Lewis Howes (@LewisHowes) is New York Times best-selling author, keynote speaker, industry-leading show host, and former pro athlete. He joins Chris Van Vliet in Los Angeles to talk about his new book, The Greatness Mindset which is now available for purchase at https://lewishowes.com/gmbook and wherever books are sold. Follow Lewis on Instagram and subscribe to his podcasts “The School of Greatness” and “The Daily Motivation Show”. Lewis talks about how to develop a mindset for greatness, the biggest lessons he learned from interviewing Kobe Bryant, the difference between success and greatness, what his 3 truths are, and much more!

What makes greatness so attractive:

“Well, because I was driven by success. That was what I wanted my whole life. I wanted to succeed, but I was driven to succeed based out of a wound, based out of a need, which was a need to be liked, to be accepted, to be seen, to be acknowledged, to be loved, to fit in, to belong. And it was coming from an unhealthy need. It was coming from a wound, there was a wound inside of me that needed something to feel safe and protected, because I didn’t know how to protect myself emotionally and mentally. So therefore, I would work so hard to accomplish my goals, but most of it was to prove people wrong or to fit in. And when I would accomplish it, 20 30 minutes afterwards, I would be kind of let down and have an expectation hangover and almost get angrier after I would accomplish these goals. And I would spend 5, 10, 15 years on a goal until it happened. So I was willing to do whatever it took, but I didn’t get the feeling I wanted once I accomplished it.”

What is the common greatness goal:

“They’ve got a clear mission, and I call it a meaningful mission. You know, and there’s no Olympic gold medalist that just said, Oh, I did this by accident. You know, there’s no world champion that gets there by accident, they’re very clear on what their meaningful mission is. It’s the first thing I talked about in the book, where if you don’t know in one sentence what your life’s mission is, for this season of life, then you’re not going to get there. So again, when I was on my sister’s couch, I don’t know 15 years ago, or something I couldn’t think of beyond that season, which was, I just want to make enough money to get my own apartment. And that’s all I could think I wasn’t like, I’m gonna change the world or make a tonne of money. I was like, I just need to get my own apartment. What can I do during this season, in order to make that happen? I was clear on my direction. Now I have a different mission. It’s to serve and impact 100 million lives weekly, to help them improve the quality of their life.”

What has been the biggest struggle:

“Learning to heal my past. I think there was a lot of pains, and wounds and insecurities and doubts that I was afraid to face and look at. And so I would compensate by trying to be a better athlete, by trying to be a better entrepreneur, by trying to make more money or do certain things I would compensate to project, an image that I wanted people to see. But I was living in shame and insecurity and doubt around what I knew about myself, thinking that if anyone knew these things about me, they wouldn’t like me, they would unfollow me they want to buy from me, they wouldn’t accept me, they wouldn’t love me. And so it was the fear of facing all the shames from the earliest memories. Up until now, the things that I was most afraid of insecure of and ashamed of. And once I started to face all those things, and address them, and process them in a healthy way through different therapies and modalities, it literally, like I had a pain in my chest off and on for most of my life. And it went away a couple of years ago when I truly said I’m going to face this fully, when I’m going to go all into the darkness, and create new meaning around the pain that caused me to feel this way. And when I did that, that’s when everything started to unlock in a whole new way, it started to flow. My relationships, because I had peace inside of me, and I still have this peace and it’s beautiful. It doesn’t mean I don’t, you know, deal with stressful moments, or there’s not challenges to face. But I face it from a place of peace inside of me and calm, versus pain inside of me and reaction. And that has been the hardest thing to do over the last decade. And it’s been a journey of creating new meaning around memories that used to hurt me.”

On having no money to start with:

“When I started out, I didn’t have the money, I was on my sister’s couch. But I found these personal advisors and mentors who, they believed in me, and they believed in me, because I was willing to do whatever they said. The worst thing you can do is reach out to someone and say can you give me some advice, that’s the worst thing to do. Instead of that, reach out to someone and say, it’s amazing what you’ve done and what you’ve accomplished, I’d love to hear your story of success and how you overcame your biggest obstacle. People love to talk about their success, but they don’t want to give advice, because giving advice to someone who doesn’t take action is exhausting. So I found some great mentors early on, and I just said, I will do whatever you tell me to do. And then I would report back when I did it,  I would not ask for any of their time, I would not check in with them unless I took extreme action, and typically failed a lot. And figuring out okay, I did these things, here’s what I figured out. What do you have next to me, what’s the next step I should do? And then it would tell me, and I would just go do it every single week on repeat, and then I’d come back to them. And that was a powerful relationship for me. Because I got wisdom from older men who had had success in different areas of life that I was looking for. And they were able to share wisdom of what worked for them and see someone actually take action. The worst thing you can do is waste someone’s time and not take action.”

On why the podcast does not have an intro:

“I realised, you know, I was looking at the data on YouTube, and I was noticing that people just drop off the longer if you didn’t get into the content right away. It’s just like, people don’t care. So I started testing that and saying, let’s cut this, the intros out on YouTube, and just get right into the first question. And we’ll put people’s names up and they’re kind of bio up on the video overlay. We’ll have it in the description, so all you have to do is click drop down and you see like a whole intro and a bio. And the same thing with the audio experience, but it was just kind of like, let’s test it out. And it started to work well, just by getting right into the hook. What do people need? Let’s ask this question right away, and then I can go back into like, backstory and who they are. But let’s, let’s give as much value upfront as possible.”

Lewis Howes’ dream podcast guests:

“I mean, it’s funny, I was thinking about this this morning. I’ve, when I launched the podcast, for whatever reason, I had like a top five that I wanted, and I haven’t had any of them still, which is, you know, so it’s still a journey. But The Rock was on there, Sylvester Stallone was on there, Oprah was on there, Jim Carrey was on there, and Barack was on there. It was part of that kind of my top five.”

On the LA journey:

“Mine is Interesting. I moved here for a girl, and the day I land. So I was living in New York living the dream, I was playing with the New York City handball team. I was running my business virtually from there. I was doing webinars and online seminars back then, LinkedIn, and then doing marketing with webinars and creating courses. So no one really knew what this was in 2010, right. Everyone now knows with Zoom and webinars and things like that now in 2020, but I was doing it 10 years prior. And so I could travel around, I just needed a laptop to make money, and build my business and I could be anywhere. And I was in New York City, living the dream, just like in awe of the city and like every day was magic meeting people having fun. I moved there to go play with the New York City handball team to pursue my goal and dream of playing with a US handball team and making it to the Olympics one day. Long story short, never made it to the Olympics, but did make the USA team, was with the team for about eight years, haven’t played in a couple of years with them. Anyways, meet a girl and she had just moved to LA, and we’re kind of dating long distance at the time for I don’t know, four or five, six months. And she is like I really want to date someone like in my city, and I don’t want to do long distance anymore, and she had done that in the past. And I was like, Well, I can come travel here like two weeks out of the month. I can work from my laptop, but I want to stay in New York. And she was like, No, I really think we should do it, like, a trial. And I was kind of like resistant and frustrated, because I told myself I would never move for a girl. And I was like, You know what, I don’t want to regret this, let me at least like give it a shot. So I let go of my place in New York. I hadn’t, didn’t have much anyways, I had two suitcases, a guitar and a laptop. Got on a flight one way to LA I had no place to stay. I was just renting an Airbnb for a week, no apartment yet. I land, she break ups with me the minute I land. And I’ll go what is going on? I just moved through my life across the country for this girl that I said I would never move for a girl for, this is why. And we ended up getting back together I think the next like day or two or whatever. But it was just like this emotional roller coaster for the first six months. And I hated LA because of that. I was like man, why did I do this? I should be in New York. But it was a beautiful journey for me to rediscover myself, reinvent myself, and start kind of mending and healing some things that were breaking down in my life. So that first year was a big eye opening journey, and a reflection for me to start opening up in different ways. You know, the girl didn’t work out. But being in LA eventually worked out. And now I love it here” 

On the happy accident of moving to LA:

“I started the school of greatness because of the breakdown. Because of all that was one of the things along with other a business breakdown I was having, other relationship breakdowns I was having, and just like LA not working for me at the time. I realised I was the common denominator of all the breakdowns in my life. So it was a perfect opportunity to step back, look at the mirror, look at myself in the mirror and say, Well, who are you? Why are you causing these things to happen? If you’re the source of your life? Why are these things showing up in your life? And I really went down a journey for the next year and a half of working on myself healing, developing, going to workshops, coaching, therapy, just reimagining what life could be. I hit 30 Around that time. And I said, Okay, I’ve got to learn, I have a lot to learn, whereas I thought I knew a lot. I was successful in sports and then in business, but emotionally I was breaking down, mentally I was breaking down. And I was making decisions without the best wisdom, right? And so I was causing a lot of breakdown. And this journey, the first year and a half being in LA was beautiful, where I was stuck in traffic in LA, kind of like on my way here, that’s why I was a few minutes behind, unfortunately, I apologise. But I was stuck in LA traffic during this time, and I remember just feeling like everyone in the cars around me were like screaming and honking and flipping people off or cutting them off. And I was like, this is kind of how I feel my life right now, stuck. And it was literally no joke during the time when I was in traffic, going two miles for an hour where I was like, man, there’s got to be something I could do with my life right now where I’m feeling like stuck in transition, that I can help me improve. There’s something I’m missing, there’s something I don’t know. I thought I knew what to do, it got me certain results, but I’m still not feeling fulfilled or happy or peaceful inside. I go, maybe I could start this podcast thing. I just started hearing about podcasts, this was in 2012, this was the early days of podcasting, 2012 end of 2012. And I I knew two people that had a podcast. So I called both of them during this car ride, stuck in traffic, and I just asked them about it. Hey, what’s this? How’s it going for you? They just started it maybe six months prior. Both of them said they loved it, it was a thing they enjoyed doing the most, they’re having the most fun. And they love hearing the responses from people listening. And I go, well maybe I could reinvent myself by going on a personal journey by reaching out to the people that I know and some business and sports and, and all these different areas and have them kind of teach me how to get unstuck. And maybe people would listen in traffic, like driving around LA or whatever in the world, stuck in traffic. And it helped them in their life as well, and that is where the idea came from, feeling stuck and trapped and broken down in my life. And it’s been a just hit 10 year anniversary a few weeks. It’s been a beautiful journey of doing a show for myself to learn and improve and then saying, hey, hopefully others want to hear it. And it works for them too, and it’s been a beautiful ride.”

What is Lewis Howes grateful for:

“For meeting you in this moment, my health and my girlfriend.”

Featured image: Hollywood Reporter

Bully Ray (@BullyRay5150) is a professional wrestler known for his time in WWE, ECW, NWA and IMPACT Wrestling. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018 as part of the Dudley Boyz tag team with his partner D-Von Dudley. He joins Chris Van Vliet at Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas to talk about his career that has spanned 30+ years in professional wrestling, how he is currently working as a hell in Impact Wrestling and as a babyface in NWA, his thoughts on Roman Reigns in WWE, why MJF is the biggest heel in the business, how Mae Young being powerbombed through a table helped to put the Dudleyz over, what the idea of “heel heat” means to him, why he likes to keep people on their toes, his goals in Impact Wrestling and much more!

On a possible Dudley Boyz reunion:

“Physically I don’t think so because I don’t think that D-Von can do it anymore, we’ve had the conversation. And for the world to know, because people on social media take things out of context and run with sh*t, it’s ridiculous. [Crosses fingers] Me and Devon have been like this since day 1. There has never been an issue with me and Devon. All this sh*t that you like to run with, these clickbait headlines, f*ck off!”

On D-Von wanting to re-sign with WWE and Bully Ray did not:

“That’s true though, but it didn’t cause a divide. I told Vince that I can’t do the Dudley thing anymore. I can’t do this Dudley thing the way that you want to do it, did it for a year. Vince sat me and D-Von down and said here’s what I want you to do. Work with The New Day, help them get over. Work with The Usos, help them get over. Work with The Wyatts, help them get over, and then whoever else we throw at you. You got it, no problem. The boss sat us down, this is how much he is paying us, this is what he needs. Ok, no problem. But after a year of doing it, I’m like ok, I am burnt on The Dudleys, I know I’ve got Bully Ray in the back pocket. I told D-Von upfront, I said listen, I don’t think I am going to re-sign. So we knew all of this. He re-signed and became a producer in the company, an employee in the company. Just recently they parted ways, but he had a great career there as a producer, did very well. It was never any animosity with D-Von, we talk all the time, we have done shows together. We are doing an autograph session in England, we got something coming up at the arena soon. It’s all good.”  

On reported heat with D-Von Dudley:

“Zero, Zero, there’s nothing! D-Von said that Bubba has got his school and I’ve got my school. Well yeah, I moved out of Florida. D-Von wanted to do a school on his own, this is just normal stuff that went on. There’s zero heat.” 

On MJF:

“People want to talk about Max like oh he is the best heel, but people love to hate Max. When Max comes out for his entrance, there’s a lot of smiling, there’s a lot of people like oh my God, what is he going to say? I can’t wait for the zinger! When Bully comes out, nobody is smiling, there is worry. I love Max to death, I am his biggest supporter and biggest fan, and he knows it. But it would be very easy for Max to go out there to a sea of boos, but also to a standing ovation. If they love you that much then they can’t hate you that much in that moment.”  

On not being a good wrestler:

“I am very much a perfectionist when it comes to my business, my livelihood, wrestling, I’ve always been that way. When I say that I am not a very good wrestler, I’m not kidding. So I don’t, a lot of stuff that the guys today do, or the great mat wrestlers, when you think of guys like a Malenko, like a Guerrero, I never had that ability, I never had that skill. What I was good at was the storytelling and the character and the smoke and mirrors and the use of everything else at my disposal to create something that might be more interesting than just a regular wrestling match. So I play to my strengths, I know what my weaknesses are, I try to keep them by my side. That is the beauty of this business, you don’t have to do what you are not good at doing.”   

On being one of the best heels in the industry today:

“It goes back to giving my all and investing in what I am doing. If you’re going to hate me, I’m going to be the most hated guy in the entire industry. I don’t think there is another guy, maybe there are 3 or 4 really good heels in wrestling right now, and I would put my name in that group. When I am on my game, I don’t think that there is anyone who can elicit that emotion of hatred, of pure disdain, like I can. You know, some guys go out and the fans “love to hate” them. If people are loving to hate you, then there’s an emotion of joy. When I go out there, nobody loves to hate me, they just f*cking hate me.” 

On knowing if the What’s Up spot would get over:

“I knew [it would], D-Von didn’t. D-Von was adamant about not doing it. He was like it is stupid, I’m not doing it. I’m like yes you will. We used to do the diving headbutt into the balls, that was part of our repertoire. Then the Budweiser advert came out with the wazzup, I just said to D-Von when you go up just wait, I’ll do the wazzup, you do it back to me. It’s stupid sh*t that gets over in this business, but it works, and it still works today.” 

On putting Mae Young through a table:

“I was very hesitant, because it was an 80 year old woman. But after that first thing and I saw her attitude and everything, I’ve told the story a million times, but I was raring to go. I remember when Vince came to me and he was like I got it, I’ve got how we are going to get people to hate you. You’re going to put a woman through a table. Yeah that’s gonna f*cking work [shakes head]. They love us for it!”    

On the Meltzer Driver finisher:

“I would never name a finishing move after a f*cking dirtsheet guy. I’m not kidding about naming the move, Dave is not a dirtsheet guy, I love Dave. I take little shots at the star rankings, but Dave is a bigger worker than any wrestler I know.” 

On wanting to be the IMPACT World Champion again:

“If you put the character under a microscope then yes, the goal is to be the champion. But when you look at it from a business point of view, the goal is to utilize the character for everyone and anyone in the company. I look at the entire locker room and I can honestly tell you, Bully Ray can work with anyone in that locker room. Any babyface, I can make that babyface in 5 minutes. You give me 5 minutes with that babyface and they will be made. It’s because of the way that Paul Heyman made me and D-Von. Me and D-Von lost all the time, but he handed me the microphone the next night and said go and get your heat back. Give me this [a microphone], and let me do what I do with this. No matter what, whoever walks out there is going to get a huge pop, because they are just wanting to see them punch me in the mouth and shut me up.” 

What is Bully Ray grateful for:

“My friends, my family and the wrestling business.”

And we’re back with you for another edition of #AskCVV! Chris Van Vliet answers questions that were submitted on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube from Insight listeners just like you. This is a monthly tradition so if you have a question that you’d like answered in the next edition, just send it with the hashtag #AskCVV.

What’s your thoughts on Jake Paul versus Tommy Fury? 

