed him. But you know, he was lucky to not hit any major organs. You know, he was some flesh wounds, but he got stabbed two or three times and cut, you know. And so they needed they needed somebody to fill that spot. And I was working. I had just stopped working for Georgia Championship Wrestling because Crocketts had taken it over. And I was working a little indies, Gunkel Enterprises, was running some indie shows and I was working for her trying to get that little thing going. My dad threw my name in, and he said, Hey, Nick’s available if you need somebody to fill that spot, and they say oh, call him you know, so in two weeks, I was down in working in Pensacola territory, which was so cool, man. It was it was it was awesome. You lived down in Pensacola. And a lot of my friends lived in Gulf Breeze which was right across the causeway and the trips were short. The longest trip you had was every other week you’d have to go up to like Huntsville or Muscle Shoals you know, and then you might spend a night. But mostly, for the most part the trips are short. And for the most part, you could be on the beach almost every day if you wanted to, you know early in the day and you know go make your shot come back, and it was such a cool life. And you made decent money and you learn how to work. That was the thing you know, you work with different guys that were really good at their craft, and you made money doing it. You know, a lot of guys were starved to death trying to learn their craft, you know, but there were a couple of territories that were fortunate enough to get in there. You can learn and still make money and still you know still do pretty good. I mean, you know, I was underneath wrestler there and I made more as a referee in Georgia Championship Wrestling because it was hot. I was travelling. I made more as a referee than a lot of guys did working underneath and middle of some of the different territories. So when I went down to Pensacola, I made pretty close to my referee money. Not quite, but real close was underneath guy. So I was tickled, you know, and I got to stay with my dad, you know, because we’d always work different territories. We was together in WCW for a long time, but during the territory days, when I started refereeing, I was in Georgia Championship Wrestling until I started skipping around to a couple of territories where they all got gobbled up and I got hurt. But Stan would pop down in Pensacola, and that was a really fun time he had changed his gimmick, my dad was known, as he was the assassin. And he was wrestling as the flame down there at that time and, and Bob Armstrong had put on the mask and become the bullet. So it was funny when we were kids pop and Bob had the big feud in Atlanta, and man it was big money for him. And they rekindled a feud on both of them with different gimmicks down in Pensacola. And remember me, as The Rat Patrol, me and the Armstrong boys, we were watching the matches one time and we were going out there we were the young guys, and we was young and hungry and going out there working hard, Bam, Bam is still throwing down. And we watched Pop and Bob go out there. And they had the people going absolutely freaking crazy. And they hadn’t even touched each other for about 10 to 12 minutes, just all Shakespeare, they’re gonna do it, and then back off and it was intense. You could just feel electricity in the room and we all look at each other like, holy crap, we’re going out there, bam, bam, bam, doing all this stuff. You know, look at him. They’ve just put in almost 12 minutes, they hadn’t really locked up yet. It was a pretty good learning moment right there. But you can only do that when you’re over. You know, when you’re young and hungry. You got to work young and hungry. That’s the only way you’re ever gonna get over. If you think you’re over and you’re not, then not is what you’ll always be.”

What the fans might not see in a match:

“How mainly in live television production, there’s a lot that we are involved in that people don’t realise because they, we got the earpiece on where people are talking to us and we keep time and if there’s a message being delivered, we do that. And you have to do it without being picked up on you know, without the cameras. So, you know, I mean, you’ll see I’m talking but you never know what they’re saying. But it’s so hard to do, because there’s a microphone on every ring post and on every camera. So there’s like eight microphones in the area, and you’re trying to get to guys and talk. So what I used to try and do is like, if I’d get in and I’d like check for a choke, and I’d motion a no choke, but I’d be saying something else, you know. So, that’s how I did a lot of that and you have taught low. You got to because there’s eight microphones around so you almost got to tuck your teeth in, talk low, almost mumble you gotta be in close enough where you got that eye contact with, you know, I used to what I grabbed her by the wrist and squeeze it and as soon as they looked up at me I knew I had their attention. I’d mumble that whatever I need to say to him, you know, and keep moving.”

When it felt like WCW was changing:

“It wasn’t a particular TV, it was a timeframe. And it wasn’t exactly when the guy first come in. No, because I wanted to give everybody a chance. But after a while, once Vince Russo had come in and was in charge of writing everything and had as much stroke as he had, and could get people fired if they disagreed with him. And after watching and listening to him, I grew up in the business man. It’s my life. It’s not a hobby to me, it’s even to this day with the company that I’m building, I take care of my family. I got my elderly mother and I got an autistic son I take care of him. I’m running a wrestling company and I’m not running it so I can book my buddies that I hang out with and we can, you know, I can get myself a belt put it on me, you know, that ain’t what I’m doing. I’m trying to make a business out of it. Anyway, that’s how we approach it. Every now and then I might get lost on questions because I get so carried away starting telling stories and my mind goes to so many different places when he asked me, but as far as a different particular match, no I didn’t. I didn’t feel a particular match but the particular era a few a few months in, so, maybe six months into Russo coming in I feel, man, if we keep going down this road, it ain’t coming back out. And it was right, you know.”

On the downfall of WCW:

“It was a combination of things. You know, it was all those things. You know, one of those individual things by itself couldn’t have made that drastic of a move, but all of them culminating together is, to me, my opinion of why it went down. Especially that Starrcade, that’s the most talked about [topic]. Man that was 20, some 25 years ago, and they’re still talking about it. You know, there’s people anytime that people want to know about that, man, that was, as crazy as that was and is as odd and as horrible as it felt while I was doing it because, if you’ve heard the story, then you know what I’m talking about. I’ll tell you the story if you want to hear it. Okay, well, here’s the story. I showed up before the biggest pay-per-view and gross in wrestling history, money wise. And I knew I had to main event. And soon as I get to the building, which was really odd, because I get along good with Eric now. But back then it wasn’t like we didn’t get along. It’s just he was a boss, I was a little referee. And, man, I had a lot of things going on in my life and you know, egos and all that stuff. And he had to cater to a bunch of egos. And I don’t have time for all that crap. People are people, man. But anyway, I show up to the building and you know, him and I hardly ever had a conversation. I’d say hello, we shake hands. And that was it. Well, he come up and met me soon as I got there. I still have my bag on my shoulder hadn’t made it to the locker room yet. And he says, here’s what we’re doing today. And he gave me a straight finish. And I said, that’s, okay, that’s, you know, kind of playing, I figured that they’ll dress it up during the day. And so, so okay, you know, and he told me to just do a straight 123 count, you know, not a fast count. And that was when Hogan covers Sting. So anyway, I’m there and an hour or so goes by, you know, you’re there all day long. And, and back then Hogan went over his stuff, he had his own locker room. And nobody went in there except, you know, except from who he was working with and who he invited in there. A security guy would go somebody would take him in there. You know, I was one of those guys, you know. And that was cool because I was good enough. I knew what you know, just tell me what you want me to do before we walk out the screen through the curtain and I’m good to go. You know, and they knew that. But anyway, Eric told me how he wanted it to go. So I’m like, okay, so Hulk comes up to me first. A couple hours in, you know, while we’re there, he knows Hey, Nick I’m not about that count, man. Nice and slow man. 123. Okay, that’s normal. I can’t do it slow. That’d be ridiculous as what we’re doing, there’s heat in that. But I also so about an hour or so later than that. A Sting comes up to me and says, Hey, did you know about that account? Rapid Fire baby. Okay, so now I got one guy that’s the franchise, Hulk Hogan, the other guy that’s the other franchise Sting Yeah, both both telling me the same finish. But the complete opposite. Whether you count faster, whether you count slow completely changes the complexion of the finish, you know.”

Is Nick Patrick surprised that Sting is still wrestling?

“Yeah. Because I talked to him, man, I don’t know how long ago it was like as time goes by, maybe six, eight years ago and he had a neck problem. And he told me that if he took the wrong bump, you know, the doctor told him he’ll be paralysed. Next thing I know he’s back in the ring wrestling again and I’m like holy crap, did you get it fixed? Or did you change your mind or what’s going on? You know, but you know, that’s, I’ve seen other guys do it. You know, Dean Malenko come back. He had a big chat scar down his neck. There’s been a couple of guys that had that neck surgery, from Daniel Bryan, you know, different guys have had the major neck surgery and told that they’re finished, Edge, and here they come and they’re right back. You know, I know that with physical therapy, you can get to where you’re feeling 100% Again, even 110%. But after time, those injuries, when you get older, those injuries are gonna let you know they’re there, even though you’ve rehabbed them. I’ll tell you right now I’m, I’m 62 years old, I’ve had five surgeries and then there’s days I feel good because I train and I work out with my son. And there’s other days when I hadn’t done anything wrong when I felt like somebody just beat my butt. Oh, God. I tell, some people say you gotta get back in the ring. I said, No. I got bad knees, bad back, bad wrist, bad neck and a bad attitude. I am not getting back into rings.”

What’s the hardest move to take?

“Powerbombs. Because even when, you got to make sure you land flat, and even if you land flat, you’re landing hard, you know, and it’s gonna knock the wind out of me a little bit. That to me was that was the hardest bump, you know, the most impactful bump. There’s different bumps, bumps that are more, more of a degree of difficulty. Like I had Big Show one time, press slammed me out over the top rope onto some guys out on the floor. It’s a little more of a degree of difficulty, but I had big Scott Norton and a couple of big guys down there to catch me. So I felt fairly comfortable with it, you know. And it looked pretty cool, too. I ended up making the cover of WCW magazine at that time, but I remember I was scared. As he threw me, my left hand caught that top rope and the rest of it looked like I was parachute diving. And they caught that, and that ended up being on the cover of the magazine. And I thought it was, that was a pretty cool shot. But that was the more degree of difficulty. But the Powerbomb just, man. Especially if you take it like from somebody like Kevin Nash, you know. And if he wanted to put some oomph into it, man, it had been hard for you. You know, he was always good though he would, he gets you up ahead, he gets you where you can lay out and land flat. You know, he protects you.”

What is Nick Patrick grateful for:

“The support I get from my family and friends, that God gave me opportunity and I was able to experience all the things that I did.”

Featured image: Wikipedia

I had a goal this year to get into the best shape of my life by my 40th birthday. And I’m proud to say that on May 19, I accomplished it! I did this for two reasons… One, I’ve been working out since I was 15 years old, but I wanted to see what would be possible if we really dialed in the diet and the workouts. And secondly, my daughter was going to be born around my 40th birthday so I wanted to redefine what it meant to have a dad bod.

I’ve received A LOT of messages and emails asking what my diet looked like or what my workout plan looked like — and we’ll get into all of the nitty-gritty details during this episode, but I started at 202 and over the course of these 90 days I ended at 177 — and I did it with the help of a world-renowned nutritionist and fitness coach AJ Simms (@cementfactory) who has trained wrestling stars like Bobby Lashley, LA Knight, EC3, Johnny Gargano, Apollo Crews and he’s the guy who got Tommaso Ciampa looking like a beast recently.

I did this all naturally — although hey, I appreciate all of the comments from people accusing me of taking PEDs or doing TRT. That is honestly the best possible compliment for you to think this kind of result isn’t possible without drugs. Hilarious!

I hope you enjoy this episode with the one and only AJ Simms!

