Diamond Dallas Page (@realddp) is a professional wrestling icon, actor, fitness guru, bestselling author and international speaker. He joins Chris Van Vliet at his house in Atlanta, GA for the 500^th episode of INSIGHT! He talks about his thoughts on MJF, Dominik Mysterio and LA Knight, what made him start DDPY, his entrepreneurial spirit, filming “The Resurrection of Jake The Snake”, why his WCW entrance theme sounded like Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, Cody Rhodes’ success in WWE, what he learned from his friend Dusty Rhodes, his career ending matching with Hardcore Holly and much more!

The fact that you’re so hospitable is, there are so many things about you and your wife, Paige that I love and I admire. But the fact that you are so welcoming is it’s one of your best traits.

“We’re just being ourselves, anybody we care about. Like I invite, I just literally invited Matt Hardy, who I love and I always see him as he’s got a gorgeous family. He’s got all those little babies, a beautiful wife, Reby. I mean, he has a beautiful life. And I know that he’s still working, and he does [the plan]. I just texted him saying, are you still doing the programme? And this is what I loved. He said I’ve developed what you taught me into me doing it without I don’t need the app anymore. And I’m like, Yes, that is my goal for each and every person especially if they’re one of the boys are one of the girls because I give it to all of them. Or give it to any NFL players. Anybody who’s made it that and now their body is their life. And I look at it as Matt has this beautiful family, and I’m like, bro if you ever really want to come here by yourself, with your brother, with your wife, whatever. You’ve seen all this stuff. I have all the anti ageing stuff. The Gauntlet, which I would also love to put Matt through, but it just would help. Again, always looking for a way to hold back to hands of time time. Matt Hardy is such a great entertainer can he keep doing it forever? Look at Sting, you know, I mean Stingers still going, but he’s finally going to retire at 64. But, you know, it’s all about how you live after. And for me, it’s 67. It’s that’s my biggest example, I always want to set like, look what I’m doing. Look at me now. I don’t look like your average 67-year-old or even 57-year-old. And I can do a lot of different things. Because of this, it’s not just DDP yoga. It’s not just the food. It’s not just the ice punch. It’s not just oxygen deprivation. It’s everything. Chiropractic, deep muscle massage. Everything. And that’s what I tried to do when I see someone I really care about like that.”

You are so giving. Have you always been this way?

“Yeah, pretty much. When I was in a nightclub business because I love the nightclub business. It was so much fun. It’s kind of ironic that I’ve helped so many people get sober with my programme too, which is kind of crazy. But way back in the day every Christmas, it was always you know Toys for Tots or anybody who needed something that if a family reached out to me we do it, go to their door, would go to, you know, to that whatever we collected that night or whatever. So it was always something that we were doing like that, but I never really even thought about it. Just like to me you when you’re like, what I’m doing today with the programme and helping so many different people, it’s the best karma in the world. You know, it’s like, I use it all up with my driving, God takes all my saves but God is my co-pilot. Lex had to correct me, God, is no one’s co-pilot. But for me, I feel like God is watching over me when I’m driving just stone-cold sober. I think I’m a really good driver, but nobody else does.”

It’s interesting because the wrestling business and a lot of people in the wrestling business are not usually outwardly giving. It’s a lot of times, it’s like, look at me and look what I’m doing. You’re the complete opposite of so many people in this industry.

“Well, you know, it’s so hard when you’re trying to come up and you’re trying to get noticed. I mean, wrestling is the world of look at me, let me push your buttons. You know, like, I’m personally no MJF. But he will be pissed off at me for saying this. But he’s the nicest. He’s the nicest guy. He really is, to me. But to everybody out in the open, he’s an asshole. And it’s not him being an asshole, it’s him living the gimmick. He could turn babyface in an instant and he would be over even bigger, I think. But as a heel, oh my god. One of my favourite MJF stories. This was on the Jericho Cruise, which is amazing. If you haven’t done it, and you’re thinking about doing the Jericho Cruise, do it. I did a couple of them. And I love Chris Jericho. There’s another goat, I mean, capital GOAT I mean like big time, but one of the comedians was up on stage. And it’s a packed house, you know, that particular night. And I can’t remember his name. But he said, you know, you have to really appreciate MJF’s commitment to being the character. He’s never out of character. My buddy and I, we love to listen to him. So We’re waiting in line [for autographs]. He’s charging more than anyone. I don’t know if it’s a particular moment. But I remember, there was a point of charging for autographs, and MJF when he was nobody put himself at like $150. And they paid it! [MJF said] I don’t give a f*ck if you come here and want my autograph or not. I’m better than you and you know it. I mean, that was one of the great, that’s a great tagline. And I put the kid over because I love him. But he says you have to appreciate MJF’s commitment to being MJF. My buddy and I finally get up to the front. And we say, bro, we love your sh*t. Now my buddy’s drinking a coffee at the time. MJF grabbed his cup, took it, spit in it, gave it back to my buddy and said so what the f*ck do two want? I mean what a roar., you know, but that’s him, he’s committed to the character. So oh my God. I could talk about MJF for hours.”

On the other end of your career. What do you think it was that led you to everything you’re doing now with DDPY?

“Without wrestling, without having that fan base. Like, I have some amazing people who were fans and it’s so funny, the ones that really put the work in end up becoming friends because I respect what work they put into themselves. Like my buddy, Dr Tom Wallen, who was a huge fan of mine as a kid, and started to do the program and went through a transformation during DDP Yoga. Now he’s the head of my BFR blood flow restriction programme that we’re putting together with power cuffs, he’s a doctor. You know, he’s a scientist, and he’s a doctor, and he’s a second level two DDPY Instructor. He’s a transformation coach instructor. Along with being a doctor and heading my BFR. And he stayed up here because we were filming some stuff for the power cuffs, because I want the doctor’s side sure, you know of what this is all about. And he’s gone through all the courses for blood flow restriction, everything. So we’re getting ready to go over and film and he stayed over the night before, like you did. And like I did for you. I’m making breakfast, and as I’m walking over with the plates, he goes I’m having a little flashback here of my 12-year-old self, and DDP is making me breakfast. But you know, without the fan base without that, because in the beginning, anybody who pretty much got it, it was pretty much wrestling fans. Then Arthur’s video came, and that changed the entire thing.”

What do you think the percentage is now?

“I think it’s probably about 55% wrestling fans and 45% [that have never seen a DDP match]. Never. But when something next goes viral like we have, I mean, you have talked about this, and now I can really talk about it, because it’s going to be coming out at some point, probably around the first of the year, I’m guessing. Our showed that it’s a docu-series that we filmed called Change Or Die. And we brought five people into one of the other homes that I kept when I got this one. And I was just renting it out. And then Steve said we need a house and everything’s so expensive in Smyrna, where the company is, he’s like, do you think you’d take that off the market and, and let us use that? And I said, Well, you’re in luck because they’re at the last month, they want to renew, but I can tell him, you might have to give him a couple of months, you know, just to get comfortable, and that’s what happened. And then we brought these five different people into where the resurrection of Jake the Snake was filmed, the accountability crib. And these people go on this journey. And we film everything, Buff Bagwell was one of them. That’s why you see Marcus, I know we called him Buff, because the character Buff today is good. But when he was flipping the Buff, he would become an asshole because he’s an addict. And he didn’t think he was an addict. So that’s another guy that is kinda like gone through what we’re doing. And then it was like, you have to see it, I don’t want to spoil it. But you can look at Marcus when he walked in our house, and who he is today, and he is completely different.”

But think of how many people that we as wrestling fans can thank for their health now, or the fact that they’re still around now, because of you.

“Because of my team. It’s not just [me], everybody thinks it’s me, I always say to them it takes a village. I really took every single person like Jake, I look at Jake today, and I couldn’t be more proud, happier. Because my whole goal, when we started filming the Resurrection of Jake the Snake, which is on Amazon Prime, by the way, and our other documentary is Relentless, you might want to check that out. But when we started filming, we’d never done documentaries before. Like Steve Yu and I, my partner, my business partner. We are the guys who figure it out. I will hire a person who knows nothing about our business before I’ll hire a person who knows a lot about it. I’ll hire the person who doesn’t know a lot if they’re a figure-it-out person. I found that out when I was in Iraq one time. I went there like three different separate occasions to see the troops for like, two weeks, once to Afghanistan. But I was in Iraq and it was the first tour I was on. And I was out because they didn’t, me and Rob Dibble who played for the Reds and when the Reds won the World Series. He was the MVP. He was one of the pitchers. And we’re out there and out in the outer where bad shit was happening. And the Colonel’s like, well DDP that you could drive a tank. I said, Yes, I can. Now how those tanks went, I don’t know if they’re all like this. But here’s a tank, and then there’s a middle part that’s open, and you slide your body in, and you grab a hold of the steering wheel, and, you know the friggin speed like this. And I could just, I’m about 250, back then, I could just fit in. And, dude, I drove it like a madman.”

I’ve known you for years and there are actually some wrestling questions I’ve always wanted to ask you, but never asked you. How did you not get sued by Nirvana?

“You know, that’s fascinating because I went to see Jimmy Hart. First, let’s go back to where it comes from. Jimmy Hart’s musical genius and you know, he had a number one hit at one time with The Gentry. Did you know that? Again number one hit. So what it was a one-hit wonder, he was number one when it meant something like when it got paid and sh*t, yeah. But we went down I went down to Florida. He said so what music do you like? I said right now I’m listening to Nirvana. I really liked them. I think there’s a sound of the 90s. And he goes, which song do you like, it was between Smells Like Teen Spirit, and I can’t remember the other name of the other one, but it was between both of them. And I said, let’s pick Smells Like Teen Spirit. And then he did something with the music. I go, That sounds amazing. Sounds just like it, he goes, all I did was flip the beat. So instead of going bump, bump it went bump, bump, bump, bump, bump. So if you notice you played to both at the same time, you’d hear the difference. Dude, I tell you, I was so bummed out when the WWE changed my music. And on all the WCW stuff, all the Peacock stuff, they changed the music, because they didn’t want to get sued. And then I also found out that it wasn’t David Grohl who owned it. It was Courtney.  She probably wasn’t even aware I was using it.”

You want to talk about someone who’s on another level. We were talking about him last night. But how impressed are you with Logan Paul?

“Oh, my God. Yo, I’ve not told this story, since I told the other story. Back when I first met him. Not this Mania, it was the Mania before, and he walked into the elevator. I was like, Hey, man. Boom, Dallas Page. He goes Good to meet you. I said. I said, Man, I gotta tell you. I’m blown away by just what you’ve done so far, but keep up the great work. I want to get a picture. He’s like, Yeah, sure. And I got I gotta put the Diamond Cutter side up. And he goes, I can’t do that. And I go, You can’t do that? He goes, Well, it’s a gang sign, I go it’s really not. I’m not going to start to like to debate this. So I put it down. And then later I talked about it when I was doing the podcasts with Jake, [Robrts], and, you know, it kind of took off with the internet, you know. So now it’s Mania in LA, and I’m on the elevator and who walks in? Logan Paul walks in, and I go Hey, bro, I go, we got to stop meeting like this. And he goes oh my God. Oh my god, dude, I’m so sorry. I know you are a legend. He was so apologetic. I said can we take a picture now? He goes, Absolutely! But the bottom line is, just the nicest guy.”

What do you think your life would look like if WCW had continued being successful into the 2000s?

“I don’t think it would be this. I might have because sometimes we have to get on to get back on track and end up back in our destiny. But I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s the same. If we do the people’s champion versus people’s champion. I don’t know if it’s the same if we do that.”

What do you remember from that superplex with Hardcore Holly that really effectively ended your WWE run?

“I remember because Bobby works super stiff. And that’s where he got the name Hardcore Holly. And I lit him up in the corner with some punches, threw him in the turnbuckle and like I can judge your foot. I can make a little rip my head off. But you got to hold it there. And Bobby would later apologise because he last second caught me. And my neck only moves so far, even back then. And when he hit me, boom, it kind of staggered me. Now when he would come through with a clothesline, I would always be gone. Like I’m not going to be there to take that hit. But I was knocked a little silly, and my timing was off. So when he hit me, it apparently friggin like jackknifed my neck like whiplash type thing. By the time I hit the mat. I’m like, Okay, I have no idea where I am.”

I feel like in WWE, if you were a WCW guy, they just didn’t want you to be successful. 

“I did take it personally in the beginning, but I realised later, it wasn’t about me. It didn’t matter if Booker was the only guy there, would have been him. If any other guy would have come in who was the top guy, it would have been them. They wanted it to be me because I was one of the biggest faces. I was the only guy besides Goldberg that WCW ever made, at that level, you know, and they wanted it to be that character.”

Who’s on your pro wrestling Mount Rushmore?

“Oh, yeah, of course, gotta be Flair, you know? Gotta be Jake. Dusty’s up there because it’s, you know, I just thought he was unbelievable. And I will put up five guys, put Hogan and Austin up there, you know? It was like those guys did a lot, just monstrous for the business.”

Thoughts on Dominik Mysterio:

“I said this six months ago or five months ago, whatever it was. I said, if I was booking, I would put Dominik over every time he went to the ring. Just because the heat is so amazing. The heat he’s got and you’re talking about a kid who has been thrown in the middle, in the middle of the fire. Like not like you learned to swim, you get thrown in the middle of fire water. And I think he’s done an unbelievable job. When he’s not on the road? He’s like, what I did, I would go back to the powerplant. He’s going back to the Performance Center.”

What are three things today that you’re grateful for?

“My wife and kids for sure. The opportunity to help people with what I’m doing and changing lives on a different level, and God’s gift of the sight of my superpowers.”

Featured image: WWE

Bryce Hall (@brycehall) is a social media influencer with more than 35 million followers. He is making his BKFC debut on August 11 in BKFC against Gee Perez in Albuquerque, NM. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about what made him want to do a bare-knuckle fight, his future plans with BKFC, his boxing loss against fellow influencer Austin McBroom in 2021 and the viral moment that came out of his post-fight interview, his training with BKFC Champion Lorenzo Hunt, what his future goals are, why he doesn’t feel the need to prove his haters wrong and much more!

How are you feeling about making your BKFC debut?

“I’m just ready to fight already. I mean, we’re a week and a half away. I’m at the point in my camp where it’s like now we’re on the decline of the intensity. I’m just ready to get in there and do my thing.”

So walk me through how this comes together because this isn’t like an influencer boxing match. This is the BKFC, this is the real deal.

“BKFC is blowing up rapidly and I see it continuing to blow up rapidly. Me being a social media influencer, I clasp onto viral moments. I thought every influencer boxer, the influencer boxer seems kind of dying and oversaturated now. The only people that really like bringing eyes to the sport are Jake Paul, KSI and Logan Paul. I thought what better way to just kind of like one-up them and stick like the middle finger to their face than to do Bare Knuckle because no other influencers are ever going to do it? They’ll say that they want to but they’re never going to do it. I’m going to be the only one to do it. So it’s like I just one-upped all you people that are veterans in the YouTube space.”

So is this like a one-time deal or are you planning to have more matches after this?

