Lince Dorado (@lince_dorado) is a professional wrestler known for his time in WWE and MLW. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about how he got started in wrestling, working as a math teacher, the books that have inspired him the most, being a father of 4, Lucha House Party, his release from WWE, luchadors being compared to Rey Mysterio and much more!

On when it is time to wear a mask:

“Anything wrestling related has the masked persona. But if it’s not in the ring, it’s really me. Everything else you see on TV, that had to be me, but now it is me.”

On his indie character being different to his WWE character:

“Well it’s not different, it’s just me. It literally is me, I had to represent an idea of what a luchador is supposed to be. A couple of years later I decided to change it up. Everything a luchador was meant to be, I did the opposite. I wanted to speak English and didn’t want to wear tights, I just wanted to be different. It’s a breath of fresh air to just be me. It’s a great feeling.”

On how the indies are different to WWE:

“Honestly, now I don’t have to run ideas by anybody other than myself. Now I can really produce all of the content I want, look and sound how I want and present myself how I want to. We have this idea on how a luchador should be, and I don’t want to be that person. I always told Vince ‘You have got something special here between me and [Grand] Metalik. We understand that wrestling does not come first in WWE, it’s an entertainment and movie company.’ We understood that and wanted to do everything different to lucha libre, but we couldn’t do it dude. But now, on a weekly basis I am doing the wrestling at the weekends and creating content on the weekdays.”

On designing masks:

“So my original Lince, and I have been Lince forever, I originally had the eyes closed with the screen and it didn’t have the hair. But everything else was the same, I have always had the ears. As I got into wrestling, right before WWE, I had this mature moment where I aged the mask a little bit. So I grew out the hair and the teeth, I was trying to find myself and it was like a second part of my life. As I got into WWE, I am a businessman and I know the eyes are how we connect, so let’s get rid of the eye visors. The teeth were making it hard to understand me taking, so I got rid of them. I am bald underneath, so I mixed some sideburns mixed in with the beard. We just kept evolving until we got to this part.”

On being typecast as a luchador in WWE:

“I think at first that might have been the case. I knew that coming in, so I tried really hard to break that. So I spoke English and tried to be good brothers with anybody, so they thought of me [as someone] other than a generic luchador. It did help because I was able to communicate with the bosses and not hide in catering or the locker room. It did help that I was able to speak English and communicate. But at the end of the day, WWE is like Disneyland. They need one of everything on each show and if you fit the bill, you fit the bill. It’s kind of hard to convince the beast that you are different. I remember conversations between me, Metalik and Vince, it got emotional. Doing things on show days wasn’t beneficial for us, if we had any appointments to go to Stamford, I think we could have been something fire in WWE. But it was hard to communicate in showtimes, and that was the only time we could.”

On childhood:

“I’m just so cold hearted when it comes to that stuff. All those years of not feeling that love as a child. My dad was murdered when I was young and my mom raised me as a single parent, working two jobs. With that there is a lack of love in the house and pain. It’s hard when you’re an adult and people look at you as a child, you are 35 but they still see you as this 20 year old punk kid. It’s hard to break that barrier, but never say never.”

On missing family while on the road:

“The first 2 or 3 years were really hard, like right before the pandemic. I wouldn’t get to go home to my babies until the weekend. Then I would get like 2 hours sleep and didn’t want to do anything. But then the pandemic hit and it was awesome. I didn’t have to travel, I stayed in Florida in an Airbnb. I worked one day a week, took the kids to school and did things I thought that I would never get to do. Some wrestlers don’t have that advantage at all, but now after the pandemic I do, and that is so gratifying. I now don’t want to change this, but without that break, I would still be stuck in that townhouse, I am very fortunate.”

On life after wrestling:

“If you are realistic, accept death and accept life after wrestling, and I have accepted both. But life after wrestling, I came to peace with that in the past month. I am writing 2 books right now and maybe I will open a wrestling school. But I think once I am done with wrestling I will be done with wrestling. I don’t want people saying ‘That guy used to be good.’ I don’t want that in my life.”

On Lince Dorado joining AEW:

“Yeah, but I’ll be honest, I see AEW as the same for me. I will be in the same spot and just be another masked guy, and they already have 2 masked guys there, Fenix and Pentagon. I would love to go to any company who would say to me ‘What do you want to do?’ But nobody wants that, it’s ignorance. They are like ‘Why do we want this lucha guy when we have this lucha guy?’ At the end of the day, I want freedom. Even if the money is great, I don’t care. I have been poor before and broke before, I will be good.”

On what he is grateful for:

“My family, my brain and for air.”

Featured image: Sports Illustrated

Ed Mylett (@edmylett) is a best-selling author, entrepreneur, podcaster and world-renowned speaker. His new book called “The Power Of One More” is available on June 1, 2022. He joins Chris Van Vliet from his home in Laguna Beach, CA to talk about how you are one decision away from changing your life forever, he also talks about his morning routine, the most powerful guest he has had on his podcast “The Ed Mylett Show”, what you can do today to start making massive changes in your life, how to make the best out of your 24 hours each day, the three things he is grateful for and much more!

On what being 50 feels like:

“I would love to say that it didn’t hit me. So I wrote this book after my dad died, and I can vividly remember my dad at 50. It kind of hit me, I am potentially on the back 9 of my life. But at the same time, physically at 50 I look like my dad did at 30. I think it made me want to triple my efforts to really achieve my potential. My daughter asked me at my birthday party ‘Daddy, what’s up with this mid-life crisis you’ve got going on?’ I asked her what she meant and she talked about me taking selfies and being on social media. I am actually having a young life crisis, I don’t want to be the same person every year. When I was 30 years old, I was in a crisis to be a different person at 31. Now at 50, I am the same person with the same principles, but hopefully more expansion, growth and memories. I think turning 50 has inspired me to work more.”

On how his view of a day changed:

“I will give you some stuff that is in the book for free. I have an average IQ, 4th highest in my immediate family. So how was I going to be extraordinary? That’s not just me being self-deprecating, I had low self esteem and was the child of an alcoholic, so I had to fix things. 25 years ago I had the realisation that the most ridiculous thing in the world is a 24 hour day. It is the most antiquated concept ever, we still manage time the same way they did 300 years ago where there was no electricity, no internet and no smart phones. If I wanted to write you a letter 100 years ago, I write it, stick it on a horse’s butt and hopefully it gets to you in a month. Now I send a text message and we are connected in 30 seconds. How in the world are we measuring time the same way? My new working day is now 6am to noon. We all have those days where we get more done in a morning than in a week, that’s me every day. At noon a clock goes off and I look at what I need to get done the next day. So the next day is 6pm to midnight and then it’s midnight to 6am, if you stack that up, I have 21 days where you have 7.”

On his morning routine:

“It’s not as complicated as it used to be. I’ve scaled it down so it is transferable and sustainable. The first thing I do is I hit my knees and I pray, I do it on my knees because it reminds me of being small. I then get up and drink half a gallon of water before I even move, I am then energised. I have a gym in my house so I will train for half a hour. After that I will then look at my phone, I don’t look at it for the first 30 minutes, then I grab a coffee and I start my day.”

On where the title of the book The Power Of 1 More came from:

“So my dad was an alcoholic until I was 15, and this is hilarious, he got sober on 4/20. The rest of his life, he never celebrated his birthday on the actual day of April 11th, he actually celebrated it on April 20th because that was when he changed his life. I was raised in a chaotic environment, none of my friends would come to my house, it was a hard childhood. One day my dad is crying as he is driving me to school, he pulls over and said ‘Eddie, I am going to try and get sober again. I am going to give it one more try.’ I said to my dad ‘Well why is it going to be different this time?’ He said to me ‘I’m going to lose you and your sister and your mom, your mom is taking you away. I am losing my life and I want you to have a dad you can be proud of and mom can have a husband to be proud of and respect.’ He went away and he did [get sober] I asked him if he would be sober forever. He said ‘I can’t tell you that, but I can be sober for one more day.’ My dad stacked up those one more days for 35 years. I apply those one mores, stack them up and that is how I become successful.”

On how he has achieved success:

“I put it down to having great mentors. Obviously my dad was one, and I also got to know Tony Robbins and we have become great friends over the years. Another point when I was young, I won a contest to go Hawaii but I was broke. I looked at the food prices and we couldn’t afford to eat there all week, so I am going to the grocery store and walking through the lobby of the Ritz Carlton with grocery bags. So anyway, I am running before the sun is up and this bald guy comes running towards me with a hairy back and he is all sweaty. As he gets closer I realize it is Wayne Dyer, who is one of the all time great gurus in personal development. I yelled at Wayne, ‘Hey Dr. Dyer, you changed my life.’ He turned around and said ‘Well no, you changed your life, but how did I help?’ We sat on the beach and watched the sun come up for an hour and a half. Wayne said that I would change the world, and I thanked him, but advised me not to attach myself to my achievements. Instead, I should attach it to my intentions.”

On the first step to success:

“So I have a chapter in the book on being an impossibility thinker. Most people operates on memory and history, but there is a 1% that operates on vision and imagination. You are currently operating out of history and memory, where our mind deals with what we are familiar with. The reticular activating system (RAS) of the brain filters your entire life, and things won’t change unless you change that. So for example I get a red Tesla, then I am driving down the road and I see one, and another one. The thing is, they were always on the road, but you just didn’t notice them before. If you can unlock that and can believe your dreams will become true, then your dreams can become your Teslas. You will start to see things that were always there.”

On what he is grateful for:

“A God that loves me, family and one more opportunity in my life.”

Featured image: Let’s engage

Mike Iaconelli (@mikeiaconelli) is a professional bass angler, television host and podcaster. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about how he got started as a pro bass fisherman, how important it is to be true to himself, why he lives by the advice “Never Give Up”, his favorite lake to fish on, moving from the Bassmaster Elite Series to Major League Fishing and then qualifying to fish for BASS again, what his current goals are, the biggest things he has learned from fishing and much more!

Mike Iaconelli On explaining his job:

“It’s an easy explain and a hard one at the same time, so I will try to navigate in the middle here. Our sport, professional bass fishing, is set up like many other sports. You come into the sport as a young amateur and work your way up from the grassroots level. As you move up, your skill increases and your qualification increases. I started out as an amatuer angler, did that for a few years and then advanced to the semi-pro level. I did that for a few years and finally accumulated the points to fish professionally. That part is easy, we travel around the country and fish regularly. The hard part to explain is that our sport has other sports in it like Nascar and a little bit of wrestling. Branding, marketing and promotions are just as part of the sport as the actual sport itself. That part is a lot of what I do as well. I work with companies to promote their products, market myself and help people sell their products.”

On there being big money in fishing:

“There is real money in it, but if you strip it all away then I would still be doing it. Our sport, when you look at it, it’s very young compared to other professions. Baseball and soccer have been around for hundreds of years, but fishing started back in the 70’s. Because of that, our income isn’t at the mega sport level, but it is definitely getting there. If I could get by I would still do it, but the average event is around $100,000 to $150,000. For championship events it can be a half million for the winner, there have even been some million dollar tournaments. But the real thing is the amount of money you can make above and beyond your winnings, because it is hard to win. I know it’s like this in other sports, but I have been doing this for 30 years and have won 12 events. I am proud that the sport has gotten to the stage where a young angler can make endorsements and a living.”

On fishing not being seen as a sport:

“I have been fighting this battle for a long time. I can see, because fishing has a lot of stereotypes attached to it, some are deserved and some are not. But fishing should be a relaxing sport, but it is also very competitive. To get to the top level, you need the same traits that any top athlete has. It is a lot less physical, and that is where the confusion lies, but there are just as many mechanics. From a mental side, I would argue that fishing is more challenging. We are in an environment that we can’t control and are out there for 8 hour days in all conditions. We have to deal with all these things that change hour to hour, you have to be a study of the fish and adapt and outsmart the fish. It’s a lot, I love defending fishing as a sport.”

