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R-Truth On John Cena’s Heel Turn, Little Jimmy, Getting Wrestlers To Break Character, Funny Moments

in LATEST EPISODES on May 6, 2025 January 30, 2026

R-Truth (@RonKillings) is a professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet live in Las Vegas to discuss the John Cena heel turn and a possible match with his childhood hero, making it to WWE the first time and returning in 2011, smoking on TV and the expensive fine that was issued, pitching a Little Jimmy action figure to Stephanie McMahon, his favorite comedy moments and more!

On his childhood hero John Cena turning heel at Elimination Chamber:

“Why y’all asking me that? Y’all noticed I haven’t spoke on that at all, right? And I don’t want to speak on it right now. I’m hurt to the beyond hurtstivity, that is a word, saying it’s way up there in the heart somewhere, there’s no need to talk about it. I’m feeling what all of y’all are thinking: hustle, loyalty, respect, never give up. The Make a Wish stuff, all that stuff is just going with me. I won’t even think about it, talk about it, Little Jimmy, I have to deal with that. I’m saying he’s in turmoil because of that. I get off subject a little bit, and they’re talking about belief in my last appearance I did, and Little Jimmy is around because we believe man and I believe in my childhood hero. I don’t know, man, he done does. There’s 2 sides to every story.”

He kicked Cody Rhodes in the balls!

“We don’t know that for sure. It looked like it went there, but we don’t know that. [It could have been] to part of the inner thigh. So it’s like, Y’all know how you’re going through a situation, and you’re thinking about it, you know you need to do something about it, but you leave it where it’s at, because right now it’s still stewing and simmering, and you still don’t know how to react about it. That’s where I’m at with the John Cena thing.”

On a possible R-Truth vs. John Cena match:

“Y’all want to see that? But the only way we can see that though, it’s got to be the right way. The old me, I’m not a bad guy, I’m a good guy now, if you haven’t noticed that. I’m a good guy. I kiss the babies, I hug people, I don’t kick people in the nomads. So for that to happen, it would have to be a complete turnaround. So I don’t know, man, I would love to. Man, he did some wrong stuff, and I like Cody.”

On grabbing his moment:

“My moment was just getting into business. For all y’all that know that watch a documentary with me coming up from the streets, selling drugs, doing this and doing that, and my perception, I wanted to be this big rap star. I want to be known as the biggest rap star, I lived by that, that was the only thing I was going to do. I wasn’t doing nothing else. So you got to desire that, but it wasn’t happening. You can spin wheels, spin wheels, spin wheels. You ain’t paying the bills, things just ain’t happening. So me grabbing the moment was me going a different route to get to where I wanted to. When I met Jack Crockett in the halfway house and he presented professional wrestling to me, I was aware of wrestling. I’ve seen it on TV, Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, I’ve seen that, but it still was new to me. So I grabbed that moment to like, you know what? This ain’t working for me. I got to try this right here out. And I just seized that.”

On how he met Road Dogg:

“So I’m in Memphis, Tennessee. I’ve signed my contract. They sent me to Memphis, Tennessee. I’m like, 25, 26, 27, something like that. So I go to Memphis, go to the dojo, that’s the last Dojo they had. So I go there. I’m in developmental, and they told me I would be there for like six months, and I’ll be on TV. Think about this for me, coming from there to signing a contract with WWE. I’m this guy now. They said, go to Memphis, Tennessee, learn how to wrestle our way, get developed, six months you’ll be on TV. Oh sh*t, boom. So I’m in Memphis training, training, training. Six months came. Seven months came, nothing. I was having issues at home, I was discouraged. I felt like a failure. I felt like I was ready to quit. I wasn’t going back to the streets. I didn’t know what I was going back to. So I know what it feels like to not know what you want to do or what you’re going to do, but you want to do something. I did my last show there. My contract was up too. I did my last show there. Road Dogg and his wife were in Memphis on vacation, and they came to the TV taping. That was when I dropped the title to Jerry Lawler, and he watched the match. By the time I got back to the locker room, Road Dogg was back there, and he was like, was that you rapping? And I was like, Yeah. He was like, I want you to be my tag team partner. I was blown away. It’s like, that’s Road Dogg, DX. I’m like, Dogg, I’m fixing to quit. I would love to, but I ain’t made for this, I’m about to quit. He’s like, what? You feel like just giving up and quitting, but you made it here. He ripped into me good. He said, I tell you what, if you can stake it out for three more months, I have you up there on TV with me, and that was just that was enough for me. I did that, and in two months, I was getting a call and that’s when WWF, the New York restaurant. That’s when I debuted with him as K Kwik.”

On what could have happened if Road Dogg didn’t meet with him that day:

“Oh man, it wouldn’t have been looking good. I didn’t know, I was immature still. I was still growing up. I was a young man. I wasn’t smart to knowing how to navigate through this. Life don’t come with a handbook. We live and learn and we’re taught and we’re told, and we just go. So I don’t know, man, I can’t even think of what my life would have been like. I used to be at that point where I didn’t care, that why I was out there in the street. Well, no, I wasn’t out there in the street because I didn’t care. I just for my own reasons why I was out in the street doing my thing, but I had a sense of caring then, so it’s like I wasn’t gonna go back to do that, because I wouldn’t have been able to see my kids. I had been to jail so many times. I was tired of it, like they knew me by name. I don’t know what I’ve been doing.”

On making his way back to WWE after being released:

“Umaga and Randy Orton. I was working for Rikishi. Rikishi had a thing going on. I’ve been around Samoans for years. I was home, and WWE had an event Umaga and Randy Orton came by my house to see me. Yeah, rest in peace. He was like, hey, what are you doing? I’m like, man, just hanging. He’s like, bro come back. Pick yourself up, come back to the company, they’ve been talking about you. I’m gonna bring your name up. Take care of your family, you are supposed to be there, bro, come on back. And I’ll be damned, within a week I called, and I was signed a week after that. And that’s when 2011 R-Truth came back.”

On smoking on TV:

“Vince had caught me smoking, for real. So he’s like, You gonna smoke in front of the whole [arena], and it was illegal. You can’t do that over there [because you’re in an arena], you can’t do that. I broke the rules, $20,000 fine, legit for a shoot. [You paid it?] Hell no! I had paying potential, but no!”

On a possible Little Jimmy action figure:

“I asked Stephanie McMahon, could I make a Little Jimmy action figure? She said, what it’s gonna be? I said, nothing, but it’ll be in the box. She like, Oh my gosh. She laughs. She said, Truth, I don’t think we can do that. We got to give them something. I said, Well, I guess put a stick beside them or something. They got the package. She said no, we can’t do that.”

On who is El Grande Americano?

“There’s been a lot of names thrown in the barrel. I don’t know who that is. I have no clue. It’s not me, it’s not Little Jimmy, too tall. I don’t think it’s Shorty G, too small.”

On his favorite comedy moments:

“Definitely the Brock Lesnar thing, which I got my friend Chris Dunn, he’s is a writer. I kept forgetting to tell people that he was the one that helped me with that in the back. And Paul just surprising everybody, We’re not going to let Brock know what we’re going to do. It’s just going to be a free fall. I’m like Brock is a beast. I think we should let Brock know what we’re going to say about Brock. So funny thing is, I mean, I love Brock. Brock walked into gorilla, and it was simply just like he walked in. He’s like, so what are we doing? And I’m looking at everybody for somebody to say something to this dude. Nobody said nothing. He’s like, alright, well, guys, we just go out there and talk there and talk then. And I’m like, Oh y’all got this dude going out there. But it turned out to be one of the best moments.”

On the injury that kept him side-lined and complications:

“Coming back from the Torn quad, and I had an infection. I caught Staph, MRSA. It was like five different infections I had. My medication for my infection was $4,700 a week. I’m like, what the hell I got? But yeah, it was that bad. And I had to give it to myself too. I had a PICC line in this arm for nine weeks. Then I had one in that arm. Y’all didn’t know that.”

On facing The Rock and John Cena at Survivor Series:

“I felt like that was the pinnacle. You don’t go no higher than that, right? In the ring with The Rock and John Cena, that’s an unforgettable moment I won’t forget.”

Erik On War Raiders, His Near-Fatal Motorcycle Accident, Tag Team Champs, Viking Experience

in LATEST EPISODES on May 1, 2025 January 30, 2026

https://cvvtix.com – Get your tickets for INSIGHT LIVE in NYC with VIP Meet & Greet!

Erik (@Erik_WWE) is a professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Las Vegas to discuss his return from neck surgery, being in a scary motorcycle accident and being told he shouldn’t have survived, winning the Tag Team Championships with Ivar, the name changes that included The Viking Experience and The Viking Raiders, facing Mark Hendry in a match on SmackDown in 2006, being married to Sarah Logan (Valhalla) and when fans should expect her to return and more!

Quote I’m thinking about: “Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.” — Bill Bradley

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On being a tag team wrestler:

“When we first got teamed up, because it wasn’t even our idea to team up. We wrestled in the Top Prospect Tournament. You had Ivar on the show. He’s going to be very, very proud of the fact that he won that match. Every time we go to Pittsburgh, he tells everyone in the building from the guys sweeping up the trash to Randy Orton and Triple H in the back that in Pittsburgh, he pinned me. So make sure this goes on the podcast, because that’s his most important thing that he brags about all the time. But yeah, after that match, I think Ring of Honor just liked how we looked together in the ring and they were like they both have beards, and both kind of this smash mouth thing. We’ll team them up. I’d only met him once before, and we talked, we had a lot of mutual friends and we got along right away. But at the same time, we had a conversation. We’re like, well there’s not really space on the Ring of Honor roster for us to be singles guys. Let’s do this tag team for a little bit, and then we’ll turn on each other, we’ll split up, and then go our separate ways. And then 11 years later, I think at this point, no split up.”

On competing at WrestleMania:

“Who could have ever drawn that play up? Especially because he and I both at different points in our career, in our lives, had some type of traumatic injury, accident, where we were told you should never wrestle again. I was told I shouldn’t have been alive, I should have died. So it’s a wild, wild ride that you can’t script that.”

On the motorcycle accident:

“So in 2014 actually, just after War Machine started rolling. He and I spent 11 or 12 years each not making any money in wrestling, basically both giving up on making wrestling our career. We get offered Ring of Honor contracts. We start wrestling. Everything’s starting to go good. Then like I had done every day for two years, I got on my motorcycle, went to the gym, left the gym on my way to get something to eat. A girl was texting at a stop sign and she just pulled out right in front of my motorcycle. So I was going about 55 miles an hour, and she was maybe 30 feet in front of me, maybe. I hadn’t even had the conscious decision to brake, whether I was going to try to brake and turn to miss her or lay my bike down, I just kind of said, Oh. I didn’t even get the full word out of my mouth, so I wasn’t even censoring myself, and I smashed into the back of her car. So instead of hitting the hood, I had turned and jerked the wheel and I hit the back seat. So because I had torqued the handlebars like this, I broke my left thumb. I shattered everything above my left arm to my elbow to my shoulder. Then I went up over my handlebars. I punched out her rear window with my face, lacerated above my eye, broke my nose, but I didn’t break the cartilage. I broke the bone, the skull, hit my knee, and then I stood up, and my arm was like wiggling. The girl comes out of the car, and she’s crying. She’s like, do you need me to call the ambulance? And I was like, Yes, please. Then the ambulance shows up and they pull up across the street or across the intersection.”

You’re still standing?

“Yeah, I was. I had sat down at that point, and I just stood up off the off the curb, and I started walking to the ambulance. I remember that I saw the ambulance and the paramedic grabbed a body bag out of the back, because they just assumed from the call that I was dead. I walked over and there’s literally a body bag on the ground. I’m like full Walking Dead, right? Because my whole face is like gnarled up with blood and stuff and the paramedic looks at me, and he’s like, ‘Sir, you’re not supposed to be walking.’ I’m sure I was in shock at this point, and I was like, ‘Do you want me to go sit back down?’ He said, ‘No, no, no, you’re already over here. I just want to stabilize your neck before you do anything else.’ I was like, okay. He’s like, ‘Unless you want to walk to the hospital.’ I was like, ‘How far is the hospital?’ He’s like, ‘Oh, it’s about three miles.’ And I was like, No, I’ll take the ride. I’m sure he was teasing me at that point, but I was in so much shock that I didn’t know what was going on. Then everybody I talked to after that, the emergency room docs, the surgeon, all the doctors were basically like people don’t typically live, because I wasn’t wearing a helmet.”

“We’ve talked back and forth on whether or not that actually saved my life or not, and I’m not advocating that you shouldn’t wear a helmet on a bike. I’m just saying mine one in a million chance, because I hit the window with my head, and there’s a chance if I was wearing a helmet, it would have been bigger, and I could have hit the cross guard over the top of the car, that might have snapped my neck. It might not have, I don’t know. I know that my dad has always told me that I give my guardian angel the hardest time, and I almost outran him that day. But, yeah, he was looking out. There was a reason that I survived that, and a reason that I was there. So then the doctors were like, ‘Yeah, dude, you should be dead. You should have died in the physics of this accident, usually this is a fatal accident. There’s no way you’re going to wrestle again, your arm is completely shattered. It’s destroyed. Everything from the elbow to shoulder is just destroyed, you’re going to be lucky to lift weights.’ Six months later I was wrestling again. I had two plates, 18 pins and screws and, I don’t know, six or seven hour surgery, putting my arm back together.”

On having a new lease on life:

“In a way, I was like, I’ve wasted so much time. There’s so many stupid decisions, or I’ve worried about so many things that don’t truly matter. I’ve let so much time waste, and I felt that I couldn’t do that anymore. I felt like I had been given this second chance on life, literally, where it was like, I don’t want to waste any more time. I don’t want to take anything for granted. I definitely hug people more and was a lot more thankful and grateful. Because to have a doctor tell you should have died, not, hey you’re real lucky, or this could have been bad. He was like, Yeah, dude, I can’t explain why you’re alive.”

On his birthday tradition:

“Went to Japan, went to WWE, became a multi-time World Tag Team Champion on different continents, for different companies. All of the things that I thought my life were going to be is just totally different. Growing up in Cleveland with some of the bad decisions I was making as a younger kid, I thought I would be dead or in jail by 35. I genuinely didn’t think that I would live this long and I can confidently and firmly say that every year since 35 has been the best year of my life. I’ve got a birthday tradition, I never thought I would make it to 35 so every year on my birthday I deadlift 450 pounds, just to be like not dead yet. My wife laughs at me, but she thinks it’s funny.”

On possibly not returning to wrestling after his recent neck surgery:

“Yeah, absolutely. So I got in a freak accident, I landed a suplex, I got dropped directly on my head, just one of those things. I think we kind of say it without really thinking about it that in wrestling any match could be our last, or any move could be our last, or whatever. We kind of don’t think about the weight of that. I was on a live event, non televised, just a match that we don’t really think about or we take for granted, doing a move, taking a suplex that I had taken 1000s of times in my career. Didn’t think once about it. For whatever reason, on that day, I over-rotated and landed directly in my head. When it happened, I knew I was hurt, but I didn’t know how bad I was hurt. I thought it was something that was in my trap, and everything kind of locked up. So I was treating it muscular. It got worse. We got MRIs, saw there was herniation in the disc. I kept wrestling, because I was like, well we can just keep treating this with PT. I was talking with doctors. I was doing whatever we did. I was doing PT like 3, 4, 5, times a week. I was getting dry needling, scraping, everything, trying to mitigate all the stuff I was doing. I was doing electric therapy and stuff like that, trying to stimulate the nerves, trying to doing everything I could to avoid surgery. But at the same time, I was wrestling every single week, I didn’t miss a match, and then I took another bad fall, just got tumbled up going over the ropes one time and it actually didn’t even hit my neck. I hit my elbow on the apron on the way over, and then three days later my tricep disappeared, my right lat shrank like half in size, and then my right pec flattened within days. I came in, and I was terrified. So I came into work that week, and we were scheduled for a match, actually, against New Day. Ironically enough, we were scheduled to wrestle The New Day. I sat down with medical, I sat down with Triple H and everybody, the consensus was, ‘Hey, you’re going to Birmingham tomorrow. You’re not flying home, cancel plans. We’re flying you from TV to Birmingham.’ I saw Dr Cordova. We did try a nerve block thing, because he was like, hey, maybe we can reverse some of this. So we tried that before cutting and then that didn’t have the effect that anyone wanted. So we did neck surgery but it was immediate, it was fast. It was like, bang, bang, bang.”

That sounds scary.

“It was. They’re going through the front now. So it’s ACDF surgery. It’s at level six, seven. Ivar’s got two levels. So his is actually the one above and mine, but our symptoms are totally different, even down to the fingers, our nerve pathway, the way that my nerve pathway was affected was totally different than his. So it’s funny that we both have surgically repaired necks, but our injuries couldn’t be more separate. But yeah, I’ve always been a fast healer. After the motorcycle wreck I was back in six months, so in my brain I was like, I’ll be back in six months. I’ve done this before, it’s fine. Six months came, I went for the scan, still didn’t have full fusion, seven months no fusion, eight months no fusion, nine months no fusion. Now I’m getting scared. What happens if this doesn’t fully fuse? What is life without wrestling? How does this go on? Then thank God, finally it did fuse. We showed full fusion, I was able to start training again, get back really quickly. But then it ended up being 13 months, I think, from surgery that I was out. There were definitely some times of like, this might be the end. So I was thinking, and I’m texting with Ivar, and talking to my wife every day, how do we go from here? What happens now? So it’s sobering to be struck there. So, then having the motorcycle wreck, then having the neck surgery. There’s all of this. Like, Hey, dude, don’t take anything for granted. Not a single flight, not a single match, not a single move, not a single day. Then with kids, you know this is bad as anybody, the days are long and the years are short.”

“So my oldest is already four years old. Even though I know you shouldn’t take anything for granted, you get weighed down by just how hard that is, not sleeping, not whatever, you know what I mean. I heard something that was like, parenting is only hard for good parents. I’m not saying that I’m the best parent in the world. I know I’m not. I just try my best every day. I care. We’re up at night. We’re up early, sleep late, whatever we have to do. I’m not trying to say that I’m better than anybody else, but you think about that, and you think about those kids and you just try to soak all that stuff in, even when it’s hard. It’s something that Sarah and I talk about a lot, like, wow, it’s hard. I remember with Cash, she’s breastfeeding, and we’re co-sleeping, we’re doing all this stuff. She’s not sleeping more than 30 to 45 minute stretches for like a month at a time. She looks at me, and she was just like how long can someone go without sleep before they die? I’m like, I don’t know, but it’s not yet.”

On winning the Tag Team Championships again:

“Oh man, I don’t know that I have the words to articulate that. It’s incredibly validating and definitely something we talk about, appreciating things. We’re grateful. We’re thinking about them in ways that maybe when we were younger, or we hadn’t almost died, or had our careers taken away, we’re not thinking of. So to kind of put that retrospective back into it, we talk about soaking in it. So it’s something that not just on the title win, but a lot of times Ivar and I will go to the ring, and one of us will take the time, will grab the other one. Maybe we’re waiting for our opponent to come down or the lights have gone off right before an entrance music hits. One of us will grab the other one and be like, dude, soak this in. This is cool. This is a moment. When me, Ivar and Sarah all came out at Mania we did that at the top of the ramp. As we were walking down the next opponent’s music started because that ramp was so long in LA, we actually didn’t get the camera on us the whole way down, so we had a moment to look around. So I’m gonna try to steal a moment like that tomorrow or this weekend with Ivar. But yeah, the title win is it’s crazy because it means so much. It means the company has faith in you, the company is making you the face of their division, whatever that division is. Whether that’s the Women’s Title or the Tag Team Title, the World Heavyweight title, you are a face of that company. That’s such a vote of confidence, and such a meaningful thing on a professional level and a personal level. Whether we like it or not, we invest our personal kind of self-worth into your character, how much of you as a person gets put forward. This is an incredibly vulnerable art. Because if you saw Kit Harington, who plays Jon Snow, you’re gonna go, ‘Oh my gosh, you play Jon Snow. That’s so cool that you get to act and pretend to be Jon Snow. Oh man, that’s amazing.’ When wrestling fans meet you, they’re like, ‘Hey you’re Erik, you suck. You’re out of shape, you’re this, you’re that, your moves are bad, whatever.’It’s personal and it’s a different medium. We have this knowledge that for movies and TV shows, those are actors playing a role. Wrestlers, because there is so much reality and truth to who we are, the best and most effective wrestling characters are extensions of you, so you put that kind of forward. But as a negative side to that fans are like, Hey, you suck. Not the tongue in cheek, Hey, you’re a bad guy, so I’m gonna boo you. So it is vulnerable, it’s very vulnerable. Because when you get that confidence of the company saying, Hey, you’re the guy.”

On The Viking Experience:

“It was less than a week, it was like six days and then we were The Viking Raiders. However, the only thing that changed was our name. We were still the same people. We still did the same moves, we still did the same entrance. We still wore the same clothes, same horns and armor and all the stuff. I think we still even had the same music, they just changed the name on the tron. But people on Twitter have never let us forget, like ever. Every time we’re on TV, we’ll get at least a dozen Viking Experience tweets, which is funny, but yeah, we can go down that rabbit hole if you want to. It was a silly, silly, silly moment. Because that was our debut from NXT, and we had already gotten our name changed once, because we were War Machine on the Indies, then we came to WWE, and they couldn’t use that name for a variety of legitimate and good reasons.”

On the rumour that The Beserkers was a scrapped name:

“Not until the main roster. So from War Machine to War Raiders, the initial one was Doomsday Raiders. We were like oof. Okay, could we give you some ideas? So Ivar and I went and we talked about a bunch of stuff, we probably gave 50 names back. Then someone told us they really want to put raiders in the name. So we came up with 50 names with raiders in them, and the number one on our list was actually Viking Raiders. We’re like, ‘Hey, this is a name that we like. It kind of fits who we are, the look we’ve got, the energy we’ve got, I like this name.’ So we sent it up and I think it was Hunter who was like, ‘We’re kind of thinking War Raiders.’ I was like, well, let’s give you some different ideas. He said, ‘Yeah, but we really like War Raiders.’ And we’re like, yeah War Raiders is the coolest name we’ve ever heard. So then we became the War Raiders. Then we were War Raiders in all of NXT, we liked the name, and then we got called up. We were the Viking Experience.

Our first day on the main roster. We had never actually physically met Vince McMahon, but we went and stood outside his office to go and plead our case. Because I was ringside, this is fun, I was ringside, and I see our music starts playing, and it’s The War Raiders up on the screen, and then the logo changes, and Berserkerz comes up. Now I’m looking like, oh man. Then that goes away, and the Viking Experience comes up. I look and I’m like, Oh no! So I walk up and Hunter was actually ringside, he’s texting, and I walk up to him and I was like, ‘Hey, dude, is this a rib?’ He just shakes his head and goes, ‘I wish.’ I’m like, ‘What do we do?’ He’s like, ‘Well, you gotta go talk to Vince.’ All right, cool. So Ivar’s plane was late, he gets to the building, I tell him we got to go talk to Vince. This is bad, right? So we go get in line, stand, we make our case. Said, Viking Experience sounds like a Disney ride, it sounds something like a small world, the tea cups and all that stuff. The Viking Experience, bring your kids, right?

So, we pitched that case, and Vince was like, ‘Well, that makes sense, but we don’t have time to get that through legal.’ Because we asked to be Viking Raiders because we heard through a little birdie told us, when we changed from War Machine to War Raiders, it was they were really stuck on Raiders. So all of the names had raiders in them. This time, Vince was really stuck on us being Vikings. He loved Vikings. Little known fact, Vince was a big fan of the history show Vikings, which is probably why we got called up in the first place, because he was like, Hey, we got Vikings on TV? Bring them up. So he wanted us to be the Viking something, right? And the problem is, Vikings are a very popular thing in culture right now. So nothing could get past legal, nothing could get trademarked, nothing could get whatever. Viking Experience was shockingly free, because no one wanted to be that, including us. So we asked to be Viking Raiders. By this point, it’s like, 7:30 right? The show’s going on at eight. He was like, ‘Well, we can’t get this cleared through legal at this point. So what we’ll do is, you’ll be the Viking Experience today, and if we really don’t like it, then we’ll be Viking Raiders next week. And you know, no press is bad press. So worst case scenario, people will talk. They’ll be talking about you.’ So we’re like, okay, and as we’re leaving the office, kind of in an afterthought, he goes, ‘Oh and by the way, one of you is Ivar, and one of you is Erik, I don’t care who.’ We just walked out. I looked and we were maybe two steps outside of his office, and Ivar grabs my arm for real, and he’s like, ‘Please don’t make me be Erik. My brother’s name is Erik.’ The bully in my brain for like, three seconds, I was like, Man, I really should be mean. No, okay, fine, you could be Ivar. But I really, it was close to us being the other way. I was like, Man, I don’t know how they came up with these names. Someone in creative might have just Googled famous Viking names or something. Because I did that afterwards, trying to figure out where they come up with these names? The first one was Erik the Red. Then it was Ivar the Boneless. I was like, Oh, cool. So it’s literally just Erik, Ivar. You guys are Vikings, yep, Eric and Ivar.”

On reverting back to War Raiders:

“More important than that, we got to be ourselves. Now, as War Raiders, we are the closest thing to War Machine that we’ve ever been. No face paint. We’re not even wearing horns and helmets and armor. We’re coming out in essentially biker vests, leather vests. This is what I wear to TV. I just put a vest on, and I cut promos like this on WWE TV. I wear a black T-shirt and jeans, which is what I wear every day of my life. If I’m not in gym clothes, this is what I’m wearing.”

On Valhalla giving Michael Cole the antlers:

“I think that was actually her last appearance on TV before she wasn’t able to be because she found out she was pregnant. I really think that was, it could be wrong. Internet, please correct me there, but I’m pretty sure that was her last moment on TV before she went on maternity leave. It was awesome. So it’s funny too, because Sarah had played around with different looks for Valhalla and different things. Some of it was based on the TV show, or some of it was like Instagram or whatever, where Viking paint and makeup was really, really fun. So she had fun just experimenting with different things and different looks, and then she would wear like the skull mask, or she’d wear different things.

Cole during the day, we’d be in catering and Cole would be like, ‘Hey, are you wearing antlers today?’ And she’s like, ‘No, I’m wearing whatever.’ And he was like, ‘Ah, man.’ So it was real, that was genuine. Sarah, again, didn’t ask permission. She was like, I’ll ask forgiveness, not permission, and didn’t tell anyone. Just came out and put the antlers on him. So those reactions are 100% genuine. TV is live. Sometimes the best moments in wrestling is stuff that’s completely off-script and just not [planned]. Because we all have a rough idea of what’s going to happen, or whatever, to a certain extent. That one, the only person who knew that was going to happen was Sarah, and I don’t even know how long before she knew that was going to happen, but she was like, Yep, I’m bringing the antlers. Because Cole, every time he saw the antlers got really happy, for whatever reason. He’s just a fan of antlers. I don’t know. I can’t explain it, but it tickles him. So Sarah jumped up on the desk and put it on him and that was just a real, genuine moment from all involved, that wasn’t agreed upon. That wasn’t like, Hey, we’re gonna do this. She just was like, Yep, there you go.”