“So, I think that the judges got the decision right. I think that Tommy Fury won the fight. I think that they got the points a little messed up there. Like I don’t think that there were too many 10 8 rounds. And for two of the judges to say that there were, that Jake lost some of those rounds 10 8, doesn’t really make a lot of sense. I’m excited to see the rematch though. But I was saying like as soon as that first round happened that it was evident that Jake Paul had not been in there with a true seasoned professional boxer, because Tommy Fury looked good. Tommy Fury looked like a real boxer in there, his head movement, the way his feet move, the way he was landing his punches with the accuracy of the punches. He definitely looked like the fight was in his control. It was impressive to see Jake Paul knock down Tommy Fury. But I think that in the end, the decision was right. I think Tommy Fury won that fight. It’ll be so interesting when they run this back for the rematch. But I was interested, I am interested, I’ve been following Jake Paul’s journey since he became a pro boxer three years ago. And that’s the other thing, you got to remember this is only his ninth fight. He’s only been a pro boxer for three years. So for someone who just started this three years ago, looks pretty good in there. So I was entertained. And I think that that’s really the whole point of all this was an entertaining fight, and I look forward to seeing another one. So what do you guys think? I know, there’s a lot of hate. I know there’s a lot of hate on Jake Paul, and on Logan Paul. And for whatever reason, not a lot of respect for what these guys have built. These guys are from Cleveland, Ohio, actually just outside of Cleveland, Ohio. And they have worked so hard for everything that they have. Whether that’s on YouTube, or as a podcaster, or as a boxer, or now as a professional wrestler for Logan Paul, as an entrepreneur, for Logan Paul, and what he’s building with Prime, they’ve worked so hard for all of this. And it’s funny to see people that are just like, oh, yeah, well, it came easy for them. And they just want to like discount this or take it away from them. All I’m saying is you’ve got to respect, whether you love them or hate them, the Paul brothers, and I know your question is not about what do you think about the Paul brothers, but whether you love them or hate them, I think you have to respect them. You don’t have to like them. But I think you have to respect what they’re doing right now and what they’re continuing to do. They’re doing everything they’re doing at the highest possible level. It’s impressive.” 

Who do you think your next interview will be?

“I know exactly who my next interview will be. I was just in Las Vegas this past weekend. If you follow me on Instagram, you see some of the shots that I posted there. I was in Vegas for like, five hours, and we did three pretty big interviews while we were there. So IMPACT Wrestling was in town for No Surrender. That was the pay-per-view live on Friday night, then they did two TV tapings, Saturday and Sunday. So I interviewed Santino Marella, fascinating conversation. Then I did an interview with Bully Ray, another fascinating conversation. And I did an interview with former light heavyweight champion, Rashad Evans. Amazing conversation. So you’ll be seeing all of those in the next few weeks, which one’s going to be first? We will upload, I’m making the decision right now as I’m saying this in one breath, we will upload Bully Ray on Thursday. So there you go, that’s the next podcast episode, it’s Bully Ray. Fascinating conversation because that guy doesn’t pull any punches. So you’ll be seeing that on Thursday, both on the podcast and on the YouTube channel. So go check that out. If you aren’t subscribed on the YouTube channels, both Chris Van Vliet and CVV clips. Please go and subscribe there so you don’t miss out on these conversations that we post and the clips that we post on there.” 

How can one stand out in an oversaturated industry like online journalism? 

“That is such a great question. And I think that the key to standing out in any industry is just consistency. And I think that if we’re going to speak specifically with like content creation and online journalism, I think there’s a lot of people who get into the space. They do one or two things and they go oh, how come this isn’t popping off? How come that video I posted isn’t getting 1000s or tens of 1000s of views. How come that article isn’t getting all the click throughs. It’s just all about consistency. It’s about, especially with journalism, it’s about constantly putting things out that is a value to other people. And it’s not it’s not about doing it once. It’s not about doing it twice, it’s about doing this each and every time so that you start to build up a reputation for yourself. And I’ll use my friend Sean Ross Sapp as an example of this. He was breaking stories years ago, and you know, a few people were paying attention but not a lot of people. But then when he kept doing it, people went oh, well, Sean Ross Sapp is saying it, it must be actually happening. And then he started to build up this reputation for himself, where every time that he reported it, you took it as fact, because he was getting it consistently right so frequently. So I think it’s the idea of showing up. And it’s also the idea of being like honest and transparent, and trustworthy. If we’re talking specifically about journalism here, it’s about people being able to rely on you. And if we’re just talking about content creation in general, you just got to keep doing it. You just got to keep doing it. If you say to people, I’m going to put out a podcast episode every Monday, well, then just like a job, you’ve got to show up every Monday and put it out. And I think that too many people treat this like a hobby, and then you get results like a hobby. If you treat it like a job, you will start to get results like a job. So that’s just my two cents here from my now 18 years in the broadcasting industry, and it’s shifted and changed a lot.” 

What is one of the best matches that doesn’t get enough recognition? 

“Fantastic question. And we could do 17 podcast episodes about some of my favourite matches that a lot of people don’t talk about, but I will point a finger directly at TNA wrestling, and say there are not enough WWE fans, or just wrestling fans in general, that watch any of the great matches that happened in TNA, or currently happening in TNA IMPACT Wrestling. And if you have never seen TNA IMPACT Wrestling, if you’ve never seen anything, go look up the three way match between AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels. And I think that that’s the type of match that really set the tone for TNA and what they were all about, especially the X Division. And I think it’s those type of matches, like AJ Styles is phenomenal, right? It’s his nickname, but he’s phenomenal. Everything he does every everybody he works with, he makes them look great. But I don’t think that there’s a lot of WWE fans that realise the amazing work he was doing like 05 to 09, it’s not really fair to just like single out a span of five years. But those years in particular, are what really sucked me into being an IMPACT Wrestling fan, TNA fan. So I would say that he was like AJ Styles versus whomever. And I will also piggyback on that and say that Kurt Angle had his best matches, Kurt Angle did his best work in TNA, and there were so many people that didn’t see it. So go check out like TNA, Kurt Angle in TNA versus AJ Styles, or go check out Kurt Angle versus Sting. Like, these are just great matches that I don’t think get nearly enough recognition from fans that maybe weren’t watching that back then. So that’s kind of my long answer. And of course, you know, I think that the best match of all time, and the match that you should show anybody who’s never watched wrestling before is Hulk Hogan versus The Rock, WrestleMania 18. Just because that crowd reaction is amazing. And that crowd reaction is so loud and it makes the whole match. A lot of people talk about that being a great match. I think that doesn’t get the recognition that it deserves sometimes for it being as good as it is.” 

Do you think gimmick matches like Hell in a Cell or Money in the Bank need their own PLE? Or should they be included in another show? 

“That’s a really good one. And I think you could go either way on this. I also love that we have ditched the term pay-per-view and there are now PLE’s, premium live events. I love that fans are now using that term instead of saying pay-per-view, and it makes sense right? We’re not paying to view them anymore. There are Premium Live Events. I loved back in the day, when you’d have a Hell in a Cell because it fit the storyline, like the build up was like, well, they’ve already done this type of match, or they’ve done this type of match or this match really favours this person, now it’s time to have a Hell in a Cell match. And I think that my problem sometimes with a Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, is you’re having a Hell in a Cell match just for the sake of having a Hell in a Cell match. And I don’t think personally, it falls into the same category as like the Elimination Chamber match, like, that’s a match where you go, Okay, this match happens at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, I get it, and we kind of go on from there. I think that Money in the Bank makes sense as a pay-per-view, because that match then leads up to WrestleMania. You know, the whole storylines that we end up with, you could have like cashing in the Money in the Bank contract all the way until WrestleMania. I think that like, that one makes sense. But I never understood the Hell in a Cell thing. So I think that might, I guess, I guess, in a roundabout, in a roundabout way, I’m saying like, I think it needs to make sense for the story. And then you don’t just have it for the sake of having it. Does that make sense?”

I met Drew McIntyre last week and I froze. Have you ever had a situation where you’ve completely frozen and needed to quickly compose yourself? 

“Well, first of all, that’s awesome that you met Drew McIntyre. Isn’t he great? Isn’t he such a good dude. So even though it may be it didn’t go the way that you wanted it to go. That’s still pretty cool that you met Drew McIntyre. And you know, there is gonna be a bunch of people listening to this right now going, oh, man, I wish I could meet Drew McIntyre. So I’ve definitely had moments where I wouldn’t say I’ve completely frozen. But I think that what this comes down to is you have an expectation in your mind of how you want the situation to go, and sometimes it doesn’t go that way. And then you go oh, man, that wasn’t so great. I can promise you, Steve, that it wasn’t nearly as bad as you’re imagining it was in your mind. But I had a moment and it’s on YouTube, if you want to go check this out. I had a moment on the red carpet for the Baywatch group. And we did this in Miami on South Beach, they did the world premiere on the red carpet, and The Rock is obviously in that movie. And I was told I wasn’t getting The Rock. So I’m doing these interviews on the red carpet, like, did an interview with Zac Efron, who’s in the movie. And I was interviewing all kinds of other people that were on the red carpet, and then The Rock is kind of making his way down the red carpet. I’m just not prepared for this. And then Rock ends up coming right in front of me and boom, next thing you know, we’re doing an interview. And I was kind of just in shock that like, I didn’t expect this to happen. It was a big lesson learned too that you’d have to prepare in all of those situations for anything that could possibly be thrown your way. So the interviews, fun, fine, short. And there’s actually a moment where I wrap up the interview, probably earlier than it should have been wrapped up. And you can kind of see, again, this is on YouTube, if you want to check this out. There’s a moment where I think he’s kind of like oh, that’s it? Like, I think it’s 37 seconds long. Let me look, I’m standing here, or sitting here on my computer. So let me take a look here. But I didn’t, I wouldn’t say like I froze, but I definitely could have made this a much better interview much better situation than I did. So let me see here. Usually on a red carpet, you’re talking to someone for like, two questions. It was a minute and seven seconds. So 67 seconds of me talking to The Rock. And that was it. So yeah, I would say though, for anybody, you gotta remember that celebrities are also human beings. Right? And without using the cliche of oh, they put their pants on one leg at a time or you know, they also take a sh*t too. You got to remember that they’re just a person who chased after their dreams and didn’t let anything stand in the way. And of course a little bit of luck sprinkled in there, but they’re just a person like you and I. So you just talk to them. Like they’re a person just have a conversation with them like they’re a person. They’re obviously very successful person. But you have a conversation with them. Like they’re a person.” 

Hey Chris, are you excited about being a dad?

“I am and it’s happening so quickly, it’s really coming up on us here. So as I sit here right now, I’m going to be a dad in less than three months. And I, I have all kinds of different emotions that I’m feeling about this, of course, I’m excited. I also have no idea what to expect from any of this. So I’m excited, I’m a little nervous, I’m at times emotional about this. And it’s funny because it, this whole process, and if you’re listening right now, and you are a parent, I’m sure you can relate. The whole process starts to make you think a lot about your own childhood, and the relationship that your parents had with you, and the way that you were raised. And there’s a lot of those things that you want to do that they did, and maybe there’s a few things that you don’t want to do that they did. And I think about that all the time. And I have so much, so much love for my parents, and they’re still together, my parents are going to celebrate their 49th wedding anniversary this year. It’s amazing. Dirk and Helen Van Vliet, Pickering Ontario. But I think about that a lot. And I just I, I want to be the best father, for our baby girl, as she grows up in this world, this ever changing world. So yes, the short answer to your question is, are you excited? Yes. Yes, I am. And then I’ve a whole bunch of other things. And now I can start to relate to other, you know, soon to be fathers, or soon to be mothers that, we talked about this, love, like, all of the emotions and all this stuff that goes into it. And then they have the kid and then I see where they’re at whether this is some of my friends or just you know, even celebrities. It changes a person, I think it changes them for the better. But it changes them, and I’m excited, because I feel like I’m already starting to change. But I’m excited to see what’s kind of on the other side of this.”

Have you and your wife picked out a name for your daughter? 

“I think yes, I think so. We’ve narrowed it down to a few names. But I really think we have to meet her first. And then we’re going to find out like Okay, so this is the name we have in mind, or these are the names we have in mind. Does that fit who you are? So I can’t wait. The due date is May 21st. My birthday is May 19th. So I’ve been saying like, I just hope she, I don’t mind sharing my birthday. But I’ve been jokingly going, that is my day, May 19th is my day. So you could have any other day but mine. Obviously love if she were to come on May 19th. We’re just excited for her to join us. 

What are your predictions for Roman Reigns versus Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39?

“I feel like we kind of all know what’s going to happen here, right? Certainly feels like they’re lining this all up for it to be Cody’s night. And I do think that if anyone’s going to dethrone The Tribal Chief, that Cody Rhodes it makes a lot of sense. Especially with the way they’re building that storyline now that like Dusty Rhodes trained all of these people in NXT, and they’re all big superstars now. Trained Roman Reigns, you know who Dusty Rhodes didn’t train? That’s right, he didn’t even train his own son. What a storyline this is gonna be. So I feel like all signs point to WrestleMania 39, ending with Cody Rhodes as the champion. But with that said, this is WWE. And WWE is known for basically going oh, yeah, you think that’s gonna happen? Think again. So my prediction is going to be Cody Rhodes, but all of that’s to say I wouldn’t be surprised if they threw us a curveball and when actually Roman Reigns, but if I was a betting man, I would put my money on Cody Rhodes here.

Would you ever consider interviewing fans on the podcast? 

“I feel like every time I interview a pro-wrestler, that’s exactly what I’m doing. Because all of them started as a fan first, and then you hear these great stories of like, oh, yeah, growing up, this person was who I looked up to. Well, I wanted to have a career like this person, or I wanted to meet this person, and then all the wrestlers watch the product now, so when you’re talking to them, they’re giving you their take on it as a fan, which I think is always so interesting. So that’s what’s interesting to me is being able to talk to people who are the very best at what they do. And when it comes to pro-wrestling, who was better than the people who were in the ring to be able to give you their insights, pun, of course intended, on everything that’s going on, and everything goes on in their life too.” 

Thank you for the book suggestions in the last ask CVV. I’ve already read the Subtle Art of Not Giving an F and Atomic Habits, two great books, by the way, what should I read next?

“Thank you for checking those books out. It was very cool. After that episode aired, I had a few people send me messages or they would take a screenshot, and they would tag me on Twitter, like hey I’m listening to this book right now or I’m just finished this book. That was really cool, because those are two books. And then I also talked about the Four Agreements, those are three books that really changed my life and changed my perspective on life. So what should you read next, I’ll give you two more of my favourites here. Never split the difference by Chris Voss. He’s a former guest on Insight, he’s a former FBI negotiator. And it is a fascinating book on negotiation, and also just about the conversation. And he talks about how everything in life is a negotiation. And it’s really interesting to see some very small little tips and tricks and tactics that you can employ in your everyday life. I mean, whether you’re, whether you’re talking about like who’s going to take out the garbage, or you’re negotiating the price on a new vehicle. It’s interesting, there’s some really cool insight there. And it’s just written in such a great way. So never split the difference by Chris Voss. And then Start With Why Simon Sinek wrote this amazing book called Start With Why. And it talks about how so many people are, in companies, are selling you what they do, this is what we do, and this is what I do. And he says that people aren’t interested in what you do, they’re interested in why you do it. And the book uses some really interesting case studies that will make you, it’ll just blow your mind. I don’t want to like give too much away here. But it talks about why Apple, it has been so popular. And whether you’re an Apple user or not, it doesn’t matter. But it talks about like Apple has always led with Why? Why are you buying their products? Why are they making their products, not what we’d sell. So Start With Why and Never Split The Difference. Those will be my two books, suggestions for the Ask CVV number three.”

Lio Rush (@iamliorush) is a professional wrestler, musician and actor. He is known for his time with WWE, AEW, MLW and NJPW. He joins Chris Van Vliet in Los Angeles to talk about coming out of retirement, the recent matches he has had in MLW and NJPW, why his time in AEW was so short, what he thinks of Tony Khan, whether or not he thinks he will return to WWE, his music career, what he learned from working with Bobby Lashley in WWE and much more!

On Lio Rush’s time in WWE as a manager:

“When I got put in that role, it was very confusing for me. It was very confusing and very frustrating. I think it was confusing for me, I didn’t really know how to wrap my head around what was actually happening, things were just moving so quickly, I feel like I didn’t really have a chance to think to myself or just have a grasp on, you know, why I feel so upset. And I think getting older and not being in that environment anymore. Just realising, you know, I just got signed to WWE, I’m 21 22 years old. I was able to get signed here without like, really a try out or, or anything, but I got noticed because of my wrestling in Ring of Honor. And then when you get told to be in a speaking role, and mainly just like a speaking role. Yeah, I’m still so, I feel like I’m still so hungry, athletically, and I feel like I just got to this place where, you know, I’ve always wanted to be. I grew up an athlete, my entire life feels like I should be an athlete and feels like I should be doing something physical. And I made it somewhere, you know, at the top of this mountain, doing something physical and being the best at doing something physical. So when that physicality kind of got, like, chopped from underneath me, at 21 22 years old, you know, I didn’t grow up, like 4 5 6 years old, saying that I wanted to be a manager in WWE. So I feel like I also got a little scared and nervous that, okay, this is gonna be my legacy and WWE, like I worked so hard, so many years to try to be a professional wrestler in WWE, and then that stamp of like, okay, you’re a manager. And I didn’t really know how to sit with that. Now, I was making decent money. I was out there with Bobby Lashley, a guy that I grew up watching and admired, still to this day.”

On a potential WWE return:

“Um, I think that it potentially could. I think yeah, I think it potentially could lead me back to WWE. I think at a certain point, it would ultimately be up to me whether I want to go that route again or not. I realised that nothing is forever. So being presented certain opportunities, I truly want to make the most out of them, and I want to do my absolute best to make sure there’s no, you know, wasted time, no wasted movement, no wasted effort. And every little thing that I do needs to be a building block to, you know, a bigger legacy or a bigger whatever the case may be to continue to do the things that I want and to continue to create opportunities for my kids to be able to do what they truly want. So if you know spending another 3, 5, 10 years in WWE to build something bigger than me, then I’ll take that. And I feel like me going through that process and me already knowing what that system is like and how things are ran. I mean, who knows if it’s ran the same? I have no idea. But I think already having that experience and having that, that showing on their television network could work out in my favour. I mean, I see it all the time. I think a great example of that, and obviously he’s not the only one, but I definitely, I mean, I’ve seen in real time, you know, Drew McIntyre getting released, coming back. I wrestled him when he was on the Indies. And I think if I’m not mistaken, I think I was his very last match on the Indies or second to last match before he ended up going back.”