On changes Chris made to his diet:

“Yeah, so that’s a huge misconception that the general public has that when they think of diet, they think of the most boring foods for some reason and very little of it. Now really, at the end of the day, it’s all about calories in, calories out. Specifically, what is your energy output according to what your body is burning on a daily basis. So naturally, what I try to do is set you up when you came to me, you were on a quote unquote bulking phase, so you were eating a pretty good surplus of calories, which was great, because it was all it allowed me to come in, kind of tweak the diet to what I like to do, and then customise it after the first two to three weeks based off what your your body’s responded. And then we implemented the cardio and then my products, and then we were just basically calorie cycling throughout the entire process. So if you remember there was some days you had your baseline training day menu, your off day training day menu, and then we worked at two refeed days where you’re eating you know, one time I think was In and Out Burger and Rice Krispies and cereal. And you actually look even tighter about one to two days after that, which is essentially the entire goal, we’re feeding the metabolism while we’re pushing your energy output a little bit more. And what you learned throughout the process was the more steps you were getting in, which is called NEAT, non exercise aerobic thermogenesis, basically moving the body and just walking outside, which is great for everybody. There’s so many benefits to doing that. Just getting sunlight, moving the body in between meals, digestion, insulin sensitivity. And again, just moving the body is just fantastic. But you learned, the more you did, the quicker you were dropping. And I think we started having big drop offs after you were doing about 12 to 15,000 steps a day. I believe that’s where we got.”

On the meal plan:

“Yeah. So basically, the goal is to always hit macronutrients. And Everybody pretty much knows what that is: protein, fats and carbs if you don’t. But also your micronutrients making sure we have enough fibre, insoluble fibre micronutrients from the fruits, greens, powders, or green deep green vegetables. So you want to be able to feed the body, the proper nutrients to fuel it, not only for your training, recovery, but also fuel it for digestion, fuel for sleep optimization. And there’s a lot of things that I had in there supplementation, natural supplements, again, the absolute supplements aiding gut health, fat burning effects. But you were also doing a cold plunge on a daily basis, which is going to do so many benefits for you not only neurologically, but also induce sleep optimization and also increase brown fat, which is the good fat that you want. It’s the fat that keeps you warm. And the white fat is the fat that you don’t want, that’s what we’re getting rid of throughout the process. So the more brown fat stimulation you have, the quicker the white fat gets burned off. So again, it was all the things that you were doing as a whole communicating with me doing the diet. And the diet, basically what I tried to do is figure out okay, what works best for Chris. What does he digest the best? What does he feel the best on? And I think we started in the mornings, I believe with a cream of rice and then we switched over to the Ezekiel bread, because I think you enjoy that. And that’s what I try to tell people when we figure out what’s working for you. macronutrient wise at the amounts you’re eating. Let’s find out what foods you actually enjoy. So that you can add here to the diet. I mean, if you look forward to every morning, you know berries and Ezekiel bread with some eggs, that’s a great breakfast, man. You know you’re getting that powerful spread from the Ezekiel and then there’s a lot of hacks that I don’t even think we got into. You can learn how to make that into French toast with the egg whites, which is a great recipe. So, you know, those things were very simplistic. You know, we had your lean meats, and then your chicken, your 99% turkey, some fish or shrimp, some jasmine rice, and basically just figuring out how much you needed, when you needed it, and then just going along with the process. And then getting those refeed days in where we’re just hitting a surplus of calories, where I think the biggest refeed we gave you was, man, maybe 4500 to 5000 calories, because I think I gave you a crumble cookie too one time.”

On it all being about consistency: 

“100%. And that goes for anybody with any type of fitness goals, you have to be consistent. Whether it’s just starting to go outside and walk like we said, you know, set a goal. 7,000 steps a day has been shown to reduce all cause mortality by I think over 70%. So just getting 7,000 steps and then working your wake up, set a goal for 10,000 steps and then set a goal to go to the gym twice a week and then set a goal to go four times and then start fasted cardio. And once you get into this routine of building your fitness, and then when you start seeing results, and the motivation from just seeing your body change week to week or every month, it’s incredible. And it keeps you grounded in life, to be able to do it in every aspect of your life. You’re a new father, so congratulations by the way, beautiful baby girl, one week old today. And now you’re able to take that discipline that you have in those 90 days, and do it across the board. I mean, we already know you’re a hard worker, look at the audience you’ve built up, the success you’ve had in what you do. And you were just able to implement that into your fitness. You told me on our phone call, I want to get in the best shape of my life by 40. And I said let’s churn buddy, it’s time to do it. You took it on and you did it. 100% man. And that’s the key is when you go in, you got to be all in.”

On accusations that Chris was on PEDs:

“Yeah, I think it comes from a lot of self doubt from individuals. And not to put anybody out there but I think when they see somebody do something incredible like what you did in 90 days. The mentality that the majority of people have will go straight to well, there has to be some sort of cheating involved and there’s no way that he just stayed like this, went for those 90 days 100% out there. I mean, I remember you even went into WrestleMania and you were texting me, what can I eat? And I said, Send me the menu. Because there is food there and, you know, I said here, this is what you can eat, and that’s what it takes to reach your fitness goals. And I can tell you guys that if Chris can do it at his young ripe age of 40, new father, husband, super busy businessman, you can do it too. It just takes adherence, compliance and just working hard.”

What was Chris’ workout:

“So I think what we had you on was more of a higher volume, high frequency intensifier type training. Where we’re not focused on so much what’s called progressive overload, where you see guys go in, and they’re just super, super heavy training, you know, where you’re going to risk an injury, doing three or four repetitions. I’m more of the believer of what’s called time under tension, putting the muscle under as much tension as possible, under a specific period of time with a specific type of weight so that you’re getting a lot of stimulation, but you’re also avoiding, you know, tearing something, or hurting yourself or your joints and your ligaments and your tendons. Remember, this is a lifestyle, we’re trying to go for longevity, we want to be doing this at 70, 75, you know, God willing at 80 we’re just still churning and looking great, you know. So the type of training you did was more of a higher volume, higher frequency, you know, where you were in the gym five, six times a week. And but you know, it’s just incredible that you’re the way your body shaped up, you know, and I was looking at it, I was like, man, you know, I know he doesn’t have time for this. But I can put this guy on stage in a men’s physique show because you have that natural shape of a bigger chest, wider shoulders, great midsection. And if I would see something that maybe lagged a little bit during the process, you know, throw in and do this movement, or maybe throw in this body part extra throughout the week. And again, it’s all about building a programme for an individual customised on what their body needs and when it needs it. But yeah, the training, more frequency, more volume, and you really keep yourself away from getting injured. It’s the same thing I do with all the wrestlers, all the boys, my style of training, and I try to take them away from doing super, super heavy stuff. Because we know if they tear something in the gym, they’re off work, they’re out of the ring, that’s the last thing they want. So, you know, one of the guys I’ve been working with recently, Bobby Lashley, and he’s a beast in the gym. I mean, the dude is just an absolute animal, genetic anomaly. But when I sent him my style of training, he really enjoyed it because it was a different feel to the muscle, as opposed to again, the super heavy progressive overload.”

Who has AJ Simms also worked with:

“Let’s see. EC3, Buddy Matthews, I don’t know if he goes by that anymore. And there’s a long laundry list of guys that I actually have worked with. LA Knight. Yeah! Just man, a lot of guys. I should have written it all down because it’s a long list. I remember getting, we call him Spud, Drake Maverick. But he was texting me backstage at Raw and he’s like, Dude, you literally work with almost the entire locker room. Everybody’s talking about cereal right now. And I was like, that’s great. If that’s what I brought into the industry. That’s awesome. So yeah, no, it’s great. I love you know, I grew up a wrestling fan. A lot of people don’t know this. But the reason I got into bodybuilding is because I wanted to be in WWE eventually, one day, it was just not in the cards for me. And funny. I took a couple bumps, like a year or two ago, for the first time in a row. I never did it before, ran the ropes. And I was like, Man, I got a newfound respect for you guys. The first bump I ever took that knocked the wind out of me so hard and then ran on the ropes. You know, on the laps, I had nice marks, red marks on there for a couple of days. And I was like, Man, this is some cardio, I got blown up pretty good.”

On starting to change: 

“I think the biggest thing is it starts with the mind, right? Everything starts with making a decision in life and everything that we do. You change your mind, you change your life, you know. So you have to make that decision. And it doesn’t take time, it’s an instantaneous decision that I’m going to do something no matter how uncomfortable it is. It’s kind of like you have a cold plunge that you understand your mind will tell you the first 10-15 seconds to get out of this thing, you’re dying.”

On the meal plan being cost effective:

“It’s actually a lot cheaper to eat this way than to go to Starbucks every day and get your you know, 1000 calorie drink with the foam on top right. So you know you again, it’s a mindset thing. There’s a lot of misconception and misinformation out there, and people kind of get set into that there’s no way I could afford to do that. I can’t eat healthy, I can’t join a gym, there’s gyms out there that are $9 a month now. They’ve made it pretty much affordable for everybody. So it’s changing your mind. And it’ll change your life guys. So just be encouraged to get the body moving, and you’ve seen Chris’s transformation. And you’d say, well, yeah, he wasn’t, he already was in shape. Yeah, he was already in great shape. But he took it to the next level, he did work that he’s probably never done before. And you can always look back on those photos, and you know exactly what you did. And if you ever want to do it again, you know what, you know what it takes. And the cool thing is, is you got your wife watching you, and you have your daughter who’s going to be watching you now. And you have that mentality, that beast mentality, you know, when you need to turn it up, man. And then you know, you don’t even make excuses, and you’re a busy guy, you’re travelling all over the place, putting out content left and right. But you still get it done. It’s because you changed your mind.”

What is AJ Simms grateful for:

“My family, for you Chris and that I am able to move my body.”

Mike O’Hearn (@mikeohearn) is an actor and a legendary bodybuilder. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood, CA to talk about how the “Baby don’t hurt me” meme started, why he decided to lean into it, what he has learned from working out with Arnold Schwarzenegger, how close he was to signing with WWE in the 90s, his reaction to Joe Rogan talking about him on his podcast, his biggest pet peeve in the gym, working with Jonathan Majors on the film “Magazine Dreams”, being Titan on American Gladiators, why he believes that you should never skip a meal and much more!

On waking up early:

“I’ve been doing it a while, been speaking to this. So first of all, it’s cool for you getting up that early. Most people I mean, I mean, you’re doing an interview with us and training with us. But I mean, I’m talking about like these, the kids today, the influencers. They’re like, Yeah, I’ll train with you. But I ain’t going at 4 or 5. I’m going at like 12 or 1 in the afternoon. And I’m like, have a good workout.”

On getting results, not excuses:

“Yeah, and I agree with that. I mean, most of Arnold’s philosophy, I’ve adapted or lived because he’s so right about all of it. It’s just, it’s one way or another, you’re gonna get older, so the best thing you can do is fight against it the best you possibly can. And then for a lot of us, we look at it as we get to work out, not that we have to work out. Those are two different worlds.”

On starting at a young age:

“Yeah, it started early. Nine years old, I started training, eating right. But I grew up in a family that was just savages. My sisters and brothers all grew up in the martial arts world. powerlifting bodybuilding martial arts competitions, and I’m the youngest of 10. Yeah, so it was go time from the early years and you know, younger brother getting your butt kicked by your older brothers, typical thing. But when my sister Kate, front kicked me, I was like, Okay, I got to start working out more training more and stuff. And so it was just, I’ve done that so long that I know no other way. And then it just unfolded into one workout day after day, decade after decade after now it’s 45 years in.”

On people not appreciating hard work:

“I guess it’s just when they see a photo, they see a moment in time. And it and even for me when I look at something, and I’ll see these videos of me as a teenager competing and I’m like, wow, okay. It’s been a long time. It’s hard to comprehend that I’m just that guy that never gave up. And just consistently moved slowly, but consistently moved forward.”

Why does Arnold Schwarzenegger still works out at Gold’s Gym:

“It’s the community, it’s the people, it’s the guys, it’s that gym, locker room kind of banter we grew up with and it’s fun. It really does make lifting fun. And again, like we said, we get do it not that we have to do it. And so he’ll be the first to say, there’s guys in the health and fitness world that are always angry and dieting and grumpy, and you don’t want to talk to him. And then there’s guys like Arnold or others that are just walking around training and going, this is so much fun. And that’s again, I think the reason why Arnold still comes to Gold’s still is the same way as still breaking balls and having fun.”