On Sarah Logan/Valhalla thinking about a return to WWE:

“Yeah, she is. She is a constant inspiration for me. She works so hard, she is so dedicated and disciplined. She keeps me on my diet so much better because she’s so disciplined with hers. She’s already running, jumping, throwing things, getting back into battle shape and getting ready. So yeah, I don’t know when this is gonna air, but I’m sure it won’t be too long in the future you start seeing her again.”

On his enhancement match against Mark Henry in 2006:

“Yeah, Matt Hardy actually grabbed me after that enhancement match to check on me and make sure I was okay. He was genuinely worried that Mark killed me.”

On the stiff clothesline:

“Totally fine. Mark, super professional, awesome guy. I’ve known Mark for a lot of years, obviously, since 2006. Didn’t touch me in the head at all, that was all body on body, and I hit his chest, and he’s got a big chest. Had a bigger chest back then too. Had more weight on him at that point. I hit his chest as hard as I could. I’m still living in Cleveland, still have dreams of being a wrestler. I’m thinking this is my shot. If I do something crazy and they see this, maybe they’ll give me a shot. […] So yeah, I ran into him 100 miles and hour, I knew where to put my head so it didn’t get taken off.”

On a possible Erik solo run like Ivar:

“Yes, absolutely. I think there is untapped potential there where I don’t have any doubt. Ivar proved it when I was down with n neck injury, give me the ball and I can perform at any point on the card. I have full confidence in my ability that you want me to cut a promo? Great, I’ll cut a promo. You want me to have, whatever, whoever, anybody on our roster, especially our roster now it’s ridiculously talented, like ridiculously stacked and talented. You want me to wrestle AJ Styles on Raw? Great. I’ll tear the house down. You want me to wrestle? Pick a guy, anybody. I have a skill set, and I’ve been doing this since 2003. From the Indies, I was good guy, bad guy, comedy guy, you know, you’ve seen it just in WWE with Viking raiders. We’re serious, we’re scary, we’re heels, we’re comedy, whatever, wherever you want to go. We can do that. We have the skill set. So absolutely, there is a part of me that wants to have that spotlight always. We’re in this as wrestlers, but there’s also part of me that I never want that to be at the expense of being The War Raiders.”

What is Erik grateful for?

“Family, our farm and fitness, and faith.”

Buddy Matthews On Rhea Ripley, Ankle Injury Update, AEW, Aleister Black

in LATEST EPISODES on April 29, 2025 January 30, 2026

Buddy Matthews (@SNM_Buddy) is a professional wrestler currently signed to AEW. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Las Vegas to discuss signing with AEW following his WWE release, joining the House of Black and what’s next for him and Hounds of Hell now that Malakai Black has left AEW, his ankle injury at Grand Slam and still wrestling Kazuchika Okada, being married to Rhea Ripley, a possible WWE return and working with Ripley in a storyline and more!

Quote I’m thinking about: “You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.” – Winston S. Churchill

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On his WWE release:

“It was weird, because I think I touched on it [in the last interview]. It was like this weight came off my shoulders. It was like this instant freedom. I remember people would tell me and go, it’s like this weight comes off and I never really understood until it actually happened. I was like, Oh, yeah. And then I was like, what happens with my green card? What am I going to do? I’m here on a visa, I own a house, I have dogs, then I went into panic mode. So that was more of the I was unsure about how to handle all of that, especially being an Australian. I’d been over here for a few years, but I don’t know that stuff. We had WWE do all that for me. So then I had to become an adult very quickly and figure out how to do all those things. But got through it, got my green card. It all came through and the rest is history.”

On being on a different schedule to his wife Rhea Ripley:

“Sometimes it becomes a bit of a pain in the ass. But we just kind of lock in that well, she’s definitely on a Monday, whether she’s on live events or not, depends. But then if I’m on a Wednesday or a Saturday, then we get a couple of days in there. But we learn to work it out.”

On making things work:

“Absolutely. But she’s also, I get kind of emotional talking about it, I’ve married my best friend. There isn’t anyone that I’d want to spend any more time with. I only need her. That’s it. I don’t need a massive group of friends. I don’t need approval. As long as I have her I could be the clown too, and we can just be chilled. I don’t need to go out. Give me a pizza, my wife, a horror movie, and we are good. I’m on cloud nine, and then generally, I’ll fall asleep, but that’s because I’m comfortable. That’s a good thing for a guy, if a guy could fall asleep. So yeah, but she’s my best friend, and now I’m very lucky.”

On photobombing fan’s photos with Rhea Ripley:

“I’ve started to try and make it a bit of a thing. So let me get this straight. All right. The first one, I get the photo, but I go into very protective mode of her, because I don’t know if they’re just going to come up. If they’re just coming up to her quickly, and I’m kind of her repellent, right? I’m constantly looking mad. So they [might think], oh maybe we don’t interrupt them. I’m not a very good repellent, apparently. So this one time, I was in the Publix’s line in the deli trying to get a sub, roses in my arm. I’m in my line, and it was a pretty busy line. While I’m in the line, someone gets a photo with her. I’m not losing my spot, I’m not moving, I’m getting that sub. So there’s a photo of me in the background just staring at him with roses in my hand. The next one I think you’re talking about is Walmart. We were in the pet section, now [they’re] following us. It was a weird interaction, because to me, we’re people, right? If you’re gonna ask for a photo, ask both of us for a photo. ‘Hey Buddy, hey Rhea, can I get a photo?’ Yeah sure, that’s fine. You want both. But if you’re gonna go up to one of us, go, ‘Hey, can I get a photo?’ Doesn’t necessarily mean both of us. So he didn’t ask me for a photo. So I just kind of back out, that’s just like my thing, made sure that I was in it. And then it went pretty viral. I know what he was doing, the way he captured and the way he took the photo was pretty obvious, but now I just made my thing. I’m just in the background.”

On being one of the first male Australian wrestlers to make it in WWE:

“Yeah, so Tenille moved over to Canada I believe. She was trained with Lance, so that was kind of her in. I think Tyler Breeze [was there] and there was a pretty big class that came from Lance’s school at the time. Then they had FCW in Tampa at the time was mini developmental, but yeah, she was the first one. She ended up moving over doing that. She actually gave me a little bit of a pep talk before she left. I did a show, and she goes, ‘What are you doing? You’re just going to stay here?’ Because everyone talked to me, ‘When are you going over? When are you going over?’ And just, oh, yeah, soon. But I didn’t want to take that leap in case I failed, because I was never really good at anything. I wasn’t good at school or anything like that. So to think that was my quick, oh, yeah, soon, soon, soon, because I didn’t want to be told that I wasn’t good at it. Then she gave me this little bit of pep talk. She goes, ‘You’re too good to just be sitting here.’ I was like, Alright, I gotta do something. So I ended up seeing a tweet from Bill DeMott at the time, who said that there was a try-out in Florida. I started working with my stepdad at this time, doing construction, so I had a steady job for the first time in my life, because the wrestling dream was always number one. I couldn’t hold a full-time job because I needed to wrestle on the weekends. So after that, I just told him, ‘Hey, there’s this try-out here. If you have to fire me, fire me, I have to take this opportunity.’ He goes, ‘No, that’s fine.’ So I ended up dropping like 10 grand, everything that I had, I put in. I paid for my try-out, I paid for my flight, paid for my accommodation, and just gave it my all. It was four days. I say it was like four days of hell, there were like 86 people, and at the end of the four days, they said, ‘Yeah, thanks everyone, the contract will be given to Matthew Adams.’ I just stood there and went me? There was NFL football players collapsing on us, it was hell, and I wasn’t going to let him break me. But I was so zoned in, and I remember I got it and then everyone’s like, yeah, clapping. Then they look back at them and they go, that’s it. And then they all looked at me like it was a comic book, they’re all happy and once there was no more contracts, they still turned on me, all heel. I was like, oh God. Then yeah, the whole process of doing the medical and then I moved over in 2013 came over.”

On his current relationship with wrestling:

“It’s tough. Because like you said, I’ve seen a lot of it, and I’ve done a lot of it. I’ve wrestled on WrestleMania. I’ve had dream matches. I think that where I’m at with wrestling now is I really as a performer, and to scratch my interest, what I feel like I need is I want to dive more into the storytelling aspect of things. I think that people know that I can wrestle and I can have good matches with pretty much everyone. I do put my hat on if Buddy’s in it, it’s going to be good, and I feel like I really haven’t dropped the ball when it comes to that. But I always try and find a way to hopefully scratch that itch that I want. So in every match, if you can kind of go back with what I’ve done recently in AEW, in every match, I try and put a little something that’s going to stand out in that different way, but something that I can hopefully build something off. So for instance, Adam Cole, when I wrestled Adam, he came back and they put a lot of faith in me to work with him, because he just had all the injuries, and he needed that come back and have a good match, good performance, but he was probably a little bit off himself. Can I do this? So I was very lucky to be put in the situation and work with him, and I love working with him. But I want to create a story in that match, well I could just go for your ankle, but what can I draw out of that 12-15 minute match that’s just not wrestling moves? How do I create a story in that? I don’t want to work his ankle until then he starts hitting a flurry on me, and then I have to go to the ankle to slow him down, because I think I called him fragile in that little match. It was just one match, but build it up. You’re fragile. I just want to prove that you’re fragile. Okay, well, I’m not fragile. Prove that. Then he goes, gets taken away. No, this is what I said. You’re fragile. I’m not fragile. Comes running back, tries to put it on me. I resort to the ankle, I know that he’s got it in him. I use it like Dragon Ball Z, he’s going Super Saiyan. I know that he’s good, but now he’s better than I thought that he was, and I’m bringing too much out of him. So I have to resort to try and do what I didn’t want to do. But when I worked Adam [Copeand], we hit a double cross body, I start coughing up blood. So now I’ve got cracked ribs, so that slows me down. It gives me a bit of I’m hindered. Then he hits the spear, okay? So then that goes into the thing with Brody. Think Brody actually got a little bit of color with Edge. So it was like, then it went into Malakai. So he’s spilled blood with all of us but Malakai, and then they go into a cage. So it’s just like one little thing with me coughing up blood, getting hurt, that then I’ve spilled blood with this person, spilled blood with this person, then it goes, it’s just a small, minor detail that we can stretch like with Andrade. Did the match. He just came back from the torn pec. Okay, well, what do you want to do? You got a 15-minute match, can you go 15 minutes? He doesn’t know. He hasn’t wrestled in a year. So let’s do a commercial break where it looks like you’ve hurt your pec, but you’ve hurt it yourself. But then maybe I get hurt too, and then we’ll use that into the finish. So then he hits the figure eight on me, and I tap out. We create the little story elements and those little details that can play out throughout the match, and that’s what I’ve been sinking my teeth into. But I want more than that. I want to do like the MJF’s that are killing the storytelling, like the Hangman’s killing the storytelling. I want to be in that.”

On his ankle:

“It’s okay. Rolled it pretty bad. Had an X ray, MRI. There was no break, but there was partial ligament tear and cartilage damage. [I’m] Walking. I haven’t ran, I haven’t jumped, I’ve just started implementing cardio, but then it kind of stiffens up. And, you know, we’re working through it, but the docs was were telling me I’ve never seen an ankle roll that much under someone without completely destroying, smashing, disintegrating the bones. So I didn’t break a bone, which was incredible, but then I had to wrestle 15 minutes after it.”

On knowing something was wrong:

“So as soon as I rolled, jumped off, and it went, you actually see me go f*ck. Then I go sit in my corner, I’m watching Okada, and then I could just feel my boot tightening up and I’m like, oh. Obviously I don’t know how bad it is. So I’m wrestling, and that was the first time. I’ve shattered my jaw in a wrestling match, I’ve had injuries before, but that was the first time in the ring that it got to me in the head. I remember doing the thing at the start, and then it started to really sink in, the pain. Then I remember Okada comes up to me and grabs me to whip me to the corner, rather than just going and listening and being in the moment I’m like, can I get there? So then when I got there, I’m like I made it what’s next? Then he just runs and just hits with this elbow. Now I’m two steps behind, because I’m just worried about whether I can even do it. Somehow I did, and we got through it, and pretty happy with how it came out, considering how hindered I was.”

On whether anything was cut out of the match:

“I don’t remember I did a step-up rana, and I was running somehow. Because I remember the doc afterwards. They had some trainer who did some soccer or rugby over there, who was in Australia when I did it. They were pulling on it, and you could kind of tell that they were like, yeah, I think you’ve ripped the ligament off the bone and pulled bone off. When I wiggled it, when we did the test, he was like it’s going to fall off.”

But you didn’t need surgery?

“I partially tore the ligaments, it didn’t even completely rupture it. So when he redid it, he was like oh God. When I touched that last time, it was like it’s gonna fall off. I went on my honeymoon afterwards, the next day. I was miserable, and I’m not letting it get me down. She goes, ‘Do not get injured in that match.’ I go, ‘Well technically, I didn’t get injured in the match, it’s before the bell.’ Then we spent a week in the Gold Coast, and I wasn’t letting her win. She wasn’t going to be able to throw that in my face and go, ‘Remember our honeymoon? You couldn’t walk?’ Well, I was hobbling around.”

On being on crutches:

“Yeah, I had started off with two, then it moved to one, and then I braced it up and taped it up so it was so thick that I was just limping around. But yeah, we got through it. It was a great time.”

On when he hopes to return to the ring:

“I’m hoping sooner rather than later. I’m obviously gonna have to get in the ring and suss it out and get back in ring shape. But I’m hoping in the next couple of weeks, fingers crossed.”

On what’s next now that Malakai Black is back in WWE:

“So Hounds of Hell have started. Obviously, we rebranded as the Hounds of Hell. It’s still House of Black, it’s just not under that name. We’re just adding a little bit more color to it, and just doing a bit more talking ourselves. We don’t want to just be House of Black under a new name. We need to change a little bit, new coat of paint. So we started that, obviously. Then I hurt my ankle, unfortunately. So then that kind of takes me out of the picture. Brody has been killing it, he’s having these f*cking blinders with Takeshita. Brody’s a big man that can do a lot of stuff and is killing it. But yeah, hoping we can get back to the Hounds of Hell, maybe have to a bit of a reboot just to kind of tell us that we’re all back together and stuff with Julia and stuff like that. But yeah, I’m sinking my teeth to get back in. I need that creative outlet to start going again.”

On a possible WWE return:

“I think that’s the big question. So I would love to do something with her. I think that story and our chemistry, just the way we are, would be good television. That’s definitely something, an itch I’d like to scratch. But the good thing about her in WWE and me and AEW and us both being in the business is that I would never want, and I don’t think I’d ever get there, I’d never want to be jealous, or get jealous of her in her position. She’s a megastar, she’s John Cena of women right now, and if I’m lowered, let’s just say I’m doing enhancement matches or whatever. I don’t want to be like, well, you’re doing that, you get this special treatment, and I get this and then kind of resent her for the position. Like I said, I don’t think it would ever happen, but I wouldn’t even want that to be an option. Then also, if something happens at work, I want her to be able to vent to me without me going, ‘Yeah, no, but this is how you play that game.’ I can kind of be that in the other in the back seat, go, Yeah, I understand what you’re talking about, you know you deserve whatever, or you know you should do it like this, or whatever, or just let her rant, and I can do the same to her. I can say I did this and did this. We can talk about the positives. We talk about the negatives. What upsets us and all, and it’s just like we’re on the same team. It would never become a competition.”

On being chopped by Rhea Ripley:

“We were streaming. I like the little Twitch community, it is fun. It’s all positive. It’s never really negative, very rarely negative, and we just kind of go on there to kind of chat. They’re all there to see her anyway. And there’s this thing called the hype train. So when you get a certain thing, it’s like catch the train, it’s a hype train. It goes by levels and I said, if we get to level 10, I’ll let her chop me. Never thinking, I didn’t know it went to 10. Then it gets to level 10, she chops me. We went tanning by the pool, and I’m like, I’m redheaded, doesn’t take me long to get burned. I was like, Man, this is a work, there’s no one else in the house. You could have just slapped your leg. No, that’s the competitiveness in her. She said, No, I get a shot at you, I’m taking my shot. So she did not hold back, and I had a handprint on me. Now everyone’s like, yep, chop him. Chop him. So yeah, she’ll take her shot when she can. But I tried to put her to sleep. She told it on Logan Paul. I put her in a triangle choke, and remember I’m an MMA fan. So I put her in a triangle, just tap. She goes, No, and I go just a little bit tighter, a little bit tired. I go, just tap, just tap. She goes No. I am squeezing a full triangle choke on it. She’s not tapping. My legs gassed out and then she just held me down. Scariest woman of my life. Why do you think I married her? I will be the most faithful man ever. Because if I ever upset this woman, she would kill me.”

What is Buddy Matthews grateful for?

“My wife, life and my wrestling career.”

The Hurt Syndicate On Reuniting in AEW, “WE HURT PEOPLE”, New Members, Cedric Alexander

in LATEST EPISODES on April 24, 2025 January 30, 2026

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Bobby Lashley (@fightbobby), Shelton Benjamin (@Sheltyb803) and MVP (@the305mvp) are a faction in AEW. They sit down with Chris Van Vliet in Toronto, Ontario to discuss getting the group back together in AEW after it was brought to a premature end in WWE, if they are interested in adding Cedric Alexander or any other members into the group, if MVP has retired, a possible World Title run for Shelton Benjamin, the rain delay at WrestleMania 37 that affected Bobby Lashley’s match, dream matches and more!

Quote I’m thinking about: Don’t be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin. – Grace Hansen

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On knowing that the group would one day get back together:

Bobby Lashley: “I did. I mean, it was inevitable. When we came together originally, it was so natural, it was so real. The crowd, you guys knew it. This isn’t just a couple of guys that got thrown together. You see it all the time. You see in WWE, you see it in AEW, guys that get thrown together. And the minute they leave the show, they all go their separate ways. That’s not how we work. We are really friends, we really do stuff together, we really argue, we really fight like brothers. This is real, you guys feel it, and that’s why it gets over so well.”

On whether the plan was for MVP to go first, then Shelton Benjamin and finally Bobby Lashley:

MVP: “Well, the plan originally was to get Bobby to join me. Bobby, let’s go man, let’s get out of here. Shelton’s already at home. All we gotta do is just not sign, get Shelton back and we can run this back. Our final act, we could do this. Bobby, finally, he relented, and he said, Alright.”

On what the group can do now that they couldn’t in WWE:

Shelton Benjamin: “Well, first of all, being actually seen in front of a live crowd. That’s a good start. But I think this time around we have a bit more control of our destiny, obviously, a lot more. What happened before, everything ended way prematurely. None of us were happy about that, and by us, I mean everyone. So the fact that we’re able to come here and give you the product that we want to give you, and everything’s going great. Like I said, we’re having the time of our lives.”

On possibly bringing Cedric Alexander into the group:

MVP: “I believe he is still on his 90 days.”

Bobby Lashley: “We love Ced, he’s like our little brother, so we will see what happens.”

On possible dream matches:

MVP: “I was actually very interested in the match-up that doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen just yet, but I was looking forward to seeing Cage and Archer against these two guys, to see some big, giant, physical tough guys that can actually try to bang with these dudes. I wanted to see that. I still like to see big guys go at it. I enjoy a heavyweight bout.”

Bobby Lashley: “Well, you know what? Going over to AEW, those guys are really good, and these guys trying to surprise us even more. When we first got there, we worked with Private Party and they shocked us at the beginning. I like those guys. I truly like those guys. I think those guys are going to be stars. But then The Gunns, they’re going to be stars also, and that’s the one thing that we do when we came over to AEW, we said, You know what, it’s not just about us. It’s about making some of these guys. And we don’t know who we were going to make. We were like, who in the landscape of AEW do we want to help elevate? So far, the teams that we’ve been against they’ve actually really impressed us. I like Private Party. I like The Gunns and The Outrunners, just recently getting with these guys man, we can’t be in the same room with these guys without falling out. I really like those guys, so we are going to beat them up, but we’re going to bring them up at the same time.”

MVP: “That’s something that I think the fandom needs to understand with us specifically. When we decided that we were going to get the band back together, we knew that realistically speaking this is the last ride, this is our last run and then we’re going to ride off into the sunset. Even though we’re in tremendous shape, we are still in our later years. The whole idea with what we want to do on our way out the door is make some stars. It’s one thing just to put guys over. No, that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about trying to take some of the equity that we’ve built up through the years and now reestablish that equity at AEW, and then when the time is right, with the right young talent, transfer that equity and make somebody.”

On a possible Shelton Benjamin World Title run in AEW:

Shelton Benjamin: “I’m going to just say yes. I definitely still want a world title. If you watch my performances, I’m not performing like a guy who wants to just retire and ride off into the sunset. While I definitely want to help elevate other talent, because that’s a big part of why we’re here, I still have goals. Being a World Champion in a prominent company is definitely on top of that list. Now, I have been World Champion for Puerto Rico, WWC, but I don’t know if we want to count that one. It counts? ok. But as far as WWE the big name companies, I won a World Championship, and I’m working every day to make sure that dream stays alive.”

On whether MVP has retired from the ring:

MVP: “No, not yet. I got a little bit left in me. It’s funny. We did a six-man about a month ago now, give or take, and they were teasing me because I was actually in there for a little while, and it felt good. It was coming back to me, and Shelton said, ‘Are you ever gonna tag out?’ I’m like oh yeah, maybe I should.”

On Max Caster’s previous remarks about Shelton Benjamin:

Shelton Benjamin: “We’ve spoken, and pretty much what I suspected was true, Max is an idiot. He was poking the bear but then the bear showed up and he decided, okay, maybe I should stop poking. So long story short, it’s my spot now.”

On a unique fan interaction:

MVP: “The one that sticks out in my mind, it’s so ridiculous that I laugh about it. I was at an autograph signing, and this couple came. I’d say they were probably in their late 20s. The guy had on the US championship belt, and he had on my T-shirt, but he was shy and his wife was doing all the talking. He finally broke and started talking. He goes, ‘Yeah, for my birthday, she actually let me while we were in the room…’ His wife just looks over at him and I’m looking, she goes, ‘Well, now go ahead, tell him. You brought him this far.’ And he goes, ‘We did it. I just yelled I’m coming!’ I’m just sitting at an autograph signing. I don’t know this dude, I don’t know this woman, but I’m all up in their bedroom. He said, sometimes she lets him do it with the championship title on. I’m like, thank you for this enlightening afternoon. It was very nice meeting both of you. Please pass the hand sanitizer.”

Shelton Benjamin: “That brings a whole new definition to ballin’.”

On the WrestleMania 37 rain delay:

Bobby Lashley: “When you have a match with somebody like Drew, because Drew brings out a lot of intensity there. I remember at one point we said, I was telling MVP man, I’ll just go fight him backstage, just bring a camera back. Because once you get so amped up and go and get ready for a match like that and it starts raining, you don’t want to just break that. You don’t want to keep waiting and waiting and going back and forth. I knew something was going to happen. I knew we were going to go out there eventually, but I think at some point I was just going to go and punch Drew in the mouth, and maybe we start just fighting. Because Drew was actually one of my favorite opponents. He’s up there on my list, just because he brought something out of me that a lot of guys didn’t. Because I think a lot of guys get out there and they hide behind a microphone, they can say whatever they want, try to be a tough guy. You really know they’re not. Drew just embodied a little bit more than that, and that’s why I was really amped up to have that match with him. So I was ready to go. We kept walking by, and I was like we might just have to start fighting back here. And then if it stops and we can just take that out to the ring. It was going to happen, especially just coming out of the pandemic, this was the first opportunity for us to be in front of a crowd. We were going to have a match no matter what.”

On what’s next for them in AEW:

MVP: “Look, I’m spoiling it for you. I’m telling you what’s going to happen. We are going to hold these Tag Team Titles until we’re done, until we decide as a group that okay, we’re now ready to move on to that next level. And then we are coming for singles championship gold, no tag teams. That’ll be done, but we gotta beat a few more people first and imprint The Hurt Syndicate label on these tag team titles so people will know we were here. They will remember. Then it’s on to the next phase, and that’s singles championships for these two gentlemen.”

On if their kids have talked about becoming wrestlers:

MVP: “Yeah, my son talks about it all the time like, Daddy, when I’m in the WWE, will they play my theme music too? He’s already got his moves named and everything, yeah, so that’s what he wants to do now at 10. I’ll see if I can send him down another path.”

Bobby Lashley: “I have two girls and a boy, and right now my boy is completely focused on football, but that’s what we do this for. We want to build legacy, so I’ve opened up some doors for him, just in case, not not as a fallback, but if he ever chooses to go into wrestling, the doors will be open for him.”

On possibly expanding the group:

MVP: “We are always ready to talk business with whomever, whenever, if the time is right. As they say, if it don’t make dollars, it don’t make sense. So I can tell you with the utmost confidence that at some point in the future, we’ll add another. I can promise you that. Who? When? I’m not at liberty to say but I can tell you that there will be another suit in the quartet.”

On the worst bumps they have taken:

Bobby Lashley: “One time when Big E slammed me into the stairs. I don’t know what even happened. The corner of the stairs, the metal stairs, he picked me up and he slammed me on it. And it was one of those ones where I thought when I hit it and I laid down that ground, I was like, am I good? I’m still okay. But when I watched it back, and I have it on my Instagram, it’s horrible. It looked a lot worse than it was. So thank God I was okay afterwards. I wasn’t hurt at all, but it looks nasty.”

Shelton Benjamin: “The worst bump I ever took was actually after I left WWE the first time and I was doing an indie show in Mexico. For some reason, again, this is Mexico. They had a ring and it was like double-stacked. So it was the height of a ring on top of a ring. At some point during the match, I took a bump where I was supposed to just roll out to the floor, and I rolled, and I forgot [the height]. I came down and splat on the concrete. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, I thought everything was broke. So I was like, I will never wrestle in one of these things again. When you hear the wind coming by your ears as you’re going down, you know you’re in trouble.”

Bayley On WrestleMania, Damage CTRL, Life After Wrestling, Mercedes Moné

in LATEST EPISODES on April 22, 2025 January 30, 2026

Bayley (@itsBayleyWWE) is a professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Las Vegas to discuss getting started with WWE and developing her Hugger persona, destroying the Bayley Buddies as part of her heel turn and if they might return, the injury that happened during the pandemic, the original plan for Damage CTRL, fans not liking her finisher, being left off the WrestleMania 40 press conference, her relationship with Michael Cole, life after wrestling and more!

Quote I’m thinking about: “You can’t change the weather but you can dress for it.”

