Gabby Scampone is a Veterinary Technician, Wildlife Educator and Alligator Trapping Agent. She joins Chris Van Vliet from her home in Sunrise, FL to talk about the incredible work that she does with alligators. She discusses how she rescues what are called “nuisance alligators” in Florida and safely relocates them while other companies would kill them. She also talks about how much alligators are misunderstood and what we can learn from them!

On what Gabby is currently doing:

“So I am still rescuing them. I’ve been a state registered alligator trapping agent for four years, since I moved to Florida basically. I’m still rescuing them from people’s back yards. This month alone we got 3 babies out of swimming pools.”

On how they get the call to a job:

“So the way I explain it is the same way that a police officer has their own jurisdiction and their own area. I do Northern Broward County in Florida with two other people, it’s a very small team. But you can’t call us directly, you have to call The Alligator Nuisance Hotline. Isn’t that funny that we have an Alligator Nuisance Hotline here in Florida? So you call them, and they will issue out the permit to whoever is in that area. If it’s in Broward County, we will get the permit and we respond.”

On what most trappers do:

“Most trappers choose to kill the alligator. In Florida, you don’t get paid to be an alligator trapper due to liability. If you go out and get your arm ripped off, you get a get well soon card, you don’t get paid. That’s how most trappers get paid, so they will catch the alligators a bit differently if they are just going to kill them. The trappers will put out a baited hook, the alligator will swallow it and the hook get stuck in their stomach. Then the trappers will shoot it.”

On how her method is different:

“The way we do it, we have to be physically there when the alligator is there. We use a really big fishing pool with a treble hook, we cast over their back and we snag hook them. It definitely takes a lot of skill. Usually you are fighting with the alligators in the water for like 20 minutes. They are just so strong. They are death-rolling and trying to get away. Once you pull them up, most of the time they are pretty exhausted. When we get them on land, we noose them and we pull them up. You can then put a towel on their head so they cant see. Then you get on their back and carefully tape the jaw shut. Then it goes in my Honda Civic and we drive it to the sanctuary.”

On if catching alligators makes money:

“I do not get paid. I pay for all my gas, all my tolls, the wear and tear on the car, everything.”

On being a lifelong animal lover:

“I have loved animals my whole life. Even as a child I would go out catching turtles and frogs in New York. As I got bigger the animals got bigger. I would go out and start catching really big snapping turtles and go looking for rattlesnakes and stuff. I started volunteering at a nature center when I was 15. Ever since then I have always been volunteering somewhere with animals. I got to the point where I was driving an hour north 2 times a week and an hour south 2 times a week just to volunteer with animals, because it is so limited in New York. I started following people on Instagram who were messing with alligators in Florida, and I thought, I could do that. So I came down and visited, and there is so much wildlife in Florida. I moved here in 2017 and started volunteering at The Everglades Outpost. That was where I met Paul, who taught me everything I know about trapping.”

On people’s perception that alligators are dangerous:

“It’s the same as with pit bulls. You only see the bad things on the news. There are 2 million alligators in the state of Florida. If they wanted to kill people, there would be hundreds of people dying every day, but people don’t think like that. Everyone still refers to the little kid that got killed at Disney World a few years ago. That’s all I hear about. It does happen, especially when you put a small child in knee deep water at dusk where they will be alligators. But they are not chasing you down the street or breaking into homes. They don’t want anything to do with people.”

On what is a “Nuisance Alligator”:

“Any alligator that is deemed a threat to a person, a pet or livestock. If an alligator is out back in a canal and minding its own business, but you don’t want it there, it is a nuisance. If so, I will put it in my Civic and most go to The Everglades Outpost.”

On what is the ultimate goal:

“To have my own sanctuary, I want to rescue animals full time. I feel like I am almost there though. My full time job is a veterinary technician, I don’t get paid for any of the rescues that I do. We recently started a YouTube channel a couple of years ago so that we can share what we do and get attention. We are hoping that one day our YouTube channel can support our rescue and fund our lives rescuing these animals.”

On any animals she is not a fan of:

“I don’t like spiders and I don’t like crabs. I don’t know what it is about crabs, I like them from a distance.”

On her favourite animals:

“My favourite animal to work with is an alligator. I know that sounds cliché but I just love alligators. I love them and I love the work that I do. I’ve always wanted to work with otters. Recently I got a chance to meet some otters, but I don’t know if I want to work with them anymore [laughs]. They are really stinky, like really bad! They are rally cute and I’m glad that I got to meet them but I don’t know if I want to work with them anymore. I really want to meet a binturong. They are kind of like a bearcat and smell like hot butter popcorn.”

On some lesser known alligator facts:

“Depending on their size, they can hold their breath for potentially up to 8 hours. They breathe by lowering their heart rate. Also, they can shut off some of their organs to save oxygen. They also don’t need to eat very often. A large alligator can go 8 to 9 months without eating. It could eat something like a deer beforehand. It would suck, it’s not fun for them but they can do it.”

On what Gabby Scampone is grateful for:

“My parents, my boyfriend and all of my personal animals.”

Gabby can be found on Instagram here.

Featured image: Elite Readers

Brock Johnson is an Instagram Expert and in this episode, he breaks down some helpful DO’s and DON’T to help you gain more followers and exposure on social media. Earlier this year, he gained 100,000 followers in 3 months by utilizing “reels” and he explains how you can do the same and also how you can start to make money from your content. If you have been struggling to grow your account, this episode is absolute MUST LISTEN for you.

On how to be successful on social media:

“I can boil it down to three things. Step one is having a very clear niche. I have been on Instagram since 2012. My first 5 or 6 years on Instagram, I didn’t have a business, so there was no niche. It was just pictures of me playing sports or with my friends. Then for the first 2 years of my business, I started to niche down, but it was kind of all over the place. It was marketing then Snapchat, Instagram, Tik Tok, it was all over the place. In the last 2 years I focused on Instagram, in the past 2 years I hyper focused on Instagram Reels. My focus is how to help businesses grow using Instagram Reels.”

Growing the brand:

“It’s just being consistent and showing up every day. The more you post, the more you grow. Over the last 4 to 5 months, I have averaged 2 posts a day to my feed, along with dozens of posts to my stories. That is the secret sauce to my growth.”

On growing a personal profile:

“I think the struggle with that is if I have a personal brand, I have a lot of different interests and hobbies. So how do I niche down? And ultimately, we are not in the days of the 2014/2015 influencer craze, where people were blowing up and having big followings becasue they had some pretty filters on their photos. Nowadays, even these influencers who are posting about parenthood or their family or their life or whatever, they still have a niche. They are still talking to one primary demographic. Or they are focusing on one specific thing. It could be gluten free recipes or parenting toddlers. Whatever it may be, I still think focusing in and picking out one of your passions is the best way to grow on social media.”

Instagram saying they are not a photo sharing website:

“It sent shockwaves amongst the Instagram coaching community. But it wasn’t that big of a surprise to me. This was not Instagram making a random decision. They didn’t wake up one day and say ‘We are not doing photos, we are doing videos.’ This was driven by the consumers. Instagram is a business, and they are going to respond to what the consumers want. Overall, people are more engaged when they are watching a video. People love watching videos, and Instagram realized that. So they went OK, we are going to keep promoting videos. It doesn’t mean that photos are dead. You can still post photos and have success with posting photos. The announcement meant they are focusing on video because we are focusing on videos.”

On Instagram stories:

“Stories will not help you grow your following. That might shock some people listening. What stories do, is help you with the relationships. They build trust, build likeability and credibility. They are also a great place to sell. You can add the link sticker to do that. But to grow your following, you need to post to your feed. The best place to do that is Reels, but photos can still be effective. If I post a still image, it will get more likes than a Reel. This is becasue of variability. People love it if you shake things up, be different to the status quo.”

On how he grew his following:

“My first 6 years on Instagram were just whatever. But in 2017 I launched my first business, which was how moms can keep their kids safe on Snapchat. In 2017, Snapchat was as hot as Tik Tok is now. People were concerned about it, so it was my original business. That quickly morphed into moms growing their business on Snapchat. I taught people how to market using Snapchat. Then Instagram launched their stories and I followed suit. I taught myself how to grow my business and then taught people to do the same.”

On the Instagram algorithm:

“The algorithm is all about attention. Do you have your audience’s attention? Another word for that is engagement. Are people watching your videos and liking your posts? Are they saving, sharing and commenting? If so, you are holding your audiences attention, and Instagram will reward you for it. Instagram is a business, who makes money by selling advertising. They want people who are increasing attention. If you can create posts that increase those things, the algorithm will reward you, and the cycle goes uphill or downhill.”

On using giveaways and competitions as a tool:

“I think they should be done inconsistently. If you do them all the time, it loses its lustre. I do one either once or twice a year. When people see it, they have to enter becasue they don’t know when the next one will be. I also say don’t ask people to follow you to try to win. That’s a huge mistake and I see everyone doing. Here’s what happens, you get the spike from the giveaway, then 2 things happen. Either they will unfollow you, or they will remain a follower but don’t care about your stuff. If Instagram shows a post of yours, they won’t engage. That leads to a low engagement rate and low reach. I say to share a post, becasue if they decide to follow me, it’s from their own free will. The following is just so they want to follow along.”

On how to make money on Instagram:

“Sell less. Here is why. Most of us listen to the things we have talked about getting more reach, and think it is a perfect time to sell. But there is a reason we don’t watch commercials on TV. We change the channel or wait to press a skip button on YouTube. When your Instagram is a commercial, they are changing the channel. My feed posts are to serve and entertain my audience. The stories are where I build my relationships, like my dogs or me snowboarding. You get to know me and trust me. I would say 3% or less of the time I would promote something. What I like to do is get people to send me a direct message or have a poll sticker. For anyone who says yes, I reach out via direct message. It requires more time and effort, but it is higher converting and not selling to the masses.”

On people striving for perfect Instagram posts:

“Here’s what happens when we value quality the most. Quality doesn’t mean good or bad, quality means good vs. perfect. So when you are looking for a quality post and you trying to make a high quality Reel, you are trying to make something that is perfect. We then get stuck in procrastination and overthinking, then we never post. People are trying to make 3 perfect posts. I let go of that perfectionism and shoot for good enough. I can crank out slightly above average posts every day. If I go for perfect it would take all week.”

On what he is grateful for:

“The team around me, my fiancée and the opportunity that social media provides.”

Brock Johnson can be found on Instagram here.

Featured image: Impact & Growth Summit

Bas Rutten is a UFC Hall of Famer, actor, commentator and retired mixed martial artist. His new movie called “The Manson Brothers Midnight Zombie Massacre” is available in theaters and on VOD on September 10, 2021. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about his legendary career, how he found success by failing forward, how a Bruce Lee film inspired him to become a fighter, his fights with Ken Shamrock, thoughts on Jake & Logan Paul changing the face of boxing, how he prepares for a film role, his attention to detail and much more!

On why he started wrestling:

“As a kid I was a very sick kid. I had a skin disease and really bad asthma, so I was the leper at school. That’s where my fighting comes from, because they were bullying me. I saw Enter The Dragon with Bruce Lee, started training, knocked my first bully out and then everything stopped. 95% of the people stopped bullying me. Some poor b*stards who didn’t hear the story would still try, but they would soon go [laughs]. But when you are bullied for 7 years, you want payback and heads to roll.”

On how the pieces fell into place:

“If I didn’t have my diseases then I wouldn’t have started fighting. That set me up and then I went off to see the Bruce Lee movie. But everything happens for a reason, I am a big believer in that. It just lit a fire under me, I found I was good at it and it went from there.”

On becoming a professional fighter:

“I never thought I could make a living from it, that was just pure luck. I was a striker and a Thai boxer, but I retired for a while becasue I was just knocking people out. So I hadn’t trained for 3 years, I was drunk at a party and someone asked me if I wanted to face this new guy. He had just come out of prison, he was training in there, [named] Frank ‘The Animal’ Lobman. I agreed to fight him, but I had no idea that I had said that. Weeks and months later they call me and they said ‘Hey who do we send these posters to?’ I said ‘What do you mean? Who is fighting?’ They said I was. I say ‘Who am I fighting?’ They tell me Frank Lobman, you told us on New Year’s Eve. I then realized I did talk to him and I had to keep my word.”

On how people viewed him after the fight:

“The fight was 3 weeks later and I hadn’t trained for 3 years. I was a bouncer at the time, you know the club closes at 5am, then we go to party. I was not living the healthiest lifestyle, I should never have taken this fight, but I am a man of my word. Of course I lost the fight, and everyone in Holland spat me out. They forgot about all of my previous knockouts, and that got to me. I said to myself I’m never going to fight again.”