“I want to work with the BKFC long-term. That’s ideally the goal because I see this sport expanding extremely far. It’s like a very, very interesting combat sport. So if I win, I might do another fight, but regardless of what happens on August 11, I want to continue to work with BKFC.”

So you’re known for creating these viral moments. I mean, you just mentioned that there. What do you have planned for this? Like I’m thinking from the walkout to the time you get in there to, you know, the end of the fight.

“So I have my three-step plan. I already have, the thing that I’m walking out to is gonna go viral, can’t say that yet. What I do in that ring is gonna go viral, and then my after-speech is gonna go viral. The things that I’m gonna say in my after speech, when I knock out, you know, a bare-knuckle fighter, that’s gonna go viral. And then the song that I walk out to, everyone’s just gonna go WTF?!”

You know that speech after the Austin McBroom fight went viral?

“That’s exactly what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna do something referencing that.”

Was that intentional? What you did in that interview?

“The I’m not a boxer, I’m trained to be a fighter. I didn’t think it was gonna go as viral. But I was kind of just joking around.”

Because you’re like, I’ve never said that I’m a fighter. And then it cuts right to like, you being like, I’m a fighter, he’s not.

“Yeah, no, I did mean when I said like, Yeah, this is not my profession. But yeah, there was like a tonne of people in the audience and millions of people were watching. Like, I just got punched in the face a bunch. I didn’t know how to take a public L like that. So I mean, it was like a lot of pressure on me, but I didn’t expect that to go as viral as it did.”

You always hear athletes talk about how they learned so much more from a loss than they do from a win. So what did you learn from that loss in the McBroom fight?

So I’ve never taken such a public L like that for millions of people. But it did teach me how to take an L, how to take something on the chin and just move forward and not let it consume my life. This time going into another fight. A lot of people are talking sh*t. But there’s no pressure on me this time. That was my first fight, I was the favorite of the fight. Austin McBroom was the underdog. This time, I’m the underdog. And I’m going into a fight with a bare-knuckle fighter that has to prove himself. Like, you know what, this is why bare knuckle is so brutal. I’m gonna go in there and I’m not going to rush anything. I’m gonna let him come to me and I’m just gonna do my thing.”

It kind of sounds like you’re saying like, he has everything to lose here. You have everything to gain.

“Yeah, there’s not a single thing that I have to prove in there. I have to go in there, my only job is to go in there.”

And then whatever happens happens?

“Yeah. But he knows that I’m gonna go in there. I’m gonna make weight, and then two days after, because you have two days, not one day, you have two days after your weigh-in to eat, chill, recover. I’m gonna be like 185 pounds, in that ring. I walk around it like 195-200 I’m going to be feeling great. I’m going to be bigger. And I can just sit back and take punches. Let him come to me and he will not be on the inside, he hasn’t even been hit by somebody as heavy as me.”

Bryce, what’s the one food that you just can’t wait to eat after? 

“Cheeseburger, Big Mac?. I want, I literally said to all my friends I was like, Dude, I want four Big Macs right? As soon as I win that fight I want them in my after-speech as I’m like, talking and just eating a burger. I’ve not had food in so long I want food. So it’s all good.”

You’re obviously aware of the reaction that this announcement got online like everybody is counting you out here. What was your response when you saw that?

“Um, I honestly don’t blame them whatsoever to count me out. But it’s like, look at the people Gee Perez has fought, you know. Did anyone think that Gee Perez was gonna lose any of the guys that he’s fought? Those guys look like that? Absolutely no fighting experience. I am 100%, regardless of what you say, I’m 100% Gee Perez’ hardest opponent that he’s ever fought in Bare Knuckle. I have more experience than any of those guys that just thought I can hit way harder. I’m taller, I’m stronger. And I’m way faster than all opponents like he’s not gonna go in there and bully me. Like I’m not like a small guy from a gas station you just randomly hired to do like a random Bare Knuckle fight. I have fight experience, and I know how to use my punches.”

You feel like when he came up and kind of pie-faced you, people are calling it a slap and it didn’t really look like a slap. Do you feel like you should have reacted differently to that?

“Again, like what do I have to prove the guy slapped me in the face? It’s like he’s doing some promo for the fight. Did I think it was disrespectful? Yeah. But it’s like, what am I going to do? Just be like, Oh, I want to punch you in the face right now. I’m gonna do that on August 11.”

I feel like what the way in the staredown, I feel like you’ve got something planned for this.

“I may or may not have something planned for that.”

I saw these videos of you training with Lorenzo Hunt, The Juggernaut, who is an absolute beast. What has he taught you about Bare Knuckle that maybe you didn’t know?

“So my background is in wrestling. He taught me a lot of the grappling aspects. Or I would say Bare Knuckle was like a form of like dirty boxing. So like when you wrap up with somebody you’re not allowed to like, hit until the ref separates you. In Bare Knuckle you can grab them by the neck, give them an uppercut, grab them by the neck and give them a hook. Like you can get hit in clutches for a very long time and bare-knuckle. So we’ve been working on a lot of the inside fighting, a lot of the dirty boxing, like holding his arm, popping him across the jaw. You know, I feel most comfortable doing the grappling aspect. So I think Gee doesn’t understand that. I’m not gonna go to him, I’m gonna wait for him to come to me and then I’m gonna wrap up and hurt him.”

How are your knuckles feeling right now?

“They’re pretty messed up right now. They’re pretty messed up right now. But I’m just recovering them now.”

This whole situation that we’re in right now, this whole era right now of influencers who are boxing or you stepping into the world to BKFC? How much of this do you think you owe to Jake and Logan Paul?

“I think owing it to them is like a crazy word. I think thanking them for bringing so many people to the sport. I would say thank you for forgiving creators, smaller creators the opportunity to just show out and do a sport that they’re not comfortable with, or a sport that they’re not, that they didn’t grow up doing for money. You know, I think it’s great for the sport. I think influencers, celebrities, all that’s great for any sport that you do.”

So who’s next? Is it KSI? I’ve heard you mentioned KSI and other interviews is that who you have your eye on if you get the W here

“I don’t think KSI wants to fight me, especially once he sees what I do like August 11. I think he’s gonna make up an excuse and say like, Oh, he lost to Austin McBroom well and I think right after this I want to fly to Austin McBroom again. I want to like actually show people what I’m capable of. And Austin McBroom, whether he wants to do a bare-knuckle or with pillows on his hands. I know for a fact if we had that rematch, I would put them on the canvas.”

I’m sure you’re aware that for a big portion of the population influencers like a dirty word, and they’re like, oh, wow, Bryce Hall is an influencer. I already don’t like him. I don’t know anything about him. But he’s an influencer. I don’t like him. Do you feel like you have to prove those people wrong?

“So this is my thing. Like I really couldn’t care less what the general public thinks about me. If you like me, you like me, and I’m making content for you to escape from your day-to-day life. You know, I don’t care if people hate me. I’m not here to please everybody. And if you like me, thanks. I appreciate that, you’re the ones that got me here. But also my haters got me here.”

I’m a big pro-wrestling fan and I feel like everything you’re saying in this interview and all the interviews that you do feel like you might make a great pro wrestler one day.

“With WWE?”

Could you ever see yourself having a pro wrestling match?

“I can see myself cameoing in it. But I definitely don’t see myself being a character like Logan Paul. I just think I don’t really like that fake stuff.”

Did you ever see yourself being in the position that you’re in right now? Like five years ago? Did you ever picture at 23 this is where you’d be at doing what you’re doing?

“I definitely did not see myself ever doing a bare-knuckle boxing match.”

But what about everything else, just you know, the growth you’ve had on social media, TikTok and YouTube?

“I started social media when I was 14 years old. And I never had a plan B. So I said it was either this or nothing. So I saw myself being successful because I never quit. And I wouldn’t quit no matter what. I didn’t see it. I didn’t fathom how big it was gonna get. But now that I’m here, I’m super grateful. And I continue to expand.”

Do you think there was like, one specific moment, one specific video that actually allowed you to have some of the influence we have now like that really stepped it up to that next level?

“Not a specific one. It was actually like just a bunch of videos that went super viral. People see my face more and then people feeling comfortable with me because they see my face so much.”

Well, this is gonna be really interesting. I’m so excited. I’m a huge BKFC fan. And when I saw that you were gonna be part of this. I was like, Dude, I need to tune in for this. So I can’t wait to see this. And I end every conversation talking about gratitude because it’s such an important part of my life. I wake up every day I say out loud three things I’m grateful for. So, Bryce, what are three things in your life that you’re grateful for right now?

“My mother, my success and the opportunity to fight on BKFC.”

Give us a prediction for August 11th.

“Second-round knockout.” 

Featured image: E! Online

Ricochet (@kingricochet) is professional wrestling signed to WWE and is also known for his time in Lucha Underground where he worked under the name Prince Puma. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about his SummerSlam match with Logan Paul, taking big risks in the ring, the mindset that has made him so successful, his crazy first date with his fiancée WWE ring announcer Samantha Irvin that started in Las Vegas and ended at the Grand Canyon, why he doesn’t do the double moonsault anymore, his favorite NXT matches and more!

Dude, it’s so good to see you. And I’m so glad to have you back on for a longer conversation now. 

“Yeah, absolutely, the one was that WrestleMania was it.”

And it was such a nice surprise to just be able to spend some time with you there. And now so much other stuff has happened since then. And I also feel like almost every Logan Paul highlight in WWE has you on the other side of that match, on the other side of that moment?

“Yeah, it seems to be connected somehow.” 

I’m actually really curious. When Logan Paul first came into WWE, what were your initial thoughts of him?

“I mean, I’ve never had any preconceived notions, I just think, you know, like, we have people come in all the time. So that was nothing new to me. But I’m seeing like, he was actually at the PC training with Shawn [Michaels] and some of the people down there. And then he was like, putting the work in for the match with like, the tag match with The Miz and the other matches with The Miz, and like he’s putting the work in. So when he initially came in, I mean, I was curious to see what happened, but then to see actually what he has done since it’s been, I mean, actually pretty cool.”

You’ve done this thing now. You’ve done this thing now twice in WWE where you know, the promo ends with you jumping over the top rope to the outside landing in front of the person. How do you figure out like, oh, yeah, that’s something I’m completely capable of doing.

“You know what? It’s funny, I was just asking my fiancée. I was asking her I wonder at what age, because the first time I did it, I think it was like, 29. And now I’m like, 34. So I was like, I wonder at what age will I not be able to do that anymore? Not necessarily will I not want to do it? You know, there’ll be an age where I’ll be like guys, I don’t want to do that. I can but I don’t want to. I wonder what age will it be where I’m like, Guys, even if I wanted to, I can’t do that anymore. I always tried to push myself, and that’s something I don’t know. I just like, I don’t know, maybe the barrier, I just want to break through that. Whatever that is, I just want to keep it going. I don’t know what that is, I don’t know why.”

Is there anything that you used to be able to do in the ring that now almost 20 years into this that you’re like, Yeah, either I can’t do that anymore. Or I don’t know if I should do that anymore.

“Honestly, probably only the double moonsault maybe, and that’s not even, honestly, I probably could still do it if I wanted to do it. But I don’t want to, I don’t want to. I did it off the cage.”

I mean, it looks so smooth the way you do it.

“I would have to actually take some time to like practice, really practice, because it’s just one that’s[not used often]. I was just asked the other day, when was the last time I even did it. And I couldn’t tell you the last time that I did the double moonsault, I don’t know. Other than the one off the cage at NXT, before that even like in the ring. Man, I couldn’t tell you.”

Dude, what’s so fascinating about this as you’re like, Yeah, I would have to practice to do a double moonsault which makes me think that all the other things that you do require no practice and they’re just innate to you.

“I mean, technically, I guess you’re kind of right. But at the same time, it’s like I have been doing, it’s like asking a gymnast to do something that they’ve been doing their whole life. Obviously, I’m not a gymnast, but I have been training myself on this type of stuff since I was six years old, and then I’ve been wrestling since I was like 14. So to literally have been doing it for so long, it is kind of second nature. Some of it is second nature when you’re out there like it is just like instinct. Some of the stuff still takes practice now that I’m getting older.”

Do you remember what the very first high flying move that you ever successfully did was?

“Yeah, it was, do you remember Jeff Hardy’s, like whisper in the wind? It was basically that, the guy was laying on the ground and I would do the whisper in the wind onto the guy. Like I remember like, that was like my first, I mean, very first match in the backyard. Whisper in the wind to the guy laying down.”

No big deal, just a whisper in the wind.

“I mean, I was scared to do it, I wanted to do like a Phoenix Splash, a full Phoenix Splash. But I was too scared. I don’t know why. On a trampoline I could do it. But in the ring it’s different. It’s just different when you get in there.”

But I feel like there’s so many moves that you now do off the top rope where you do them so seamlessly, so effortlessly. How do you build the courage up to stand up there, because it doesn’t maybe look that tall.

“You don’t build the courage up, you just gotta go. You can’t stop and think about it. Because if you stop and you think about it for a second, the courage is gonna go down. You know what I mean? Courage comes from when you’re not thinking, you know what I mean, you gotta use, I never do anything that I don’t think it’s beyond my abilities. I tried to stay within my capabilities. But so when I’m in there, it’s literally like a split second decision. Do it on the spot, because the more you sit there and think about it, the more the courage is going to go down, at least in my experience.”

So what’s something that you do that looks so seamless and so effortless? But when you actually hit it, it kind of does hurt?

“I mean the 630, every single time, the 630. Whether it’s my neck or my back or something? It’s usually, I mean it’s a painful move for both people in the ring, absolutely. Anything where you are landing on someone, I mean, it doesn’t feel good when you’re coming down. Like, I’m sure you’ve seen Montez do his Frog Splash from the rafters. Like that hurts both of us. Or when I’m doing my Shooting Star, that’s gonna hurt both people a little bit at least.”

I feel like you know, the more you talk about this, I feel like the 630 is gonna go the way of the double moonsault. Please, we can’t have that happen.

“No, no, that’s like my spirit bomb. You know, Goku only throws that out when he needs it.”

Speaking of Logan Paul, that Spanish Fly that you guys did at Money in the Bank. That one looked like it hurt a lot.

“I mean, it all hurts a lot, but that’s kind of why we do it. But that one especially hurt giving the circumstances at hand, absolutely.”

And this one that just happened on Raw where he’s holding the camera up, like holding the phone up selfie style, and you super kick him in the face. I feel like that’s like an all time highlight for both of you guys.

“Yeah, I mean, I’m sitting there doing my thing and he wants to come and attack me from behind. You know what I mean? But he only hit me once and it had me rattled. Absolutely. I’m not gonna even take anything away, it had me rattled for sure. But then he just wants to get straight on his camera and like start, I don’t know, talking smack like I’m still right there, bro. Like, I’m not gonna just let you sit there and talk smack but it just happens that he had a perfectly good shot of my shiny shoe going across his chin. It was hilarious, hilarious.”

Yeah, the actual shot from his iPhone it’s so perfect. 

“And it’s cool because I look really cool when I walk into the screen. And then I just look at him like, I’m glad he did it, good for him, because it makes me look great.”