On all the skill sets needed for fishing:

“It’s a lot. For a lot of people who remember a Rubik’s Cube. For someone to just solve a side, and I have never solved a Rubik’s cube in my life, but to solve a side was a big deal for me. It’s like fishing, you have to get all the elements right and keep adjusting. You finally solve that side, and that is fishing. The side being loved is you catching the fish and figuring it out.”

On Mike Iaconelli being able to be himself:

“So it was in 2002. At that point, I started to let my guard down and was getting sick of being someone that I wasn’t. But in 2001, my uncle Don, who was like a dad to me, my dad passed away when I was 2 in a car accident. So my uncle was my father figure and was the one who introduced me to the sport. In 2001 he was going through stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the diagnosis was not far along. But as he was going through that fight, my mindset changed and I said to myself that you have to enjoy life more. That was where the never give up came from. Oh by the way, my uncle beat it and he is still here today, shout out to uncle Don. But not being scared to let people know who you are, when I did that, my brand and my fanbase and my sponsors, it all started to boom. I think it was a big year because I realized you can be strange or odd and people will still accept you.”

On Mike Iaconelli finding his way in the angling world:

“It was a different world back then. Professional fishing in the mid 90’s was not a sport that catered towards non traditional southern anglers. It was a bit of a struggle, I have experienced things that if I had been from Alabama and had a southern accent, I wouldn’t have gone through those. But saying that, I am glad that I did, it made me who I am today. I am the person in my life because of those things that I went through. There were moments where I questioned if I should be doing this, even the league didn’t want me there. Everything was tougher, but as I broke the barriers down and gained the trust of the other anglers, they realized I was strange but here for the right reasons. Eventually, people saw that and it became a lot easier. As our sport became more mainstream and more national visibility, I think those barriers started to break down more.”

On Mike Iaconelli saying he was done in 2003:

“That may or may not be true. Here’s the thing, whatever your background is, I do believe that things happen for a reason. I can look at moments in my life and things happen that shouldn’t have. The classic win in 2003 shouldn’t have happened, sponsors were getting ready to leave. It was a dead end road but all these things happen where I catch the largest fish and have a 2 hour boat ride to make it back in time. I believe things happen for a reason and that you will know when it is time to move to the next thing. I took a small hiatus when COVID hit and the sport shut down. Even when it started to come back I took a year off, it was such a nice reset and I needed that. I think you know when you are ready to stop or keep competing. I am 50 and I want to win again, I want to win more trophies.”

On Mike Iaconelli moving from major league to bass fishing:

“It was a super tough decision. I’ll try to give some context to the listeners. Our sport had a shakeup where a new league was formed, and a lot of the big athletes defected to this new league. The reasoning was almost identical to other sports, leading up to this new league forming, there was this thing where the anglers felt like they were not the priority. A lot of us felt like we were down on the ladder that was important. Those 80 anglers, including myself, a lot of that was based on a unified feeling of needing to change this. Do we want all these young anglers feeling 8th or 9th most important? No, it was about the athletes getting a good income and being top priority. I might get hate mail after this, but it needed to happen. A lot of guys want to be here instead of there or vice versa, but it has to be done. I think it made both leagues realize that the anglers are the most important thing, they are the ones generating the money, it was a wake up call. But for me, major league fishing didn’t pan out to what I thought it would. It started to feel like how I did before that, the same problems started to creep back. For me it was a no brainer to go back to bass, it is a better environment there and just felt more comfortable. But you can’t just go back, you have to re-qualify. There was a legends exemption rule, but I didn’t want to go back that way, I wanted to qualify. So last year I had to qualify, get in line, work hard, get dirty and qualify. I re-qualified and it feels good, this is where I belong.”

On the biggest change in the sport:

“Man there has been a lot. Technology is so big in our sport, I would argue bigger than in other sports. So in some sports the material that for example makes the bat, it gets lighter. But in our sport the sonar, the GPA, the boat motor… That’s helped the anglers become so much more efficient with that digital technology, it’s hard for me to keep up! But to compete, you have to keep up with those technology changes. Also now it is how important having a brand of digital content has become. SOme of our new anglers get it and some don’t want to be bothered by it, but that’s going to hurt them in the long run. It’s very difficult making money by just catching fish.”

On his morning routine:

“So on regular days I wake up at 6 in the morning, I have a big black dog and kids that wake me up. On fishing days it’s a lot earlier, like 4am. I wake up and get a quick breakfast and then off I go. On the practice days, I am out there from dark to dark. The stereotype is that there is not a lot of activity, but it’s a lot. I am making 1,000 casts, the amount of calories you burn is incredible. Then at the end of the day, get to the hotel room, throw some food down and look at the maps and take notes. Then it is the same on the tournament days and it is back to back. As I am getting older I am feeling it more, definitely taking a toll more, but I am still excited about it.”

On if his son will be better than him:

“I think so. I think that Vegas has things that I wish I had. He’s got natural ability and the negatives of my biological makeup. Vegas is very even keeled and better at going through the lows. I was a boat captain for him for a tournament where he lost. I couldn’t say anything but I saw he didn’t let it get to him. He also has an incredible amount of patience, I look back at times where I wish I could have slowed down, he has got that.”

On what Mike Iaconelli is grateful for:

“Family, fishing and fans.”

Featured images: Mike Iaconelli Instagram

Griff Garrison (@griffgarrison) is a professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at the Squared Circle 2 Expo in Indianapolis, IN to talk about how he got discovered by AEW, what led to him forming the Varsity Blonds tag team with Brian Pillman Jr., people thinking he looks like a young Chris Jericho, playing football in high school, how a football injury led him to start wrestling, what he learned from talking to AJ Styles and much more!

On wrestlers he loved growing up:

“I mean I was the average kid that loved John Cena. I was 8 years old and like ‘I want to be that guy.’ My first ever match that I remember was his debut match against Kurt Angle. If I could meet anybody, it would be John Cena or Dwayne Johnson.”

On the best advice he has been given:

“Just go slow. If you think you are going slow, then go slower. People in wrestling move too fast, and I am one of those people. You just have to slow down and make everything count. If you go too fast, you trip yourself up and you end up botching everything.”

On Griff Garrisons’ height:

“I’m about 6 foot 3 or 6 foot 4. Every time people meet me, they are always like ‘You are so much taller than on TV.’ I think it’s because I am with Brian on TV and he is a lot stockier. Brian has such broad shoulders, I think it’s all the raises he does in the gym.”

On his diet:

“I will go to Walmart and just buy stacks and stacks of tuna. I put it in a pack and it’s like 80g of raw protein right there. So I have been cutting a lot, but I am starting to bulk more on Monday. This is just on the road. At home it is eggs and blueberries for breakfast. Then after the gym there’s a protein shake with Greek yoghurt. Then it’s chicken, green beans, asparagus, salmon, all that boring food. It sounds boring but I am as fit as I have ever been in my life. I used to care about the number on the scale, but now it’s about looking good on TV and being as strong as possible.”

On having a tumour in his foot:

“It was terrifying. Ever since after my senior football year, I started having this nagging pain in my foot. I didn’t know what it was so I started to go and see doctors. I would get a frozen lacrosse ball and rub it on my foot, wear insoles, I would try everything. Then finally whenI broke my foot the doctors were like ‘Yeah you have been growing a tumour in your foot for 2 years.’ She said that it was eroding my heel bone, and if we didn’t discover it then it would have gone up into my leg. If that happened, they would have had to amputate my leg.”

On being an athlete all of his life:

“The first spot I played was baseball. I started playing tee ball early, my dad started me off at 2 years old. I started off in ATlanta, so we always went to the Braves game. Then football came along and I went to all of these camps and combines. The one before my senior year, I tore my whole hamstring. I couldn’t go to any of these other camps, and I think that’s why I played at a division 3 school. After football season, the foot pain nagging started, so I went somewhere local to get a degree, and then that was where wrestling came about.”

On possibly following football if injuries didn’t occur:

“I played receiver. I played quarterback up until 9th grade where a better quarterback came along. He broke every record in highschool and I think he went on to go into baseball. I was getting recruited by Duke Blue Devils, but the foot thing happened. But then I got to college, fell out of love with football, found wrestling and here we are.”

On his first break in wrestling:

“Me and a friend went to a Ring of Honor dojo camp. We got to do matches and drills in front of Christopher Daniels and Punishment Martinez [Damian Priest]. That was in December and then in February we did Future of Honor. We wrestled Dalton Castle, Joe Hendry and even got to wrestle The Briscoes for the tag titles.”

On getting to AEW:

“It was 2020 and we were wrestling in Future of Honor before everyone was freaking out about the whole pandemic thing. The next month we went to Baltimore and my partner Marcus tore his ACL. They were going to offer us a contract, then COVID hit. I was online applying for teaching jobs, then my agent calls and said that they want me for extra work for AEW in Jacksonville. I can’t let this opportunity slip, I put the computer down and didn’t talk to anyone for 2 weeks. So I trained, ate and slept and watched tapes. We did a live Dynamite and taped it for the next week. I came back 2 weeks later and did a dark match against MJF. Tony Khan loved it, so we came back the next night and taped it, that was really cool.”

On how Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr. became a team:

“I don’t know, I think Tony just threw me and him together. I get there one day and our names are on the board together. But I guess that Tony liked us as a team and kept putting us together. Then we got Julia, we got matching uniform and signed to a salary last July. It was crazy, my life has been one big roller coaster ride.”

On a possible split:

“I think there has already been a little seed planted here and there as you have seen with Julia. There is definitely some tension in the group, but one day I could definitely go with turning on Brian or we turn together. When we started, we did the whole Ivy League thing and we loved it.”

On his AEW goals:

“As of right now, me and Brian have a lot more to accomplish. I think we need to build more chemistry, and we hang out more outside the ring. I would love another shot at the titles and one day I want to be the TNT Champion.”

On what Griff Garrison is grateful for:

“God, my family and wrestling.”

Featured image: Wrestling Inc.

Mike Myers is an actor and comedian known for his films like “Austin Powers”, “Wayne’s World”, the “Shrek” movies, “So I Married An Axe Murderer” and many others. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about his new Netflix series called THE PENTAVERATE and also goes into detail about how he gets into character, how Martin Short inspired him, the biggest misconception about Canadians, what it’s like sharing the same name as Michael Myers from the Halloween movies, why he loved working with Dana Carvey and he does some of his famous voices like Dr. Evil, Austin Powers and Wayne Campbell from Wayne’s World.

Mike Myers, What do you think is the biggest misconception about Canadians?

“Well one of the things is I think that people confuse our kindness for weakness. I think that people do so at their peril, because we have consistently fought for democracy. I know that sounds corny, but with what is going on with the world right now and democracy under attack, I think we are on the right side of it.”

You play 8 characters in this series. What is the process like of getting into character?

“I remember seeing Martin Short from SCTV, he said that the makeup chair is where the character begins. The outside in the mirror fools the inside. For me, there are certain words that get me into character too. When I did Linda Richman the word was [New York accent] coffee. As a Canadian I couldn’t believe it was ‘Kauphy.’ You mean coffee? With Austin Powers it was ‘Yeah Baby’ and with Dr. Evil it was just ‘Right.’ I love performing and I love having to be there for it and show up for it.”

What’s it like sharing the name with a famous horror movie character? 