On bouncing back:

“My wife in 1992 said to me ‘You’re going to be a fighter in Japan.’ I told her I wasn’t going to fight again. Then she said ‘Yes in Holland, but you’re going to Japan.’ I thought that as a weird comment, who would say that? 8 months later and there is a try-out in Amsterdam. It was a bunch of Japanese guys looking for new talent. I got into a brawl with a guy and I knocked him out. The guys pointed and said we want him, 2 months later that was it. September 1993 I am in Japan and I became a professional.”

On if his accent affected his acting career:

“No, and if someone would say anything it would be good. If I studied the lines, I can get rid of it. But there is a lot of ad-libbing, my grammar is backwards becasue I still speak a lot of Dutch at home. It was never a problem but I did try to fix it. But if it’s a problem then write that my character is from Holland. Boom, problem fixed.”

On YouTube stars Jake and Logan Paul breaking into the boxing world:

“I think it’s good. Now when there is a fight there is big money to be made. Hopefully they will now put their feet down, especially if you are a good fighter, look at what Conor McGregor did. They had to pay him, becasue he was going to bring in so many people. But guys like that have a lot of pull, people will come to him and buy pay per views for him. I have respect for those guys, they are not boxers they are YouTube stars. They really commit to the sport and I have the upmost respect for that.”

On how he became a commentator:

“So it was in 1999/2000 and the Pride Fighting Championships was going to be broadcast in the States. I was there with a few fighters and I was the trainer. We are in the dressing room and waiting for the main event. We are watching the TV and some people from the Pride Fighting Championships are there. I say ‘Oh he’s going to get him in an armbar.’ They go ‘What? Nothing is going on.’ I respond ‘Give it 10 seconds.’ 10 seconds later, boom, armbar. The next fight it happened again with a knee bar. I know the setups. They came to me and asked if I wanted to be a commentator and I said sure.”

A happy accident:

“I had no clue that I had to wear a suit. I have never looked at the commentators, I was such an idiot at the time. So I was standing there in shorts, flip flops and a Hawaiian shirt at the bus ready to go to the event. They say ‘Where’s your suit?’ I go ‘What suit?’ They started laughing because they thought I was joking. Nobody told me to bring a suit. Then of course I have to do the openings, I didn’t think of that. We had to fid a way to incorporate me with my Hawaiian shirt. Our producer was great and we made a skit out of it. I sat backstage, girls fanned me down and I tell war stories. That became a hit, they loved it. Every opening for Pride Fighting Championships had a skit, all becasue I forgot to bring a suit.”

On what he is grateful for:

“My family, everyone is healthy and just having enough.”

Bas Rutten can be found on Twitter here and Instagram here.

Featured image: MMA Fighting

Ivelisse Vélez is a professional wrestler known for her time with WWE, AEW and Lucha Underground. She joins Insight with Chris Van Vliet from her home in Tampa to talk about her time in AEW and being released by the company, her issues with Thunder Rosa, why she feels she is misunderstood, the evolution of women’s wrestling and much more!

On not doing many interviews:

“I’ve kind of done it purposely that way. Even before I didn’t do a lot of interviews, becasue I am so invested in the performance aspect of it. For me these past months have been really difficult to process, emotionally an mentally in every way, shape and form. More importantly becasue of what happened a couple of months ago and everything around it. Just the culmination of a lot of things, even before being signed with AEW. I had a fire where I had lost everything that I had worked for. It was actually right before the Dynamite match. Then after that happened, it continued into the tag team tournament. It was non-stop how everything affected everything, including my household. Then there was the person inside in AEW, just everything all together was a big culmination. The the cherry on top was online and Twitter. That’s why I have stayed away from interviews, to maintain my mental stamina.”

On being misunderstood:

“Yes, definitely. Becasue I am the type of person who has come from nothing, and I have so many components against me. It doesn’t even give me the time to explain myself. My whole life I have been in hustle mode, so I have never had a chance to fix the misunderstandings. Also I am a female, and there is a lot of progress in the world and in general when it comes to sexism. that is one of the issues that is very far behind. Being a female in a male dominated business, I feel there is so much left to go. Also being a minority, there’s a lot of things about who I am and my identity that people won’t understand. That is what helps me to not take it as personally. I just keep pushing to fight for all that I stand for.”

On the mistreatment of female veterans:

“Of course it is inevitable to say that there has been a lot of progression. The only thing is that some parts are still far behind. The treatment towards female veterans, who are such an important part towards propelling all those changes. The changes are giving more time and more opportunities and more chances to shine. The exposure is where the changes are happening. But there is only so much that will do if the other changes are so far behind. Everything like how you treat females, how you value the veterans and perceive the women in general. That is what’s missing. The important part is the structure to propel them and move them forward.”

On Mickie James being an NWA producer:

“Yes that’s one. That’s why I was excited in seeing a female veteran [producing]. That is awesome and that is a step in the right direction. Politics will try and fins their way in anywhere. But when it is a female veteran of that calibre, it’s still a bigger component than politics. I feel that will over ride that enough to keep that momentum moving forward.”

On whose fault the incident was:

“To me, the blame of who [is at fault] is irrelevant, it’s business. The way I see things is that communication is the solution to anything and everything. I feel like that was the most disappointing part. I know in my mind that it was a misunderstanding between a group of individuals. The only way to move forward from that is to talk. If you don’t talk then nothing get resolved. That was the most disappointing part. There was a lot of reasons why it didn’t happen, but hopefully it gets to happen eventually. To me, it’s a matter of resolving the misunderstandings.”

On issues with Thunder Rosa:

“It’s a culmination of a lot of things from her part. It all started in the past on Lucha Underground. It was the same thing that happened in the match [in AEW] that happened on Lucha Underground. I thought that was learned, because when we encountered again in the indies, in that match she didn’t do any of that. When it comes to anything personal outside, I’m the type to just let it go. Once you are in the ring, that needs to disappear. You focus and do what works for the match. But outside of the Lucha Underground match I had heard a lot of things. In my mind we weren’t working so I didn’t need to worry about it. But that match happened outside and it didn’t happen again, so maybe she did learn. But then AEW comes, and never in my wildest dreams did I think it would happen, and it did. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me. Maybe becasue she was the champ it gave her more courage. But you are still wrestling a veteran and you are a professional, it doesn’t mean you can be unprofessional.”

On online backlash:

“Of course, and you know it’s Twitter. And this is not even new. They took advantage of the vulnerable moment and all these years of gunning for me on twitter. But I ignore it, which can contribute to people’s perceptions of me. But I don’t have time for it, because I am always hustling. But it was kind of crazy how they turned me into the unprofessional. Anyone with a brain would have seen first of all, you don’t disrespect the veteran. Also, I was the signed talent and you are coming from the outside company! Thirdly, in the match, they [the audience] could see how it starts. It’s like with the Charlotte vs. Nia. I watched it neutrally and as a professional I can understand what happened more accurately. But it’s Twitter and a massive chunk was taking advantage.”

On leading up to that match and the match itself:

“The fire had damaged my gear. So when I got to AEW, I had to buy new gear with what little money I had left. The insurance screwed me over, it was a mess. I had to buy gear from out of nowhere. It was a non-stop bamboozling of going to hotels, driving back and forth and trying to find my way. That night was like [sighs] but then it’s ‘Tomorrow night you are wrestling so and so.’ I am like man, I don’t have the mental stamina to go with that. But whatever is in the tank, you gotta give the people what they want. When they announced it, everyone went crazy. So push it all aside and execute as much as you can. When the day came, she didn’t want to do anything. I’m like what? No this match will be awesome. But I’m also trying to knock it out of the park. Even at the start, with the slap, we went over that 1 million times, we knew. She forgets what comes after, I had no choice but to nudge her face, that’s when the shoot stuff happened. I’ve trained MMA, you can’t pull that on me. I just didn’t want to allow that negativity. I didn’t want to be pulled into that, she tried and tried though. Also I was already signed, why would I do that? Somehow I was made into the bad guy though. There is nothing that can be done about that, but the bigger issue is not understanding what kind of an asset I could be.”

On online abuse and ignoring it:

“Honestly I feel like the only way I can handle that, how I always handle it, is to not give them ammunition. No matter what I do or don’t do, they will do it regardless. I can only control me. I will be careful not to give them that ammunition, but at the same time they will not impact my goals and my purpose and who I am in general. I am going to keep fighting for it regardless.”

On what changes she wants to see in women’s wrestling:

“A big part is wanting to see those changes in women’s wrestling. When I saw Lita and Trish main event RAW, I was like wow I want to see more of this. I want to see them get the respect for the work that they put in, regardless of gender. That is a massive motivator for me. But wrestling is an escape from this personal world. But I have also tried to educate myself in psychology and managing traumatic experiences. I have tried as much as possible to use as many psychology techniques as possible. There’s a lot about me that no on knows as a person.”

On what she is grateful for:

“Life, health and support from others.”

Ivelisse can be found on Instagram here.

Featured image: Wrestling Inc

Alexander Wolfe (Axel Tischer) is a professional wrestler known best for his time in WWE and NXT UK. He joins Chris Van Vliet from his home in Germany to talk about what’s next for him after being released from his WWE contract, being part of SAnitY, what he learned from Eric Young, his thoughts on Nikki ASH’s new gimmick, how he got discovered and signed by WWE, the original gimmick they had planned for him and more!

On learning English:

“Of course you start in school. I think it was maybe in the 6th grade, no sorry 4th grade here. It was mainly just colors and counting. You really have the topic in school at 5th grade. But I believe that I really got into English in the early 2000’s when I got into professional wresting. I was watching it and screaming all of the catchphrases, but I did not know what they meant. I would say ‘If you smell what The Rock is cooking.’ and I would believe it was the coolest thing ever. That and torturing my English teacher with ‘What?’ So many phrases in English make no sense in German.”

On learning to wrestle at a young age:

“I started wrestling training at 13. So in Germany, wrestling is uncategorized. It is not with sport and it is not with art. It is right in between but you can’t say that it is either. In Germany, they still don’t get it. They love their soccer and badminton, but they don’t get wrestling. Becasue of that, you can train early becasue it is under the radar. When people realized that wrestling was fake here, they stopped going to the shows back in the day. It took a long time to get back after that. But now, especially after COVID, the scene has been growing. WXW had 3 shows where there was over 1,000 people in the building each night.”

On loving wrestling at an early age:

“I started watching wrestling at 5 or 6 years old. My parents used to watch it and I was fascinated right away, I’ve always been a fan of anime and comics. I remember the first pay per view I watched was WrestleMania 9, from there I just fell in love with wrestling. I had to stop watching it becasue of school, but I got back into it in 2000. So I always had the goal of not being the normal 9 to 5 worker, I want to become a professional wrestler. The reality was I had to finish school and study something. But then I realized I can have wrestling as a side job and make a living. Not a fortunate living but have a kind of income from it. When I got to sign with WWE that was the dream come true.”

On getting to WWE:

“So WXW is the biggest promotion in Germany. Before 2015 when I started my journey with WWE, I started in 2009 and regularly with WXW in 2011. The company grew becasue we did tours around Germany. We did the weekend on the east part, then the north part etc. In one month you had one free weekend, but in that weekend you are on other shows. The commentator for WXW sent me an email saying that WWE are looking for German talent, would I like to do a try-out in London? It was 2014, I had a lot of time to create myself as a wrestler due to all the experiences I collected. Then WWE contacted me, I sent some promo pics and they invited me to a try-out. We had 2 days of drills, I guess I did a great job becasue 2 months later I got invited to NXT.”

On returning to Germany after his WWE release:

“I had my plan B ready. I tried to ask them if I could completely move back to Germany. The plan B was what if? What if that happens? Nothing is for sure and nothing is guaranteed, especially in WWE. There is no guaranteed contract becasue they can release you like that [clicks fingers], and we have seen this in the past week. I’m not stupid, I know I have to plan for the future, especially with a wife and a kid. I can’t rely on empty promises, and I did that too many times in WWE. That being said, when I got the call and they let my contract expire, I said I wanted to move back to Germany. I did not have the time to talk to Hunter about that. So they gave me my wish earlier but with the slight difference of not renewing my contract.”

On travelling back and forth:

“The majority of my work was in England with NXT UK. I was in Germany from December 2019 over the holidays, then we decided to stay in Germany, it was nice to stay home. My wife said to get an apartment here in Germany. For 6 months in the winter we would live in Florida, in the summer we got to Germany. That was the plan but we had to travel to America, but couldn’t becasue of COVID. But then the rules changed. If you have a child born in America, which my son is, you can move back and forth. We did that becasue I lived in Miami and payed a lot of rent for that house. I tried to stay busy, talked with Shawn, asked to do stuff with the guys in Imperium. But a couple of months ago I got the call to not renew my contract. But I tried to talk to them and move back to the States.”