Has the hatchet been buried with Tony Khan:

“Um, probably a little bit [of animosity]. I mean, how can there not be? But I think Tony, I like Tony a lot. I really, I really, really like Tony. I think that’s the first time I’m saying that out loud. Yeah, I can’t take it back now. But I do like Tony and I, like, I was, one thing that made me so willing to give AEW, a chance because I feel like I was scarred from my WWE run. I feel like I was, you know, traumatised a little bit. Tony liked me a lot. I feel like we connected pretty quickly. And I feel like that’s why things probably, there was a lot of emotion involved with. And I probably shouldn’t have brought it, brought the emotion out, but I’m glad again, I’m glad. I’m glad that I did. I’m glad that I show people that I stand for something. I’m glad that I show people that I care about myself, I care about others. It’s not always about a pay check to me. Yeah, I am, I’m sorry, I’m kind of, I mean, this is huge. For me, like really, because this is the first time that I’m really, really speaking on it. Like, you know, I’ve talked about it, but I haven’t really, really talked about it in that sense, like with my actual like relationship with Tony and stuff like that. [Chris – But have you talked to him since you left AEW]? Uh, yeah. Yeah. I’ve talked to him a few times. Yeah. I’ve, we’ve talked to a number of times. And it’s always great. It’s always, you know, how you been good to hear from you. You know, if the show was on the air, yeah, I try to like pop out and see and stuff like that. So the love is still there. The support is still there. Yeah, I think there’s just other factors into me actually being there. I mean, I’m doing so much right now. I’m happy with what I’m doing. It’s not really like I’m trying to force something to happen. You know if it happens, it happens. But I love the direction that I’m going in right now. I love what I’m doing, I’m glad that I feel like I don’t really have any true like bad blood within wrestling, I feel like with me being so active right now. And being in front of people. It’s a lot different when you’re in front of somebody, you can see them, you can kind of feel their energy, you can see why they’re doing what they’re doing and stuff like that. So I think a lot of people with me popping up back up like this so consistently and so kind of like making a pretty big splash with, you know, any show that I that I do, I feel like people are starting to see me and see my characteristics more and you know, who I am as a person, as a performer. Maybe respected my work a little bit more realising that I’m 28, but I’ve been doing this for almost a decade now. I think people are just kind of coming to terms and, and just really starting to see me. Yeah, it’s a nice feeling.”

On being inspired by Kevin Hart:

“Yeah, he really did [inspire me]. There was, it’s funny, there was a point in time in NXT, right when I got signed to WWE when I was doing some house loop shows around the Florida area. Kevin Hart chants would break out, like in the audience, and, and, you know, nobody ever wants to be called somebody else but for me, it was, it was a huge compliment, and I was really enjoying it. You know, I, if I could give off that feel that Kevin Hart gave me like watching him on screen or watching him on a stand up special or whatever. Yeah, I just wanted to be a small loud mouth. You know, like, such like a big presence for like a smaller guy. Like, that’s what I wanted. You know, that character was supposed to be like, loud, brash, arrogant, cocky. And I feel like it worked really well. Maybe a little bit, too well, They already hated me really.”

On coming out of retirement:

“Yeah, I was going through a lot in that time period. I think personally, I was going through a lot on top of the physical injuries that I had, and it kind of just made me put a lot of things in perspective. Just wanted to figure out what I needed to, like, prioritise in my life. I definitely feel like I grew up with a lot of responsibility that someone my age isn’t really, I wouldn’t say supposed to go through, but it’s definitely an interesting situation with me being currently 28 years old.”

On returning to wrestling:

“No, it’s good to be back in a wrestling setting really. I feel like I’ve been away for so long on and off. But I’m glad that I’m, you know, here for a good chunk of time without any really distractions or things pulling me away from the wrestling scene. So yeah, I’m having a good time right now.”

Was the decision to return financial or personal?

“Both really. And family has always been there for me, it always will be there. It always will be my number one priority. And the reason why I do what I do. Having more experience in wrestling and you know, having my kids get older. I always say like I do this, I do this for them now. This is my reason for doing it. You know, before that I was a fan of wrestling. I wanted to become a professional wrestler for me. It was my goal for me, it was what I wanted to do for me. But now with so many people that I love and care for and provide for I feel like I’m doing this for them. But there was a rare switch in me recently that I feel like I haven’t felt since I wanted to get signed to WWE. And it was feeling like this is what I’m meant to do. You know, I grew up being a fan of wrestling. I grew up dedicating, you know, my athletic skill set to, you know, morph myself into being a professional wrestler, like I became an amateur wrestler so that I can be a professional wrestler. You know, I was an all American in amateur wrestling, but I never wanted to wrestle at a collegiate level. I didn’t want that, I wanted to take that skill set and use it to have a strong foundation in professional wrestling. But it was definitely that switch that went off that said, this is what I’m supposed to do. This is what I worked so hard for. Literally blood, sweat and tears to, to get to where I am at the age that I’m at and yeah, it feels like this is what I’m supposed to be doing right now. I feel like I could, I’m not gonna say I feel like I can, I feel like I am, I feel like I am the best wrestler in the world. I feel like with me saying that, it always sparks. But that’s how much I believe in myself a lot. I feel like I’ve shown myself a lot. And I feel like I can afford to say that to myself. And when I say that. I’m not saying [that to myself], I’m saying that to everybody. Because if I don’t say it, and if I don’t put it out there and make people think like, oh, is Lio, the best wrestler in the world? Why is he saying this? Let me pay attention to some of his matches just a little bit closer than I was before. Let me try to see if this is what he’s saying. Is it true? Does it have some kind of, you know, truth to it.”

On other wrestlers’ reactions to Lio Rush saying he is the best wrestler in the world:

“I would hope that they would say the same thing that I would say. I hope that they would say good for you. You know what I mean? Like, I feel like if you’re not saying that you’re the best in the world, like, you know, what are you really working towards? Why are you doing this? What is your, what is your drive? Where’s your motivation coming from? I feel like, Will Ospreay is the best wrestler in the world, and he should think that he’s the best wrestler in the world. He’s, he’s incredible, but I feel like he’s incredible at what he does. You know, I don’t want to, you know, steal a quote from, from, from Chris Jericho, or Triple H of, you know, saying, you know, I’m the best wrestler, or I do what I do best, better than anybody, you know, something around those lines. And I feel like I have my own style, and, and my own way of doing things, and I’m the best at doing it that way.”

On being back full time:

“Yeah, it definitely feels like I’m back full time. That’s what the schedule that I’m on, how often I’m wrestling. The amount of matches? Yeah, the amount of matches that I’m having, it’s kind of, you know, blown me away really, with the schedule that I was able to, to kind of pull it together and be full time.”

What is Lio Rush grateful for?

“My family, all the people who are not blood relatives who care about me and the fact that I am still living.”

Travis King is an entrepreneur who helps people achieve their dream of financial freedom with land flipping. After a number of years entrenched in the corporate world and with multiple side hustles failing to provide financial freedom, Travis discovered land flipping. The results would be life-changing: within 2 years he had built up passive income which enabled him to pursue this venture as his full time job, resulting in a seven-figure empire over the following decade. Unsurprisingly, it was from this pursuit that Travis found true purpose – helping others experience wild success through niche land flipping opportunities; now providing coaching programs and training courses so all can benefit! Travis joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about how to maximize your side hustle, what finding your passion looks like, how he discovered land flipping, what to look for in a great deal, the power of gratitude and much more!

Where to start your side hustle:

“Yeah, well, I have like, so what I did, I created a free challenge. Because when I started, everything was paid, right? Like everything was if I had questions, or I emailed somebody, like, you got to buy the course. Right? So for me, I thought if I ever get in a position of educating, I want to give people like without [money]. Because it took me several months, Chris of like Googling and watching YouTube videos, like trying to get familiar with land. And then also like, I was very sceptical and needed proof of concept, right? So I’m, it took me a long time, almost like a year of analysis, paralysis of getting started. So I’m like, Okay, if I ever do this education thing, like I want to give somebody a free like kind of like an intro class. So if you go to travisking.com, I have a free challenge that’s a seven day 100% free challenge. And it’s kind of like though seven days. Each session is like anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour where you’re really getting oriented with the concept and the idea that over the course of seven days, you have a feel for me, and you’re also familiar with land without having to you know, get out your your wallet, right and buy a course or anything. So that’s probably the best like starting point, you know.”

On beginning to side hustle:

“Well, the passion like, or the interest was always there. But the execution is what I lacked. So very similar to how people would go to like a seminar and fill that motivation and rah rah feeling and then leave it like that. It doesn’t mean you’re educated, it just means you’re hyped, right? That was kind of me, I was interested in real estate, and I started reading like, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and some of these, like very well known or traditional books. But the problem was, I didn’t really study them, right? And I didn’t execute them on like, they’re fantastic books and have amazing concepts, but I use them more like they got me hyped up. And then I ran out there really naively as a young 20 something right, with a high income and pretty good credit score, and bought up as much property as I could not knowing anything about, like, how to vet the properties and what’s a good property and and where are we at in the market? You know, so it looked like a good strong start in the like, mid, like 2004 2005. And then, you know, I’m sure a lot of listeners can tell where the story is going. Right?” 

What happened next:

“What happened in 2008 ish is even billionaires, right, very intelligent guys lost 40 50% of their net worth, right, with the economy so that’s kind of what happened to me. I got bit early on with foreclosures, and you know, losing houses. And so I started really young, kind of trying to be that entrepreneur on the side, like with houses and house investing, but due to just not seeing the, you know, the recession coming, and then also just being young and naïve, right, and not really studying things, just diving in, I got hit pretty hard. So that was like my first attempt to kind of be an entrepreneur side hustle, and it didn’t end well. Right. So then we spent the next five, six years kind of licking my wounds and recovering and just getting up going to work in that same routine and kind of going what’s next. And that’s where, you know, fast forward five, six years, I still had that itch and at this time, speaking of side hustles and so I mean, that’s why people say side hustle, like we’ve done everything. And I say we, like my wife and I, so we, you know, we’ve been on this journey together and we’ve done all these side hustles so we like we flipped cars, we flipped campers, we mystery shopped, right, at what point at our lowest point right. Looking back, we’re doing a mystery shop at like Payless Shoe store, right? Not even like Nike, right? Or a Cool Kicks like Payless, right? So we’re in the middle of a mystery shop and it’s like, what are we doing, but we’re just trying to make outside money and trying to do something outside of work. And then fortunately, I stumbled across like land flipping as a side hustle or as kind of land as an asset class. And that’s really when we, you know, we grabbed that and it didn’t have the barriers to entry, like house investing did or multifamily single family multifamily, where you gotta have gobs of money for, you know, 20% down payments on three $400,000 houses. You could buy cheap property at auctions, and it just had a really low barrier to entries. And I still had PTSD from the crash of housing. So I felt like starting small with something cheap, where I wasn’t betting the farm would be like a safe way to try the side hustle again, within real estate.”

How to flip land:

“Yeah, well, now it’s a lot different than when we started. When we started we would buy off of tax online tax auctions. So whenever somebody doesn’t pay their property taxes for enough years, three to five years. And not all states are the same, but in a lot of states, you know, they want to, they want to collect those property taxes, obviously, right. So they want to bring it back from the tax roll. So they have auctions. And they have online auctions, that it’s not like the 80s and 90s, where you need to go stand at the courthouse steps, right, and hold up your like, you know, your paddle. And like bid like you can just online and put your max bid, and it’s very similar to eBay, right. So that was our first flips were like buying a property for $500. And then selling it for $2500. So this was all like we would buy on an auction, and then we’d resell it on eBay for $2500. And then we bought one for like $600 and sold for $5000. You can sell land on eBay, I know it’s insane.”

On low barriers to entry:

“Yeah it’s, the thing is, it’s really like the boring, less sexy, like under looked asset class, right. So like, you turn on HDTV, you’re watching flipping this house, people are picking out cabinets, they’re remodelling homes, right? That resonates with people, they get excited about that. But like, can you imagine, like, turn on your TV and like people are like, Okay, so here’s this dirt, right? We’ve got a little hill over here, like, here’s where the driveway will be, you know what I mean? Like, it’s just, it’s not an attractive asset class. So because of that, it’s kind of overlooked or dismissed. And then the reality is, it’s a little more challenging to appraise or value, because the assessed like county assessed tax values, there’s not always a correlation with market value. So it’s not like houses where there’s 10 different estimates or 10 different places, you can see what a house is worth. So that’s where the opportunity comes in, because it’s harder to value, and everybody’s occupied with houses and house investing. So land is just kind of this like blue ocean right over here that people aren’t interested in. Because there’s all the stigma from decades ago of like, land is just this thing that sits, it doesn’t make money, right. But the reality is with the internet, you know, with the internet and visibility and reach now, it’s not the same as it was I think in the 80s of like owning land. You know, it’s just like any it could be flipped just like you said, like a couch or like anything.”

On life before business:

“Yeah, so I you know, so I started college with little to no direction, so what do you do, right, when you have no direction out of high school? It’s either military, or it’s college, and you know, figure it out. I, you know, snuck in my four or five years of fun in a semester and a half of college right? And so I enjoyed all the social aspects of college but had no clue where I was going, you know, with it like as far as profession or degree and really was like, just impatient, you know, like, just kind of wanted to get out there and take on the world and start doing things, you know, not learning, right? If I had a lot of clarity on what I wanted to be, I think it would have felt different, right? But because of that, it just more felt like this like holding pattern of like, alright, like, I’m just here because I don’t know what I want to do next.”

On side hustling running in the family:

“So I’ve got a 14 year old, a 12 year old and an 8 year old. My boys, the older two, they’ve been buying this energy drink Prime right? They’ve been buying Prime, Logan Paul’s energy drink. They’ve been buying it for a $1.89 a bottle by the case and taking it to school and selling it for $5 to $7 a bottle. Okay, so like this is like, on their own right, it’s really cool to see them like, you know, kind of be little entrepreneurs. And that arbitrage buy by the case, sell by the bottle, right? So it’s really cool to see them like load up their backpacks and shorts to go push their prime right product. So it just shows the like, the asset class or the item or the arbitrage or whatever you’re doing, it doesn’t really matter as long as it’s legal. Right? Like, it doesn’t matter. But it’s just like that desire, you know, of recognising that opportunity and then capitalising on it, you know, at any age, right.”

What is Travis King grateful for:

“My wife, my kids and that I get to help people.”

Featured image: Land Investing Mastery

Matt Morgan (@BPMattMorgan) is the current Mayor of Longwood, FL, and a former professional wrestler known for his time in WWE and TNA Wrestling. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about why he decided to run for mayor of the town he lives in, how he met Vince McMahon before he became a wrestler, appeared on Tough Enough, what could have been with his wrestling career in TNA, and WWE, a potential storyline where he was going to be Kane’s brother named Abel, using Brock Lesnar’s F5 finisher, his plans to return to WWE in 2014 and why it didn’t happen and much more!

Featured image: Bleacher Report

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (@rampage4real) is a mixed martial artist and actor known for his time in Pride FC, Bellator and as the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. He joins Chris Van Vliet in the Blue Wire Studios at Wynn Las Vegas to talk about his legendary UFC career, his fights with opponents like Wanderlei Silva, Chuck Liddell, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, why he says Jon Jones is the dirtiest fighter, what happened when he signed with TNA to become a pro wrestler, his movie roles and what he learned from Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper on “The A-Team”, his viral clip destroying the door on “The Ultimate Fighter”, why he thinks Jake Paul will beat Tommy Fury, his support of United Fight League and the fact that they are paying for fighters medical coverage, his plans for another fight and much more!

On Jon Jones:

“Jon Jones is like the dirtiest fighter. I’m cool with Jon, when I see Jon Jones we cool. Its a side of me that wants to do stuff to Jon Jones. I’m gonna keep it real. I never got a rematch. I never got it. Yeah, it’s a side of me that you know, every time like I used to, I used to have a Lambo and I used to get in and out of it. I used to get it in the Lambo and be in a lot of pain. But then it’s like. I always had honor when I fought. You know, I want to be the best fighter on the day, I want to win the fight clean. But I know that every fighter is not like me, so I can’t get mad at him, you know what I’m saying, I can’t get mad at him for that. But it’s just me. But you know, now my son is fighting. If like somebody did this sh*t to my son. I don’t know what happened because I can’t control my temper sometimes. I don’t know if I would jump in the cage and go ahead. You know, somebody kicked my son, I don’t know. But me. I don’t love myself as much. I love my son. So it’s just different.”

Is Rampage Brown retired?

“No, I never officially retired. I do want to fight like maybe like two or three more fights and I want to do at least one boxing match before I get too old. [There is a lot of money in boxing] It is a lot of money. But I just want to do a boxing match, I always have.”

On being misdiagnosed:

“I remember I had to start cutting 30 pounds while I was in Bellator, already cut 30 pounds. So because some dumb ass specialist misdiagnosed me with hypothyroid. And they put me on medicine. It made me gain weight, I was supposed to lose weight, but I was gaining weight. So I didn’t figure it out, you know.”