“I didn’t grow up as a public person, I grew up working class in Toronto. I go on Saturday Night Live and then I go to cash the cheque from NBC. So I went to the Chemical Bank and the cashier said ‘Michael Myers? You’re not going to kill me are you?’ So I finally get onto a TV show and a fictional mass murderer with my name has already happened. It was kind of a really? But oh well, I was just grateful to be on Saturday Night Live.”

If you were to pick one of your previous characters to appear on The Pentaverate who would you pick?

“I think that Dr. Evil would be a good fit, or Shrek. At one point I wanted to a Wayne’s World where Wayne got his own heavy metal state. I can see him running a secret society, that could be fun.”

What is the best advice that you have received in your career?

“Never give up. The reason that you should never give up is that great reviews are just comfortable information. Bad reviews are just uncomfortable information, but none of it is definition. If you make something that you want to see, then you have already won. With my upbringing, it’s a lot to ask people to show up to see your thing. You should really work your hardest, it’s a lot to ask someone to sit in the dark, plus ticket, popcorn and coke. My parents drilled into me that you have to work hard to be a really good entertainer.”

Mike Myers stars in The Pentaverate, which is out now on Netflix.

Featured image: Forbes

Jack Evans (@jackevans711) is a professional wrestler who has worked for AEW, Lucha Underground, TNA Impact Wrestling, CZW and several other promotions. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about AEW not renewing his contract, why he says he got “lazy” and “plump” during his time in AEW, his tag team partner from TH2 Angelico, his favorite matches, the YouTube video series called “How Isn’t Jack Evans Dead”, his AEW Dark match with Kenny Omega, the botches he has had in his career, what’s next for him and much more!

On not having his AEW contract renewed:

“It’s one of those things where I don’t really have any bad experiences or anything. Like I said in a follow-up tweet, I understand where they are coming from. I don’t think that I was actually giving added value to the company, it’s just one of those things. Living on that AEW contract was awesome, but it wasn’t a bitter breakup by any stretch of the imagination, I understood where they were coming from.”

On AEW not firing him:

“I’ve been in darkness, I have been on Dark forever. One thing that I do want to put AEW over for is waiting for the whole contract [instead of saying] ‘We don’t want this guy anymore, dump him next week.’ or whatever. I didn’t want to get involved because those Twitter fights are eternal. But it started this huge Twitter fight and I’m like I don’t really feel like that is the way to handle it.”

On COVID restrictions halting his momentum:

“I feel like for the first year the run actually started out good. We kind of had the place as the semi comedic tag team. Then me and Angelico were at the Mexican border, which got closed because of the COVID restrictions, we had this 4 month layoff. I had this practice match when I came back, and I actually got my face broken again, so there was another 2 month layoff. I feel like after that, I never came back full force, I really feel like I deteriorated. But I can’t blame it on ring rust, I just never had the same momentum, I felt like I was never wrestling good and had just deteriorated in the ring. This sounds weird, but it gave me loads of self confidence problems. Anyone that knows me knows how nervous I am backstage, but when I step through the curtain and into the ring I am all cocky and confident. But I would step through the curtain and would still be as nervous as hell. After the COVID layoff and the face break, I feel like on a personal level I never came back as me in regards to in ring skill.”

On being complacent:

“I feel like that salary contract made me a little soft. There was a little while where I got a bit plump and I fell off after that layoff. I only feel like I started to come back after that layoff, but I think at that point the company had already made up its mind or whatever. I did just kind of get, not lazy in the ring, but lazy outside of the ring.”

On Angelico still being employed:

“I think in that first year they were pretty happy with us. We were not the type to go up to the office [with a problem]. I called us the nine to fivers. We would show up, do what we had to do, go to the locker room. There was zero politics and our in ring performance matched up to what they wanted us to do. But I think after that they started looking at me and Angelico differently. I got out of shape and plump, I wasn’t on the ball, but Angelico never fell off. I think it was then that they started seeing us as 2 different entities.”

On if not being stuck in Mexico would have meant more TV time:

“Yes but I don’t think that it would have changed anything. In the end it just came down to me having spent an extended period of laziness. During those 4 months I maybe would have been used more and maybe I would have stayed on the ball more. But I didn’t have that right mentality when I was on a salary, I thought that this will go on forever.”

On what the plan is now:

“I am not a man with the plan. For right now it is the same old same old with the indies. I am looking for a promotion in Mexico, so I am starting to send out resumes. But at my age, it might be time to start thinking about at least semi-retirement. I am at least hoping to get on TV in Mexico.”

On ambitions:

“I’m not really an ambitious person. I just want a nice little business that will pay my bills and will provide for my kids. Now I feel like I just want to chill a little bit. There is no need to try and be anything other than the basic necessities paid for. When I first started training, just going to Dragon Gate I was like I’m done. But to travel a lot of places and pay the bills, the indies pay a lot more now but they wouldn’t pay the bills before. I am really content with just how things have been.”

On realizing that he is agile:

“Early on my sister was in gymnastics, so she taught me the back handspring and I took it from there. It really took off when I got into breakdancing, that was when I realized that I have a lot of acrobatic skills.”

On the bumps seen in “How Isn’t Jack Evans Dead”:

“When it comes to that cage of death bump, I agree! On that one, I landed on my tailbone and I was getting Blitzkrieg’s gimmick 2 days later. I had this cracked tailbone and had to do this match against Super Dragon, it was rough. Just to get the Blitzkrieg outfit, that was an honor. But my worst injury was when I broke my leg in front of Chris Benoit, I had plates and screws and everything. In all honesty, most of my injuries haven’t been head injuries, but there for sure [have been concussions]. Nobody back in the early 2000’s was really thinking about that, which is something that AEW does really well. Back then there was a really different mentality. I did a bad 630 on top of a chair in ROH and I did a bad corkscrew and knocked myself out. I am sure there have been more but most of my injuries have been to my knees and my ankles. Now I have to be really careful near curbs, my ankle can lose balance and if I am hanging off slightly I can fall and collapse into the street.”

On living with X-Pac:

“We lived together for a year and a half maybe. I find that with the fans he has a different reputation with the fans as opposed to who he actually is. I used to joke around that he is like the male Mother Teresa, he would help the homeless and give them sandwiches. But then he will do this stupid sh*t, one time he was drinking and he went to an alley and was p*ssing. The police then rush him and he got extorted. I swear to God there is a grey rain cloud that follows him.”  

On his AEW highlight:

“For me my AEW highlight might have been that match with the Best Friends. I don’t think I had many classics. Also Iw ould say my singles with Kenny Omega, but man that should have been one of those 6 star classics. But I was so out of shape, I was a neurotic mess putting that match together. I was so blown up and it could have been a big break, but it should have been so much more. We cut so much out and so much was not executed properly, but that was again 100% my fault. He just out worked me where we had to end the match early because I was done. That really should have been a classic, it came off good but that one hurts me.”

On what he is grateful for:

“Wrestling in general, the family and being in Mexico.”

Featured image: TPWW

Jamil Damji (@jdamji) is a real estate entrepreneur and one of the hosts of the A&E show “Triple Digit Flip”. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at his beach house in Marina Del Rey, CA to talk about how a failed career as a comedian led to him getting started in real estate, what someone needs to know when they are flipping their first property, what he looks for when he wholesales a property, how he started his company KeyGlee, the best advice he has ever received, his TV show “Triple Digit Flip” with his co-host Pace Morby, his advice on the current housing market and much more!

On his show “Triple Digit Flip”:

“It’s been an incredible journey for us. Four of us are the main cast members, my sister who is project manager and my best friend Pace. We run around doing life together and Pace’s wife is the real estate mogul. We run around, flip homes and make them beautiful and have a great time. Second season is in production at the moment, which is great, because not many shows get a second season.”

On the appeal of the show:

“We all live in a place, the home is a necessary place for all of us. Also, everybody has a range in respect to their design and their ideas, what makes a home a home. I think because everyone has such broad tastes and there is so much scope for business, we can make substantial profits in buying, fixing and selling homes. For the most part people just like thinking about things they can do. We can learn about anything on the internet, and if there is an opportunity to make 6 figures on house flipping, then why not? If all it takes is some courage and investment and grit, then why not?”

On how to make something from nothing:

“So when you buy a house that is distressed, you can get a pretty decent deal. If you are brand new and don’t have a lot of money to participate in the real estate market, you can do something called wholesaling. This is where you identify a good opportunity, put it under contract and then sell your position in the contract to another investor. You are literally flipping paper. That’s how I did my first deal in Canada, which they called a skip transfer. I was in a media company in the early 2000’s, where my job was cold calling, moving their advertising from the yellow pages to the internet. Businesses were reluctant because they didn’t think that the internet would stick, but haha it did! We sold the websites for $600, but they cost $700 to make, so every one was a loss! I then overheard a conversation about demolishing houses and then building duplexes, and would make $160,000 per project. They didn’t have enough to demolish, so I asked if I could find any. The next day I see a house for rent in the neighbourhood, so I called this lady and asked if she couldn’t find a renter, would she sell? She told me that for the right price she would, I asked for a price that turned out to be $350,000. I then went to my housing partners and they asked how much would they pay and they said $400,000. Most people would say ‘Oh she is willing to sell for $350,000 so just give me something.’ The way my mind worked was I need to get myself in this transaction. I started cold calling attorneys starting with a and getting through to s. This one lawyer explained to me that I need 2 contracts, one as me as the buyer and one as me as the seller. Bring both contracts back and you can be on the conveyance. After the real estate fees I made $47,000, that was my first deal.”

On trying to be a stand up comedian:

“Well it didn’t work out, which is why we are here talking about real estate and not stand up comedy [laughs]. I came to the US to do stand up comedy and got a bit of traction. I did the open mics and posted some videos on Funny or Die, they were great. So I was writing and producing but real estate just kept calling me. I was living in LA but looking at Phoenix, you could buy a condo that sold before the financial crisis for $400,000, but now it’s $25,000. It rents for $800 a month, tell me where else you can do that. I saw the opportunity, so I packed up and said that stand up is not for me anymore. I did some wholesale deals and flipped contracts, I made $17,000 in 8 minutes on Craigslist. Seeing how easy it was to spot value, I knew it was time to pack things up. It was my birthday, December 12th 2012, 12/12/12. I drove through this life threatening dust storm, made it through and here I am.”

On spotting a deal:

“So you ever see those houses that have tin foil in the windows, lawn is overgrown and the mail is piling up? Those are called zombie houses and they are all over. There is a way to contact the owner of that house and let them know that the tenant has moved out and the house is destroyed and looks like it does. You call those people and tell them about the condition and then offer to buy it. Do a cash deal and offer to handle the tennant, that is one way to find these houses. Also look at code violations, there are breadcrumbs left by the property as to there being a problem. These lists are all on public records, you can download the records, get the numbers and start calling them.”

On the future:

“One of my investment strategies, and I have a couple, for me if you have looked at the state of service, it’s not good. If you go out to eat, a lot of places are understaffed, there is a vacuum of shortages. I think also with Airbnb I think we are bullish as a world, we are all enjoying looking at other people’s species as opposed to sterile hotels. So I am looking at adding luxury spaces for people to rent. Secondly, there is an opportunity in small family homes to wholesale. I built a 6 plex, fully modelled, and the landlord had just started renting. He was renting the 2 bed and 1 bath for $1,200 a unit, rented 5 out of 6, so had 1 left over. When I negotiated, he was like ‘I’m not giving you a deal, I know who you are. I want top dollar for these, $1.2 million.’ I’m like ok I’ll take it for that. In actuality, the rent gap means that they go for $1,700, not $1,200. That last vacant unit, we rented it for $1,700 on Craigslist. We posted the lease and closed on $1.2 million, a person moved in. Now I have the rent gap of $500, times that by 5 more units available, and these people will be on a month to month contract, so you can raise rent. I made $450,000 in one transaction by raising the rent in one unit.”