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On mixing up the hair colors:

“Since Mania last year, I did purple because IYO and I had both had red hair, and so I was like well we’re not a team anymore, so I kind of need to change it up. Then I wanted to do full purple like this, but it was so last minute. We were on Sunday and then I had appearances Saturday, and I was like well, I can’t just show off my hair at an appearance. It has to show off at Mania. So, my hair lady came to my Airbnb I had for my friends and stuff at like four in the morning and just fixed all my red hair and put purple in. She’s like, I can’t do the whole thing. We don’t have time for that. It’s like, okay, so now I finally got it.”

On Michael Cole:

“We’ll be putting stuff together before the show and he’ll be like, ‘Hey Bayley, so I guess I gotta cheer for you tonight because you’re wrestling Liv.’ I’m like, ‘You don’t have to cheer for me, Michael, I don’t care what you do.’ [He goes] ‘Oh, well, screw you then’, and he just flips me off from the chair and I’m in the ring trying to do my work. He’s just so funny, dude. He’s for real, like a mentor to me. He’s somebody that I can go to, he’s been here for so long, and he’s always available. You can’t always get in Hunter’s ear, Michael Hayes is always available, and he has a very different mindset. But Cole is there watching everything, watching every girl’s match, watching all the guys’ matches, and he’s been doing it and calling matches forever. So getting his mindset on things is always super helpful and he’s just always rooting for us and he has a different insight on stuff. So as much as I give him crap on TV, he’s somebody that even just up until just Monday, I went on Pat’s bus with him. As I was getting ready, I was texting him, ‘Hey, where you at? I’m wrestling Liv, and I just have some notes to give you.’ And he’s like, ‘Hey, I’m on Pat’s bus, come on over.’ I’m like, okay. So I went and sat with him, and Pat and just kind of gave him some notes, but he also asked, so what’s going on with this, and what’s going on with that? How can we make this better? Because he kind of has an idea of the direction I want to go as a character. So he really is the best, and he really wants the best for everybody, but not everyone uses him as an outlet, but he’s so knowledgeable, and I’ve learned a lot from him.”

On how long she intends to wrestle for:

“When I was younger, because women didn’t wrestle as long as we’re doing it now. Trish and Lita, if you think about it, they were everyone’s heroes. They were my heroes, and they only did it like, six, seven years with WWE, and were only on top for three years or something. So to me, that was always in my head. But now you look at Nattie, who’s been here forever. I just wrestled her on Friday, and just incredible in the ring. Just one of one, and everything that she brings to it, not just in the ring, but her experience, and we really need that in the locker room. So I always think that even if I’m not wrestling every week, there’s something that I have that can help the locker room just like she does, just like Naomi does, just like Tamina does. But when I was younger I always said all right, 35 would be my cut off, because, in my opinion, guys can go forever, but it’s not that cute when you’re a woman and you’re 35. But now that I’m 35 I’m just like, Oh we’re all way past that, and we’re still, main eventing, we’re still, doing red carpets, we’re still doing all this stuff. People still care about us. So that’s kind of like something, they still care about us. So that’s kind of like changed my mindset.”

On what’s next:

“I have so many other things I want to make it into. I have a year and a half left on this current contract, so we’ll see what happens then. [And then what?] Man, I don’t know. I think I’ve done everything I really want to do, not everything. There’s still a lot I want to get done, but done so much with WWE and I’ve been here for already 12 years and there’s a huge wave of women coming in that I think are ready to take over, ready to be in those spots. Teaming with Lyra right now has been super eye-opening to what the whole division has to offer. I’ve got to work with Roxanne. I got to work with Cora. But even like last night, hanging out with Lyra, we went out to dinner, and we hung out with Michin for her birthday. But being able to hang out with her outside of wrestling, hearing her mindset and why she does this, why she wants to make it better, what she wants to make better, how she wants to help even me. Things that we’re doing going into WrestleMania, how she wants to be better for me makes me so happy that there’s people like that and women like that that want to be better for the division. So when I think about okay, I might be done in a couple of years, who knows? I know that it’s going to be in good hands. So that makes me really happy. Where before John Cena always says he couldn’t leave, because who was going to do what he does? Who’s going to take his place? Who’s going to be the one to freaking put asses in seats? Who’s going to be the one that the kids want to see, that the kids idolize to the level that he does? Cody’s doing that. I’m not saying I’m John Cena, but that’s kind of the same mindset. As long as it’s in good hands, the goal was to just leave it in a better place than you found it.”

On getting to WWE:

“I didn’t know how to explain it. I didn’t know how I was gonna get here, it’s a little different nowadays. You see NXT, or you see WWE ID, you see different avenues and routes that you can take to get here. But I never saw how to get here, and I didn’t even know when I ended up training at my wrestling school, I didn’t know they had a school, and I didn’t know what I was going to do, but there was just something that I believed in. Something I felt that was just pulling me like okay, you’re gonna be there one day. So I wasn’t ever worried that I wasn’t gonna make it. I was just like how will I get there? But I always knew I was and it’s just a weird feeling, and not like a cocky thing, I have no business just being here. I’m not athletic, I’m not a model, I don’t have anything that stands [out]. I just had that feeling. I tell people that all the time. What advice would you give to anyone who has a dream, or anyone who wants to be a wrestler? And it sounds like such the lamest answer, but it’s so true. You can do literally anything you want. People think that it’s too out of reach, like whatever they want.”

On developing her hugger persona:

“The fans made that happen. So when I came up with the character, my character came from Molly Shannon from Superstar, the movie, that’s where it stemmed from. I was like, okay, I can have all the nervous antics like her, and then I could just be a super fan, and Dusty loved it. When we started doing promo class, everybody was looking forward to who I was going to be a fan of that day, or what I was going to do and I just had so much fun. Then when we finally did it on TV, I wrestled Alicia Fox, it wasn’t even that match. It was actually my match with AJ [Lee]. We were doing something where I literally went to hug and I was just gonna hug her as a fan. Then just me hugging her got a crazy reaction at Full Sail. Then I was like, All right, I’m just gonna run you into the corner. So I ran her to the corner so it came off like an offensive move, and they went freaking crazy. Then she told me do it again, so then I grabbed her and ran her to the corner. She’s like, one more time, and I did, and they were getting louder and louder each time. Then I think the next match they just started chanting, ‘Bayley’s gonna hug you’, and that was never my thought of being like I’m gonna be a hugger. Never had merch ideas, nothing. But it was from that match and her just saying do it again. All right, one more time. Just her hearing that reaction, it’d be hilarious.”

On the Bayley Buddies:

“I think that was supposed to be Adam Rose’s. I don’t know what exactly happened or why it didn’t work for him, maybe he didn’t want it. But I literally showed up at TV that day and they’re like, hey, we want to go through your entrance real quick. I was like, okay. At that point, I was like, they never do that to me. I’m just freaking loser, I just walk out and I wave to people. I already had the character, but I think that I was maybe a month into the character, then they surprised me with it, came out and they popped up. It’s like, this is awesome. Everybody watching, talent and stuff were like, Dude, that looks so cool and, yeah, it became a thing. I think it was supposed to be for Adam Rose though, because he had a whole, crazy character stuff. But I was so happy even having that. I remember sometimes at entrances for big matches, whenever they would pop up it would get a second pop. I would get a good reaction. But then the tube men got a big pop. It was like oh sh*t, they’re here.”

On whether the Bayley Buddies will return:

“I cut them up and then they sold them. They sold the cut ones. They sliced them into pieces, and then they sold them. I think it’s like a picture of me slicing them, or something like that. I don’t know.”

On her pandemic injury:

“This will be a story for another day, because I’m not ready to share it yet, but my injury ended up being more than what everybody knows. It was a bigger injury than anybody knows. There’s a few people that are aware of it, and obviously the office and stuff. But that’s the reason, wasn’t just an ACL thing, it was a bigger injury, and that’s the reason why it kept me out longer. It still bugs me to this day, I can’t do certain things, it’s hard for me to run, it’s hard for me to do leg curls. There’s a lot of things that I can’t do because of that injury. So there was a time, maybe in PT doing stuff where I was like I can’t even walk, I can’t jump. How am I supposed to wrestle in like three months or something? So there was that little doubt which I’m sure everybody goes through with injuries, but I always knew that I was going to come back. Because, I mean, it wasn’t that crazy of an injury. It was just like where am I going to fit in kind of thing. My whole idea behind Damage CTRL was like alright, I’ve won my championships. I’ve had my Mania moments. Now as a character and as a bad guy, I could be like I don’t even want anything for myself, I want it for them. They’re gonna reap all the benefits of my experience, and they’re gonna get all the championships, and they’re gonna get everything. Then when the time is right, I’m gonna steal it right from them, I’m gonna take the spotlight right back when I’m ready. But while I’m still recovering and finding my ways, they’re gonna do all the work for me. That was my idea behind it.”

On her original pitch for Damage CTRL:

“I had a whole [plan], there’s five of us, my pitch for Damage CTRL. I also had Raquel in it. I also had Alba Fyre in it. I had so many other girls in mind too. I had Toni Storm. I wanted Toni Storm in it. But when I actually sat at the PC and shot stuff, it was with Raquel and Alba, and all five of us. I had reasons why I wanted them. Raquel was obviously our muscle, but she was teaming with Dakota at the time, I believe. So they worked out perfectly. Alba and IYO I think we’re teaming a little bit there, so they worked out perfectly. But in my mind, it was there’s two tag teams, and then IYO was my champion; she was going to be the champion. I just want to do everything in wrestling. That’s how I always thought. I want to be a bad guy. I want to be a good guy. I want to be in a faction. I want to be in a tag team. I want to be a singles wrestler. I want to be in a romantic love angle someday. I want to be able to do everything, because there’s so many different things that we could do in this crazy world to not try different avenues and work with as many people as possible. I just want to do it.”

On having more fun as a heel:

“I’m still having a hard time finding myself as a babyface right now. I feel like I’m just so much of me as a person, like me, Pam, and it doesn’t translate well in wrestling. So I’m trying to find how that works. In my mind, when I was like I’m gonna turn, me and Damage CTRL are breaking up, win the title, I thought I’m gonna have the most fun. Now I have the experience of a good guy and a bad guy I’m gonna be like Stone Cold Steve Austin, I’m gonna have the most fun ever, and it just wasn’t that. It just wasn’t fun, it was just kind of like more I wasn’t having fun, and I felt like the reign wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. So that obviously translated in the ring, and it just nothing was there. So I feel like I’m still trying to find where that is. But as a heel, it’s so fun. I can just turn up my annoying sh*t easily, like how I am with my friends, or how I am with my family or my mom. I’m so annoying to my mom, I can just turn all that up and people can relate to that, I think, because they all know somebody like that, there’s just like too much, and that’s really fun. I feel like Liv is in that spot right now where she’s the sweetest ever, but she also has this side of her of she’s super talkative and social and loud, and now she can bring all that into a character and turn it up a million and do it with Dom, who everyone loves to hate right now, so I think it’s more fun. I know everybody says that, but not everybody can do it, I think.”

On changing her finisher:

“Everyone hates my finish, huh? Sorry guys. It was a finish that I did on the indies. [Why do they hate it?] I don’t know. The setup is really hard. Sometimes I’m like trying to figure out where to put it, or how to get into it. I’m like, Man, this is annoying. This move sucks. But I think it’s hard to get into sometimes, but when I get smooth ways to do it, it comes out really good. But that is why I changed it, and because I thought the Bayley to belly was very gimmicky.”

On some fans still not giving her the respect she deserves:

“And that sucks, because like I said, I don’t let things get to me and I stopped reading tweets or comments and all that stuff a long time ago. But I do feel that, and I see that, and I’m just like, What am I missing? So that’s the one thing that still gets to me, and maybe that’s ego or pride or whatever. But I’m just like, What am I missing that you don’t understand what I’ve done for this industry? It’s hard to explain, especially now, because I feel like, okay, I’ve been wrestling for like 16 years altogether. So I’m like, Okay, well obviously I’m gonna slow down at some point, but now when I see sh*t like that, ‘She’s not this or not this…’ Now I gotta prove them wrong. But there’s also a part of me that feels and agrees with them. I was just telling Lyra this the other day. We’ve been doing a lot of bonding. I don’t feel that I’m at a level of Charlotte or a Becky. We came up together and I wrestled Charlotte in her first match ever, I was signed to WWE before Becky. So to me, they’re up here, and I’m just not there yet. Maybe that’s kind of where people base it off, or where they judge it, or whatever. But I keep saying I get my feedback and opinions from the right people. To me, someone like Tyler Breeze, who taught me so many things. I still talk to him about all my matches, he still gives me feedback, he still gives me ideas to this day and if he enjoys something that I do, then I believe it, and I respect it. But if he tells me you need to do this better, I’ll do it. Someone like TJ, whatever he says, I respect it, and I believe him. So as many people think that I’m not at this level, or whatever, part of me agrees with them, because I don’t think I’m there yet.”

On not being at the WrestleMania 40 press conference:

“I don’t get on the press conference. I don’t get on the posters. I don’t get to do the talk shows. I don’t know what else to do, and it’s not like [there’s an issue], there’s no heat backstage or anything like that. Hunter and I have a really good relationship. Bruce and I have a really good relationship, all the TR, I have such a good relationship with them, and I’ve always been professional. Even when I’ve gone to other shows to support my friends, we’ve had those conversations of like, the do’s and the don’ts, and that was a little too much. We’ve had those conversations, so I think we’re at a real respect level. Hunter has gone on a press conference being like, Bayley’s this, Bayley’s this, she’s everything that you could possibly want out of a superstar, which I appreciate. But it’s like alright, well what do I need to do to get me there?”

On the Hey Bayley chant:

“I think it was in London, the tour we did. Because I did a tour when I was NXT Champion with WWE before our Brooklyn match. But I think it was the tour that we did with NXT before my London match with Nia. So we did a few shows before the London match, and I think the UK crowd started it then, and I didn’t really get it until maybe the second or third show. Because it was our first time there. But they were chanting for everybody. And then when they came up with that, I was like, that’s really cool. But then when we did it in London, that was the first time I felt that the crowd really brought me to life. I wish everybody could feel that feeling. I say that all the time, but it was like she was killing me in the match and I was just like, dead, how am I going to survive kind of thing, dead on the floor. When they started singing, I felt such a crazy energy like they’re really bringing me back to life. It was so, so wild. I just love that it’s come this far and that they still do it. I feel like that’s something I always have when I go over there and I love it.”

What is Bayley grateful for?

“My family, my health and that I get to travel.”

Chelsea Green On Being US Champion, Michael Cole Hating Her, Wrestling Against Penta, Matt Cardona

in LATEST EPISODES on April 17, 2025 January 30, 2026

Chelsea Green (@ImChelseaGreen) is a professional wrestler currently signed to WWE and the Women’s United States Champion. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Chicago, IL to discuss winning the title and the original plan for the victory, coming back to WWE after her 2021 release, if a Matt Cardona WWE return could still happen, Michael Cole’s commentary during her dumpster match with Michin, her match with Penta in Lucha Underground and a possible rematch and more!

Quote I’m thinking about: “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” – Maya Angelou

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On wrestling under her real name:

“I’m blessed, and I think about that often. Let me tell you, I think about that so often, because when I got into wrestling I so badly wanted to change my name. I wanted an alter ego. I thought that was the whole point of wrestling. You have an alter ego and you turn it on when you get to the ring. Then I realized that some of the best wrestlers are just themselves turned up and then I couldn’t imagine being anyone else but Chelsea Green. I really, really despised the name Laurel Van Ness to my core. When people call me Laurel I was like, Oh God, and that’s why I never related to that name. I related to all the characters I played, but the name I was like, no, please just call me Chelsea. I couldn’t change my Instagram to Laurel. I just couldn’t do it. And all my girlfriends were doing it. Allie was doing it, Sienna was doing it. Rosemary still does it. But I just wanted to be Chelsea Green, and I wanted people to know who Chelsea was.”

On the inspiration for Laural Van Ness:

“I will give Madison Rayne all credit for that name in terms of we put a lot of thought into what we were gonna name me. We knew I was gonna be some sort of rich girl that was bratty and snobby. The very typical girly heel, snotty, bratty, daddy’s girl. So we kept coming up with different names that were very rich-sounding. I really liked the name Whitney. I thought, if I could call myself Whitney, I thought that was so giving Bratz dolls or Barbie and so I really liked Whitney. I tried for it to be Whitney. I can’t remember why that never happened. Then we had a couple of other names, and then we were really stuck on a last name, and we kept going back to it had to be two names, like really rich names, or I don’t know, like Van DeBilt.”

“Then we were gonna go Van DeBilt and we couldn’t get it approved. It was too convoluted with everything Van DeBilt. So last minute I walked out, I looked back on the Tron and I’m like, Laurel VanNess, and it was one word, and then I realized, no they had got it wrong. The Tron people had got it wrong, and it was supposed to be Van Ness. I don’t know why I just spoke about that for so long, but I didn’t like it. It’s a great story and every little bit of me has been defined by a character. You know, my indie run was at the beginning, was Jaida, that was my very first name, and then Laurel Van Ness and Reclusa and the hot mess, I like that. It’s boring if it just all meshes together.”

On her WWE release in 2021:

“So I was in my kitchen with Santana Garrett and I got a call from Johnny Ace, who was in the office at the time. He was very sweet and told me we wish you the best, blah, blah, blah. I immediately got out a pen and paper and I was like, What do I want to do? Where do I want to go? What are the things that I didn’t do the first time around that in hindsight when I got to WWE, I was like damn, I wish I had that on my resume. I wish I could say that I had done that. It was NWA, Ring of Honor, and then I think a couple of countries maybe, but mostly NWA and Ring of Honor were two companies that I was like, if I had just had that on my resume I could have been one of the only girls to say I did it all. Because I worked for TNA, I worked for Lucha Underground. I had worked All In, which was AEW, then NWA and Ring of Honor. Maybe now you could say New Japan, because they have the girls, but you couldn’t say that at the time. So if I just could do that, then I’ve done everything. So I set out on my goal to do those. And I think I did those even before my 90 days was up, I called the office and asked to be released in my contract early, stopped getting paid early so I could do those shows. Then I did that and I’m like oh, boy. Okay, so now I’ve done it, how do I make an impact and get back to WWE?”

On a possible Matt Cardona return to WWE:

“We’re waiting. It’s gonna happen, I hope. Honestly, I could go on a whole podcast rant about all the things he’s done and why he deserves to be back, there’s nobody who has recreated themselves like him. Cody did a great job of recreating himself, but at the end of the day Cody is Cody. Matt was a babyface for almost 20 years in WWE. His career was just all him being a babyface. Nobody believed he could be a heel and then he went out and became the biggest heel on the Indies ever. Well, I actually think the biggest star the Indies has ever seen, period.”

On why Matt Cardona hasn’t worn the Women’s US Title for an indy match:

“So what happened is he found out. When I was winning it we kind of found out maybe right before, and he went and tried to get one sent to him. Before they were even released, they were only going to be dropped that night when I won the title in Long Island. So we contacted Fanatics. We tried to get one early because he had a GCW show at 8 pm on the West Coast. So if I won around eight to nine, if he had that title, he could come out with it, and I would have won with the time change. But it never got to our house in time. So then he was like the buzz has kind of worn off, you want to do it right when it happens. He really didn’t have a show, then it was Christmas, so he didn’t have a show for a couple of weeks. One thing about us, we’re gonna do things right when it happens. We’re gonna try to be topical, or else you don’t really trend the same way.”

On the original plan to win the Women’s US Championship at Survivor Series:

“I was supposed to win it at Survivor Series in, not only in Canada on the West Coast. And do you know how many tickets I bought for that show? [You had to buy them?] Oh, well, that’s a whole other conversation. But keep in mind when I say bought [tickets], I had like 30 friends and family there. I had every bridesmaid and I had like 12 bridesmaids. I had every bridesmaid there, all of their partners. I had their babies there. I had all of my family, my mom’s friends, everyone was there. I don’t know when the plans changed, but when I found out was probably a week before.”

On fans wanting to see Chelsea Green win Money in the Bank in 2024:

“That was how I felt, too. I was just hoping and praying it was gonna be Money in the Bank. But when it was Tiffy I was like that makes sense. Also I feel she’s such an amazing champion, she’s so young. She has so much time ahead of her. She’s gonna be a champion over and over and over again and possibly go on to be in the Hall of Fame. So I think this is a perfect start to her story. Give her something, and let’s see how she rolls with it. Let’s see how people latch on to that. It was great, and then it left this open for me. That’s perfect.”

On a Trish Stratus dream match:

“When is it gonna happen? How many times does she have to come back and not wrestle me? What the hell? Trish, I could have been your tag partner in Toronto. Hello, I was there. She didn’t choose me, but that’s fine. I still love her. I really have always pushed for a Trish versus Chelsea versus Nattie match. I think that could be kind of amazing. It needs to be in Canada, of course.”

On finding out she would win the Women’s US Championship:

“So the funny thing about WWE is they never really want to tell you something, because card subject to change is real. That’s what they always say, card subject to change, because anything can happen outside of the ring, inside, on social media, public perception, anything can change. I can’t tell you how many times I have shown up to work thinking I was going to do one thing and we have gone completely the other way. It’s happening right now, my phone is going off, Change of plans. We’re always rewriting the show, and it goes all the way up until we’re live. Even then, things change as we’re live. So they kind of started telling me, people kept acting like I knew I was gonna win and talking to me like I knew I was winning, so they’re just talking to me like, okay, and then we’re gonna do this and this. And I’m like, Okay, so I think I’m winning, but I don’t want to ask anyone because that’s embarrassing. ‘Um, hey, by the way, am I winning?’ What if I’m not? What if I’m totally misinterpreting all this? So they did this to me for I would say a month of talking to me like I was winning without actually knowing. Michin also kind of told me, ‘Hey, by the way, it looks like you’re winning so let’s plan this match with that in mind.’ We kind of spoke about that a week before and I was like, okay, but I want to build the match not like that. I want to build the match so that anyone could win at the finish, and then whoever wins we just sneak one out on the other one. So I think we did a good job of that, but as we were walking to the ring to go through things I was being filmed. So that’s a big telltale sign, you’re being filmed for something WWE. So they had me walk to the ring, and then they had this very, very, very awkward moment between me and Shane Helms where he basically told me that I’m winning, we were just all downplaying it big time and it was very awkward. I hope that footage comes out, because Triple H is sitting there watching us have the conversation, but he’s not telling me. But obviously he decided it, and I’m like this is so weird that he’s watching me react, so I’m trying to be excited, but I’ve also kind of known and hoped that this was gonna happen, and then I’m also like but if I react too big is that kind of icky? I’m so excited I’m winning, do you know what I mean? A lot of emotions were going through me and I’m not a very emotional person too, so that doesn’t help the reaction. So it was very awkward. So I hope that moment airs somewhere. I hope you guys all get to see that.”

On her US-inspired gear:

“So again, when I found out that there was going to be this path to the United States Championship, Matt and I sat down and we’re like okay, if I was the winner of this inaugural title, I can’t have the title make me, I have to make the title. What can I do? I knew I wanted to take some inspiration from King Booker and stuff like that. We kind of went through all these different iterations and it all came so quickly. I truly hadn’t come up with a game plan, because you’re not gonna really come up with a game plan for this hopeful thing. So I kind of had floated a bunch of ideas by and then all of a sudden, oh my gosh, here I am. It’s Long Island. I won it, now what? I had to make a decision very fast because creative asked me, What do you want to do for your celebration? That was my entry into this is what this title is going to be. This is what Chelsea is going to bring to the table as the first-ever United States Women’s Champion. It had to be something special. And I’m like I’m going to be the President. I’m going to be so delusional, but topical, this is what’s happening right now in America, let’s be the president. Let’s not call it a celebration. Let’s call it an inauguration, and I need a stamp. I need a presidential seal. So I designed the Presidential seal and from there, it just snowballed. What I like to do with these characters is I don’t flesh out the entire character. I like a good backstory, but I just know this is kind of what I want it to look like somewhat. Then every week someone gives me a new idea, just like the hot mess, like with the bride every week someone gave me a new idea and I was able to incorporate that into the character. And then with that you have your future laid out, so you’ve got your backstory already, and then you start to go from there and build the blocks to the future of this championship or this character.”

On Michael Cole’s commentary on the dumpster match:

“I never know what’s being said about me. I don’t go back and watch my matches. I cannot watch myself. I give myself the ick so I can’t do it. But when people sent me the clips of what Michael Cole was saying I was like, my god, you are a legend. I sent him a card, a pop-up card thanking him for doing commentary on the match where I won the United States Championship. The card was so obnoxious. It opens and it’s a pop-up American flag, and I said, ‘You’re the greatest. I love to hate you.'”

On fans wanting a match between Chelsea Green and Penta:

“I did not realize that that would [gain traction]. I mean, it got some traction when it first aired but not the way it has now. Oh my goodness, it’s crazy to see how much steam it has picked up in the past couple of years. And then obviously, when he signed with WWE, we ran into each other in the hall in Toronto, and he was like, ‘You and me, rematch?’ I’m like, I don’t think so, pal. I think we’re good. We did our one match, and everyone loves it, let’s not. But I do remember having the match and coming back, and everyone at Lucha Underground was so kind to me, so kind. I was hired at the end of the season, I came in, I killed Sexy Starr off, and then I teamed up with Marty and me and Penta had this crazy match. That’s what dreams are made of. I didn’t even have to put the work in. They worked all season to make this unbelievable show and I just came in and had this match with one of their top stars. I would have hated me, but they were so kind and so sweet to me and they all gave me these big hugs. I’ll never forget John Morrison being like, ‘Chelsea I’ve never seen you wrestle like that, ever. I’ve already texted Matt and told him how incredible that was.’ I was like, oh, okay, wow, thank you. That’s very nice. I thought he was being dramatic. Then of course, I never watched myself, so I see clips, but I never watched the match. Now I’ve basically watched it because my God, people this year have been showing me every single move I did. I’m like, damn.”

What is Chelsea Green grateful for?

“The support of my husband, the fans, and having this job long enough that I can take care of my family.”

Natalya On 18 Years In WWE, Hart Family Legacy, Training Nikki Bella, The Dungeon 2.0

in LATEST EPISODES on April 15, 2025 April 15, 2025

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Natalya (@NatbyNature) is a professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet at Insight Live in Toronto to discuss her journey from being a waitress to a WWE Superstar, having to fight for spots on the card, helping Nikki Bella train for her Royal Rumble return, getting her teeth knocked out a live event, memories of her father WWE Hall Of Famer Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, her time on Total Divas, her Canadian Mount Rushmore (with no Hart members) and more!