I think there’s a lot of WWE fans that may just be familiar with your work now on the main roster. If they were to go and look at some of your best NXT stuff. Where do they need to begin?

“Man, that was such a good time for me, that was such a good [time]. Because honestly, I feel like you can start anywhere and because like everybody, everyone was good. You know what I mean? Everybody that I was in there with was so good. So it really helped me out a lot. But even I guess if I had to point you somewhere first, Probably the WarGames is one of them. WarGames is great, but that’s a little long. So that’s like a long match. So I mean, probably me and Aleister [Black] versus The Viking Raiders. That was one of my favorites. That was one of my faves. Me and Dream was one of my favorites. Obviously I would have to go me and Adam Cole, point you there first because just of what that match was what it became but also like me and Johnny [Gargano] was good. Me and Pete [Dunne] had a title for title match on an NXT TV taping one time. I think me Pete and Adam Cole had like a Triple Threat thing going one time. I think, there’s a bunch of cool multi-man matches. It was like me, [Matt] Riddle, Adam Cole, Aleister, like it was like one crazy match that one was cool. Halftime Heat, remember that? So it was just like, that was just a cool[time], because it was only really like maybe nine or 10 months. It wasn’t very long. But that little bit of time, I just, you know, it was great.”

When you did get called up to the main roster, and you made your debut there. Was there a part of you that was like, I know, I’ve done so much here in NXT. But maybe people here aren’t going to be familiar with me or familiar with my work. Were you nervous at all about that?

“I wasn’t actually even, I wasn’t worried about that at all. Not even because I think everyone’s gonna know me. That just was like, if you don’t know me, you about to know me. Like, if you don’t know me, you’re going to find out very soon. So like, that wasn’t, that has never been [an issue], because I’ve always kind of like starting fresh. Like, you know, like even on the independent scene, you know, start fresh. Build your name value up until like, a new bigger company sees you, then literally start at the bottom at this big company, then you work at this other company, then you go overseas, and then you’re starting at the bottom again. And you know, you go to Japan or whatever, like you always start at the bottom until you build that rapport you build that, you know. And so I guess maybe that’s kind of how I saw that as well. Like if you didn’t know me, then I guess you got to know me soon enough, because just watch.”

What was the genesis behind the name Ricochet because it’s very fitting for what you do.

“So when we first started, it was like this, it was called Chaos Pro Wrestling, CPW, that was our thing. And as I was training, I was like, 14, we were training we trained for like, six months, maybe. And then it was the day, our big show, our first match. And it was me and my two friends and we had started the same time. We were training the same time. And they’re asking our names, what are your names gonna be? And I had like a list of names that I wanted. But I wanted like a two name, like John Cena. You know what I mean, something like that. But I just couldn’t think of anything that I liked. I couldn’t think of anything that I liked. I was I had Ricochet down. I had a couple of other things. But also at the time, like the show Mucha Lucha was very popular. And so Ricochet was a character. So like, I didn’t want to just pick that either, because I knew people were going to put the two together. And that’s not where I got it from. Anyways, we get to the day and he asked one of my friends, one guy was like, Blue Cat, like kind of Azul or something. And then the next guy, they’re like, what’s your name? And he was like, I haven’t thought of one. And then like, Okay, you’re gonna be Kevin. And then they like, looked around. And like they saw one of the cats walked by, and the cat’s name was Hobbs from like, you know, Calvin and Hobbs, the strip. So he’s like, so you’re gonna be Kevin, and they’re like, Hobbs, you’re Kevin Hobbs. And he was like, I don’t want to be Kevin Hobbs. And they like, you didn’t pick a name? Sorry. That’s what you’re gonna be. Is it they got the mean or like, what’s your name? And I don’t want to be, I don’t want to be Kevin Hobbs. So I said, I was trying to think I just said Ricochet because Ricochet goes with, I said I know I do flips. I know I do like high flying stuff, so I feel like Ricochet fits, like the name. So I just said Ricochet because I didn’t want to be Kevin Hobbs. So I didn’t want them to pick some random name. So I just settled on Ricochet. And then since then, now, I love that it’s a one title name. I liked that it’s different. I like that it’s, yeah, it’s different. It’s something that will stand out in a group of names. I feel like and also, like you said, it does fit what I do inside the ring.”

Yeah, like if someone’s never seen one of your matches, and you go, you need to watch this guy named Ricochet. They go, Oh, I think I got it. I think I know what he’s all about. 

“Yeah. So I really, now that I’ve gone through all of it. I really enjoy the name now. And I really liked that it’s something different.”

Congratulations on your recent engagement, and I want to take it back. Talk us through the first time that you and Samantha met.

“Actually, I went to see her in Vegas because she used to perform out here, she did like Cirque du Soleil. And she did like, she did a bunch of cool, like production shows out here. But we actually started on Twitter. She added me on Twitter and then we started talking, but then I flew up to see her and we were hanging like we flew out. And then when I landed, we didn’t have anything planned. And so we were just driving around Vegas, and I’m looking around Vegas because, you know, I’ve never even really been to Vegas before, it’s so pretty. And she’s like, so we’re trying to figure out what we want to do, And she says, Do you want to go to The Grand Canyon? And I’m thinking from Vegas to The Grand Canyon, I’m, I’m assuming it’s not a very far trip, you know, I’m assuming, because also it was probably like eight o’clock at night, because I had just landed and we went, got some food. And we talked for a little bit, you know, so I said, sure yeah, absolutely. Like, how far away is it? She’s like, I think it’s like four hours. And I’m like, I was like, Sure. Yeah, let’s go, absolutely. And so literally, like, eight, nine o’clock at night, we just take off for The Grand Canyon. I think we stopped at Kingsman Arizona. I think that’s where we stopped like halfway. You know, that next morning, I saw a Cracker Barrel, I love Cracker Barrel. And I don’t think she said she’s ever been to a Cracker Barrel before. And I said, Oh, we gotta go, it’s so good. And then she says she hasn’t been in a long, long time. That’s it. So we gotta go. So that was kind of our real first date was like, meeting at like a Cracker Barrel where we really sat down and talked. And it was so funny because the waitress, I guess she thought we had been together for a long time. And then we were like, oh, no, this is actually our first date. And she was like, what? She goes, Oh, you guys have just been sitting here. Like, is she because I thought you guys would have been together for a long time, but they were like, oh, no, thank you so much. So like, from day one, it’s just been like, from day one. It’s been like, I don’t know, perfect. I want to say, nobody’s perfect. But like, we are perfect.”

That is a hell of a first date, Vegas to Cracker Barrel on the way to the Grand Canyon.

“And then our first photo together is like us standing together from the Grand Canyon. But since then, it’s just been great man every day.”

Before I let you go here, there was something that happened during the Money in the Bank ladder match, where I was like, only Ricochet could pull this off. And it’s where you dive through the ladder, and then over the top rope, and then to the outside. Is that something you just look at and go, Oh, of course, I can pull that off. 

“I think it’s something that I look at, and I go Yeah, I think I can do that. And then in the moment, you just gotta go for it. It’s literally it’s, there’s no like, practice. Really, there’s no, but I mean, obviously, you get the big, I think it was like a 12 foot ladder. So it was a huge ladder. And we’re the, I guess the braces cross, that little triangle is actually pretty, I mean, it was pretty big. I actually clipped my elbow though I still have like a cut on my elbow, because when I went to jump through, I just clipped my elbow a little bit, but it’s just one of those things where you gotta like, you see somebody out there you think you can do it and you just gotta again, don’t think about it. You just gotta go for it.”

You are like a real life superhero. I’m actually really curious. Who’s Who is your favorite superhero?

“My favorites, my list has like, changed over the years, but I think consistently, Peter Parker is my favourite superhero, Spider Man. Like since I’ve been like a kid, I feel like especially when I was younger, and I used to read the comics and watch old cartoons like I could relate to a kid going to school and trying to be a superhero type thing. So Peter Parker has always been one of my favourites. And then the flash. I’m a big fan of The Flash, obviously. Goku has been up there. I don’t know Goku counts as like a superhero. But just our inspirations, I’ll be in the gym working out and I was like, Okay, Goku would do another one that literally like do another set because Goku would do it. That’s how I kind of like push myself.

So I think I asked you this at WrestleMania but I’m gonna ask you it again. What are three things in your life right now that you’re grateful for?

“Sam, my family and my friends.”

Featured image: SPORF

It’s that time of the month again! Chris answers your questions that you submitted on social media with the hashtag #AskCVV. Send one in next month! We’ve got a range of topics from wrestling storylines to interviewing advice to acting with Liam Neeson!

Do you think Jay Uso has a chance in defeating Roman Reigns at SummerSlam for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship? And who do you think would be next for Roman Reigns if Jey is able to dethrone him as the tribal chief? 

“It’s a great question. And the answer to the very first one here, I think, yes, of course, he has a chance. Anyone has a chance in the WWE Universe. I don’t think that it’s going to happen though. I think it’s going to be an incredibly entertaining match. And this Bloodline story has been so so good. And I’m speaking without hyperbole here, this is truly one of the greatest wrestling storylines in the last 20 years easily. And then I think if you expand it beyond that, like back into the 90s, and then 80s. Beyond that, I mean, it’s a top five or 10 wrestling storyline, I think of all time, and I know that that is a bold, hot take there. But I love that it’s culminating in these great matches, and Sami being worked into this and the match with Cody at WrestleMania 39 being worked into The Bloodline storyline. So I think that of course Jey has a chance that it’s going to be an amazing match, but I don’t think that Jey Uso is the one that dethrones him, at least not yet. I really think that Roman is going to have this championship leading into the end of this year into 2024 into the Royal Rumble and then I think that something happens at WrestleMania 40. I mean, it seems like the story was leading up to at some point, Cody Rhodes finishing the story. WrestleMania 40 I don’t know how that happens, though. With them being on two different shows with Cody being on Raw and Roman being on SmackDow,n I don’t know how they Bring this back together unless Cody wins the rumble again, which I don’t. If you were to ask me at this exact moment right now July of 2023. With the way things are going that storyline doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense. So I think that we’re gonna see a lot of interesting matches leading up to WrestleMania 40. But I think that Roman is the champion going into WrestleMania 40. I don’t know if he’s the champion leaving WrestleMania 40. So we’ll have to see there, but the match that I think that I am most interested in for SummerSlam and I think that a lot of people know it’s gonna steal the show is Logan Paul versus Ricochet. And Triple H has said this many times. So this is his quote, not mine. Logan Paul has no business being this good. I mean, it’s not just the moves, not just the athleticism, it’s the fact that he gets what makes someone a great pro-wrestler like he has the facials, he has the selling. His promos are actually really good too, for a guy who like didn’t come up through the Indies and didn’t spend time in NXT, like hasn’t done live events. His promos are so good. And I’ve said this a few times before, so stop me if you’ve heard this. But I truly think that Logan Paul is the new Shane McMahon, because Shane McMahon would go into these matches, and you’re like, I don’t really care if he wins or loses, but he’s gonna do something silly. Or like, oh my gosh, this is a ladder match or, oh my gosh, this is a hardcore match. He’s gonna do something silly, he’s gonna do something entertaining. He’s gonna do something that we’re going to be talking about here we are talking about Shane McMahon stuff 20 years later with you know, the Steve Blackman spot with the elbow or the Kurt Angle at King of the Ring and the glass like the list goes on and on and on him jumping off Hell in a Cell, all that stuff. And that’s where I think Logan Paul is, so put Logan Paul with his insane athleticism against Ricochet who’s Oh my God, so incredibly underrated and underutilised. Put them together in one match. It’s gonna be good. It’s gonna be good. Also Cody versus Brock. And really, I think that Cody has to win this right? Like Cody has to win this for this to continue on. But then what does that mean for Brock Lesnar? So does Cody win in some sort of dirty way? I don’t know. I just can’t see Cody winning clean. And if he does, I don’t know what’s next for him after that. So that match is the one that is the most interesting to me. And just in terms of like, I really don’t know what’s going to happen here.”

Why did you spoil that John Cena was in the Barbie movie? Just kidding. 

“I know you’re just kidding. But I know how many people were actually serious about that. So to kind of give a backstory here, I did the interviews for the Barbie movie, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling and the whole rest of the cast of the movie. And I saw John Cena in the movie. He’s not in it for very long, but there’s a fun cameo of John Cena as a merman. So when I went in to talk to Margot Robbie, who was a wrestling fan, by the way, I, of course, had to bring this up like it’s because of Margot Robbie, that John Cena got into this movie, and I created this fun moment. This was not me spoiling anything. When I posted this three weeks ago, the movie studio Warner Brothers announced this in April. His name was in the trailer in April. Then John Cena went on The Today Show, you know, small, little tiny show, The Today Show in May, to talk about this role and how this came together and him bumping into Margot Robbie at dinner and like blah, blah, blah. I’m in the movie. So I was blown away by everyone’s reaction to me spoiling this by, you know, putting this out there. How could I spoil something that the movie studio already told you about? I don’t think it’s spoiling. It’s just that I delivered the news to you instead of another news source.”

Do you have a guest planned for the big episode number 500?

“I do. I have a guest planned for this and I’ll talk more about it when we actually roll out Episode number 500. Which man I’m so excited about. I can’t believe that’s a real number. But episode number 500 is going to be rolled out on Tuesday, August 8. And I thought long and hard about this, because, I mean, who do you get? It’s such a monumental like, Okay, on one hand, it’s monumental, 500 episodes. On the other hand, it’s just the first of 500 episodes, like, we’re gonna do another 500, and then another 500 after that, and after that, you know, keep going, keep going. So in one way, it’s like, yes, let’s celebrate the little wins, let’s celebrate everything that’s happened along the way, here we are 500 episodes in. But also, it’s like, it’s just kind of another episode, because we’re just gonna, you know, that’s gonna be an episode on Tuesday, then there’s gonna be another one on Thursday. And we’re gonna keep moving forward from there. But I picked a guest, that means so much to me. It’s someone who has been so insanely kind to me, and someone who is a legend. So I’ll just leave it at that. And you can draw some conclusions, and you can make some guesses or you can tweet me what you think. But it’s gonna be a really special one. So you’ll be seeing that on August 8, and I can’t wait. I can’t wait.” 

What is your favorite wrestling storyline of all the time? 

“That is difficult because there have been so many great ones. But I think I’ve got to go back to McMahon versus Austin because that was the storyline that really hooked me and got me in. And I think that that was like, really the backbone of what made the Attitude Era great in the beginning part of the Attitude Era. Vince McMahon, going from being a commentator to being like a character. And leaning into that, after all, the Bret Hart stuff like that was just, it’s brilliant. And I think that it was so relatable, because we’ve all worked for a boss that we don’t like, or we’ve all worked for a boss who’s maybe a little bit too arrogant. And Vince McMahon just took all of those qualities and rolled them into this one, the Mr. McMahon character. And then I think we can all relate to Stone Cold, you know, wanting to give your boss the finger or all of those other things that they did during that storyline. So that storyline for me was really special because it got me in it sucked me in, you know, to be a wrestling fan than I am now. And also, I just think that it was just really smart writing. And it led to so many other great things after that. So, look, there’s been a tonne of great storylines in the history of this incredible business. But that one for me personally means the most.”