On the biggest thing he has learned:

“I have realized that we are so impatient wanting to get to a destination. You can see me saying I want the car, the house and all the friendships, but they all came from pain. AT this moment in life, you are meant to be where you are. There is always an opportunity out there, but I don’t get there without the lessons or the valleys. I failed as a comedian but A & e saw something in me and let me be who I am. Nothing in life is easy, but there is God in all of the tough situations.”

On how the show came to be:

“They came and found us. We skipped the usual Hollywood b.s. Of the teaser to the pilot, then the half season and the full season. Pace’s YouTube posts a video and the casting director thinks it is hilarious. They reach out to us and A & E wanted to do a Zoom call, but I thought it was all a scam so I ignored them, you know? Nobody wants me at that time. But Pace doesn’t ignore it and we do the 30 minute Zoom call. I am looking at the names on Zoom and Googling them, and it’s all legitimate. We get an email a week later where they say they love us, so we are skipping the pilot and we got a show! Season 1 was gruelling, there was a lot of work. The show is 43 minutes long, but we shoot like 100 hours of footage.”

On advice for someone who is in a rut:

“Go inside you. Nothing that you want is outside of you, I can’t stress that enough. I have found so much peace and opportunity by just being in my own heart. If you can live where you are present in it, you know when you go on autopilot, you do that a lot each day. So a lot of us are checked out, and then nothing we do has power. But if you are in a rut, try to get as clear as possible about where you are. Take one step in being present and see the doors that open. There are doors everywhere, I have walked through some that are chance, but they are not. There is love there and opportunity.”

On what he is grateful for: 

“Breath, family and for me.”

Featured image: Guardian

Craig Robinson is an actor, comedian and musician. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about his new animated film THE BAD GUYS where he voices Mr. Shark. Craig discusses how he paved his own way in Hollywood, his Pizza Hut commercials and what he would order on his pizza, playing Darryl Philbin on “The Office”, how he took his career into his own hands after moving to Hollywood, being a teacher before making it as an actor/comedian and more!

So much of this movie is the idea of being scared of something that you don’t really understand. There’s a wolf, a snake, a tarantula! But Craig, what scares you?

“Hmmm, questions. I am a Scorpio, can’t get too deep.”

Is it because you don’t know the answer or you can’t reveal too much?

“It’s the revealing, I gotta keep it mysterious man.”

I just heard the interview you did with Dax Shepheard where you say you don’t do podcasts.

“The name of my podcast is This is why I don’t do podcasts if I ever create one.”

One of the best things about doing an animated film is that you can wear anything while recording. What is Craig Robinson’s recording attire?

“A t-shirt, shorts and flip flops, easy. The flip flops feel like I am at the beach. The beach has the ocean, and the ocean has the shark, boom!”

You are on TV a lot with The Office and Pizza Hut commercials. What would Mr. Shark order if he would order a pizza?

“Oh easy. It would be a meat lovers with no onions.”

Where do you feel it all began where you took control of your own career?

“When I got to Hollywood, I think there was a time where I decided to approach everything like with rhythm and music. That might have been a turn, I think there was a time of figuring out where you have to care without caring. So you have an audition, you prepare for it, you cannot care about the result, you just have to live it. If you care, you will drive yourself crazy.”

How long did it take you to realize that you were just going to be you without caring?

“I think I just got there, I had no choice. So I came from comedy doing stand-up, well it’s stand-up but I am sitting down and playing the keyboard. I could separate myself and do what I do, I don’t know how to be anything else.”

So I know you used to be a teacher. Do any of your old students ever reach out?

“Yeah they will sometimes reach out randomly sometimes. They will hit me on Instagram like ‘Mr Robinson, you are such an inspiration, thank you.’ And I say the same thing to every one of them ‘I’m not your teacher anymore, please don’t contact me!’ I’m kidding! It’s really nice of them to reach out to me, a lot of them have families now.”

Is there a crossover between doing music and voice over?

“Everything is music to me. When I am trying to memorize something, I try to put it in a song.”

Featured image: NBC

On this episode of Insight, the tables have turned and I am on the other side of the mic as a guest on Travis Chappell’s podcast called “Figuring It Out”. I talk about growing up in Pickering, Ontario, Canada and how I fell in love with broadcasting at 4-years old. I also talks about why I decided to study Communication Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, how I landed my first radio job, my favorite interview moments, what I’ve learned from my parents and much more!

Growing up in Canada:

“So I grew up just outside of Toronto. I’m Canadian from a town called Pickering, which is just outside of Ontario. It has a population of about 92,000. I have an older sister and my parents are the greatest example of companionship, friendship and love. They are celebrating their 47th wedding anniversary this year, so I grew up in a family filled with love. I felt like I had endless possibilities and I could do whatever I wanted. I played a lot of sports growing up, tee ball was the first one, and of course if you grow up in Canada you have to play hockey. In elementary school the only sports were track and field, cross country, volleyball and basketball, and I did them all. When I got into high school I played baseball there and got onto the wrestling team too, sports was always big in my life. I remember being 4 years old and I was given a Fisher price tape recorder radio with a microphone attached to it. So I would pretend to be a radio broadcaster at 4 years old, so I would record little tapes of the announcer, that was my first memory of it. I remember being so passionate about it and drawn into it, I love the idea of presenting to people.”

On discovering the passion in high school:

“In high school I was the vice president of the student council, mostly because they got to do the morning announcements. Every morning I would say ‘Good morning Pine Ridge!’ like Good Morning Vietnam. We also had communication studies in our high school where we would make TV every week. We had a TV studio in my highschool and we would rotate through all of the different roles, that was where I learned what communication studies was. So when it was time to pick a major in college, communication studies was fun. Let’s do that. It was a major long shot to be on TV, but you are 17 or 18 years old and picking your college major, which is crazy.”

On knowing this was the career:

“So I was pretty dead set on giving it my best shot on being on TV. I had an epiphany in my final year of college. Now college is a lot of fun, you meet a lot of people and experience a lot of new things, beer is one. I was living with 4 of my best friends and we were going to graduate 7 months from then. I remember thinking that when I graduate, that’s it, I have to work for the rest of my life, and you realize this at 21. At that moment I made it so I would never hate my job. I saw too many people hate Sunday because Monday was next. I was so aware that you work for half of the time that you are awake, you spend more time with your colleagues than you do with your partner. But here’s the thing, people spend more time putting the work into dating than they do in their job. So at that exact moment I had an epiphany and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I reached out to every radio station in town and said that I wanted to do this and see how it’s done. One radio station said sure, come on out.”

On getting my foot in the door:

“So I asked to volunteer, and the radio station said I could be part of the street team and hand out the flyers. This other radio station said that they don’t take volunteers but offered me a job! They said it only pays $8 an hour, but it was $8 an hour more than I thought I was going to make. I was a board operator for all of these talk shows, that was how I got started. Fast forward to graduation and I knew I needed a job. I reached out to a load of TV stations, nobody got back to me. I found this one station that was 60 miles from my hometown, really small. So I said that I would be there for spring break, could I come and talk about an internship? This was a total lie, I was not going there. But I scoured the internet for the general manager’s email address, and he responded and said sure. He looked at my resume and took a chance on me as an intern. My first day was following a reporter and doing everything, shooting, writing and all of it. Two weeks later I get given a story and I ask who I was following, they say I am following Terry but it is my story. I am writing it, shooting it and I would be on the news. From then on I was a free reporter on TV, but by the way I was still working at a pet store back home to pay for the gas to drive the 60 miles.”

On career progression:

“So the internship ended up turning into a job. When I went to the general manager’s office and said thank you for the opportunity, but I can’t afford to do this. He said ‘Ah I’ve been meaning to talk to you Chris. You won’t be an intern anymore. We don’t have a position now, but we have created one for you, welcome to the team!’ It went from 0 to about $14 an hour back in 2005, certainly paid for my gas. I was reporting on the stories, and with local news it can be a bit of a stretch as to what is news. I remember being pitched the story about a cat that lives in a retirement home, and that’s the story! Also there was a story about a new stop sign. I was thinking this was great, but at 22 I didn’t want to be a news reporter or anchor. So I was submitting this to every TV station I could find, and after work I would take the camera and fake report on the bigger stories. I would set up the camera in a field and would say ‘Rocky Balboa hits cinemas this weekend and I am talking to Sylvester Stallone…’ And no I’m not talking to him, but we would shoot it like we were. I was applying for all these things and no one was taking me seriously. I submitted my stuff for this company in Vancouver and didn’t hear anything, but the name of the person hiring was on the application.”

Seizing opportunities:

“I called the TV station and asked for her by name. They put me through and I left a voicemail, she left me an email and said they would let me know. Her direct phoneline was in the signature so I would be calling her in a few days! Sure enough, I called her a few days later and said I would be in Vancouver next week, again a total lie! I flew out there and got the job and this is where things started happening for me.”

On improving my game:

“It was the transitions and becoming more comfortable on camera. I think that now in 2022 we are more comfortable on camera because we are taking selfies. You have the adjustment of ‘Oh that’s what I look and sound like?’ I think it takes 2 or 3 years to get used to that broadcasting version of yourself. That amped up and best version of yourself, that takes a bit of time to go this is me.”

Advice for aspiring broadcasters:

“I think it’s just getting the reps in and just do it. Joe Rogan is on like episode 1,700, no one is looking back at episode 16 or episode 416. People will just put out 3 episodes, look at the numbers and think it’s a waste of time. It’s about the research, the recording, the editing… If all of that isn’t fun for you, then it might be time for something else. I think it’s important to figure out why you are getting into this. If it’s for a hobby or for money, it’s two completely different paths. I took my interviews and put them on YouTube as a digital library. Someone said to me ‘You’re making money from those right?’ I’m like what? Then someone showed me how to make money from YouTube ads and I was making some money from it. I was fortunate where this wasn’t my only source of income, but some videos were getting more views on YouTube than they were on TV.”

On the shift to YouTube:

“It took a while for the shift to happen. With the network, it was so early that they didn’t really know about the YouTube videos. In 2018 I hit 100,000 subscribers and that was where it really hit some momentum. I felt like I was onto something with 20% of my time, so what was it like with 80% of my time.”

On building relationships:

“I think it comes down to what value you are going to give. It’s obvious what The Rock or John Cena are giving you, but what are you giving them? When I got on the Fast 9 interviews, and I got 12 minutes instead of 4, they realized that a lot of people that watch my stuff are wrestling fans. John Cena has a lot of fans that are still wrestling fans, this is a no brainer.”

On what I have figured out [and what I don’t]:

“I think I am still figuring it out every day! I have personally figured out more about who I was more than I did when I was 18, but I am still figuring it out. My self awareness has grown a ton, but that’s something that comes with time. I am very goal driven, I say that vague goals get vague results, so I look at how I can get there and reverse engineer. There has been a lot of picking up my life and moving it, so while the surroundings change, I am still the same. I am in a relationship with the greatest person I have ever met, Rachel is amazing! This is the right time with the right person, I am figuring out a lot of adult things there. But in all of that, I am comfortable with making the commitment of this person is great. If I can keep showing up then we can keep showing up together.”

Sabby Piscitelli (@sabatinop24) is a professional wrestler known for his time in WWE & NXT as Tino Sabbatelli. He also played 6 seasons in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about behind released from WWE during 2020 then re-hired then released again, what Triple H told him about his character, the praise he received from the late Scott Hall, the match he had on AEW Dark, the rumors that he leaked AEW spoilers, how he made the transition from the NFL to being signed by WWE, being part of a tag team with Riddick Moss, how he met his girlfriend Mandy Rose, what his workout routine looks like and much more!