On signing with another big promotion:

“Yeah I would love to. Why not? In the end that is the goal. I am happy with having my freedom back, but also it is the goal of every wrestler to have the big contract with guaranteed money. Also where the work is appreciated and they have a good spot. If I want to go back to WWE, if the contract is good then sure. But right now it is not that interesting. I am more interested in Japan and somewhere where I can be myself. WWE tried to kill my passion for it and they were nearly successful at it. I learned a lot over my 6 years there, like empty promises. If it is not written on a piece of paper then it is not guaranteed. There’s NWA, IMPACT, ROH, but that’s just the States. There are promotions in England and Europe, it’s just such an exciting time for me. But international travel is not that open right now. But there are so many great promotions and talents, so if the right fit is there then maybe.”

On the coaches at NXT and how they influenced him:

“Specifically for me, it’s not that I couldn’t do what I wanted to do, but sometimes somebody telling me not to do something becasue it is not right or not good. But the good part is you never stop learning, when I watch back matches from 2015 I hate myself. You evolve as a performer and learn new techniques. being around the amazing coaches like Shawn Michaels, William Regal, Bobby Brookside, Fit Finlay, Norman Smiley. Finlay is amazing, he is the guy to go to if you want to learn how to wrestle the proper way and learn the European style. Shawn teaches you the psychology and how to get people involved in the match, get it in the right order and get the most out of the match. Being able to do that and not think about it too much, I am forever grateful.”

On losing his passion in wrestling:

“But losing the passion is sometimes someone telling you something isn’t going to happen. But it is not necessarily their fault. With COVID, they had big plans for everything, but then they had to switch plans. Right now we have to follow the protocols. If someone get tested positive then we can’t do the story. After 7 weeks the story is not good anymore. It’s a passion killer but nobodies fault. What I think is their fault is making empty promises, especially during my time at SmackDown. They made a lot of unrealistic promises, which never happened, but they always tried to keep you positive. In Germany, we have a very honest way of doing things, we don’t beat around the bush. But it was a case of someone saying ‘I was in a meeting, and somebody in that meeting said that you were sh*t.’ OK now I have to follow the lead and best case go to that guy. But they don’t want to be honest with you becasue it is not professional. Also things like ‘Don’t worry, everything is fine.’ Like when we lost our debut match they said that and people will forget. But it’s the internet, no one forgets.”

On Nikki Cross now becoming Nikki A.S.H.:

“I love it. Nikki is such an amazing person in life, she is one of my best friends. I toured with her together. I never met her before, but I met Damo [Nikki’s husband and fellow wrestler] before. They are both awesome people. When Nikki came to NXT, I knew that was Damo’s fiancée. We clicked right together and became best friends. Then when she joined us in Sanity it was the perfect fit. Seeing what she is doing right now on RAW as the Women’s Champion, having this gimmick where you are like superhero? But then when you see it, it’s perfect for WWE. Everyone can be a superhero if you believe in yourself and work hard. That message is so powerful and fits perfect for WWE.”

Praise for Eric Young:

“I loved it. I learned to work the crowd better. Eric has done everything in TNA, he was even a Women’s Champion and Super Eric the superhero. He taught me about promos and working the cameras. Before that I would just be doing dark matches and live shows. But starting as a member of Sanity, having him in the group was a big advantage. he told me to follow a camera, wait a bit, just little details I didn’t know. He is a perfectionist in a lot of things. I love what he is doing now in IMPACT, it is his version of Sanity. he is painting his canvas under the IMPACT umbrella. I think without him, Sanity would not have been so successful.”

On the origin of his name:

“When I got to WWE, the wrestling scene is Germany was so small. I did wrestle some of the guys before, like Apollo Crews in WXW. In Germany I was one of the top 5, but nobody knew me in America. The company that hired me just mentioned I was a good wrestler and I was a German soldier. So I did not come in with the big buzz like some American or English people did. I remember they pitched some names to me, which were utter nonsense. One was Hans Von Wuss, something like that. I do not remember the whole list, but you wear a uniform and wear a sign that is forbidden in Germany and should be forbidden around the world. It was just the stereotypes, but Germany has more history than the war. [Chris asked if it was similar to a Nazi gimmick] Probably not that they said. But I have a name from that time, Germany is very sensitive about that topic.”

“Patriotism is not that big in Germany. I think it’s a good thing but I understand why people in Germany do not wave that flag. It’s good if Germany wins in soccer, but if not it can feel like it’s from the right side. A lot of times if I did something on TV that was German, the people in the comments mentioned a Nazi character. I wore a grey coat on one occasion, no Germany colors, but people thought I was a Nazi officer. It’s a weird topic, but anyway, WWE did not say they wanted to have a soldier gimmick. I remember with Imperium, Triple H did not want to get into the military section. This is becasue people will think an Austrian guy, a German and an Italian… He was like don’t use bombs or any military in promos, he did not want that material. I told Matt Bloom I did not want to have any of those names. It’s an old school name and if people are still alive from that time, they may think WWE made me a Nazi character, which I would have refused 100%. But I had a name list, the first name had Alexander, the second had Wolf, no E on the end. Luckily they said they wanted to use Alexander Wolfe, becasue they can copyright Wolfe.”

On having more to prove following his departure from WWE:

“For sure. My time in WWE was great. But before I switched over to NXT UK, I never had a singles match on TV. In Sanity I was between the leader and the big guy, so I was the weak link. I always felt left on the side, but that’s the role. I always tried to showcase myself and the group. When I went to NXT UK I had a chance to show off my wrestling ability. I never really had the chance to have bigger matches. I tried to get on a TakeOver with Ilja Dragunov, but we were in the position of just highlight the shows more instead of the TakeOvers. But right now I have a lot to prove, I want to get myself in the indies as an established brand, thanks to my time in WWE.”

On what he is grateful for:

“My family, my wife and still being healthy.”

Alexander can be found on Twitter here and Instagram here.

Featured image: The Sportster

Zion Clark is an amateur wrestler and track star born without legs due to a condition called Caudal Regression Syndrome. He joins Chris Van Vliet for an in-person interview in Los Angeles to share his amazing story of overcoming every obstacle that has been put in front of him including being placed in several different foster homes for the first 17 years of his life. He is now chasing his dream to become a Olympian and also a professional MMA fighter. Make sure to check out the documentary short about his life on Netflix called “Zion” and his new book is called “Unmatched”.

On his disability:

“It’s called Caudal Regression Syndrome, it’s a very rare disease. Me personally, I’ve only ever met one other person in my life with the same condition, which is crazy. With a lot of disabilities you can find a lot of people with those disabilities, not mine. Mine is so rare that it is like 1 out of every couple of hundred thousand are born with it each year. That being said, me growing up the way I did and just being me was very different. You are lower to the ground. As a child I was only about 2 feet tall.”

On how Caudal Regression Syndrome affects the body:

“I’ve seen the birth records 2 or 3 times. I think it was like 3 lbs. Very very small. But just because you have Caudal Regression Syndrome, it doesn’t mean that you won’t have legs. It might mean that you have a spinal issue. It’s mainly a spinal issue and how it affects the rest of your body. Your nervous system goes through your spine and goes out through your entire body. If those signals are not being sent right, it can come out in birth defects. In my case, I wasn’t born with legs and I am missing the lower portion of my spine. That’s what I had to deal with. I met a lady in my first track meet that was missing the same part of my spine plus another 4 inches. She didn’t have legs, but had a harder time moving around because the condition was a lot more severe than mine.”

On his mother’s pregnancy:

“Yeah my birth mother, she was a drug addict and in and out of jail constantly. When I was born, I had pretty much every party drug in my system that you can think of. Most kids don’t survive after that first day, especially if the mother is marinating their unborn child in such drugs.”

On his birth parents:

“I actually don’t know who my father is, but my birth mother [I have met]. It was after high school, I had trained for my first season of track and field and came out with 2 state titles. I remember being the third person in my school’s history to become a 2 time champion. There’s billboards all around the city, newspapers, magazines. I am up there with the guys who make history. I’m on the bus and this lady gets on the bus and she walks in with 1 leg and sits down next to me. I’m thinking nothing of it I’m just minding my own business. She looked at me and she said ‘Zion.’ I looked at her and said ‘How do you know my name?’ She said my full name that I was given at birth. The only people who knew that were my adopted mom, me and my case worker. When she said that, I was like who are you? She said ‘My name is Melanie and I am your mother.’ I was in shock. I was 18 at the time. I didn’t know what to say. She was like ‘I missed you, I’ve been looking for you.’ Well yeah I’ve been on ESPN. When she said I’ve been looking for you for years, that rubbed me the wrong way.”

On having a rough childhood:

“I definitely felt unwanted growing up. A lot of the families I was with, they didn’t know how to raise me or they didn’t know how to care for me, becasue I was different. I had to wear these prosthetics. They looked like regular legs and I had to sit in this brace. I would get sent to school with it. The early stages of my life, wearing the prosthetics, they were to straighten my spine out. Once I got to middle school, I am 12 or 13, I started to realize I am moving around just fine, why do I have to wear these? I am wearing them for 18 out of the 24 hours in a day. It got to the point where it was a punishment. I was like I am my own person. If something broke on the prosthetics, the nurse would call and I would get punished at home. Over the top punishment for something that could happen to anyone. If I was a parent and had a kid like me, once their body was repaired I would let them make the choice. They don’t need to look like everyone else.”

On there being a happy ending:

“The dark beginning is what lifts people up and inspires people. A lot of people who go through similar things, they don’t have the same mindset. Even today, people that go through what I go through don’t make it out. They don’t all see the brighter side of things and put the past in the past. Some hold on to it and it brings them back to jail or onto the streets. It sucks so much that the world is like that. Me being who I am today, I am strong the way I am, move like a boss. I am a survivalist and I will survive. Unless you are born into a family that is struggling, life is not as hard as the rest of the world. You can’t put someone like me with someone who has had everything and expect us to be friends.”

On nearly missing out on adoption and praise for his adopted mother:

“I got adopted at 17. I was almost too late. If I would have waited 7 months, it would have been too late. It changed my life. I had been adopted 2 times before. They say it’s your forever family, but they still get rid of you. One of the last families I was with got rid of me on the day I should have been adopted. A lot of kids go through what I have been through and they struggle a lot. I have had my family support me and we live by example. If I got in trouble with the law, my foster mom just sat me down and spoke to me. I have never had that before. With my mom doing parenting the way that she did, if she didn’t do that I wouldn’t be here. There is no success, no wrestling, no track.”

On how he travels around the country:

“I walk on my hands, I have a wheelchair and I can drive, I drove here. I have hand controls. The thumb is the gas, there’s a lever for the break and just steer with the wheel. I remember going in there and they are like ‘Sir do you have your own vehicle?’ I did then they asked how was I driving. Is it OK with my doctor? I finally take the test, ace it and I’m like, bye!”

On his future goals:

“Track and field world champ, Olympic Champ, wrestling world champ. We are talking 2024 here. Also MMA, if we can figure out a way for me to get into Bellator, I want to be world champ.”

What he is grateful for:

“I have a family to call my own, the people in my life that have helped me propel myself and I am here to inspire people.”

Zion Clark can be found on Instagram here.

Zion’s book, Zion Unmatched can be purchased here.

Featured image: Amazing Cool Pictures

Steve Maclin (aka Steve Cutler) is a professional wrestler and former Marine. He joins Chris Van Vliet from his home in Orlando, FL to talk about being released from WWE, signing with IMPACT Wrestling, working with his girlfriend Deonna Purrazzo, being part of “The Forgotten Sons” with Jackson Ryker and Wesley Blake, serving in the United States Marine Corps, how he got his start in professional wrestling and much more!

On his WWE release:

“It’s funny, anyone that gets released everyone is like ‘Oh man that sucks, that’s not good.’ Everyone has that heartfelt thing. But a lot of talent that has been let go, especially in the past year is so fricking talented. A lot of the times they are not allowed to flourish there just because of the way that creative is. It’s a work in progress and that’s the TV that they want. When you get out you are able to spread your wings out there on your own and be free and do what you want to do. But being able to express yourself on how you want to look is a different world.”

On how Deonna Purrazzo got his foot in the door at IMPACT:

“So I actually flew in the week that she had Slammiversary, it was her first match back there where she won the title. That was kind of cool. I didn’t go for the show or anything, I just wanted to get away from Florida at that time. A year later, me getting let go and going the same route. A week after I got let go I went with her to IMPACT tapings. Not looking for a job or anything, I just wanted to get away. I needed to get away from the PC [Performance Center] era bubble. She said ‘Just come to the show.’ I’m like yeah OK no problem.'”

On how they got the ball rolling at IMPACT:

“I just hit it off and started chatting to [Tommy] Dreamer. Not about wrestling, just New York Giants and the history of Giants football. It was a good spot for me to land and I am very happy to be there.”