When you were just starting out in your channel, what kept you going at the beginning? 

“So I mean, I take it way back. I’m like, I’m not an OG, actually I guess I did have a YouTube channel in 2007. Quick story. I was working for MTV 2 Canada at the time, I was working in Vancouver on a show called 969. And we were getting huge interviews with some of the biggest musicians in the world at the time. And I just always had this like, it just like kind of bugged me a little bit that you would talk to a huge band, and then the only people that would see it would be the people that happened to be watching your channel at that exact time on that exact day. So me and my co-host at the time Lauren Toyota, who was incredibly talented. We started these like burner accounts like mine had this stupid still a YouTube account so you can look it up. It was dirty pirate hooker 123, which is a joke from a line in Anchorman. You’re a dirty pirate hooker. So dirty pirate hooker 123. And I put like a few interviews on there just because, if you didn’t watch the TV channel, but you are a fan of the band, a big one was The Fray. Remember The Fray? That band in like the mid 2000s, I had a great interview with them. And I was really proud of it so I just took it off the TV channel, just put it on this random YouTube channel that I had. And I was just like, I want other fans of this band to be able to see this interview. So I did that a few times. It’s just a few interviews on that channel. And then in 2011, I continued the same thinking. And in the meantime, I went from Vancouver to hosting a show in Toronto, to then in 2010. Moving to Cleveland, and working for the CBS affiliate there and getting access to like even bigger stars like some of the biggest stars on the planet. You’ve heard me talk about this before. I’ve talked to Samuel Jackson and Tom Cruise and George Clooney and Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep and Steven Spielberg. And now the list goes on and on and on. And again, I had the same idea of like I’m doing these interviews with these huge names. What if you’re a huge Morgan Freeman fan, but you don’t live in Cleveland, and you’re not tuned in at exactly 419 on that Thursday, well, that’s too bad. You didn’t get to see that interview. So that’s where like it started for me of like, I just wanted other people to see these interviews, especially like at that time, Twilight was a really big movie. Hunger Games started to be a big movie that time. And I was interviewing Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner. And then Jennifer Lawrence. And so I had these huge interviews with these huge names for these huge movies. And I was just like, Man, if I can get these up, fellow fans of these movies can enjoy these interviews. That was really all that kept me going. In the beginning, I had access to some amazing, amazingly talented people that were some of the biggest stars on the planet at that point in time and was just like, I just want to get this out there. I didn’t think about content being a job. I never thought of this. In 2011, when I started my main YouTube channel, never thought this would be like a full time gig. I didn’t even know what AdSense was. It wasn’t until like, I think a year into me having that channel, I was having a random conversation with one of my colleagues. And he was like, oh, yeah, blah, blah, blah. When I upload videos, you know, it’s not a lot of money, but the Google AdSense is okay. And I was like, hold on, pardon me, what? Money? And he’s like, oh, yeah, there’s this thing called Google AdSense. You just go to the website, you like click a consent box? And when you get $100, they’ll pay you out? I’m like, Are you serious? He’s like, Yeah, what did you think those ads were on YouTube. And I just didn’t know. So at that point, my goal was just to like, make $100 a month, and get paid out every single month. And I was fortunate that that started happening, like, relatively quickly, I think like, within two or three months of starting my Google adsense account, I went from, like, $33 to like, I don’t know, $71. And then I was like, Oh my gosh, like $124 for just uploading these interviews that I already enjoyed doing. And then it kind of bled over to the wrestling world where WrestleMania 27. If you go way back on my YouTube channel, I was there at like, WrestleMania access, and they would like stop the autograph line. I went up with my flip camera. If you remember a flip camera. And I was recording these interviews, I did one with Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, which you can see on my channel. And it was just kind of like a situation where I was there. I was in the same building as these people. Can I borrow a minute or two or three of their time to you know, get a quick interview with them. And as a wrestling fan, talking to wrestlers, that was really what started to give the channel some momentum. When it wasn’t just celebrities, it was like Raw is in town, The Miz is from Cleveland, he’s coming home. I live in Cleveland, does he want to come by the TV station and talk about wrestling for 10 or 15 minutes with a wrestling fan? And he was like, Yeah, sure, let’s do it. That was really what kept me going was like, I get to talk to people that I look up to about the stuff that they are so good at. And then as it kept going, it was just like, I just kind of got just really hooked on that idea. I did one. Can I do another one? Oh, I did another one. Can I do another one after that? Oh, I did another one after that. And then like you’d have an indie wrestling company come to the town you were living in for me Cleveland at that time. And then down the line. It was Miami was like, oh, Christopher Daniels is going to be in AIW. Well, I kind of know that guy. I met the guy once who runs AIW, John Thorne, could I reach out to him and ask if we could interview Christopher Daniels for the TV station, and then also do a longer interview for my YouTube channel. What? He just said yes, that was really what drove this. So I hope that whatever it is, with the channel that you have, or the podcasts that you have, that you can find that passion, because that’s what it really comes down to is being excited about what you’re doing. And I get really excited about these interviews. And I hope that you can feel that I get excited about doing these episodes. And I hope that you can feel that too. And I’ve teased this a bunch over the last probably two months, but I’m building something out for people who want to be a full time creator. And I want to be able to dump all of the knowledge that I have and tell you all of the mistakes that I have made so you can learn from them and not make them yourself. I’m going to be rolling this out and we think it’s probably two or three weeks, so keep an eye out for that. Something about being a full time creator. And we’re building up a membership so you can be part of that community.”

What was your first impression of Sean Ricker? I mean, LA Knight? Yeah!

“I mean, the guy is so talented, so talented. And he actually said this in the first interview that we did, but you could even like watch him on mute. Or you could just watch a GIF, and you can see that the guy just has his charisma like oozing out of him. I was very familiar with his work as Eli Drake in IMPACT Wrestling, and I think people sleep on the fact that he’s a world champion. He was a world champion in IMPACT Wrestling. And I interviewed him. It was the first interview. I did the first interview with him after he asked for his release from IMPACT Wrestling, and I don’t want to like put words in his mouth. So you can check out the interview that we did from 2019 to find out like why did he ask for his release from IMPACT Wrestling, and then he didn’t show up to WWE till several years later. But the guy is so talented. He has the look, he has the voice. He has the charisma. He has the body. He has everything. And I just think that I wish that WWE had seen what he was capable of the first time that he was in WWE like 10 years ago. I wish they’d seen it. Because then I think that we’d be talking about whatever his character would have ended up being called in WWE. I don’t know if they would have stuck with his NXT name. But I feel like we’d be talking about him 10 years into his WWE career, a highly decorated superstar but I think there’s no mistakes in life. I think that the things in your life happen for a reason. And like The Rock, you know, told me during that one interview we did, sometimes the best things in life are the things that don’t happen. And perhaps for Sean/Eli/LA, maybe the best thing to happen in his life was to not stay with WWE, and to really find his path with IMPACT Wrestling and NWA and then found his way back to NXT in WWE, so I’m really excited for what’s next for him. Dude needs to start winning some more though, like he’s so over without really having a main storyline. Isn’t that crazy? And he’s so over without having really any big wins like his last storyline was. I mean, his last real big storyline was the Bray Wyatt Pitch Black match, that Mountain Dew match at Royal Rumble, and he loses the match. And then Bray Wyatt disappears. It’s like that match helped nobody. The match was like I get it, Mountain Dew probably paid a lot of money to be the sponsor of that match. But my goodness, that match didn’t help either of them. But the fact that he’s gotten this over without really any help from anybody. I mean, that just truly speaks to how special a talent he is.” 

What does it take for one to become a professional wrestler? And does it take much financially? 

“It’s a really interesting question. And I will divert back to the interview I had with Santino Marrella. And he talked about, he told this great story in this analogy of like, he when they were in Europe, he went into the Coach store with Randy Ortiz like I’ve always thought of myself as being a guy who could have a coach wallet. Oh my gosh 6000 euros, I’m gonna paying 6000 euros for a wallet, geez. And he related that to pro-wrestling. There was a price to pay if you want to be successful. If you want to like be a pro-wrestler, as your job as your career make a living off of it. There was a price that you have to pay. And I’m talking here more like physically and mentally and like your time, but he talked about like training twice a day, twice a day, like every day and like speeding up that process and learning from everybody that he could learn from and try to be the best that he could be. So I don’t want to quote how much a wrestling school costs but it’s gonna be a few thousand dollars. Find the best school that is within any sort of proximity to where you live. And if there isn’t a great one, if there isn’t one with a reputable coach, someone who’s actually been there, and has done it. Obviously, immediately off the top of my mind, top of my head, I think of Shawn Spears and Tyler Breeze and Flatbacks because not only have they been there they are there right now. And I think about schools like that all the time, like Bubba Ray Dudley school, or D-Von Dudley’s school, you know, there’s tonnes of great schools like that, if there isn’t one in your area, or like Lance Storm, you know, so many great people have come out of there. If there isn’t a school like that in your area, I would look into saving up what you can to move down and spend, you know, the few months somewhere like flatbacks, and get the best possible training that you can get. So if that’s something you’re looking into, good luck.”

Besides The Rock, who had you the most starstruck when you first met them? 

“I mean, I’m not usually starstruck. I’ve been so fortunate to be able to do this. Now for most of my career, that it’s just like, I’m talking to another person who just happens to be really, really, really good at whatever it is that they do, you know, whether that’s, you know, telling jokes as a comedian, or directing movies, or wrestling or playing a sport or acting in a movie, they’re just, you know, they’re really, really good at it. And they, you know, have the opportunity to spend some time with them. And I’m grateful for that. But I will tell you that the setup for a red carpet definitely leads you to like, be a little bit nervous, anxious, all of those things. So Tom Cruise was, well, The Rock was the number one person I wanted to interview. And I was so fortunate to be able to interview him for the first time in 2012. And, you know, I’ve interviewed him a few times since. But then when I got an interview with The Rock, the next person was Tom Cruise. And I got to interview Tom Cruise in 2018. In Paris, on the red carpet for Mission Impossible Fallout, was right in front of the Eiffel Tower. If you haven’t seen the photo, Google it. It’s amazing. It’s like we’re standing there and the Eiffel Tower is right behind us. But the way that red carpets are set up is like, you get there early. You get your spot, you like you do some, they call them stand ups in the TV world. Where you like, you’re you on camera, like doing intros and outros and stuff like, Hey, come on up. We’re talking to this person about this movie, don’t miss it. Like that type of stuff. So you’re there early, you know, there’s all this build up, all this buzz, all the 1000s of fans, they’re screaming fans, and the red carpet starts. And then some of the other cast members come down. And then maybe the director walks the carpet. Oh my gosh, there’s Tom Cruise. And like for that red carpet, I was maybe a quarter of the way down. So pretty good, because they will enter the red carpet on one end. And then they’ll start speaking to all of the press as they make their way down the red carpet. So I was like a quarter of the way down maybe 20 people down, maybe 15 people down. So where you get starstruck is you’re like, oh my gosh, there’s Tom Cruise. And he’s now six news outlets away from me. So I’m going to talk to him in six interviews. How long is an interview? Oh, they’re like two or three minutes. So oh my gosh, I’m talking to Tom Cruise in 15 to 18 minutes, something like that for 10 to 20 minutes. And then he does another interview or two or three and you’re like, oh my gosh, now he’s three people away from me. That’s where it kind of builds up and you’re like, oh my gosh, that interview was really short as my interview gonna be really short. Oh my gosh. And you’re like second guessing the questions in your head? And you’re like, oh, is this the question I should lead with? Or should I wrap up with this question? I don’t know. That’s where you kind of get starstruck. And then you know, he walks up to you, shake his hand. He’s one of the nicest people on the face of the planet. And he’s so insanely engaging in the conversation like he looks you in the eye, like, you’re the only person that exists in that moment. And he’s so, so present. And you know, number one, it puts you at ease. But number two makes you go Oh, yeah, this is why you’re so good. This is why you’re so good at just being a movie star and also like acting and all of that together. So that’s a really cool one. And I hope that when Mission Impossible eight, I guess, or seven part two, Dead Reckoning, part two comes down a few years. I hope that maybe I have a chance to talk to him again, at some point in time there.” 

I want to ask CVV, should WrestleMania have been a two night event sooner? 

“Yes, way sooner, way sooner. And this is said by someone who has been to 12 Wrestlemanias. And I remembered, so I used to go with my friends. It was a group of four of us. And it was me, a big wrestling fan, my other buddy, a casual wrestling fan, like watches every once in a while. And then two of our friends that just weren’t wrestling fans and just went for like the spectacle of it, which I thought was so awesome. Like, they were just there because they’re like, let’s go to let’s go to a show with 80,000 people. And you can explain to me what’s going on or why this person’s wrestling this person. So it was really cool. Being able to go with my three buddies, Alex and Brian and Jason. We always had such a great time, and everything that goes on around Wrestlemania. And the last time that we went together was 34, New Orleans. And I just remember my one buddy. Jason was like, should I name him? Or should I not? I remember Jason being like, oh my gosh, why are we getting here so early? And why does this thing go so late? And the thing is, it ended up being like a seven hour show if you include like the pre-show and everything and it’s like, it just dragged on. And remember the next year I was actually just covering it in New York. WrestleMania 35, Kofi Mania, and it was just so long. And then if you went to WrestleMania 35 you can relate to this. It was so difficult to get out of that building, especially late at night and it was pouring rain and Ubers were insanely expensive. And it was just like, yes, two nights is so much better, because it breaks it up into too much more chewable. It just they’re just so much more digestible to chewable and digestible. I don’t know what I said there, but they’re just too much more digestible timeframes. Four ish hours, way better. So yes, I think it should have been a two night event years ago. Number one just for like it to, you know, you can include more people in it, because a lot of people Yeah, go to night one and two. But there’s a lot of people that just go for one, or just go for two. And I think that it allows more people the opportunity to go. And I think that it makes it a weekend long event, which I think it’s really cool. If you’re a hardcore fan now you’ve got Saturday night Wrestlemania and Sunday night Wrestlemania baby! Yeah, no, it’s cool. And I think it’s really smart that WWE started to do that. But yes, they should have done that a lot sooner.” 

Do you have any plans of writing a book about yourself at some point about your journey as an interviewer or host? 

“I’ve toyed around with this a bunch. And maybe you’ve heard me talk about it. I think I’d like to write a book at some point in time. I don’t think it’s about my journey as a host or interviewer as I don’t think that that’s super interesting. I’ve told that story a bunch of times, you can hear that on a podcast or see it on a YouTube video. I mean, at the crux of that story is just like the idea of like, number one be like so insanely stupidly passionate about something. And then number two, like don’t take no for an answer and just keep looking for your way to find a yes, that could maybe lead to another yes at some point in time. That’s really what my story is. But I think that there might be a book in there about like, I get asked a lot about like, how do you start a YouTube channel? How do you start a podcast? How do you grow in social media? Like, I know it sounds cliche, but it’s like you just got to start. And I think that that could be a good book title one day, Just Start. But also I think that there’s something going back to that idea of like I’m building this community of people who would like to also be a creator one day, full time creator, I think there’s something there. Full Time Creator, I think is also a great book title. So I don’t think the book’s about me, the book’s more about like, how can you do this? Can you do this? Of course you can do this. And here’s the steps of how to do it. So there we go.