From the transition from NFL to WWE:

“That is where there was the struggle. I was playing in front of 80,000 people, I had banners and my jersey was the number 2 seller in 2009 for Tampa Bay. I went from 80,000 to setting up rings in the PC for around 100 people. [Chris mentions the salary change from NFL athlete to PC recruit] I am glad that you mentioned that because I had to adjust myself in a humbling way. I was all in, I told Triple H that I was all in, I knew I had to start at the bottom. So I went to the PC and I did whatever they asked me to. I didn’t know how to wrestle, so I learned how to wrestle. Then I had to set up rings and be in locker rooms with cockroaches, and I am used to being escorted to my car. But I’m like OK, just stay the course. But for me, I bought in and dedicated my life to it. I get going and I don’t know what to expect. I develop this character that is me but just turned way up to a person that you wish you could be. So I started getting booed out of arenas, so I’m like this is good.”

“Fast forward a bit and Triple H approaches me. He said ‘Listen Tino, you look like a million bucks, talk like a million bucks and carry yourself like a million bucks. But I really want your wrestling to be a million bucks. When you are a package like Tino, if you can’t wrestle then it will expose you and you can’t be the star that you really are.’ I took that personally and I really honed in, and that craft is hard! It’s not something you can just teach overnight, there are so many aspects. It really wasn’t easy, if you are an explosive athlete, it is the opposite in the ring. You are moving fast, but you have to act like you are not moving fast. So I said to Triple H ‘OK I’m up for the challenge.’ He says ‘I’m going to team you up with Riddick Moss, he is good at what you need to work on and you are good at what Riddick Moss needs to work on.’ I’m like perfect, let’s team us up. It was another alpha presence, so we were butting heads at first, but for me I was grateful. He taught me so much about tagging, psychology and how the pace of a match goes. I knew we didn’t really want to do it at first, but as my career came, it really really helped.”

“Fast forward 3 years and I came to this realization. I was 35 and I gave everything that I had to WWE, so I wanted to sit down with Triple H and ask what was the plan. So I sat down with Triple H for 45 minutes in Atlanta, and I will never forget it. He said ‘Listen Tino, I see you as a huge star. We just want the timing to be right with you because of the background and what you have accomplished. With your background we want to make sure that all the stars align and the timing is right.’ So I bought into this. He then said ‘This is what we are going to do. We are going to break you up on TV with Riddick Moss, here we go.’ That happens and I am in 3 main events.” 

“I was against Alistair Black for the belt, Velveteen Dream and somebody else. I was catching my pace and was feeling comfortable. So I had the match with Alistair Black for the belt and Terry Taylor was there. At that time he pulls me aside and said it was the best match he had seen me work. Then I said ‘I am going to tell Triple H personally about it.’ This was a Friday night and I was excited. I had the Saturday off and I get a phone call at about 11am. It’s from Terry and he says ‘Tito, you want to work the main event tonight against Velveteen?’ I’m like absolutely, perfect. So I get in my car and I drive over to Tampa somewhere. Long story short, he goes to dropkick me and gets me right in my pec. His foot tore my pec, freak accident, if he did it 1,000 more times he wouldn’t have done it again. I’m about to get my singles debut and I tore my pec.”

“So I have the surgery and as I am out, I tell WWE I have an elbow problem, so let me get this sorted and I will be back at 100%. I go and get the surgery and it is supposed to be a 30 minute surgery. They get 8 pieces of bone fragment out, but the last one the tweezers snap and vanish. I was on the table for 5 and a half hours while they were digging around. They finally get it out, I wake up and they tell me what happened. They say it’s fine but I am like no something is wrong, I can’t feel my hand. Fast forward again 2 months later and my hand has no feeling and strength. I had to have a third surgery again in December, and they tell me it will be 3 months or 3 years, we can’t say. WWE stood behind me and paid for everything while I was on the shelf for 2 years. But I wanted to fight through and wanted to come back, because I felt like I was that next star. I remember Scott Hall pulled me aside one day and he said ‘Kid, you have a candid ability for people to hate you.’ Those were like the moments where I still wanted to chase this dream. Another was Dusty Rhodes, he said ‘Son, you’ve got the it.’ Those conversations kept me going through the hard times. I started this journey, let’s finish it. Triple H says that they want me back, so I started working my butt off and get through the physicals and get in shape. All of a sudden I get cleared in February 2020, but 2 weeks later, COVID hits. Vince McMahon says ‘Anyone who hasn’t been on TV is gone.’ So I get a phone call from Canyon Seaman. He’s like ‘I’m sorry we have to let you go.’ I’m like ‘Let me go? You just paid me for 2 years, I just got back.’ He’s like ‘It’s not my call, trust me.’ So they had me for 5 years and this is how they let me go? I was struggling. That being said, Canyon did text me every week saying they were going to get me back, but I didn’t believe it.”

On the one match he had in AEW:

“So then AEW comes into play, AEW calls me. Billy Gunn calls me and says ‘Sabby, show up to Jacksonville.’ They don’t tell me anything, I show up and I see my name on the board. I’m like wow, I have a match? I mean OK I will do it. So I had this match on AEW Dark, it was a tag team match, but they didn’t tell me anything. They didn’t offer me anything, it was a vague trip. But that same week coach Bloom texted me and said congratulations. I shot him a text back saying ‘Thank you but I didn’t sign anything.’ The next day Triple H reaches out to me. It’s funny, Canyon and coach Bloom was trying to set up the meeting with Triple H for 2 months, but because he is so busy, it would get pushed to the back burner. I was getting so offended, but I know they were pushing for it, but it was funny that he reached out when I appear on AEW. So he reaches out and we meet and he says ‘You know what? You’re the only person we are going to offer to bring back.’ I was honored and privileged, but I asked for one thing, an opportunity. Everybody was saying ‘Wait until Vince sees this.’ And ‘Wait until you get that push.’ But it never happened because of the surgeries and just bad timing. But here we go, they sign me and they bring me back. Triple H goes ‘Tino, come back to the PC, get the ring rust knocked off.’ So I come back to the PC late 2020 and I am in every main event of the house shows in the PC to rehearse. They had me against Ciampa, Thatcher, every skillset. I kept getting put off like ‘Oh next week…’ I started getting a bit upset because I came back for the opportunity. Then I hear ‘You are not right for NXT. We are going to put you on Raw or SmackDown. You don’t fit on this brand.’ I just want the opportunity. Again, this is the first time in my career I felt confident in the ring. I can call matches on the fly and wrestle anyone. Triple H told me I looked and talked like a million bucks, now I think I can wrestle anybody.” 

“All of a sudden we have a match, Jamie Noble and John Laurinaitis came, so did Prichard. They wanted to see promos and matches of their best talent. So I cut a promo and I am in the main event and I crush it. Jamie Noble pulls me aside and says ‘That promo, you can’t teach it. That confidence, you can’t teach it. Best promo of the day.’ I ask about the match and he says ‘I loved it, I am going to tell Vince.’ I’m like great we have someone on the inside, let’s go! I heard for years that I am a Vince guy, OK well put me in front of Vince. Two weeks later I get a phone call from Canyon and I get released again. I’m like hold on, I thought the phone call was that I would be going to Raw or to SmackDown. For 3 months they were saying I was going right up. Me and Canyon had a great relationship, and I could tell that he couldn’t tell me the reason. He was like ‘I am sorry, this is devastating to me.’ Then he hangs up on me. I’m like hold on, I didn’t have to come back, it was a man to man handshake, and now I am gone? I didn’t get an answer, that was what hurt me the most. I was in the main event for the right hand men for Vince McMahon, where is the disconnect. I lost the respect because I didn’t get a call or text from Triple H, I don’t respect that. He and numerous other people told me I had main event star level talent. But I don’t get a shot, nothing?”

On why the second release happened:

“Oh I know why it happened, but they are not allowed to publicly say. NXT is all different now, and Vince is in a fad all of a sudden. I think it’s a business plan but he wants young. I couldn’t wrap my head around that for 2 reasons. First, they all think that I am in my 20s, but is anyone built like me? If I am out of shape then fine but really? I had a conversation with John Laurinaitis, and at the end I wanted to ask him if I knew who I was. The conversation was so generic, like he was talking to a script. He told me personally that I couldn’t fathom. He couldn’t say age, but it was age. I think Vince saw the name Tino, been on NXT for 6 years and not a star? Then get him out.”

On a possible WWE return:

“The sad thing is, what I heard about the age thing is I say no. Personally I think if Vince saw me face to face then I hope so. But if I saw Vince face to face, I don’t know what I would say. This is just my opinion of being in the business for 5 or 6 years, I want to say this right. Personally I think that the character of Tino was a huge dropped opportunity for WWE. For me, it’s like how do I walk away from it all now? I fell in love and respect the business, I want to become great at the business. But they amped me up and never gave me a shot? If they gave me a shot and then I failed then OK, thank you. But I never got that or anything, and that’s what still beats me up.”

Would he return to AEW?

“So here’s the thing. I don’t know what happened or where it went wrong, this is the truth, that bridge was burned, and I don’t know how. Tony Khan knows me from football, and when WWE offered me that contract, I actually texted Billy Gunn about it. They [AEW] hadn’t offered me anything, Triple H was the one who offered me something. I sent a nice text to Billy Gunn to thank me for the opportunity and I thought it was all good. But when I got released again, someone reached out to AEW and said to Tony Khan ‘Tino is a free agent and he’s going to be a star.’ Tony said to him, and I am paraphrasing, but Tony is upset I went back to WWE. Then 3 months ago, Andrade approaches me and said that he wanted me to be in a group with him. Me and Andrade have always had a good relationship. But he texted me personally and we shot a vignette together. He wanted to bring a group like Evolution to AEW. We shot the video and spent the whole day in Miami. He texted me back and said ‘Tony Khan likes the idea but no Tino.’ I’m like what do you mean? I would love to sit and talk to Tony, he might have been upset that I had one match and then went back to WWE.”

On the rumors he was leaking AEW spoilers?

“Oh man I had to laugh. If anybody knows me, I don’t know where to begin with this. I am an internet dummy, I don’t know what a dirt sheet is, I am not on Twitter and I don’t use Instagram. So when someone tagged me and said ‘You hear what Chris Jericho said about you.’ What was it, NXT reject? At first I ignored it but people started to bring it up more and more, so I started to look into it. I’m like what is this dude talking about? For me to go on the internet and speak on something that I know nothing about? No disrespect, I don’t care about that much. When IMPACT called Terry Taylor asked me, I’m like I don’t know what a dirt sheet is. God honest truth, I don’t know what I would even say. Maybe that is why Tony Khan doesn’t like me that much.”

On his time in WWE:

“I was extremely grateful for the opportunity because I was going through a transitional phase in my life. I played 6 years in the NFL and was very grateful, but I was very bitter. I was just cut like that, I had started my last game on TV and had 8 tackles, but never played again, which was a mental struggle. But WWE came along and Canyon Ceman offered me the opportunity. I’m like really? OK. I was a casual fan, not a die hard, but he offered me this opportunity. They flew me out to Orlando for a try-out and they offered me the opportunity, which I thought about for about 3 months. I was extremely honored to be a professional athlete in a whole different industry. So I took it, moved to Orlando and I humbled myself, because you are starting right at the bottom. The tough thing about that is that you suck. You are not good at something when you start something new.”

On what he is doing now:

“That’s a great question. I have been chasing it for 20 years. I left home at 18 and went to Oregon State University. Then I was privileged to be drafted in the second round for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. At the end of that 6 year journey, I get approached by the WWE and have to live in Orlando for 5 years. Long story short I left home and for 2o years I was chasing the dream. Finally I have moved back to my dream home in South Florida, and I am just living day by day. I have some businesses and live under my means. This part of my life is just to enjoy life for a little bit. I just wanted to take a bit of time for myself.”