Quote I’m thinking about: “The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus” – Bruce Lee

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On her job before pro wrestling:

“Before I got to WWE, I was a waitress. So I worked at a restaurant called Montana’s. Before I worked at Montana’s, I worked at a restaurant called Humpty’s. And to this day, Humpty’s is my favorite. People will say, where do you want to go to eat? When I came up I said to Bret let’s go to Humpty’s, I gotta get my eggs benedict. It’s just a Canadian thing. I don’t know if you guys have Humpty’s. It must be like a Calgary, West Coast thing. But yeah, I worked at a place called Montana’s. I worked there as a hostess, a bust person and a waitress for like 10 years, until I finally got hired by WWE. I remember telling my manager, and I loved it, I will never forget this moment I told my manager at Montana’s. I was like, I’m so sorry, but I’m just giving him my two weeks notice. I just got hired by WWE. I did not say I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. But I was so excited because I had worked that waitressing job, I cleaned bathrooms, I busted tables, and I did my wrestling when I wasn’t working at that job, and I just fought so hard to get here. I always remembered how much I actually enjoyed waitressing. I think everybody that does public service or works in the service industry, like I give them a round of applause, because you guys, whoever works in restaurants or retail or has to serve people, it is not easy.”

On the moment where it clicked in WWE:

“There’s been so many moments. I mean, just getting the phone call. I remember getting the phone call that I was getting hired. I was so excited. It’s funny now, because you hear about contract negotiations and this and that. I remember when I got called, I was told, Hey, we’re going to hire you at this amount. And then they called back and said, Actually, we changed our minds, it’s a little lower and I was like, no worries. Don’t even worry about it, it’s fine. I just remember being so excited, even though they called back and said actually, no, it’s not gonna be that much. I was like, It’s fine. I was just so excited when I got my first WWE check in the mail. I actually have never shared this before, but I have saved every single paycheck I’ve ever gotten from WWE. I have saved the stub, the check stub. I’ve saved all of them, every single one of them. Because I just remembered how big of a deal it was for me to get that. Even when they were small, and I was only making in my first year in WWE $500 a week. So of course that’s not terrible by any means, when you’re just getting started, but when you have to pay for ring gear and your hair and your makeup, and you have to pay taxes on that. In some ways it was less money than I was making as a waitress. But for me, it was about getting my foot in the door. I just had to get my foot in the door and that’s how 18 years later I’m still here. But yeah, just getting to be a part of the company and I never have ever taken it for granted. I always try to approach going to work like, even though we all are human, we all have our highs and lows and ups and downs. I’m just so grateful that I get to do such a fun job, do what I love and do something that just fulfills me. It makes me so happy.”

On still looking to prove herself:

“Here’s the thing, even right now in WWE we look at the Women’s Division, it’s never, ever been this competitive, ever. Across NXT, Raw, or SmackDown it’s never, ever been like this. The girls that we have across the board are incredible. I look at the NXT Women’s roster and I’m like they’re amazing. There’s so many women there that I want to work with. I look at the Raw women’s roster, everybody is so good. I look at the SmackDown Women’s roster, everybody is very, very talented. So you have all this stuff to choose for all these different styles and different, as we say, flavors of ice cream to choose from with every girl bringing something unique to the table. So for me, because I have been here for so long, I understand that like even for me, I don’t like everybody. Not everybody has to like everybody. Not everybody has to like me. When I signed my new deal with WWE, I signed it last June and I thought to myself as long as I continue to stay in WWE I have to always remember to keep proving myself. I can’t just rest on the fact that I have a world record for the most matches, or the most wins, or the most this, or the most that or that I had a really great match with Charlotte at TakeOver. To me, when you continue to work in WWE, you always have to keep proving yourself no matter what it is that you’re doing, even if you’re not working at WWE.

So I kind of made that vow to myself that if I want to continue working here, I have to not only prove myself and not only fight to be in this division, but also fight to prove my detractors wrong. So that’s why I thought about myself wrestling elsewhere. I thought, Hmm, I wonder what it would be like. I wonder what it would look like for me to wrestle elsewhere, and I want to wrestle everywhere. That’s the thing, I want to wrestle everywhere. That’s what I love about my ring. My ring is really kind of like a forbidden door. The dungeon that TJ and I have. I love all these different people coming in and just bringing passion, whether it’s Joe Hendry, whether it’s Kevin Knight, whether it’s DeReiss, whether it’s Riho, B-Fab comes in, Dawkins, Apollo, all these different people come to our ring, whether they’re on the independents, they come from all these different places and that’s what I want to do. I want to wrestle everywhere. I love that WWE is starting to do that, and actually in the coming weeks, because of how I feel about this and the need to continue to prove myself in the division and fight to be in the division and fight to have my spot in the division. Because, honestly, just because I’ve done a bunch of stuff here doesn’t mean I [should be on TV], wrestling owes nobody anything. WWE doesn’t owe me anything. So for me, it’s always about proving myself with everything that I do, every practice that I run at the dungeon, every match that I have in WWE, it’s all about proving myself. And so in the coming weeks there’s going to be some announcements made. WWE and myself, we’re going to be addressing some very, very exciting things coming up. Because, yeah, I want to wrestle. I really want to wrestle everywhere.”

On helping Nikki Bella train for her WWE return at the Royal Rumble:

“Nikki actually has been coming and training with me privately. So she flies in every week, and she’s been coming and working with me. I will tell you that she hasn’t lost it, she has so much passion for this. It’s funny because I saw her last week. She came to Tampa and I said to her, This is so funny because we started our careers together in the very same week, Nikki and I and Brie. So we started together in the same week in developmental in WWE and I remember when all three of us had nothing. All three of us were hired at the very base amount of pay and it was never, ever about the money. It was always about the work, the passion. So we were just laughing and sharing old stories.

I didn’t have enough money to buy wrestling gear, so The Bella Twins were giving me their clothes. Because when you just get started, you’re just kind of literally just getting started. I went to Florida with this one suitcase because I was like, I gotta get down to Florida, I’ll just leave everything behind. I’ll get back to Calgary. I never went back to live [in Calgary] because my whole life with WWE has been kind of stateside as far as living, but I didn’t have money for a lot of the things that we need to look like superstars. So The Bella Twins, they were giving me their clothes. They were giving me stuff to look nice. I was taking certain things that they had and I was cutting them up and glueing my own sequins on them, and trying to make it. I look back on that now I’m like Nattie you look like sh*t, pardon my language. But I was like, I wouldn’t have hired you looking like that, because you look horrible, but you do what you have to do. I just remember those early years with the twins. So being able to help Nikki prepare for Royal Rumble and of course, I would love to see Nikki back. I’m looking for a tag team partner and of course I’d love to have Nikki as my partner. But I just love her, and I love Brie so much, and they just have so much passion. So seeing what Nikki’s doing in the ring and doing in our dungeon, I mean, our dungeon is really like a dungeon. We try to make it as much like the original dungeon that my grandfather started in Calgary. There’s no air conditioning. It’s in Florida. It’s just a small room with enough room to put a ring in, and there’s one bathroom, and there’s some fans, and there’s a lot of stray cats that my husband and I feed.”

On getting her teeth knocked out:

“So yeah, my front teeth aren’t real, amongst other things [laughs]. But when you’re a lady wrestler, listen, a lot of things get kind of crazy. I feel like at night when I come home after a match I’m like pulling out hair extensions, I’m pulling off eyelashes, I’m taking off my tanner. TJ is like who is that? I’m like, This is me, I’m putting on my pyjamas. But we’ve been on a live event in Las Vegas, and it was a six woman tag. It was me Carmella and Alexa were a team, and it was against Nikki and two other girls and Nikki tackled me. She gave me a crazy shoulder tackle that turned into a head butt and I lost my two front teeth. So there was a picture that kind of went viral of my teeth that were missing, and I was with Renee Young because when I got my teeth knocked out I knew what happened. I gave them to the referee who gave them to the security guard. I didn’t know the security guard, he just had my teeth in his hand. Then I remember Alexa Bliss saying, Do you want me to finish the match? I was like, I’ve got this. I’m already in there. I’m good. Anyway, finished the match like a pro, and afterwards, I remember Renee driving me to an emergency dentist at midnight in Las Vegas. I got two fake front teeth put back, they made me a little bridge, and it got me through the weekend. But, yeah, there’s a lot of teeth that I have that aren’t real and we’ll give Nikki all the credit for that.”

On Jim Neidhart:

“I remember when my dad came to my kindergarten PTA meeting, and he showed up on a Ninja motorcycle with no shirt on. He was wearing a fanny pack. Remember that little pink hat my dad used to wear? He showed up with that hat on and a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses, he showed up like The Anvil, but he had no shirt on. He had three different types of spandex on that were layered, because he loved spandex. And he had these knee pads that were on, he was wearing Reeboks pumps but then the knee pads were down by his shoes and he showed up to the PTA meeting like that.

I remember it was kindergarten, it was bring your parent to work day and all the other kids’ parents were like I’m a dentist and I’m a librarian and I’m a banker. My dad came in and I was so excited. I mean, sweat was dripping off of his chest, he had no shirt on, and he was wearing spandex and a Rolex watch, and he just looked like a maniac. And, of course, I was so excited. Think about it. This guy’s 300 pounds. He’s got no shirt on. He’s just barrel-chested, I would say he was just resembling Otis at some points. So he comes in and then it’s my dad’s turn to talk and I’m so excited. I’m in kindergarten here, my dad tells everybody in the kindergarten class don’t worry about going to school, worry about doing well in sports. The teacher was trying to pull my dad off stage like a referee trying to interfere in a match. She was like, get him off stage. My dad’s like, ‘No, no, it’s fine. Don’t worry about doing well in school. What you need to do is do well in sports. Because I got everything from sports. I never even went to class.’ We were like, Oh my God, my dad was literally telling these kindergarteners not to worry about school. I will never forget that they never invited him back and I was so traumatized. My parents are crazy. But my dad, especially when your dad’s The Anvil. He’s The Anvil on television, he’s The Anvil at home. That’s why a lot of guys didn’t ask me out when I was in high school. People didn’t want to knock on the door and get my dad pulling a beer going like, ‘Hi can I help you?’ Guys did not ask me out.”

On Jim Neidhart on Total Divas:

“So going back to your question, when my dad was on Total Divas he was a trip on that show. He just let loose and I think he loved doing that show because once his career was over in wrestling, it gave him a chance to feel like he was still a part of something. Because it’s hard sometimes when you’re an athlete. Back when my dad was alive and we were doing Total Divas, it’s kind of hard even saying this, but he didn’t always feel like he was wanted. WWE does so much more now to honor legends and to bring back people. But back then, they weren’t doing all of that, it was hard, unless you were getting put in the Hall of Fame, which my dad, when he was alive he was pissed off that he wasn’t in the Hall of Fame. He was like, Why the hell was Hillbilly Jim in before me? I’m just being honest. My dad loved Hillbilly Jim, but he’s like damn it, I should be in there before Hillbilly Jim. But my dad was so funny on Total Divas. But my dad just felt like he got to be a part of something, and he loved the limelight, he loved the cameras on him, and he loved all the attention, and he loved feeling like he was a part of something. So that’s one of the things I loved about Total Divas, is I loved having my dad included on that show, even if gummies were involved.”

On her Canadian Mount Rushmore with no Harts allowed to be included:

“Okay, he’s a very close personal friend, and I think the world of him, Edge. A great little thing about Edge is that he’s obviously one of the most decorated superstars ever, but Edge was somebody that when I would have problems with promos, or when I needed to work on promos, or that I wanted to get better at promos, I would text him and say, Hey, can I get on a call with you? Can you help me with a promo? He would drop everything that he was doing to get on a call with me and talk to me for like an hour and a half and walk me through a promo. He’s incredible, and his body of work is incredible, but he’s helped me so much as a friend. So I think sometimes Adam doesn’t get like [recognition], people don’t know about that kind of stuff. He’s just very genuine and I always remember him helping me and saying, say it like this Nattie and then he would watch the promo, he’d call me back, he’d analyze it with me. It was nice to have somebody like that really care and help.”

“We can’t say Edge without Christian. It’s funny, I watched a match, I think it was on SmackDown. I can’t quite remember, but I watched a match between Christian and Randy Orton, and I thought wow, they have magical chemistry. I always knew I liked Christian, but I remember watching Christian in there with Randy and I was like, you just see that even though he’s in there with Randy, who’s obviously a huge leader in the ring, Christian is a leader. I mean, he’s a bad guy. He’s a heel, and he spent a lot of his career being a heel, but Christian is just very good, and he’s one of my favorites.”

“Okay, I am gonna say somebody that’s a little bit left field, because people would obviously think Nattie is gonna say Trish Stratus. And of course, I do think Trish is amazing. I think she’s incredible. I think she’s done so much as a pioneer for women’s wrestling. But for me, I’m always going to have a spot in my heart for the underdog Gail Kim. So it’s nothing to take away from Trish by any means, because I think Trish is awesome. But knowing Gail Kim the way that I do, and knowing how talented she is she’s had some really great matches, and I know some of her best work has been in TNA against Taryn Terrell, and Gail and Kong. The thing about Gail is that once her career was done she wasn’t done giving back. That’s what I love about Gail is that behind the scenes, if people actually knew the stuff that Gail does behind the scenes, it’s just incredible. She really helps give women opportunities that might not have gotten opportunities before. Just a few weeks ago she had reached out to me about something and we were able to help someone, she was just like, I want to make sure that more women get opportunities that wouldn’t have had a chance to get opportunities. So she’s always fighting for the underdog. She loves wrestling. She’s so talented, and she, to me, deserves her flowers.”

“Here’s the thing, I think I know I’ve said a lot of people that may not necessarily be in WWE, but we can’t say the greatest Canadian wrestlers without bringing up Chris Jericho. So Jericho, actually, it’s funny, because Jericho interviewed my dad. That was the last interview my dad ever had. And so Jericho had asked me, Hey, I’d love to interview your dad for my podcast. And I remember saying to Chris, I’ve just been really careful about not letting my dad do a lot of that kind of stuff because he’s not been feeling himself lately. And Chris, the way he treated my dad, and the way that he just handled the interview with so much respect, because my dad was at that time struggling a little bit with his memory and stuff, Chris was so amazing to my dad. But when you think about Chris, I think Chris is a friend of mine, but I think about Chris’s body of work, it’s hard to go, it’s hard to leave him. You cannot leave Chris Jericho out of the conversation.”

On her and Bret putting Sharpshooters on Charlotte and Ric Flair:

“That day was really emotional, because Bret had just beaten cancer. So that was his first appearance that he had done after beating cancer. I remember asking Bret, hey, they want to bring you in for Payback. It was in Chicago, and Bret had just gone through so much, and so it was such a special time, because it was his first appearance back from beating cancer. And listen, there’s no better feeling than locking Ric Flair into a sharpshooter. But I love collaborating and working with Bret, and he’s been part of such special moments for me in my career. It’s never lost on me when I’ve asked him to be there for me and for him to help me he’s helped me. So to be able to do double sharpshooters with Bret it’s always so special. I appreciate him so much. Because even for my dad’s career, and I say this to Bret all the time, that’s why I wanted my dad and Bret to go into the Hall of Fame together. Because I was asked by Vince, he said Well, do you want your dad to go in alone, or do you want him to go in [with Bret]. My dad would never have had the things that he had in WWE, he never would have had that career had Bret not looked out for him the way that he did. I always hear Bret talking about my dad and he’s like, I never would have found that personality without The Anvil. But Bret really took care of my dad. He looked out for my dad. Brett’s done some great things for our family that aren’t always talked about.”

On the report about women being underutilised:

“Here’s my thing, and it kind of goes back to what I was saying earlier. I was talking to my mom, I talk to my mom about everything, and I was saying sometimes it’s so easy, especially nowadays. We all have a platform. If you’re on Twitter, you’re on Instagram, you’re on TikTok, you’re on social media, you have a platform. That’s the cool thing about this day and age is that everybody has a voice. It is so easy. It would be so easy for me to go on social media and be like, I’m mad about this, and I’m mad about that, and I should have this and I should have that. I would have loved to have been the first-ever Women’s IC Champion. I would have loved that. For me, and this is the big thing is that there just has to be the right story. I think everybody wants everything now, we’re living in a world of instant gratification where we want everything right now. So there’s always going to be times where people feel like we should have this, and the Women’s Division should do that, and that there should be this. I do think that booking a weekly TV show, it’s not easy, especially because there’s lots of things that happen behind the scenes that people just don’t know about. Somebody gets hurt, or somebody can’t make it or this isn’t where we’re going for the big picture. Of course I would love to do more in WWE, but I also want there to be the right story. Especially being somebody that has been in WWE for 18 years, I would love to do more, but I also understand that timing is everything, so I have faith that the right story will come. And actually, I feel like we’re right around the corner from some big announcements being made, especially with what I’m doing, I’m leaving you guys on such a cliffhanger, those stories will come to fruition.

So yeah, it’s easy to critique, but at the same time I try to be patient, I try to empathize. And also, the one thing I do is make suggestions. Rather than be like, I should have this, I should have that. I go, Hey, I have an idea, we don’t like that. Hey, I got an idea. We don’t like that. Hey, I got an idea. Something is going to stick. So I have faith, I think that things are going to get exciting. It’s just not easy, because also, right now we just have so many women, and I think that it’s a good thing but it’s also challenging, because you want to make sure that everybody has a special place. I think that’s the thing is that back a few years ago, sometimes I’d be on TV every single week, but I wasn’t always doing the most meaningful things. I mean, at one point I was passing gas. I’m joking about that but I think what I do like about this new era is that we’re just trying to find the right stories. I think we all want more. It’s you’re only human to want more. But I also think that let’s just see what happens.”

On NXT dream matches:

“There’s so many women at NXT right now that are just like, to me, I would absolutely love to tango with Jordynne Grace. I would love to work with her because she loves this, she’s a student of the game. I look at these pictures of her transformation from when she first started to where she is now, and she is a student of the game. I would absolutely love to kick her ass.”

What is Natalya grateful for?

“My health, that I get to do this and my family.”

Kevin Owens On Injuries, WrestleMania, Stone Cold, Beating Up Vince McMahon, Sami Zayn

in LATEST EPISODES on April 10, 2025 April 10, 2025

https://cvvtix.com – Get your tickets for INSIGHT LIVE in NYC & Las Vegas with VIP Meet & Greet!

Kevin Owens (@FightOwensFight) is a professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Chicago, IL to discuss his journey from being trained by Jacques Rougeau to main eventing WrestleMania, being Steve Austin’s first opponent in 19 years, winning the Tag Team Championships with Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 39, beating up Vince McMahon and busting him open with a headbutt, attacking Cody Rhodes off camera at Bad Blood, bringing back the package piledriver, his hilarious t-shirts, why you should never follow him at the airport and more!

Quote I’m thinking about: “When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” – Paulo Coelho

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On learning English through wrestling:

“I started watching wrestling when I was 11, so I kind of started picking it up. Then my dad would watch TV in English so I watched some TV shows with him, here and there. I remember Friends, I’d watch a lot with him. And then I think I’d say by the time I was maybe 14, I couldn’t really speak English that well but I understood everything. I like to say Jim Ross basically taught me English. Then by the time I was maybe 17 I think I was fully bilingual, something like that.”

Did you understand what a slobber knocker was?

“So I actually thought that slobber knocker was part of the English language. I thought it was a normal word, and I would use it in everyday life and it made no sense. So a lot of my friends from the wrestling school that were English, that was one of the things they loved, that I spoke English but like Jim Ross, which is why it’s like Jim Ross taught me English and it made no sense. But I eventually picked up oh that’s just a weird expression that he made up.”

Did you have a bit of an Oklahoma accent too?

“No, I don’t think so. I think I had a very thick French accent for a long time that kind of dissipated over the years. It still comes out here and there. [But you don’t really have that much of a French accent.] I think the more tired I get, the more comes out from what I hear. I guess, that’s what I’m told. I always sound the same to me.”

Are you speaking French at home?

“So I speak to my parents in French. But my wife, although she does speak French, is English and my kids, since they grew up in a English-speaking household. So we speak English. My son understands French, speaks it a little bit. My daughter is pretty clueless about French.”

On whether WWE was always the goal:

“Yeah, absolutely. I was watching wrestling when I was 11 years old, my dad rented the tape. It was like a month after the show actually happened, and he just went to the local video store where we could rent tapes and whatever. He was looking for a movie, we had seen everything, he’s like, let’s just rent this wrestling thing. I knew what it was, but never really seen it and he wasn’t like an avid fan or anything. He was just, let’s watch something we don’t usually watch. I was hooked pretty quick. I really got into the first match. I remember loving The British Bulldog, he was in the opener and I thought that guy rules. Then as the night went on, all the matches I really enjoyed. Then Shawn Michaels came out and to me, at the time I was 11 years old but I was so small for my age. People thought I was like seven or eight. To me, seeing the smallest guy on the show by far being the best one, I was like I could do that, and from that point on, that was it. That’s all I wanted to do. Tape ended, I told my dad that’s what I’m going to do, and then they cultivated my interest. I was very lucky, they could have told me don’t be silly or whatever, like most parents would, I guess. But nope, they went all in. They started buying all the pay-per-views for me, letting me stay up to watch Raw and SmackDown when it later came and yeah, they were 100% behind it from the start.”

On there not being a path for Canadian wrestlers at that time:

“Which is funny, because once I joined Jacques’ wrestling school, obviously he had the WWE connection because he had wrestled there. So of course I met him and I was like oh, this is a big deal. There’s a guy I watch on WWE TV, whoa. And in Quebec, the Rougeau name means a lot. That family is legendary for wrestling in Quebec. So it was a really big deal for me to meet him. Really big deal for me to train with him. Over the years though, I was probably at this wrestling school for three years. We just had different mentalities, different values and just different points of view on life and wrestling as well. He would run his wrestling school a certain way where he would run shows every three to four months. Only one or two shows every three or four months, but he would do them in like 2,000-seat arenas, and because of his name he’d get like 1,000 people or 1,500 people in. So it was great to wrestle in front of those types of crowds, but you can only wrestle once every three or four months.

So by that point I kind of figured out I gotta get more experience, but he wouldn’t let us wrestle on smaller wrestling companies around Quebec just because he was like, I don’t want you guys to get hurt. I don’t want you guys to pick up bad habits from other wrestlers, this and that. But what he would dangle is I’m your way to WWE, which we didn’t know any better, and we bought it. But then about three years in, I think he had some health issues that led to him not running shows. So when he said I’m not going to be able to run shows for a while we’re like, Well, you got to let us go wrestle somewhere else, and he said, Okay, fine. So all the students from his wrestling school started wrestling all over Quebec, and I was booked every weekend everywhere. That’s where I met Sami. I met a lot of people and I just started wrestling every weekend multiple times a week, and it was such a blast. I loved it so much.

Then about six months after, or maybe less than that, three months after we started doing that, he pulled it back and said, Look, I need you guys to stop wrestling everywhere because now WWE is coming for Raw soon and I secured a try-out for two of my guys. He said it’s going to be me and the other guy, Eric the trainer. But if you want that, you have to stop wrestling everywhere else. You have to sign a 10-year contract with me as your agent that guarantees me 15% of your contract, and I couldn’t care less about the money. I couldn’t care less about him, I’m like yeah, whatever, but I don’t want to stop wrestling anywhere else. Until the show, the try-out, I have to keep wrestling. He fought me on it and then eventually he called me. It was in November of 2003 and I was wrestling for IWS at that point in Montreal, which was the biggest wrestling company in Montreal and it was a lot of fun. I just loved wrestling there so much. He called me the day after what I thought was gonna be my last show with them, because I can’t wrestle anymore. So he called me, he just started talking about the tryout and Raw’s coming, and I’m like, ‘When is Raw?’ He’s like, ‘I don’t know. They haven’t announced it yet, but it’s coming soon.’ And I’m like, ‘But when is it?’ He’s like, ‘I don’t know.’ I’m like, ‘Well, is it in three months? In six months?’ He got annoyed with me and then I was like, something just didn’t feel right. I really don’t want to stop wrestling. As soon as I said that he’s like, ‘All right, fine, you made your decision,’ and he hung up on me. That was the last time I spoke to him. And from that point I was like all right, f*ck it. I’m gonna go do whatever I need to do anywhere.”

On his love of Owen Hart:

“So I have a brother that’s 10 years older than me, and as brothers do, we’d fight a lot when we were kids. Because he was 10 years older than me, was a lot stronger than me. So he always won, let’s put it that way. So when I was younger I couldn’t help but have a bit of a resentment towards him, which is not the case. I love him. But when you’re a kid, you feel differently about things. I remember I watched WrestleMania 11, and I liked Bret Hart enough after WrestleMania 11, but then I started going backwards and watching the shows that were before WrestleMania 11. I rented all the tapes, and I believe it was a Royal Rumble of that same year, Bret’s wrestling Diesel and in the match he tries to tie Diesel’s legs up with the camera wires and to me, that’s cheating, he’s cheating. This is terrible. Why is he cheating? Then Owen comes into frame to try to fight Bret. To me I’m like yeah, that’s the right thing to do, trying to keep him from cheating. He’s the younger brother trying to fight off the older brother. So I was like Owen Hart’s my guy. That was it. It was like the dynamic between me and my older brother and him and his older brother is what made me like him at first, and then obviously he’s an incredible wrestler and very charismatic, very entertaining. So yeah, just become a huge fan of his.”

On what his WWE name would have been if he couldn’t be Kevin Owens:

“I don’t really know. So we also share the same birthday and when Owen passed away, I remember thinking if I ever have a son I’m going to call him Owen. Then several years passed obviously, and in 2007 my wife got pregnant and thankfully she was on board with calling him Owen. Which was even crazier, because we visited an apartment that we were going to move into while she was pregnant, and the tenants that lived there previously had left some stuff behind. On the door of what was going to be our son’s bedroom was wooden letters that they put on the door was the name of the kid that was there previously, and the name was Owen. So she was like, that definitely has to be his name. So it’s actually more of a tribute to my son, but my son’s a tribute to Owen. So it’s actually Triple H who suggested I be Kevin Owens. We were going back and forth on names and nothing really sounded right. Then one day Hunter just said, because I had pitched Owen something, and he’s like, What about Kevin Owens? I’m like, Yeah, I love it. So we went with it. I remember after I guess WWE trademarked it. So the websites found out about it, and it started going online. Obviously, it’s gonna be Kevin Steen’s name. I got to the Performance Center, and for some reason I forgot my key cards. Had to go through the front and I’m waiting for somebody to open the door. The door swings open and it’s Dusty, and he’s walking in front of me. He goes, ‘Kevin Owens huh?’ I go, ‘Yeah, you like it?’ And he goes, ‘Nope. Who came up with it?’ I go, ‘Triple H.’ And he goes, ‘I love it.’ Yeah, he was the best. So that was it from then on.”