Chris, what is your advice for preparing to be a parent? 

“Look, I really don’t think anything can prepare you to be a parent. And you can hear lots of great advice from people who have been there, they’ve done it, but really nothing will prepare you for the life changing moment that that it is. I think it’s twofold. With a life changing one, you find out that your significant other is pregnant, and that’s such a huge moment. It’s like, oh, my gosh, the world as we knew it, before, this does not exist, it has abruptly ended as of today. And actually, we went on a trip to Cabo me and my wife, Rachel. And she didn’t know that she was pregnant. Like very, very early on, we had just the greatest time, you know, we’re in Mexico, drinking tequila, and having all kinds of fun, and, you know, eating great food at the resort and going on all these adventures. And then like, we found out like a few weeks later, that she was pregnant. And it was like, okay, kind of in a weird way that trip to Cabo is like the end of this one chapter and the beginning of a new one. And then when you when the baby is actually born, it’s like, oh, my gosh, and now we’re in another chapter here. I just think the biggest advice that I would have is just enjoy every moment, because Logan’s two months old this weekend, this Saturday, her birthday is May 29. My birthday is May 19, Kane’s favorite day, and it just feels like it’s going by so fast already. Like, even as I sit here in the office of our house recording this. I know, they’re like 20 feet away. And I’m like, I kinda want to spend some time with them. I feel bad that I’m in here recording and they’re over there. Probably, you know, trying to eat or sleep or, you know, whatever is going on at this exact moment. But yeah, just enjoy every moment, that’s really it. I know that that’s super easy. And super basic and cliche but yeah, just enjoy every moment.”

Has anybody ever tested your professionalism while conducting an interview? 

“Hmm, yes. And it’s probably not the one you think it was actually, it was an in-person interview. I mean, the one that immediately pops in my head, I’m not gonna name names. But it was an in-person interview, and we got, I don’t know, pretty early on in the interview. And I was just like, come on. Come on, like, I don’t know, you, you might be able to put two and two together and figure out who I’m talking about. I like that person a lot. But just Yes, my professionalism has been tested. But I also think that part of being a great host, because I think I’m a host first. And I’m trying to build rapport. And I’m also just a curious person, I think part of that is either rising to their level, or sometimes on the rare occasion, coming down to whatever their level is. And I don’t just mean their level of like, like intelligence or anything like that, I mean, more of their level of their energy. Like, I’m a pretty excitable guy. And if you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while, you know that and I think that sometimes it’s not always easy for our guests to like, rise up to my level of like, oh my gosh, I’m pumped about every day. So sometimes, you know, you come down on that and that’s okay. But for this particular interview, I was just like, Yeah, I’m gonna put it like unless you say something, I’m gonna put this out there this interview out there unedited. And I don’t know if this makes you look that great. But this is the interview that we did and let’s put it out there so so yeah.”

As the father of a daughter, what is the one moment you can and cannot wait for?

“That is a top level question right there. I can’t wait for all the like dad daughter things, right? Like our very first like, Daddy daughter dance or daddy daughter like date or something like that. Like, I’m so excited for stuff like that and just to build memories, like to build memories with her. A really big one core memory for me growing up was when I caught my first fish and I am mega passionate about fishing. I own a bass fishing company we sell tungsten weights, it’s called Woo! Tungsten. So if you’re into bass fishing at all check us out wootungten.com I remember catching my first fish, it was a rock bass on sturgeon Lake, Finland Falls, Ontario, Canada. That was such a core memory for me that I can’t wait to create that core memory with her, and maybe fishing won’t be her thing. I don’t know, you know what it’ll be. But I can’t wait to be part of whatever that core memory is. The thing I can wait for is we all make mistakes. And I did some pretty silly things and stupid things and made some dumb choices in my teen years and maybe my early 20s mid 20s I’m still making dumb decisions now but not as dumb I’ve learned from them. And I can wait. And I don’t want it to happen, to get that call one day of like, Hey, Dad, I did blank. Or Hey, Dad, I know you, you’ll be really upset but blank. And I just want to always be there for her. You know, her mom and I are always supporting her but that’s one that I’m like, Let’s push that off as long as possible because it’s you know, it’s inevitable. That’s just part of being a parent I think.”

How cool was it to be cast in a Liam Neeson movie?

“It’s true. I am in a Liam Neeson movie with Amanda Seyfried called Chloe, you can go check this out. I think it’s still on Netflix. I’m also in the trailer for this movie. I have no lines. I’m just in the background. But I’m very featured in the background just as an extra. I’m a guy sitting in a cafe. And they were filming this in Toronto. Adam Egoyan is a director and I just had an agent of the time and they submitted me and he wanted me to play a waiter in the film. And I got to set and they already used actually one of the waiters from the actual cafe. So I ended up just sitting in this one. I’m actually having two scenes. There’s one scene where I’m very pivotal seeing the movie sitting behind Amanda Seyfied as she’s like looking at Liam Neeson. It’s like this very pivotal moment of movie. And then there’s another very pivotal point in the movie, where Liam Neeson is married to Julianne Moore, so their characters are having a big argument. And I’m sitting directly behind Liam Neeson in that scene, reading a newspaper and drinking wine at this cafe. And the whole premise of the movie is like it’s set in this college town that says set in Toronto, but it’s like it’s a college area of the town. So I was just supposed to be a college student just like sitting there behind him. And I remember learning so much from the two days I spent on that set. And it was a super intense scene with Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore. And she’s like yelling at him. And it’s his very intense argument scene. And I just remember Liam Neeson just like, being so like, almost like whispering he was so quiet. And I just it was the opposite of how I would ever think that scene would be played. And I remember watching us like, oh, that actually felt like they were talking. Like that actually felt like what an argument would look like at a cafe between a very angry wife and a husband. That’s like, oh my gosh, like tht is acting. And to be able to see that two feet in front of me was so cool. So I’m also in the trailer for that movie. I’m also in the movie, snap a screenshot, I would say snap a screenshot and tag me snap a screenshot, see if you can find me in Chloe. Also, I’m in The Love Guru. I’ve had a few people take a screenshot and tag me on that one. The Love Guru with Mike Myers. I spent like two weeks on that movie. And I also have a role in a movie called The Bronze. I actually have some lines. I play a news reporter and that one, I have some lines in a movie called Love Finds you in Sugar Creek. I play a news reporter and that one, are we seeing a trend here? And I have some lines in a John Travolta movie called Criminal Activities. So see if you can find me in that movie and snap a screenshot and send it over to me.” 

What makes a great ring announcer? In my mind, Samantha Irvine is the best. 

“Samantha Irvine is very good and she’s become very good very quickly too. Like, Lilian [Garcia], legendary, and this is nothing but love for Lilian, she will tell you this. If you watch some of Lilian’s early stuff, she doesn’t have nearly the poise or nearly the voice. Nearly the the presence, the grandioseness of who she became, you know, a few years after that. But Samantha has picked us up so quickly. And she’s just so so talented. I’m sure you’ve seen the video of her like playing the flute and she’s a great singer and very good. So she is great. I agree with you. What makes a great ring announcer I think is someone who can elevate the moment. Justin Roberts is so good at this. Bruce Buffer in the UFC is an absolute freaking walking GOAT when it comes to this. It is someone who can make the already special moment feel just that much more special. And you don’t need to be huge and over the top with like the style that Bruce Buffer has, like Michael Buffer, makes the moment feels so special just by like bringing it down a little bit. Let’s get ready to rumble, like he’s so good at like bringing you into the moment. So I think it’s just someone who can, who has the voice obviously. And who it can make it really special. And everyone who WWE has hired from Mike Rome is so underrated I wish that guy got more like actual like screen time because you hear his voice all the time. But like put his face on the camera. Greg Hamilton so good at this as well. Justin Roberts, of course, you know, Tony Chimel, Howard Finkel, you know, these, they’re all legends. And WWE takes that position very, very seriously. I mean, I listed off just what was at six names, and that’s over the course of 30 plus years, 40 years of WWE, like that is a very special position. So it takes a very special person to be in that position.” 

Do you ever fly private? 

“No, I’ve never flown private, but it is on my bucket list. And I actually said to Rachel the other day I said in the next five years we will fly on a private plane. We will fly on a private jet even if it’s like an empty leg flight. You know what I’m talking about here. Empty leg flights like if someone actually owns a private plane or has rented it out and they’re flying from I don’t know, make it easier LA to Vegas, the plane that has to go from Vegas back to LA, is empty. So what they try to do is like for a super discounted price they go tomorrow, you know, tomorrow there’s a flight on this plane from Vegas to LA because it needs to reposition, needs to go back to that city. And it’s like way cheaper. So yeah, maybe it’ll be an empty leg flight. But yes, the goal is to fly private. Maybe it’ll be on Vince’s plane one day. I don’t know. Maybe it’ll be on Tony’s plane one day, I don’t know. But I guess we’ll find out in the next five years.”

Booker T (@bookert5x) is a 2-time WWE Hall of Famer and is known for his time in WCW, TNA and WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at Reality of Wrestling in Houston, TX to talk about his radio show “The Hall of Fame” that he hosts with Brad Gilmore, his wrestling promotion “Reality of Wrestling”, his thoughts on LA Knight, which of his WCW Championships meant the most to him, his hilarious segments with Goldust, the Supermarket Brawl with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, his memories of the last episode of WCW Nitro, becoming the King Booker T character, doing commentary on NXT with Vic Joseph, his favorite catchphrases and much more!

On being in great shape:

“You have to stay ready, you don’t have to be ready, you know what I mean, that’s my motto. You know, because life moves so fast, is fluid. You can find yourself getting old quick. If you just sitting at home thinking about what happened in the past, you know, we’re here at Reality of Wrestling today. Summer of Champions now, we’re thinking about the future. We are thinking about Summer Champions 20 in a much, much bigger arena. Seeing our young kids go out there perform at the highest level. So man, I’m living my best life right now.”

On having more fun commentating on NXT:

“You know what, I think that’s the difference. When I was on Raw, when I was a SmackDown, everything had to be politically correct. Of course, I had, you know, something in my ear. You know, sometimes you know, you couldn’t be yourself. And I find myself at NXT being kind of like I am here at Reality of Wrestling. You know, I’m throwing my clipboard. I’m having fun at the same time. With NXT I can go out there and be serious. But then I can talk about you know shucky ducky quack quack, you know, so it’s just all about having balance. And trying to think about one thing first and foremost. And that’s the young guys, the talent and trying to put a spotlight on those guys. And, you know, hopefully give them the rub is something we talked about in the business.”

On advice for prospective wrestlers:

“99%, 100% You know, 99% you know, keep your mouth shut. If you’re 100% Speak up 100% of the time, you know, because I’ll listen. You know, if it’s something that, you know, that resonate with me and something that gets through with me, and I go, you know that you might be right. You know, I’m not the one that thinks I’m the smartest guy in the room, or I know it all, or anything like that. So I just tried to tell my young guys to know when to speak up, you know, just like my, you know, my right hand man Kevin Bernhardt started with me when he was 18 years old, came to me about three years ago, and he go Book, I need to talk to you and I go, what do you need? He goes, You remember, you know, you say, 99% 100%? I go, Yeah, he goes, You know, I need a raise. And I looked at him, and I just started laughing. And I go, how much you need? And he goes, such and such. I go, okay, they get the hell out of here. You know, but I need guys that know their work. That no one they’re working a little bit hard, maybe you just need a little bit of pinch to help them out a little bit. You know what I mean? So for me, I get it. I understand it. I was there once upon a time myself, and I was always the guy to speak up, you know, and sometimes you can get fired, you know, when you speak up?”

On opinions on his podcast:

“You know, I never, as far as giving my opinion, I never say anything, that I’m not willing to sit in somebody’s face. You know, and that’s just the way I’ve always, you know, you know, did my form of journalism. I don’t say anything to tarnish anyone, I don’t do anything to try to make anybody look bad. I never curse if you notice on my show or anything like that. And what I say I stand by it 100% every time. And nine times out of 10, it comes around that I was right. Every single time it comes around, and I was right. So my opinion, I think is strong as far as you know, the way that people look at it and the way that they try to make it hot takes. But at the end of the day, I stand by it 100%.”

On commentating NXT with Vic Joseph:

“Now, Vic makes it really really easy for me, man. I couldn’t do the job without Vic. Be honest. I would not be as comfortable as I am without Vic. He really does all the heavy lifting, just like Brad does. Brad does all the heavy lifting, I’m just the star. Vic, he does all the heavy lifting, I’m just the star. And I say that giving him props, man, because I couldn’t do it without him. I couldn’t do it without Brad. No way. You know, I will be in Vegas, you know, covering Crawford Spence. If it wasn’t for Brad, I couldn’t do it. No way. You know, I have a saying, you know, when I was you know, getting ready for my bid for mayor here in the city of Houston. Things fell through. But I know what when I do run, I’m gonna win. That’s just no doubt that I’m gonna win. The slogan for me has been for years, you know, respect your elders, you know, but for me, it’s respect your young people, you know, because they’re the future. They’re the ones that’s gonna guide us in this new technical world, you know? And if it wasn’t for these young people, I can only imagine where us old heads like myself would be well, I can’t even understand what Twitter and Instagram is. I’m mixing them up. You know what I mean? So Nah, man, it’s true. Rely Brad came to me when he was 18 years old. Now he’s married, successful, you know, more famous, almost more famous tonight. But it took a lot of work, it took, you know, tried to be a certain feel for Brad to be able to look at and be able to emulate and understand what understanding what this life and being a man is really, really truly all about.”

Which World Championship reigns mean the most to Booker T?

“Number one and number six. Yeah, number one, you know, when I first won it, it was like a magical moment. You know, I never put myself on the radar as far as winning the World Heavyweight Championship or anything like that. I never dreamt one day of being the World Heavyweight Champion, just never did. I just want to be the best wrestler. I just want to be the best wrestler in the locker room. And being the best wrestler in the locker room has enabled me throughout my career to have had a championship run my ways since the beginning, like from you know, when I was at the independent scene. So for me when I won the World Heavyweight Championship, I remember God, Chris Cruise, we were coming from pay-per-view one night and he goes book one day you’re going to win the World Heavyweight Championship and I say get out of here. Gary Cappetta, that’s who it was, not Chris Cruise, Garry Cappetta said you’re gonna win the Heavyweight Championship one day, and I go Nah, no, wait, let’s get out of here, man. And many, many years later, I’m in a position to win the World Heavyweight Championship, controversial night of course. But winning it. I think that controversy made that night for me even bigger, you know, more memorable for everyone. And number six, with my queen, Sharmell, in WWE, it was magical man. Both of those nights was like, equally magical. Like, like to the cosmos man to the nebula. As far as how they felt for me, because winning it with my wife, against Rey Mysterio was so gracious working with the best in the world. Rey Mysterio, my favourite wrestler, what an awesome night.”