On not performing in front of a crowd:

“You know it’s funny, I am starting to get that itch again on what my next challenge is going to be. Right now, what satisfies that is golf. I am obsessed with getting good at golf and challenging myself. Pro athletes have this pressure to better themselves, so you have to compartmentalise it so it reduces the anxiety. But whatever comes next, I will attack it the same way that the NFL and WWE did. The itch came back when I was watching WrestleMania and I watched Mandy Rose. I am the biggest Mandy fan and that was the first weekend where I had to go for a run. I am so competitive and I know that Tino was in his prime.”

On how he met Mandy Rose:

“It was when she was doing the show Tough Enough. The first time I met Mandy, they were filming Tough Enough and they built a warehouse next to the PC. I saw them walking around and I’m like that girl is beautiful. I watched her go through the show and she got signed. Her personality and down to earth persona just drew me to her. She was such a genuine person, and at the time she was engaged and we were just friends. But they broke up and we just escalated from there.”

On what he is grateful for: 

“Mandy, my family and health.” 

Embedded images: Instagram

Featured image: WWE

Athena (@athenapalmer_fg) is a professional wrestler known for working under the name Ember Moon in WWE and NXT. She joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about her time in WWE and NXT, the frustrations she had during her last few months there, what’s next for her, if she is interested in going to AEW, her love of Dungeons and Dragons, her Twitch Stream, her cats, how she met her husband and fellow pro wrestler Matthew Palmer and much more!

On creative frustrations:

“Oh, yes. Ok we are going to talk about it. My last 4 months were just one of those moments where it wasn’t fun. It started with Shotzi being gone and Shotzi being drafted. I was sitting at home and I got a phone call. They said ‘Hey, we don’t want you to be upset, but Shotzi just got moved to SmackDown and will be debuting with Tegan Nox as a tag team.’ I was just sitting there and was like, I was playing D & D and I got this phone call. I was so happy for her, but then the tag team thing popped up. But we [me and Tegan] were the tag team, we were doing stuff and we had the merch. We finally got into our groove too, but they were like ‘Don’t worry, we have stuff for you.’ So I’m like ok, cool. I remember going to Hunter, and he was saying ‘I have no clue what is happening, we will figure it out together.’ That was like so much of what I needed at that time. No one really knew what was happening. Bayley had gotten injured and I knew that Shotzi and Tegan were doing try-out dark matches. But the problem here I had was that some of the newer writers who were from Raw and SmackDown were like ‘We had no idea you and Shotzi were a tag team.’ Just sitting there and a lot of WWE backstage is playing the game. [I said] ‘Well yeah, it’s cool. We were down here in NXT, it’s not like we were front and center page of WWE.com when we won the titles, but that’s fine!’ You have to eat the sh*t sandwich and smile with sh*t in your teeth a lot of times. It’s all about not making waves and being like it’s all ok. Me and Hunter and the head writer, we had come up with the idea of doing a heel turn for me. It’s new, it’s different and something I haven’t done before. We wanted to do a losing streak, at least that was my thought. There were all these new faces coming through, part of my job in NXT is to help new talent, I get that. I have been doing this for 17 years, I love this business, I don’t mind. So I’m like let me go on this losing streak, get frustrated and let me turn. I remember being told it’s a great idea, we do the first match and I am off tv for 4 weeks. I’m like ok, but they are like ‘It’s ok, we’ve got this.’ Then Hunter disappeared.”

“I was supposed to do a match with Sarray, but I ended up getting a rash on my arm, which was an allergic reaction to something. But they thought it was something else and they pulled me from the match. Ok, cool, whatever, we will keep trucking. Then 3 weeks later we are going to do this match, but then that gets pulled from tv. One of the head coaches just goes ‘Will you do me a favor and work 205 Live with Cora Jade? We really like her and it will be a fun match in the main event of 205 Live.’ I’m like ok, cool, that’s great. I’m never going to say no to having a match on tv regardless of where it is. Me and Cora go out there and have this banger of a match. They say they want me to go heel in this match, but to make it subtle. They turn me, but they don’t, and there was a lot of confusion of what was going to happen. And remember going online and people were like ‘Did Ember turn heel?’ And I don’t know if I did or not. Then I am off tv for 3 weeks and I have the match with Mandy [Rose] and they tell me ‘You need to dye your hair fire colored again and get the red contacts. You’re going back to the old Ember character, this is from Vince. You’re going to turn heel but as your old character and it’s the old music again.’ I’m like great! I go home, get my bottle of whiskey and I’m dying my hair. I have to hand dye it and it take an astronomical amount of time, it’s a minimum of 8 hours. During COVID my supplier shut down so I am trying to find the colors and it costs an astronomical amount. 2 weeks later I show up to tv and I am super motivated and happy. I remember we went to film a demo of the vibe that I wanted, come back and get the video ready. They then say ‘We have some bad news. Vince is pulling you off of tv indefinitely.’ I just kind of sat there and I was like, what did I do wrong? I have done everything you have asked me and have gone over and above. Even when they put me with Shotzi, everyone backstage knows I am not a tag team person and I hate tag teams, too many moving parts. It’s not that I hate tag team wrestling, there is just so much more to give and rely on 3 other people to make sure it all works in the ring. Me showing up to that tv and it’s 2am, I have done everything you have asked me to, branched out, gone above and beyond.”

On being told to dress differently and what lead to a breaking point:

“When you care about wrestling and you care about this so much more, not just for yourself, but for everyone involved, it hurts so much more. For so many years I have not been about myself, I have been about the people and about the match. To be told that I have done nothing wrong, and I was taken off tv for doing nothing wrong, it hurt so bad. I remember being sat in a meeting and being told to dress sexy. I was like ‘[laughs] I cater to children! I am not about to wear fishnets and booty butt cheek shorts because we had a 2 hour meeting about how to dress like Mandy Rose. That’s not fair, not everyone is like Mandy. Mandy is a phenomenal person, but not everyone is Mandy Rose. I started to see this downslope when Hunter was gone, and for the first bit we didn’t know why Hunter was gone, we just knew he wasn’t there. It became where I got so angry. I did nothing wrong, I didn’t p*ss of Vince, but they take away Shotzi and I am off tv. They are like ‘Well not all is lost Ember. We still want you to come and help out the next generation and teach a class. Maybe do some PC lives, which is the student show in front of no fans.’ I’m just like ‘So you are taking me off tv and make me a coach?’ I just remember laughing and saying ‘If I have done nothing wrong then you can cancel all my flights. I’m not coming to help these people that do not care about what I do, they only care about that pay check that hits their bank account. They are not passionate like me.’ There is no benefit for me and when I have done nothing wrong and with my elbow and Achilles surgery given you the entire right side of my body! There was no reward and not even a thank you, and you want to make me a coach and take me off tv? I said to them ‘I am not coming up here to coach, I am not doing your PC shows. I was supposed to be here in NXT to be repackaged and be back on main roster within a year. You took Shotzi away from me, I have nothing to go off of. I am going home, cancel my flights and hotels. If you have no creative for me, I am not getting on that flight. I am not doing this anymore, or else I will snap, either at you or a talent.’ I also said that I need to approve the creative before I get on the flight. This is the first time that I have ever pulled this card. I remember thinking I just quit.”

On deciding not to re-sign with WWE and getting released shortly afterwards:

“So I knew that I wasn’t going to re-sign so I knew that my release was coming. My contract was up in April, and they had offered me a ton of money to stay at one time. It was 5 times what I was making at that time, this was life changing. Sometimes money can’t buy you happiness, and I know that sounds stupid to some people. I couldn’t believe what they were offering me. I was so unhappy, but some things you don’t do for money, you do for love. And this wasn’t fun for me, it was like a 9 to 5 job. For what we do every day, we risk our lives and no day is the same, so why do we feel this way?”

“They ended up releasing me 3 days later, which was kind of a swerve. I got a call from creative the same day, the same hour. As I am texting creative I saw my phone and I’m like ‘I think I am getting fired.’ So I am playing Far Cry 6, trying to sneak into the mansion and texting the writers. I get a call and I’m like ‘Here it is!’”

On the main roster call up:

“Right, and it’s a whole different staff. You are having to learn who the writers are for you and no one knows who you are. I remember my debut on the Raw after Mania and they were like ‘Alright. They might not pop kid. They might not know who you are, just don’t take offence to it.’ I’m like what?! My heart is then sinking. I think it’s because the people don’t really know who you are as a character or a person, and it’s sort of starting again when you get to Raw or SmackDown. They don’t know you are a werewolf, they just see this smiling and cheesy babyface. Or they can go like Kross and be this gladiator. Or you could be like Retribution who were not told their names until they were unmasked.”

On a possible move to AEW:

“It was literally up until maybe August or September that they were still trying. I remember saying that I would love to take the money, but you have given me no reason to stay. I remember that being my point of dispute with them. I wanted them to make me stay, but I was seeing everything going on in AEW and I’m like that looks fun! For a while we couldn’t talk about it, but how else do you expect us to outshine them. But I wasn’t watching them for film, I was watching them because I was envious. I remember I would text Dustin from time to time to see how he was and he would say ‘We are sure having fun over here.’ I see that Dustin! But how are you? Dustin was great and he always gave me great advice on my character. I’m there like this is f*cking Goldust taking an interest in my character. Just seeing how happy everyone was.”

On being initially rejected by WWE and eventually being signed:

[I got told] ‘You’re not pretty enough, you need to lose weight, you’re not what we are looking for, you’re too buff…’ All of these comments have been said in my previous try-outs, and then I finally got the yes. It meant so much more to me that I wasn’t going to be a Diva. I’m not a Diva, do I like putting on makeup and looking pretty? Well who doesn’t? But in like, when it comes to my aesthetic and the fans that I cater to, I don’t promote sexuality like that. I never have and I don’t think I ever will. I’ve never been that type of person. I am a nerd, so it meant so much more to be merited on my performance instead of my appearance.”

On wrestling on the indies and it being fun:

“Yeah it’s great to create without a filter. I am getting to do that and also get the support of backstage crew, the companies and the fans. I am getting support in front of the people that I thrive in front of. Athena was the villain, but it’s not hard to be the bad guy again. But I feel like the indie fans are more appreciative and understanding when they see you go through 20 chairs. I do stuff because I know it’s safe, but I feel like because I had another main event the next night, people underestimate me. But it’s fun and I think sometimes the chaos of making money and fighting for a spotlight, which you shouldn’t have to do, but wrestling should be fun for all of the parties involved.”

On meeting her husband Matthew Palmer:

“I met Matt in my second year of wrestling. I tell this story quite a lot because I used to be quite the asshole. Because I was the only girl for 200 miles, I felt like I had more to prove. We met at wrestling training, I remember me and Matt being the same size and height, so they would pair us together. Lance Archer was coaching at the time and it was this drill where he would hit me 3 times and I would hit him 3 times. I’m like well ok, this guy is new and so am I so I’m going to show him what’s up. I just blasted him on every shot, previous to this no one hit me back but he gave it back to me as hard as I hit him and then he drop kicked me in the face. I wasn’t expecting it and I got up ready to throw a punch but Lance was saying ‘That was great!’ So I’m like yeah good job! For the first few months I hated his guts.”

So how does this all change?