How he signed for IMPACT:

“It really didn’t come about at that day. Obviously word came about towards the company as well. Once they asked me when my 90 days was up, I was on a phone call speaking with D-lo Brown and Scott D’Amore. That’s just kind of how we went about it. After that we just played the waiting game on my 90 days. Originally I was told after Slammiversary I would be making a debut, and then not even 2 days after that the phone rings. They say ‘Hey, we’re gonna bring you in before Slammiversary and get the ball rolling.’ I was like ‘No problem. I’m ready to go to work.’

On the Steve Maclin character:

“So for me as Steve Maclin, Cutler is dead! He is dead and gone now. But as Steve Maclin, I already had the ideas of where I wanted to go for years. I was pitching in the Performance Center and the creative process there and I always had ideas. I had notepads and notes on my phone. Also I just have all these ideas and old promos where I just wanted to put together what I am and how I envision myself. So I took a little bit from The Punisher and I took who I am and did it all in one, mixing in the background of being a marine. Taking the dark side of The Punisher, trying to manipulate it into myself and just be me. The fun part is just being me.”

On joining The Marines:

“9/11 is what got me into wanting to join. I was a freshman in high school, I think at that time I knew what I wanted to do after high school. 9/11 is one of those moments in my life that had a big impact, being a kid from Jersey and seeing the Twin Towers and watching them fall. It’s one of those things where I knew my calling was going to and I did it. I was on leave one weekend and my buddy was at this bar with Darren Young. He said ‘Hey, you wanna talk to one of my buddies that’s in WWE?’ I’m like hell yeah! He knew I loved wrestling growing up. He always tried to get me into a ring but I was like there was no way it would happen. I’m not 6 foot 3, 255lbs and above. I’m not Stone Cold, there’s no way.”

On how he got into wrestling:

“Speaking with Fred [Rosser, known as Darren Young in WWE], it was one of those things where he got that idea in my head. He was like ‘When you get out, you will have a really good story. Just give it a shot and if it’s something you want to do then go all in.’ One of the few things he did tell me was never change who you are. Just stick to who you are and don’t let people change you. It’s something that has stuck with me and something I try to pass down. Once I got out the marine core, I moved back in with my parents and found The Monster Factory. I got in the ring and fell in love with it instantly.”

When he decided to join The Marines:

“I tried college for a year. My mom begged me, becasue I was ready to go to the recruiter in college. It was 2005 and Iraq was awful at that time and It was all over the news. So my mom begged me ‘Please try college.’ I did and I didn’t like it at first. It wasn’t for me. One day I was working at my dad’s supply office and a recruiter was down the street. One day said screw it. I walked in and I wanted to leave after Thanksgiving, I want to do infantry, you don’t have to sell me on anything. It was an easy process. My stepdad knew what I wanted to do and my mom was upset. But it all changed after I went to boot camp and graduated. She saw me in my uniform and the rest is history.”

On crafting his character and his early work:

“Early on I was just being me, which is something that Dusty wanted to do in promo classes. They had classes on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I would go to all of those. Wednesday’s were the classes for those that were on TV. So you just sit and watch and learn. But the people who were there when I first started are either not there anymore or on top of the company. So it’s crazy to see. For me, crafting the character was just going to the movies, watching movies and picking pieces, seeing what works. I tried to do America’s greatest son. I would be a heel veteran who would be like ‘Oh you want to thank me for my service now?’ Just being an ass. being a heel is the best thing in the world.”

Where the Steve Cutler name came from:

“At the time it was lists. Byron Saxton was in the office at the time and in charge of getting everyone’s names together. I remember turning in 50 names on a list 3 different times. On the final list I got back it was either Alton Wolfe or Steve Cutler. I was like I’ll take Steve Cutler, it’s got my actual name in it. I wanted Duke something as my first choice, becasue I love the name Duke, I was thinking GI Joe and comical stuff. When Steve Cutler came back, you put it in a list of names and see what fits. You go ‘Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Alton Wolfe..’ It doesn’t quite fit. You want something that lasts a long time. I think now it works more than an over the top name.”

On Jackson Ryker joining Blake and Cutler:

“I’ll blame Steve Corino for that one. We were on a live event, I want to say it was in Maryland. We just had to do a 6 man and it was great. So we came back are were like what do you think? Corino said ‘You guys kind of all look good together. He’s got the beard, he’s grungy looking.’ OK cool. We got back to TV the following week for tapings and Hunter said ‘Hey we’re gonna go with this.’ OK, whatever you say boss. No problem. We took a little bit more time to wait and to debut. We debuted against The Street Profits in October that year when we became The Forgotten Sons.”

On the Jackson Ryker controversy:

“To be fair when I got the texts from everybody on what was going on we were literally walking the dogs. It’s a crappy situation, because that’s just the way the world is now and how you view things and what you say is wither going to offend somebody or nor offend somebody. In that sense he can have his viewpoints on the world and that’s why [Wesley] Blake and I distanced ourselves from him very quickly, becasue we don’t feel that way. Nothing against him, he’s allowed to say what he wants to say. He’s a free man and that’s the point of social media, you can say what you want to say. But obviously in today’s cancel culture things don’t work out that way. Do I agree with the things he said? Not at all. But I also stand on the way I feel, which is why we distanced ourselves very quickly. Looking back now it’s a situation that sparked to where I am nowadays. At the time I was angry and now I couldn’t care less, becasue I am a lot happier and a lot freer.”

On Jackson Ryker derailing the momentum as a group:

“We were about to win the tag titles. We were about to wrestle with New Day and have a good little program. It was going that way. Blake and I would have been the SmackDown Tag Team Champions at some point. But what could have been…”

On his goal in IMPACT:

“Currently my goal is the X-Division Championship. Right now the holder of that belt is Josh Alexander. I’m really looking forward to something down the road with him and see if he wants to step up. But right now my eyes are set on Petey Williams. He was interfering with my stuff so I dropped him on his head.”

On plans after wrestling:

“They used to have financial people come into the PC to prepare you for life after wrestling. But at the time my goal is wrestling. It’s 100% on wrestling. I would love to be more involved in the veteran community and helping out that way. When I was let go I was applying to a bunch of different jobs at the Veteran’s Association. I would love to get more involved in the counselling. I’ve been there where I have been down in the dumps. That’s kind of where The Forgotten Sons came from, and those are the people you shouldn’t forget.”

What he is grateful for:

“My family, my house and wrestling in general.”

Steve Maclin can be found on Twitter here and Instagram here.

Featured image: Cage Side Seats

It’s the phrase that has completely changed my life. Vague goals get vague results. In this episode I break down exactly what that means, where it came from and how can you apply it to your own life. Stop making excuses and start crushing your specific goals.

As Greg Reid says: “A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.”

Let me know what your goals are so we can all cheer you along. Tag me on Instagram or Twitter @ChrisVanVliet and use the hashtag #VagueGoalsGetVagueResults

Well how are you my friends? Welcome back! Thanks for checking this out. Today I want to dive into the phrase that has completely changed my life. Vague goals get vague results.

Where it come from? What exactly does it mean? And how can it help you in your own life?

These are all great questions — and hopefully by the end of this, this will be a phrase that changes YOUR life as well. OK!

VAGUE GOALS GET VAGUE RESULTS.

I’m sure you’ve heard me say it before… I mean, hey, I even put it on a t-shirt. [get your Vague goals get vague results T-shirt here]. And it came from the idea that a lot of people set goals with no real direction.

Stop me if you’ve heard one of these before:

• I’m going to lose some weight this year.
• I want to read more often.
• I’m going to be more active.
• I want to make more money.

Maybe you’ve even said one of these before. All of these are perfect examples of extremely vague goals. It’s like getting into your car without knowing where you’re heading. You’ll just drive around aimlessly because you don’t have a destination. How long will that drive be? Will you end up in Tennessee or Tijuana?

Take that first one for example, I’m going to lose some weight this year. Well if you lose ONE pound at some point over the calendar year, Congratulations, you’ve accomplished your goal of losing some weight this year. But I’m guessing that’s probably not what that person meant when they said that.

The opposite of vague goals get vague results is specific goals get specific results. A better version of that weight loss goal would be something like “I am going to lose 10 pounds by July 31” or “I am going to lose 25 pounds before my birthday.” A specific number by a specific date. Instead of saying “I want to make more money.” A better version would be “I want to make an extra $100 a week, every week for the rest of the year.”

My specific goal:

You’ve seen me do this all this time…. most recently, I did it here on the podcast. I didn’t say “my goal is to get more reviews this year”. I set a very specific number and a very specific date — I said let’s hit 2000 reviews before my birthday, which is May 19. And guess what, with your help. We did it! We are well over 2,000 now. But what was so cool about that, is we could all watch it go from 1500 reviews to, 1550… to 1600, to 1700 and so on. We knew exactly what we were headed for.

And I think what really helped that goal get accomplished, was I made it public.. I put it out there on the podcast and also on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram… so now I needed to be accountable for it. Now we are all in this together and how much further we had to go!

And think about that with whatever goal it is that you’re headed towards. If it’s something to do with your diet or weight loss -make it public, now you’ve got a team of supporters to cheer you on and also to keep you in line when they see you with a donut in your hand or in line for your 4th helping at Golden Corral. But hey, I get it, that Chocolate Wonderfall is incredible.

Where the phrase came from:

The great Brian Tracy said it best when he said , “A goal without a plan is only a dream”.

And Greg Reid took it one step further when he said:
“A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.”

This has been a theme throughout my whole career. I’m incredibly grateful for the fact that I’ve been working in TV since 2005.

When I was about to graduate from college, I went to Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, I knew I needed an internship to get my foot in the door and hopefully have that give me the real world experience to get a job. I reached out to every station and I heard crickets. I knew there was a TV station an hour away from my hometown, CHEX TV in Peterborough, Ontario. So I googled and found the name and email address of the general manager. So I sent him an email saying I would be there on spring break and wanted to talk about an internship. This was a total lie, I had no intention of going there. But he wrote back and said “Well if you are going to be in the area then come on by.” That internship turned into a job, and the rest is history.

So maybe… your goal is career oriented, perhaps it’s something to with your relationship, maybe it’s your family, maybe you want to spend more time with your kids. Perhaps it’s fitness related and you want to lose weight or run a marathon. Maybe you want more subscribers on YouTube, followers on Instagram. Maybe you want to start making money from your podcast. Whatever it is, get specific about it.

The takeaway:

Figure out what that goal is… and what the path is to get there and write it down. Today. In fact, put it out there on Twitter or Instagram, and tag me so we can all cheer you along as you crush that specific goal.

You’ve got this! If somebody else is doing what you want to do, that just means that you can do it to. Reverse engineer their path back to where you are. And most importantly, don’t make excuses. If you want to do it, you’ll find a way. And if you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.

Let me know your goals on Twitter with the hashtag #Vaguegoalsgetvagueresults

AEW star Paul Wight, better known as “The Big Show” in WWE is a professional wrestler, commentator and actor. He joins Insight with Chris Van Vliet to talk about why he left WWE for AEW, working as a commentator on AEW Dark: Elevation, his in-ring return at All Out against QT Marshall, what he has left to accomplish in his wrestling career, his thoughts on CM Punk appearing in AEW, his role in the 1998 Adam Sandler Film “The Waterboy” as Captain Insano and more.

On a possible match with Shaquille O’Neal:

“I think that will happen now because there is not as much red tape. He’s already competed with Cody Rhodes. It was him and Jade Cargill vs. Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet. That was an incredible showing for Shaq, so hopefully we’ll be able to cut some more red tape and make it happen. He’s been hitting the gym lately, Shaq is pretty big right now. He’s huge Shaq, that’s the best way of looking at it. I think he is nervous about me so he is putting on a bit of size. Whereas I am Tall Paul the car salesman [laughs].”

On his amazing weight loss:

“I got as low as 370 lbs. Right now I am at about 408 or 410. I’m still keeping it low. COVID and the pandemic put a big hit in the training and stuff like that. Now that things are starting to work I am getting things back together. It’s fun, you know how to get there, so it’s about gearing up and getting there again. Get your diet in order, then make the commitment to get your cardio in and all that stuff. When I was at 500lbs, I was a quarter ton of fun for 15 years. When I say 400, I still feel a little light in the pants. But to stay around 375 would be good.”

On how his hip feels:

“The one that I had surgery on, and QT was gracious enough to show on Dynamite, is good. We went through some complications with it, which is why there were so many surgeries. But now I feel like Wolverine. It’s 5 lbs of titanium. I’m actually cleared to jump out of an aeroplane, I can parachute. Not that I would, we don’t need to see operation dumbo drop. I’m not jumping out of aeroplanes any time soon, they would need a tank parachute.”