On knowing about the misdiagnosis:

“Well I didn’t figure it out until a month before my last fight. I was training with Coach Cowell, I don’t know if you know him, he trains a lot of trainers, a lot of guys, he trains a lot of good athletes and stuff, and he’s a scientist. And he said, I mean, I tell him about my problem, [he said] let me look at your blood. And he looked at my blood and those specialists, I don’t think they did this. And he looked at and he said there’s nothing wrong with your thyroid. He says your T3, something’s wrong with T three, and he said that medicine that you on is making you gain weight. And that’s why I quit cold turkey, he was like, no, no, no, no, you shouldn’t quit cold turkey. But I was like man, I gotta cut weight to make it, I gotta lose weight. So I quit cold turkey and it just backfired. So I’m still trying to get everything right. But I think that my body style, I think that maybe I’m gonna have to cut out a whole bunch of stuff like carbs, sugars.”

On possible being a wrestler instead of going into MMA:

“Oh, it was always supposed to be pro wrestling. You know, I used to be a really big pro-wrestling fan from Memphis, and my oldest brother was a big pro wrestling fan, so it was like I grew up watching him watch it. And we always go to like, not Monday Night Raw, something else, it was called Monday, it was Monday night fights. And they used to have it free on Sundays. Where they give you free tickets. You go to the studio. I’ve been there a couple of times.”

On meeting The Undertaker:

“Well, this is kind of a long story. I bumped into my favourite pro wrestler, the master of pain, Undertaker, and this is when I started wrestling. I started wrestling, and I went to state so I’m in Chattanooga, and I’m in a hotel and I see The Undertaker and I asked for a picture, I mean for autograph. He said no. Then I saw him sign a little white kids autograph and I was like, oh. But then years later, I think about when I was 17 years old [at the time], he didn’t see me as a kid, I was still a kid. But he probably [saw me] at 17 years old. I thought I was you know, I thought I was a kid.”

On Rampage’s time in TNA:

“It was big news. I was so disappointed that they didn’t use me like I thought they were gonna use me. [Chris mentions the debut going nose to nose with Kurt Angle] Dude, that broke the internet for me]. I don’t want to talk bad about TNA, but if I’m gonna keep it 100 Like I always try to do I just think they stupid.”

What went wrong with TNA:

“They were supposed to train me, they sent the ring to me at my gym, I had my own gym at the time. But they never sent anybody over to train me and they never like, you know, put the time in to train me. I was serious about it. Who knows? I probably would have left MMA and been like Ronda Rousey or somebody now.”

On hearing about MMA:

“I remember watching UFC, back in college, one of my college, one of my high school wrestling coaches was doing this fight in UFC. He retired probably, he retired before the UFC got mainstream, but he’s a UFC veteran, one of the pioneers. So he was trading for the UFC, that’s when I learned about it.”

On Rampage’s first MMA experiences:

“And so I got injured in college and I went home and healed up. And one of my old teammates that I used to wrestle against in high school, man, his coach was really good friends. So me and him, we knew each other, we was friends, became real good friends. And he wanted me to have him trained for a fight. I was nervous. He took me to the gym, he took me, he took me to a fight, and I saw this guy like, as the champion of Memphis. He put a guy in that armbar triangle choke and he tapped the guy, which was flipped on his face and kicked him off. And I was like man, I like to fight that guy. And I ended up fighting him like a couple of weeks later. You know, I go back to the gym, stuff like that. And he was like hey, you still want to fight? Yeah, I’ll fight like, you know, when? It was like, oh, three days? Yeah, I was like, cool. He’s like, that guy you saw you want to fight? Here’s your chance. I’m like, damn, I spoke too soon. So I couldn’t back out right? So I followed him. Three days notice and I end up winning by decision.”

On Jake Paul:

“He’s going to beat the sh*t out of Tommy Fury. And nothing against Tommy Fury. I got nothing against them. You know, I look up to his brother and everything. But I I thought Tommy Fury, I was rooting for him to beat Jake Paul as well. I just want to see him fight a real boxer and get beat, I’m sorry. Because just so you know, I’m a fan of his. I like it, but he beat too many MMA fighters right? So I’m, I’m like, now he’s, he’s going to sh*t the bed again. And then I looked at Fury and I’m like oh my God, that guy sucks.”

On starring as BA Baracus in The A Team movie:

“It was pretty cool. So I took direction from everybody. Anybody has something to say? I didn’t have ego and I just laugh, you know, some stuff because they knew that wasn’t like a seasoned actor. And they understood it. Everybody was no good. But I’m still close friends, all these guys. That’s great. Everybody. Still, all those guys are great. They’re all super cool.”

Featured image: MMA Fighting

Dylan Postl (@dylanpostl) is a professional wrestler and actor who is best known as Hornswoggle from his time in WWE and Swoggle in Impact Wrestling. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about his new podcast called “Going Postl”, his iconic career in WWE, how he got started, getting trained by Mr. Kennedy, being part of the storyline where he was Vince McMahon’s son, his role as the anonymous Raw General Manager, being part of the first ever WeeLC match, his friendship with Ethan Page, coming out to AJ Style’s music on Impact Wrestling, getting ask to be a member of Degeneration X and much more!

On not going into the Hall of Fame with DX:

“No. And it’s one of those things like I get it, I do. I was the mascot, I was always known as the mascot. People didn’t view me as such. But I knew it and it’s fine. I never like to think about that, because if it never were to happen, I can only be let down rather than if for a crazy reason it does happen, it’s the coolest surprise ever. But I never think about that. People ask me all the time and all that they say it to me all the time. But it’s like, I don’t like thinking that way. At this point. Now. It’s like, it would just be cool for my son, like I have so much now where it’s just like, I want to do fun things that I can bring him along to as well. Like, it’s all I care about nowadays. And that’s, hey, when can I get a AIW booking in Cleveland so we can go to this Hall of Fame or we go to the Pro Football Hall of Fame or the Rock Hall again and just get spaghetti pizza again, just like fun things that he can do along with me that at this point in my career, that’s what I really enjoy is him coming along for the ride.”

On potentially joining a Royal Rumble:

“[Someone watching is like] Oh Dammit, he took a number! And everyone’s all mad because they have that number in their draft pool and obviously I’m not gonna win. That stuff like that makes me feel Good. When I did the greatest Royal Rumble, when I had involvement in the Women’s Royal Rumble a few years ago, all of that stuff, kind of just makes me feel good. And it makes me feel like, oh, they remember. And it’s doing conventions, and doing wrestling shows still and being as active as I still am. It’s just, it’s fun that people remember and it’s that they come up to me [and say] ‘hey, remember when you did this?’ Yeah. Or ‘hey, you remember when you did this?’ I didn’t do that. And like this podcast recording the podcast with George Going Postyl. He brings up things that I did that I have no recollection of doing, and then they’ll send me a picture. And I go, I did do that.”

On being the in case of emergency break glass ending to a storyline:

“So it was kind of funny. Like, I always laughed during WWE stuff at times because it was like, how are we gonna get out of this one? Here comes Hornswoggle. It was like, we need someone to work with a guest host, here’s Hornswoggle. It’s like every, the guest host stuff was so much fun. My bar downstairs in my basement. I built a bar, and it’s just signed stuff from the guest host era. Like every week, I was like, hey, what can I get Bob Barker to sign? Oh, Happy Gilmore, there’s a random thing. Mike Tyson is gonna sign The Hangover, but just like fun stuff. Betty White signed a Golden Girls DVD set. So good. Floyd Mayweather gloves and Mike Tyson gloves down there. Ozzy Osbourne, I have a vinyl from him. I got a vinyl for my dad too which is like, mind blowing to my dad. But it always was like, What are we gonna go back on? Oh Hornswoggle is here, let’s have him be the answer. Fine by me, like I don’t care. You’re putting me on television, on worldwide television. How dumb would I have been to be like, not gonna work for me, boss? Nope. Not gonna work. Mae Young gave birth to me as the New Year’s Baby. I dressed as a cow. Like, the sh*t I didn’t want to necessarily do, but then I sit back and go, I’m on worldwide television, getting paid to do my dream job from when I was four years old. Life could be a lot worse. Like, again, I don’t take myself seriously. Although that’s where an ego comes from. I don’t, it is just what it is. I don’t, I don’t, I don’t care enough about how I’m viewed. It doesn’t matter to me.”

On being Vince McMahon’s son:

“So many of those things just get swept under the rug and forgotten about obviously. But then, as everyone was leaving, rehearsal was done. And Bruce goes, ‘Okay, I need to know where your bag is in the locker room.’ I go, why? He goes, ‘because you’re going under the ring right now.’ Until then, I was like, it’s 3:30. [Nobody knew]. No, literally. I get under there. And Kevin Dunn gets on headset with me. And he goes, ‘Hey, Vince will talk to you about what you’re going to do.’ Vince went over it on headset, the whole segment of Vince said please stay off headset until we ask for you again. Because they didn’t want any producers, nothing to know. And no one or no one to hear me over the headset talking. I was like, so I’m changing underneath the ring. And I had my Cruiserweight title in my bag, and I go, do I come up with it? Oh, no. What do I do? What do I do? Oh, no. And I’m like, freaking out.”

On not talking in the early WWE days:

“It took a while for me to talk. And that was like, but even without the talking, we still were able to pull off, like the Vince’s son stuff and the hospital stuff. And like when I was in the hospital and JBL still attacked me. And all of that, the JBL attacking me in the cage match. It’s just all that stuff without talking, and we still like we’re able to get emotion out of people. Thinking back on it is pretty, pretty incredible.”

On having WWE props:

“The Wee LC table, obviously, it’s like the coolest, the best match I’ve ever done and the best thing I’ve ever done in my career in the ring. And so immediately after the match, I headed the props department say, hey, I need a piece of that table right now. And I got a piece of the table and I got it signed by everyone that was involved in the match.”

On getting into wrestling early:

“Wrestling figures got me into pro-wrestling. My brother always played with these, the original series of Hasbro’s, Andre, Warrior, Hogan, Jake, Bossman. That’s who he had. And then me being the little brother. I of course took those figures from him, and my parents that had to buy me separate ones as well. I didn’t know what these were, I just thought they were my brother’s cool toys. And so he then showed me what they were from, and this is professional wrestling, and I was hooked, immediately hooked. And I’ve been hooked ever since.”

When did Hornswoggle want to be a pro-wrestler:

“From that day, I was like, that’s all I want to do. People want to be superheroes. People want to be firefighters, or police officers or pro-football players, I just wanted to be a pro wrestler. And, like, it was like, one of those things where my family, okay, all right, it’s not gonna like, again, I don’t have the body type of a pro-wrestler. So it was kind of like, just tongue in cheek yeah, that’s gonna happen Dylan. And then I found a training school around the area and started doing that after backyard wrestling. And then I started taking it a little more seriously, obviously. And they were supportive of it until I dropped out of college to do it. But then they were still like, hey, just, you know, whatever, he’s still a young kid, do your thing. And then I made it to WWE, and it was one of those oh, he accomplished this. That’s incredible. And they were never insanely like, not supportive, but they’re just, I shouldn’t have made it. I say all the time, I shouldn’t have made it. I shouldn’t have like, I’m not the typical hire for WWE. It was a specific role that they needed me for, that is crazy. And that lasted for so long is nuts to me, because they told me this could be six months, and they first hired me. And it all lasted just under 10 years, which is incredible. And thinking that is now seven years ago, is even more nuts that I still like, man, it’s just crazy. This year in August. I’ve been wrestling for 20 years. Wow. 20 years. That’s all, that’s more than half of my life. Like, it’s nuts. It’s crazy.”

On which term is the correct one to address Hornswoggle: 

“Kevin Dunn on a headset. I was underneath the ring, and I could always hear the conversations between everyone. Everyone. The producers in the back, Kevin Dunn in the truck, Vince in the back. Whenever he had to, like, say a specific direction. I was like, on this headset, I loved it. I was like, Oh, I get to hear a lot of things. So Kevin Dunn’s like ‘Vince, we need to figure out how to get the midget back to the back.’ [As Vince] ‘Goddammit Kevin! We don’t use that word. He’s a little person.’ [Dunn’s response] ‘Oh, sorry. Sorry, Vince. Sorry.’ And it was like apology after apology after apology. And they apologised to me, too. It’s like, I don’t care.”

On the wildest thing that happened under the ring:

“I fell asleep. I talked about it in my book. Life is short and so am I. I fell asleep overseas. And there was a six man tag match. It was Finley Big Daddy V and Khali against Undertaker Kane and Batista. So a very heavy match going on above me. It was an overseas tour, international tour. And I was very sleepy, very tired. Just tired from the night before, didn’t get a lot of sleep the night before, went to bed late. That’s what I’m going with. I was not overserved, and like they put me under the ring at intermission. And so I was like, okay, whatever. And I just fell asleep and I woke up to Finley opening the curtain and yelling at me. Hey, hey, and then he finally goes like, I’m not waking up and he sees me face down. He thought one of the ring things knocked me out. He goes [makes slapping sound]. I go ‘Hey man.’ He goes ‘You’re on!’ And I go Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit, because I knew I had a spot with Undertaker who was waiting above me. Yeah. He rolls me in and Takers laying down and we’d always did this thing where Taker would be laying down. I’d walk up to him and he’d sit up, scare the sh*t out of me. And like, either just goozle me or chokeslam me off his knee or something. But now he throws me in and I go, the whole time walking up to Undertaker I go. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” 

On The Undertaker’s reaction:

“We get to the back and Undertaker asks where were you? I said I was sleeping. He goes, where were you? I said I was sleeping. He goes, holy sh*t, and he just walks off. I go oh I’m dead. I’m done, I’m done. This is it, it’s been a good run. It’s been a good two years at that point. Did a lot of fun things. But I’m done. And he just couldn’t believe it. And so I graced him with a bottle of brown liquid as an apology gift. And we sat on the bus that night and indulged in that and played cards. And he was just like he goes, I can’t believe that you fell asleep with that much weight going on above you. Like I just the ring wasn’t loud to me after a while. It’s probably why I need my hearing aid all the time nowadays.”

What is Hornswoggle grateful for?

“My dad, my town and my son.” 

Featured image: Sky Sports

We’re back for another edition of #AskCVV! Chris Van Vliet answers questions that were submitted on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube from Insight listeners just like you. This is a monthly tradition so if you have a question that you’d like answered in the next edition, just send it with the hashtag #AskCVV. Here is a look at the questions from this month:

What were your reactions to Sami Zayn turning on The Bloodline and your thoughts on Cody Rhodes winning the men’s Royal Rumble match?

So, I mean, the long term storytelling of The Bloodline and Sami Zayn was so good. And we were all expecting this moment to happen, but it was just a matter of when is this moment gonna happen? And the moment that Sami Zayn hit Roman Reigns in the back with that chair, and that pop from the crowd, I don’t know the last time I heard a crowd that loud. But I think that that moment there said it all. Now it’s gonna be very interesting where things go from here. Does this storyline play out until just Elimination Chamber? Does this storyline play out until WrestleMania? Because I think that would make a lot of sense. Does it play out to Sami Zayn dethroning Roman Reigns and ending his historic run as WWE Champion. So it’d be really, really interesting to see what they do with this, but they caught lightning in a bottle here. And Sami Zayn is the most entertaining thing in all of pro-wrestling right now. And that is not a slight to any other company, I’m just saying that Sami Zayn has taken what’s been put in front of him and just taken that ball and absolutely run with it. And every time he comes on the screen, you just can’t look away. So very interested to see what happens here, and I hope that it sets up Sami versus Roman and not Sammy versus The Usos, but you know something might happen with the Usos, too. But I hope that this is Sami versus Roman and it becomes exactly what everybody is looking for there. 

The second part of this question, what do you think of Cody Rhodes winning the men’s Royal Rumble match?

I mean, that kind of ties into what we were just talking about here. Because is it going to be Sammy and Roman at WrestleMania, or is it going to be Cody and Roman at WrestleMania? And you can make a real strong case for Cody Rhodes dethroning the head of the table, dethroning Roman Reigns and becoming that champion. I mean, the story has like, it has babyface written all over it. For Cody Rhodes to do what his father, the late great Dusty Rhodes was not able to do and win the WWE Championship and win it on the grandest stage of them all, WrestleMania here in Los Angeles. So I think that we all went into the Royal Rumble, kind of knowing who is going to win the men’s Royal Rumble and the women’s Royal Rumble. I actually put a poll out on Twitter and I put it out on YouTube as well. And it seemed pretty unanimous that people were like, Yeah, Cody Rhodes is going to win the men’s rumble, Rhea Ripley is going to win the women’s rumble. I just would have, I mean, Cody coming out at number 30 was cool. But Cody coming out at number 30, if he was unannounced, I think would have been a lot cooler. I think we all kind of assumed that Cody was going to be in the Royal Rumble. I don’t feel like WWE needed to tell people that he was going to be in the match. That would have been a, I mean it was a cool moment for him to have his entrance and then obviously go on to win the match. But I think it would have been a nice surprise if he just showed up unannounced and we went Cody’s back. But it was a great moment. And that was a really solid pay-per-view from top to bottom bottom. I was thoroughly entertained. And Cody winning was a great moment. Also, I was a little surprised, maybe you were too, that they kicked off the show with the men’s Royal Rumble match. But man, they hit the ground running. They hit the ground running hard with that. And I thought it was a great way to start the show. Sami and The Bloodline with Kevin Owens, there was a great way to end the show, so top to bottom. Really, really enjoyed the show.

I saw you and your wife are having a baby. Congrats, by the way. Is it a boy or a girl? And when is the due date? 