“It was on a road trip. In Texas everything is so far away so we would have 6 hour road trips. I drove stick, 6 hours on stick is not fun. So I rode with Matt and he was playing something in the car from a musical. No one really knew that I liked musicals at that time, but we would end up hanging out 5 or 10 minutes before the show and that would turn into him introducing me to Moulin Rouge for the first time, and it just went from there. He was my knight in shining armor. I don’t tell this part too often, I was wrestling this match in Fort Worth, and this one guy was just an asshole. He clotheslined me so hard that I dislocated my shoulder. He was actually out back saying ‘She’s a girl, I have to make sure she will make my stuff look good.’ I have done gymnastics for years, so these [shoulders] just go in and out now, that’s just what they do. They call it breaking, it’s a technique to make you more flexible. So my friend pops my shoulder back in, and I drive a stick shift, this is not working! Matt was on the show and he lived in Arlington, which is 10 minutes away. He offered to drive me home, which is an hour away, and asked if I want to come to his show in Austin. I live with my parents so I’m trying to not show the pain, but I said yes. I went to the show and he has a match against Masada. Amazing man, but hard hitting man. Matt goes up for the frog splash and points at me, but then he gets demolished! We started dating after that and it just turned into this whole thing.”

On Matt’s support:

“Matt has been my biggest supporter through all these years. Even before I got signed to WWE. I was getting ready to quit. I had wrestled everyone that I wanted to and done every match that I wanted to do, with the last one being a TLC match. So I’m like it’s been 10 years, maybe it’s time to throw in the towel. I had try-outs with IMPACT and WWE and no one wanted me. Matt was like you should give it one last go, but I had a solid desk job at that time. But Matt said ‘What if you try one more time?’ I ran into Paige who was like ‘You need to try-out again. I will help as much as I can.’ Matt has always been there for me at my toughest times and it’s amazing to have someone like that in my life.”

On what Ember is grateful for:

“My husband, my cats and my optimism.”       

Embedded images: Instagram

Featured image: Dallas Morning News

Michael Yo (@michaelyo) is a comedian and radio & television personality. He joins Chris Van Vliet at the Blue Wire Studios at Wynn Las Vegas to talk about his new comedy special “I Never Thought” and why he funded it himself, how he went from being a TV host to a stand-up comedian, his comedy inspirations, the advice the Kobe Bryant gave him, how his family feels about the jokes he tells about them, how appearing on Chelsea Handler’s TV show “Chelsea Lately” started his comedy career, his friendship with Joe Rogan and much more!

Your comedy special is blowing up. Congratulations!

“Thank you. It’s on YouTube and it is pretty amazing. YouTube can be a vicious place, especially with all the comments. I got over 400 comments and only one negative one, I read them all. The only negative comment I got was a lady who goes ‘I am just too tired to watch this!’ That’s not even negative! There is so much love there, man. I had experience with my last comedy special, but I didn’t own it. This one I did everything with my director Coach Taylor. The video clips have gone viral and people are loving it. In less than 2 weeks I got 23,000 followers. The social media game has changed the game, people are coming up to me to do stuff. I used to not be in that game of social media, but Facebook is making me money now through monetisation.”

Facebook has that share button. With YouTube you have to copy the link, but with Facebook all you have to do is click share.

“Right, and then it’s done. I have this tier plan where after a year I will put my special on Facebook, because I own it. I want to maximize each one and see how it will do. This will also be good research so I know how I can strategize.”   

What was the plan here? Because anyone can put something on YouTube and it can either get watched by thousands or not a lot.

“That was the scary thing. My last special went on Amazon, been out for 3 years and only has 160 comments, half of those I begged for! But with this one I had over 400 comments in less than 2 weeks. Also YouTube is a search engine, so the more comments you get, the higher up the rankings it goes and gets recommended. I didn’t pitch it to Netflix, I wanted it out there on March 17th, 2 years to the day after I got COVID. We shot it in February, so we didn’t have much time to turn it around. I shot it in like February 7th. I knew if somebody wanted it, they wouldn’t turn it around like that. YouTube for comedy right now is it.”

Was it Netflix before?

“I mean it still kind of is. I started promoting this thing and fans of whatever show I was on would hit me up and go ‘You are underselling your special.’ I can now say that with the feedback you will laugh within the first 5 seconds, it is so good! To see all the response from YouTube and Facebook, people are loving it and sharing it. This has changed my life in 2 weeks.”

The beauty about YouTube is that this will live on and grow.

“It’s a slow burn. Also with every special that I do, it’s a legacy piece for my family, they can show it to their kids when I am long gone. That’s why I wanted to own the footage too. 50 years after I am gone they may want to do a tribute piece and they will own it. The last special I shot, I didn’t see it until the finished product came out. With this one I can see every cut and I can feel the energy in the room.”

Logistically, what do you pay for?

“I pay for everything and I pay it out of pocket. But I was smart enough to have great friends who gave me great prices. I got the room for a great price, found an up and coming director who wanted their shot, and he shot it beautifully. If any comic is listening, shoot it where you will have a great weekend. I paid off the special in that weekend, I made $0 profit, but it was all paid for, and that is all you can ask.”

Everyone in the audience knows that they are there for the special?

“They all know. So we did 5 shows across Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Thursday was a practice show with no cameras. Friday and Saturday were 2 shows and they were all taped. The crew gets paid the same if they are there for half a day or the full day, so I taped it all. The fourth show on Saturday night was a clean version, because that will get more plays on the radio.”

You’ve been doing this for 11 years. How does it feel that people are now starting to notice you?

“Well this is what I wanted people to notice me for. If you are in entertainment news, which I was in, everyone knows me for that, there is no one new. But during the pandemic, I changed my social media to comedian, I am not a host comedian, it downplays it. Now it is I am comedian Michael You.”

Take this back 11 years. You are having a successful year as a host, what made you step on stage for the first time?

“I was on Chelsea Lately. There were loads of comedians around me and I wasn’t supposed to be funny, I was just supposed to defend the celebrity. I then became the celebrity ass kisser, which everyone would dog on me and make me bigger. I said on Twitter that I wanted to try stand up, which Chelsea saw and put up on the screen being like ‘You’re not that funny.’ So I went to the Miami Improv and I crushed it! So I wanted to be somewhere where I am comfortable. I had a huge radio show in Miami at the time, and I did 15 minutes because the crowd was so nice. They were fans of the radio show and just so supportive. The owner of the club was so nice and impressed that he asked me to open up for the Wayans brothers. My second night I am opening up for the Wayans!”

Are you working on stuff constantly?

“Any observation or conversation I have, it goes in my head. I have never written down a joke, I just work on it on stage. My wife said something, this is not a joke, just something that happened. My wife loves the album Confession by Usher, which is about cheating. So I’m like why do women love the bachelor who hooks up with a bunch of different women and love stuff about being cheated on? Dudes don’t like that! It’s just those little things and make it into a big idea. It’s kind of like that door of ‘Women like this, men like that…’ All you need is 3 or 4 funny things.”

When people who don’t know you meet you, what ethnicity do they guess you are?

“Man, I could be anything! I could be Peurto Rican, Dominican, I go to Hawaii and they say welcome home! I’m not from there. This will blow you away, so this show I have coming up is about a mixed race family. 1967 was when interracial marraige was legal in America. Now I know why I didn’t see a lot of interracial families on tv, because it was illegal!”

Did you ever get told that you were going to be part of a project but it didn’t pan out?

“I was told that I was going to get this project the day before, going to sign the contract the next day. The network calls me back and they said they wanted a celebrity. They don’t want hosts anymore, they want a celebrity. At least I am conscious of it and I don’t fight it anymore. It is a trend, but there will never just be a host anymore. They are just not casting normal people anymore.”

It’s a wild profession. You get on stage and try to convince people that your thoughts are funny.

“And most of the audience will have had a crappy day so far. As I started doing standup, you realize that you are transferring all of your positive energy, but their negative energy is going somewhere too. Someone can come into the room and change the whole energy of the room. If this guy has a bad day, I got to make him laugh. I feel the energy process doesn’t happen if the comic is not that confident. But I now understand why people are so drained afterwards, you are absorbing everything.”

I end every interview talking about gratitude. What are 3 things in your life that you are grateful for right now?

“My wife, my kids and all the family around me.” 

Anthony Sarandrea (@anthonysarandrea) is an entrepreneur, speaker, philanthropist and the CEO of Pocket Your Dollars. And wow, what an episode… get ready to be inspired! Anthony joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about how to set and achieve your goals, how he got started as an entrepreneur, his morning routine, what he has learned working with people like Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuk and Les Brown, how he changed his mindset, the books he recommends the most and more!

We hear a lot of people say ‘Follow your passion.’ But I am curious, when did you find out that you are good at what you do?

“Well I started going door to door and selling solar hot water systems. I wasn’t great at that, I think it’s because I didn’t really believe in the product. Then I started working at Nike on the floor, there was no commission but I was a rockstar sales guy because I loved the product and what I was doing. That was the first time that it clicked for me. I then went on to interview for a W2 job, and the guy said ‘I have never done this before but I would like to hire you on the spot.’ Then I went to the training and mid way through the guy was asking me to answer the questions. At that point I am thinking maybe I should do this on my own.”

That’s a difficult bridge to cross. A lot of people listening will be too scared to dive into it.

“There is the concept of don’t quit your day job, and I get that. Some people are like ‘I have a family and 4 kids, but I’m going to quit my job because I have this Linkedin and Tinder hybrid idea…’ Hold on, that’s a lot of artificial pressure to that by creating the financial strains. I did pursue the W2 job but found periods of my day where there were gaps. Whether it was watching TV less, getting up earlier or working on Sundays, I found an extra 5 hours a week on top of my 40 hour a week job. From doing that, I was getting some traction and some success, and I was making enough to turn it into 10 hours a week, which would pay my bills. I can break even with this side hustle, so now I can go into it. This was an easy path to entrepreneurship, I got so busy that I hired my brother and my friends until I got to where I am today.”

The biggest excuse we hear is ‘I don’t have the time for this.’ But very few people actually do a time audit on their days. Do you mean writing down what your day consisted of?

“Exactly. At one point it got so dramatic that I had a notebook next to me and I would write down my day every 15 minutes. But I think time is the greatest resource we all have and a great equalizer, we all have the same time in the day. The excuse we tell ourselves is often not true. If you have kids, you have more humans to provide for, that is a bigger fuel. I have me and my girlfriend, that’s it. If you make it a negative, I can make it into an extreme positive.”

Also you will find that people will do the same thing as they did yesterday, which is the same thing as they did the day before and the week before.

“I couldn’t agree more. It’s patterns, repetitions and habits. When I heard it takes 21 days to build a habit, I loved that. If I don’t like something, it only takes 21 days to fix it.”

The 2 most important words in the English language are “I am” because it states what you are after that.

“Yeah and a lot of it is formed of our subconscious. I start to think about what I am and am not and figure out why I am that way. When you break it down to where it came from, you can start to change that and it can be easily changed.”

When you are starting out with something new, what does that look like for you?

“The most important thing is to get leverage. Let’s say on January 1st I want to lose weight. Life happens though and I can get caught out and dragged back into normal life. But getting the leverage on that goal and realizing what it looks like. For me, I said that I wanted to headline a major music festival by 2025, and I have never played an instrument. Then I started to look at the leverage and how much it would affect me and my family if I didn’t achieve this goal. My brother who is 21 will think he is limited and will get dramatic about it, and I will get into that space on purpose. Things like my kids will suffer if I don’t achieve this, fear sells and if I can instil there are consequences, that is when we can really see the results.”

People say that if you win the morning then you win the day. What does your morning routine look like?

“I take an ice bath every day because I want to do the hardest thing first. What email or call is going to be more challenging than that? But you can have a cold shower instead of the ice bath. I also think of 3 things that I am grateful for and think of 3 goals and how I will get to the other side of those goals.”