On talking to Shane McMahon on the last episode of WCW Nitro:

“Yeah. You know, I do remember having a conversation with Shane. I can’t remember what it was. But I knew I was like his guy. I came into WWE boom, him and I we was boom, connected at the hip. We did so much stuff together. I had so much fun working with Shane McMahon. And it was all because he wanted to, you know, work with me. And you know, I don’t know. For me having that happen, I don’t know why that happened. You know, sometimes, a lot of guys came into WWE at that time, it didn’t work out for them. For me, I came in I had a crappy match. The first night, you know, what Buff Bagwell due to you know, circumstances? And there’s so many guys that didn’t have another one. Um, and for me, I always looked at it as you know, I was prepared for WWE. I remember in WCW, at the end of that run, so many guys was getting lazy. They were, you know, making so much money, it was like it was going to happen, you know, last forever. I can see the ship, you know, Titanic going down. And I was like, let me you know, really, really prepare myself. And I always tell my students, one of my best quotes is if you can’t make it in the locker room, you have no chance of making it in the ring. That’s one of my most famous quotes. Because the guys will break you in the locker room before you have a chance at making it in the ring. You know, you gotta be likeable. You know? And for me, I’ve always been likeable. You know, but I’ve always been, you know, a man of my word. You know, while always looking for a fight too at the same time.”

On fighting Steve Austin in a grocery store:

“Me and Stone Cold Steve Austin at the grocery store. People come up to me and go my favourite match with you was you and Stone Cold Steve Austin at the grocery store. You know, to be able to go out and like, like, just make a fool of ourselves, make fun of ourselves, for the fans, entertain them. And then we’ll get in the ring. And we’ll have a real serious fight, you know. And that’s the balance of professional wrestling. You got to know when to have fun, when to take yourself seriously and whatnot. I’ve seen guys pass on, pass up a many a many a opportunity, not knowing how to really understand this business. For me, since day one, watching Houston wrestling here as a kid, I knew what it was. I wasn’t the kid going to school going I want to fight you over wrestling God I believe, and I was like, man, these guys are great entertainers man. And I knew the really good ones from the guys who were mediocre to the guys who were just learning, you know, so I was like, Man, I think I could do this. You know, I loved it.”

On working with Goldust:

“Some of my best work with Goldust. because we were friends and, you know, just this business. You know, we say you got a bump card. You know, when you punch it up, it’s over. With, it’s time to check out. Goldie and I. we will come to work. And we wouldn’t have nothing to do but a skit and we would be in the locker room. You know, this just went on for weeks. We didn’t have to wrestle at all. And we will be like, Man, we’re stealing money, getting paid to do this. Are you kidding me? We don’t have to work this week. So you got to know when to put it in, like cruise control. When you know just you know you know kick back and you know relax and know this business works in circles. It’s not always going to be your time. You know, so for me, I’ve always said well it’s time, I was GI Bro. You know, Dallas Page came into the locker room one day, saw me putting on my paint. He goes man, what are you doing? What are you doing, bro? I looked at him and I said I’m just having some fun, man. I was on my boat every weekend. I visited the Gulf, you know, come to work, go play GI Bro, go back. I wasn’t doing the house shows. You got to know when to have fun. Take your time, long haul, it’s a marathon.”

Booker T’s Mount Rushmore:

“I don’t know man. You know what? I don’t know. I really don’t look at wrestling like that. Of course you got Ric Flair. You know, he’s gonna be there. You know, of course you got Hogan because when I look at Ric Flair, I look at him for a certain reason. And the reason is the work Ric Flair put in there, he’s like a god. I’m talking about the young Ric Flair that went there. When he ran hard on both ends in the ring, he performed at the highest level. Then you got a guy like Hogan who came along and changed the name of the game as far as how much money guys were making in Hollywood, you know, thing, you know? Then the other two, probably, you know, Steamboat, of course, for being perhaps the best babyface that ever lived, you know, a guy that can go out there and perform at such a high level. And then you got a guy like Piper who could do anything, but was such a major star, you know. But the Rushmore thing is like, you know, up for debate, everybody’s gonna have their own, you know, Rushmore, should I be on there? You know, the greatest, you know, 35 time champion? Perhaps.”

On the King Booker accent:

“The accent, the accent just had to be stupid. It didn’t have to be real. But it had to be serious. It had to be you know, I had to believe it. And then at that, you know, then I will break character and go street. But I will kick back into my character. Because just like I taught to my students. Like we’re working with the NXT guys, you’re acting has to be, you know, on another level when you’re trying to make fans feel a certain way. Because everyone knows when they walk in the door, what they’re gonna get here. But when they walk out, and they go, God, man, I can’t wait to get back and watch it again, that’s because they felt a certain way, and that’s what King Booker brought to the table and so much went into that whole thing. I couldn’t even do it for that long. I had a heel run and I left WWE after that, because I was so tired at the end of it because it was taxing, but it was great at the same time, the best work I ever did.”

What is Booker T grateful for:

“My wife, my kids, my health.”

WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes sits down with Chris Van Vliet at the premiere of “American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes” in Atlanta, GA. He talks about his decision to leave AEW and go back to WWE, wrestling Seth Rollins with a torn pec at HIAC, how the meeting with Vince McMahon went before he re-signed with WWE, how the “WOAH” in his entrance caught on, the origins of “Finish the story”, the biggest things that have changed in WWE since he left in 2016, his new documentary which debuts on Peacock on July 31 and much more!

A lot has changed since last time I saw you four years ago.

“What has changed? I lost my phone in a hotel room, right, and we were talking about AEW, and we were in Miami, and was at the NFL owners meeting. Because that makes sense. That makes sense. I do really appreciate that Tony took me to multiple NFL events. Only because one time I got on the elevator with Emmitt Smith. And he asked me is this where we go to the bus? Is the bus at two he asked me like I was part of it. And I remember going I remember thinking like should I tell him? No, I I’m just at the hotel. Instead. I  go yep. I literally just I didn’t want to ruin it. Like he’s he’s gonna walk out there and find out, there’s gonna be plenty of like the red coats and the gold coats of they’ll figure it out. But Yeah Emmitt asked me if this bus leave it to you, man. Yeah, it does. I appreciate that my NFL time just because I love the NFL. And to see these owners and this crazy just world I remember like, Brandi got a big hug from Roger Goodell talking about Michigan. Yeah, yeah, it was another lifetime, but that’s what I was at that hotel for.”

Which, you know, brings us all to this. Like, I didn’t think I’d be sitting down with you in a WWE situation after that.

“I know. I think I PayPaled you for some AEW work too.” 

I was like, wow, Cody Runnels sent me some money.

“Yeah, that’s how professional I was, PayPal. We got it done, though. Yeah, I mean, when you look at the doc, it’s wild to think at the time, no clue. But now looking back at it, it’s like there was no other way. It’s very, it’s very odd, and I’m not a big story of destiny type. But man, I should be because this, this has been one and I’ve just been lucky to ride it for sure.”

Everyone talks about the changes that you’ve made since you left the WWE in 2016. But I’m curious, what’s changed about WWE now that you’re back?

“Well, the schedule at WWE, like first out of the gate when you think of returning to WWE, you think of what that schedule can be. It’s very daunting, because they’re trying to cover everywhere on the map. And then wherever the TV goes, WWE goes. The schedule has been lessened, there’s a healthier schedule. I mean, I’m literally thinking of all the things that are different. The live events are branded now, you know, Saturday Night’s Main Event, Sunday Stunner, the VIP element that’s around the ring. I don’t know if people realize this who only see Raw or SmackDown. At the live events, this VIP service that they offer is just the best bang for your buck, they’ve figured it out. They have figured it out. His name’s Billy who runs that, and it’s one of my favorite things about the live events. But the main thing, and the far more important thing that’s changed is the people who run it the same, it’s the same [people] who run it. But they now run it, and it’s a bunch of grown men and women now in a sense of the actual talent. Seth Rollins is not a child, it’s not Tyler Black coming from Ring of Honor anymore. He’s a grown man who knows the psychology of a crowd, how he can move them, how he can not, and that’s across the board. Jey Uso is a completely different animal. Sami Zayn, just like a true artist, Kevin Owens having experienced the ebbs and flows of it all, and that creates the environment we’re in, and the environment we’re in is the business of it. It has been so good, sell out, sell out, sell out. They’re not random, I don’t take them for granted. You don’t want to, at any moment they could end, but they’re there because you have an experienced group of guys and girls, and that’s been the biggest difference. When I was there the first time I was a kid, and I was blossoming into what it’s like to be, you know, in your 30s, professional wrestler who has experience working with some of the top names, but still, it’s no substitute for what we have now. There’s no substitute for that experience. And that’s what you see with these shows and I think that’s one of the leading factors. Obviously Roman, but that’s a leading factor into how this business is like, like just everywhere they go the transaction is through the roof. And that’s why.”

One of the biggest things that came out of the trailer for becoming Cody Rhodes was Kevin Owens going Vince flew to him. What was the first thing Vince said to you?

“That’s a good question, I think he laughed. He has that like, [impersonates Vince laugh] I think he laughed. Because I kind of snuck in. But I like leaned over him, and I think he kind of laughed. I remember going in to talk to him. I wasn’t afraid of anything, and I was overcompensating almost. I was very adamant of like, I’m not, I’ve used the Bernie Mac reference a bunch, but he walks out and the crowds kind of booing him, he tells me he’s not scared of them. That’s really where I was at. It’s like, we’re good. Not scared of anything here, let’s talk. And I was almost overcompensating because both Vince and Bruce were so welcoming. So, this is the term I can use, sweet, and so positive about what I had done. And the fact that they knew what I had done and actually were citing different things, like I saw this, I saw this, I couldn’t believe it. It was very self affirming. And it just went like that type of happy go lucky. We’re talking about, I had, you know, Liberty was a year old or maybe not even at that time. And he’s talking to me about what it’s like to be a you know, a dad for a daughter and how special it is, it was just beautiful. And then like in the last 20 seconds of the meeting it was, Seth Rollins at WrestleMania, you know, that’s where the only business came up. And it was, I told Brandi I would say this, but I was adamant about saying please don’t do one of those hey, this is the deal, if you leave it’s off the table, don’t do one of those. I have to leave and think about it. I have to. And even in your mind, you’re like yep, I think we’re gonna do that. Even your mind, I have to leave to think about it and take some time because man, we had made such massive decisions. And I’m kind of a career left turn guy with, no way would he do this, well he did that. So this one was going to be something similar but really special. Didn’t feel like a meeting until maybe the last 30 seconds.”

I was there in Dallas when you returned, and the big question was, is he going to return with Kingdom as his entrance theme? And what’s so interesting now is like you’ve returned with Kingdom but now the whoa is such a big part of your entrance. Who worked that in because it’s very theatrical now with you like, you know, putting your arms out for it. I actually made a video where I said it took six years for the whoa to catch on.

“So you know, the whoa had been in different versions of Downstait music for me. Yeah, the whoa had been present. So I think really you’d have to say Kevin Dunn, because Kevin, he looked at an AEW entrance of mine, and I said it has to be this. This is what it is, I’m not, you know, calling any shots. But this is what I, to be fair, this is what I would like, this is representative of who I am. And he was of the thought of great, we are just gonna make it a little bit better, we’re just going to make it a little bit better. And we tried some entrances that the world never saw, just different things during the day, we could do this, do that. And he set it up where it was most conducive for Monday Night Raw with the way the staging is on Monday Night Raw to do that and not have to build the Codyvater every day at three o’clock in the afternoon and maybe, maybe save it for let’s save it for a pay-per-view or a WrestleMania, which we did. But he’d have to be to blame for the whoas, because he loves the idea of singing, loves it, and you can hear him calling for that, I want to see people singing, and you can hear it. And that’s just never anything that I thought about. But I can say one of the most important things with the logo I knew wasn’t gonna change as I got the tattoo. [What did Vince to the tattoo?] He, again, laughed but that was one moment where I said, he had mentioned that there’s all kinds of designs we could do and I told him well that one we’re pretty locked in on. But the one thing I was really clear about of all things, the music has to stay the same. And the reason the music had to stay the same was the music wasn’t just at AEW. The music was at Ring of Honor, New Japan, every independent I could possibly go to all over the world. That was the music, including the line that I recorded on my iMac in my living room, gosh knows when, the wrestling has more than one royal family. For sure they were going to take that out, for sure. No way, somehow, someway, we’ll get there and it says sports entertainment. Like we’ll be dubbed over the wrestling but no, they kept it let it be. And there was a version of my song if I can find it, I’ll send it to you. There was a version of my song that was different, that was an option. And I just thought I think the audience would be really mad. Kingdom is I’ll follow you to the end. we can’t discredit that. We have to, we have to have it. So that was probably the most important piece of okay, we’re gonna bring the nightmare brand as it is, the most important piece is that song. I didn’t know it, but I was fighting for it.”

After you tore your pec, but you’re still gonna have the match at Hell in a Cell with Seth. What does the conversation with Seth look like? Does he go dude, I’m not doing this. Are you crazy?

“Oh, I feel like, Oh, man. I feel like because Seth and I’s rivalry is true, and real. I don’t want to tell you how unbelievably, it’s fair, it’s fair to say. Seth is, I can’t even begin to tell you how good Seth Rollins is as a wrestler, psychologist in the ring. And without getting too far, Seth made a decision that day that he made, it was his decision to make, that will forever be something I’m grateful for. Seth and I are not friends. It doesn’t look like we’re heading towards friendship. There has been some flirtation with it. Don’t think it’s going to happen though. All that aside, if I ever write a book one day, a whole chapter will be about how good that guy is and how he’s super valuable to WWE. And he’s still undervalued, in my opinion. And having Monday nights with him and I in a nice, competitive who’s the guy, without ever having to be in the ring with each other. I couldn’t ask for a better sparring partner in that sense. I don’t want to wrestle Seth ever again. But that day, he made a decision that was very important. And if you get him ask him because I still don’t want to say nice things about him.”

Everybody knows who your father is. But when that was worked into the WrestleMania 39 storyline, Were you okay with Dusty being a central part of that?

“Yeah, I was okay. I was definitely okay with it. I got to the point where at the end of my run with AEW and the beginning of my run with WWE, where I was really big on leaning in, like I’ve been leaning out for so long, I’ve been leaning out. Okay, there’s they’re starting to boo here. And you’re kind of split, Let’s lean into it. Let’s, let’s stir it up. And when I came back, and the story was a real story, that is actually what I talked to Vince and Bruce about in that meeting was, hey, here’s the WWWF title, I have it. Dan Lambert gave it to me. This is the whole reason I wanted to be in the business, this physical piece of [history] this thing right here, this belt, this championship belt. So I was fine with leaning in. Because it feels like it’s now or never, in a sense, it’s now or never that there’s things you have to earn. And when you’re someone’s kid, and you’re second generation, third generation, you have them all at your disposal from the beginning. But there’s a difference from when you use them at the beginning and when you’ve earned them. And I felt like I’d earned them. And I remember Stephanie McMahon said this. She said use everything, use everything you have. And there couldn’t be a more appropriate time to use everything. Oh WrestleMania, the main event, essentially getting elected president is getting that match the final match, like use it all, use everything you have and leave no stone unturned. And she was right.”