Well thank you! I’m so excited! I get like, get all giddy when I start talking about our little baby girl. Yeah, so it’s a baby girl, we had a gender reveal party I guess about two months ago, my parents flew down, they were in town for it. We had a bunch of friends and family here at our house for it. And my wife, Rachel and I are just so excited. So we got a baby girl, we’re looking at some names right now. But the due date is May 21, and let me tell you, if you are a parent yourself, you know how fast this goes. If you’re not a parent, or you are soon to be a parent one day, let me tell you this. I feel like Rachel just told me the other day that she was having a baby, which is obviously not true, it is you know, several months ago, she’s now six months pregnant. But it’s just been like just flying by. And I’m trying to take in every moment possible right now. Between me and Rachel and just me and Rachel and the baby. And just getting ready for this, and just taking this all in because it’s flying by, but we’re so excited!

Do you ever think you’ll get the chance to interview Vince McMahon before WWE gets sold?

That is a great question. And I think that if I’m going to be open and honest with all of these questions and answers here, I’m going to have to say probably not. I’d like to be hopeful, and I am hopeful, I’m eternally optimistic. But I would have to think that Vince McMahon is not doing any more interviews with anybody for the next, [for the] rest of his life. I would think, you know, everything that went down with him and WWE and the public filings and everything that happened there, I don’t think is something they would want a chance coming up in an interview. And a lot of you guys asked like who is your dream interview and I’ve said many times that Vince McMahon is like the great white whale that I’d like to have an interview with. And not because I want to talk to him specifically about building WWF and it becoming WWE and you know, becoming what we all watch now. But I’m just genuinely curious about Vince McMahon the man, like what makes him tick? What does his morning routine look like? I’ve joked about this all the time, like, does Vince McMahon eat pizza? If so, like, what toppings does Vince like on his pizza? I just want to know, all these things because he seems kinda like the Wizard of Oz. You know, and that curtain, that proverbial curtain, so rarely gets pulled back on Vince’s life. So I’ll keep being optimistic about it. But I genuinely think that there will not be any more Vince McMahon interviews. The one he did with Pat McAfee was brilliant, and we saw a little bit of the human that Vince McMahon is, but I think that most wrestling fans just know Vince McMahon as the you’re fired guy and all the memes, so many memes. That’s the great thing about Vince McMahon, there’s a meme for everything, and a gif for everything. So I think that a lot of fans, you know, know that version of Vince McMahon, but they don’t know who Vince McMahon the person is. And I would love to be able to see that. And we saw, like I said, we saw a little bit of it in that Pat McAfee interview. But I’d love to see a little bit more. So I appreciate the question, but yeah, just don’t think it’s gonna happen.

Who are some of the nicest people that you’ve ever interviewed? 

That’s a tough one, because I’ve interviewed a lot of great people. We’re talking actors and athletes and directors and comedians, of course, wrestlers, entrepreneurs. And I generally get the feeling that when a cameras there, and a microphone is in front of your face, like this one is right now for me, that people are, you know, a little bit more aware of their actions and a little bit more aware of the fact that oh, this is gonna be seen forever, because everything lives on forever on the internet. But I’ll never forget the first time that I interviewed Henry Cavill. And he did something that I’ve never seen before, from really anybody, but especially not somebody at his level. And when you do these junket interviews, they call them, when you do these celebrity interviews, you go to a hotel, with a whole bunch of other journalists. And then the celebrities sit there, the actors, directors, they sit there in the room, and every handful of minutes, a new journalist comes in, a new reporter comes in, and then they get to have their interview. I’d never seen this before, he would greet each person at the door of the room that he was in, and then he would walk you to your seat. And then he would wait till you sat down before he sat down. And it’s like, wow, like, and this wasn’t something that he was putting on. This is just genuinely who Henry Cavill is. And the fact that we were able to see just so much of a British gentleman that he is, that one really stood out for me. He’s a very kind man, but those type of manners are something that I just, you know, certainly didn’t expect, but something I’ve never seen before. So that’s one, for sure. That really, really stood out for me. And of course, there’s so many other interviews that I’ve loved, and we’ll get to, actually that’s another question we’ve got coming up here in a little bit. But that’s a moment that I’ll never forget. Of course, John Cena has been very, very kind to me. And before, I’ve interviewed him four times. But before the one I did with him at WrestleMania 35 in New York, he was just really nice. We were texting back and forth to like, set up the situation. I’ve told this story before, but it’s such a fun story that I was texting him like, I’ll see you there one o’clock, great. We met at this private gym in Manhattan, and I came up the elevator, and I’m looking all around and I can’t find him, and he can’t find me. So I texted him and I said yeah, I’m here. And he writes me back and says, I can’t see you and I’m not trying to be funny. And I was like, wow, John Cena just hit me with the you can see me joke, so good! So he’s uh, he’s always been a fun one to interview and I’m really hoping that we do another interview this year. 

Drop the workout routine!

You guys might have seen that in December. I put it out there into the world. And this is I feel very strongly about goals and putting them out in the world and keeping yourself accountable for them. But I put out into the world that I wanted to be in the best shape of my life by my 40th birthday, which is May 19th of this year. And I’ve been working out pretty hard. I’ve also been eating just a silly amount of food right now. I’m so sick of eating Chicken and rice and eggs and ground beef, I’ve been eating so much. So much protein shakes. I’ve gained, I think that was six weeks ago that I started this. I’ve already gained like 17 pounds in the last six weeks, and the plan is to get as big as I can, and then to shred down cut down from there. So Jonathan, the workout routine has been pretty simple. It’s been like, your generic push, pull type of thing, right? So chest and triceps, that’s your push, back and biceps, that’s your pull. Shoulders, and traps, that’s another day, and then legs. And right now I’m not doing any cardio because I’m just trying to gain as much weight as possible builds as much mass as I can. I’m almost at 200 pounds right now, and I haven’t been 200 pounds ever in my life. So it’s gonna be really interesting to see what happens when I hit 200. And then I think maybe I could get to 210. Oh, that’d be like, that would be me gaining 30 pounds in a few months. So we’ll see. Then the goal from there is to shred down to cut down though that weight. So it’s been five to six days in the gym. Although as I’m recording this right now, I ran a Spartan Race yesterday. And that was, man, there’s so much fun, but they push you, they push you a lot. And if you’re not familiar with what a Spartan Race is, it’s like an obstacle course race. So you’re running and then you’re doing things like climbing over things like climbing over walls, climbing, climbing up cargo nets, rope climb. There’s a part where we were carrying like an atlas ball, which weighed a lot, and crawling under barbed wire, dunking into like mud. So it was very fun, like a Tough Mudder if you’ve ever seen a Tough Mudder. So I ran the Spartan Race yesterday and took a lot out of it. But still woke up this morning at 5:30 and went to the gym. And my trainer Rocky has really been putting me through it. So shout out to Rocky, he’s @rocky.era, on Instagram, go give him a follow. He is a monster, he is a beast, and he has been really, really pushing me. So really excited to see how the progress goes with all of this. 

Who’s been your favourite guest on the podcast? 

I’ve talked a lot about how much I enjoy having a conversation with The Rock. And they always say you shouldn’t meet your heroes. But if your hero is Dwayne Johnson, you should 100% meet your hero because he is so kind and funny and nice and self aware, and he makes the moment really special for you. So you’ve probably heard me say something like that before. So The Rock is always going to be on that list. But I’ll give you a few other ones that I was just shockingly surprised by, or not surprised, but like, I knew it was going to be a good interview. But then it starts and you get going and you go wow, this is just a great conversation. And one of those is Jay Lethal. I have such a tremendous respect for what Jay Lethal has done in Ring of Honor and what he’s doing in AEW, so so entertaining Impact Wrestling. Of course, he has the greatest segment in the history of Impact Wrestling with Ric Flair. And he’s so so talented. But from the second that Zoom window opened, and we began, not even began the interview, just began talking, it was like we were best friends. It was like we were long lost best friends, reconnecting after not seeing each other for years. And if you haven’t listened to it, or if you haven’t listened to it recently, I encourage you to go back and just give it a listen because it’s just so fun. So that was one where I knew would be good, but then it ended I went man, that was amazing. Freddie Prinze Jr, was another one. And I’ve been fortunate to have him on the show twice now, once over Zoom, and most recently, we did that one in person. And he’s the best storyteller, he has so many great stories from growing up with people like Muhammad Ali and Chuck Norris, and so many legendary characters from Hollywood. And the way he tells stories and the way he sucks you in to the story and makes you want to hear more, it’s so good. And the fact that he worked for WWE on two separate occasions, means he has a really different outlook on pro-wrestling and a different outlook on just the product that you see on television. So FPJ will always be up there and I mean, it How could you not love I Know What You Did Last Summer? How could you not love Summer Catch even though he joked that only eight people saw Summer Catch? Well, I was one of those eight people Freddie Prinze Jr. So good. So I would love to have Freddie on the show. I don’t know. It’d be great to have him on every few weeks, maybe every few months? Would you guys get sick, if I did that with him every few months? I hope not. And I’ll give you one more. One more of my favourite guests on the podcast was Jim Johnston, because he doesn’t do a lot of interviews at all. He’s the legendary music director from WWE. And he’s the guy who created The Undertaker’s theme, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, the My Time, the one two is this on? That theme to D-Generation X. Mick Foley, like, all the legendary themes are the brainchild of Jim Johnston and being able to just get into his mindset and figure out his creative process for this. And what does it look like behind the scenes when he’s told about a new character and has to turn around an entrance theme and 12 hours or 24 hours? It was fascinating to be able to hear all about that. So that’s three episodes there that if you haven’t listened to them, or you haven’t heard them in a while, I would really really encourage you to go listen to Jay Lethal Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jim Johnston, because they were some of my favourite favourite interviews and just great people.

I know you interview a lot of actors, and you’re also a member of the Critics Choice Association. What is one underrated movie that everyone needs to see? 

How much time do you have here? I will always talk about Back to the Future, because that’s my favourite movie of all time. And if you haven’t seen that, and I get that there’s a whole generation of people who haven’t seen that movie, but that movie is pure magic. Back to the Future is pure magic, from the soundtrack, to the story, to the comedic elements of that. And I mentioned this many times before, but that movie reminds us that moments in life matter and that moments are important. And that something in your life that you feel like is supposed to go one way and ends up going another may actually be leading you to something better down the road. And Back to the Future talks about that all the time. But I don’t think that’s really a good answer to this question because it’s not an underrated movie at all. Back to the Future is perfectly rated, it is not underrated. But I’ll give you one that I think is underrated. And it’s The Prestige. Christopher Nolan is, in my opinion, the best director is working right now. And there’s a lot of great directors working right now. And that is not a slight at Jim Cameron or Quentin Tarantino or Steven Spielberg or David Fincher. But Christopher Nolan does something so special in his films, and The Prestige, I think is one of Christopher Nolan’s most underrated movies, and just an underrated movie in general. Phenomenal performances in that by Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman and well, the whole cast, really. So if you haven’t seen The Prestige, I would encourage you to check out The Prestige at some point this week or this weekend. And then send me a tweet and be like man, you were right CVV, The Prestige, so good, so good!

Do you have any great book recommendations? 

I have several book recommendations. I’ll narrow down to just a few here. I think one book that everybody should read. And it’s a pretty quick, pretty easy read is The Four Agreements. And that book talks about how if you can make these four agreements with yourself, and you can live up to these every single day, week, month, and so on, then you can live a pretty great life. And these are simple things to do. But they are also simultaneously very difficult things to do. So the Four Agreements are, be impeccable with your word, don’t take anything personally, don’t make assumptions, always do your best. Sounds really simple, right? But I feel like in life, we always find ourselves not being able to do one of those things or two of those things. So that’s a constant reminder for me of those four agreements that are just always there. Can you really not take anything personally? Can you really not make assumptions? Are you always doing your best? Are you being impeccable with your word? So I like to remind myself of that a lot. The Subtle Art of Not Giving an F by Mark Manson is another great read. And it reminds us that in life, you don’t have to give an F, you don’t have to care about everything. But the things that you do care about, it’s very important to care a lot about those things. And the book reminds us of just, it’s a really great reminder, and a really great guide to living a healthier and more productive life a mentally healthier life. So that’s a book I’ve read several times, and would definitely recommend that to anybody who’s never checked it out. And one more is Atomic Habits by James Clear has such a good book here with Atomic Habits. And there’s a lot of little things in this book that really rings true to me every single day. He talks about habit loops, and I’m sure even if you don’t know what that means, you probably have some habit loops in your own life. It’s the idea of like, when this thing happens, then this thing happens. So you know, a really simple example might be like, when I wake up, I brush my teeth, or before I go to bed, I brush my teeth, and it’s still the loop of the habits that you do, like, the bedtime routine or the morning routine. But habit loops can also be really bad. You know, we all know people who say well I don’t smoke unless I’m drinking, and then you get into this habit loop of like, when this thing happens, then that thing happens. So the idea in Atomic Habits is like these small changes that you do every single day, help you to become the type of person that you want to be. So instead of saying, like, I want to lose 40 pounds, he will frame it as I want to be the type of person who prioritises health. So instead of just working towards a goal that happens to be three months or six months away, you’re working towards a lifestyle that ends up changing the whole way that you do everything. So instead of just like running to the finish line, and then you know, sitting back on the couch and eating Cheetos again, you’re developing healthy habits in that particular example, that make you the type of person that would do those things. So there you go, three books, The Four Agreements, The Subtle Art of Not Giving an F, and Atomic Habits.

LA Knight (@reallaknight) is a professional wrestler signed to WWE. He is known for his work in IMPACT Wrestling and NWA under the name Eli Drake. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about his Mountain Dew Pitch Black match against Bray Wyatt at the Royal Rumble, being in the ring with the Undertaker at the 30th anniversary of Raw, being managed by the legendary Paul Bearer, and what he learned from him, doing motion capture for WWE 2K games, celebrating his 20th year in wrestling this year, moving on from the Max Dupri character, reacting to people thinking he sounds like The Rock, his WrestleMania plans and much more!

On being in the ring with The Undertaker:

“Well, I’ll tell you what, he was about this close to get the slap right in the mouth, but I decided to spare him. But I’ll tell you the truth. It’s funny because you always hear the cliche when you’re standing in that ring, and that bell tolls. You know, it’s chills. And I’m like, sure. Once that hit, it was chills, it was pretty wild. But at the same time to be standing there and doing my thing, and to be very recognised. That audience was right on top of everything I had to say even with the Undertaker in the ring. So I mean, that’s a big feather in my cap as far as I’m concerned. And at the same time, you know, looking at a guy who’s undoubtedly a legend, Hall of Famer, crazy, crazy night leading into this Royal Rumble.”

On Bray Wyatt stepping up LA Knight’s game:

“Well, for sure. Because look, here’s this big anticipated return. Everybody’s like, oh well Bray Wyatt is coming back, ain’t that’s special. And for me. I’m looking at LA Knight’s here, and people were worried about Bray Wyatt. That’s fine. That’s cool. I get that. But then he walks in on my territory. If you remember the very first interaction, I didn’t go talk to him. I didn’t go look for him. He came looking for me. So I don’t know, in a sense, it’s like, okay, well, people have this big grandiose idea of him, they think he’s amazing. And he’s this and he’s that, whatever he is. I’m just thinking he ain’t LA Knight. So at that point, it’s like, alright, well, I’m gonna stand here across the ring from this guy, and I’m gonna look him in the eyes, and I’m gonna be way, way bigger than him. And I ain’t talking physically, we’re talking figuratively in the sense that I’m going to be to a level that if he’s going to walk into my arena, I’m gonna make sure I’m the one that people remember. I want to make sure that I’m the one that people think about, I’m going to make sure that I’m the one that shines above and beyond as bright as I can.”

On the pitch black match:

“The guy plays with puppets, is that a scary thing? It’s not a puppet room match, it’s in the dark. If there’s one thing that doesn’t bother me, it’s the dark. And so you’re looking at what’s in store for this? I don’t think he knows what’s in store. I don’t know, I don’t think anybody really knows entirely what’s in store for this. I think at some point it’s going to be, at least I’m going in with the mindset it’s gonna be a kick ass fight. And whether that means the lights are completely out, whether it’s broad daylight, whatever it is. At the end of the day, if you ask me, just because I’m not a creature of circumstance, I’m more of a creator of circumstance. So in my mind, I’m thinking okay, lights are out, pitch black, what do I have to do to adapt to that situation? What that means it is advantage LA Knight.”

On nearly not being at Raw XXX:

“Busy week in the ring with The Undertaker. Sorry, I just took all your glory. I’m stealing your interview from you. But it’s a wild week, man. I didn’t even know I was going to be going to Raw and then last minute it’s like you guys are going to Raw. Why? Because well Rumble is coming around the corner, we got the Pitch Black match, the Royal Rumble all this stuff and it’s just go go go at this point.”

On this being LA Knight’s first Royal Rumble event:

“Well, it’s pretty crazy. I mean, look, I’ve been watching this since I was a little kid. I think I watched the very first Royal Rumble. So this is, in my mind the second biggest event of the year, this is enormous. So yeah, hell yeah, it means a lot. And at the same time, there’s a certain level to me where I’m like, I’d love to be in the actual Royal Rumble match. But when you’re looking at the idea that I’m in my own match, that puts all the focus on me and Bray, and I dig that because now I’m not sharing the focus with 30 other guys. Is that selfish? Is that egotistical? I don’t know, some people might say so. But if you’re in this business, that’s exactly what you want. So you know, to have that, that primary focus on such a big event. I think that it speaks volumes to LA Knight.”

On possibly entering the Royal Rumble match as well:

“Maybe, but I mean, again, I don’t think anybody knows what to expect for the Pitch Black match. I don’t think anybody knows how physical and how crazy that’s gonna be. So I don’t know what kind of shape either of us are gonna be in afterwards actually declared for the Royal Rumble.”