On the time he was asked to jump out of a tower:

“Years ago me and Mark Henry were at Fort Bragg with the soldiers, and we were at the jump tower. The soldiers were all like ‘Yeah you gotta go out of the jump tower. We will build you a harness to go out the jump tower.’ I’m like build me a harness? I’m good bro. I’ve got O.R. disease. Mark Henry, my best friend, puts his hand on me and he goes ‘You’ve got O.R. disease? What’s that man?’ I’m like I’m old and I’m rich, I’m not doing that crap. There will be no Paul Wight jumping out of planes any time soon.”

On how much he is enjoying doing commentary:

“Oh my God you have no idea! I’m having a great time doing the commentary on Elevation. But if I’ve had known about the live Rampage on TNT I would have pushed for that spot. At the time, my opportunities were the new show Elevation, so I jumped at it. I am having a great time working with Tony Schiavone and working with the younger talent, but man, I have been chomping at the bit to get back in the ring. There’s so many talents I want to work with and spend time in the ring with. I want to pass that knowledge along and still have fun. One of the biggest reasons why I made that transition is because I still want to compete in the ring.”

On why he left for AEW:

“I had to leave WWE. There was nothing there for me to accomplish. There was nothing there for me to do more of. I still like lacing up boots and I still like getting in the ring. Luckily Tony Khan gave me that opportunity.”

On a wrestling bucket list:

“My bucket list? I don’t really have a bucket list. I’ve never been a guy to say ‘I’ve got to do that.’ I’m not a goal setter. I know some guys wake up every day and they have goals and checklists. I try to enjoy every day and be thankful for every day. Whether I get to go out and compete or be around the talent, it’s a good day. I’ve got some TV and movie projects on the side, so that’s all picking up speed now. I don’t have anything to complain about, I just take every day and enjoy it. But as far as opportunities go, I won’t turn anything down but the sheets. I’m like Samuel Jackson. I’ll say yes to everything. I look forward to whatever opportunities are available. After Rampage in Chicago, the wrestling world will get knocked on it’s ass. The scuttlebutt is true. Maybe attitude-era ish again.”

On the CM Punk return:

“It’s probably the biggest and most anticipated return ever. You think about the biggest impactful moments in wrestling. Like ‘Were you there when Hulk Hogan slammed Andre The Giant?’ ‘Where were you when Steve Austin cut the infamous 3:16 promo?’ When Hulk Hogan came to WCW, the NWO was formed. There’s so many moments in history, and I’m guaranteed I am leaving a lot of special moments out. But I think this is one of those moments, it’s in Chicago, it’s sold out, the stage is set. It couldn’t be served up anymore to create an incredible wrestling moment. It reignites the wrestling industry. There are so many wrestling companies that are springing up and doing well. All the companies are growing, recovering and the fans are searching out. Now you are getting to that competition of let’s give the best product to our fans. Let’s turn it out and give authentic, unique, diverse talent. And I think now is the time to put the spotlight on us, we are ready to shine.”

On WWE not being the right fit towards the end of his run:

“I was there for 4 decades. For me, I just wasn’t ready to be in a position that I was getting, not pushed into, but it was the only opportunity available to me. I just felt like at the time that’s not for me. I didn’t leave mad or p*ssed off or anything like that. It’s a business, you have to do what’s best for your business and they have to do what’s best for theirs. They have their plan and what they want to do moving forward. If you don’t fit then you seek life elsewhere.”

On possibly retiring after leaving WWE:

“I didn’t know if I was going to get a job after leaving WWE, and I didn’t know if I was going to be in wrestling again. I was working on some TV stuff and some movie stuff, so I didn’t pursue talking to anybody until after my WWE stuff. I had some converstaions with [Chris] Jericho, who is a dear firend. I said ‘Do you think they [AEW] would be interested in talking to me?’ He said ‘Well, you should talk to Tony Khan.’ I met Tony a long time ago, so I had got his number from Chris. I shot Tony a text after my deal was done and we talked on the phone for a couple of hours. Tony Khan has weird hours, he’s one of those guys who can be up from 1am until 4am.

That conversation was exciting, we talked about the future of wrestling and psychology and helping the younger talent. Also character building and plans for AEW, all those things. He actually got me super excited on the phone, which I haven’t been for a long time. I have been a good cog in the machine and been a good solider, fought long and hard and through pain. So it was hard for me to have someone else who owns and runs a company to inspire you further. I am the luckiest man on the planet right now. I get the chance to be part of an organization that is growing, which is great. I get to have input and build something, which is important. And I get to have fun and I get paid.”

On loving being busy and a possible T-Shirt idea:

“There was a part of me that thought the door is going to be closed on this. For so long you can get into your head so many things that put that doubt there. You have to be willing to say goodbye to yesterday to move forward. [Chris says that’s a good quote and put it on a t-shirt]. Well don’t put it on my shirt because John Cena said I can’t sell merch. He used to tease me all the time. Cena used to say ‘If my merch was money nobody would but it.’ I said ‘Well that’s because I am too busy making you look good.’ Bad guys sell tickets and good guys sell t-shirts. I could have stayed with WWE and made an incredible living, I would have had a golden parachute. All the fanfare would go with that comfort, but I don’t want that. I still like to fight, compete and be part of something. Twiddling my thumbs and being bored, I can’t do that. I am all about what’s right now and what’s tomorrow. Yesterday is not my thing. I don’t care about titles or accolades. I am about what are we doing today and what are we doing tomorrow? To be part of that in AEW, I couldn’t be happier.”

On praise for AEW executives:

“It was scary leaving WWE. But even now I am in AEW, I’ve been there for a long time. Kenny Omega is an executive VP who busts his ass backstage in the company, helping everyone who has earned that spot and put AEW on the map. Chris Jericho helped put AEW on the map. Cody Rhodes is a big guy backstage that helped align things with AEW’s community directive with a lot of the talent. The Young Bucks are in an executive position there. It’s not just the stuff they do on TV it’s all the stuff they do behind the scenes too. I’m not the big star in AEW, I don’t have 4 decades of putting asses in seats and drawing money. I’m like the new guy that has to earn his stripes, and I dig it. But I can’t wait to get out there and prove why I’ve been in this business so long.”

On starring in The Waterboy:

“I think The Waterboy was definitely one of those iconic things you are a part of, but you don’t realize it at the time. You’ve got this small part in an Adam Sandler film, which is very cool, but you don’t know at the time that it’s going to be this iconic character that people will never forget. I go places and people ask me to sign things ‘Captain Insano’ all the time. True story. I would love to do some kind of spin off wrestling character with Captain Insano. If I could do that, I would break out the stars and stripes and have a hoot with that. It would be a completely different character but a lot of fun. That whole thing was just one day. It took me literally about 2 hours to do the whole thing. Adam Sandler was so cool to work with and just so kind. His mom for the longest time would run around and introduce me as Adam’s giant wrestling friend named Paul.”

On missed acting opportunities:

“There were so many projects I couldn’t do because of the WWE schedule. When I first signed with WWE, Nick Cage reached out to me because his son was a big fan of me. Nick Cage was trying to hook me up with this Russel Crowe movie. But it was being shot in Spain I would have to be in Spain for 6 weeks for it. But I’m thinking Russel Crowe is going to be a star, Nick Cage wants me, I’ve got it. I go to ask Vince and he says ‘I’m paying you to be a wrestler, not an actor.’ So that was the end of that. So then it’s like yeah you are paying me a lot of money to be a wrestler, I will go back to work sir. There wasn’t as much crossover in the wrestling business then. For a while, WWE was very against wrestlers crossing over into movies. Then eventually they got into the program. So I am there watching Gladiator, that would have been good to be a part of. But now with AEW I can be a part of all sorts of projects. Having that freedom to build the Paul Wight brand [is good]. Becasue it’s their intellectual property, so when you leave you have to rebuild yourself.”

The origin of The Big Show name:

“That was Vince. When I first came into WWE I was Paul Wight, I just don’t think Vince liked the spelling of my name or just my name. But what would Vince know about marketing? [laughs] But he walked by me one day and he goes ‘So how’s The Big Show today?’ I go ‘I’m good but who the hell is The Big show?’ He goes ‘You! You can walk, you can talk, you’re an athlete. You’re The Big Show.’ He walked off and I thought oh dear God I hope that is not my wrestling name. But it was. But think back then it was the attitude and the Monday Night Wars. But over the years, like anything, if you do it long enough you can make it your own. But it’s now a little hard to rebrand. I have a great Big Show autograph. My real signature is good, but I don’t want to put that out there. I don’t want to own a timeshare in the Bahamas. I’m just trying to figure out that new identity, and I have some input on my character. Hopefully I won’t change 2 or 3 times in a match now.”

What he is grateful for:

“My health, my peace of mind ad friends and family.”

Paul Wight can be found on Twitter here and Instagram here.

Featured image: Essentially Sports

Carlito (Carlos Colon Jr.) is a professional wrestler known for his time in WWE. He joins Chris Van Vliet for an interview and Q&A in front of a live audience at the Independent Wrestling Expo in Fort Worth, TX. Carlito talks about growing up with his famous father, Carlos Colon Sr., how he got started in wrestling, getting signed to WWE and wrestling for Ohio Valley Wrestling, winning the US Title in his debut match against John Cena, why he thinks the apple spitting gimmick came from Razor Ramon, returning at the 2021 Royal Rumble and much more!

On how long he knew about the Royal Rumble match:

“I would say about a month out. I was just doing what I had been doing before. No one had really seen me but I have looked like that for years now. But yeah when you are off TV, everyone thinks that you have died or something.”

On just working the match:

“Yeah pretty much. That’s what I thought. I would come back, do the match, be the surprise entrant, have fun and then back to being dead or whatever [laughs]. They told me about RAW the night before, thank God so I could pack some more clothes. I had no hopes [for anything after], the only goal was to just go out there and put on a good showing. I just wanted to remind people that I am still around.”

On if he is in the best shape he has ever been in:

“That depends, since when? I’ve looked like this for the last 10 years. People say it with such a tone ‘Wow man you look great!’ What does that mean? What did I look like before? When I left WWE I had a lot more free time and you know, I had to do something different. Of course I had Chris Masters guiding me and giving me training information. I just took that and ran with it.”

On his best Chris Masters story:

“I don’t know what stories I can really tell. the only one I really have is when he comes to my house he empties out my fridge. But that is to be expected.”

On whether it was expected that he would become a wrestler:

“I kind of think that now. If people ask me ‘What would you do if you wouldn’t be a wrestler?’ I don’t know, I don;t think I would have had a choice. All of my jobs have been wrestling related. I started in the canteen selling food and drinks, then I started selling beer. Then I became the cameraman, then ring crew and eventually graduated to wrestler.”

On if anything hurts:

“Everything hurts. But I knew what I signed up for at the beginning. Like I said I’ve seen it from a young age. I assumed that this is how it was going to end but it is what it is. I do a lot more Shakespeare now, I understand more about the entertainment of it. Just because you are not doing a bunch of things, it doesn’t mean that you are not working. It’s more working harder in different ways without taking bumps. Sometimes it’s more exhausting doing the Shakespeare aspect as opposed to taking bumps.”

On what advice has stuck with him the most:

“Probably the Shakespeare stuff. Just to learn how to protect your body. Protect your body without being lazy, that’s the main thing. People confuse protecting your body with being lazy.”

On where the apple spitting came from:

“That’s funny because I used to get a lot of people saying I was a Razor Ramon rip-off. I don’t know where people got that from. then I was at the Hall of Fame for my dad and the night before him they inducted Razor Ramon. They are showing vignettes and I am like ‘Oh my God my vignettes were rip-offs of his.’ Then one of those he was eating something and spat at a guy. Fast forward to mine, I’m at a fruit stand and I’ve got an apple and I spit in his face. Vince must have seen it and went keep doing it. OK I will do it as many times as you want.”

On if he knew how he would debut by winning the US Title:

“Yeah I think I did. I think it was a couple of days before. I think it was more the trying to keep stuff from everybody. Not just from the dirtsheets but from the boys too. It was the same with Edge’s Money in the Bank cash-in. They told me Cena was going to hit me with a rollup. I’m like can we do something different? They said no. Cena rolls me up, I then hear Edge’s music and I’m like oh OK now it makes sense. The rollup was perfect for what happened next.”

On the standout moment in his career:

“I think the standout is behind the scenes. Just being the guy who wouldn’t take any nonsense and would stand up for himself. I just spoke up and you know, spoke my mind. I got in trouble for that all the time, I just stopped caring and was out of control in the last couple of years of WWE. But I am all zen and all controlled now.”