On the promo that got Kevin Owens hired:

“So the try-outs are hard. They’re very hard. They’re very physically demanding. They’re basically like blow-up drills, nonstop. It’s really not about trying to see if you’re in amazing shape, because they can mold you into shape at the Performance Center. It’s really to see the heart you have and the attitude you have. I was at this try-out, and there were so many guys that were jacked to the gills that you’d think oh these guys are amazing athletes, for sure these guys are as good as signed. They fell like flies, left and right. But me and Willie Mack were probably the guys that are in the least athletic shape there. We weren’t beating records of speed in these drills, but we were doing them, and we weren’t stopping. So we showed the heart that they were looking for and the attitude they were looking for. I actually had to at one point, not give up, but like one of the drills on the second day from sheer exhaustion it’s very hard. You’re jumping over a heavy bag to do drop downs, and I landed on my hand crooked, and I thought I broke my wrist, so I had to stop that particular drill. I was really upset because in mind I’m like, oh sh*t. That’s going to hurt me. So right after it happened is when they sent us back to the gym to get a break. Then Matt Bloom, who at the time was not the head trainer of the PC, was just one of the trainers said come here. So I went, and it was just me and Canyon Ceman. All the trainers were lined up, and they were like, cut a promo. So I got that promo, and then they’re like, Okay, thanks.”

On people saying he doesn’t look like a wrestler:

“Yeah, I mean, I still get it all the time. But really, the people that feel like that’s a knock or an insult, they’re just very stupid. I’m so comfortable with how I look. I always have been, which is probably what’s driven so many people crazy, because my weight has fluctuated over the years for sure. There were times where I was much heavier than I am now and there are reasons for that. They’ll say, ‘Well, you weren’t working out enough. You were eating like sh*t.’ Yeah, that’s true, but it never hindered my work. So you might have not liked looking at me the way I looked at that point, but I was having killer matches either way, I was able to talk better than most people on the roster, and that never changed. So now I’ve lost weight because honestly, I haven’t done anything. This is the funny part. I haven’t done anything to lose weight. I didn’t set out and go, I’m gonna lose weight. I really didn’t, just my weight fluctuates a lot. I might be a little more active in my everyday life than I was for a while, whatever it may be. I don’t know my metabolism. I really have no idea, but yeah right now I’ve shed some pounds. I might put more on. I really don’t know. But I’ve never made a conscious choice to be heavier or be lighter or look better and man, that really drives a lot of people crazy.”

On not being able to fault his athleticism:

“Yeah, maybe, I don’t know. I mean, it’s like everyone, there will be fans that will look at guys that are in incredible shape and still find something wrong. So yeah, some people are just born to discredit other people because of their own shortcomings, I guess. As stupid as it sounds, ‘Oh, they’re just jealous.’ There probably is something to that to a level. If you spend most of your time trying to tear other people down, even subconsciously, there’s kind of something with you that’s the problem.”

On convincing Steve Austin to come out of retirement:

“Well, I didn’t do it. I really didn’t. I don’t know the exact story and how it all unfolded. I will say this part. A couple of years before this happened, I was doing the pop-up Powerbomb as my finishing move and everyone was doing Powerbombs. I would see a lot of guys doing Powerbombs. I’m like everybody’s kind of doing Powerbombs right now, I think I need another finishing move. What could I do? Well, the greatest finishing move of all time to me is the Stone Cold Stunner and nobody does it. Some people will do it here and there. I actually had done it once against Roman in Texas, and I only did it because we were in Texas, but it was just a one-time thing. But then when I was trying to figure out I need a finishing move, I’m like Stone Cold Stunner is it. But before I could do that I had to ask Steve for permission. I could not do it. Like I said I’d use it on the indys once. Actually, I did his podcast on the indys. So two days later at a Ring of Honor show I used the Stunner just because I’d just done his podcast. It was kind of topical and then I used it against Roman once. But I’m like, if I’m going to use it on a regular basis of a finishing move, I have to make sure he’s okay with it.

So I happened to run into him at a show in Baltimore that he was at for Raw. So I went in and we talked, and it’s funny, because like I said I saw him in 2005, then for years didn’t see him at all. Then in 2012 I was at the top of Ring of Honor. I was probably the top guy in the indys at that point and I was listening to the Stone Cold Podcast all the time. At the end of his podcast, he’d always say if you have any questions send it to questions at BSR… whatever his website was. So I said, I’m going to send him an email thanking him for the advice he gave me all those years ago. Maybe he’ll answer but maybe he’ll even have me on his podcast. And sure enough that’s exactly what happened. I emailed him, ‘2005 at the airport you gave me great advice, and my career has flourished since. Thank you.’ And he wrote back, I actually do remember that. ‘So do you want to be on my podcast?’ And like, yeah. So he goes, ‘Okay, I have Jim Cornette as my guest on this podcast, I’ll do an hour with Jim and then your part will be after, we’ll do 10 minutes with you.’ I’m like, great. Then he calls me and goes, ‘Hey, I don’t know what happened, but Cornette’s not answering. So let’s just do the whole podcast together.’ I was like yes, finally Jim Cornette does something good for me.

So yeah, we did the whole podcast. Talked for like an hour and when it came out the next day it was a huge deal because he hadn’t really done a podcast with an independent guy at that point. I think maybe Colt [Cabana] had done his podcast by that point, but that was it. So it was a huge deal for me. And the fans were really excited, and they listened to the conversation, and I think that really helped. At the end of the podcast he goes WWE should take a look at this guy, and it wasn’t long after. I’d already had the communication with them. But I think that helped in making it more serious and making more of a priority, almost. Then years later, here we are running into each other at WWE. I had to tell him just how crucial he was and helping me get there.

So anyway, then I asked him I want to do the Stone Cold Stunner as my finisher, and I just want to make sure you’re okay with it, and he said, ‘Yeah, I actually can’t believe nobody’s asked me already yet. So yeah, please go ahead.’ So I was really pumped. Then I went to Vince and asked him if I could, and he said, ‘No, you can’t do that.’ Okay. Then years went by and I got hurt. I went away for a bit and I came back as a babyface. My first match back was a tag team match against Erik Rowan and Daniel Bryan, who was doing the protecting the earth, and I had to go over. I had to beat Bryan that night. They’re like, Well, what do you want to do? Stone Cold Stunner? And they said, okay, all right. And that was it. From then on became my finish.

So I would have to admit tying back to how he came back, when I asked him to use the Stone Cold Stunner yes, I wanted a new finishing move and yes, I think it’s the greatest finish of all time. But there was a big part of me who thought in the unlikely event, which won’t happen, but if he ever were to come back for a match, it’s going to be against the guy who was doing his finishing move, and that’s exactly what happened. So I don’t think that played a part in it. I think Vince wanted him to be on WrestleMania in Dallas and he wasn’t sure in what capacity. I’m not sure how. I think they talked. He said no at first from what I understand. Then they went back to him, and he’s like, Okay, who would it be with? And I think that’s when they said me, which I think he was good with. Then somehow, was it going to be a talking segment? Was it going to be a match? Was it going to be a stunner? Literally up until the day of the show we had no idea. Me and Steve had talked, I would talk to Steve, ask him, ‘What are we going to do?’ And he goes, ‘I don’t know, depends on Vince.’ So I talked to Vince, and Vince goes depends on Steve. And I’m like can’t you guys talk to each other for f*ck sake? But yeah, up until that day we really didn’t know for sure what it was going to be, turned out to be what it was and it was pretty great. I’m very lucky to have been a part of it. To this day the craziest thing that I’ll ever have done in my career, and I don’t think anything will top it. Even me and Sami winning the tag titles at WrestleMania was unbelievable. In the main event, which is great now, because WrestleMania Main Event night one. There’s a lot of people that argue it’s not really the main event, but now that Punk’s in it this year, everyone says it is the main event, because you don’t want to take that away from him. So now it finally validates that. So anyway, winning the titles at WrestleMania together was insane. We were talking about this stuff when our dream would be a let’s win the Ring of Honor tag titles, we’re talking about this in like 2004 and then we never even really talked about winning the WWE Tag titles, because we’re not going to be in WWE are we? No, we are. And then we start talking, we got to team and win the tag titles, and then we teamed for a little bit in 2018 but then we went our separate ways. So we’re like we didn’t even win the tag titles. And we kind of thought, oh, I guess that’s it. But then the story started to shift with him and The Usos and stuff. And anyway, all the pieces fell into place, and we won the tag titles at WrestleMania as incredible and kind of unlikely as that moment was, it still wasn’t as unlikely as Stone Cold coming back 19 years later for a match. So to this day, that match with Steve will always be and like I said, I don’t think anything will top it the craziest night of my career.”

On whether Steve Austin stiffed him in the match:

“Yeah. Actually the night of the match, when I go back to my hotel my earlobe was swollen like this big from his punches. I went [squeezes] and it just splattered against the mirror. He kept saying, You didn’t give me any receipts. What am I gonna do? But honestly, in that moment too, I felt the punches but they weren’t any worse than anything I felt before. But to him, that shows how much of a pro he is. Bret has always prided himself on how he’s never hurt anyone. You could barely feel him in the ring and stuff, and that’s amazing. I think Steve was the same way, so he prided himself on not killing people and that night he knew he was killing me. But to me it was not any worse than other guys.”

On attacking Vince McMahon:

“He just talked all kinds of sh*t. He’s shaking my hand and just saying, I don’t remember what he said, but he was really trying to provoke me because he wanted to make sure I was going to lay in that headbutt. Little did he know I was already planning on laying it in because I had worked for him for two years at that point, I wasn’t going to miss that chance. So I did and yeah, it was a pretty insane moment. When he came up with the blood and everything I was like, Whoa, here we go. But my favorite part of that whole thing was after, it’s a moment that was only seen [off camera]. I don’t think it was on TV, maybe only caught by digital as everybody’s standing to Vince. I’m walking in the back and I turn around to look at the ring. I’m just looking at the ring, and I hear kind of like a rumble in the crowd. I go to turn, and as I turn Stephanie’s right there in my face. She looked at me. She looks furious. She just looks at me and goes, ‘Get the f*ck to the back!’ And I go, okay, and I turn around. Look, I really like Stephanie a lot. She’s been great, just been so supportive of not just me, but everybody. When Hunter was running NXT, and we all got there at the same time, my crop of NXT guys me, Sami, Finn, Bayley, Becky, Charlotte… Stephanie would be at the NXT shows quite a bit and she was just always so supportive and so just proud of us. And yeah, it was great. It’s like that whole generation of NXT was so special, not just because of the talent there, but the support we had from all the trainers to Dusty, Hunter and Stephanie, they really felt like we were to a degree kind of their kids, and they were trying to get us out into the world. That was really special to be around that kind of energy.”

On the fan footage of his attack on Cody Rhodes:

“It wasn’t me. That was Triple H. That was his idea. He felt confident in doing it that way. I was not sure. I’m like I don’t know, is there even going to be enough people there? It turns out he was completely right, there was and yeah, it’s just a different way of telling the stories and he’s got a different mentality than Vince had. It’s really interesting, and people really responded to it. The same thing with Randy, the way I ended up ultimately turning on Randy it was on TV, but it was done differently. It was something that was released later as well, and you just kind of caught the tail end of it on TV, but then they did the security footage after. He wants to tell stories differently, and he’s willing to try stuff out and see what sticks and I think that makes the show way more interesting. It doesn’t mean it’s always gonna work, there might be sometimes it doesn’t land, but we’re trying different things and new things, and I think that’s so important in wrestling. When it gets monotonous and repetitive, no matter how good the matches are and the promos are, if you feel like you’ve seen it before and it’s okay, I’ve seen it before once. If you see a rematch once or twice, great. But there were times over I’d say, in 2008, 2009, and I was an avid fan. I would never miss any WWE shows, even when I was an independent wrestler traveling the world. But I started paying a lot less attention in 08/09 because I felt like this is literally the same thing every single week. There were times where even when I was here, like 2016, 2017 I felt like we just did this two weeks ago and now we’re doing it again. To me, when it gets like that it’s just not the way to we need to do things. I think we need different things. There’s new things. We need to try stuff, and it has to feel unpredictable and exciting.”

On getting approval to get the package piledriver back:

“Well, the package piledriver was something I’ve asked many times before, and it was always No, not right now, not today, doesn’t work, can’t do it. Until eventually it was, yeah, okay, let’s do it. I didn’t feel like hitting it on Randy was the best decision. I thought a normal piledriver was enough for Randy, because Randy is gigantic and quite frankly I didn’t think I could get him up for the package piledriver, because of the way his body needs to be. He’s just too massive. But yeah, and then Cody at Saturday Night’s Main Event was the right time to do it. It was cool. I waited a long time to get to do that in WWE. And the funny part is I knew Penta was coming, and Penta was doing package piledriver and I was like, he better not get to do it before me, because I will lose my sh*t. But it all worked out.”

What is Kevin Owens grateful for?

“My family, my friends and being at the right place right time.”

Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias Is A Huge WWE Fan! Drinking With Stone Cold, The Rock, DDP, WrestleMania

in LATEST EPISODES on April 8, 2025 April 8, 2025

https://cvvtix.com – Get your tickets for INSIGHT LIVE in NYC & Las Vegas with VIP Meet & Greet!

Gabriel Iglesias (@fluffyguy), also known as Fluffy, is a comedian and actor. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet to discuss his lifelong love of WWE, finally getting to meet The Rock, appearing in multiple WWE segments, the similarities between stand-up comedy and pro wrestling, working out with DDP, drinking with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, performing at a sold-out Dodger Stadium and the fine he paid for going over time, why his shows are family friendly and more!

Quote I’m thinking about: “Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” – Earl Nightingale

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On his love of the VW bus:

“It was my first car, and that’s where the love for Volkswagen came. A few years back, I got my ex-girlfriend her first car back and I said, That’s kind of cool. I got her first car back, not the actual one, but one that was way better. So I say it’d be kind of cool to get my first car back. A friend of mine now, Steve Reich. Him and Steve Hoffman, they’re Jay Leno’s guys. They went out and found me a Volkswagen bus. And they said hey, if there’s anything else you want let me know. And I said, Well if you come across another one of these, let me know. And we played that game for about two years, and it filled up the building, man.”

On finally meeting The Rock:

“I hadn’t met him. He was the elusive one. He was the chase figure, if you will, in the collectible section. I met him at WrestleMania. He was leaving the ring, he was doing the rehearsal, I was going out to the ring to do mine and we just crossed paths. I had a buddy of mine who had a big old camera, huge lens, very impressive. Not all lenses are created equal by the way. So he stopped The Rock. He goes, ‘Rock, quick pick with Fluffy?’ And The Rock was kind of thrown off by this big old camera. He looked at me and when he looked at me he went, ‘Oh, hey.’ When he went ‘Oh hey’, I said oh it’s on, recognition. And so he took the picture, and he’s like, What are you doing here? I’m like man, I’m loving this, this is cool. So the picture that you see of me cheesing is as real as it gets. That smile, I mean, I was so excited to meet him, because I had been trying the whole weekend to meet The Rock, and I came really close a couple times at other events that weekend, but right there at WrestleMania.”

On where his love of wrestling began:

“WrestleMania III. It’s 1987 I just remember my sister had magazines. Remember WWF Magazine. Yeah, back then wrestling was on Saturdays at 12 o’clock in the afternoon, and that’s where it started. I mean, I fell in love with it immediately. And after WrestleMania III it was on. Any chance I could get to participate or just watch something I was there.”

Who were your guys growing up?

“Growing up, it was always Hulk Hogan in the beginning. And it’s not till later on in life you realize, oh, man, look at all these great [wrestlers]. Now when I watch WrestleMania III, my favorite match is definitely Ricky Steamboat vs. Macho Man. That was such a great match. And then when you hear the stories about the amount of time it took to get it that good because Macho Man was so anal with his wrestling, and so he wanted to know every single thing step by step. So you could tell it was a badass match.”

On the similarities between comedy and wrestling:

“I want to say it’s exactly the same minus the bumps, exactly the same. You’re always promoting. You’re promoting the shows. You got to get to the venue by a certain time, there’s a sound check, you’re dealing with promoters. It’s very much the same, same thing. I think that’s why it’s like oh man, this would be cool. I did want to get into wrestling when I was younger, but I realized that I’m a pussy for pain, so I can’t handle it.”

On not getting involved in wrestling:

“I just gotta pass the physical, and that’s probably the main reason why I haven’t asked to participate in the ring, is I’m pushing 50. I got in the ring one time and it was scary. It was scary. You could feel the intensity. People say, Oh man, it’s fake. No. Maybe it’s predetermined but I felt the hits in the ring, and I wasn’t even the one getting hit and so, yeah, I’m good. I’d rather be on the outside watching.”

On his favourite moments working with WWE:

“Getting to host WWE Rivals was so much fun because I’m at a table with nothing but Superstars, and all we’re doing is talking wrestling. All we’re doing is talking about all these great matches from the past, and I just feel not worthy to be there, but at the same time I knew what I was talking about so I was like yeah, I can do this. So for me, that was super cool and to have these superstars talk to me like I wasn’t somebody down here. We were talking like equals, which I thought was great. And I had JBL, who I was totally afraid of when I first walked in, because I never met him, and JBL and I clicked so well and I could not believe it. I’m like this dude is hysterical. He was cracking so many jokes and he’s just such a fun person to be around. So after that, every time I see him, I’m like, there he is. I would just come up and say hi and that for me, was really cool. It was with Natalya, with Cody, X-Pac, I see X-Pac all the time. I saw him the other day. We’re always talking, he has a huge love for dogs, and so do I and so we’re always talking wrestling.”

On his segment with The New Day:

“They’re so quick, so it’s like you can literally knock it out in one take with them. There’s such pros, but they kept making us do it over and over and over to get the timing just right. So we shot our little vignette right there and then after everything was said and done, we’re walking towards the elevator and I go, Hey guys, would you mind doing one quick one with me? Yeah, let’s do it. What do you want to do? We just did one take, and then jumped in the elevator and I posted that later. But they’ve always been cool. I always run into them at Comic Con. They’re huge nerds when it comes to collectibles and stuff like that. So I’ll see them in San Diego.”

On a possible WWE angle:

“I hurt my hip getting out of bed this morning. It’s not a matter of time. What’s Cena saying, ‘Your time is up, my time is now?’ That’s where I’m at. I got a sciatica that would disagree.”

On previously doing DDPY:

“The DDPY, that’s a whole other thing too, man. You don’t realize that when you buy into that program that he actually calls you to check on you, to remind you you need to do it. Like if Richard Simmons back in the day was calling people up to tell him, hey, I can see you, I know where you’re at, get out of that drive-through. He would call me, it’s like he knew I was in a drive-through eating stuff I probably shouldn’t have been eating. I’d see my phone. I’m like, Oh my God, he’s got eyes. I answer, DDP is like, what are you doing, bro? I’m like, getting another drive-through. He goes I knew it. I’m like, Yeah, you did.”

Didn’t he chase you down one time when you were ordering pancakes?

“So this motherf*cker, I was taping a TV show called Fluffy Breaks Even. And the concept was fun, good idea, but it just didn’t really work out that way. The idea was to go out and eat whatever you want, and then you had to show what type of workout it would take to burn off all the calories you just consumed. We were in Atlanta, and yes that’s where he lives, and he always tells me, you let me know when you’re in town, brother. So I didn’t, and I had done a Facebook Live of me eating these crazy pancakes at this place, massive pancakes. It’s just more for show. But I went live on one of my social medias, and he was watching, and man it was like one of those Dog the Bounty Hunter type episodes where they’re like, Get in the car, and they recorded themselves getting in the car and going to the restaurant, which was only a few blocks away from his house. It was like an episode of Cheaters for food. He showed up there, and he caught me with pancakes. ‘What are you doing?’ I’m like, ‘Oh, she meant nothing to me.’ It was so embarrassing. He arrived with an apple. I’m like, Oh my God. So yeah, some fun moments. But he’s one of those people who has a huge heart, huge heart. He really cares, and the proof is in the pudding. There’s a reason why he’s helped so many people. It’s not like he’s making a ton of money off of that. He genuinely cares about people, so I do appreciate that.”

On his first big break in comedy:

“My first big break, I gotta honestly say that it was the first time I got up on stage. That’s probably the biggest break I ever got. Because if I don’t get to go up on stage in front of those 12-13, people, we’re not having this conversation. Day one for me was my biggest break. But as far as other opportunities that came across, Comedy Central was huge. I got to do a show called Premium Blend years ago. Tommy Davidson was the host of the show, and I had four of the best minutes of comedy in my career, and that opened up a door to a half-hour special, which then opened up a door to a one-hour special. Performing on its show time at the Apollo was huge for me as well. Harlem, New York, first time in New York, and that’s a hell of a stage to touch for the first time is the one in Harlem New York, called the Apollo Theater. The guy that went on before me got booed. He got booed so freaking bad, and then Steve Harvey, who was the host at the time, we both had hair then, I thought that was kind of funny we both had hair at the time. He looked at me and goes, you next. I’m like, You are evil, dude, really. And so I went up there, and again, I thought I was gonna fail, and I had four of the best minutes of my life on TV, and that opened up more doors, because that was on NBC.”

On whether Fluffy is Gabriel Iglesias’ alter ego:

“No, it’s more of a nickname. It’s not a gimmick where it’s like, now I gotta be a totally different person. Fluffy and Gabriel wear the same clothes. We have the same diet. But no, there’s not really [a difference]. On stage you see the performance, and that’s what I’m there to do, and I perform. And yeah, that’s what it is. But if you see me in the street and you’re like, I had a guy who came up to me, I was sitting there eating and he goes, You don’t look happy. I go, What do you mean? He goes, Yeah, your face, you look very serious, Are you okay? I go, Yeah, I’m eating. I’m fine. I’m good, yeah. He goes, You look very serious. I heard it enough times where I’m like, someone showed me a picture of me, and that’s why I make it a point to always smile in pictures and make big eyes and be very expressive, because apparently when I’m not doing that, I have really bad resting bitch face. So that’s why every picture is a ‘Hey!”

On sacrifices made for comedy:

“A lot of relationships, a lot of situations where I wasn’t comfortable. I had to give up sleep, time, and energy to other things. I gave up a lot of fun, a lot of moments, they’re like, hey, go with us over here. We’re gonna go do this. No, I got a long drive. I gotta drive to freaking Bakersfield to go do this show. I gotta sleep. People say, Oh really? But stuff like that, it all adds up. I have a lot of friends that had all kinds of fun back then and I look at their lives now, and I’m like, Yeah, I think I made the right choice by staying home that day.”

On selling out Dodgers Stadium:

“The biggest thing I’ve ever done in my life, and it’s in my hometown. Honestly, I thought about retiring that night. Because I said, How am I supposed to top this? What’s the next goal? How do you set a goal? Dodgers Stadium wasn’t even a goal. It was so unrealistic. It’s like, I didn’t find out I was going to attempt to do Dodgers Stadium until a little bit more than a year before I did it. So it was just like, wow, to be in front of that many people. A lot of people that were at that show had been following my career forever and had been to shows locally at dive bars. Because when at the end of the night I started mentioning all the places that I would perform around LA I’d hear people cheering like, oh, shoot, you were there. You were at that. So to have that moment in front of all those people and have Netflix recording it and basically archiving it as the biggest thing I’ve ever done. It’s just like, Are you kidding me? I cried. As soon as I walked down the stage I cried. I was on stage performing for about three hours. Netflix only used two. And then I called my friends to come out on stage with me, and then we started drinking, and we stayed on stage, I don’t know how much longer, but it was a few hours. The fine was insane. There was a curfew, and we went way past that.”

On finding out about the fine:

“No, no one pulled me aside and said, By the way… Because in the past that’s been the case, especially in New York. New York is one of those cities where you don’t want to mess with the union. Once you hit midnight, man, they start tacking. Because I remember I did a show at one of those venues, and they told me if you hit midnight it’s $25,000, boom, right there. You gotta be off the stage by midnight. I remember my tour manager at the time, he yelled out when I was in the middle of a bit, you’re about to hit over time, they’re gonna charge you $25,000. The whole crowd heard him, because he shouted it to me. I said, thank you good night and he goes, run your ass. I ran off the stage and I barely cleared it. Dodger Stadium was way more than that. [How much?] Quarter million. I tell people I’m the reason they could afford [Shohei] Ohtani. Because yeah, I didn’t leave Dodgers Stadium till four o’clock in the morning, and I was drunk. I had the best hangover of my life because I’m just laying in bed and I’m smiling. I’m like, can’t believe that just happened.”

On being in Magic Mike:

“I don’t love it. I mean, for me, it was a great opportunity. The fact that I didn’t have to audition for it. Channing was a fan and made me part of the movie. Out the gate, man, I’m working with Steven Soderbergh, incredible director. I’m working with Matthew McConaughey, are you shitt*ng me? Then I’m a huge wrestling fan and Kevin Nash, is in there. So the first person I gravitated to was Kevin, and he’s just massive, you see him on TV it is one thing that was the first time I met him, and he’s just so freaking tall. He’s really, really nice, and we clicked so well in that movie. But it was fun to do. I didn’t have the diet they had. Those guys had to stick to a strict diet of just protein, no carbs, bunch of celery. I’m watching all the food that they’re being given, it’s all measured and I’m like no, go ahead, have fun.”

On putting on family-friendly shows:

“It’s what’s best for business. Sorry, I’ve always wanted to say that directly into camera. It’s what’s best for business. If you have a show that’s open to everyone, that’s more people that want to come out and see you. People say, Oh, dude, what really? You’re going to do a kid show? What’s wrong with doing a kid show? That’s still butts in seats, that’s still people coming out, they’re going to grow up eventually, and I’m going to be attached to their childhood. Why wouldn’t you want to perform to as many people as possible? So if that means you got to take out a couple F bombs, or you got to make sure that you don’t do certain types of material in order to pull that off, why wouldn’t you? Then people say, well, that’s not pure, that’s not that’s not edgy, that’s not this, that’s not that. Well, where am I and where are you?”

What is Gabriel Iglesias grateful for?

“That I have real people in my life who care about me, health and that I have my passion.”

Samoa Joe’s Incredible Career In TNA, AEW & WWE, Brock Lesnar, MJF Shove, “NOPE”

in LATEST EPISODES on April 3, 2025 April 3, 2025

https://cvvtix.com – Get your tickets for INSIGHT LIVE in NYC & Las Vegas with VIP Meet & Greet!

Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) is a professional wrestler currently signed to AEW. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at West Coast Creative Studio in Hollywood, CA to discuss his careers in ROH, TNA, WWE and now AEW, working with the likes of Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar, the origin of the “nope” spot, the Muscle Buster that ended Tyson Kidd’s career, shoving MJF in NXT and the full-circle moment that happened in AEW, having to fill for time as WrestleMania 37 was delayed due to rain, playing the role of Sweet Tooth in “Twisted Metal”, his various voice acting roles and more!
Quote I’m thinking about: “Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.” – C.S. Lewis

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On not being part of a Samoan wrestling family:

“I think Toa Liona is out there on an island by himself too. But other than that, I mean, there’s a few, but it became a funny thing because when I came up in the indies, a lot of Samoan guys who were around would kind of claim lineage to the, ‘Oh yeah dude, I’m Rock’s cousin. I’m this and that.’ And to me I was always like, I don’t want to be living off a family name that isn’t mine and doing that. So I was always real meticulous. No, I’m not an Anoa’i, but they’re an awesome family and they paved the way. But, yeah I was really kind of adamant I was gonna make my own name.”