On nearly becoming a pro-wrestler:

“In 92, which is funny because it was the same year Billy signed with Vince. Shane McMahon came out, had dinner with me. A week later flew me to Stamford, we sat down with the cowhide chairs Vince came in and we had a talk, great discussion, sent me down to wardrobe, started getting suited up and stuff, and had an idea of what my character would be. And I was gonna go off to camp, flew back to California. They got into negotiations, but I had Gladiators already. And so then the battle started with well, we got him on Gladiators. And then so it fell apart. Years later, WCW and Battle Dome team up and I get to get in the ring with those guys and have some fun. And that’s where I really got to meet all the guys in the late 90s and hang out with them and do some wrestling. But again, I had Battle Dome. So I went Gladiators, Battle Dome, back to gladiators. And so I got lucky doing another thing but I got to be on the same kind of plane, road I guess you would say with with all the guys.”

On online criticism:

“Yeah. You know, what’s funny about that stuff is you’re always gonna have the haters, right. And for me, and I think at the end of the day, I get a workout, I got a beautiful family. I’m a first time father, a late father. And I’m like, this is just fine, if they want to believe this or that they can go have fun with it, and I’ll lay into them. Because it’s at the end of the day, I’m still me, I’m still having fun. And so why be upset that these guys are saying whatever they want to.”

On the biggest change in nutritional advice:

“That’s how they keep trying to change the most basic stuff. Just, this isn’t good, that’s not good. And to stay away from this. It’s just the moderate amount. And it has to do with weightlifting, food, sleep. Do the best you can, get as much sleep as you possibly can, train smart. Don’t hit yourself against the wall and just fatigue every workout and go blitz out. And when it comes to nutrition, all food, if done correctly, is healthy for you. Have your carbohydrates, have your proteins, have your healthy fats, and then just moderately do this. Don’t gorge yourself and don’t starve yourself.”

On not taking things seriously: 

“I’ve been alive long enough to know, when things are so awesome, they could turn a corner and then you can be ground zero. And same thing. You could be on ground zero thinking you’re gonna get nothing, and the next day you get a call and boom, you’re on top of the world again. So it’s just mostly at this stage, I can poke fun at myself. I think society thinks because you get haters with social media, which is great. But I got friends like Billy Gunn and Paul Wight, and who talks more smack than wrestlers? It’s like, I don’t know if me, Billy have ever actually had a sit down. pleasant conversation. We’re busting balls the whole time. So it’s that crew that you keep tight that keeps you down to earth, that no matter how much fame or money you get, you just stay cool, stay calm. You enjoy it.”

On where to start:

“The cool thing about a body changing is that you only need one aspect of it. So like if you’re not working out and you’re in bed, just clean up the meals. You don’t even have to start working out yet. You can just clean up the meals. And that’s one step your body is automatically going to change, and then add two days in a week. Start just getting movement, that’s your next change. And so now you’re four weeks in already and all you did was change your meals and workout a couple times.”

On the biggest pet peeve in the gym:

“The toughest stuff is the space. There’s no more allowance on space if you’re lifting something that there’s this old school protocols, you don’t walk in front of a person that’s squatting or deadlifting in front of their face and those kinds of things. Or if they’re doing dumbbells, give them space to do their dumbbell work and put the weights down so space is the biggest thing.”

What has Mike O’Hearn been working on:

“We are working on a great, and I’m so happy. Again, I’ve been in this long enough to, I don’t think the world knows that. I’ve been acting since the 90s my first movie was Death Becomes Her in 1990 We filmed it and then it came out like in 91,92. But being on set with Bruce Willis and Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep, I never gave that up. I kept going on dishes, but it just never happened. Like bodybuilding and the covers and the romance books and all those things or Gladiators, those things happen for me right away. But the hardcore acting, didn’t happen. Little pieces here and there. And in the last couple of years, it has opened. And so we’ve been working on this incredible TV show, Blue Ridge with a buddy Jonathan Scheck, who has been the top of the world in acting, and it’s a great show. So that will be out later. And it’s very cool because he’s like this badass Sheriff, old school mentality, and I get to come in and kick some ass. That’s the most recent.”

What is Mike O’Hearn grateful for:

“That I still have my puppy, I got a baby momma that is so supportive and that I get to raise my son.”

Vic Travagliante aka Vic Joseph (@vicjosephwwe) is a broadcaster, play-by-play commentator and the voice of NXT. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood, CA to talk about their friendship that started in Cleveland, how both of them worked at CBS Radio together, how Vic got his dream job as a WWE commentator, the power of betting on yourself instead of staying comfortable, filling Mauro Ranallo’s shoes in NXT, meeting his wife McKenzie Mitchell in WWE, his love of the Cleveland Browns, his friendship with Johnny Gargano, how Shawn Michaels got him into wrestling and much more!

On getting to WWE:

“Dude, it’s really weird to look back. Because when we were in the car driving over here we talked about it’s been nine years since I’ve seen you. And when I was at CBS, CBS approached me with a contract renewal, CBS Radio, and the Cleveland Browns network. They said, Hey, we want to re-up you for another two years. And I thought to myself, if I’m going to get to the WWE, I’m going to give myself 12 months to do it. Truthfully, balls to the wall. I don’t know if I can say that without getting edited. I’m going to give it everything I’ve got. Tommy Dreamer and House of hardcore at the time. I do the with Rhyno, I do the loops, the Indy loops, I the stuff in Cleveland that we talked about. And I really said I’m going to give myself I told myself, I’m going to give it 12 months. And if it doesn’t happen, well we’ll see where we go. And I got a phone call. I was at a Guns and Roses show in Chicago at Soldier Field. And the day before I left for the show, Tom Phillips called me and said Michael Cole would like to know if you’d like to come in for an audition. That happened in September, and then I got signed in December. They let me finish out that Browns season, which I believe they went 0 and 16. And then I started in January. But I’ve never told anybody that before I came to the WWE, I walked away from CBS Sports, and I walked away from the Cleveland Browns. The place I had been that I had covered 4 NBA Finals. A city championship, which is near and dear to me still to this day to have done that a World Series, the drafting of Johnny Manziel, the releasing of Johnny Manziel, the self destruction of the Cleveland Browns, so to speak during that part, but that was, and it’s weird to say now looking back, it was betting on myself. Knowing how much I loved the WWE, wrestling, sports entertainment, whatever you want to categorise as that this is what I want to do. This is what I love. This is what I am passionate about. And I don’t think if I would have taken that year to say, I’m going to do this, that Tom Phillips would have never called me, that I never would have gotten a face to face Michael Cole, that I never would have gotten signed, that I wouldn’t be sitting here with you today getting ready for Wrestlemania here in Los Angeles.”

On specifically wanting to be a part of WWE:

It wasn’t any other company. It wasn’t just to do it. And it wasn’t I want to call this guy’s match. I want to be in this environment. It was this is the company I want to go to, this is the company I grew up watching. If it wasn’t for this person and this person, am I the person I am today? It was my goal in life is to call the main event at WrestleMania, throwing it out there. Because we talk about talent that’s in the ring. There’s only one main event each night of WrestleMania there’s only so many main events that have happened at WrestleMania there’s been countless matches, there’s only been one main event or two main events. I want to call a WrestleMania main event. I’ve called matches at WrestleMania. I’ve called championship matches at WrestleMania, but I’ve never called the main event and that to me is still what drives me to let me be different than what you’re hearing. Let me continue to work twice as hard. Let me, give me Beth Phoenix or Wade Barrett and then Booker T or Nigel McGuinness or Percy like whoever it is, I’m going to make it work with their help, because everyone I’ve ever worked with has actually elevated me, which has been a beautiful thing in itself. But I want to call the main event of WrestleMania. And that is what drives me every Tuesday, or when I was doing Raw, or doing Mix Match Challenge or 205 Live or LVL Up or now even with NXT. It’s to get to that specific moment.”

On finding your passion:

“That’s a great question, because it took me probably about a year ago to finally realize, man, I really have been passionate about this industry. My kids need to have the same sort of passion. My son loves playing with garbage trucks, at the time. He wants to be a garbage man. Go be the best damn garbage man you can be. That’s what you love to do, go for it. My daughter sings in the doorknobs and you know, will put on like Mackenzie’s jewellery and walk around and dance and that. You want to perform? Be a performer. But I think something that maybe more so today I look at my siblings. What are you passionate about? Are you just waking up to live day to day? If you love the movies? Try to work on a movie set. Yeah, maybe write a movie. Maybe become a runner, a grip, whatever, whatever you want to do. If you love makeup, become a makeup artist. If you love clothes, become a designer. Like what drives you everyday? What are you passionate about? Because if you find a job that you’re passionate about, you will never work a day in your life. I don’t think I work on Tuesdays. I go sit with  2 time WWE Hall of Famer Booker T and call NXT. While Shawn Michaels, the greatest professional influence in my life. Yeah. Is the guy sitting in gorilla talking to me in my ear? my wife is the backstage interviewer So I go to work with my wife, and then we drive 10 minutes home.”

On Vic Joseph’s proudest match that he has called:

“I actually get the most compliments. And if you go back and listen to it, it’s Rey Mysterio and it’s Brock Lesnar Survivor Series 2019. And Dominik is in his father’s corner, which now we’re at where we’re at here in Los Angeles. It’s kind of ironic to go back and look at it. But if you listen to the match, I forget where I’m at and kind of black out and I become a fan and my voice breaks. Where Dominik hits the Frog Splash Rey, it’s the Frog Splash. This is going to be it and Brock kicks out and you hear me go, Oh, my God, there’s like I thought they had it. But I lose myself because I’m still a fan. Every time I sit in that seat behind the desk, that’s when I get the most compliments about that’s the one I’m really proud of thus far. And this weekend, I think I have an opportunity with Johnny Gargano Grayson Waller because of my personal feelings towards Johnny. And then the main event of Bron Breakker and Carmelo Hayes, because as they said, they’ve been the two guys since that rebranding or that revolution, evolution, whatever buzzword you want to use of NXT was put in, so I may have a moment this weekend. But it also comes back to all these to me are steps of a ladder to get me to that WrestleMania main event.”

What makes a good commentator:

“Something you hit on earlier, not being the star. You know, knowing that you aren’t the focal point. Also having great teammates. You know, I want to give a huge shout out to Booker T. Booker is Booker, Booker and I do not talk about much, we hang out for hours before the show. When we go out there on Tuesdays, what you hear is, is just live, off the cuff, off the top of our heads. When I was coming back to NXT when we talk about Mauro, Wade Barrett came in, and having done Mix Match Challenge, 205 Live, Monday Night Raw, NXT UK and all these different shows to finally have a little bit more of a permanent home. My confidence was hit a little bit, in all honesty, and Wade Barrett specifically helped me, he gave me my confidence back. And I’d be wrong not to include Beth Phoenix, in there. And so you have to have confidence. And those two, brought it back to me, Booker kind of lets me be me because I let him be him and it kind of goes, Okay, I do know what I’m doing. And when Shawn Michaels is sitting back there and goes, nice job, kid, great job. It’s kind of like okay, I do know, I don’t want to say self gratification. But you kind of have like, Okay, I do know what I’m doing. So you have to have that confidence. But also, to me, it’s telling stories. Roman Reigns has had a beautiful story with The Bloodline that has included Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, and then you throw in Cody Rhodes.”

What is Vic Joseph grateful for:

“My wife, my children and the opportunity to commentate every Tuesday.”

Featured image: WWE

Will Ospreay (@willospreay) is a professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). He sits down with Chris Van Vliet before NJPW Resurgence in Los Angeles to talk about being one of the best wrestlers in the world, having 25 matches rated 5-stars or better by Dave Meltzer from Wrestling Observer, his match with Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 17, the match with Ricochet in 2016 that changed both of their lives, his AEW debut, why he doesn’t want to move the United States, a possible match with CM Punk, why he doesn’t want a WrestleMania moment, what wrestling in the Tokyo Dome is like and much more!