On what he learned from Vince McMahon:

“Yeah he is a genius and he has a lot of great ideas. Wrestling owes him a lot. I just learned how the business side works. What I like about him and Stephanie is that they are great business people. They are likeable and friendly, but at the same time if it’s not good for business they will pack things up and won’t hesitate for a second. It’s the way that you got to be. Sometimes you’ve got to separate the business from the personal.”

Featured image: The Sports Rush

Ariya Daivari is a professional wrestler known best for his time in WWE where he performed on the 205 Live brand. He talks to Chris Van Vliet about being released from his WWE contract, what he plans to do next, his excitement to work without any boundaries, his brother Shawn Daivari and his time in WWE with Muhammad Hassan, why he wanted to be a pro wrestler as a kid, how speaking Farsi helped get him signed to a WWE contract and much more!

On being the brother of Shawn Daivari:

“Yeah we just started watching together. He was 14 and I was 8. We just started watching together, he was the one who discovered it but we watched it together, which was super cool. Just over time he got to be an indie wrestler first, obviously. That’s why his career took off before mine did, he’s just older. We were big fans together. He had all the T-shirts and I had all the toys. It actually brought us a lot closer. We were just typical brothers, we hung out but not a lot. But pro wrestling really brought us closer and closer and to this day that’s why we are super tight.”

When he thought he could be a wrestler:

“When my brother got signed. Me and him are about the same size. We are both 5 foot 10 and 180lbs. We knew it was a long shot, more for him, because back in his time it was more so land of the giants. He had a real hard chance of getting to WWE and he made it. I was with him when he got the call. We were just chilling at our mom’s house and he goes ‘I just got signed.’ We couldn’t believe it, my mind was blown. I already knew I wanted to be a wrestler, but to see someone from my family actually make it. I’m like holy sh*t this is really a possibility.”

On how his brother got him ready for wrestling:

“I always tell people that I was so lucky to have a brother that was in the WWE. Someone who could give me good advice and get me ready for the WWE. I always tell people that the information and the advice he was getting was from guys like Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, The Undertaker, Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels. When he would tell me some advice he would say ‘This is something that Shawn Michaels would tell me.’ If it’s from Shawn, it’s obviously correct information and correct advice. It wasn’t just older brother telling younger brother what to do, it was legends and Hall of Famers.”

On wrestling his brother:

“We have only wrestled each other one time. It was when he asked for his release from WWE in 2008, I was only about a year in. We had a match in Green Bay, and that was the only promoter that wanted to have us wrestle each other. Every other time we have been a tag team, which I totally understand. I was so green at the time, I wish we could do it again. I just let him put all of the match together, but now I think the roles would be reversed.”

On his thoughts on being released:

“I tell a lot of people that I can take a nice breath of fresh air and say ‘I’ve done it.’ That thing that used to keep me up at night as an indie wrestler. I just keep thinking over and over what do I have to do to make it? But I did it, I made it. I wrestled on a pay per view, on NXT, on Monday Night RAW. I got to have conversations with Vince McMahon and Triple H, I did all these things. So I got to do all of these things I wanted to do, so a small part of me is like I can close that chapter and go to another part of my wrestling career. Luckily this is a great time because places like AEW, New Japan, IMPACT, all these places are popping up. I can say I know what it’s like to wrestle for Vince, now let’s see what it’s like in the other places.”

On keeping his name:

“Luckily for me everyone in the CWC [Cruiserweight Classic Tournament], they wanted everyone to have their names, because I think they wanted to capitalize on buzz. They said it was the best free agents so they kept everyone’s names. The only people who had their gimmick names were guys who had gimmick names on the indies. Guys like Lince Dorado and Mustafa Ali kept their gimmick names, but everyone else it’s our shoot names.”

On using the Daivari name:

“I kept going back and forth on it. I didn’t want people to think ‘Oh he’s just Shawn’s brother.’ And I have to admit he was in at a time when the wrestling industry was even hotter. He had a lot more eyes on his career back in 2004. Some people went ‘Oh cheap ripoff.’ But whatever. I was proud of the fact that I made it to the WWE at my size and keep my name. It is all me being presented as me.”

On WWE trying to take his real name away:

“They sent me a legal letter that had a bunch of mumbo jumbo , stuff you use blah blah. It said in parentheses “Ariya Daivari.” I had to call my lawyer just to double check. I said ‘You know that’s my real name right?’ All of my platforms are going to say Ariya Daivari.’ They said yeah and it was a formality letter, they just kind of pushed that stuff in there. But I wanted to make sure. The lawyer laughed on the phone and said ‘Yeah it’s your real name.’ I didn’t want to get screwed by giving my name away.”

On his plans now:

“I just want to wrestle, I want a busy schedule. That’s the only thing I want. Because right now I’m sitting at home with these 90 days. Not too long ago we were dealing with a pandemic, that sh*t sucked. I did not like sitting at home. Obviously the pandemic was a little bit different because nobody could do anything. But right now the crowds are back and wrestling is super hot and I’m not doing anything, it’s driving me f*cking crazy. I just want to be a busy as possible, it doesn’t matter where it is. AEW, IMPACT, New Japan, back to the indies… I just want to wrestle the best guys possible and keep a very busy schedule. This is my life now. It is all I care about and all I want to do.”

On if he thought he would go the next level:

“Yeah honestly right before we got released. Me and Tony Nese were doing a lot of tag stuff together. Me and him tagged on and off since the beginning of 205 Live. In the last 4 to 5 months of TV they were having us tag pretty regularly. They had us doing promos together. Everyone in the office, Shawn Michaels, Matt Bloom, they would all be telling us ‘You guys are killing it as a tag team, you’re doing a great job, you look good.’ We were having good matches and a lot of the boys said we looked good as a team. We thought that this was going to take us to the next level. We thought we were going to be a tag team on NXT. Me and him discussed talking to Vince and see if he would bring us to RAW or SmackDown. I was told that Vince or WWE in general isn’t big in the tag team division. That was the only hurdle we had to climb, to get them to pay attention to tag stuff. I really thought that was going to take us to the next level. But unfortunately we got released.”

On no one being safe:

“My own brother was recently part of the COVID releases. Only just recently he was brought back, which I am very happy for. I was very upset when he got released during COVID. After the COVID releases happened I was like it sucks but I survived I think I will be good. Then there’s been 3 waves of firings in 2021. When Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman got released, the whole roster from top to bottom, RAW, SmackDown, NXT was like oh sh*t. If they are letting guys like Braun and Samoa Joe go, it could be anybody. I would say for the last 4 to 5 months I wasn’t expecting it, because I was wrestling all of the time. But a small part of me said that if it was going to happen, it might be around this time. Unfortunately it did.”

On a possible WWE return:

“I think so. I have this 5 year plan in my head. I’m 32 now, if I don’t go back to WWE in 5 years then maybe that door is closed. I still feel young and I still feel good. You see so many guys like Drew McIntyre and Jinder, seeing them leave WWE, and they were at the bottom of the barrel when they left. To go out there and get in great shape, reinvent themselves and then come back and have the success that they have had, it’s awesome to see. Shelton Benjamin and The Hardy’s, all great guys but when they left I thought that was it because they have done everything that they can do. They are older now and probably won’t come back. Now they have come back and done extraordinary work, I don’t think the door to WWE is completely closed. It might be that right now they are reshuffling things and figuring things out.”

On leaning into his heritage:

“At first I felt it more, because it’s WWE, they love people from different countries, they said that to me on my trial. They said ‘We love the fact that you are Iranian and can speak another language.’ But they knew I was Minnesota and all that sh*t. They knew I spoke another language. At first I was all about it, but some people’s responses on Twitter were like ‘Uhhh, another foreign guy, great!’ I think that era of wrestling is ending and it’s on me. I took it to Vince McMahon and said ‘Hey I don’t want to do this Sheik thing anymore.’ I wanted to do this Daivari Dinero character and he was all about it.”

On changing his character:

“I didn’t want to completely abandon the fact that I am Middle Eastern. The Daivari Dinero character was actually based on this TV show called Shahs of Sunset, there’s a lot of Iranian and Persian people in LA. I said ‘Hey if you want me to be a character, I got a way better character for you guys.’ All these Iranians and Persians are driving all the white BMWs, gold chains and all that stuff. I don’t think it’s as offensive either, it’s a little more tongue in cheek. That was why I wanted to switch to that character. Also, a lot of Persian people are born in America, so we don’t have to insult the intelligence of the fans. I knew that being myself was going to have a lot more shelf life than being a typical foreign heel.”

On not doing The Magic Carpet Ride:

“My brother did it once as a goof to pop the crowd, and they really liked it. So when he went to WWE I said do you mind if I start using it, he said yeah cool. It always got a great reaction from the crowd. Funny enough I did it in my try-out match for NXT. I did it when I did try-out stuff on the road and it popped all the boys, so I’m like sh*t I’m gonna keep doing it. I did it in my trout match and Bill DeMott was the coach. As soon as I did The Magic Carpet Ride, which is a top rope splash while holding a carpet, I hear the bell ring. I was like oh sh*t what happened? On the microphone in front of everybody, he [Bill] goes ‘We don’t do that indie bullsh*t here! Next!’ I did it on the indies but when I got to WWE, that image is so burned in my head I never bothered asking if I could do it. He just made me feel like it might be too silly for WWE. But months later Jack Gallagher is jumping on me with an umbrella.”

On what he is grateful for:

“My health, my family and my time in WWE.”

Ariya Daivari can be found on Instagram here and Twitter here.

Featured image: WWE

Ross Patterson and Dan Hollaway are the hosts of the popular show “Drinkin’ Bros Podcast”. They join Chris Van Vliet from their studio in Austin, TX to talk about the success of their podcasts, how they were able to grow them, their advice for podcasters who are just starting out, their dream guests, their impressive sports memorabilia collection and much more!

For more info on the Drinkin’ Bros Podcast visit: https://drinkinbros.com/

On their impressive set design:

Ross: “Dude if you walk in here, it feels like a Hollywood set. We’ve got 7 sets in this building, which is a couple of floors and around 5,000 square feet. It’s very non descript so if you are trying to find it then f*ck off [laughs]. It’s fun and people are recoding it at all times. The cool thing about owning a media company is that there are 16 shows on our network, so there’s always cool people shooting in and out of here all day. Everybody has a key, so they can shoot using the cameras whenever they want. With that being said, every night you walk in here there’s someone that you wouldn’t expect. It’s all a blast.”

On how COVID helped them grow:

Dan: “We weren’t directly involved in creating the virus [laughs]. But what are you gonna do?”

Ross: “We just happened to provide entertainment. During the pandemic, because we got COVID literally on day one, our advertisers hit us up. They were like ‘Look, people need entertainment, Hollywood is shut down. Would you consider going every single day for one of your shows?’ They picked out 2 in particular and we said yes. We huddled up with our employees and we said ‘Look, we have COVID and you will probably get it. We can either herd immunity this sh*t, work though it and try to make something of ourselves. Or we can pack it in and go home.’ Everybody agreed to do it and we never stopped. I’m actually really proud to say that we did not miss one single day.”

On how sick they got:

Dan: “For me it was just bone aches, so I didn’t really care. My bones hurt. But I have lower back issues from jumping out of planes and sh*t. So bone aches and shooting pains for 5 days.

Ross: “I’ll get graphic with you here. My dick fell off and I had to tape it back on! No we were looking at houses in Austin and me and my wife were going around. It was a race for houses and we looked at like 36 houses in 27 hours. You see what was going on in the news and you start to think do I have these symptoms? I was sh*tting on the hour every hour, so I’m like great. I got super f*cked up the night before, so I didn’t know if it was from that.”

Dan: “That’s my recommendation. If you get COVID, don’t just sit there, drink water and eat soup. If you are going to feel like sh*t, then do it to yourself.”

Ross: “So I destroyed the bathrooms of 36 stranger’s houses, that’s what it was. I was sh*tting in open houses. Ironically the house that we bought did not have any toilet paper.”

On the goal from episode one:

Ross: “So I was in Hollywood, and comedy was dying. All of it was. I was writing and selling scripts, and little by little, there was less comedies being made. It felt like there was a change in media. I felt like this [podcast success] could happen, but whether it would is another story. You have to have the right personality for this, and we got in at an earlier stage of the game where you can get on the charts pretty quickly. If people liked your show, they would just keep listening to it and all that other stuff. The challenge is to turn it into a business and monetize it, which Dan was able to do. It’s one thing to do a podcast with your buddies as a hobby. It’s another if you are going to do it as a job in this world. I really thought when we started this that it would become a massive thing. But you still need the right people and guests to make it happen.”

Dan: “It also allows you to be able to do what the f*ck you want to do. We are certainly burdened by the distribution points. Obviously any of these organisations can tell us to go and f*ck ourselves anytime that they want. Navigating that has been a bit of an issue for a show like ours that pushes the envelope like ours does. It is what it is and we have managed to navigate around it.”