On deciding on the name Samoa Joe:

“It was more of an exercise of necessity. So when I started, the internet wasn’t what it was today. I mean, people were still on AOL Instant Messenger getting bookings and you printed out your directions, there was no GPS, so getting your name out there was a difficult process. There was no Twitter, it was message boards and those message boards only really spoke to 20 people who were on that website or whatever. So getting this kind of exposure that many athletes are able to get today just was not a thing. Most of the time, when you got booked it was word of mouth. Somebody would recommend you. ‘This kid’s great’, they’re gonna bring them in. That was very much the case with me where a lot of, especially California promoters, they didn’t care about your tape. They didn’t care about whoever, they cared about the word of Christopher Daniels, they cared about the word of a “Shooter” Tony Jones up in AP. At the time they were the prominent guys, their word kind of got you in. So I started out as Samoa Joe just a joke gimmick like, oh we’ll just call him Samoa Joe and it’s like, you can play the stereotypical character, but you’re really a killer and you hate. The problem was I started having good matches early, people started enjoying it and promoters started asking, ‘I want that Samoa Joe kid on my show.’ I wasn’t going to change my name because I didn’t want to lose the booking. It was like, I don’t want to come up and be like Johnny Thundercock the next day, ‘Oh no, I want Samoa Joe. What’s going on here?’ So it was just a business decision. It really wasn’t like I wanted to be Samoa Joe or I sat at home coming up with this character like this is gonna be the guy. It was like, I wanted to stay employed.”

On his love of martial arts:

“I love martial arts, and to this day I still practice and still train and it was something I enjoyed. I love studying the art of it and understanding the concepts behind it. I just took stuff that I enjoyed and I tried to integrate it into my work. At the time Lucha Libre was so big, and then the aerial high flying, especially in Southern California with the border being right down the street, the influence was all over here. So it’s like I needed something to differentiate myself. So MMA was kind of coming into its own, especially here in Southern California. I knew a lot of the guys, so I just started saying to myself well how about I start taking some of those things and bring them over to kind of this genre, because I feel in 10 years this will be the biggest thing in combat sports, and I was right about that. I hope some of that stuff translates.”

On potentially pursuing UFC:

“It was open to me, but probably not. I’m an entertainer by trade, I understand how people view me as a wrestler and my style and stuff, but at my heart I grew up in show business and I’m about entertaining people, and that really was my goal with this was not to be a badass, but to go out there and make people happy and having a good night at the wrestling show.”

On people being intimidated by him:

“Which I never understood, because I try to be pretty chill and cool. I remember AJ, the great thing about him is that everywhere I’ve been, you’re going to see AJ, you’re going to see Chris Daniels. You’re going to see the same people over and over again, because they’re getting booked there too. We used to go to places and AJ would be like, ‘freaking guys intimidated or something’. I’ll be like, Why? He’s like, ‘I don’t know he thinks you’re a killer, you’re gonna kill him or something. I told him you’re fine.’ And I’m like, alright, cool. Then we get in the ring, gonna be fine. But a lot of times too it became this weird thing where guys would book me as a rite of passage. They’re like, ‘They’ve come up to you man, I saw you with Kobashi, and tonight that’s what I’m feeling is going to be tonight.’ I would roll my eyes, but AJ, you’d hear him in the back locker room just laughing. Don’t let him tell you different. He was horrible. I’d be like, I give the guy my best, but it would be funny, because I get in there with independent wrestlers, and they’d be swinging for the fences on me, and then I get upset, and then I ended up swinging the fence back. Then AJ is no help, because he’s like, ‘You see him killing him out there? Yeah, that’s why you don’t…’ I’m like, shut up AJ, so yeah, it became a weird thing for a while. But you know, what can you do? It’s a wrestling business.”

On what going to TNA meant to his career:

“To be honest, not a tremendous amount when it started. I had some less-than-good interactions with TNA early on. At the time I was ROH Champion. I was very, very focused on ROH and building the company. To their credit I was making a tremendous living at the time, especially for an independent guy working with ROH. They always took great care of me, especially when Cary [Silkin] took over. If you did good in video sales, he had no problem cracking a little cash bonus off, secret to the side. I thank him very much for that. But yeah, when I got the call for TNA, TNA didn’t have any TV. They had lost the weekly pay-per-views. People kind of forget about this. Was a transitional period. They lost the weekly pay per views. I think Dixie was just about to get involved, she hadn’t yet. They had called me up and before they had offered me a gig, they said, ‘Hey, can you come out and have a tryout match?’ I said, Sure, just send me the ticket and whatever the pay is. Then they called back and said, ‘Oh we don’t fly people out and there will be no pay.’ I called back and said, ‘Well, I’m not interested, thanks.’ And I hung up. Then they called me back again. They wanted me to be a bodyguard, I think for Johnny Fairplay and they wanted to call me Reality Joe. I said no, and that was the end of that. Then the third time they had lost their TV, they were only doing internet showcase shows. I get a call they said, ‘Hey, we’d like to you bring in. We’re gonna fly in, we’re gonna pay all this stuff.’ I was like, hey, it’s a good start. Alright, we’re really talking here. [They said] ‘We want to give you a look. We’re kind of in between TV deals’, stuff like that, so I just kind of considered it a booking. I didn’t really think it was going to be a long-term thing. Went there, had the match. They loved it, called me back and they wanted to hire me full-time. I didn’t want to be there full-time because they didn’t have a TV deal. I remember Terry Taylor at the time, who I love now and we have a great relationship, was really pressuring me, sign this deal, sign this deal, sign this deal. I’m not going to sign this deal, I’m working for ROH and I’m not going to be exclusive to you for whatever this is and give up that money. It’s crazy. They couldn’t believe that. ‘Well, we’re a big company, we had TV.’ I’m like, you had TV? Okay, great! It was really a weird process. Then my agent at the time got wind that a TV deal was forthcoming and he just goes, Hey, we’re just gonna wait it out until they get TV. And we did. And then when we got TV I said, I’ll take that contract now, it worked out a lot better.”

On working with Kurt Angle:

“I think they were great. Kurt’s status at the time, and who he was in the wrestling industry. I mean, in a lot of ways, I give Kurt a lot of credit because it legitimized me in front of a lot of people, because you hang with Kurt Angle and you go out there and you get down with him, then in many fans’ eyes you’re the truth, you’re the real deal. So, yeah, I mean, that definitely was the byproduct of working with Kurt.”

On the Brock Lesnar promo:

“Yeah, Brock was surprised too. [He didn’t know?] No, I mean, well a lot of that too and I’m not sure, there’s a lot of promos I had with Brock. But Brock really liked the kind of chaotic energy, I brought things and he loved that. I would say whatever I wanted to say to him and to his face because he understood what I’m trying to do, he understood. You want to flip off Brock Lesnar to his face and have people go, what are you doing, dude? That uneasiness, that kind of tension in the air. I think that also is just an important part of bringing interest and care into matches is building that tension, just knowing that when the dam finally breaks all hell’s gonna break loose.”

On the “You look at me when I’m talking to you” line:

“Yeah, I may have in the grand creative scheme of things went a little overboard there. It was fine. But I just remember when I walked back through the curtain, Hunter is like, Oh, awesome. Everybody’s stoked. And I remember I just looked over at Vince, and he’s just like, [flatly] ‘Yeah, good job.’ Because I think he wanted a different look to how everybody was in the ring. But sometimes when I’m out there, I’m on the mic and you get me jazzed up, and I’m all my sh*t, I just flow with the character, and then it gets wild.”

On if he had to prove himself in WWE as a non-WWE guy:

“No, they were respectful of me. Listen, I think Vince understood who I was and what I brought to the show. If anything though, and I understand this, you want your own creations to do the best. You want your own things that you’ve invested time, money and effort into to kind of go to the forefront. I’ve never faulted anybody for that. But at the same time, I’m never going to be less so somebody else could be more. I’m going to be the most me I can be. If you compete with me, and you’re up there with me, you’re going to look great. If you stay up here, this watermark with me, you’re going to look fantastic. But if you don’t, I’m not going not gonna slow my game up just to make the segment work.”

On his TNA Mount Rushmore:

“I think, AJ, Kurt, I put Abyss on there. A lot of people don’t realize the amount of physical punishment and hurt and pain and effort that Abyss put into a lot of the matches to make them happen, I think he’s one of those underrated guys in the TNA lore, really, really is. And Jeff, I mean, he started the whole deal and got it all rolling, and was a big, integral part of it for a long time. So, I mean, those are the guys that I have up there.”

On the MJF push segment in NXT:

“I remember just the whole segment coming together. What had really happened is we had done a couple runs of the common entering the arena shot, and I kept going I’m bored of the shot because, it’s just so walking to the deal. Then as a joke, I said, and I didn’t tell MJF the time because I was kind of just doing as a gag. I go, ‘Hey man, when I’m coming out now just really be clearing out the hallways for me.’ ‘Yeah, sure, bro, no problem.’ I come out and I shoved him and we cut whatever there. I remember I looked up and everybody was dying behind the camera. And I looked at him, and he was like giggling too. I think it ended up going to the truck Hunter was in the truck, kind of doing pre-production for the show and he just goes, Oh God, we’re keeping that.”

On having no idea what MJF would become:

“No, none. Well, I knew all the guys there at the time were, I think they were Brian Myers’ guys, essentially from his school, Create A Pro. I knew he had good dudes so I remember asking are you Brian’s guys, yeah, okay, cool. So I remember when I was doing the bit, the guy would get it, and he did. It was a hilarious thing. I’m glad we got to revisit it.”

On why he signed with AEW:

“I think the biggest thing was at first when I left WWE, I just signed my deal with Twisted Metal, there was initially a little bit of interest again from WWE and maybe redoing it, but at that point, I had started talking with AEW. So speaking with Tony and understanding kind of what he was looking to do at the time, and really being able to work out with my filming schedule, it just was a really nice fit.”

On if he has thought about when his career will end:

“Yeah, I do a lot. It’s probably coming sooner than later, which is fine. I think a lot of people from my generation, from what I’ve seen, if that they have the ability, we’ve done our best to kind of save up and we definitely don’t want to out stay our welcome, because we may have been privy to a few people may have done that in their careers. So I definitely don’t want to be that guy in mind.”

Is there a date in mind?

“No, I think it’s just really based on when my contract runs out. I think exploring those options as they go. I hate just saying retirement, because how many pro wrestling retirements never stick? All of them. So yeah, I will do this for a little longer and then yeah I think the end is probably sooner than any new deal being signed.”

On creating the muscle buster:

“I didn’t. So I was in the 01 Dojo when I started my career in Japan. I remember I was kind of like flipping through, they have all these baseball magazines, all this reading material and a bunch of Manga on the table because a lot of the guys enjoyed reading it. I remember I was flipping through Kinnikuman, and he was doing the muscle buster. And I was like ah. I remember I’d seen it a few times in Mexico and I was like that’s pretty cool I might start using that. Then I think at the time the promoter, Yoshiki Nakamura was with me. He goes, Ah, good move and they gave it to Sylvester Terkay to use. But then when Sylvester left, I got back on the Indies in the States and he wasn’t doing that, I was like I’m gonna start using it. So that’s pretty much how it happened.”

On if he thought he would do the muscle buster again after what happened with Tyson Kidd:

“No, and to this day that probably remains the largest regret in my career that that happened. [Chris: There’s nothing you could have done about it]. But that doesn’t change things for Tyson. Doesn’t change things for a guy who is probably one of the most passionate people in the world of professional wrestling. For a guy who has an amazing mind for it. WWE is fortunate to have him. Because even though he’s not in a physical role within the company, the finishes, his ability to put together matches and be a producer and agent are unparalleled.”

Did you think anything was wrong?

“No, not at all. No, didn’t feel any different. It’s just when I turned around and went for the pin and got back up, the only thing that even hinted that there’s something wrong is when Cesaro looked back up at me. I know when Cesaro is concerned and then I was like, oh my God, I hope everything is okay. Then we got in the back and he went to hospital and everything got checked out. But I mean, the whole circumstances regarding that and everything, it just makes me sick to this day that that guy is not out there being the Tyson Kidd that I know that he is. He’s an amazing human being. He a great understanding of a greater picture and when you talk about guys who who are great finish men, guys who can produce, he’s going to be heralded as one of the dudes there if he isn’t already.”

On concerns about using the move again:

“Well, I didn’t want to. It was kind of like when I got back into things in NXT. In NXT I used it. When I got to the main roster I didn’t. But it was mainly I tried to avoid doing a bunch or making it a thing. If he’s having a bad day, he looks over and he sees that, I didn’t want to replay the car crash in front of somebody. So I did my best to distance myself from it as much as possible. But that’s why just because this guy’s my co-worker, this guy I respect and I care about. I’m not trying to make him have a sh*tty day over it.”

On how he was paired with Hook:

“I think after we had the match initially, kind of discussed it a bit more and this and that. Then at the time, coming out of the championship program, I like Hook and I like Shibata. I know they’re just two talents that I just wanted to see kind of on TV more and focused on. I knew that I would have to go away pretty soon with Twisted Metal filming. So it was like going back into the championship program probably wasn’t a priority just because of timing and stuff. So I just wanted to focus on trying to really, really help elevate both of them and bring them to the forefront.”

On the origin of the “Nope” spot:

“Well, it started out as a gag, and it was a house show gag where I’d work Christopher Daniels and at some point I would call a cross body or something and I’d walk away from it. And Chris, to his credit, every time I did it, as he’s diving here he’s like, you son of a bitch, you dirty bastard, he would always like cursed little phrase at me as he fell to his doom. So it kind of started out as that, and then I remember I did it to him, and then him and AJ began requesting it on people, like, Oh, you got to get him with the walk away today. Come on, dude, it’ll be hilarious. You got to get him with it. So then it became kind of a bit when I started showing up on TV.”

On why he did commentary in WWE:

“They still wanted me involved in the company. They still wanted me to be a vocal presence on the show. But I was taking my time with the concussion. I wasn’t just going to come back until I had taken sufficient time and got the brain rest. I had two concussions very, very close together. All the research that was coming out, I just, I’m just not going to gamble with that. Just after seeing the massive effects it’s had on so many people in this industry and across sports period. My brain is not something I’m willing to bargain with.”

On WrestleMania 37 being delayed due to the rain:

“Oh, incredibly [chaotic]. I mean we were laughing the whole time but the biggest thing, which people don’t know, which was really the terrifying thing that was scaring us all was right above the ring. Especially where me and Michael Cole were standing, there was plastic over the thing and there was a big, huge water bubble coming through the plant, right over our head, right over commentary table, right over the first three rows. You could see this big water balloon kind of filling up at the top of the thing and it’s like the whole time we’re doing it there. We had the rain coats on but it wasn’t the rain. It was like if that thing went off, we were going to get waterfalled, it wasn’t even funny. So it was like, alright, well, here we are already and stuff like that. It was just a lot of you are stalling for time, and a lot of not there being dead air, just kind of filling it with whatever until we can get the show started. So yeah, it was an adventure.”

What is Samoa Joe grateful for?

“My family, my mentors in the business and those I have been on this journey with.”

Raquel Rodriguez On Liv Morgan, WWE Tag Team Champs, Judgement Day

in LATEST EPISODES on April 1, 2025 April 1, 2025

https://cvvtix.com – Get your tickets for INSIGHT LIVE in NYC & Las Vegas with VIP Meet & Greet!

Raquel Rodriguez (@RaquelWWE) is a professional wrestler currently signed to WWE and one-half of the Women’s Tag Team Champions with Liv Morgan. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Toronto, Ontario to discuss becoming a champion once again, how she was paired up with Liv Morgan, comparisons to Shawn Michaels and Diesel, taking time away to battle illness, why her finisher got renamed, her viral Walmart announcement, working with Ronda Rousey and more!

Quote I’m thinking about: “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” – Winston Churchill

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On being a 3 time Women’s Tag Team Champion with Liv Morgan:

“Well, not just me, but greatest. Well yeah, me and Liv are the greatest female tag team ever. I mean, you can’t deny it. We’re the first three time. Look at us work like a team. I mean, the past two matches, we’ve had tag matches with Dakota and Iyo, banger, the one we just had the other day when we won these bad boys back, banger, we can’t help it.”

On whether wrestling was always the plan:

“I think it was, for sure. So it’s funny, I talk about this pretty frequently but my dad was actually out wrestling the night I was born. He was at the hospital with my mom, but then the doctors told him, ‘Oh, she’s going to be a minute. So if you have to go to work…’ because he had a booking already, and his tag partner was with him, he’s like, Dude, we have time, let’s go. So my mom was like, It’s okay. They left and I think the second he left I was born.”

Did he think he could leave, do the match and come back in time?

“For sure. He came back after the match, 1991 was the year I was born, so I don’t think cell phones were super huge for my parents then, they’re not texting or calling each other. That was the big Zack Morris phone. So I understand that he came back and he was like, she’s here. Where is she? It’s funny, everyone in my family, my mom, my dad and my sister were all born kind of small and bald, and I came out with a full head of black hair, really, really tan, and big. I was like 10 pounds when I was born. So at first my mom thought I was gonna be a boy and she’s like that’s a girl, that’s not my baby. Then my dad, when he came back, him and his partner went to go look at me in the little viewing area. He was like, ‘Well, which one is it?’ And she was like, ‘This is her, the giant one over there.’ His partner at the time, he has a very southern accent. He’s like, ‘Whoa, that’s a huge baby.’ And I’m like I think I was just born to be with my dad and his tag team partner, because that’s what I love doing when we were younger, and we used to go on these road trips. I loved staying at the arena, watching my dad work, watching him do the business, and being a part of it. My sister and my mom would want to go explore the town, or go to the Corpus Mall or whatever, and I’m like I don’t really want to shop. I want to be here and I want to hang out. I want to see what’s going on. So I always wanted to do it for sure.”

On her father being a wrestler:

“Yeah, his name was Rick Desperado Gonzalez. He went by Speedy Gonzales for a little bit. He mostly worked the territories down in South Texas, Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana. He came up to Ohio a little bit. But yeah, that’s what his main area was, like the NWA era.”

On if her father had the opportunity to work in WCW or WWE:

“Not with WCW and not with WWE, but he did work with Shawn Michaels when he opened up his school TWA in San Antonio, Texas. And then he did do a few things with a lot of WWE Superstars. So I’ve seen videos of him because he went under a mask pretty frequently, and he would work as a luchador to be an extra or help Booker T and his brother when they were starting out, so him and his tag buddy actually helped them when they were starting out as well, and giving them their first matches and all of that stuff. The Godfather, I remember seeing him at a few shows too when I was younger, and so I thought that was so cool.”

On getting scouted by WWE:

“So Instagram was just starting out at this point too, it was starting to get its rise. So social media wasn’t a huge thing and I think WWE was looking at people on social media, but not really. They were going to fitness competitions and looking for athletes and I was already done with basketball. So I was like what do I need to do to get seen? What do I have to do to put myself out there? Tough Enough was starting back up that year so I was like okay. I did broadcast journalism, I could edit a video, and I made a little video and I submitted it for Tough Enough. I didn’t make it to the finals, but I think that helped a little bit in getting me seen, just like a hint. When I got the news that I wasn’t making it to the finals I was like well, what else can I do? I just tried to stay in the know. I was like, where are they gonna be at? Where could I go to get seen by someone? The try-outs came out at the Arnold Classic in Ohio and I was like, You know what? I had a good job after college that was really keeping me by and helping, letting me train and do all these things. So I was in a good position. I was working in student housing. I just think it’s so funny. So I started working in student housing while I was still playing basketball to help pay for my apartment with my sister, and it was a part-time job. So it was fun, because we planned the events at the apartments, and it’s mostly college students, because you’re in a college town. But as I kept doing it after college, I was like I can’t do this forever, I cannot be around college students this much or parents that much, either. But it was fun, and it was a really good position for me, but it showed me that an office job is not what I was meant to do.”

On the try-out:

“Yeah, bought plane tickets for me and my dad, and we went to the try-out. I showed up, I was in athletic wear, and I just walked straight up to the recruiter who was sitting at the WWE desk and I said, ‘Hey, I’m here for the try-out. I’m ready to go. I’ve taken a couple of bumps and rolls. I feel super confident about this. I just want to be a part of this try-out. What do I need to do?’ He got up from the table, he looked at my feet, and then he looked up at me, and he goes, Well, we kind of already have everybody for our try-out that we’re doing here at the Arnold for the exhibition. So he gave me his card. He’s like, send me some pictures and send me your stats and what you’ve done and stuff like that. So I did, and then literally within a couple of weeks later they replied, and they were like hey, we’d like to invite you to a try-out in Orlando at the Performance Center and that was in three months. So I was like, yes, they noticed me. So I went to the tryout, and I was in shock. I was expecting a lot more. I don’t even know what I was expecting. I think I was expecting wrestlers. I was expecting more people who had knowledge about wrestling, but it was all football athletes coming from the NFL, coming from college, or fitness models, bikini models, just really beautiful women, and also coming from different sports backgrounds. But I was like, okay, I see what they’re looking for here. So I stuck out for sure. I was this tall basketball-frame girl that was just super energetic and super passionate about it. I was like I’m gonna go out there and I’m gonna show them and I’m gonna scream every time they ask me something, and I’m just going to yell my name so they know who I am. I’m going to speak Spanish so they know that I have that in my back pocket, and I’m just going to do everything I need to do. I’m going to throw it all out there. I was so determined, oh my gosh. I know there was one part, and maybe Coach Bloom will admit to it if he remembers. But in my try-out he asked us a question after he had already said the answer. And he was like, ‘What makes a good roll?’ Me thinking everybody knows this answer. I was like, ‘A quiet roll?’ I was the only one who yelled. And I looked around, he goes, ‘That’s right.’ And I was like, Okay, I think that really solidified for me that they saw something in me.”

On Raquel and Liv being compared to Shawn Michaels and Diesel:

“I love it. I love it. I absolutely love it. I feel like Dakota and I had those comparisons in NXT too when we were tagging and so I was calling myself Big Mommy Cool for a while, because I love it. I don’t know if Rhea Ripley’s gonna like that. No it’s really, really cool and what a comparison to be compared to Diesel. He was just known for his swag and his attitude and his confidence so I tried to bring that. Especially coming back from my illness. I was like I want to come back and I just want to exude confidence. I want to exude machismo to quote a little bit of WWE there with Razor Ramon. But machisma. So yeah, I love that comparison.”

On battling illness:

“So I never really got a full diagnosis, to be honest with you. They said it was mast cell activation syndrome, but I got tested and that didn’t come out positive. Mast cell activation syndrome, for people don’t know, it just means your body is having a constant allergic reaction to everything, like things you were never allergic to before. Your body is just so confused from maybe stress, maybe trauma. It could be a lot of things, but now you just have a sensitive nervous system, and your body is just reacting to anything, like auto-immune. So I’ve always had eczema, even when I was younger, but it was very small areas right here, and so I think it was like 2023 I started seeing a little bit of eczema pop up on my face. I was like this is kind of weird. Maybe it could be some of the makeup because when I was little, makeup made me react. I was like it’s fine, it would come and it would go, it shows up for like a day like today. I think just from having such a long day yesterday and my bag getting lost and a lack of sleep, my body’s immune system is kind of lessened. So after last night’s match, and the makeup and stuff like that I think I had a small reaction just under my eyes and on my neck, which is random, because I don’t put makeup here. So honestly, it’s a puzzle. I’m still trying to figure it out. I still don’t know what it is. I still don’t know what’s triggering me. I think I have a little bit of mast cell, even though I wasn’t tested for it. I think you can still have some sort of it, because my body just reacts at random times.”

On taking time away:

“Well at the time that whole year I was actually like these reactions, I can deal with this. I can show up and I can be confident that I don’t need to wear makeup today. I have some eyeliner on, some eyelashes, and that’s about it, a little lipstick and I’m like that’s okay. This is my life, and I want to be open about it. I want people to know who are allergic to makeup that you’re beautiful and you don’t have to wear it. But at the time, a year ago I was swelling up. It was to the point where I was unrecognizable to myself. I was looking in the mirror, and I was like, Who is she? Who is this person? I avoided mirrors, I avoided cameras, I avoided phones. I didn’t want to know anything about the outside world, because I was just in such a dark place physically, and it was physically taxing, but I know that was taking such a big toll on me mentally. I told myself I cannot stay here, that this is right now but this isn’t forever. I have to tell myself that it’s gonna get better. I just kept telling myself that, and I think that really, really helps your mental state when you’re in these conditions and you can’t control it, because it’s out of my control. But I just kept telling myself, this isn’t forever. You’re gonna get through this. And again, my family. I’m so, so blessed because I have such a strong family that was there for me. My six-year-old niece is praying for God to take the redness away. She doesn’t have to do that, but she does that. She does that for me every night. I have amazing friends, Liv constantly checking on me, Jet from makeup always checking on me. Just really, really amazing people that wanted to come visit me, but it was something I had to get through by myself, for sure.”

On continued struggles with the condition:

“I think that’s what really crushed me at first too, because this was my dream job, I worked so hard to get here. I did everything possible, and I felt like it was getting taken away from me. I was like, no way I could be a wrestler with red skin all the time. We watched Elimination Chamber from last year, and as Liv and I are doing the commentary, watching it back and stuff my entrance happens and I just started bawling again. Because I remember being in that moment and being in Australia with my face swollen, having to take a steroid shot and having to stay in my hotel, because I didn’t want people to see me that way, and I didn’t want my coworkers to see me that way. I just felt weak, I just felt so helpless and so weak. So it was a really tough re-watch for me to watch Elimination Chamber again last year. But I know everyone’s like, no you should be so proud. You were so brave going out there, like red and with no makeup. But deep down, it was really, really hard for me.”

On being an inspiration:

“Oh, thanks. Yeah I really, really hope so, because I know that there’s so many young people out there that are going through this too, and I know how it affected me when I was younger and tried to wear makeup, and I would get reactions on my face. I just hope it really shows younger people that you’re beautiful the way you are. You don’t need to change anything. This is how God made you and just embrace it.”

On becoming a part of The Judgment Day:

“I had my connection with Liv, of course. So I had that beautiful connection with Liv. So when I was getting healthy and coming back, we talked a little bit and she was like, I think this is something that would be beneficial for the Judgment Day, especially just having her at the forefront with Dominik and I think it just brought another element to the Judgment Day. So it really wasn’t hard for me. I think I was just born in.”