On Will Ospreay’s transformation:

“Yeah, I just never really like, when I grew up doing wrestling, like I didn’t really have the money to like, afford a gym membership. And then when I did go, I didn’t f*cking know what I was doing. Just like with the machines and stuff like that, just did everything. Like I always had like a very slender figure that’s like, because I used to dance for years. I used to do like, the trampolining. And so always always there was active but like I didn’t know how to work out, it was only in 2019 was over in New Zealand, sory 2018, was over in New Zealand and like, we tried these muscle farm workers and like I know like, what a barbells like, what like I knew bench press, I knew all that, but I didn’t know why I did it in certain orders. Yeah. And then why not just follow these workouts for like three weeks. I started noticing already and I was like Jesus. That’s when I contacted a guy called Iestyn Rees who is my personal trainer over in England. And he’s just I can’t floor him mate. Like being so dyslexic man. Like it’s so hard to like read and understand what like carbs and fats and proteins were like and I didn’t understand it. I just like going down the chip shop, I like to eat my mom’s roast dinner. So then like understanding like calorie deficits and understanding like macro counting, it was just mad, I couldn’t understand it like at first, Iestyn was able to break it down so I was able to transform my body like loads of different times like my 2019 I really wanted to focus on being like very quick and nimble for the junior style. And then when I got asked to move, like because we were testing the waters with the heavyweight in 2019 and see if I can do that style, and I feel like I did an all right job at it. Then it was that when 2020 came around and like I just got locked in my room I was just like I outsmarted everyone doing that man, I outsmarted everybody like I as soon as I started seeing like venues closed down Yeah, I heard like like malls are closing down, I just, I went I think they’re gonna shut gyms. My partner of the time was not like no way they’re gonna shut gyms, it’s for people’s health as I’m like because you got, like metal like things like that was like metal barbells or people are coughing in their hand. I went I’m just gonna spend about 6k and I’m just gonna cut out the gym and she went I think you’re wasting your money. I got everything, I think it was like I got everything on like Wednesday and then by Friday they went we’re having a national lockdown, gyms are closed. I was like motherf*cker! The one time I outsmarted everyone man like the dumbest kid in the neighbourhood and I outsmarted everybody.”

On struggling to do moves while being heavier:

“I discovered that out the hard way because obviously when I was like 2020 I was 105 [kilos]. Just eating junk food and working out. Like doing a shooting star press was not easy. Like then I had to like drop the weight again. And then like I managed to maintain like a real healthy weight of like, like it would normally be 95 to 100 like that was, that’s a real comfortable weight for me. I’m comfortable with that weight. I feel like I can move to the right amount that I’m not disappointing anyone anymore. But like one of the things that I mean like one of the things I even tried it like before the New Japan cup forgot her I was trying the you know the the 450 where you go backwards that the ring post is here and your opponents that way, I tried that, I can’t do it any more. I’m just too fat, there’s a belly, I need room to tuck in. I can’t, like in 2016 I had a way room. I could wiggle my hips and everything, now man, I can’t do it.”

On possibly changing his style:

“I don’t know, like because I guess I’m a little bit of my own worst critic, but like I do feel like I’ve carved out like a gnat for this style. Now to the point now where like I have friends that go on US indie shows and they’re like you will not believe the amount of guys that do your style of moves now. It is like even like to the point where they go [does pose] before they do an Oscutter. It does blow my mind, because like I don’t, I don’t really care. Like years ago I used to be like why are they doing that? And now it’s don’t care I’ll just say yeah, please, like I don’t mind. But like it is truly mind blowing like seeing it out there but I do think it is like obviously I do need to reevaluate and I do need to change it up, but like I don’t think I need to change it dramatically. Like Jericho and Mysterio are like my prime examples. I still consider like even now I still consider like Jericho, not a highflyer anymore but like I think a lot of people just because he does a Lionsault so might say it but like even Mysterio like he’s still like managed to call himself a high flyer. But like he doesn’t do as many tricks that he used to do but like that fountain of youth man is like incredible. Like how they’re just I don’t know It’s like a magic act.”

Has Will Ospreay ever had a bad match:

“I mean, like I don’t, I didn’t like the Vader one. And I don’t like speaking ill of like him because now he’s passed. But like I really just didn’t enjoy it. It was just like it wasn’t, there was like agreement puts in put in place and then he like pulled it whatever because he didn’t want to f*cking do the job and it was a whole lot of things but like it was just unpleasant to work with. But like I wish him no harm I wish, I hope his family are all good and everything just because like it’s not easy like losing like a father or anything along those lines. So he’s just like, I don’t like to be that, but I just didn’t enjoy it. Chris Hero enjoyed it.”

On the match against Kenny Omega:

“I mean, I love that, like, I think like both of us really collaborated hard into putting all that together and like I’m proud of it. I’m sure like he’s happy with it. But yeah, like the storytelling aspect of it is I think it just comes from like that real world experience that we went through in COVID. Because I think a lot of people had like, mad benefits that they were like, we didn’t have that, like, so at first, like we got completely locked out of the country [Japan]. There’s no way for us to get in. And then obviously, when we finally was able to come in, you’d have to do like a two week quarantine. Now luckily for me, I had my apartment at the time, so I didn’t do nearly as many quarantines, but then it was like, it was just such a mad stuff that would happen like bam, bam, bam, and like, he just wasn’t prepared for it. Like you’d be calling your missus and your family. And it’d be like hey when you’re coming home, you’d be like, I don’t know. And then you’d be like, I remember, like, one of the ones I did, it was like, I was locked in the room. So he was just mad, you’d land, you’d go around the airport for 4 hours, like filling out all the paperwork. Then, even though you had a doctor’s note saying that you didn’t have COVID, you had to then do another COVID test. And even when you came back negative, you were still transported to the hotel for 14 days. And it’s no bigger, like, like half of the room. And it was just like a bed and, and it was crazy. Because then after that normally be like man, but at least I get to wrestle. it was like, above all this, right? I love New Japan. Like, I love the style of wrestling. I’m passionate about it. I just believe that this is the style that I’ve liked is really made me comfortable. And then the best thing about that wrestling is the Japanese fans, it is incredible. They make noise constantly, you will be just in a hold, and you’ll see like people were like crying in the audience and sh*t like that. It’s like, it’s so cool to them. And then it was silent. So like they were allowed to be in the building, but they weren’t allowed to clap because the government said that cheering would cause COVID to spread. So then do that like you every now and again, you heard him a little bit but then instantly though, because it is such a by the book country they would just go like wow, I knew it would break my heart man like I won IWGP World Heavyweight Champion right? And that’s like such like a man I can f*cking did it like the company puts trust in me. I’m sending pictures of the belt to me mom and dad like being like that are so sick. 1,2,3, I heard nothing. I heard him come up and then cut off straight away, and it just f*cks with you. I really does I just because like when you go from about 40,000 people in the dome, screaming like actually singing your name. And then like [silence], it’s upsetting.”

On the match against Ricochet and it being a surprise:

“Oh, more than anything I once again, I’m like 23 years old. I don’t know how to, I don’t know how to handle social media now. That alone back then. Yeah. And it’s just kind of like, it just blew my mind. Because I’ve never experienced that. It’s like William Regal was talking about who I was on the phone with like months prior but WWE. Seth Rollins was talking about it, like, everyone was talking about it to the point where the next day we just kept looking like everyone’s looking at phones. You couldn’t believe this is f*cking happening. Like, we’ve never had that. I don’t think I don’t know if I’ve ever had that since I don’t know.”

Do 5* matches matter to Will Ospreay:

“Okay, so this is I always have an argument, they don’t matter in terms of my financial game. Okay, so in my life, they don’t matter. I’m not going to make any money on it. However, when contracts come up, and I become a free agent, who’s not going to want the kid that works hard and puts on these phenomenal matches everybody talks about? So like, that’s where we can always argue like so like one of my friends would be like, I don’t know like name a wrestler now like I don’t bury anyone I really don’t but like it’s a case of like if I come up against somebody else. I don’t know, like the current format like I just don’t, I really don’t know. But it just for me like in terms of If that does ever become available and I am on the market who’s not going to want someone that’s going to as work hard and put on banging matches.”

On goals left to accomplish in New Japan:

“I just like doing it. I mean, there’s always I can always reinvent I can always change it up. And like right now the United Empire is like real hot like merchandise sales with us real good in Japan, like we’re number one faction in New Japan and voted by Tokyo sports and fans, and just, we’re just I can feel like something that was like, it was It wasn’t like the best start with like the United Empire because of COVID and everything because like, there was no reason for myself O-Khan, Jeff [Cobb] and [Aaron] Henare to be put together. But we just made it work. We decided then, but there was an injury there’s a bunch of things that always happen but like in the end we finally got all the group together and 10 Jewels make the crown so like now I just can’t walk around in Japan now without like at least being stopped once or twice a day and like people doing the new thing that we just made up in Ireland like, we need a, we need a cool hand so yeah.”

On the true Forbidden Door match:

“I think it’s gotta be Seth [Rollins] after like, after our little Twitter thing like we’ve got to, like, it’d be fun. And he is so over right now, You see the crowd like singing the song everything, it’s mad. Yeah, like, especially from like, what? What he was getting like when we had our little thing, and like but like that was a mixture of like, the bad booking and everything along those lines at that time and like now he’s just, it’s crazy. It’s mad.”

On a possible match against CM Punk:

I would want more of a paycheck! Like now it is quite open, especially like the relationship that AEW have with New Japan. It’s like, it’s so different how it was back in 2020. There wasn’t A Forbidden Door back in 2020. So now the relationship is like kind of grown and like I mean, Kyle [Fletcher] and [Mark] Davis are over there all the time now and I am a little bit like, like doing it. Doing AEW was a real eye opener and like how TV wrestling works and how like the backstage vibes and stuff like that. I was kind of like, okay, like so I guess this is like, how like the American side is now because my only experience with American wrestling is the indies and Ring of Honor, which was like, it was just like go out there and do a really good match. But like this is all about like camera acting was camera cause but he didn’t let me go like, Okay, well, there’s another thing to learn.”

On being tempted to wrestle at WrestleMania:

“Not like in that sense of this but like, of course I would love to wrestle in front of 80,000 people who wouldn’t want to wrestle? But like, in the same sense of, I’m not going to lose sleep if I never do it. But you know what I mean? Like I never wanted to get to this level of fame with wrestling. I just enjoyed doing it on the weekends. And New Japan offers me a lot of money, and I was just like Whoa, I can make money from this. Here’s the thing I told you this, but like WWE, TNA and New Japan were on the table at the same time. And like the selling point in New Japan was that I get to come home. WWE I have to move there ,TNA, most likely the same thing and it wasn’t guaranteed money. In New Japan, I get to come home. And I’m a real home guy. So like the fact that I’ve got to come home was like, incredible.”

How does Will Ospreay keep outdoing himself?

“I do think it just you got to evolve a little bit. You got to like, you just got to take people on a ride. Like I mean I’ve wrestled Taichi. That was my next singles match after that, I just love that. And it was a completely different style. It was just like we tried to do the Kings Road style which he was a student of Koada and like just taking like little elements of that match and just like just like changing it up I just really do. I’ve enjoyed like not relying on the high flying stuff but just more relying on my elbows now.”