On sounding like The Rock:

“Well, you know what’s so funny is as I go online, you know, and Twitter might be the worst thing in the world. The amount of people I’ve been compared to and said that I am is astounding. And every day I’ll see a new one. And I’ll just be like wait, who? That too. So yeah, it’s not surprising. But yeah, I mean, just the voice tambor again, I mean, watching the hero back in 2013. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since that, but sometimes you would just hear my voice or you’d hear His voice. And it would be tough to tell who was who you’re just like, and until the person’s face came on screen you’re like oh, yeah. But I don’t know. I don’t think otherwise there’s a whole like [similarity]. It’s just my normal speaking voice. But like, I don’t think that once I actually get amped up or anything like that, I think I kind of lose it at that point.”

What is the difference between Eli Drake and LA Knight:

“To be honest, there really isn’t, they are one and the same. And that’s the funniest thing is a lot of times again, from social media, they are like oh I miss Eli Drake. And I’m like you dummy. It’s the same thing, it’s the exact same thing. LA Knight is Eli Drake, Eli Drake is LA Knight. So you know, look, use what brought you to the dance. I know what brought me to the dance, and do a little dancing with it. That’s what I’m doing right now. So the idea that anybody thinks it’s any different just because they changed some letters around?”

How different is LA Knight from Max Dupri?

“Oh boy, who? Night and damn day. Very much so, we couldn’t be more opposite ends of the spectrum.”

On the change from Max Dupri to LA Knight:

“There’s an undeniable thing there where it’s like you get told that well, you know, if you want to go legit, maybe you should think about trying this or that. And you know, in my head, I’m like alright, let me just go ahead and do what I need to do to get ahead here. And so that’s what I do for a minute. But at some point, eventually I got to come to terms with the fact that I can’t be anything other than myself. And that’s exactly what happened where it’s just kind of like I’d eventually this stuff starts just sprinkling it out until eventually it’s just full blown.”

On getting what he wanted:

“You know, what’s funny is, in this run, there hasn’t been a lot where I’m like, you know, I want this, I want to do this, I want to go there. The only thing that I can really think of in a very overall sense is, I want to be at the top of the mountain, I want to be the guy. And in my mind, this is a stepping stone to that. And don’t let me minimise Bray Wyatt at all. He’s a big dude, he’s a big deal, and Saturday is going to be a hell of a fight. I understand, I get that. But in my mind, coming out of that, I’m looking at me stepping over him and moving myself up closer to the top of that mountain. So was this something specific that I wanted, desired, whatever. No, not really. But at the end of the day, is it something that now I can utilise to move myself forward, you bet your ass.”

Will LA Knight be doing motion capture for WWE 2K23?

“I can’t, I can’t, my schedule is too crazy. They probably don’t want me to go up there and be a potential injury risk or anything like that, even though for you know, five or six years never ever had an issue and never was, you know, never got injured or anything like that. Knock on the wood. Yeah. But I would love to, because I enjoyed just that atmosphere. Everybody was always cool. It was always a good time. And just getting to do you know, entrances of some of the different [superstars]. Hell last time I was with you, I think I blew something that you ended up having to edit out, because that was like, oh, yeah, did Hulk Hogan’s entrance and that immediately got a call from 2K. [They told me] You can’t say that!”

What is LA Knight grateful for:

“My boy Herman, my health and the Mountain Dew Pitch Black match.”

Featured image: USA

John Hennigan (@johnhennigan) is an actor, director and professional wrestler who has worked for WWE, AEW, IMPACT Wrestling, MLW and Lucha Underground using the names John Morrison, Johnny Nitro, Johnny Impact, Johnny Elite, Johnny Mundo and Johnny Caballero. He joins Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood, CA to talk about his upcoming celebrity boxing match against Harley Morenstein from Epic Meal Time at Creator Clash 2, being released from WWE along with his wife Taya Valkyrie, his 3 appearances at AEW, working with Bad Bunny at WrestleMania 37, his thoughts on Logan Paul and Jake Paul, Kofi Kingston giving him credit for the Royal Rumble save spots, his splash from the top of the Elimination Chamber, why The Miz has been so successful in WWE and much more!

On a WWE return:

“It wouldn’t be the worst thing. Never say never. I have a tonne of unfinished business. Unfinished business with my frenemy The Miz, and with a tonne of people on the roster, like in the business of professional wrestling. If you look at the rosters of Raw, SmackDown, NXT, Rampage, Dynamite, IMPACT, MLW, Ring of Honor, NWA, I have personal history and issues with everybody, not everybody, but a lot of people on every one of those rosters for sure. So it would be great to go back to WWE, be great to go to any one of those rosters because there’s a tonne of unfinished business and a tonne of new matchups. And mostly because I like wrestling.”

On boxing:

“Dude, I’ve been waking up in the morning and fighting YouTubers. Sometimes I go to Highland Park and fight Aaron from Game Grumps in his driveway. And on Sunday mornings, you know, and sometimes on Monday mornings. And Alex Wassabi, Nathan Barnett, is a friend of mine who got me into this whole thing like, for a career clash 1 I was in his corner, and he went viral for Joe Rogan thinking that there was a dad beating up his son. I don’t know if you saw that. And now I’m gonna be in his corner, but also fighting on the card of Creator Clash 2.”

On training to be a boxer:

“I think I’ve got a lot of work to do. But ultimately, yes. When I asked Josh Burnett to train me, he said, Yeah, sure, John. But just so you know, boxing is your worst thing. And I was like, I know, I know. Boxing is my worst thing, I’ve spent the least time on it, it’s this very specific art form.”

Why is John Morrison competing in boxing:

“Money. You know, the competitive spirit runs deep in me and yeah, money. Honestly, like there is that, but I was a, you know, a competitive wrestler before I got into pro wrestling. I wrestled in high school and college. And it’s very different from professional wrestling, because it’s just you versus one other person, and at some level, it’s a test of wills. And it just doesn’t start when you’re out there in amateur wrestling or in boxing when the bell rings, the test of wills begins as you start preparing for the fight. If there are two evenly matched fighters, a lot of times it’s the person that’s tougher that wins. It would be impossible for me to catch up with a career long professional boxer at this point. Just the same as it would be impossible for a professional boxer to catch up with my ability in professional wrestling. I’ve been doing it for for 20 years, there’s, you can’t, you can’t make up that difference in a year or six months. But it excites me to be back in a competitive environment.”

On boxing goals:

“I mean, it could be great for me, it can be really bad for like the, you know, like the Jake Paul’s, Logan Paul’s, KSI’s, those guys, I mean, the overnight tough guys. Let’s say, on YouTube.”

On Bad Bunny:

“I don’t want to take anything away from Bad Bunny, because he came in so humble and with so much respect, and was such a big star and worked so hard on learning the business and how to like put on an entertaining match. There are a lot of celebrities or people adjacent to wrestling that like I could take a Canadian Destroyer from but I probably wouldn’t.”

On nearly not being in the Bad Bunny match:

“I would have been a lot more present, but I went to the Performance Center once to train with him. Then the following episode of Raw, I partially tore my MCL. And like there was like touch and go for a while like it was almost going to be Bad Bunny and Miz in a singles. Then a tag, didn’t know if I was gonna be cleared. People were nervous about me doing much in the match. And it ended up well, I ended up just doing it. Whether I was cleared or not.”

On Logan Paul:

“Here’s what I think of Logan Paul. Man, remember when he had that match, and he said he completely blew out his knee. All three ligaments, his ACL, PCL, MCL, and then come to find out like, he just kind of had a sore knee. Oh, man, poor guy. I feel like he’s had three matches, he’s acting like, and a lot of people are acting like he’s God’s gift. And if he wanted to have, I’ve had close to 4000 matches. And I’ve torn both these for real like no MCL partially torn scope, scope, scope, partial ACL. If he wants to stay in the business and do it for real. Why doesn’t he talk about wrestling then? Because right now I think he’s getting a lot of help from the best minds in the business and pretending like he’s doing more of it than he is. Because without the help of the people surrounding I think Logan Paul falls flat on his face.”

On Logan Paul’s first 3 WWE matches:

“I don’t know if anyone’s had their first three matches rehearsed as much as he’s rehearsed his three matches either, especially like working one on one with Shawn Michaels. Who in the business can say that they worked for a month on one match with Shawn Michaels before they had that match. It’s no wonder it was a great match. He’s working with one of the best minds, best in-ring technicians and performers in the history of the business individually for a month for one match.”

On the WWE release: 

“I feel like I had a good vibe in my head of where I stood, and I didn’t really think I was getting released until the end when I like, realised like I was trying to do a character that had been convoluted and kind of like, tweaked and tweaked and tweaked until it kind of became impossible. And then I started thinking like, yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if I get released. And it happened.”

On The Miz:

“I think if you look at the roster, like and think about, like, all the baby faces, all the good guys and think about who would you want to wrestle if you were in that spot, like the most hated person, like the person that’s the best at riling up the crowd? That would be the most satisfying for people to see beat the crap out of, it really would be him. And that’s to his credit, because it’s not an accident or a mistake. It’s him being self aware and doubling down on what makes him the shiniest they like to say.”

What makes The Miz so shiny:

“His authenticity, and he is a product of professional wrestling like we all are, plus reality TV and his environment. And he had to fight for what he got and fight for attention on reality shows, which if you don’t know him and are in large groups, can come off as abrasive, and I think that is shiny. It’s not necessarily like something that you would like, want your kid to be or teach someone. But in his case, it’s him realising what he has and emphasising it like turning the volume up on his authentic self, I think is something that tonnes of people don’t do. Like, they want to be liked or good guys, like. I’m trying to think who to throw under the bus, Cody, Cody Rhodes. He’s got to start quality. He could have turned up the annoyingness and volume on himself and be the top heel of AEW. But he didn’t because he wanted to be loved.”

On Vince McMahon:

“I remember like, Vince was always really big on tan. And there was a while where I was wrestling, Sheamus, and I’d come back and he’s like, goddammit, you look fantastic. And I looked exactly the same, and then I wrestled Truth the next week and he’s like, Morrison come here! You look like sh*t! I can’t sell pale. And I looked the same, and I was like, I literally wrestled like the whitest guy on the roster last week, and [the I wrestled] Truth, who’s very black. And of course, I’m not going to look that tanned.”

On constant name changes:

“Literally, Vince, and I don’t know if he would admit this or not, but he did not like Nitro. I don’t think [he liked it] because it reminded him of WCW. And like it was, it’s always going to be too soon. Like because he asked me to change my name three times. The third time was when I won the ECW title, and I didn’t say no that time because I was like, Alright, I’m not gonna fight this anymore.”

Where did John Morrison come from:

“He [Vince] said you gotta change your name. You’ve got to have a champion’s name if you’re going to be a champion. Make a list of names, write down 10 names. And then, like an hour later I had like a list of all these names. Morrison was off Jim Morrison from The Doors, but I had like Brando Morrison, Johnny Brando, Johnny Blaze Morrison like Blaze was already copywritten but a bunch of stuff. And he looked at this list that I’d spent an hour googling names and like meanings and like, different celebrities like James Dean and making this list and he just looked at it and was like [flatly] ‘John Morrison’ like that.”

What is John Morrison grateful for:

“My wife, my family and my health.”

Featured image: Bleacher Report

Brant Pinvidic (@brantpinvidic) is a producer, director, speaker, coach and the author of the bestselling book “The 3-Minute Rule: Say Less To Get More From Any Pitch Or Presentation”. He joins Chris Van Vliet at the Blue Wire Studios as the Wynn Las Vegas to talk about how he became a Hollywood television producer, creating shows like “The Biggest Loser”, “Bar Rescue” and “Intervention”, how to pitch anything so it will be remembered, his adventure club called “Reject Average”, living life to your fullest, leaning into the things you are best at and much more!

On the biggest hit shows Brant Pinvidic has been a part of:

“For me Bar Rescue is probably the biggest one. You know, Jon Taffer was a big, big hit, and he was great. And that was, you know, a lot of luck getting that through, and he’s huge talent. You can pitch that show and have it do well. So we did that with Extreme Makeover Weight Loss edition, which is a big show as well, accompanied with The Biggest Loser, like we’ve had some good, we’ve had some good runs.”

The origin of The Biggest Loser:

“The Biggest Loser was the very first weight loss show that ever went [viral], and it was like, you know, and that was an amalgamation of a couple of ideas that the network had, they never wanted to do it. And you know, getting Big Ben Silverman kind of convinced them and they had to find somebody to produce it, which was JD Roth and the company I was running. And then I came in there. And I remember saying to the guys, like, shouldn’t we be doing a tonne of weight loss shows now that this is a huge hit? And so that’s what we did Extreme Makeover Weight Loss. And then I did probably another 12 or 13, weight loss shows after that.”

On the new book 3 minutes:

“Well, we used to do that in the edit bay, right? Like every scene had to resolve within three minutes. I’ll use the example like when I do on stage with Shark Tank. Yeah. You know, somebody comes in to pitch an idea for every pitch for three minutes. That’s right. And that’s like, that’s, that’s a three hour session, right? Yeah. And they boil it down to almost exactly three minutes. Because it’s like, there’s a tonne of science behind it. But we as human beings, we process information and sort of these three key categories, right. We conceptualise, we contextualise, and then we actualize. So once we understand the concept, that’s the first thing to know, what is this? What’s going on? What are we doing? Then I understand the context, which is like, Okay, how does this relate to me? And then I actualize which is like, do I want to get involved? What’s my next move? That’s what we do. You know, you can decide what you’re gonna wear for dinner tonight, or whether we’re gonna go to war with some other country. It’s the same exact decision making process.”

Why is Brant Pindivic not pitching shows anymore?

“To be honest, it lost its lustre for me. TV was an outlet for me to be successful, and growing up in Canada, you know, all I wanted to do to be successful in Canada is like a thumb, or a grip on your throat trying to strangle you from being successful everyday. And it was just a difficult process, and all I wanted to do is be accepted, all I wanted to do is find my place and my people. And I couldn’t find that in Canada. And when I came to Los Angeles, that was my people. That’s what made sense.”

On what is stopping people:

“Reasonable probability of success. I teach this, I speak at schools and colleges for free across the country. Because I think it’s just an absolute shame that you know that the curriculum that we teach in our public and private schools is atrocious. And anybody in the industry should be embarrassed that this is what we still do. Like, we don’t teach entrepreneurship, we don’t teach financial literacy, none of those things, it’s just gross. So I teach entrepreneurial things to any school that wants me to come there. And the one thing I asked the kids every time is, do you believe that you can be anything you set your mind to? And they all raise their hand, Yes. It’s like, Who the hell is feeding you these terrible ideas? That is not true. Like, it is not true. Anything you set your mind to, you should do. But anything you can do, you should set your mind to, but doesn’t mean because you set your mind to it, you’re going to be able to do that, you know. And I show a clip from Lady Gaga, winning her Academy Award. And she’s in tears. And she’s saying, like, don’t let people tell you no, and don’t let people tell you, you can’t do it. And people told me that I was never gonna make it, I just kept pushing through and, and then I finally here I am. And I was like, What are you doing? Why are you telling people this? She’s one of the greatest performers of all time, and people told her no. So guess what, if you aren’t already one of the greatest performers like the odds of you making it to Lady Gaga success are zero. So don’t listen to her. That’s the worst advice you could possibly get. It’s like, that’s not real.”

What is your superpower? 

“I think communication is the big one. Being able to understand ideas, being able to convey those ideas to others in a way that they understand effectively has proven over and over again to be, I guess you would call my superpower. That is what I do better than most people.”

On unfortunate scheduling:

“It’s not like a natural thing, it was developed. It was specifically developed, and I can remember when it really started. After I first moved to Los Angeles, and I was in Hollywood, I was going to a big pitch meeting at CBS. And I, you know, was in the lobby of CBS chatting, waiting for my turn to go into the pitch room, and out walks Simon Cowell. And oh, there’s Simon, so he says hi, we’re chatting. And I’m thinking to myself oh man, I don’t really like to follow Simon Cowell into a pitch meeting, this sucks. And then I see him looking over my shoulder as we’re chatting. And I turn around, and Mark Burnett [creator of Shark Tank] walks in. And I realised like, Mark’s got the 3:30 slot, it means he’s going to be pitching after me. And I’m wedged between these two superstars, and I am less than I mean, I’m nothing today to them, you could imagine how little I was years ago.”

Growing the reputation:

“So I just got almost like a wave of panic. And the idea was like, Hey, I can’t be in this room yapping and yapping and trying to impress the president of the network. They don’t really care about me, I gotta get in and out here. And we went in there and my talking was a little chit chat, and I was in and out of that room. Pitch the show, here’s what the show is, here’s why we think it’s good for CBS, here’s how we’re gonna make it, here’s the budget, and that was it. And I got out of the room, I think it was like nine and a half minutes total. And my agent was like, that was like one of the best pitches I’ve ever heard. He’s like it was so clear, it was so crisp, it was so effective. You need to do that from now on. I was like, okay, so I started doing it a little bit. And we sold the show to CBS, by the way. And so we ended up, I end up doing that a little more often, where I would just get to the point, like literally just get to the point. And I started this reputation around Hollywood as one of the best pitch producers in the business. And I remember thinking like, you know, I’m not trying very hard. I’m not really doing a lot of stuff out of the box. And so when I honed that skill to be like, okay, strip all the other crap away, what is the simplest, clearest message here? Once you just start doing that, then I could add other flair, cool elements, things that sort of like were more dynamic. And that’s sort of how the reputation grew, and so on from there.”