On her Walmart announcement:

“You know what’s funny is they put that meet and greet on us last minute. So Liv and I got up early, and we’re like just around. We’re just having our little fun morning, and we go to do this meet and greet, we’re waiting, we’re just being us, having fun, getting ready, and we’re excited. We walk out to the Walmart through the back door where they have the table and everything set up, and I see the phone with the intercom, and the guy’s like, ‘Hey, I think I’m gonna make an announcement just so people in the store know we’re about to start the meet and greet.’ I was just like, ‘Can I do it?’ I don’t know why, what came over me, but I was like, Can I do it? I just wanted to be on a Walmart intercom. So I was like, this seems like a prime opportunity. And also I don’t think I was on that meet and greet with Liv. I think I just showed up with her because I was staying with her. I was like, I have nothing else to do, let’s go together. So we did, and I wanted to introduce her, and I got to introduce her as the greatest women’s world champion of all time. I got to introduce her as the first-ever Crown Jewel champion. And we had a really good little meet and greet.”

On how Liv and Raquel were paired up:

“I have no clue to be honest with you, no clue. They put us together when I had just gotten called up, I was still pretty new to the main roster and we were getting ready for WrestleMania. They were talking about an eight woman tag, and I think they needed tags at the time. There weren’t too many actual tag teams. So I think we just were in a random match together and we had really good chemistry. To be honest, we weren’t even really good friends then, she had her friends and her crew that she kind of hung out with, and I had mine, so we worked together and we did really well together and things just kind of like grew from there. Then Mania happened in LA, that was my first Mania and I got to tag with Liv, and we had the cool Powerbomb move. I think that was something that opened people’s eyes to what we were able to do. Then the Monday after Mania they were like, You guys are tagging again. It’s funny, because that Monday too, I remember we were in completely opposite matches, she was in a triple threat with two other people, and I was in a triple triple threat with two other people. Literally as the show’s about to start, the doors are opening, people are coming into the arena they’re like, scratch that, putting you guys into tag. So it just kind of went from there. I think what makes Liv and I work really well too is that we want to really elevate the tag division, we want to elevate any match that we’re in together, and we want to elevate each other. So when we talk about what we want to accomplish that night, or what we want to do with these tag titles, it’s always being on the same page with each other. So that comes with building a relationship with each other too. Because if we want to show people how good our chemistry is in the ring, we should have that outside too. So we really took the time to bond and become friends and yeah, it’s been so much fun ever since, because we really are good friends. Sometimes you have people who aren’t friends that are tag teams, and they’re great, and you’d still never know. But Liv and I, we really just got along, and we had a lot of the same values and beliefs, and it just worked. And so it was really, really fun getting to tag with her the first year, the second time we won it in London at Money in the Bank. Yeah, it’s been amazing.”

On working with Ronda Rousey:

“When I first got called up to main roster to work with Ronda, I was like I felt the pressure, for sure, and when I talked to people about being able to work with her and how amazing she is, it’s always mind blowing to me still that I got that opportunity to be in the ring with her and work with her and know her and put on what was a really good match. It was a really good mix up that we had.”

Where do you go from here?

“It’s tough. I definitely think I go to WrestleMania as Tag Team Champions, and me and Liv retain whoever it is that we will face. Then after that, I think we hold on to these bad boys for as long as we can, and we become the longest reigning, three-time greatest ever World breaking Women’s Tag Team Champions. And then possibly, who knows? If Liv gets a singles opportunity, and she gets to be Liv two belts, maybe there’s an opportunity for me to also be Raquel two belts and get a singles opportunity. You know, that Intercontinental title looks really pretty, and so does Chelsea’s United States Championship. Since I’ve been visiting SmackDown more, I’ve been admiring it a little bit more from afar.”

What is Raquel Rodriguez grateful for?

“My health, my family and for the position that I’m in to be able to shed light onto so many things that we deal with in this world that we never talk about.”

Cedric Alexander On WWE Release, Hurt Business, Possibly Signing With AEW, Lumbar Check

in LATEST EPISODES on March 27, 2025 March 27, 2025

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Cedric Alexander (@CedricAlexander) is a professional wrestler previously signed to WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at West Coast Creative Studio in Hollywood, CA to talk about the release and his immediate reaction, if he is interested in joining The Hurt Syndicate in AEW, being a part of The Hurt Business and the group’s sudden break-up, getting signed during the Cruiserweight Classic, playing Gary Garbutt the janitor in a match with Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre and Shane McMahon, the viral Lumbar Check on Candice LeRae, winning the Cruiserweight Championship at WrestleMania 34 and more!
Quote I’m thinking about: “Difficulties in life are intended to make us better, not bitter.” – Dan Reeves

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On the WWE release:

“Everything’s fine. You know, once I got that news, I wasn’t even mad. I kind of felt like a pressure was lifted off my shoulders. Oh wow, I’m free to do other things, cool, all right, let’s see what happens.”

On getting the release call:

“I was expecting to be angry and frantic. Actually, funny enough they called Friday night. I was in the middle of a leg workout. I’m doing squats, and my phone starts ringing. So I put the weight down, because I have a gym in my house so for me I’m just working out all hours of the day. So I pick up the phone, and I received the dreaded 203 number. I’m like, Okay, what’s gonna happen? I don’t remember the guy’s name. I think he said it was Will from TR. And I was like, Yeah, sure. What’s up? He goes, ‘Sorry, we’re gonna release you from your contract.’ My initial reaction was okay, cool. He goes, ‘Yeah, sorry to get this news on a Friday.’ So I had an NXT house show tomorrow, so I don’t do that anymore. That was my first question, too. He goes, No, you’re all good, just the 90 days and if you need anything let us know. I was like, okay, cool.”

On if he was expecting the release:

“I wasn’t expecting it, but it was the thing of I wasn’t surprised. I guess I kind of saw the writing on the wall after a while.”

On his immediate reaction:

“So I immediately thought to myself when I was released, I was like, Okay, that’s a job. Wrestling is my career. I may be out of a job, but I still have a career. All thanks to [Mustafa] Ali, he’s one of the guys that called me within the hour of me being released and was immediately like, hey dude, it’s all good. Just being super positive as you know Ali is, but yeah man, it sucked because it’s a dream job. It’s one of those jobs that I’m a kid and I’m like oh my god, I’m gonna wrestle for WWE. Then when it ends, it just ends. You just move on.”

On what’s next:

“I felt like I was completely started all over again, because I don’t know what’s wrestling outside of WWE for the last eight and a half years. Who’s hot on the indies? I don’t really know that much anymore, who’s a good place to get work? I am just completely lost, because being in WWE for nearly a decade, eight and a half years, you’re like okay, I don’t have to do anything, bookings just come to you, you get paid, and it’s like you almost get complacent because you’re like, Oh, something will pop up. They have all my booking information. They’ll put me in something eventually.”

On if he is interested in joining The Hurt Syndicate in AEW:

“100%. That’s a big chapter of my career that I really felt was never fully explored and I think it’ll be great to finish that out.”

On The Hurt Business suddenly ending:

“I knew something was wrong when Bobby won the title on that episode of Raw, and Vince made a very direct comment to not have me and Shelton get it in the ring and celebrate with him. That was when I was like, Oh, that’s not good news. Whatever’s happening next I’m not gonna like it. Then, slowly but surely, think was it two or three weeks later that we did the full breakup the first time of the three times we did.”

On there being more to The Hurt Business storyline:

“I think so, definitely. There’s so much meat on the bone that I would like to get to. But if I don’t, then that’s fine too. I’m game to go to New Japan, Mexico. So I’m just ready for things to happen. It’s one of those things where I’ve been sitting so long and I feel like I’m getting a little itchy, something’s gotta happen soon.”

On getting signed at the Cruiserweight Classic:

“Okay, that’s why I’m breaking the fantasy up here a little bit. Technically, I was signed right before that match. Actually, what got me signed wasn’t the match with Kota, it was the weight loss transformation that I did to get into the Cruiserweight Classic. So we’re going back to 2015 and I figured out okay, ROH probably not going to use me too much more, my contract is coming up in January. So I’m going explore this idea of doing WWE try-outs. So I had a tryout that I emailed Canyon Ceman for in January, and he said, ‘Yeah, come on down. We’ve been keeping an eye on you. We’d love to see you.’ I was like, Cool. Did the try-out, went great. They started asking people throughout the try-out, ‘Hey, can you lose X amount of weight for this tournament that we’re gonna do?’ And I was one of the guys they asked. I was like, Yeah, sure. And they asked me how much I weighed. I was 232. I legit had to get to 205. I remember asking, ‘Hey, do we have to be at 205 or would it be like around?’ He goes, ‘No, you gotta be 205.’ I don’t know if I could do that, but we’ll try it. But they told me this in the end of January, around February, and the tournament was in June or July, I believe. So I had plenty of time to lose it, but I’ve never lost that much weight. So I was like, I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to do this or not. The first two, three weeks, 15 pounds gone, I was like, Oh, I could do this way faster than I thought. So I’m calling Canyon Ceman every week and a half, two weeks or so just to kind of check-in and go Hey, I’m here now. I’m here now. Because at that point they never said, Hey, you’re in the tournament. They just said, Hey, keep in contact with us. We’ll see what we can do. And I think it was right at the beginning of June they announced me being in the tournament. I just got down to 205 right on the dot. And I’m actually so close to the point where if I ate a ham sandwich, I was too overweight. So keeping that weight down was not an easy thing for me to do, because I don’t think my body was made to be that low.”

On his relationship with Triple H:

“Honestly, it didn’t go past that, funny enough. You would think from that moment I’d be a Triple H guy. So there was a point where we were in 205 Live that he kind of had some say in there a little bit, and kind of took care of me. But I was never really a fully Triple H guy. I was more of a Paul Heyman guy. When he was writing Raw, and they drafted me out of 205 Live into Raw, I was more of a Heyman guy than anything else. Heyman give me a bunch of little sidebar conversations this, that and the other way more than Triple H did.”

What do you think you learned from Paul Heyman?

“Patience, for better or worse, patience. I remember there was one point I went to Heyman and I was just like, I was probably on Raw for like a year, but they haven’t really done anything with me. And I was like, Hey, Paul, What do you need for me in order to get to that next level? I think this is maybe right after we did the whole thing with AJ and the squash match we did on Night of Champions in Charlotte. He was just telling me just wait. We’ll take care of you. If you gotta wait six months, wait six months. If you gotta wait a year. Wait a year. And I swear I’m going, I will be the best soldier I can be and just wait it out. And every time they called me for something, whether it was the Gary Garbutt thing or any other random thing they asked for. I was, hey, I’m here. What do you want me to do?”

On Gary Garbutt the janitor:

“I got to work that day not knowing what I was going to do, which is the norm for WWE. I just remember sitting around, and then ref tells me, hey, we need you ringside. I was like cool, go down the ringside, hang out for a bit, talk to some guys. Nothing happened. Okay, then Shane McMahon comes and gets me and goes, ‘Hey, come with me to the production meeting.’ Oh, cool, all right. Following Shane to production he goes, Wait right here. I sit outside the chair of the production meeting for what felt like 10-20, minutes. Shane comes back out, and in that time they had already got the plan together for Drew and Shane to bully a backstage crew member, a janitor, and then for me to take his place, put his mask on and wrestle. I’m like okay, why are we doing this? It’s the story with Roman and Shane, all right, cool, fine. That’s good enough reason for me, and that’s all I got. Went out there and did the match. I remember calling the match with Shane and Drew, and I’m calling the spots I’m gonna do, and then I called the back elbow, and Shane goes, ‘So you think you can do my moves now?’ Sorry, Shane, this is what I was doing at the moment. What do you want me to do? The weirdest thing from that was then taking the mask off at the end of the match, and then having a smile on my face. It was the weirdest thing, because I remember the spot was to take the mask off and reveal it’s me, and I’m like. I hadn’t done anything on Raw at this point. I’m just a guy. A guy from 205 Live that most people didn’t who watched Raw probably didn’t see the show. So I’m like, All right, cool. Gonna take the mask off. I remember taking off and Roman goes do it slow. All right. I take the mask off, and I’m smiling, with a busted lip, because Drew just kicked me in the face with a claymore. And I’m like, Yeah, it’s me. It’s me, Austin! I’m thinking myself, why the hell am I smiling? I just got kicked in the face. Vince was like, ‘I want you to take it off and smile big, like you just got one over on him.'”

On the Lumbar Check:

“The funny thing is the less you try to sell it, the better it is. So I’ve had guys, I get them up and they try to recoil, because you want to get that classic bounce and recoil off of it. But it never really works out. Candice LeRae is the reason why people try to take it like that, actually. So I’m doing a show in Cleveland for AIW and it’s like an eight-hour drive for me from North Carolina. I’m driving up the whole way, and I know it’s like the six-person scramble match with Candice, ACH, I’m sorry I don’t remember names of the other guys in the match, but Candice LeRae and ACH were in that match in particular. I remember thinking, I do cool things with ACH all the time. That’s cool. But what can I do with Candice? She takes the lumbar check. And that’s as far as I thought it through, I didn’t think it was gonna get viral or anything like that. I remember calling it to her and go, Hey, you want to take this? She goes, Yeah, sure, whatever. And the moment I got her up and threw in the air, if you’ve watched the viral clip of it. You hear someone go, ‘Oh no’, bang, and she flies over my head by the rope. And I’m like, I just killed Candice. All right, moving on to the next part. And then I wake up the next morning. It’s viral on Twitter and millions and millions of views, I got death threats. Yeah, people thought I killed Candice. People legit thought I killed Candice.”

On the origin of the Lumbar Check.

“Mortal Kombat. I think we got it from Sub Zero. Sub Zero had a finishing move in the game where he rips your spine, it’s called the lumbar intrusion or something like that. We’re like, that sounds weird. So before I actually got that far, Steve Corino was trying to help me think of moves, names for it and we came up with a whole bunch of weird stuff and he said something with a check in it. I was like, I like that kind of but I don’t know what else to put with it. And then after kind of brainstorming with my wife or girlfriend at the time, Big Swole. So I was brainstorming. And she goes, What about the lumbar intrusion thing from Sub Zero? I went I don’t like that. I remember Steve Corino was like something check. I was like, lumbar check? Because you’re falling on the lumbar, and it’s great. I was like, okay, that works, perfect. We’ll go with it. And this is how it came up with the move. I’ve actually been doing that move since like the second year I started wrestling, so it’s not a new move for me, because I just randomly started doing it, just because I think, I thought it’d be cool. I saw Roderick Strong doing a one knee version. And then, yeah, that’s why”.

On winning the Cruiserweight Championship at WrestleMania 34:

“That for me was the childhood dream come true, so to speak. Because when I came up watching wrestling I always wanted to be a Cruiserweight, because my first match I remember watching was Juventud versus Ray Mysterio in WCW. I just remember going, that’s, that’s me now I’m doing wrestling, and so I’ve always been a big lover of the Cruiserweights.

So to be able to get to do that, WrestleMania was 75,000 people, and they put us on a pre-show. Most people look at that and go, ah, boo. It’s not the main show. That’s the pre-show. It’s like, brother, I’m walking out and it says WrestleMania behind me, there’s people in their seats, this is WrestleMania, regardless how you try to put that. With Ali, I don’t think you could have picked a better opponent for me, he took care of me. Ali was the, I want to say the sane one, but he was the more together one of the two of us, because I’m freaking out. For me, this is the biggest thing I’ve ever been on. I’m here. Last year I was injured. I couldn’t even go to WrestleMania. I had a meniscus tear. But then this year, I’m wrestling for the Cruiserweight Title on Wrestlemania, not thinking I would ever see WrestleMania, ever. So for me, I’ll never forget that match. I won it, my daughter was in the front row, my wife was in the front row, and so I will forever be grateful to Ali for pulling me together because I was losing it. I didn’t know how to handle it. Nerves were killing me. I flew my family out for that show. So my mom, my stepdad, my brother, his girl, his daughter, my daughter, my wife. So for me, it was just like, I can’t mess this up. If I mess this up, then everything just feels like it went down the drain. [How would you mess it up?] Blowing a spot, not being 205, because like I said, keeping that weight was hard for me to do. So I’m thinking of every little thing, what if I look chubby? What if my abs aren’t popping out? What if I’m not jacked? What if my gear is bad? There were so many things I was thinking about that could have went wrong. Just in my head, and I was my own worst enemy for that whole week.”

On if his wife Big Swole is still wrestling?

“She is currently not wrestling. She’s she’s doing more of the announcer hosting role. She’s trying to get into that more. Wrestling is just rough on her body. She has Crohn’s disease. So it’s not the easiest thing to come back when you’re wrestling. There’s thoughts about, okay, maybe doing one more run, maybe. But she’s pretty content with keeping her body in one piece and just sticking with more supportive roles in wrestling.”

What is Cedric Alexander grateful for?

“Family, health and patience.”

Lilian Garcia On Her WWE Return, Smackdown, Viral Moments With The Rock & Triple H

in LATEST EPISODES on March 25, 2025 March 25, 2025

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Lilian Garcia (@LilianGarcia) is a WWE ring announcer and singer. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet at West Coast Creative Studio in Hollywood, CA to discuss being back in WWE and how her moment with Samantha Irvin on Raw led to her return to announcing, her 2016 departure and what led her back to wrestling, how the current era compares to The Attitude Era, her previous podcast “Chasing Glory” possibly making a comeback, memorable interview segments with The Rock, her storylines with Viscera, 3 Minute Warning and Howard Finkel, taking a Samoan drop from Jamal (Umaga), announcing Triple H as a former World Champion and the viral reaction, singing the national anthem at WWE events and more!

Quote I’m thinking about: “Sometimes when things are falling apart, they may actually be falling into place.” – Unknown

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On if Lilian thought a WWE return would be possible:

“You know, you should never say never, because I really thought that was it. I thought that that chapter was closed, especially when I walked away. I didn’t have to walk away in 2016 but I chose to walk away when my dad got sick, he was given two weeks to three months to live. He had bladder cancer and it had spread, and at that time he was living with me and mom had come to live with me. They were getting treated at City of Hope here in LA, and the treatments just didn’t work anymore. When I got that news, I remember calling the company and being like, I just can’t get on another plane. It was just devastating. My dad was so upset that I had left the company because he really felt responsible, but I kept going every day no, this is where I needed to be. This is where I want to be. Now he didn’t know he was dying. He had told us a long time before that don’t ever tell me if I’m dying. I think it was the Lieutenant Colonel inside of him, where I think it would just been devastating had he felt like I don’t have any more control. Because as an army person, whatever, you just feel like you need to have control. So it was kind of one of those things where it’s like no, I’m gonna step away just so I can spend some time with you and get you back to health.”

On not regretting the decision to step away from WWE:

“I will never regret that decision. He passed on Christmas Day of 2016 and I just remember he had said goodbye to us on the 20th, that was when he lost the ability to speak anymore. I just remember that by the 25th I looked at the cross that I had put, because he was a man of faith, and I put a cross above his bed, this was like at 12:30 that afternoon. I said to God, ‘If you want to give me a gift take him, because this is not my dad anymore.’ It’s the hardest thing to say, but I’m looking at this man, he was just trying to stay alive for us but he just wasn’t there. I always wondered why Christmas Day and he held on to that day though, because he knew how much we loved it. But I do remember this from the hospice people that were there, great piece of advice, and he said, ‘Don’t tell your dad to let go. As a Lieutenant Colonel, he’s the one that gave the orders, so just tell him it’s okay to let go if he’s ready.’ And that’s what I did. I whispered in his ear, and I said look, it’s okay to let go. You’ve really prepped me for life, your lessons. I don’t want to get teary-eyed here, but it was about an hour later he let go.”

On missing WWE when she left:

“Yes, I couldn’t even watch the product for a really long time, it was just too sad, too hard for me to watch, too many memories. I loved it so much. Like I said, from a little girl to all of a sudden, here I am and working with The Rock, Stone Cold, Triple H. The Attitude Era. I mean, it’s like D-Von and I look back, I remember him coming to me, we were talking backstage. He goes, Man, we just had no clue the era that we were in when we were in it, we just didn’t. I heard Triple H kind of say this the other day after Elimination Chamber and the press conference. He said, we didn’t really know that there was something so special about the Attitude Era. But now we look back and we go, that was a really special time, but now we can feel there’s something very special now, and I agree. It’s like now some of us that were there in the Attitude Era could really look at this moment and go, Okay, there’s a feeling that we’re familiar with. And this is really special.”

On coming back to WWE full-time:

“Crazy. I feel like this is a God thing. So when I left in 2016, took care of my dad, then my mom stayed living with me and then she eventually got cancer as well. In 2019 I went to PFL, the Professional Fighters League in MMA. So I started announcing for them. I announced for four years with them, but mom had gotten sick during that time, and so did the same thing for her, took care of her. My sister came. My sister did this as well with my dad. She basically lived with me so we could take care of both of them, and she passed in 2021. Then by the end of 2021, my marriage just dissolved. I had to make a really hard decision. It’s wild that I went to Spain, where I grew up, I went there to kind of tap into my younger self and to separate myself in the situation to kind of see things clearly. For three weeks I sat there and I wrote everything out, and then I came back and I made the decision, but I was devastated because I didn’t see it coming. I didn’t want this. But you get to a point where if you’re not living in a very healthy way, you got to make a decision.

So I needed to make that decision. I dissolved that, I kept PFL, I did the 2022 season, and then the 2023 season came and all of a sudden I lost my voice and I couldn’t figure out why. I went through four months trying to figure out what was wrong with my voice. I couldn’t announce. I could speak but I could barely sing, just anytime I went to do something forceful, boisterous, it was just like it would swell up and disappear. My vocal coach was telling me, because I was like, okay, maybe I should just be on vocal rest. He’s like, no, no, we can’t do that, because then you’ll atrophy, we got to work this out. But come to find out when I tried to do the championship for the 2023 season, I just couldn’t. It was at Madison Square Garden and that very next week, my boss called me. He’s like, we’re not gonna be able to sign you for 2024, we don’t even know what’s wrong with you. I was like, I don’t blame you. I’m like an announcer without a voice. But the very next week my voice cleared up and I’m like, what is happening here?

Sure enough, I had the house I was living in Laguna Beach, and I had it checked out. I thought it was mold, because I encountered mold in houses before, but it wasn’t. It was a gas leak, huge gas leak that I had had there for four months in, just inhaling all these fumes, and they’re like, Thank goodness you don’t smoke or you don’t light candles. That’s why I was so irritated. I had to go through hyperbaric chambers and detox and all, but by then I’d lost that. So then I ended up deciding by the end of 2023 to move to my parents’ house in South Carolina. So I left California. The house had been sitting there since my dad, they moved in 2016 so I went and wow, what a chapter. For eight months, sat there and went through all my childhood memories, because that’s the house that I grew up in from when I moved from Spain when I was eight years old. So going through all this stuff, my dad, my parents had added to the house, and by then it was almost 4,000 square feet, a lot of hoarding. It’s like that generation just wanted to keep everything. So I went through a lot. My sister would come back and forth from Nashville, but sitting with those memories in the house, wow, that was tough, and I dealt with that for eight months, and then that led me to Atlanta. I get to Atlanta, and I somebody suggested, oh by the way, at the end of 21, I am going to get to your question, but I think this is all important to lead to that.”

“By the end of 2021 when I’d made the decision, December 1 is when I finally told him, my friend extended her hand the second week of December. She’s like, ‘Do you want to go to Mariners with me?’ I was like, what is that? She’s like, my church. I was like, Well, I’m Catholic. She goes, Well, this is non-denominational. It’s like, okay, I’ve never been to non-denominational, it’s fine. I walk in and the band starts playing, and they’re playing for 20 minutes, and they’re playing rock music, and there’s lights and I’m like, wait, we’re not even in a church. It’s like in an arena. Am I at church or a rock concert? What is this? I was just so moved by it and the message and everything that I had to come back next week. By the second week I was like, I had to see if they need a singer. It’s like, I just got everything in me. I don’t know whether God, whatever, but everything in me is like go find out. Sure enough, they did a really quick audition. I heard that usually it takes six months, and I was in there in like two weeks. So I was meant to be. So I started becoming a worship leader and really that brought me back. I got into a church program that really helped me deal with my divorce and helped me deal with a lot of trauma that I’d been through in my life, and from that I ended up getting re-baptized.

When I say re-baptized, I was baptized as a baby, but I made the choice as an adult and it was on Easter Day, which was fascinating. Was amazing that it was that day because it also happened to be my grandmother’s birthday. My grandmother was the first 14 years of my life. She lived with us, and she’s the one that really just poured so much love. I know love because of my grandmother, so the fact that it was her birthday as well. So then when I moved to Atlanta I watched the movie The War Room, which is amazing. I created this prayer closet because it talks about it in The War Room, and is where I meditate and all. I’m sitting there and I’m like, All right God, I’ve done everything that I feel like you want me to do. I’ve stepped away from this, stepped away from that, lost my voice. I’ve found out what it was. But at the same time, I lost my job at PFL, didn’t get re-signed, and no income coming in. I’ve gone to this house for eight months and emptied it, still waiting for it to sell. I’m like, I literally have one more month left of income. You say you do not abandon, I feel like I’ve done everything you want me to do. I will trust but I am scared. And two weeks later, I get the call from Triple H to come back.”

On returning to WWE full-time:

“So here’s the setup too. Because I went to the house in South Carolina, then I find out that Raw is going to be in Greenville, and that was in May, months before. I find out they’re going to be in Greenville so I’m like, oh that’s only an hour and a half [away]. I hadn’t seen them in forever. Let me go down there. Just let me go say hi to everybody. So I reach out to him and I’m like, ‘Hey, can I come by? I’m like an hour and a half away.’ He [Triple H] is like, ‘Of course, we haven’t seen you forever. Come on back.’ So I said hi to everybody, and then he was like, ‘Hey, do you want to be on the show tonight? I’d love for you to co-announce with Samantha.’ I’m like, Oh, that would be so much fun. Sam was so excited. She’s so excited. She was telling me she’d been watching me and I had inspired her because I sang, and so she felt like she wanted to sing on the show and all. So when we co-announce, when I stopped in the middle of the ring and started complimenting her, that wasn’t part of it. I just really felt like that came out of me, really complimenting her. It just became such a moment that it just went everywhere, viral, my gosh, it was like the passing of the torch and all that. It was just so exciting.

Then I’m in Atlanta, I’m now living there, and Bad Blood is in Atlanta. I came back in October, so we didn’t know anything. I go to Bad Blood, I’m in the audience, I’m sitting next to Booker T. Then I get the call two weeks later, ‘Hey, can you come back?’ The thing is I knew when they offered it to me to come back, they did tell me, ‘Hey, this isn’t permanent announcing for Raw or SmackDown. We just really need you right now but this is a new era, we want to be completely upfront with you.’ Which I really appreciated. I said, Look, whatever you guys need, I never thought I was going to be back, and whatever you need, I love this business. I love the people I work with. I’m excited. So when they brought me back, I knew that Raw was going to be until the changeover in January 6 for Netflix, that I knew. And they were like, Okay, now we’re gonna put you on SmackDown but we don’t know how long. Every week that went by they were like, ‘I’m so sorry we need you another week, is that okay?’ And I’m like, ‘Of course it is. It’s fine. Do whatever you want. I am loving this, totally loving this.’ But what was so beautiful that has evolved from it is that even though I’m not gonna be the full-time SmackDown announcer anymore, they said, You know what, we love having you part of this, we want to extend, we want you to do Saturday Night’s Main Event. We think you’re a perfect fit for that. I love it. I get to wear gowns for that.”