On the cost of being Will Ospreay:

“I don’t know when to shut my mouth. I’ve noticed that about that has come from growing up now. [you’ve done a really good job in this interview]. Thank you. But like, No, I’ve realised the one thing that I’ve like, I’ve never been good, like, keeping my opinion to myself. And I think that comes with like the ADHD and like being like, little bit like, I’m swear, man, like, I need to f*cking get round to the doctors about I swear, man, like, I definitely am on a spectrum for f*cking autism. Because I don’t realise people’s feelings when I f*cking said shit. And it’s only now like growing up and like, I never will, I won’t put it out to be like, I’m in like, a position now of f*cking responsibility. So now I am aware of sh*t more like, I’m aware, like, I need to f*cking, like, I feel like I have let people down. And that I need to like, rehash my image a little bit. And like, I need to like, like, there are certain things I will stand by to the day I f*cking die. But like, there are things where I know I’ve made mistakes and no one’s like, it’s no one’s fault other than my own, like, I’ll put myself into those mistakes. But like, I’m doing everything I can to remedy those mistakes and fix everything just because like, this my mom’s side of me. I mean, mom’s has been like, she’d be nice to everyone. And like, I like I am doing my best, because I realise I have like, I’ve put my foot in it with a lot of fans and that fans I never wanted to let down. No one feels like they’ve let down my country more than me, so like now trying to like really do like a better job with this and like to really not only fly the flag for my country because like it’s in tatters. It was and now it’s like coming back out. We’re about to do the Copperbox Arena and it’s going to be me and Shingo again. But like I want to be like almost like I hate the word leader, I really do. But like I want to lead by example. So like, it’s just one of those things where like, I’ve matured a lot. I’ve grown up a lot, like, and it does come from when you come into wrestling, whatever age that you came out. They say that your age freezes a little bit, so your mentality doesn’t change because this isn’t a normal life. This is not a normal life. Like even hanging out with his school friends. Like, they know he’s still doing that wrestling thing and it’s one of those things where they’ll never understand it. Like there’s people watching you every f*cking move and every word that you say they try and twist things now and I didn’t understand that. I almost use social media as a f*cking diary. Like no you lie I should have kept a lot of these things myself and realise a lot of f*cking lot people’s feelings a lot of people support towards you’re on the line. And like I feel like I have dampened that so like I am doing like f*cking everything in my power to just like rehash because like once again, there’s a lot of responsibility at home now. And I want to do the best job I physically can.”

On acting more maturely:

“Like I’ve got a couple of like, I had a messy I won’t say who from. But the like, a guy who was a higher-up in New Japan has been like you haven’t, you haven’t got yourself in any trouble recently. Well done. But like, I know it is funny, but it’s like that actually kind of means a lot to me. Like, no one feels I’ve let down not only my roster like the team like the country like I do. I feel like sometimes I have been just so immature about how I’ve handled this, and it’s an immature industry, it’s so immature. But like half the time we are naked oiling each other up, rubbing fake tan fade out every now and again. He was like all the boys are going ugh! I mean it’s a such an immature industry. So like now like realising like where I am or who I am or what I want to achieve and like everything in between like a really the best job I can now.”

What is Will Ospreay grateful for:

“Wrestling, my family and my missus.”

Featured image: Wikipedia

Taya Valkyrie (@thetayavalkyrie) is a professional wrestler currently signed to AEW and known for her time in IMPACT Wrestling, Lucha Underground, MLW, AAA and WWE. She joins Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood, CA to talk about signing with AEW, making her debut in Winnipeg in front of a Canadian audience, how they snuck her into the building, setting an intention in 2022 to show everyone how good she is in the ring, her match with Jade Cargill at Double Or Nothing for the TBS Championship, some of her dream matches in AEW, being ringside for her husband John Morrison’s boxing debut at Creator Clash 2, her clothing line LOCA by Taya Valkyrie and much more!

On facing Jade Cargill at Double or Nothing:

“Yes, Jade has been fantastic. I mean I’ve, you know, wrestled every type of female wrestler, man, everything, you know what I mean. And like, I’ve seen a lot of people commit to something and then, you know, they don’t get to that stage where they want to be in their career, they give up. And Jade obviously has not been in the business in a really long time. But her passion and determination, and her athleticism and like you can tell she’s an athlete, because and she just like, you can’t tell her sh*t either. Like, she’s just like, she really wants to prove herself and I’m happy to be in a ring with someone like that. And, you know, just to see that the business is going in a positive direction. And, you know, I’m excited for Double or Nothing. I’m not gonna take it easy on her.”

On possibly re-signing with WWE:

“I didn’t really think about it too much. Obviously, I have some friends that have gone back, for example, Chelsea Green is an example and she’s thriving, and she is killing it. I’m so proud of her. But like, I didn’t really think about it too much. I just knew that if it was meant to be, it was meant to be. And also I was kind of indifferent. I didn’t know if I wanted to subject myself to being in a space like that again. And I mean, it worked out. I couldn’t be happier about it.”

On AEW dream matches:

“I really want to wrestle Ruby Soho. I really want to wrestle Saraya, Jaime Hayter, Britt Baker, I mean, there’s endless possibilities there. And I also just think that I would love to do some mixed tag stuff with you know, Adam and Britt, me and John, me tagging with The Lucha Brothers. There’s a million things that I want to do and I just can’t wait to continue doing them and that’s exactly what we’re doing. That’s exactly what Double or Nothing is all about, and you better watch it on pay-per-view.”

On Taya Valkyrie debuting for AEW:

“I mean, I was a little bit nervous. I was like, please, Canada, please, please be there for me. Like, please cheer for me. You know, you never know, you always have those second guesses, like, are they gonna know who I am? Like, I don’t know. And they were there for me. So I’m forever grateful. And Winnipeg, thank you very much.”

On how Taya Valkyrie was received in the AEW locker room upon arrival:

“I was welcomed with open arms and it was such good energy. Everyone was just like surprised to see me. I think Britt knew, I’m trying to think who else knew? But yeah, it was just so positive. And I mean, when you’re starting a new job anywhere, it doesn’t matter where it is, you know, in a studio like this or if it’s in pro-wrestling or a restaurant, like you, you always have those kind of nerves because you never know what’s really going to happen. And it’s like walking in the first day of school. You know, like, catering, I’m like, which lunch table do I sit at? Like, you know, you’re still I’m still, you know, trying to figure that out. But honestly, everyone was like, so welcoming and excited. And it just made me a much more calm person and just felt like I belonged there.”

On sneaking into the AEW taping under the radar:

“Yeah. So I flew in and was actually flying on like the same flight as a bunch of people coming from LA like The Bucks and everybody. And like, as soon as we got to the Winnipeg airport to get off the plane, like I have put a hat on, I put a mask on, and like tried to like, cover myself up because like, as soon as you walked off, I walked off, like down the escalator. And there are fans everywhere. Yeah, I don’t exactly blend in. So I had to like really cover up and then, they actually had me staying at a different hotel than all of the other people on the roster. So that was a secret hotel, secret location, had a secret SUV pick me up and bring me to the secret backdoor. And yeah, that’s how it went.”

On Jon Hennigan’s AEW appearances setting the wheels in motion:

“I mean, I think that, you know, everything had to take its time properly. Like, I feel like people were like, Why didn’t you go there sooner or later? It’s not up to me, contrary to what  people think you actually have to be offered a job and like things have to be, you know, at the right place at the right time. And there had been talks over the last year all of you know, 2022 about and speculation and rumours and things like that. But I just knew that, like my work was going to speak for itself. And when the timing was right, I would get that chance. And that’s exactly what happened. Like, I became undeniable in 2022, I really put myself out there. You know, won awards, biggest comeback of the Year by PWI. And multiple, you know, five different championships across the world., I put in the work. And so I knew that that would pay off. And it did.. And you know, when we had a meeting when AEW was in Los Angeles, in January, was when I was able to speak to Tony face-to-face, because we had spoken through texts and things like that. But you know, I sat down with him and it just kind of went from there. And I just had to wait for that moment, and it came, and then all of a sudden here we are. So yeah, you know, and even with the conversation, you know, things didn’t happen like right away. And it’s just not how business works. It’s not how this works at all. And I obviously have commitments with multiple companies. I really pride myself on never leaving, you know, never closing a door, and I really wanted to finish those storylines and finish those things properly. You know, IMPACT has been a huge part of my career in my life. I never ever wanted to leave them high and dry or, or anything, but I also had to protect myself in the way that I had to pick what was best for my next step. Yeah. And also MLW was nothing but fantastic to me Cort Bauer shout out to you guys, you guys were great. That roster is fantastic. Like these people really helped me get through a really horrible part of my career, or at least mentally, I was not in a good spot last year. And I’m forever grateful for them. And because of them, I was able to take this next step.”

On setting goals:

“I mean, I was almost standing in my own way at first, because I was questioning my value and questioning where I belonged in this grand scheme of professional wrestling. Do I belong here, all this, you know, the mental games that we play with ourselves. Because we care so much, like, that’s what people don’t realize. And I’m just happy that I did what I did. And I did it with intention. And I did it with, you know, like, reminding myself like, remember who you are, the words of like, Mufasa. But like, you know what I mean? Like, it’s just like, I had to kind of do that for myself. And I did it. And I did it over and over again. And you know, that people say like, hard work pays off, well it certainly did for me.” 

What is Taya Valkyrie grateful for:

“My health, my family and the universe for giving me these opportunities.”

Featured image: AEW

Downstait (@downstaitband) is a band from Fort Wayne, Indiana. They are known among pro wrestling fans for creating entrance themes for Cody Rhodes (“Kingdom”), The Miz (“I Came To Play”), Dolph Ziggler (“Here To Show The World” & “Perfection”), Alex Riley (“Say It To My Face”), Chelsea Greene (“Hot Mess”), Brit Baker (“The Epic”), Buddy Matthews (“Secret No More”), Dustin Rhodes (“Goldstew”), Matt Cardona (“When The Lights Go Down”) and many others. The lead singer, Zach Call joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about how Downstait formed as a band, how working on the MTV show “Bully Beatdown” lead to the first wrestling entrance theme they did, being discovered by legendary WWE Music Producer Jim Johnston, how Cody Rhodes was able to keep his “Kingdom” entrance theme when he returned to WWE, the Easter egg of the WOAH in Cody’s theme, his Mount Rushmore of entrance themes and much more!

On performing The Miz and Dolph Ziggler’s theme songs:

“So let’s just start with the man himself, the Awesome man, The Miz, man. He came to play baby. He started off and he was on fire. He had that United States run and he really like we could have been dead in the water. I think right there and then if he fell flat on his face, which he did not by any means and I think he excelled within a year up to the top after he hit that US run. And then we went right to Dolph. We did I Am Perfection. And I guess there was a little bit of a kerfuffle backstage about you can’t have perfection in your title, that’s Mr. Perfect. So he had not listened to anything that Dolph had had for the six years that prior to that he had had that song, so we changed it to Here to Show the World. And then Alex Riley. So these were all real lumped in real quick, Alex Riley took off. After he broke away from Miz, say to my face, which we won a Slammy Award for. We still have not received our Slammy for it WWE, we want it.”

On moving to the independent scene:

“So that was the end of our WWE run in about 2015, 2016. There was a few more, can you do it? Will you do it? Are you the right fit? And it for one reason or another didn’t work. And then we went over and just started doing independent stuff. And that’s actually Cody, right when he broke away, he put out this Twitter thing. And we were kind of a sinking ship, to be honest and really kind of gave us a lifeline. I mean, we had some success, and we get a little bit of notoriety just from being involved with WWE, but we hadn’t put an album out since 2013. And we weren’t really thinking about writing. I’m an administrator at a school. Sean’s a lawyer. And my brother runs a body shop And we got old and living in a van or on a tour bus is kind of tough on older guys, especially guys with families like my brother. So I just was on Twitter and I was in my feels a little bit. I’m like, Dude, we’re not done yet. Like something’s going on. We just got on SmackDown two weeks ago with the radio cover. Like if we did that in a bedroom, we didn’t have any, like WWE didn’t fly us out. We did that on our own. Like we could still do this. Cody put out a tweet saying what entrance music should I use on the Indies. Yeah. And he said something about Throne by Bring Me the Horizon. And I was wearing that album out at the time. I knew one by being such a big fan of his since he showed up with Bob Holly. Like I knew this dude’s character, I’m a wrestling historian, I know what he wants to sing about. And I know what he’s going through a little bit just because dirt sheets, sometimes they’re right. But at the same time, like this dude should be getting a better opportunity. So we sent him a tweet just through whomever we had already worked for him. We said hey, man, can we give this song a shot? And we sent him a snippet of what we were thinking about and I sent him my words over in that hard times breathe better men it’s straight from his dad’s promo. Yeah, like it was like how can I not without being like patronising the situation and being a dummy how can I just sell this character a little bit to the guy that is doing it? So Shawn and I sat down and went on a little bit of a write binger and set something back in within like four hours and he highlighted the lyrics that everybody’s singing now, and it’s just like, Okay, we still got it. We went and recorded and sent it back to him. He took it to Wrestle Kingdom to Battleground. What’s that? That’s the TNA one right? Slammiversary Slammiversary like he took it everywhere with him.”