A lot of people hear about visualization, and this can be applied to anyone.

“How do we build confidence? We have reference points. If it’s something like ehadlinign a festival and you don’t have any reference points, how do we get them? It is through visualization. Spend time visualizing, because your brain doesn’t know what is real and what is not. The brain can create these worst case scenarios and will cause anxiety, but 99% of the time that won’t happen. If you have a speech and you think how bad it will be, why not think how great it will be? That will likely create a change in your confidence and your responses. It’s like when it’s the final kick of the game, you can see the kicker’s body language and be like ‘Yeah he is not kicking this!’ But on the other hand, you can see when they will.”

What books are you reading right now?

“I am reading Life Force by Tony Robbins, it’s a great book. It’s all focused on health and vitality, I am obsessed with the idea of exponential growth in healthcare. Another book I am revisiting is Psycho-Cybernetics, which talks about a plastic surgeon who would perform facial reconstructions. Some people’s lives changed for the better and some did not, and it’s all about how much the appearance made an effect.”

I end every interview talking about gratitude. What are 3 things in your life that you are grateful for right now?

“The time that we are alive and born, my health and my support system.”

Featured image: Disrupt magazine

Saen Higgins (@saen_higgins) is an author, speaker, coach, serial entrepreneur and philanthropist who has been in the Real Estate and Financial Services Industry for over three decades. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about how you can build generational wealth, what to look for in a real estate investment, how he has taught over half a million students to build wealth, his favorite books, the best lesson he has ever learned in life, how he started his first business and much more!

Let’s take it all the way back. What was the original plan when you were deciding what you wanted to do for a living?

“So for a living, it is similar to what I am doing. I invest in property taxes and property tax depots. My company sets up self managed retirement accounts too. Only in my experience the best way to manage that is to become the administrator. I knew that it would be disingenuous of me to teach people how to do that to the point where I was at a meeting and someone asked me ‘Are you going to keep teaching tax lanes.’ People laughed because that wasn’t what I was there for. I wanted to do that and share that information of financial independence. This is recession proof, inflation proof and presidential proof. In that design it was more about who I want to become.”

What do you think is the biggest mistake that people are making with money right now?

“The biggest mistake is not having a plan. Let’s take tax lanes as an example. The more time you plan the success of the business, the more successful the client is. I work with 40 to 60 clients personally, why are they more successful? Because I spend 10% teaching tax lanes and the rest teaching planning and execution. Let’s say you want to make $1 million, if you have never been on this trail, you will get lost. But if i said just do these 3 things and you will get results, and you do and it works, you know it is going in the right direction. When you go through those stages and you know what you are doing is right, your enthusiasm goes right through the ceiling.”

You talk about someone guiding you along the way. People feel like if they listen to a podcast it will be good enough. I think this idea of having someone guide you is a gamechanger.

“It is and it isn’t. I have never done anything successful without a guide. I have spent thousands of dollars on people to guide me on things like speaking. My guide told me to fly in and see the clients, I thought it was 12 to 15. But it was 364 people in a room, these were lawyers and doctors looking for things to do with their money. All I had was that I went to a Tony Robbins conference in 1992. I was told I was alright, but I needed some work. I found a book and contacted the author, and it just accelerated from there. Since then, if I know there is someone better than me, I will hire them and get better.”

This is the best and worst thing about YouTube is that there is so much information out there.

“It is interesting what you said earlier about this age of magic information where if I watch this YouTube video. But those that are younger, I love that Tony Robbins had people who said to him ‘I watched your infomercial 100 times.’ He said that he never had the heart to tell them that nothing changed in the infomercial. The information is the same, watching 100 times does not make you successful. It’s like the gym, when someone watches you do an exercise and they tweak it, you are then working it right and it hurts more.”

What is the go to book that you would recommend the most?

“Man there’s so many, I’ve got a whole living room full of them. I think some of my top books are biographies, but Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl is great. There is one thing in that book that is key, and that is you control your own outlook. For those who don’t know the book, Victor Frankl was in WW2 and in a concentration camp, and decided to write on the behaviours and actions of people. We don’t need to talk about the atrocities of what happened in the camps. But one of the things that he identified was that you can take away everything from someone, but you can’t take away their abilities to change and their attitude. It got to the point where he could figure out when the people in the camps were going to die. When there were rumours that the allies were coming on March 15th, and they didn’t, within 72 hours you knew that they weren’t going to make it. That to me is a strong book, just to get yourself around what is between your ears is the most important.”

Have you always had this mindset of controlling your destiny?

“I would say that I have. There was this old lady that lived next door to me. I used to go over and hang out with her, watch baseball and get groceries. One time she broke her hip and she had a walker, so I took the walker away from her and put it on the other side of the room, I think I was 7. I told her that she didn’t need the walker, and if she could believe that then she could walk to the walker. I am still convinced to this day that it was true, but she had to call my mom who then had a chat with me.”

With someone like yourself who has such a vast knowledge of the real estate market, what would you say to someone who is looking to buy a house right now?

“If you are looking to buy a house then buy it. If it’s for you, buy a house. When it comes to your house, I say that I don’t care about the market and the interest rates, buy it and pay it off as quickly as possible. For me, the deal is always made on the purchase.”

What if someone only has $5,000 and they can’t buy a house?

“I once bought a property for $7,000, it was rough. But somebody had passed, no heirs so there were no taxes to be paid. We had to clean out the property, didn’t go in the refrigerator because it had just been left. The property had a fair market value of $130,000. People are like ‘Oh that doesn’t happen every day, but it does.”

How are you finding the people to rehab it?

“It can be a challenge, but when I get my team we are good to go. I have always said it’s amazing what happens when you are out there. So I have never seen this property or the past few I have dealt with. Kaleb is the one who has the boots on the ground, he thought he was getting pranked. The property is hot, it’s in Savanna, this guy across the street comes over and asked if we bought this. He then said that he has a load of rental properties and made some phone calls. If you see a $7,000 property and it can go for $130,000, you’re going to go and look at it right?”

After 27 years, what drives you?

“It’s still fun. The teaching side of it is more challenging than ever, it’s new and I have to slow it down. I have done this for so long, so my thing is how do I get those people to the point of success. My motto is work like no one else for a year, and you will live like no one else for the rest of your life.”

I end every interview talking about gratitude. What are 3 things in your life that you are grateful for right now?

“My mom, health and what we have.”

Featured image: Today’s Premier Experts

“Hangman” Adam Page (@hangmanadampage) is a professional wrestler for All Elite Wrestling where he is the current AEW World Champion. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at the Squared Circle Expo 2 in Indianapolis to talk about the championship match he had with Adam Cole the night before, how similar he is to his character, the biggest thing that has changed since he became a father, why he prefers to keep his private life off of the internet, the matches in AEW that he is most proud of, his job as a teacher, how Being The Elite changed his career, his time in Ring of Honor, working with Jon Moxley, The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega and much more!

I like the blue stitches you got going on there.

“Yeah, a few people today thought I drew on my face with a marker. I’m like I know, it’s blue stitches, the doctor told me they would blend in.”

How many are there?

“I don’t know, I kind of lost count after 7 or 8.”

This is taking place the night after the Texas Death Match. Other than your chin, what is hurting right now?

“My knees. I picked up Cole for the Dead Eye off the apron through the table, but then as I was jumping it occurred to me that I didn’t have any kneepads. I’m like oh sh*t this is going to hurt so bad. Just that and weird little cuts when you take a shower, but my chin has been split wide open. You ever had someone kick you in the middle of a backflip?”

Looking here at the title [which was in Page’s lap during the interview] I can see blood. Is that your blood?

“I don’t know. I mean it has been cleaned up a few times, this is probably just from yesterday. It is probably my blood because I was the only one that picked it up.”

When you first started wrestling for AEW, what did you think your first, second and third years would look like?

“I don’t know, I never really looked at it that way. I always knew my personal and professional goal was to win this championship and that was it. Week to week it was figuring out what I have to do to get there. Whether it was that first All Out or 3 years later, I didn’t know how long it would take but we got there.”

How much of you is Adam Page?

“All of it. All of me is the character. It’s very weird and difficult to do, but it is also cathartic like this is sh*tty but this is me. I have never been a perfect person, but I just put it out there.”

There has to be something you keep close to the vest?

“Oh yeah, probably a few things. I am not any different with my family, but I don’t talk about my family a lot. There needs to be something in my life that is not public, because if it is, you start to lose who you are. I at least try to keep my personal life private.”

How much has becoming a dad changed you?

“A lot, I am sleeping a lot less. Now it is not so bad, sleep is going good now the baby is getting sleep. Your goals shift a little and your attitude towards life in general shifts.”

Is this something you always wanted to do?

“This interview? [laughs] I went through some other things, in 3rd grade I wanted to be the guy who makes the Pokemon games. Then I got into wrestling, I also wanted to be a magician and a clown in the circus. I wanted to be a filmmaker, never really a teacher, but I did it.”

Going back, what was the first step when you realized that you can do wrestling for a living? 

“Kind of working with Ring of Honor. When I started out with ROH I was not making a living from it, and that took a while. I was teaching during the week and wrestling on the weekends, but the money started to add up. Once I knew I was joining Bullet Club and I was going to start touring with New Japan, I kind of knew then. I wasn’t making enough for a living, but my deal would be up at the end of the year. If I am going to Japan, I will get some sort of a salary and make a living. This was in April or May of that year. So I wrapped up the school year and would tell them I would be done. Thank God for the salary or I would have been done.”

The kids must have thought that you were so cool.

“No they didn’t, they thought I was lame. I would intro the first day of class and have a presentation. I would say that I am also a wrestler and shop a clip of me being hit with the chair. Then I would put it out there and answer a bunch of questions. Once I did all that, it was like ‘Oh alright, he seems normal.’ And that was it.”

This idea of betting on yourself, that’s a big move.

“I guess so, but that’s life. You look at the circumstances and realize that this is going to happen for better or for worse. Thankfully it has worked out so well for me, one of these days I will make a gamble and it’s wrong.”

What was your reaction when you took your first bump?

“It hurt. I mean you know it hurts but you see guys bumping and then they get up. And I am 14 at the time too so I am just skin and bones.”

I feel like you started to really get over on Being The Elite?

“Yeah that was probably one of the biggest things to happen to me positively in my career, not in wrestling but with Being The Elite. I got to dick around with my friends and we did the story of me getting kidnapped by WWE and doing the whole ‘Where’s Hangman?’ Hunter at Ring of Honor didn’t know what was going on, we filled him in and we did the whole bit on the pay-per-view where I was duct taped and it got over huge. That was one of the first things I did that I was having so much fun! This was like I knew what I wanted to do.”

The ultimate nod is that it is All Elite Wrestling because of Being The Elite.

“It’s pretty great that thousands of people are watching because of some silly YouTube show. It’s pretty great.”

A lot of fans might have been upset that you didn’t win the championship earlier.

“Well they stuck with me and I thank them for that. I didn’t stick with me for a while, and they did.”

Who has been the mentor for you in your career?

“I don’t know, I don’t really think I have had a mentor. I would say that I looked up to The Young Bucks while I was in Japan. So I learned a lot from them in some ways and from Kenny Omega, but I have never really had a mentor in wrestling.”

Which AEW match are you the most proud of?

“Probably the 60 minutes with Bryan. Mostly because I wrestled for 60 minutes, I thought I might die. 60 minutes is a long time to do anything, I thought I might perish but got through it. But then there is also the match with Kenny against The Bucks and winning the title, those are the 3.”

I end every interview talking about gratitude. What are 3 things in your life that you are grateful for?

“My family, wrestling and that time that Surge came back.”

Featured image: Sports Illustrated

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