On if it doesn’t work out:

“So many people are held back by that. And they’re waiting for the right moment. They’re waiting for the right moment to start a book, to start a podcast, they’re waiting for the right moment to get a side hustle. They’re waiting for the right moment to write a book. They’re like, they’re waiting for something to happen. And I went through that myself, right. Like, I wanted to write this book. But I was already having, like, you know, very large clients, like fortune 500 clients. And I was like, I, if I just do a little bit better than I’ll be, I’ll be good enough to write this book. Right? And what you realise in life is, it’s not who’s the most qualified, it’s not who’s ready, it’s who puts up their goddamn hand and says, that’s me. I’m doing it. There are 1000 TV producers, with better credits, better history, more success that could have written this book. And do you know how many of them did? None. So, like, I did it, and I’m the guy and now that’s, I’m the expert. And they now come to me for stuff. And it’s like, yeah, well, you could have done it too. Maybe they didn’t want to. I’m just saying like, that’s where people didn’t, and I had so many people from the television and film industry come to me after the book came out, and I left the industry and I started doing this all, you know, full time effectively. And basically asked me how they get out of the business. Because, you know, a lot of people don’t feel that they have marketable skills. Like if you’re a doctor, I get it. But like for most people, they don’t feel like their skills are transferable. And it’s because they just have a very myopic view of where their world fits.”

What is Brant Pinvidic is grateful for:

“That I started things early, the future and opportunities.”

Featured image: Wikipedia

Anthony Bowens (@bowens_official) is a professional wrestler with All Elite Wrestling and is part of the tag team “The Acclaimed” with Max Castor. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood, CA to talk about signing with AEW, how Tony Khan paired him with Max Caster and created The Acclaimed, what he has learned from working with Billy Gunn, his plan to reunite Billy and Chuck, how he came out as gay to his family and friends, being an LGBTQ role model, what winning the AEW Tag Team Championships meant to him, why he decided to move to Los Angeles, his YouTube channel with his boyfriend called “Michael & Anthony” and much more!

On what being a champion in AEW means to Anthony Bowens:

“It means a lot. It means a whole lot. I mean, Max and I came into the company in October of 2020. And less than two years later, we are at the top of the tag division, we’re at the top of the world. It’s a moment that I had been working for. Obviously, I didn’t know I was going to  win the Tag Team titles but winning a championship and a major company with all the hard work and all the sacrifices that went into, you know, becoming a professional wrestler and getting to this level to have that moment. It’s awesome. It’s cool.”

On being homegrown AEW talent:

“I hope that we can be at least like an example for other talent that comes in to see that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Not that there isn’t but just like, hey, like, how can I get to the top of this company? How can I really achieve something? So I hope the blueprint that we set is a good example for other homegrown talent.”

On Max Caster’s raps:

“So yeah, I’m grateful to have you know, every time when the siren hit, people lose their minds, because they want to hear what Caster has to say. Because you never know what he’s gonna say. That’s the beauty of him having a live microphone. We hit on just about everything, which seems to make people upset with certain things. But it’s just like, if it’s news, like, we don’t operate within the realm of we have to live in a bubble of just our company. If it’s news, if it’s out there, if it happened, it’s up for grabs. And you know, obviously, if it’s tasteful. But, you know, we will touch on anything. And that’s the way it’s gonna continue to be. So get used to it.”

Do people know Max Caster’s raps beforehand:

“No, no, no, and that’s the beauty of it. Because we want authentic reactions, if he says something snippy and you get p*ssed, get that camera shot that makes the match so much better, because it’s what he said. So we try to make sure that whoever was listening is not around us. And we don’t want them to hear anything.”

On being opposites as a team:

“Well, I’ll stop you there because I don’t think we’re characters, I think we are true to, like who we are. Caster’s a rapper, Caster likes to push buttons, whatever you see on television, that’s Max Caster. For me, like obviously I don’t run around you know, town screaming The Acclaimed have arrived. But there’s a part of me, there’s all different parts that make up Anthony Bowens, and by nature, I am an introverted person. I’m kind of like the guy leaning on the wall at a party observing as opposed to being the centre of attention. But there is a part of me that is, I guess, crazy. And I unleashed that part of me when we have our entrance and Max is rapping, and they just let loose in and have fun. So I think everything you see is authentically us, which is the reason why it’s resonating so well with people.

Has Anthony Bowens re-watched his debut:

“I can’t. I’m dead serious, I cannot watch it because it was very awkward. And basically that was the same day that we had a meeting with Tony, that was the first time we ever met like Tony face-to-face, and that’s when he told us that we were going to be The Acclaimed and that was basically our try out match, it was against Best Friends. And we didn’t know what The Acclaimed was. We just knew that Max rapped and Cody told me, the only piece of information I was given was from Cody and he said just whatever dis Caster says, it’s the craziest, best thing you’ve ever heard in your entire life. That was the only thing I got. And I had to figure out who I was under the umbrella of The Acclaimed. But two hours later, after meeting Tony, I had no idea what that was. So we came out and there was no theme music, so everything was just like it’s acapella. He did the rap, and I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m like that was a good one. Yeah, it was terrible. I will never [watch the entrance]. I’ll watch the match, the match was great. I will not watch the entrance.”

On Billy Gunn:

“Billy has been a big part of our presentation. And honestly, that whole dynamic we had with him and his kids was the perfect storm to lead to everything that happened. Because I was hurt at the time, and I was hurt. Caster was just having singles matches, we, you know, fluctuate back and forth between TV and Dark. And the same thing was happening with The Gunn Club. And I’ll be honest with you, before they ruined everything and they became selfish pieces of sh*t, we were pretty good friends with The Gunn Club. Like we had a good dynamic, we had a good rapport, we would hang out before the show and like laugh about the most ridiculous things. And Caster was the one that said hey, I think we should do something with these guys. I don’t know what, because we were having so much fun together. And one day I was sitting on the beach, very relaxed, and I just came up with this way to put us together and I needed a reason to be on television with my injury. And we could do this thing where we all come together, we can do it, you know, on Dark, it doesn’t matter. We just want to do something and prove that we are useful to the TV show that we can eventually be on Dynamite every single week. And we started doing it and then the people loved it. And they started picking up on the dynamic between Billy, me and Billy, him pushing me in the wheelchair.”

On the origin of Scissor Me Daddy Ass:

“One day, it was probably about five minutes before we went out to, I think it was Rampage? I think it was a battle royale on Rampage. And I was sitting in the wheelchair and I was giggling to myself. I was trying to figure out a way to end our entrance, because Max would rap I would get the crowd to yell ass boys, but I didn’t have an ending. And I just giggled to myself and I thought I think I’m just gonna say scissor me Daddy Ass. I don’t know why that popped into my head, but I started laughing. Literally me like sitting in the wheelchair in gorilla just like laughing at it. And then I didn’t tell anybody, I think I had told Billy, I think I’m gonna say scissor me Daddy Ass. He didn’t say anything. I just remember he just smiled at me and he walked away. And that was it. Five minutes later, when I screamed it on Rampage, I came back, I looked around, no one said anything to me. I was like, okay, so I guess that was okay. And then it was trending. And then I started to see the signs, that’s when you know. I’ve got to say this every single week.”

On original plans for the Daddy Ass Birthday Bash:

“Yes, yes, yes, yes. And I don’t like pulling the curtain too far back. But I will say that the Daddy Ass Birthday Bash celebration. I thought it would be a fun idea, and I did put it together. What you saw people enjoyed, but was about maybe 30 or 40% of what I had originally planned. [Chris – Were you going to invite Chuck Palumbo?] He was going to be my birthday gift. I thought the irony of me reuniting Billy and Chuck would be perfect for this birthday bash. But he wasn’t available. I don’t like putting things out there. But like, I really want people [to know this one].”

On nearly signing with WWE:

“I think I’ve told the story a couple of times. I haven’t really gone too much into detail with that but you know, screw it might as well. So I had a try out with them in 2015 at the Arnold Classic. I did well enough there, they invited myself and Bianca [Belair] to the Performance Centre. We did a full one there. They told me not right now, keep in touch. I kept in touch and then randomly in 2017 I got hit up, hey, you know, we’re looking to bring you in 2018. So I started preparing I did you know, the background, I did everything. The only thing I needed was just the contract, and it never came. And I would check in every six months, like hey, this is what you told me to work on, you know, presented to them. Nothing. And then, you know, budget issues. There’s no room, like how is there no room, you know, just hired 50 people, there’s clearly room. But they ghosted me really for three years. And then I did Dark, and then right after Dark, they hit me back up. They hit me back up and they asked if I was a free agent, which I said I was. They ended up offering me a contract. I said yes. But then they never sent me a contract. And in that timeframe, Tony had found out and he wanted me to go meet with him. And unbeknownst to me, I guess something similar was happening with Caster. So I felt like well, you know, this is kind of the second time that this has happened, where I haven’t gotten, you know, what I needed to so I might as well hear this guy out. I went out, spoke to Tony and I liked our conversation, I liked the opportunity that he was giving us and combine that with, you know, everything I talked about with the locker room. And truthfully, you know, I had a family emergency at the time, and it kind of made me realise that I didn’t want to move to Orlando at that point in my life. So everything was just telling me I needed to go to AEW. So once they presented us with a contract, I signed it and I told WWE unfortunately I had to pass on their offer, I was never sent anything. And I trust Tony’s vision for us.”

On winning the Tag Team Championships:

“I knew I would have to kind of talk afterwards. And I didn’t know what emotional state I would be in. Like, I thought, if this were to ever happen, I would cry in the ring. Because it was just, I would be so happy. But I just smiled, I couldn’t help but just smile, hearing the crowd reaction to it, they exploded. My friends and my family were there, my boyfriend flew in. When we won, the confetti went off, somehow within the sea of how many 1000s of people were there, I look up and I saw my dad cheering, which is like, such a cool moment. And I guess I have to like stop myself, because I’m gonna get teary eyed thinking about like, that’s my favourite part of the night, actually. But I knew at some point, I would have to speak and I wanted it to be authentic. And, you know, I just started talking. And that’s what came out. And I hope that people, whatever they’re struggling with, can use that as an example of overcoming and being having the mental toughness, having the resilience to fight through whatever that they may be going through to come out on the other side, you know, positively and happily, because I do believe if you don’t, you know, allow yourself to, like, get consumed by everything and keep fighting that you will come out better than we were.”

On Fred Rosser/Darren Young coming out as gay:

“So I don’t remember what year it was. I’m not sure [Chris – it was like 2012] I wasn’t in wrestling then. But I did keep an eye on it to see, you know, what the response would be? Because you just don’t know, you know. That was a very, very scary time when it comes to, you know, thinking about what you want to do with your life, and then you’re harbouring this, this heavy secret that you feel like is going to absolutely destroy your life. So you do kind of keep tabs on, like what’s going on. There weren’t many people out there that I can relate to that I felt like this person, like, looks like me or this, like I didn’t have that kind of representation that I completely relate it to. And, you know, Fred was one of those people for a while. And I don’t think it was, the company handled it quite well, in my opinion. And that didn’t give me any kind of, you know, hope that hey, like, here’s this guy, he came out, he took his brave step and now he’s, you know, super successful in the company, just kind of felt like they didn’t do anything with them. And that was, I felt horrible for him. And also, for me, it was like I don’t, is this what I would have to look forward to if you know, I decided to get into wrestling, I did decide to pursue my dream. And then I did come out. But I thank him for taking that step. Because it was probably very, very, very, very hard to do.”

What is Anthony Bowens grateful for:

“Those that are closest to me, my career and everyone that supports us.”

Murray The Magician (@murraysawchuck) is a magician, comedian and actor. He is also a viral sensation with over 4 billion views online and performs live at Tropicana Vegas and Fantasy at the Luxor nightly. He joins Chris Van Vliet at the Blue Wire Studios at Wynn Las Vegas to talk about growing up in Burnaby, BC, how he got started as a magician, falling in love with show business at a young age, the difference between a trick and an illusion, getting to the semi-finals on America’s Got Talent and making a tiger appear on the show, becoming the magic expert on “Pawn Stars” and much more!

On starring on Pawn Stars:

“Yeah, that was a while ago. Yeah, I’m still doing it. And they’re still on the air, which is unbelievable, you know. But it just goes to show you what cool and good TV they put out there. And it’s also a TV show that anyone can watch aged 2 to 102. It doesn’t offend anybody, it’s educational, and it’s even great TV to have in the background.”

On being recognised from many different TV shows:

“That’s exactly what it is like. [They say] ‘You’re from…’ And I’m like yep, and I just keep walking. Usually I’m like, well that’s good enough. For some people it’s like, you know, you’re the guy from and I’m like I am and that’s the end of it. It could be, who knows, I assume they knew who I was. But I think growing up in the business, obviously, I was a magician originally, still am. But as I involved with doing different television shows, I really wanted to create a brand and a look that I could be a host of a show, the neighbour next door on a TV show. I could do a stupid show like Wipeout, which I did or Deal or No Deal, whatever it is, and just kind of be that guy, you know. And almost like, you know, we were talking before we went live, talking about Carrot Top. You don’t need to say what Carrot Top does, he’s just Carrot Top. I mean, so that’s what I was been trying to create all my career. So I can be a historian like on Pawn Stars and talk educated, you know, or I can be on stage and talk ridiculous in my comedy and not be taking that serious.”

On always wanting to be in show business:

“You know, I started in the business when I was five years old Ukrainian dancing because I’m half Ukrainian and I’m half Scottish. And so that’s where Sawchuck comes from, my real name is Murray Sawchuck, Murray is Scottish, so Murray is my mother’s last name. And I got it as my first and of course, Sawchuck is my father’s last name. And so I grew up Ukrainian dancing, and I trained ballet, I played accordion, and I quit all that becasue I wanted a girlfriend. Let’s be honest, accordion is not that sexy. It could have been saxophone, but no. And and then as I got into I got a magic, it was seven, eight years old, like a lot of kids kind of liked it. I was already in front of the audience, liked the attention, only child to begin with, you know, liked attention as well. And then and then it just kind of picked up. I got paid a few bucks for doing some tricks at kids birthday parties. And I thought was kind of cool. You know? So yeah. Did all those shows the Lower Mainland Vancouver, Burnaby. All that.”

On how the magic kit gift was different than other kids who got one:

“I think it was different for me because I think I already had the background of liking entertainment. Like I love watching shows. I love watching even as a kid watching concerts on TV. My father worked two jobs for the railway, which is my whole family was in that CN Rail, and then he also worked as an usher at the PNE, which is the Pacific National Exhibition, our big Coliseum, downtown Vancouver, which it used to be, now it’s not, it’s a smaller one and it’s not used as much. But I got to sneak in and see all the shows because he was the Usher. And so he would sneak me in between the big rock and roll buses from everybody from Cover me Bad to Paula Abdul to George Strait and Willy Nelson… You name a star, he was sneaking in to watch him because I liked it. I’d be 12 I wouldn’t necessarily know who they were, but I liked entertainment. And of course, I became to like them. That’s why I like everybody from Kiss to Alice Cooper to George Strait, you know. So I learned that being an entertainer is pretty cool. You know, you get all the audience, you get the attention, you get to share your talent if you have some, you know. So that’s kind of how I evolved as a kid and growing into it being like, man is cool to do as a living.”

On the difference between a trick and an illusion:

“There is and isn’t at the end of the day. A lot of people growing up in the business when you’re trying to make it and you’re trying to be a star you don’t want to be called a magician, you want to be called an illusionist, becasue that sounds more expensive and rich and high end and whatever the hell you want to call it. I just say I do tricks for a living. I mean, it’s kinda like Frank Sinatra said he was a saloon singer. Because we know he wasn’t, but he was, you know what I’m saying. So now when people ask what I do, I just say I do tricks for living, you know. But yeah, growing up, you know, I’m an illusionist, you know, and usually illusions are magicians that do stuff with bigger items, you know, like, on America’s Got Talent, I vanished a train and a car and a bunch of stuff. And that would be an illusion, because the idea is No, I did not vanish the train. I mean, yeah, I did, if you watch it, I did. Yeah, but I couldn’t just like this. I mean, that’s, you know, but I’m creating this illusion that you really don’t see it there when it might be there, might not be, but it just didn’t vanish in the air, there is a skill to that. So that’s that, whereas the magic trick would be putting a coin in my hand and then it’s not there, which would be sleight of hand as well. But that is more attuned to a magic trick because it’s more self contained. Whereas illusion, Vanishing a car or truck? I can’t just do that on my own. It takes a team of people, lighting and a lot of cool things that make it happen, you know, so maybe that would probably be the, you know, definition of it.”

On Murray’s next level moment:

“Two things I think, you know, it’s funny I get asked that question a lot. It wasn’t that one like Justin Bieber moment, you know where you know, Usher found me or JT. And then from YouTube, and then all of a sudden you’re opening for them and away we go, right? I mean, or Buble with David Foster and then there goes the album and away we go, you know. So I think with mine, it was little successes. You know, one was being on America’s Got Talent, you know. Don’t forget, I was on the fifth season of that. And that was before we were allowed to use social media, no Twitter, no Instagram, anything. Instagram was around at the time, and Facebook. And that was like, Season Five, 2010, so we didn’t have that element. So when it was on TV doing that live, we had 22 million people watch us live. That’s a lot for a live show. Now it’s about 8 million, which is still a lot, but 22 is kind of hard to understand. So literally the next day at the airport, people were walking up to me going oh my god, where’s the tiger? Oh, my God, where’s the tram? I’m like you watched the show? Like, I’m like you actually watched, 22 million? Yeah, they did. You know, because you will run into enough people that did see it because it happened to be the hottest show that year that year. So that, you know, it’s one of those aspects where it’s kind of neat having that.”