On composing themes for AEW talent:

“[Cody Rhodes’ IMPACT debut] That was incredible. And they gave us enough confidence. It’s like the old dog can still play with the young dogs. So we did that and then he started taking it everywhere with him and the song was catching on and just that underground little bubble people’s like hey, man, this is a really good tune. It got the ball rolling enough. AEW, was starting kind of at the time. We did something for Britt, we do her song right now. Cody’s brother, Goldust, which is my brother’s favourite wrestler, Justin, who’s also in the band. He asked us to do some for him which I think he could have died that day and been cool. Buddy Matthews we’ve done a couple for him. One has been put out and he used it and the other one that we have I still swears is like one of the best songs I’ve ever written but he did, what is in now? The House of Black And he’s using their theme, but we have a banger for him right now.”

On the Cody Rhodes Woah: 

“So that’s planned, by the way, us being as big of fans as we are. Smoke and Mirrors does have that woah in some form or fashion, we didn’t do that on accident. That’s a call back joke. Like it’s all the way like let’s bring this all the way together. For wrestling fans to be so easter egg hunting, like to catch on when it gets to WWE. It’s like, it’s so cool. And I guess I guess Kevin Dunn is a humongous fan of the tune. So he’s put the emphasis on it.”

On a wrestler asking for Downstait to do their entrance music:

“It never gets old. I can tell you that. It’s the coolest thing in the world, especially when like our guys come to us like Buddy is one of them, like Britt, you can see coming from a mile away. So when we got to do her song, I was like, oh, man, we’re riding her coattails forever. We’re super lucky with all these people that we ended up doing the music for that they are so good at their craft, that we just kind of, you know, ride in the wave for a while. Buddy, though, I thought he was so underutilised. And when we got when he reached out and said, Hey, you guys want to? I was like, yeah, do whatever you want. Let’s go.”

On how song royalties work:

“So that’s insider trading, and you’ll never know. It just depends on the guy or the girl for the most part. We’re also not the worst businessmen in the world, somebody is an investment. Like a you know, it’s a sure thing that we got you. And I hate to even throw that out there. But like, sometimes people need stuff quickly. And if they need something so quickly, then you know, we’re going to charge you know, need this by Monday, which is like the Alex Riley thing. Shawn and I were on our way to a vacation. And WWE called us at Friday. We flew out Saturday morning to California to record Say It To My Face. We sketched it out. Sunday night we recorded it, Monday morning on a red eye we got back home Monday night we were listening to Say It Io My Face on TV.”

On how it is decided to use a band instead of the in-house team:

“I would hope that the turnover isn’t that great that he is so overwhelmed that he just needs to delegate or facilitate this stuff that way. But sometimes I think I want to give him all the credit like hey, these guys can nail this. And it felt like that after we had nailed those three specific to Dolph, Miz and Riley Yeah, he went kind of back to back to back with us on that with inside of like eight months, I think where he just was able to you guys let’s let’s try this out whenever he seemed deem fit like for us to do some form it was. It’s weird, it’s super weird, because not everybody wants a hard rock song which we’re we’re trying to break that mould as well.”

On Cody Rhodes providing help with music rights:

“So hearing it, so we, I don’t want to give away too much. But we were aware that Kingdom was coming and we were in a little bit of a legal battle and Cody Rhodes is absolutely the f*cking man. We were on the phone with lawyers and agents and WWE’s lawyers and composers before, and we have been with them since 2009. And we all have regular jobs. And we just wanted our cut of the pie on this one. We know what happens when you, we’re not Joan Jett, we’re not Living Colour, but like when you use a real song, they get paid, those artists get paid. It’s not a part of WWE’s work. And this is a song that we wrote.”

On Cody Rhodes nearly having different entrance music:

“It was pretty close to it. And then Cody, we held our silence for a little bit and I’d said my piece and I’m my, my heart is in my throat and not ready to give up the song. You know, I’ve worked so hard on the song, we worked so hard on the song. And Cody just basically breaks the silence and he goes, Well, you don’t get me without Kingdom on this conference call, all right! And he swore up and down right when he started using it that if I go back to WWE I am taking kingdom with me. And I mean, he’s been nothing but truthful with us the whole time. But you never know when you know, when it comes down to the moment you never know what’s going to happen. And about two weeks before we have this big make or break moment. It might have been two seconds of silence. It might not have been the 10 that’s in my brain right now. It might have been 2 hours.”

On his Mount Rushmore of wrestling entrance themes:

“So Jeff Hardy at Armageddon, when he had the words over, it’s No More Words, right? I love that tune, absolutely love that tune. It’s the first time since I was young, that I popped when he won the WWE title so that song Specifically, I watched that whole write up to him winning the title and I was invested like I was 10 years old again. That works. Booker T’s without a doubt might be the greatest ever. Ok, Kane’s always got me, the first one. So it’s toss up now between The Rock, and Stone Cold with the glass.”

What is Zach from Downstait is grateful for:

“Never quitting, family and the boys and the girls.”

Welcome to a very special 40^th birthday edition of #AskCVV! On this episode, Chris Van Vliet answers questions that were submitted on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube from Insight listeners just like you and you sent in some GREAT ones this time around. This is a monthly tradition so if you have a question that you’d like answered in the next edition, just send it with the hashtag #AskCVV.

What is your current workout split? And more importantly, do you have any advice on how to keep yourself motivated in the gym, from your personal experience at least. Also wishing you a very happy 40th birthday?!

“The workout split has been, it’s pretty basic. So I’m either doing one of two things here. It’s either the push pull type of workouts, so push would be like chest and triceps. Pull would be back and biceps, and then shoulders and legs. That’s been a really big part of what I’ve been doing in the gym. Although recently, especially over these last few months, I’ve been breaking this up like a bodybuilder style of workouts. So chest one day, boom, that’s it, heavy chest, lots of reps, very heavyweight, chest. Back, then another day, you pound that all out back, that’s done. Arms and shoulders were one day, quads were one day. So I split up legs, quads were one day, hamstrings were also one day. So it was five days a week in the gym. I did cardio six days a week. And then I had one full day of rest where I just really didn’t do anything. And a really big thing that I did and was really conscious and intentional about, especially over the last three months over these last 13 weeks, was seeing how many steps that I took in a day. And I’ve never been a step counter at all. I used to wear a Woop. You might have seen that in some previous interviews that I did. I wore a Woop for almost two years. And I liked it. But I just didn’t feel like I was getting the most out of it. I didn’t feel like it was worth the subscription fee. So I don’t wear Woop anymore. But as you know, if you have an iPhone and tracks your steps pretty accurately. If you open up the health app, and a lot of people don’t know this. I didn’t know this for years. But if you open up the health app, it’s the heart. I guess, image, like the heart little thumbnail there. I don’t know what I’m trying to say but you know what I mean? It’s the heart app icon. That’s what I mean. And you go in there you can see how many steps you’ve taken. So I thought I was pretty active. I’d go to the gym, I would, you know, walk here and there or walk on the treadmill and I thought I’m pretty active. And I was walking like maybe 7-8,000 steps a day. Then I started like being intentional about it. And that was what really changed things for me. I was doing probably 12 to 15,000 steps a day. So that’s walking on doing cardio, some hikes, just and look, there’s nothing better than moving your body. There’s no better feeling than moving your body and the residual effects, all of the positive residual effects that you get from that. So that’s been part of my workout split. But I will say that more importantly, it’s about what you’re eating. It’s about eating real foods and not processed foods. That’s been the biggest part of this whole thing. So thank you for the question.”

In this crazy rocketing interview career, what was the discussion or the contact that changed the game? Also, what part of your life forces you to stay humble? 

“I will say that there’s been a lot of big interviews, there’s been a lot of interviews where I’m like, Oh, my gosh, that person actually said yes, I can’t believe it. But there was one. I’ve been doing interviews in my career. Like I started my television career in 2005, started the YouTube channel in 2011 just kind of posting, you know, interviews here and there, just like celebrities that I was so fortunate to be able to spend some time with. But the interview that I think really changed it, at least in the perception of YouTube, was the interview I did with Chris Jericho in 2019. And it was right after the big announcement that Chris Jericho was gonna be a part of AEW. And you might not remember how big of a deal that was, like Chris Jericho was tried and true a WWE guy for you know, the previous 20 years before that. Whether he was signed with the company or not, he was actively always like a WWE guy, you thought of Chris Jericho as being, you know, one of the biggest names in WWE in the last 20 years. And then for that announcement to come out, and for him to be the big name that Tony Khan had signed for this new wrestling company called All Elite Wrestling. That was a big deal. And I had a mutual friend of Chris Jericho who had connected us together. And I reached out to Jericho and I said, What do you want to do this interview? He was doing a live podcast, almost four hours away from where I was doing it, where I lived in Florida. He was like, Sure, if you want to come up here, we can definitely do the interview. So I went up, I drove up. And this is a big thing I was talking about. If someone says yes, that’s all you should need. Someone says yes, find your way to make this thing happen. So he said yes and I said, good enough. Drove up for hours, we did the interview, the infamous interview in the back of his car. And that interview, like very quickly got like a million views. And it was the first real time that he had opened up about why he was not signing with WWE and why he was signing with this new company. And that interview, even though my YouTube channel at that point was like, I think I just hit 100,000 subscribers. And the pod, the podcast hadn’t started yet. The YouTube channel was like, seven years old. Yeah, YouTube channel was seven years old. But that was the interview that got on so many people’s homepage, and my subscribers from there just like, skyrocketed. So I’d say that that’s a really big one that changed the game, for me, at least in terms of people perceiving me as someone who interviewed wrestlers. Because up to that point, the only interviews I had really done were when people happen to be in town, and they were promoting Raw or SmackDown, or IMPACT, or when there was an indie show, and I was able to go to an indie show and like interview one of the big names that was there. So like, I’ve done lots of other wrestling interviews, but that was a wrestling interview that I think, got on a lot of people’s radar. So that’s, that’d be the one that I go with. Also, I think, just personally, like the first interview I did with The Rock was really cool. It’s like, oh, my gosh, not only am I talking to tThe Rock, the person who I’ve always wanted to talk to the number one person on my bucket list for interviews, but I’m talking to The Rock backstage at Raw, that was so cool. So that interview is on my YouTube channel, if you want to check that out, back in 2012. Then the second part of your question, what part of my life forces me to stay humble? I would just think that that’s like, anybody who owns a dog can relate to this. There’s something about picking up your dog’s sh*t, where you are like, Ah, yep. That’s so humbling, no matter who you are. And I think that, you know, a few days away here or maybe a week away from our daughter coming. The due date by the way is May 21st. But here I am, May 19th. And the baby’s not here yet. So I think that when the baby comes and you’re wiping up and cleaning up and changing diapers that will be very humbling. I think so.”

What is your favorite iteration of The Undertaker and favorite Undertaker match? 

“I think that for a lot of people The Undertaker match that comes to mind is Mankind and Hell in a Cell. But I think that the best Undertaker match is Shawn Michaels, WrestleMania like that match is just so so good. I don’t know how Dave Meltzer didn’t give that five stars that’s something I’d scratch my head about all the time, but I digress that is a conversation for another time. My favorite iteration of The Undertaker is like that late 90s Right before the Corporate Ministry. I liked that dark version of The Undertaker, and Corporate Ministry got like really dark. Like certainly, it was like sacrificing people, like crucifying them like that wouldn’t fly on 2023 television. But right before The Corporate Ministry, Undertaker, I liked that. And this is gonna be maybe a controversial opinion. But I was not really a fan of the American Badass. I was not a fan of the Biker Taker, that just didn’t seem like Undertaker to me. I don’t know. Maybe you share that same opinion? Maybe not. But it just wasn’t, it wasn’t my favorite. And when he finally did come back as The Deadman, I was like, Yes, that’s The Undertaker that we know and love.”