Was there any version of WrestleMania 39 where you were walking out with the championship?

“One thing that’s been really very real and in front of your face, and accurate is that the long road sometimes can be very special, but you have to see it. You have to really, if you say it out loud, no, that’s not gonna work, no way. But if you see it, then you start to feel it. And it’s even sweeter if that moment comes, if that day comes, but there was, I’m sure, a myriad of plans. I’m so plugged out of a creative aspect because I mean, from the time I was PayPaling you, my days as a creative person are I’m not interested in them. Even if I had the best idea ever, I would be afraid to pitch it to anybody, just because it just, it just burned me out doing it. And I was too young to be doing it. I should have just been throwing my tights on, boots, on being a wrestler, superstar, however you want to put it. But that was the job. And that’s what the audience wanted and just was a lot of taxing, great lessons though.”

I remember saying to you in that interview of like, how do you balance being an executive and an in ring performer, and you were like you don’t? And I when I was backstage and fortunate enough to do some stuff with you guys. in AEW, you were an executive, you were heading up that show at that time. [Cody – I took pride in that]. Yeah, as you should. Do you feel like at any point the wrestling then took a backseat?

“I think the wrestling took a backseat right away. Because I thought, my bigger mistake. And this wasn’t an AEW mistake, this was a Cody mistake. My biggest mistake was thinking, I’ll stay as good as I am in the ring only wrestling twice, three times, maybe just once a month. Sorry. And the Gen Z crowd out there is about to lose their mind, and I hope they understand what I’m saying, you have to do live events. You cannot learn how to work a live audience unless you perform in front of a live audience. So I was getting worse, as was everybody. Some of the best wrestlers, you name them, in that first year, the crowd was incredibly generous to us because we were new, we were fresh. Some of the stuff isn’t going to hold up just because we weren’t, we weren’t able to do this on the regular and get it down and sharpen our tools. And that’s just, maybe it’s just me, maybe it’s nobody else, but you have to be able to do it. So that’s an area where I think I was suffering from immediately. But you mentioned taking pride in the executive element. So you were there when I was still running those meetings, I really loved it. But from an ego standpoint, from an optics standpoint, that was really cool. But I also really loved leading, and I just maybe wasn’t ready to fully lead at that point. And it didn’t rub everyone the right way, why is he running the production meeting? Why is this and that and then you know, your vision, Kenny’s vision, Matt and Nick’s vision, everyone’s visions, that one thing. But you know, Tony has a vision and this is his money, and then let’s see how that plays out. But that was a good time. I’m glad you had a good experience because when we left there was this whole like disinformation campaign that Wade Keller put out, and I’m not even mad at Wade Keller no heat with Wade. But I could tell what was going on. And yeah, you didn’t talk to any real source. No, I was an executive, as a member of management. I was happy, wanted to help and took huge pride in us being a professional organisation and, and that shows amongst the roster, the locker room, my kids, the people I didn’t recruit, people I did recruit. Yeah, there was such a fog of misinformation of when I left that. It’s fun to see in the doc itself. You know, that wasn’t the case, it was just time.”

What is Cody Rhodes grateful for?

“Brandi, Liberty, Pharaoh.”

Brendan Schaub is a retired mixed martial artist, comedian, podcaster and the host of “The Fighter And The Kid” with Bryan Callen. He joins Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood to talk about his path that led him to becoming a UFC Fighter, being on The Ultimate Fighter with Kimbo Slice, his fights against legendary opponents like Gabriel Gonzaga, Mirko CroCop, Antonio Nogueira and Andrei Arlovski, how he thinks the fight would have gone if he faced Brock Lesnar, becoming a podcaster through a chance meeting with Bryan Callen, starting his career as a standup comedian, the intervention that Joe Rogan had with him about his UFC career, his thoughts on a possible fight between Elon Musk vs Mark Zuckerberg and much more!

On getting into podcasting:

“Shane [Carwin] beat Frank Mayer to become the UFC Heavyweight Interim Champion. So but that was my main training partner, my brother. But I didn’t have money at the time so Shane would pay for all my training. He was the best. And Shane became really famous, again, The Ultimate Fighter, and it was the biggest season ever with Kimbo Slice. I like to think it was because I was on the show, definitely wasn’t, but it was Kimbo Slice and Ryan Nelson. So I’m in the UFC, I’m top 10, Shane’s the champion of the world. Nate’s doing his thing. GSPs coming down with Rashad Evans is there Wonderboy Thompson, Stipe is there, you know, became heavyweight champion. This is when he was even in the UFC. So you have this whole team and I realise everyone’s getting the team was getting famous, which is a curse, the team’s getting famous. And I realized the team stopped being a team and it was starting to be individuals and I would need attention because I had a big fight coming up. But this guy, the big fight coming up, and so it just stopped becoming like this team thing. And I was coming off a loss like this isn’t good, you got to make a change and go somewhere where, you know, you’re getting the coaching you need. And I grew up in Venice Beach in the summers as a kid, my uncle had a house where my dad would always either drive out here during the summers or we’d fly out here. So I grew up in Venice Beach and California always like spoke to me, like I always knew this was where I should be. So I was just like, I need to change. And I didn’t want to hurt everybody’s feelings. I hate confrontation when it comes to that stuff. So I was like, I’m just gonna go out there for training for a month, and I’ll be back. But my family didn’t know that. And I sold all my stuff and literally was just moving out there full time. And so I did that. And then I met Brian Cowen, who’s a comedian, actor. And I was trying at the time and Brian loves UFC. And he was doing a podcast, shoot, this is like 14 years ago, he’s doing a podcast called The Brian Cowen Show, had seven listeners, and then me and him, we just we just hit it off. Like we’re instant, like friends. There’s this weird chemistry. And he called me when I left. He’s like, Oh, you’re great, man. We should do a show every week. I’m like, Dude, I don’t have time for this bullsh*t. He’s like, no, no, you and I and I was like, I don’t want to talk about fighting man. Like, that’s not what I like to do. He’s like, No, we talked about whatever you want, fashion, cars, whatever you want to talk about. And I was like, if I can be silly, I’m down. He’s like great, once a week. So we started doing that. And that was before everyone had a podcast in their basement like back in the day, man. So we started do that. And I remember us fighting Andre Arlovski, you’ll see, I forget what number it was in Vancouver. I beat him in a in a split decision. But the judges f*cked me. So that’s whatever. But I remember I was walking through the airport. And there’s like billboards of me in Vancouver and like, I was on on TV, on commercials. I walked through the airport, and the TSA and fans would like throw out things like from the podcast me doing something silly and weird. And then as I’m going through TSA and he goes I am such a big fan, can I get a picture. He’s like hey, man, he goes, what do you do in Vancouver? I was like, What are we doing? Like, do you not see the billboards? Nothing? He’s like, Nah, what, what are you doing here? Maybe you’re doing a stand up. And I was like, No, dude, I’m fighting. People are starting to recognise me for being silly for being myself, which I always relate to more because when I was a kid, the goal is to be on Saturday Night Live. That was always the number one goal. So to me that was like, Oh, this is the recognition I need, man. And then I continue to fight, and then podcasting started to gain some legs. And we had I had signed to deal with Fox Sports were the first podcast ever. And then we started to get some checks for the advertising. There were really, no one’s really doing podcasts on YouTube. So I was just checking them straight up audio advertising. I remember I got the check for that. And I got the check for getting punched in the face. And I was like, Dude, what are we doing here to focus on this mess? Sure, folks, and then my girl, my wife, my girlfriend at the time, now my wife, was pregnant with our first kid. So it was like this whole kind of like, whether you believe in God, it was like go over here, you idiot, you know? So it was just like this weird transition, which I always wanted in my heart. You know, I’m not natural born fighter. I have a fighters heart. But it was terrifying. And I knew there was, it’s a short road. Like I knew like no matter how good you are, like, this movie ends with you face down ass up, man, everybody. So it’s like, can you do this? Or you can keep doing this and getting punched in the face, man.”

On being too nice for the UFC:

“It’s also like when you watch the UFC don’t get me wrong. There’s some authentic guys like Nate Diaz, the Diaz brothers, like Cain Velasquez, there’s like guys. But then also like, I’m too nice of a guy where it’s like, the UFC would use me for marketing stuff like that, and being silly, which I always gravitated towards the camera and so they recognise that and pushed me further, but it’s like no one wants to hear me talk about how much I respect the guy I’m gonna fight. So it almost became this character. So you’re this cocky character. Well, some people have a hard time taking that version of me to where I’m at now, like, Oh, he’s cocky. It’s like, Nah, man. That’s me dealing with the nerves of being terrified to fight. You know, Andre Arlovski or Ben Rothwell, I was terrified man. But that’s me, almost coming to myself that I can do this. Yeah, but no, he’s cocky. It’s like no, no, no, that’s a character man. It’s no different. Do you think the undertaker really sleeps in a coffin you dumb asses.” 

On the dream of being on SNL not NFL:

“It was a combination because it was a blessing and curse because my mom would make me watch, not make me, but always would sit down whenever Saturday live was on every Saturday night. So that was like the tradition. So it’s like the Farley’s Adam Sandler’s. You know, the Chris Rocks, the Kevin Nealon. Like, those were the guys. And I just, I just loved it. I loved it, and held such a special place in my heart. But then I was also really, and I was funny, I was always funny, my mom’s, I’m Tony, you can be a star, you can be an actor, this, you can do stand up, and my mom would play Robin Williams on the TV so that I grew up with that. But then also, I grew up in a predominantly black neighbourhood in Aurora, Colorado. So the way to get attention was being good at sports. Well I happen to be pretty good in sports, I was really athletic, especially for being one the only white kids amongst all black kids. So the way I get attention is by being good at sports. So it was like a double edged sword because I wouldn’t trade my career for anything, like all the experiences led me to where I’m at. Now, it gives me perspective to, you know, write jokes and do stuff different than any other comedian. But it is also a weird road. Because, you know, it delayed the, I don’t know, it’s hard to say it’s like, this is what I’m supposed to be doing. But the way I took to get here took a little longer. But then, you know, football was a way for me to get attention and get out and be around certain people. And, you know, in the locker room, I was that silly dude. So I had an audience all the time in the locker room. So, you know, I never looked back in history, or in my passing, or I wish I would have done this never. Like, everything’s led me to this. My role is completely different than any comic that’s ever existed and I’ll take it, man.”

On what would happen if he fought Brock Lesnar:

“I like to think I would beat him. You know, his striking was really bad but he beat my training partner Shane Carwin but Shane was beating him. Like it’s tough to say right because Brock deserves all the credit. He’s such a freak man. People don’t realise like, you want to about a guy getting pushed fast like his first fight. You know, one of his first fights was against Heath Herring in the UFC, which is nuts.”

On Brock Lesnar in the UFC:

“Brock made stupid [money], and he’s a good dude, too. Yeah, great guy like, because when he was fighting, Shane, I was fighting the way they did it, the story behind it was Brock Lesnar’s training partner Chris Tuchscherer, who was 20 and 1 at the time, they were best friends and training partners. Shane, Colin and I are best friends and training partners. So Shane verse Brock Breton verse Chris, so it’s like the little brothers are fighting. And so he was 20 and 1 I was the main event on the undercard before that big UFC, so I kicked the pay per-view-off. And so I talked to all this shit not about my opponent Chris does shirt he’s whatever about Brock Lesnar and so the UFC has given me an award for it was like on the Thursday or Friday before the fight, they give me an award. And we’re all together and Brock’s there and like, oh, no, I’ve talked to all this sh*t. And my I remember my coach, he just be ready to go man like I’ve I f*cked up. There he is. I don’t think we’d run into each other. I was like, be ready to go man. He’s just some big boys and my coach’s name at the time was Lester Bolin. He’s a savage. He’s like, I’ll be ready to go man. He’s like this little ball of muscle. I might just be ready to go dude. And we get up there. I’m like, I’m on edge. And Brock was just not like killed me with kindness. It was like I’m so proud man. Like, from football. Are you kidding me, man? Is it good for you, brother, good for you. I get it, man. I was like, Oh, wow, you’re like the nicest guy ever. He’s such a good person. Such a good person. Yeah, I was like, I don’t want to fight this guy. He’s cool.”

On the rumoured fight between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk:

“Because they’re doing it for charity, like it’s not about money. Okay, cool. It definitely is. But I’m telling you like, loser, and let’s let’s get weird. They want to do it in Italy in the Coliseum? Let’s get [crazy], loser dies. How about that? Let’s get some swords, some Tigers like make it old school. Zuckerberg is 50 pounds, get him a helmet. Let’s get weird, dude. Let’s go mediaeval on that.”

On the fight drawing eyes to UFC:

“I think it will make a lot of people watch Elon and Zuckerberg fight and it’s gonna be such a bad product, people are like we’re good. We never want to see this again. If I go out in Hollywood right now and I’ll film a better fight. Right? Like spider man. You’re seeing Spider Man and Hulk throw down, like way more than that. But you’re talking about two billionaires. So it’s like I’ll watch two billionaires slap each other.”

On potentially fighting again:

“No, never. I’m 40 dude, I got kids. I make you know, just to be very transparent. It’s like if I do three comedy dates I’ll make more doing that then I would getting punched in the face. Unless they came to me and was like, You’re fighting The Rock on the you’re the co-main event of Elon fighting Zuckerberg and The Rock wants to fight them like that makes sense. Give it to you. You’re talking about f*ck you money, like 50 mil. No one’s paying 50 mil to watch my dumbass fight. But if somehow The Rock like felt froggy was like, I want to test myself and this guy hasn’t been doing it. I’m like I’ll fight The Rock and make all the money in the world, I’ll fight Maui. It would have to be something like that. Like if Harrison Ford wants to fight. Harrison and Clint Eastwood want to fight in a tag team, sign me up. I am gonna make all the money in the world. I’d get so much hate that everyone would hate me but all good daddy. I’m making so much money. I would just retire from everything.”

On finding new stand-up material:

“Yeah, I think a lot of it because I do so many shows is I’ll mark certain things down where you know, I do two shows with other comedians. So if I bring like a hot take on like Hunter Biden I had the other day and how much fun it’d be to party with him. terrible human being but one night at a party with one person. I’m picking Hunter Biden. He’s doing meth. He’s jumping at 9/11, driving 100 Miles an hour down, and there’s hookers everywhere, like sketchy good time Charlie. Right? Like he’s a fun time for one night. I don’t him to watch my kids, I’m not talking about that. One night to go out and party and rage. So that was just a natural hot takes. And Brian’s laughing out who’s a great comic Chris D’Elia is laughing at it. I’m like, oh, there’s something here. So I’ll write that down and I’ll work out that night. And I’ll just bring it up on the road. See how that goes. And then it slowly starts to get legs and just add punch lines, adding to it, adding to it. And then in a year from now, that’d be a good good bit.”