On when they found success:

Dan: “I think the tipping point was monetizing it for the first time. You can have the theory that this can really be something, then you turn the switch on and maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t. Once we saw that it worked, we started fumbling every dime we made back into production. Creating more capability to create more. Another big point was COVID, it got people used to the idea of consuming content throughout the day. You do it already by checking your phone, but it hadn’t been popularized until people started working from home. Now employees are not going back into the office again, which is good fortune.”

On how the podcast grew:

Ross: “It was a series of events that was fortuitous. At episode 100, we just tossed it out to the audience. We didn’t know if we were going to go beyond 100 episodes. We said to the audience ‘Hey what do you guys want to do?’ Somebody suggested we have 2 strangers who have never met before have sex live on air. We said yes let’s do that, then we had 700 submissions. We picked a dude and a girl and were doing a live show that night in Denver, Colorado. So we flew these people into Denver, put them on a bed and they had sex for 2 and a half hours in front of us. That show exploded, and the following day was the election day for Donald Trump. We did a prediction and I called Trump to win every state except for Pennsylvania. The novelty of the sex show and what was going on in the world combined showed the audience that we are not just a novelty show. That’s when it really started taking off we had celebrities calling us to be on.”

On a dream guest:

Ross: “For me I think Donald Trump. Not because I like Trump, but I think it would be fascinating to hear the lookback now from the 4 years. I want to hear what it was actually like. I liked the fact that he wasn’t a politician. He probably went in there and asked ‘Where’s the aliens?’ I would like to ask him what he thought about it afterwards. You won’t know how good a president was until 15 years after they leave the office. With Trump in particular, I wonder if he would say ‘I wasn’t a politician, but we all made it out OK.'”

On how to improve your podcast:

Dan: “The only thing you can do is just do it all the time. Your record 4 shows a week and you get used to it. You begin compartmentalize information. You have to be informed enough to ask the questions that uninformed people would ask. If someone is angry then lean into that and get them to give an angrier response.”

On what they are grateful for:

Ross: “My wife, my kids and friends and family.”

Dan: “My girl, myself and Chick-Fil-A.”

Featured image: Drinkin’ Bros

Matt Clemente (Tyler Breeze) is professional wrestler, pro wrestling trainer and Twitch streamer. He joins Chris Van Vliet from his home in Winter Park, FL to talk about being released from WWE after 11 years there, what he plans to do next, his tag team with Fandango, how much UpUpDownDown has changed his career, the wrestling school he owns with Shawn Spears called “Flatbacks Wrestling School”, his NXT match with Jushin “Thunder” Liger and much more!

On Chris getting chopped at Breeze’s wrestling school:

“So you know how it is. Everybody has their opinion on stuff. I saw a couple of people say ‘Oh my God. They are running a wrestling school and they just abused this guy.’ The good part is that we know you and you went ‘Hey guys. Just so you know, I asked them to do this.’ It’s not like we are these bullies, this is what happens. You said ‘Hey let’s do this.’ We were like you don’t have to but you said yes so OK man. 2021 is very opinionated on some things. Some people liked it, some didn’t. In the end I’m pretty sure you got like 1 million views from it.”

On being more famous for UpUpDownDown than for wrestling:

“I mean it kind of goes that way. That was actually me and [Austin] creed’s goal when we started doing stuff. When he started UpUpDownDown, I really had no clue how to stream, do YouTube or any of that stuff. He knew how to do it, and if he didn’t he would figure it out. As we went year after year, we know the deal. Obviously you’re not going to wrestle until you are 40, 45 or 50. Eventually, either you are going to say I’ve had enough of this or your body is. So we were like we have to build our value outside of the ring. In reality we are expendable when we get to a certain point and when we don’t get to a certain point. You could get released at any time, that’s just how this industry is.”

On becoming established outside of the ring:

“Building our value outside of the ring was always the goal for us. Luckily, UpUpDownDown has done wonders for us. Creed is awesome like that. He will take guys that you just know from their matches. Maybe they don’t get to talk a lot and you get to know what kind of a person they are and they have really good personalities. So he will put them in a spot where you will get to see that personality. All of a sudden you go ‘Wow I want to see more of that guy, he is really cool.’ Maybe the only place that you get to see that is UpUpDownDown. Now, not only is he building his own stock, but he is helping everybody around him. Rising tides lift all boats, he lives by that. It’s not just for him, it’s as many people as he can help, and he will. If I didn’t do this, I would just be another random guy trying to get my foot in the door.”

On WWE protesting Twitch streams:

“So it was a little different. So obviously everybody kind of threw their hands up in the air when they kind of stopped everything. There’s a saying that’s been around and will last; ‘The boys will mess it up for the boys.’ I was streaming on Twitch for 2 years and no one was really paying attention to anything, because I was doing it properly. In the end, when you are under a certain banner, it’s like media training. If something happens, lets say I’m live, and I represent myself horribly. When you sign onto a big company, the headline doesn’t read ‘Matt Clement does this…’ It now says ‘WWE Superstar…’ or ‘AEW Superstar…’ did this. Now you have to be mature enough to realize you represent a bigger entity and conduct yourself accordingly.”

On why WWE protested:

“People then realized they could do this [Twitch streams] and they don’t present themselves accordingly. Whether it’s using their intellectual property, or giving away things they shouldn’t be giving away. They just violate certain things, and eventually the guy who is charge of everything will say ‘You know what? everything stops, you ruined it.’ They can’t go case by case of you’re OK but you are not OK. They just go ‘You guys stop.’ And honestly from a business standpoint, if you ran a business and you had all this stuff, would you let it go? You would blanket it and say ‘Guys, this has to stop.'”

On the lines blurring between person and performer:

“Well I think that’s all technicalities, paperwork, contracts and stuff like that. In the end, on paper, it’s who owns what? If I work for a company and they own a character of mine, I can’t take that character and make money with it elsewhere, I just can’t. They own it, and I know they own it because I have a contract that says you own this and they own this. I’m cool with that, and I sign it. If you aren’t cool with it then don’t do it. In the end they own that character.”

On nearly getting fired before becoming Tyler Breeze:

“I was like the cockroach that wouldn’t go away man. There were several times where it was like ‘Hey you’re gonna get fired…’ Then something happened, then it would repeat. I always just barely clung on, whether it was from taking a random bump in the ring or someone seeing me in the ring that hadn’t seen me. There was always something that would give me a little bit more life. Even when I found the Tyler Breeze Stuff, it went from ‘you’re probably not going to get fired…’ to ‘You’re gonna get fired…’ That’s just how it goes, the lifespan of what we do isn’t long. Look at Stone Cold Steve Austin, he wrestled for a long time but his run in WWE was 5 years. I wrestled for 11 years in WWE, not many people can say that.”

On if previous experiences prepared him for this release:

“No, it was but it was also like… Well firstly I have been in WWE for 11 years. I was also very smart with my money where now the income part wasn’t such a big worry to me. Now I understand where they are coming from to let me go, it’s just business. You can’t take it personally and go ‘What did I do wrong?’ Sometimes you just make too much money or they go ‘Hey. We don’t need you right now.’ It doesn’t mean that you’re gone forever. How many times do we see people get released and then they come back? Once you are in the system you are in the system, it’s just how it goes.”

On getting ready for the future:

“I was preparing to get fired the day I got hired. There is a lot of life to live after wrestling. I immediately started to make a plan, got ready. I remember looking at contracts. When I got my first contract, you have a 3 or 5 year developmental contract. But then I signed my main roster contract. I went OK I’ve got 3 years. Realistically in a perfect world I will last 3 years. I don’t want to have to sign it. I would like to, but if I don’t want to I want the freedom to say no. By the time 3 years came up I went I don’t have to, but it’s good, things are going OK. So I just signed it and went OK cool. By the time the next one came around, very different scenario. It was a ‘You don’t need me, I’m going to leave.’ kind of thing. At that moment in time, I was not happy. All they said was ‘I’m sorry, we can give you more money.’ I said ‘I’ve been really smart with my money. I don’t need more money. I go to the airport and turn around because I’m not happy at work.’ That was when I had the conversation to go back to NXT. But I was ready to leave right then. I had accomplished everything I had wanted to achieve of having that goal of the freedom to not sign that contract. When you sign that contract you know what you sign up for. If you are not happy then please don’t sign.”

On not always being so positive:

“I’m not saying I never got bitter and I never got mad, because I did. I was sitting at ringside yelling at people, I would come back to Gorilla and yell at people. I was just really bitter and angry, but I think that happens to everybody. You then get a reality check. On my worst day when I come to work, I can make $500 and I can eat free food. That’s my worst possible day. When I look at my friends and family and they work their asses off and make a fraction of that. Grow up man, are you going to mad at that when you get paid good money and eat free food. It’s just not your time yet. That’s the reality check you have to bring back down or else you are going to fly off of the handle and be difficult to deal with. You’re also going to take it home with you and be mad at home, which is not good.”

On advice from Dolph Ziggler:

“There was one time where I thought we should have won something. I think it was a battle royal on SmackDown. The winners would get a tag team title shot, and it was when me and Fandango were really hitting with the fashion files. I think they put over The Hype Bros. I remember feeling that tonight should have been our night. That’s really the only time that I have thought that. In the end I think that people followed me and got behind me because I never really won that… In reality if you look at my career, I never really got that push. I was always there. Dolph Ziggler gave me the perfect thing when I started working with him. He says ‘Look man. It’s very clear who the guy is. If it’s not you, chances are it will never be you. They won’t hand you the ball, but you will work with those guys. Even when you steal the ball from those guys, they still won’t give it to you. But you will always be used, because they know they can rely on you’ That’s why you get this underground following which Dolph did, which I did. The people know that they want something to happen and it just won’t happen. It builds this cult following for you that translates into everything you do. I love being in that category. I think it’s really cool that people get behind you because the machine never did.”

On if he wants to continue wrestling:

“It depends. I mean there is a lot happening in wrestling right now. It’s cool and it’s something we tell our students at Flatbacks [Breeze and Shawn Spear’s wrestling school]. We say to the students ‘Guys it’s not as far away as you think. The students we are training now have been on AEW Dark and NXT. It’s right there. Right now is a good time in wrestling. But right now, lets say on AEW, there are a lot of people debuting and there are a lot of people moving around all over the place. If I go there, I don’t know if it would make a massive impact. Now it’s kind of the norm, people are going over there and there might be some big names going over there. Nobody knows what is happening, but I don’t think now is the right time for me to go towards there. At the same time, I have wrestled for 14 years straight. I’m OK with taking a little bit of a break. My body likes it and I am getting enough wrestling at the school to keep my body good. I’m not currently taking any bookings. Going out there and getting injured, it doesn’t really appeal to me. If there was a match that was fun, I think I might do it. But I have scratched the wrestling itch, but if it comes back, then maybe.”

On his match with Jushin Thunder Liger:

“So it was one of those things that I have that nobody gets to have. He wrestled one match in WWE, it was with me and it was so cool. I started laughing at this the other day because I saw this headline, ‘Tyler Breeze puts match together with Jushin Liger.’ It sounds ridiculous, but I said exactly what we said and they go ‘Oh that’s not true.’ I guess man. I was the one wrestling him, I’m not trying to pat myself on the back here. He was very cool and he was like ‘Please. Whatever you would like to do.’ I had a couple of ideas and we put it together. The crazy part to me was when I said ‘Maybe I tackle you and I go and lay on top. Then you get me with something and you go and lay on top.’ He goes ‘Me lay up top?’ I said ‘Yeah.’ He goes ‘Oh thank you thank you [shakes my hand.’ I go ‘What do you mean thank you?! This is awesome.’ He said ‘You’re letting me do your stuff.’ Well of course, why wouldn’t I? The we did something else and I said ‘Maybe you grab the selfie stick?’ Again he says ‘Me grab the selfie stick? Thank you thank you [shakes hand again].’ What is happening?! This is insane, he is a legend in his own category. He is sitting here thanking me for letting him do whatever he wants to do, no ego whatsoever. He was the coolest guy and it was a pleasure. So easy.”