How do I get into journalism and do interviews that you do like podcasting and interviewing pro wrestlers, celebrities, etc. The only obstacle I have is that I have a speech impediment. So do you have any tips or advice for an aspiring journalist like myself? 

“I say this frequently. And I know that it sounds so simple and basic, but you really just have to start. And if you want to interview pro-wrestlers, I’m sure that there is a pro-wrestling school or indie federation that runs in your area. Go to them if you haven’t yet, go to a local indie show. Tell the promoter, here’s who I am. I’m passionate about journalism. I’m passionate about broadcasting, interviewing, whatever it is, I’m passionate about content creation. Would it be okay with you If I interviewed two or three of your top wrestlers, and I put them on my YouTube channel? No promoter is gonna say, oh, no, no, thank you. No, I’m good. So I would say take the opportunities that are in front of you, and build on those. Take anybody who will say yes, take those opportunities, and do with them what you can and continue to build on those. And if you have a speech impediment, I don’t think that that should be something that stands in the way at all, it’s probably something that over time, you can continue to work on. But I wouldn’t let that stand in the way. Like, the world has all different shapes and sizes and types of people. I think that if you were putting your stuff out there, I think it would inspire other people who may have a similar thing that they’re dealing with. But the biggest thing is take the opportunities that are in front of you, whatever town or city you live in, whatever country it is that you live in. There are opportunities all around us all the time. So go out there and start telling some stories because that’s what content creation is really about. It’s about telling stories.” 

What’s the greatest life lesson you learned in each decade of your life? 

“Oh, my gosh. I should have prepared, I should have read this before and figured out like a super insightful, pun intended, answer to this. But I’ll give my best shot here. So I would say for the first decade of my life, like I mean, you’re really just doing what you can, right. I would say for the first decade of my life, it was trying new things, right, trying new things. I started out playing T ball. I then started playing hockey when I was six years old. I played like every sport possible in elementary school, from basketball to volleyball. Pretty good dodgeball player, I don’t say so myself. Kickball, which in Canada we call soccer baseball. You want to move to the US and people started talking about kickball. I’m like, What are you talking about soccer like? No, they’re like, No, you bowl the soccer ball, but you kick it in, then you run the bases. I’m like, oh, soccer baseball. They’re like, no, it’s called kickball. But trying new things, I think was that first decade. The second decade, which would be 10 to 19 was finding your passion. Because I think for me, that was the biggest thing. I was like, leaning into the things that I really enjoyed. That was, yeah, that was so much of that time. That’s when I even discovered that my high school had a communications studies class. That’s when I was like, Yeah, it’d be really cool, I know, it seems like a huge massive goal that I might not be able to attain. But I had this dream and this goal of like, I want to work on TV or on the radio one day. And I’m going to chase after that, which I think then, as I’m saying it out loud, leads to the next lesson, which was between my 20s and 30s, which was to take chances. And the only reason that I am talking into this microphone right now. And that we’re communicating at all, that I even have a podcast, that I’ve been fortunate at all to do anything that I’ve done on television, or radio, or any of the interviews that I’ve done, is because I took chances, and throughout my 20s I was like, What’s the worst that can happen? If I email the station manager, or if I email the news director at a TV station, or the general manager at a radio station, and they don’t respond, or they say no, that’s okay. And move on to the next one. And just like, search for my next Yes. And I think there’s a lot of people that get so freaked out by the idea that someone might say no, that they don’t even bother asking the question. So ask the question, is another lesson I think I learned in my 20s is just like go for it. Because the worst thing that can happen is no. So that was a big lesson and a lot happened in my 20s, like I graduated from college in my 20s and got my first internship which turned into a job in Peterborough, Ontario driving 100 kilometres each way, which is 60 miles an hour each way. And to pay for the gas for that internship, I was working my old high school job in the fish department of a pet store at the mall PJ’s pet centre, Pickering town centre. So, so good. And then that job got me enough experience that I got a job on MTV2 Canada picked up my entire life. Drove it 47 hours across the country started a brand new life in Vancouver, British Columbia. That show got cancelled. This is all in a nutshell here. After a year that show got cancelled. So I’m interviewing celebrities and musicians and playing video games at work and reviewing them. And then one day, boom, the show just gets cancelled because one big media company bought another media company and they had to get rid of some budget and to free up some budget. Drove 47 hours back, moved back in with my parents after being on TV for two and a half years, unemployed for seven months, find a job in Toronto and eventually, got hired hosting a show called Inside Jam on Sun TV. I get to at that show interview Oprah, cover the Toronto Film Festival, like all this amazing stuff. I do that job until I’m 26 and finally got a job. From that in the US. I got a job in Cleveland, as an entertainment reporter for the CBS affiliate in Cleveland. Do that job into my late 20s and then I’m ending this decade here I got a job in Miami at the FOX affiliate there. And that was my 20s. It’s like the highest of the highs and the very lowest of the lows. So the next decade, 30s to 40s, that’s a tough one because I’m just ending that one now. I feel like there was so many lessons learned earlier on. But I think one of the biggest lessons learned was a lesson that John Cena told me. Three words, I repeat them frequently. It’s control the controllable. I think I had a real habit earlier on in my life about getting mad about things that I had zero control over, getting mad about people doing things that I took personally. And I realised that’s another, I guess another lesson in my 30s is not to take things personally. The Four Agreements is such a powerful book, if you’ve never heard of it, spend a little bit of time, even if you just read the like the cliff note version of this. It’s so powerful. It’s four agreements, if you can and make these with yourself every single day. I’ve talked about the book before, but if you can make these agreements with yourself every single day in everything that you’re doing, it makes life just so much easier. So the Four Agreements are, never take anything personally, always do your best, be impeccable with your word. And I always forget the fourth one! Oh, hold on. Be impeccable with your word, don’t take anything personally, don’t make assumptions, always do your best. So there we go.”

What’s an interview you would like to redo? Not necessarily saying it’s bad? But like, what would you do differently? 

“I mentioned that first interview with The Rock. And I’m so fortunate to say that I’ve interviewed The Rock 10 times now, not that I’m counting or anything, and I always say that. But when I think back to the first interview, it was 2012, and I feel like he was just on the cusp of becoming the Dwayne Johnson powerhouse that we know him as now. Because, yeah, sure, he had The Game Plan, Race to Witch Mountain and the Tooth Fairy and Be Cool. But it wasn’t really till 2012 When he kind of came out and became like, The Rock that we know now. Which was GI Joe 2 Fast and Furious 5, Pain and Gain like that really set him on the path that he’s on now. So when I interviewed him, I was very much expecting like The Rock like I was expecting him to, like, have like fun with me. Like, I guess like what he’s done in the last few interviews that we’ve done together. But like if you watch it back, I tried to have like a stare down with him. I’m like, oh, yeah, like, what’s a tip for like, having a great stare down, you’re so good at these in the ring stare downs. And he’s like, Oh, just like intensity. Yeah. Like, look at the guy and you know, look up straight in the eye. And I was expecting and hoping for him to like, be like, oh, here, let me show you. Look, look, look at me in the eye right now. Let’s do this right now. And I think I was trying way too hard to look for those moments and trying to create those moments that maybe weren’t necessarily there. So that’s what I’m, I’m grateful for how that interview happened and came together. That was so cool. But if I could go back, I probably wouldn’t have tried so hard to make that interview about a moment. That’s really it, but I really have no regrets in life. Like, you can’t go back and change anything. So what’s the point of even thinking about and talking about? Like, it’s happened, it’s in past, control the controllable, right? Just move on and do with it what you can, so that would be one that I would just change. But more for personal reasons than anything else.” 

If you could have a Mount Rushmore of guests that you’ve had on your channel, what would it be? 

“Oh, this is another one where I wish I had like gone in, had an answer ready for you and it was like super insightful. Again, pun intended. Let me think here. And this is gonna be all guests. Okay, across like, all different, you know, sources of entertainment. So The Rock is for sure on there. That has been my number one favourite person to talk to. So The Rock, The Rock’s up there definitely. Mount Rushmore, oh, my goodness, The Undertaker. And that’s like a pretty recent one. That one’s one of my favourites and the way that that just kind of came together. They were like, Hey, there’s a possibility to interview The Undertaker next week. Like, stay tuned. And I was like, okay, and then they were like, alright, The Undertaker interview is happening tomorrow morning. And I was like, Oh, okay. Oh my gosh, this thing is happening. I better like put some questions together and figure this out. But Mark Callaway is so awesome. And so humble in that conversation, even though it was only like 20 minutes was one of those that has meant so much to me in my career. And if you remember at the end of that career, he’s like, Hey, let’s do this again, sometime. I mean it, I’m a man of my word. And then after that interview, I saw that he followed me back on Twitter, and I was like, Oh my gosh, The Undertaker is following me on Twitter is very cool. And I shot him a quick message I just said, Hey, thank you so much. It was such a great conversation. I really appreciate you. And he wrote me back and said, Thank you. That was a really great interview. And I mean what I said about doing another one, and I was just like, wow, that is so cool. So that was one that’s definitely on that Mount Rushmore, so there’s two wrestlers. Tom Cruise was definitely one of them, and I got to interview him on the red carpet for Mission Impossible six in Paris, the Eiffel Tower is right behind us. I mean, Tom Cruise is the last remaining movie star, in my opinion. And I mean, just look what he’s doing and Mission Impossible 7 Dead Reckoning Part One, with that motorcycle off the cliff that turns into a base jump. Oh my gosh. Unbelievable. So I mean, Tom Cruise would be able to spend a few minutes with him. That was a really, really big one. So we’ve got The Rock, we’ve got the Undertaker, we’ve got Tom Cruise. And I’m gonna go with Oprah. It was a quick interview, it was over 10 years ago. But there’s something so inspiring about what Oprah has done and what she’s built, considering, especially where she came from. And Oprah is just such a great communicator. And the way she looks you in the eye, when she’s talking to you the way she like, grabs your arm or puts her hand on your shoulder. It’s very inviting, and it’s very intimate. And that’s something that I will never forget. So there we go. There’s, there’s my four big guests that I’ve done interviews with, and super grateful to even be able to list those names off. That was. Thank you. Thank you for that question.” 

What’s your advice for someone who wants to work in the wrestling media scene? 

“I think kind of like what I was saying before is like, take the opportunities that are in front of you. Take the opportunities that you have, whether that’s if you want to do interviews, interview, literally anybody who will say yes, whether that’s at a local independent wrestling show, whether that’s you sending out DM’s or emails to independent wrestlers, or wrestlers that are currently working, take all those opportunities. I would also say write an article or two, write a review of a show or two or three, send them off to some of your favourite wrestling websites and just say, Hey, I love doing this. And this is this is my work, can I just get a little bit of feedback from you if you have a few minutes, and you’d be surprised at how many writers or maybe it’s someone who, like an editor for one of these websites, you’d be surprised at how many people will get back to you. So I would say that that’s a great piece of advice there. It’s just like, do the work, and then try to bounce this off of people who are actually in the industry that are doing it right now. And I think there’s too many people that are going, I won’t do the work until I earn X amount of dollars here. No, that’s not how this works. Do the work. First show what you’re capable of doing. Show your value, always lead with value and show your value first. And then that can lead to other things after that.” 

When are we getting the full circle Bobby Lashley interview? 