What is Brendan Schaub grateful for:

“Health, family and my freedom.”

Featured image: People

Vince Russo (@THEVinceRusso) is a professional wrestling writer, booker and bestselling author. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about why he hates watching wrestling now, some of the biggest misconceptions people have about him, the storyline he was most proud of booking during the WWF Attitude Era, why he would book David Arquette to win the WCW Heavyweight Championship again, why he decided to make himself the WCW Champion, how the booking in TNA differed from WWE and WCW, his thought on wrestling ratings and much more!

Why does Vince Russo not like today’s wrestling:

“It’s not the same, it’s that simple. It’s not wrestling, like bro, baseball. Obviously, this year, Chris, they made some adjustments because they wanted to popularise baseball and three and a half hour games were killing the sport. So they changed some things, but they didn’t change the basic fundamentals of the game. In wrestling, they changed the fundamentals of the game. It’s not the same, and a lot of people from my era are not interested in this representation, in this presentation of wrestling today. And I’m one of those people.”

What has changed in wrestling: 

“It’s all about the fake match and has nothing to do with the characters and the story. I mean, that’s it bro, you know, back in the day going all the way back to Bruno man. It was all about characters and story. That’s what draws the casual fan. Wrestling matches don’t draw a casual fan, that’s why I did crash TV. Five to eight minutes, the matches are over, boom boom, what’s next, boom. You turn it on today then the main event of Raw  starts at 10:30. Bro, if I’m not a wrestling fan [of] in-ring action, I’m not watching it, because the reality of the situation is whether we want to believe it or not, fans of the in-ring action, that’s a very niche audience. That is a very niche audience. That’s why I knew when I started writing it WWE, bro, I had to open that up. Because if you didn’t like wrestling, you weren’t watching the show. So how was I going to get people to watch the show? Real simple, create characters that they fell in love with and they were emotionally tied to, and then give those characters story, because now you gotta you got them hooked now they gotta tune in every week. All that is gone, it is non-existent, and my thing is Chris, I don’t think I would have such a problem if they just changed the name, don’t call it wrestling, call it performance art, or call it something else.”

Why was The Attitude Era hotter:

“Because the writers wrote the show. That’s why, writers handle this show as a television show, with writing as a background. Bro, look at all the people that are in charge of the wrestling companies today. They’re all wrestling marks. Their marks bro. Triple H is a wrestling mark, Paul Heyman is a wrestling mark, Billy Corgan is a wrestling mark, Scott, D’Amore is a wrestling mark. Tony Khan is the biggest wrestling mark. So what are they doing, bro? Here’s the difference, they’re writing a show within the wrestling bubble. And they’re writing a show that they like, and they think is good from their wrestling perspective. That’s not what we did, bro. We didn’t write a show based on what I liked or they liked. We wrote a show based on those ratings right in front of us. Those ratings that came in every week, we got the minute by minute breakdowns. Who do they like? Where are they turning out? What do we need to give them more of? What do we need to eliminate? There was a science to what we did. And as television writers, bro, here’s the biggest difference in the world. With television writers, you’re going to create characters, then you’re going to take those characters and you’re going to put them in a storyline. Then out of that storyline will come the match. So it’s the character’s story first, build it through story. And then the pinnacle is the match. With wrestling marks and those in the bubble, it’s the complete opposite. Here’s what they look at Chris, they go down the roster, especially Tony Khan, what would be the best match? If we put so and so against so and so, what would be the best match? So they book match first, and then try to figure out some reason why these guys are having a match. I just read an article two days ago about Tony Khan. And he was talking about, you know, the Forbidden Door. And he was saying like, Oh no, bro, I think we could write a compelling show even though these guys are never face-to-face or there’s never a story. They could cut compelling angles on who wants to be the best. Then you wonder why 300,000 People are watching Rampage? Can you imagine, and bro we are 80% there. 80% of professional wrestling matches today are going to prove who’s the best? Oh my god. I will take a pole match over that any day of the week, bro.”

On the conspiracy that Vince Russo was sent to WCW to kill their ratings:

“Here’s the insanity. Anybody, and obviously, I would not be saying this, if I were not telling the truth. Anybody can look at WCW ratings, and they can look at the first three months before Vince Russo got there. Then they can look at the first three months when Ed Ferrara and myself started tearing down the building and building a new foundation. When you look at those first three months, bro, the ratings are going up. The ratings were working, our plan was going according to exactly what Ed and I discussed. We gotta erase everything they’re doing. We’ve got to build new people, we got to build new stars. It was working perfectly. Then of course, bro, politics played its ugly head. I went home, you know, they brought in different people. In the three months that we had built, after three months, bro, they had brought it right back down to where it was before we got there. Thus they called me back. Vince, we need you to get back here. Honest to God. At that point, when I went back, I knew we lost the audience. I knew there’s no way that there’s no way we’re gonna get the audience back. We had them, we were building for three months, then they went backwards three months to the same crap they were doing. It’s done, it’s over. Obviously, I had to go back because I was contractually obligated. But I knew at that point, bro, we’re not going to get these people back again.”

On Jim Cornette:

“First of all, bro, let’s be honest here. Okay, I don’t have one ounce of ill will towards Jim Cornette, but I know why Jim Cornette dislikes me. I mean, really it’s twofold, bro. I told you early on about how people feel about New Yorkers. Jim Cornette hates New Yorkers, hates New York, hates New Yorkers, hates the entire east coast. Okay, so there’s that. I’m working with a guy from the south now who absolutely hates New Yorkers. Here I come with this thick heavy accent, I am who I am, so that’s number one. Number two, at the end of the day at WWE and TNA I was chosen over Jim Cornette twice. Okay now, if the shoe was on the other foot and Jim Cornette was chosen over me, I’m going to look in the mirror and I’m going to ask myself why Vince? Why did they go with Cornette and not you? I would have looked at myself, but in Jim Cornette’s mind that was my fault. Whatever it is I did to get Vince McMahon and Dixie Carter to choose me over him was underhanded, was you know, what whatever, because they couldn’t have been Jim’s flaws that he was very set in his ways and very difficult to work with. It couldn’t have been that, it had to be something Vince Russo did. So that’s where all this stems from and then of course, bro, he’s turned it into folklore, you know. I actually know Jim’s big on, you know, the old time Cauliflower Alley Club and all that, right? I even said let’s go on online, pay-per-view, online. Let’s have a one-on-one debate. Let’s charge X amount of dollars. Every single penny goes to the Cauliflower Alley Club. I have no problem confronting you face to face. I don’t want a penny from this and you’ve got some old talent, old time wrestlers really down on their luck that could probably use a few dollars. He outright refused. Why did he refuse bro? Because it will kill his gimmick, that’s why he refused. To me, whether it kills your gimmick or not if you love wrestling so much and you love those that built wrestling so much and you financially can raise money for these wrestlers. I would have done it in a heartbeat.”

Is Jim Cornette’s hatred of Vince Russo all a gimmick?

“Absolutely bro you don’t hear me say mean things about him at all. As a matter of fact, bro, I probably put Cornette over at least once a week, I put him over. Absolutely bro. It’s folklore. It’s, it’s, you know what he’s created with his, you know, cult. And God forbid he ever went back on that. Then in his mind his people would never look at him the same.”

On there being too many on a pole match stipulations:

“That’s folklore bro. I was in the business, I started writing about I’ve roughly say 96. I went to 2012, that’s 16 years. A lot of that 16 years bro were two shows a week, plus pay-per-views. Okay, I dare anybody in those 16 years with all those shows I wrote I dare you to come up with 10 pole matches. I dare you bro. I dare you. You can come up with about three because that’s what I remember bro. I remember green slip on a pole match. I remember Viagra on a pole match. Mrs. Bagwell, Judy Bagwell technically was not on a pole, she was on a forklift Okay bro and what was what was after that, go ahead. Maybe it is more than three. I just said there are three to me that immediately come to mind, but come on bro. Again, bro, they love creating the folklore. We’re going to create folklore, but here’s the problem, bro. When you go to anybody that really cares enough and goes back and does the history. You it’s all there bro. You will find out what is truth and what is false. Bro, if I booked all these pole matches, I have no problem saying that. Why would I [care], I don’t give a crap, bro. I’d have no problem saying it. But what I’m saying is, bro, it’s not what you’ve created over the years.”

On the worst Vince Russo idea:

“I’d rather try something new than repeat a match we’ve seen a billion times before that’s how I am. I’d rather try something new then just go back to the well a million times. The Dog Kennel from Hell is probably number one, and I’ll tell you why, Chris I swear this is the God honest truth. I think of the concept because The Boss Man, our story revolved around the little dog Pepper. Okay, so I thought of the concept but in my head, in my head they are attack dogs, you know, they’re police dogs, the teeth are out and saliva is coming out and they’re circling the ring, that’s the picture in my head. So now bro, I’m at the building and they bring the dogs in and [someone says] Vince here are the dogs for the match. I walk over to look at the dogs and bro, the first dog licked my hand. And I’m like, bro, I never thought of what if they’re not attack dogs? What if they are pets? you know what I’m saying? Like that’s exactly what happened bro these were the lamest, laziest [dogs]. I swear to God, and like I said I 1,000% blame myself for that because I never took that into consideration. I’m literally convinced these are going to be attack dogs. So since they weren’t that actually sucked.”

On The Bloodline:

“I don’t watch Smackdown, but I will say this. I’m sorry, I think Roman Reigns is great. I think The Usos, you know, I think everybody is great. But Chris, I also think the bar has been so freakin lowered that when you do have a storyline and it’s the only one they have, it’s the greatest thing you’ve ever seen. Listen, I know I’m in the minority. Like I said, I’m a big fan of Roman Reigns, like The Usos. Bro, I’m sorry, The Bloodline, I’ve seen this play out a billion times before. You know, Sopranos, Godfather, I mean, you name it. So listen, I know I’m in the minority and that’s fine, but I just refuse to lower the bar man.”

On AEW:

“I watched AEW, the first year and a half. And it was a massive, massive waste of my time. And I basically said when I turn 60 I’m not watching this anymore, this is a total waste of my time. At 60 years old, I’m closer to the end in the beginning. My time is very valuable, and this is just not worthy of my time.”

On being honest:

“Bro. Listen, I speak the truth. And Chris, I’ll be honest with you, speaking the truth really did not weigh well for me when I was in the wrestling business, bro. It’s, you know, in the wrestling business, the bottom line is, you know, bro, it’s, you know, it’s carny. And you’ve got a lot of backstabbers and liars and politicians. And when you’re a guy from New York, and you come in and you just start laying down the truth. I mean, that doesn’t work. You know, it’s so cliche. But the adage of people don’t want to hear the truth and they can’t handle the truth. That is so spot on when it comes to me.”

On people not generally liking those from New York:

“I think first and foremost, listen, let me be honest. Chris, first and foremost. In general, people don’t like New Yorkers. I mean, it’s that simple, they don’t like New Yorkers. They think New Yorkers are brash, and they think New Yorkers are arrogant and have a chip on their shoulder, when that is the complete opposite. First of all, New Yorkers are 100% truthful. We don’t beat around the bush, we you know how we feel with face to face kind of people. Second of all, man, when you live in New York, you understand it’s a dog eat dog world. It really is every man for himself, so that’s the way you are raised. And again, look at the people in the wrestling business from my backyard. We’re talking about you know, Bubba Ray, we’re talking about Taz, we’re talking about Tommy Dreamer, that’s how we are bro. That’s how New Yorkers are. So like I said, number one, people don’t like New Yorkers. Number two, bro, even though it was 23 years ago, 24 years ago, they think I’m the guy on TV. And basically, Chris, my attitude was this. When I played it on-air character in 99. My character and my attitude was this. You want to hate New Yorkers? You want to think New Yorkers are a certain way? No problem, I am going to magnify that by a million. And that’s exactly what I Did. I went out there, and I was the New Yorker that everybody really thought New Yorkers were. And bro, it just blows my mind 24 years later, that people think I’m that guy. Bro if people knew the real Vince Russo, you just have no clue. Chris the other day, bro, I’m down here. I’m a big you know Chris like I don’t sleep well. And a lot of times when I’m watching TV, I just get my little gimmick here and I just say YouTube, and it brings me to my YouTube feed. So whatever’s on that. I was on YouTube the other night and I ran into people surprising other people with puppies as a gift. Bro, I’m crying my eyes out. I’ve got an English Bulldog who’s my pride and joy Penelope. I’m crying my eyes out over people responding to getting a dog that they wanted. Bro, that’s who I am. I’m passionate about the Giants, I’m a passionate fantasy baseball player. Bro. I love getting all my work done early because as soon as my work is done, I hop in my 2000 jeep, I live in Colorado and I point it to the mountains. Bro, that’s that’s the guy I am and Chris, here’s the bottom line. I wouldn’t talk about wrestling at all, if people didn’t ask me. Chris, I am not a wrestling fan. I do not like today’s wrestling at all. I only watch Raw bro because SportsKeeda pays me very well to watch Raw. I don’t watch anything else. I don’t care about it. I am not a fan about it. But if you ask me a question, I’m going to give you a true answer, that’s my extent of being in the wrestling business in 2023.”

On possibly going back to WWE:

“I had a conversation with Vince McMahon, not a conversation, I don’t ever want [a conversation]. [It was] A text exchange text and an email, bro. literally months before the FDA’s came out. And I offered my consulting services, because I would never go back to wrestling on a full time basis. Never go out on the road. never be with those politicians, never. [What year are we talking about?] 2022. Yeah 2022. So I offer my consulting services, I will sit here, I will look at your show, I will tell you why people aren’t watching it. If perhaps you want me to work on a particular character, I’ll be happy to do that. I’m not coming to TV, I’ve got no interest in making this my job, right? So Vince wrote back and said, Okay, I want you to watch Raw the next couple of weeks and send me your notes. And I said, Okay, what are you paying me for that? And he said, Oh no, I’m not paying you for nothing. You know, you have to prove yourself. And I’m like, achieving the highest ratings in the history of your company wasn’t me proving myself? Vince, you know, things have changed, the audience has changed. And I just said Vince with all due respect. I don’t work for free, bro. Like, I’m in my 60s bro. I’m doing well on my own. I don’t have anything to prove to you. Because you know what I did. So I’m not doing this for free. Bro. He sent me back this scathing email. How dare you! I would have jumped at the opportunity… And I didn’t even answer it. I didn’t even answer it. Because I’m like, Bro that’s ego like that. That is ego and I’m like bro, I’m not going to work for free in hopes of you taking me on as a consultant when your product absolutely sucks. I was doing it because I hate having to watch the product, so if I could help improve the product, great. I wanted to do it on my terms where I’m not interested in working full time, and bro at the end of the day I could have helped you. I could have helped make that show better but I’m not doing it for free. And that was it. Like I said, bro, he wrote me a real nasty email that I didn’t even answer. I don’t have any interest in even consulting now, none.”

Featured image: SportsKeeda

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