On getting a tiger onto AGT:

“Boy, not easy, you know, let me tell you that. You know, so when I went on that show they said what do you want to do? So I said, I want to make a car up here. And they said, I don’t know if we can do that. I said well I don’t want to do the show them? And they said what do you mean? I said I’ve watched your show, I need to do something you’ve never done before, and I need to do something that I want on TV and I’ve never done on TV before. And you have never had that, and so they said how about one of those ticks where you cut a girl in half? I said you’re gonna X me, I’m not gonna get X’d. I’m okay doing one episode and not winning. I’m not here to win, I get the deal. But I want to do something special. So I ended up producing a car which they said finally yes. And then they said, what are you going to do next? And I said, because I everything I’ve done in America’s Got Talent I’d never done in my life before. I created it especially for the show, because I was thinking as a producer, not a magician. And I’ve always done that every time I do TV, I always think of the director, the producer, never the talent because I go what would I want that guy to be? You know, I really put myself in a third person. So as a magician, I need you to either make an elephant appear, a car vanish, a tiger, a rabbit out a hat, whatever middle America would say, that’s what I try to do. So a tiger and so I said it was I’m gonna make a tiger up here. [They sked] Do you know how much it’s gonna cost? So I called my friends who had tigers, a trainer, and a cage that could put them in. So yeah, Brandon Miller is a dear friend of mine. And he’s the one that if you ever saw the movie Gladiator they had tigers in it, that’s his tigers, for commercials and all that. And so they’re very famous tigers in their own right. So I talked to him and I got the trick. And I rented [the box], didn’t know how to do the damn thing. So I’m practising the for AGT, now of course, we got PETA, who’s not happy with the situation as well. And the tiger was treated really well, huge race car trailer, air conditioned. I mean, the thing got better accommodations I’ve ever had in my life. And we had a second Tiger too, because you always bring two tigers, which I didn’t know this until then. Because if one’s having a bad day, guess what? It’s having a bad day. And you don’t win, it’s the tiger. Okay, you just relax partner, so you use the other Tiger and hopefully they’re nice. So then this thing pulled on a lot. Everyone came out of the woodwork. I saw producers that didn’t even know were in the building because they don’t get to see the upper execs. but they’re paying for it. So they’re like we’re gonna see the damn tiger. So we go in there, and the Tigers, they’re gorgeous. So we’re rehearsing it, PETA was on set because we got to cleared by PETA because we are the CBS lots, it was a big thing and so there we finished the rehearsal. I do it three times, the girls in the box, curtain drops, tiger is supposed to be there. First time I do it, the curtain half dropped then I had the tiger and the girl in the box same time. And I’m like they are safe but they’re both there and I’m like okay, let’s reset it did it again. The curtain wouldn’t fall. Okay, did it again, they only allow 15 mins rehearsal because you know, there’s a lot of acts. Did it again, the curtain drop, the second part of the curtain wouldn’t drop. So it was covered. But now it couldn’t reveal as a tiger though. So Jason Raph walks up, he’s executive producer, and I’ve known for years he walks up and goes, they spent a lot of money getting out there. So this trick doesn’t work like this and we can’t see the tiger, there’s nothing I can do to make this look magical or put you through, like there’s nothing. Just you know, like, okay, got it. So I looked at my buddy lefty who’s with me everywhere I travel. I said we got to fix this damn curtain thing. So I spent literally eight hours in that parking lot pulling the curtain it was like OCD times 10. I was like we got this curtains gotta drop because if even if the trick works, and like the curtains jammed, I can’t show the damn Tiger. So we did that. And then when you actually watch that clip online, when I pull, I literally pulled the pin because the pins got stuck. I pulled that pin so damn hard, and so it revealed a tiger. I got off the ground about three feet if you look at me. And when I look back, I was so thrilled that there was a tiger sitting there. I was more excited than the audience because I was like, Oh Christ it worked. So I literally looked at the audience, I was just as happy as them and I was like that was the end. As soon as he finished the tiger went back to the farm, which is big bear, a big ranch, like 35 acres they had to roam on. And the trick went back from where I rented it from like, we’re never doing that again. Thank you, good night at work. So that’s how you got a tiger on the set.”

On last minute problems with the tiger trick:

“The next day after we did the rehearsal, because you shoot the next day, right, five o’clock, which is eight o’clock east coast. At three o’clock, I get a phone call. So if we can’t produce the tiger in the box, what do you think about producing, like David Hasselhoff because David had just left the show? Or maybe Nick Cannon? I’m like, I don’t need a box to produce those people. It’s not a trick like a tiger is. Well, PETA has given us trouble, we’re not sure. I’m like, it’s three o’clock in the afternoon, we go live in two hours. It’s like all this money spent, I’ve rented people. I said are you kidding me? So we go back to well, you know, they’re looking at the tiger and said something about the holes at the top of the cage, we want an air conditioner put in. Like great, so we got an air conditioner put on top that blew the air. Like this is a better than one bedroom part of New York City with a damn tiger. And we did the whole thing what they said and sure enough, they they approved it literally at the last second and we did it but I was like, Okay, I’m done. We’re not doing this again. The animals are always treated well, in my world they are because I’m a huge animal advocate, you know, keeping them safe. And that’s how you get a tiger on there. I’ll never do it again.”

What is Murray the Magician grateful for:

“My wife, my health and giving back to the community.”

Chris Masters (@ChrisAdonis) is a professional wrestler known for his time in WWE and also in IMPACT Wrestling and NWA where he performs under the name Chris Adonis. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood, CA to talk about getting signed to WWE when he was 22 years old, his impressive bodybuilding physique, the people he looked up to as a kid including Mr. Perfect, Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart and Ric Flair, the changes he has made both personally and professionally over the last 2 years, his pitch to make a return at the Royal Rumble, his thoughts on Bobby Lashley using the Hurt Lock and much more!

The origin of the Chris Masters name:

“Actually, you know what I just found this out recently. I just walked into OVW one day and they just told me my name was Masters, but I never really investigated like who came up with Chris Masters. It was just like, given to me as a you are this. It’s like, okay. And then I you know, as Dr. Tom, now works with us, Dr. Tom Prichard in NWA and he actually told me the story about how we came up with Masters and it actually came from a another wrestler. Forgive me, Dr. Tom, I can’t remember all the details. But he told me this story about how we came up with it. I was like, Wow, I’m finding this out 20 years later, this is amazing. Honestly, that’s how it happened. I walked into OVW, nobody told me who came up with it. I don’t even remember. I guess it might have been Dr. Tom who told me initially, but they just told me you’re Chris Masters now. That’s how it works.”

On possibly returning to WWE:

“So, you know, all of this stuff has happened. And like I’ve never even thought about going back to WWE, honestly, because, and it’s not out of anything bitter. It’s just, you know, I had a couple of runs there and it ended the way it did. And, you know, I just realised that my love is for professional wrestling even if it’s not with WWE. But you know, with everything that I’ve learned in the last couple of years and then also seen Shelton, Carlito, MVP all my buddies you know, I finally started you know, looking at it and it was more out of this what you just mentioned. It was more not out of Chris Masters coming back, it was more out of because I remember getting in touch with that young wrestling fan. I remember what is it that we’re always looking for? We’re looking for that oh sh*t moment you know, I mean, like that Ultimate Warrior comeback at WrestleMania 8. It’s not to say anything I could do can measure to that but the Bobby Lashley scenario is fascinating because I haven’t been there for so long though.”

On Bobby Lashley using The Hurt Lock:

“People ask me this all the time. I mean, like, the thing is, if you were to look at the situation, and you see that Bobby Lashley was the one to break it. It only makes sense for him with me not being there, to kind of be the guy to adopt it. But it doesn’t change the fact that the Master Lock is the OG and I know a lot of people are gonna bring up Hercules and Ken Patera. But we’re talking about in the modern era, ladies and gents. So I mean, I think Hurt Lock Master Lock would still be kind of interesting. But like, you know, it only makes sense. For Bobby. I’ve never come out on like, some dirt sheets and buried Bobby and like, here’s the thing. Think about this. I mean, from my standpoint, would you rather have Bobby Lashley adopt it or some guy maybe that they push for a month who doesn’t even amount? I don’t know, you know what I mean? Like, it’s just one of those things where. You’ve seen certain wrestlers throughout history will after they’ve worked, somebody will kind of adopt some, like you’ve seen HBK do that a number of times. You know what I mean? Like after he worked Benoit, I think he used the crossface. I know that’s taboo to even bring up but like, you know, like, and then him [Lashley] being the guy to break the Master Lock, again, it’s just and like he’s such a physical specimen. Like so with all that being said, you can’t really argue like, Okay, if somebody’s using the Full Nelson and he broke it. He looks the way he does. Yeah, he’s, like a mutant.”

On the connections Between Chris Masters and Bobby Lashley:

“Oh, there’s a lot of connections there. I’m kind of like a ghost from his past at this point. But like I just feel like you know in the right scenario you know, you have Lashley dominating with the hurt lock and then you were to hear that OG Chris Masters theme. I feel like and again this more is because everybody you know, I feel like since I’ve kind of started within last year, and this year to petition for the rumble, again, it’s not as I don’t feel like I’m ever coming back to WWE full time. For me, it would just be it would be great to come back to the rumble to, you know, sort of make amends with certain people within the company, but also to show like you were saying before show the WWE Universe the polished performer that I become and like, yeah, I wasn’t able to do it there, unfortunately. But I did get there. And so for me, that would be, that would feel good. And like again, and but the biggest thing being about that oh sh*t moment of having that moment of me coming down the aisle and having like, some guy sitting next to his buddy slap on the chest, like, Oh, my God, Hurt Lock vs. Master Lock like, it’s gonna happen. Yeah, that’s what it’s about. So like, it’s really not out of a place of selfishness and we’re like, let’s, let’s have Chris Masters come back full time. But like, for all those reasons, it would be awesome.”

On being a body guy:

“Oh, yeah, totally. I didn’t even see that coming. Honestly, I just knew that when I first started in UPW, I started the same day as John Cena, and this other guy, Basil. And I had already started working out, you know what I mean? But I wasn’t [ready], and I had made progress, but I wasn’t like, ready ready yet. And like, when I got there, I saw the way those guys were built. And also, just like all the wrestlers, we grew up on it, it wasn’t any big secret, like, Oh, I got to really kind of invest time in the gym and like really build, you know, build myself up. But like, like you said, I didn’t really see that coming. I didn’t think I was going to be a body guy, so to speak. But like I kind of figured that out pretty early on, like when I got to OVW ike, Oh, you’re kind of falling into this class. Like, because everybody was muscular. But it was like I was on that level, like, oh, well, you’re, you’re a straight up like body guy, you know?”

On Chris Masters’ first impressions of John Cena:

“Oh, just, you know, impressive, just physically so impressive. You know, and, you know, big personality, just like, you know, everybody knows now and, you know. I think everybody just kind of felt like he was gonna have some degree of success. But I mean, I don’t think any of us really knew that he would necessarily be like the Hulk Hogan of his generation. So um, you know, but it was funny, man, because I can still remember how us in the ring training those first couple months and just, you can only imagine how clunky it was and just, I just always had this flashback. You know, there was a guy named Andrew Bryniarski, he’s a good guy, he played Leatherface on the chainsaw movies. He was on the programme, a lot of people know he’s a big guy, but he’s training for wrestling. He went to leg drop Cena from the second rope and literally landed with his ass straight on Cena’s head. Yeah, like we almost ended the franchise before he ever became a franchise, you know, I mean, and so, you know, those were just I don’t know, those are my impressions. You know what I mean? Like, and then, you know, by the time I came back to UPW, like Cena was already on his way. So it was kind of like, you know, we were always a couple years kind of behind each other. And, you know, we were never really close though. But you know, it was always interesting. We’re just very different guys.”

On turning 40 and age being a factor:

“Yeah, absolutely, it does. And that’s why like, everything I said to you rings true. You know, talking about the urgency and all that because, you know, I do understand that at least, you know, yeah, I’ve acquired all the knowledge and information. And I’ve been, you know, I’ve seen almost everything you can see in professional wrestling. But physically, you know, there will be a decline somewhere. You know what I mean? So, um, but also then, at the same time, I look at some of the guys in this business who are having the most success of their careers. Speaking of like, Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles and Jericho. Yeah, like, I mean, honestly, when you look at professional wrestling, it’s the type of work where really, you can kind of peak in your 40s. Because, I mean, yeah, it’s competitive, but we’re competitive in a different way, right. And we do work with each other. And it’s just at that kind of end, like, honestly, it’s such an art form, that it almost takes that long to really kind of, I don’t even want to say master it. Exactly. But like it really it’s an art form that you’re continuing to develop. And that’s actually what makes it fun is like anybody who feels like they have this shit figured out in the first three years the first six years even the first 10 years no, you don’t, but that’s the beauty of it is you’re constantly learning and getting better because there’s so many little aspects to it, you know. I mean, it’s not just what you see it’s not just oh, it’s a fight between two guys, it’s an art form and the selling, the offence, the believability. You know what I mean? The showmanship now, the all of that stuff packaged together.”

On being signed to WWE at a younger age:

“Yeah, and the funny thing is, so my whole goal when I was around, you know, we’re talking about that time when I was like 16 to 18 was, I knew what I wanted to do, and I just wanted to get there as young as possible. And I did that. But like so when I feel like there’s a lot of value, though when I talk to kids now I will tell them, like, you might not like let’s say you do want to be a wrestler and you don’t see like, oh, I don’t see any use for school now because I want to do that. But like the thing is, is whether you’re going to use that history class or literature, like in school, you pick up life skills that you need to carry on into your adult life in your profession. So like, yeah, you might not specifically need certain things, but you are still acquiring tools and like. So I tell kids, I’m like, that’s great if you know you want to do like, that’s one of the greatest things ever. Because like, it’s hard if you don’t, right. But like, don’t fast track it, you know, go finish school, go through, you know, whatever you need to. I’m not necessarily saying you have to go to college. But like, in my case, I didn’t even finish high school. Once I got to about the 10th to the 11th grade, I knew 100% I wanted to wrestle, I started working a job. So and like I just didn’t prioritise school and it just got to the point where it didn’t even make sense going, you know what I mean? And, but like, I’m happy to say now, like, so I you know, I tell kids, you know, do that, because then you can always go into whatever you want to right after, there’s not a big rush, you know what I mean? But like, you know, you fast forward now. And like last time I was talking to you, you know, I was staying with my dad in Michigan during the pandemic, and I started going back to school, you know, I decided, you know what, these are life skills that I still need to pick up like, yeah, they might not apply, like, it might not translate to a job for me, but like, hey, why not learn history? Hey, why not, you know, improve literature? Hey, why not see if you can pass a math class, you know, I mean, which I was able to do all those and it was like, it was really a great confidence booster for me, because I hadn’t been in any kind of educating, you know, circumstances in what, 20 years outside of like wrestling and critiquing wrestling, and psychology and wrestling and all that kind of stuff. So, for me, it almost felt like man, do I even have the attention span to get through a math class and pass it and you know, I did. So that was amazing.”

On becoming a fan again:

“Yes, exactly. And like, what did he love about wrestling? What what did he like about his favourite performers? And like, like, you know, I essentially became a fan again, for a point in time there. But then, like, it was just more about, like, how do I translate that? Like, how do I make that seven or eight year old, a fan of Chris Masters The Masterpiece or Chris Adonis? And like, you know, I just started looking at all the different aspects of wrestling, you know, what I mean, there’s so many different aspects, whether it be your gear, your presence, you know, politics, you know, what I mean? Even just like selling like, and just, you know, just seeing how, like, what I can do, like what mattered to me, as a fan. What mattered to me, and what can make me a fan of Chris Masters. And so like I, you know, do that , it gave me a chance to kind of evolve a bit as a performer, you know, what I mean, and some things just kind of fell in my lap. But you know, it was just, and NWA obviously, came on to, which has been a tremendous place to work, and a great place for me to kind of show who I am in 2023 now.”

On the infamous HHH backstage promo:

“I was aware of it ahead of time. It’s funny, because this has come up almost in all of my interviews, but I mean, there’s a couple of ways to look at that. Like Hunter, if you’ve looked into, like, if you watch his history, I mean, he’s very much a ballbuster, even to HBK. Right, his best friend? So I mean, like, yeah, the timing of it’s more like, it’s not something that I don’t think he would have. I think it might have been more about the timing of it, than anything, just because of everything we had been through with, you know, you talked about Eddie and then Chris, and then and then, you know, we were under so much scrutiny. And then, you know, I came back, you know, from rehab, and I was, you know, about 20 pounds lighter or whatever. So, I mean, it was just, it was just more about, like, if it had happened at any other time, maybe it wouldn’t have been, you know, as big of a deal. I guess, because I think, you know, I don’t think again, I just think, you know, he’s kind of a ballbuster so it wasn’t like that’s something he would have kind of said at any point in time. I just think it was maybe at that time, it was probably a bad time to say it.”

On Tyrus winning the NWA Heavyweight Championship:

“I mean, it was controversial, and it got people talking. And it’s like, it just is what it is. But it’s also an opportunity. I mean, like for all those people on the internet, you know, complaining about it, who would have thought that you know, Chris Masters could be your beacon of light. You would have never imagined that 15 years ago, and we’re like who’s that body guys? So like, Hey, I might be your saviour. You know Matt Cardona says he’s gonna save NWA. But I say Chris Adonis.”

What is Chris Masters grateful for:

“My health, my profession and my perspective on life.”

Featured image: Wrestling Headlines