“Oh, man. I think soon, I think we can make this happen soon. So for those of you who don’t know what we’re talking about here, my very first wrestling interview ever was 2007. Bobby Lashley, he was the ECW champion at the time, I was living in Vancouver. I was working at MTV2 Canada, the story I was just telling you about. And I did that interview with him. It’s online, if you want to check it out. It’s not great. It’s okay, but it’s not great. I will say Bobby Lashley looks like he hasn’t aged like a minute since that interview 15 years 16 years ago. But he commented on something that I did. Bobby Lashley commented on Instagram. And I saw like that He’s following me on Instagram. So I shot him a little message and I said, Hey, man, it’s been a long time, we should do another interview. And he’s like, yeah, man, anytime, anyplace. And I’m like, oh, like, really? He’s like, Sure. So there’s a few avenues where this may happen. And this is also something, some insight you might get here if you’re looking to do more interviews or be a content creator, but I was like, well, I’ll be at SummerSlam. Maybe we could do an in person at SummerSlam. So maybe that’s a possibility. Also, he had some stem cell work done with Bio Accelerator, and I’ve done a little bit of work with Bio Accelerator. I interviewed their CEO on the show, you might remember that from last year. I interviewed Frank Mir, who had a lot of stem cell work done with Bio Accelerator. So he talked about that, Kurt Angle talked about that when I had him on the show. So Bio Accelerator actually may connect us together so we can talk about his journey with Bio Accelerator and stem cells and how he’s still capable of doing what he’s doing well into his 40s Now, which is amazing. He looks like a million bucks. So, let’s just say that may happen hopefully sometime soon.” 

Not a question, but just wanted to say that you inspired me to get in the best shape of my life, dude. 

“Wow, that is so cool. I’m really proud of you, man. And it was so good to see you the other day at Vons. Look, I think that everybody, maybe, maybe not, you know, maybe don’t try to get in the best shape of your life, it’s big, big goal. But I think that everybody should be doing something every single day to try to get just a little bit better, just a little bit better. Because if you can be a little bit better today, and then a little bit better tomorrow, and then a little bit better the day after that. It just keeps building on itself. So man, I’m proud of you. That’s amazing. And I feel so good right now. I feel like I look like a million bucks too woo!” 

Do you have any advice for someone who wants to be a wrestler? 

“Well, I used to want to be a wrestler, and I trained to be a wrestler. So I will say that the first thing you should do is find a wrestling school in your area. Find a reputable wrestling school in your area that has a reputable trainer, someone who has actually maybe done some things that you’ve heard of, someone’s going to train you the right way. If that’s not the case, I would say find a school that you could go to and maybe even live at if you have the means to do that. Like, obviously can’t recommend flatbacks enough, Shawn Spears and Tyler Breeze’s School in Central Florida. They will let you live there like live in the area and then go to their school. Lance Storm’s school also does the same thing. Before you get in there. I would say if you’re not already, start working out. Like this is one of the biggest things, I’m not I’m not a current wrestler, right. I’m not a wrestler at all. But this is one of the things that blows my mind is how many people just kind of skip that step of like getting into shape. And I’m not talking about like, you’re gonna look like Brock Lesnar or Hulk Hogan, like you’re not gonna have muscles upon muscles, but I’m just saying, like, get your cardio up. If you’re not already, start doing some sort of workouts, start running, start doing burpees. If you can’t afford a gym membership, start doing bodyweight exercises, air squats and push ups and pull ups. And it just blows my mind how many people just skip right past that and think like, oh, I can just lift up 200 or 250 pound men without ever having to lift a weight in my life. And it’s just like, I don’t get that. You’ve watched wrestling your whole life, which is why you want to be a pro-wrestler. You know what wrestlers look like, so do the work. So that’s the advice that I would have.”

What did you do throughout the years to look young? I’m sure you’ve kept stress levels to a minimum. 

“That’s very kind. Thank you. I mean, I think I owe the majority of however I look right now to my parents and just good genetics. But I guess something I said at the start of this episode was I’ve been really good at least recently of prioritising sleep. I’ve also been drinking less now than I’ve ever drank in my life. Look, I had fun. I had fun in college, I’ve always enjoyed a good Moscow Mule. always enjoyed a good Old Fashioned, I have always enjoyed a nice spicy Margarita. And I’ve always had a great time at a brewery. So I have not been, but I still enjoyed going to all these places. I still enjoy a drink here and there. But I used to have. For me, it was like it was zero or 100. I was either having zero drinks, or I was having like nine drinks and just having fun with my friends and enjoying a night out. So I think that that’s been a big part of it. But like a sleep schedule I think has really helped too. Llike going to bed at a time that begins with a 10 ish and waking up at a time that begins at a six ish for me, has been really helpful. It depends on you know, the type of job that you have. And you know how many kids you have, and you know, so many different factors here. But I don’t think that going home and staring at blue lights for hours and hours after you get home from work is a super smart thing to do. And that’s something that I’ve been taking out of my life a lot, and I drink a tonne of water. That was your Tom Brady talking about just like gallons and gallons and gallons of water that he drinks all the time. And I think that that plays a huge factor here and I’m actually drinking, I’ve taken a few breaks and, I’m drinking some water right now like right here. There’s another gulp of water as we keep going here. So I would say, first of all, just thank you. And I also try to keep stress levels to a minimum, by you know, remembering that John Cena advice of like control the controllable like, why am I going to like get so upset and freak out about something I have no control over? Easier said than done, I get that. But like I’m not going to bother myself with somebody else’s problems. If it. I think that that’s been a big part of it for me too.”

Do you have any advice or recommendations for how I could lose some weight at home?

“I think a lot of it comes down to diet. I listed off some things you could do at home like bodyweight exercises, there are so many good bodyweight exercises that you can do at home that are on YouTube. And I think we all learned that during 2020 and 2021, when we couldn’t go to a gym. There’s a lot of great workouts, which I think help, and move your body just I think just walking or running. That helps a lot. But I think the biggest thing that you can do at home is don’t keep snacks around. Like if you don’t, if you don’t want to eat ice cream, maybe don’t have ice cream in your house. If you don’t want to eat potato chips, don’t have potato chips in your house. If you don’t want to eat processed foods, don’t have processed foods in your house. And like I know there’s this weird stereotype, this weird misnomer that like eating healthy is expensive. And I can tell you from the 540 meals that I ate over the last 13 weeks, that breakfast for me was like egg whites and toast like egg whites and Ezekiel bread. I don’t know what’s that cost like $1.40? That doesn’t sound expensive. My next meal was like rice and ground turkey. Oh boy, what do you think that costs, maybe $1.60? The meal after that was like ground beef and rice with maybe a little bit of vegetables in there, that meal might have been close to $1.80 or $1.90. Like this whole idea of like, oh, man, you ate six meals a day. That’s crazy. What are you rich or something? No, that’s far from it. But this idea that eating healthy is expensive needs to go away. There are so many ways that you can eat healthy, on the cheap, and eggs are a great one. Ground turkey lean ground turkey, rice, vegetables, fruits, drink water instead of pop, that’s probably the biggest one. Yeah, Matt, that’s probably the biggest one is if you drink soda, or if you drink juices, replace those with water and you’ll see a huge, huge difference, at least from my experience. And good luck with with your journey there. I know it’s not easy. But again, just like things that you do today are going to help you tomorrow and then that just kind of compounds on itself.” 

Any interviews that went array, but you just kept going with it to witness the chaos? 

“Yes. Go check out my interview with Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllenhaal. It’s like, they were just kind of like very playful that day. But I went in there and I don’t even think I was able to really get a question off. They were just joking with each other and having all kinds of fun and yeah, it just went completely off the rails like immediately. So go check that one out. I just kind of sat there as a spectator and just just watched, just watched him go off the rails. So that’s one to go check out for sure.” 

What’s your favorite steak?

“Bone in ribeye is my go to and I like it a little more cooked than I think you’re supposed I like it medium and I know that some people are like oh man has to be medium rare or just rare. I like a medium. I like a little bit of pink in there. But yeah bone in ribeye. And that bone. The way that the juices flow out of that bone into the steak. So good. So good. And I’m saying this now knowing that my wife Rachel and I are going out for my birthday in like half an hour. We’re going to Orange Hill restaurant here. It’s a beautiful Steakhouse. Look it up if you have a second. And I know I’m going to eat a bone in ribeye, so I’m like, kind of salivating as I’m saying this.”

If doing this for your career didn’t work out. What was your fall back option? 

“Well, that is a great question. All of these had been great questions. But I don’t really think I had a fall back option. And I think that that’s one of the reasons that I was able to just kind of keep going, because there were a lot of setbacks, a lot of setbacks. When I first graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University with my communication studies degree, no one wanted to give me an internship, no one certainly wanted to give me a job. But it would have been so easy for me to be like, well, I sent out 20 resumes, and nobody got back to me. So anyway, I’m gonna go do this other thing. But I was just so passionate about broadcasting and telling stories and the idea of possibly working on radio or TV, whether that was on camera, or on the air, or behind the scenes. And I’ve talked about it before, but like when I first got into the industry, I did every job behind the scenes. One of my first jobs while I was still in school, it was a board operator at an AM radio station in Kitchener, Ontario. I also volunteered at Rogers community television where I was doing everything behind the scenes, I ran cameras, I was a floor director, VTR operator, I did audio, I did everything. And I just loved being there. I love the idea that like, this is the cool thing about TV and certainly crosses over into content creation, too. There’s nothing better than like, doing the thing, which means like actually being on camera, or like hitting record, and then later on that day, or sometimes live seeing it actually play out. Like it’s so rewarding to see your work like on display. And that was one of the things I loved so much about broadcasting. So I think that if it didn’t work out for me, in one aspect of this, I was just gonna find another path to make this work. And that was just something I was so driven by. So it was like if this TV station said no, we’d try with this other one. And if this other one said no, I would try with this other one, then if that one said no, you get the point. So I, I just honestly can’t see myself wanting to do anything else. I have been so fortunate to do this, although I will say that now. Now that I’ve been, you know, an entrepreneur for the last seven years, I have a fishing company, Woo Tungsten, we sell tungsten fishing weights, I’ve definitely got a taste of like, I love business and I love creating a business and growing a business that will definitely be an aspect that I will continue to build on. And I’ve got some things kind of in the works, which we’ll be diving into soon. And, and also like also sidebar off of that I get a lot of messages about people who want to start a YouTube channel, who want to become better interviewers who want to start a podcast and I’m building something out so that we can work together so that you can build your podcast with me build your YouTube channel with me. So hang tight. I’ll have some more info on that in the next hopefully few, I’d say months, few months. But thank you for that one. 

As it’s your 40th birthday, a huge, huge Happy Birthday. What are four things you are most grateful for? 

“I love this question for things that I’m grateful for. As you know, I wake up every day and I say three things that I’m grateful for out loud. So you’re adding on an extra one here for my 40th birthday. Okay, I’m grateful for my health. Health is first. Number two so grateful for family. And that’s everybody. Mom, dad, my sister Kimberly, her family. Obviously my beautiful amazing wife Rachel and her family, my in-laws. So grateful for my family, and I just have the best partner in Rachel like the best partner, Rachel Van Vliet 10 out of 10. Incredible, love her so much and so, so grateful that she’s in my life. Number three, I’m grateful for our little girl, and she’s not here yet. But we just had a doctor’s appointment. She’s very big, she’s very healthy and she’ll be here man, she’ll be here by the time the next podcast episode comes out. I’m gonna start crying if I think about this, so grateful for her. And I’m grateful for all of you guys, like so grateful that we live in a time right now where all of this is possible. The fact that you can get a microphone, you can hit record, and you can put it out there for literally the whole world to see. There is endless potential on the other side of this microphone, and on the other side of a camera, if you’re filming something. And I love that that exists right now, you’re no longer held back by like, well, this TV show goes out, but it’s only seen by this amount of people in this market, or this TV show goes out. And it’s only seen by this many households in the country or whatever, that doesn’t exist anymore. Like, I know that people are listening to this all over the world. That is so cool. And a great way to wrap this up too, super grateful for all of you.”