Who decided Breeze would have the match with Liger:

“So I’m not sure on that. The only thing I have known is that I was working all of the TakeOvers and I was like I don’t know who I am going to work. I’ve worked Finn [Balor], I was supposed to work KENTA but he was out. I worked Apollo [Crews], I worked Sami [Zayn] and Neville. I’ve kind of worked all of the people that we have, I don’t know who’s next. Of all people, Finn came up to me and said ‘Hey man. Do you know who you’re working the next TakeOver?’ I said ‘No I don’t.’ He said Liger. I just laughed and said ‘No I’m not, he doesn’t even work for the company. Finn goes ‘No, no he trained me, and they asked me to reach out to him and see if he would be open to it.’ I’m like is he joking? Finn then says he was serious. I said ‘Is he doing it?’ Finn said ‘Yeah as far as I know.’ I’m like OK that’s cool. No one else said anything, it was only Finn. A week went by, 2 weeks went by, I think I had a match that was an enhancement match. They said to me hey at the end we are going to flash your opponent up on the screen. Honestly I can’t even remember if they told me who it was. I think they wanted my reaction to be genuine. They said ‘[William] Regal is going to come out, announce your opponent and put it on the screen.’ I said OK cool. So I did my match, stare at the screen and Regal cuts his promo. All of a sudden they flash Liger up there. I would be curious to watch, because I had to be smiling. That was the first time where I was like OK this is a real thing.”

On what he is grateful for:

“My dogs and my cat, all of my friends and family and my wrestling school.“

Tyler Breeze can be found on Twitter here and Instagram here.

Featured image: WWE

Hal Elrod is an entrepreneur, podcaster, author and motivational speaker. His bestselling book “The Miracle Morning” has been translated in 37 different languages and has sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide. He talks about the 6 essential habits to add to your morning routine that will change your life, he also discusses how he came up with the idea for “The Miracle Morning”, why he started his podcast called “Achieve Your Goals” and much more!

On if he has always been this positive:

“Yes and no. I’ve always been this energetic since I was a little kid, somewhat of a positive energy. But I didn’t learn the concept of positive thinking and optimism until I was 19. My mentor at 19 taught me about positive thinking. I went home to my parents and I realized wow they were so negative, they were complaining a lot. When I was 19 and I learned about positive thinking I started creating written affirmations and thinking about who I am going to be. Just the other day I saw the document I wrote at 19 called my most important areas of self improvement. The first one was ‘I am committed to being the most positive person that I know.’ I started to live into that document and here we are today.”

On his first love:

“I was pursuing my dream, which at the time was to be a radio DJ. I had been on the radio at 15 years old. In my sophomore year of high school I got to host a radio show every Thursday for 3 hours. After many complaints, it was a country and western show and I got in trouble for playing too much hip-hop. The regular listeners would call and say ‘Who the hell is this kid..’ every week. I didn’t get invited back but the dream was born, I started my own mobile DJ company. I started pursuing that at 19, and in my first year of college I got a job at a major FM radio station. “

On how he met his mentor:

“A buddy of mine had been trying to convince me to sell kitchen knives. He was like ‘Hal you’d be so good at this. The knives sell; themselves…’ I was a DJ, I had no interest in being a salesperson. I was with him one day and I went to his office and met his manager, Jessie Levine. The manager really pushed the opportunity of direct sales. I could set my own schedule and earn as much as I want. So I decided to give it a shot and that’s how Jessie became my mentor. I went through 3 days of eight hour training with Jessie, by the end he was my favourite person on the planet. He is just so positive and I love this guy’s mindset. He talked about integrity and how the most valuable asset is to be individuals. Also he said ‘If you value your integrity at the highest level, you can speak your life into existence.’ It was lessons like that I latched onto and he is still to this day the most valuable mentor in my life.”

On being an ‘overnight success’:

“I love the phrase ‘It takes 10 years to be an overnight success.’ There was an actor on Ellen DeGeneres who nobody knew but then had the number 1 movie at the box office. Ellen goes ‘You came out of nowhere. No one knew. You’re an overnight success.’ They responded ‘Ellen for the last 10 years I have been kicked out of auditions, not getting parts, sleeping in my car broke. You didn’t see the hard work, commitment and overcoming obstacles.’ When most people have a setback, they think that they have tried and failed, then that’s it. Most people keep switching gears and never compound the failures and setbacks to achieve what they want.”

On people not having the time:

“I get that, and I also get people saying ‘I’m not a morning person.’ I was asked once during an interview ‘What percentage of The Miracle Morning people were morning people?’ I did not know the answer, so we surveyed our community. 72% of the community said they were never a morning person before they read the book. To me that says they tried and they failed. But now they are on day 642 of the miracle morning. One thing to do is to move your alarm clock as far as you possibly can. Usually you fumble, turn it off and you wake up late. You have no willpower in the morning. If you actually have to get out of bed and walk across the room, you are more awake and your willpower is stronger. My alarm is in my bathroom. I wake up, brush my teeth, drink water. That along with other steps, you have to set yourself up for success. If you just snooze, you are setting up for failure.”

On his old routine:

“Before The Miracle Morning there was no routine. I would hit the snooze button multiple times. All of a sudden 30 minutes have gone by. You could have meditated, journaled, read, done some things to put yourself in a state to be at your best to take on the day. You can be abetter person than when you went to bed the night before. To me, that’s what the Miracle Morning is. It puts you in a peak physical, mental and emotional state first thing in the morning. It also gives you time to evolve into a better person. So you become a little better each day and you become the person you need to be to experience everything you want in your life. Now I wake up without an alarm, I set up a clear intention on waking up. I shoot for 7 hours of sleep, I go to bed at 9:30 and wake up at 4:30. I have a wife and kids so sometimes it’s an hour later.”

On his new morning routine and The Miracle Morning routine:

“When I wake up I drink a glass of water and then do 2 things for my physiological optimisation. I make a cup of green tea, I do drink coffee on the weekends as a treat. I then eat a full scoop of coconut butter. The Miracle Morning itself is based on 6 practices, which is based on the SAVERS acronym:

• Silence
• Affirmations
• Visualization
• Exercise
• Reading
• Scribing

Most people do a 60 minute miracle morning. You an customise the times however you feel.”

On what he is grateful for:

“My family, life and our ability to choose how we experience every moment in our lives.”

More information on Hal Elrod can be found here.

Featured image: Brand Builders Group.

Comedian Brad Williams joins Chris Van Vliet for an in-person conversation at his home in Los Angeles. He talks about his dwarfism and how he learned at an early age to embrace who he is, how attending a Carlos Mencia comedy show as a fan accidentally started his stand-up career, where he gets his inspiration from, the chances he took on himself early in his career, his friendship with Chris Jericho and how he was invited to perform on Chris Jericho’s Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager at Sea, how he met his wife, becoming a father and much more!

On really being 4 foot 4:

“Dwarves can tell and I don’t want to get a lot of dwarf hate. I don’t want you to get that on your YouTube channel. If I said I was 4 ft 5, all the little people would be like, no, we know exactly. I’ve had dwarfs come up to me after the show and I’m like ‘What are you? About 3 foot 9?’ Come on, we just know. 4 foot 11 is the official cut off. If you are below that, you are legally handicapped. But I have dwarfism, which is a genetic condition. If I got above 5 feet, I would still be a dwarf because that’s my genetics.”

On growing up with dwarfism:

“My dad is not a dwarf, we don’t all come from the same tribe. When I was born, he knew I would be made fun of when I was a kid. His philosophy was that he would make fun of me first, but he would do it in a supportive way. He would say ‘Hey I just insulted you, hit me back with something.’ Even at 3 years old he would make fun of me. We would write jokes and comebacks together. On my first day at school, someone came up to me and said ‘Haha you’re little.’ I looked at him and went ‘Haha your mom doesn’t live with your dad anymore.’ We wrote good ones! My dad was preparing me for a career in stand up comedy. I shouldn’t have been surprised when I dropped out of college to pursue it. That’s when I became aware of it [dwarfism]. When you go to school, kids size you up and go OK what can we make fun of you for? If you have a mole, a bowl cut… They always latch onto that, my dad knew it would be my dwarfism. Once they hit you and you counter punch, you’re the cool guy.”

On how his parents helped him for the world:

“My mom and dad prepared me for it. Neither of them are dwarves. It’s not like you can drive down the street and go ‘Hey which house do the dwarves live in? Oh it’s that mushroom with the door on it!’ My dad has a basic philosophy of there’s the world that is and the world that should be. Many parents make the mistake of preparing their kids for the world that should be. Things like ‘Oh no one is going to make fun of you…’ which is not the case.”

On the wish to have a child that has dwarfism:

“For me personally, because my wife is tall, that’s how you know I’m successful, is 50%. I was supposed to stay neutral and not have any hopes, but selfishly I wanted my child to be a dwarf. I got that wish, my daughter is also a little person. I didn’t want a tall kid where when he’s 9 I go ‘Go to your room!’ He goes ‘F*ck you dad.’ [makes explosion noise] I don’t want that. For selfish reasons I wanted her to be a little person.”

On whether his size is a part of his routine:

“At first I didn’t, I didn’t want to [reference my size]. It’s this weird balance I have to do. If I go on stage and don’t talk about it, rather than paying attention, the entire audience is like ‘Does he know? Should we tell him?’ As a comic I try to write jokes about my life, and my life is that of a little person. I can’t write jokes in the perspective of a 6 foot 2 man, I don’t know what that life is. My stuff will always have the perspective of a dwarf. But it’s not 2 hours of ‘I can take a bath in a thimble, that’s weird.’ But you lead with that, go into other things and lead back with a tag. But that’s what people want to see, not a lot of people know a lot of little people. There’s not a lot of people who do so they are curious. I trust me to get the message out there more than another source.”

On how he accidently got into comedy:

“I took my dad to an impro show on Father’s Day. The comic [Carlos Mencia] was doing little people jokes, half the room was laughing, the half near me were like ‘uhuh.’ Then the comic goes ‘Is one of them here?’ And he invites me up on stage. I was answering his questions honestly, but it got laughs. He asked me where do I work and I answered that I worked at Disneyland. The audience then laughed, I turned to them and said ‘F*ck you! I’m not one of the seven.’ That got a laugh and that felt really good. At that moment I needed to try this and needed to do this. I did something that made an entire audience laugh.”

On how he decided to go for it:

“I’m young and dumb at the time. I thought I do a couple of open mic nights and then I will get paid for this. The vast majority don’t make it. I didn’t know how hard the job was, it was about doing the research. I found the Laugh Factory and they did open mic nights. So I’m like I should go. The first time I just went there to watch and see if I’m good enough. It became clear I was good enough. There were a lot of terrible performers who bombed, so I’m like I can do this.”

On the parallels between wrestling and stand up comedy:

“I can imagine. Indie wrestling is thankfully starting to be more popular with the rise of social media. Guys are now not wanting to go to WWE because they are making money on the indies. But when you start, you’re at the bottom of the card and you’ve got to drive God knows how long with God knows who. Build the ring, take it down, do tickets, just to take a few bumps or get squashed by the main guy. But the little victories are the biggest thing for them. Like if someone buys your T-shirt.”

On what was his big break:

“There’s a lot of breaks along the way. Getting on The Mind of Mencia show way back in the day, that was a break, because a comedy club owner saw me. There was a popular morning radio show in California. One of the guys on the show retweeted me, I don’t know how he saw it. At that point it did really good for me. the next time he did a live podcast, I brought him a bottle of whiskey to say thank you. He looks at me and goes ‘Do you want to go on the show sometime?’ I’m like yes! I go on the show, the day before, my chalkboard looked like Charlie from Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I had the conspiracy theory of answers lined up. I got plenty of sleep, got hyper on coffee and I planned it all out. I do the interview, it goes well, and at the end of the interview my twitter blows up. They then booked me on their big comedy show in April, the venue held 9,000. I go on, do my set, and end it by bringing the travel reporter from the show on stage. I give her a lap dance and the place goes ape sh*t! I get a standing ovation. The comic after me said ‘OK after Brad, we are all playing for second place here.’ That quote hit the newspapers the next day, it was the coming out party. That started circulating and it went onto Netflix, Rogan podcast, all these are big breaks.”

On how he got onto performing on the Chris Jericho cruise:

“I was doing the Tampa improv, I was headlining. I do meet and greets after the show, and this lovely blonde woman comes up to me after the show and says ‘You were really funny. My husband is in showbusiness, he would really like you.’ Whenever I hear that I’m like yeah OK, he’s done a used car commercial or something. So I go ‘OK who’s your husband?’ She says ‘Chris Jericho.’ Oh ink on my face OK! I probably geeked out and said too much. I think there’s a fun story I can tell but don’t think much of it. A few days later I get a DM on Twitter from Chris Jericho. I’m a lifelong wrestling fan, Chris is one of my favourites. Chris then asked if I wanted to do his podcast, of course yes I do! I talked with him for an hour, tried to act professional but geeked out a bit. We got on really well and after it stopped recording he talked about the cruise. I said I wanted to do it, I didn’t care about being paid. It was amazing. I went to every wrestling event, live podcast, concert. But Chris is a great guy. I was going to be on the second one but my wife got pregnant, how dare she! [laughs].”

On what he is grateful for:

“That my wife is patient, I have a healthy daughter and the vaccine.”

Brad Williams can be found on Instagram here and Twitter here.

Featured image: IMDB