On being back in WWE:

“Amazing, the fans have been incredible, just the love from that to the people I’m working with, to the new talent that’s there, the girls in the locker room, absolutely incredible. And they all reached out to me, or they’re like we’re gonna miss you on a weekly basis. They know I’m not gone-gone, but they’re like we’re gonna miss you on a weekly basis. Working back with Triple H and seeing all of these people that I worked with for so many years, all the agents now that are the producers that are there. It’s my family. I don’t have my parents anymore, I didn’t have kids, and I’m not in a relationship, I’m in Atlanta by myself. So it is my family, and that’s what’s so beautiful, and the fact that they said, Look, we really want to work this out to keep you in some capacity here. Man, that’s music to my ears and just to my heart.”

On the Viscera storyline:

“You know, that was never supposed to be a storyline. Never. So they asked, ‘Okay, can he just serenade you? We want to turn him into Big Daddy V where he starts going around to all these women and he gets all these women kind of thing. He goes, so we have an idea. We want him to serenade you.’ I’m like, yeah, that’d be fun. Well, it was like the most watched segment in weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks, or the year, or something like that. So it was like wait a minute, we have something here. So that’s when they kept writing something for us and it just kept evolving and evolving. Next thing you know, I’m proposing to him at the pay-per-view at Vengeance. Oh my gosh, it was so fun. He was so incredible to work with and they wanted to do this like, you know, Beauty and the Beast. He was a beautiful man. Like, seriously just a really big teddy bear. He showed up and he was like, ‘Oh, guess what we’re doing tonight.’ What? What are we doing? Things you didn’t expect.”

On the 3 Minute Warning Angle:

“So okay, I get the job as the announcer, replacing the legend Howard Finkel. I don’t remember how long after that, but he kind of in the storyline had been wanting his job back and he screwed me in something. I remember popping up with Trish. I even had a match with him. So he’s in the ring and he’s insulting me with something and then all of a sudden, Three Minute Warning comes. Then Jamal and Rosie are in the ring. They threw me into Jamal, which obviously we know later on was Umaga, but at the time he was Jamal, and they do the Samoan drop. He does the Samoan drop on me.

So we rehearsed in the afternoon and there was a mat. They brought this big mat, and they’re like, Okay, what we need you to do is to be able to take this. We need you to wrap your arms here and wrap your arms there, they’re teaching me, and I’ve been athletic my whole life. So I was like, this is the best thing ever. This is so exciting. And they’re like, okay, but when he goes back with you, you make sure you release all the air out of your lungs so that you don’t lose your [breath]. Well, I’m not a wrestler, so of course, in the action of it all, I hit the mat. Now it’s way firmer than the practice mat. The practice mat is super thick. But when I hit the ring, the fall is way worse, and I don’t let my air out because I don’t think about it. Sure enough, I knocked the wind out of my lungs and I could hardly breathe, but I knew I had to stay still because I knew that I was about to take the frog splash. I knew I had to stay still and they say that even looked worse but I didn’t even feel that one at all. But I did feel when I was going to the back and they were rolling me out in the stretcher, Chris the trainer is checking on me and he’s like, how are you doing? My head is throbbing like, what’s going on? He’s like you should be alright. Next day, I felt like the truck had hit me and it was because I thought that there was foam in the ring to support. No, it’s boards. That’s why they sound like, boom, boom. Well, imagine little old me coming and landing on a board all the way from up top. Sure enough, I’m gonna feel that, I’m not trained, and that’s why they don’t do things like that anymore. I’m actually glad and excited that I was in the era that I took that, it was a lot of fun. [He threw you up for that]. Yeah, I have so much respect from that moment right then. I had already respected the wrestlers, but I had so much more respect because I’m like, the fact that you guys do this 300-plus dates a year to your bodies is incredible.”

On The Rock playing a part in Lilian singing the national anthem at WWE events:

“He’s the reason I got to sing the national anthem on the show, because when we worked together so much backstage and doing all these segments, I remember they were setting up cameras or lighting. So we talk and he’s like, so tell me a little bit about yourself, and he wanted to get to know me. He’s one of the first ones that friended me. So I told him a little bit about me, and singing came up. He’s like, Oh, you sing and I’m like, Yeah. It was later on, I was getting ready because Howard always did the live events on the weekend, but I was going to be subbing in for Howard. He said to me, ‘Hey, you know what? Every weekend we play the national anthem as an instrumental before we go out there. Why don’t you talk to the producers to see if you [can sing it]? Have you ever done the national anthem?’ I said, Yeah, I did on my graduation for high school or college. Can’t remember. So he’s like, ‘Why don’t you talk to them and see if you can do it?’ So I talked to the producers. They’re like, ‘Well come in that day in the afternoon, let’s rehearse it and see.’ So I did it, and they’re like, oh my gosh, we’d love for you to do it tonight. So I did it Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and then by Monday, all the producers told Vince McMahon, they’re like, ‘You got to see her do this. She knocked it out of the park. The crowd went crazy.’ We were in San Jose, and he goes all right, I gotta see it tonight. So I did it that night, and then that was it. He’s like, I want you to do it at every event. I hold the record for the most times at WrestleMania, which is awesome.”

What is Lilian Garcia grateful for?

“The people that are in my life, the opportunities that I have and the fan base that is still with me.”

Chris Bey’s Inspiring Recovery After Being Paralyzed In The Ring

in LATEST EPISODES on March 20, 2025 March 20, 2025

Chris Bey (@DashingChrisBey) is a professional wrestler currently signed to TNA. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas to discuss the accident the night after TNA Bound For Glory that left him paralyzed, being told he would only have a 10-25% chance of walking again and defying the odds, the overwhelming support from TNA and the fans including CM Punk showing his support at the Raw on Netflix premiere, if he thinks he will ever wrestle again, the benefit show featuring stars from WWE, AEW and TNA, what it meant to be X Division Champion, his current quality of life and more.

Support Chris Bey here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/chris-bey-recovery-funds

Quote I’m thinking about: “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe

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On the video of his standing out of wheelchair:

“It took a lot of therapy, a lot of mental will, lot of days where I wasn’t better than the day before. So it sucked. You know, timing, a lot of my walking ability or standing ability, and trying to make my walking look as natural as possible. So I had probably only been up on my feet without assistance for three weeks at that point when I posted the video. So those three weeks were mostly me trying to make it look as normal as possible and not too shaky, so that if I did decide to post it I wouldn’t be embarrassed.”

On being in a wheelchair up until that point:

“Yeah I was in a wheelchair from probably, we’ll say a little over a month after the surgery is kind of when I was put into a wheelchair, that’s a little stretch, maybe three weeks after the surgery they started putting me in a wheelchair. From that moment up until mid-January, I was in a wheelchair.”

On what he remembers from the accident:

“I remember from the day being sore from Bound for Glory, crazy match. Once the adrenaline wore off at Bound for Glory, I was feeling it. So when I walked in that next day, I was like man, I hope I’m cutting a promo today. I said I did not feel like wrestling. As soon as I heard I was wrestling The Hardys I was like sweet, double-edged sword, because you’re wrestling the Hardys but then physically you don’t want to do it. But then I told myself and I told [Ace] Austin too. These guys used to do this six nights a week. We can do it. It’s no big deal. The match was going good. We had a lot of time, which was different from the first time we met those guys. Just team versus team. First time, we didn’t have a lot of time. This time we had more time. So we were all confident and comfortable with what we were doing. I’m in there with my best friend and two of my idols, it’s a night off essentially, and then a spot that you’ve done a million times up until this point goes wrong. As soon as it goes wrong, you don’t notice what’s wrong, you just know something isn’t right. I felt a jolt. It was a neck breaker. We missed each other, Matt and I, by an inch. I felt a jolt, and I felt a little bit of discomfort. Referee Daniel Spencer comes over and checks on me, ‘Chris, are you okay?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I think so, just roll me out the way’, because I needed help rolling out of the way. I didn’t realize how much help I needed. Austin said it didn’t look like I needed a lot. Looked like I helped too. I just felt like I wanted assistance rolling out of the way quick enough because I knew they had to do some more stuff. I didn’t want them to think that I was just selling and bumping on top of me, expecting me to move. I’ve had stingers before. I thought it might have just been a stinger.”

On if he was in pain at that point and what happened next:

“I was numb. It was a weird feeling that I can’t exactly explain, because I’ve never experienced it before. I just know it was kind of a numb feeling. I didn’t realize all of what was numb. I just felt a numbness. But because of the adrenaline and because of the perfectionist I am, I was thinking about the art we were creating and how my brush made a mark I didn’t want because the spot didn’t go perfect. So instead of thinking about how I felt, I was thinking about how to get back on track in the match. So once he helped roll me out of the way, I’m looking out of the side of my eye to see them do the next sequence and see if that goes right. It does. Crowd reacts and I’m like, okay, cool. It’s my turn to get back up and do my next spot. So mentally, I roll over and grab the ropes and sell around. Physically, I’m laying there. So Matt and Jeff come over to me and I was like, ‘Let’s just go to Swanton. Let’s just end this.’ Because I can’t get up. I’m already laying here. I’m like, let’s just go to the Swanton, which I’ve never had to cut stuff in a match before so my pride was hurt a little bit, but I just knew I couldn’t get up. I didn’t know why, though. So Jeff starts to climb the top rope, and as he’s climbing the top rope I’m thinking that I should be able to brace for this. So once again, mentally, I’m doing this motion. Physically, nothing’s happening, and I’m laying there doing this.”

“So I’m yelling at the ref now, telling Jeff not to do the Swanton now as he’s already climbing the top rope. Thankfully, he doesn’t do the Swanton. He protects me, drops a leg drop but misses by a mile, protects me and he covers me. I’m just so apologetic. I’m like, ‘Guys, I’m so sorry I messed up. I messed up the finish of the match, I messed up. I’m sorry.’ And they’re like, ‘No, are you all right?’ Our ringside doctor comes over to me, he checks on me, he tries to get me to squeeze his hands, and at this point, my fingers are shaking a little bit but they’re not squeezing. I tell Austin, I’m like, ‘Bro, take my elbow pads off me now’, because my arms are hot. The adrenaline’s wearing off and my arms are like a million degrees. So I’m telling Austin to pull my elbow pads down, because I’m thinking my circulation is just too tight. In my mind, in this moment 30 minutes from now I’ll be in the locker room talking about how crazy whatever just happened was, and I’m going to shake this off. I’m gonna catch a flight tomorrow and head back home, go back to the gym and get back to a routine. I’m laying there, and the doctor asked me if I can wiggle my toes, once he asked me that I go I can’t feel my toes. I realized then, okay, this is more serious. I’ve never had a real injury. I’ve had minor injuries, but I’ve never had a real injury. I’ve never had to have a surgery. So I don’t know what breaking a neck feels like. I don’t know what breaking an arm feels like. I don’t know. So I’m just confused in this moment, and I’m embarrassed. It’s probably like 2,500 people in the room and it’s dead silent, so it’s awkward, it’s scary. Austin’s there. He’s by my side, Matt and Jeff’s there, the ringside doctor, Daniel Spencer our referee is here, everyone’s around me, I can’t move. I can’t look left or right other than with my eyeballs. They put me in a neck brace and they put me on the stretcher. I remember telling Austin, ‘Hey, how cool would it be if I could just raise my hand like Jeff right now on the stretcher.’ I was trying to do it mentally. It wasn’t happening. He laughs, you know, tears in his eyes, he laughs. I’m like, ‘Alright, go tell Jeff the joke. Now tell Matt the joke, I want them to laugh now, lighten the moment a little bit.’ So he scurries over and tells them the joke. They put me on the stretcher, and I start to cry a little bit. I was like, alright, suck it up man. They’re about to take you to the back locker room. I don’t want the boys to see you like this. They take me through the back and they put me in the ambulance, and I wanted them to get my phone so I could contact my people, let my people know what was up. So they find my phone for me. Trey Miguel, he goes and finds my phone for me. Called my girlfriend. I let her know. She had already kind of heard about it. It was already kind of making the rounds internally and maybe online too with fans, but I know internally it was making the rounds. I called one of my best friends in Vegas, Shogun Stan, I told him that I was hurt and it’s time for him to hold it down because I don’t know what what’s about to happen. They’re speculating that maybe it’s just a neck break. They don’t really know.”

“They’re threatening to cut my boots off. They’re brand new boots. I’m like, ‘Don’t cut those boots. Show me a mirror. I’ll tell you how to take them off but don’t cut those boots. Those are brand new boots.’ They rush me to the hospital. Austin’s by my side, and I have them kind of going through my phone, calling people that are important to call. My mom, people who are reaching out, not too many people because it’s overwhelming. They’re shoving forms in my face asking me to sign stuff. I can’t move my hands. I knew it got really real when they rolled me over at some point and I saw my tights and my knee pads and my boots neatly stacked next to me uncut and I never felt them take any article of clothing off of me. I still didn’t know what to think. At this point, they told me they were gonna operate on my neck, and I’ve never broken anything like I said, so I don’t know if this how you’re supposed to feel when you break your neck. I don’t know if everyone who’s ever broken their neck has gone through what I’m going through in the moment. So Austin’s there and I’m trying to figure it out, I’m in so much pain at this point now. They tell me the surgeon is going to be there maybe 30 minutes, longest 30 minutes of my life, because I’m in so much pain, I just want to either end it or get under anesthesia so we can do this, because let’s get to it. What are we waiting for? The surgeon to get there. But what are we waiting for? I’m ready, and they put me under. Woke up the next day. It was day one.”

On what the spot was that caused the injury:

“We have a tag team finisher that we don’t even have a name for. It’s a combination of Austin standing in the corner launching me into the cutter, because I’m famous for the cutter, I’ll roll out of the way. He’ll run and do his finish of the fold, which is like a super fancy modified blockbuster, the best one in the game. As he’s launching me for the cutter, Matt’s in the middle of the ring. He’s our target. Matt is going to counter by just catching me into a neckbreaker. We’ve done the spot before, not with Matt specifically, but with a couple other people and it’s gone well, it’s not a difficult spot, per se. But pro wrestling, everything we do is dangerous, and everything we do is an inch away from a catastrophe happening. It was one of those things where it wasn’t my fault, it wasn’t his fault. It was just what happened in the moment. We missed each other by an inch, and it was life-changing.”

On the surgery:

“So they went in the front and they fused my C6 to my C7 which healed up pretty nicely. It was 19 staples across the front, which once I was finally able to move my hands a lot I was touching the staples a lot because couldn’t believe I had staples in my neck. What a weird feeling. They went in the back and they fused my C6 to my T1 because the damage that happened wasn’t just a neck break. It was also damage to my spinal cord, which is why I became paralyzed. So a lot of people don’t experience that exact thing, but people have their own stories, their own journeys. It’s difficult for everybody. It’s not a comparison.”

On his chance of walking again after the surgery:

“They x-rayed me before the surgery, and I do remember them showing me what my neck was looking like. I believe there was a fragment I was pushing into my spinal cord, and that was one of the issues. Afterwards the conversation was more so about what they thought recovery looked like, what it typically is in this scenario, and what they anticipated would be my result. They say you see your most results in recovery, like the quickest results in around three to six months. In about a year to 18 months is where you’ll see where you’ll be. For me, they were predicting about a 10 to 25% chance of walking again.”

On beating the odds:

“The day I woke up from surgery, the first thing I thought was that I’m alive. I was grateful to be alive, because if I wasn’t supposed to be here anymore, I wouldn’t have been. So once I woke up, one of the first things I kept saying was day one. People use that phrase before. It’s not a new [thing], I didn’t create the phrase day one. For me it just meant this is day one as far as my new life, my new obstacle, my new journey. I break everything up into seasons in life, the season that I chased this, the season that I pursued this, and this was a new season for me. So what made me not quit was I was alive, and when I got that diagnosis for maybe 24 to 48 hours, I was a little messed up about it. I just couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it, and I was telling myself it’s better than a 0% chance, but I still was doubting a little bit. But then I had a conversation with Punk, and it was very simple conversation where he said something along the lines of, I think that diagnosis and that percentage applies to humans and you’re not human. I had to put my whole life into perspective. I’ve had a less percent chance of becoming a professional wrestler and landing on TV. I’ve had a lot less odds with everything that I’ve done in my life up until this point. So who’s to say I can’t beat this one? And once I realized that 24 to 48 hours were over, it was go time.”

On when he first got an indication he could walk again:

“My fingers and hands started to move upward. My arms, from the elbows [Around what point?] Probably about a couple days and a weekend [after surgery]. Every day they would come in and monitor me and check for the first couple weeks where my feeling and sensation goes. So they’d start up here and they move down and go, ‘Does it feel normal here? Does it feel numb?’ And whatever I would say that it feels normal when it changes to numb, they’d mark it, they would keep track of that, and it slowly started to move but I didn’t have a lot of dexterity. I didn’t have that. So we had to work on all of those things. We had to work on trying to grip things. My girlfriend would have to text everybody back for me, or hold my drink for me while I drank, or feed me. I couldn’t grip things. I couldn’t move those joints, but I would do the little exercises they would teach me in the room at first, just to try to get some sort of strength back in my fingers. My fine motor skills are still not very good with my hands.”

On if he thinks he will ever wrestle again:

“Never say never, right? The day after day one, the day after the surgery, I was very content and understanding that my career was over. I didn’t see a world where I came back to wrestling. I was laying there, couldn’t move anything from the neck down. It felt like I had passed away, because there’s all this love for me online, they say you get your flowers when you’re gone. There’s all this love for me online that everyone’s telling me about and everyone’s calling me and having people reach out to me who I’ve never my wildest dreams imagined reach out to me. They’re making video packages about me. It was like I was watching and spectating my life and my life is now over, and wrestling is my life. It was my life. It is my life. It still consumes me. In that moment I was like okay, wrestling is over. I want to one day have a family. I want to be able to one day stand and run and play with my kids one day. Family was something I never thought about in my early 20s, but in my later 20s now being 29 is very important to me. It’s something that I want so badly, not now, but one day, and the the thought of never being able to achieve that broke me. That broke me, and that drove me more than anything because I had a great eight years in wrestling. Eight years, that was it, but I did so much in eight years that lived my wildest dreams. I feel like I made an impact on the world. I was able to help train, coach and motivate people who are in the game today. It’s a dream career, if it had to end, if it’s over now, cool. I want to walk, I want to stand, I want to be able to function. And then maybe a couple weeks ago now I’m walking again and I’m back in the gym. I told my girl, I was like, what if I do wrestle again one day? I’m still young. What if I took five years off, if I took four years off and came back in my mid-30s? It’s possible. It’s been done before. Nothing’s impossible, and that’s where the greatest story ever told is born.”

On CM Punk giving him a shout-out on Raw:

“How do you even put that into words? I was surprised. First things first, I was surprised. I was humbled, grateful. I just can’t believe that through doing what I wanted to do all my life and actually being able to be successful at it, I’ve made this much of a mark on people, because all I ever wanted to do was wrestle. All I ever wanted to do since I was a kid, I knew it. There was never anything else that I wanted to do more than this. There’s nothing else that I’ve thought of every single day other than this. I think about wrestling probably every single day. It’s on all of our minds every single day. So to look up and see this Netflix debut one of your favorite wrestlers growing up, and he shouts you out. One of my best friends was in the crowd. So he’s a big Punk fan, he was loving it. Everybody’s blowing up my phone about it. I’m still in the dark at the time, not posting. So I can’t really acknowledge it the way I want to acknowledge it, but I just can’t believe it. I just can’t believe him or anybody cares about me that much or thinking about me that much because I’m just a guy. I just wanted to be a wrestler. I became a wrestler. TNA has helped put me on a platform and give me the opportunity to do everything that I love, and this is the result. I have no words for it.”

On how TNA has supported him:

“They’ve been so great to me. They’ve covered all the medical expenses. They check on me almost every day. When I say they check on me, I mean from the roster to the talent, behind the scenes, people who set up the building and management, presidents of the company, people from Anthem, everybody from top to bottom has been so helpful and have checked on me. They’ve done auctions for me. People have donated their own personal items to help me. They do so much more than I could have ever anticipated or expected, and I don’t understand why anyone would think that they wouldn’t, they are a great company. They work very hard. We are a family. People say that and you’ve heard people say that about TNA, but it’s true. They had to almost get police escorts to get people to leave the hospital the night of my injury, because almost the whole locker room was outside of the hospital ordering DoorDash, waiting for me, trying to come in and see me. They had to tell everybody, ‘Y’all gotta go home. Y’all not gonna be able to stay here. He’s going to be okay. He’s in surgery now. He’s going to be fine.’ But everybody was out there, you everybody’s wearing the We Heart Bey shirts, the whole team, top to bottom, family is not even the right word anymore, because families sometimes betray you. These people are real.”

On WWE star Karrion Kross being a part of the benefit show:

“He and I have such a special bond, because I saw him online when I first researched the school, and he was their champion. I never saw indie wrestling before, so this is kind of my first taste of it and I thought he was a star already. When I got to the school, the first day of training I walk in and there’s no ring. I’m like, Where’s the ring? And then he walks in wearing this atomic stringer, jacked, and he comes in, he tells all the students that they had a great show at the casino that weekend. The ring would be here shortly so we could set up the ring and then we start class. I’m like, Oh, my first day I get to set up the ring, this is a real, true wrestling experience. This is what everyone dreams of. I’m gonna get to learn from the ground up. We did a promo class, he had me go last and he said I nailed it. I don’t recall what I said, but I know I spoke from the heart. I think I’m pretty good at promos, so I believe it was good enough, and from that moment on it was just always a connection. I had my first debut match at FSW, and as I circled the crowd to give everybody the traditional high fives when you make your debut, I see him sitting front row with the championship around his waist. I was like, oh man, he’s here, damn, the pressure’s on now he’s watching front row, and after the match I lose, and he comes and gets in the ring and has the ref come grab me and pull me back in the ring. I’m thinking he’s about to dump me on my head. I don’t know what’s about to happen and he does the slow clap thing and the fans clap for me. We would go on to have matches in California and other places, and then to draw one of the biggest gates for FSW at the 10 year anniversary in the main event where he came back from the hiatus after he was at TNA or something. I had been running the company for a while, and this was going to be the passing of the torch, because he hadn’t been beaten. I was the young guy, he was the already established guy, and my premise of the match was that if I beat him, I would become a living Las Vegas legend. I love the L’s, Living Las Vegas Legend. We had a great match, I won, and it was a special moment. Outside of the ring, we always had a great connection. He always was very helpful to me. He came to see me when I was in the hospital, spent some time with me, gave me some words of encouragement, gave me a gift that was very special to him. And for him to be able to come do this show is massive, because obviously the allowance from WWE, but he’s such an integral part of my career, especially in Vegas, and what we’ve done here. I wouldn’t want to have the show without him.”

On the ring break video he posted to social media:

“It’s funny, you ask if I was thinking about how lucky I was, and I know you’re referring to by not breaking my neck. I was thinking about how lucky I was by capturing it, because at the time no one would have believed it. I’m a young indie wrestler who hasn’t really had any attention yet. I was like, This is my way in, that’s where my brain went. I try to always not think about what almost could have happened, because there’s almost in everything if you think about it, this microphone could die. I hope it doesn’t. So as soon as I didn’t get hurt, and I got up, everyone was checking on me, are you okay? And I realized immediately I felt perfectly fine. I was like, Do you have the footage? You got that right? Let’s upload that right now. And then it started taking off. I was like man, this is sweet. I never actually thought about if I would have got hurt in that moment. Never crossed my mind. I know it was possible, but it never crossed my mind.”

On what it meant to be X Division Champion:

“That my name is etched in history and no one can take it away from me. Because it was during the era where we didn’t have fans, the pandemic, and the night of I remember riding back to the hotel in an Uber having the X Division Championship next to me and I wanted to see how many people were ever X Division champion. So I Googled the history of the X Division Championship, and as soon as I put it in Google, the top response that came up was first champion AJ Styles, current champion Chris Bey. I read it and I was like bro, this is real, this is really mine right now, I think I slept with it that night too. I’m a belt mark, don’t beat me up for it, but I slept with the championship and I realized you can never take it away from me. I didn’t even have a long run, but it’s about what you do with the championship. That’s what they say, the championship doesn’t make the champion, the champion makes the championship. It was one of those moments where I had it for maybe a month, but people still come up to me to this day, you were one of my favorite X Division champions. How? I didn’t have it that long, but it doesn’t matter, because they remember me with it. I’m a part of history.”

On if there was a chance to do more with WWE following his 2019 match:

“I believe there was. I know there were talks with a couple of people about attempting to get me a try-out. And I know if I would have had a try-out, I would have succeeded, not me being arrogant I just know myself. When I get an opportunity to do something, I nail it. That’s what I do. You have to believe in yourself the way I believe in myself. Because once you have a little bit of doubt, you make a mistake, and once you make that mistake sometimes it’s hard to recover from. I’ll make a mistake sometimes I’m like, Alright, let me make sure the next thing is perfect. Some people make a mistake and they fall from there. Everything else is a mistake. They can’t pick it back up. I’m the other way around, so I’m not afraid to make a mistake but I don’t plan to make a mistake. I plan to be perfect. That night at 205 Live I think went perfect. I remember when I came to the curtain I believe Adam Pearce put me over real nice, said some kind of words to me, and a bunch of people from the roster, the 205 Live roster, were very adamant on trying to get me a try-out, which I thought was really cool, because you hear people being afraid of people taking their spots or whatever, people not being helpful, I felt the complete opposite. I walked into WWE Gorilla as this extra and these guys were like, No, we need to get this guy a try-out. This guy should be here with us. So I was very grateful that those guys were so nice and so sharing of their spots and their opportunities. The next day I got offered the TNA deal, and I sat on it for a while.”

Do you think they saw your WWE match?

“I think they saw it. But I also know at the time I was building a lot of momentum with TNA, and I think that was just the thing that helped them pull the trigger. Because I worked TNA twice the month before in Vegas and twice in California the month before that, and then earlier that year also, and my goal had been to sign with TNA for that year. That was my goal that I was working actively for. I made it no secret to people in charge of TNA that I want to work here. So I think when that happened and I’d also just come off of doing Ring of Honor, they realized okay, if we don’t do it, someone’s going to do it, and we do want him. So let’s do it right now instead of waiting.”

On if there are any limitations right now:

“Not that I know of. I am good to stand for as long as I am and people offer me seats. They’re like if we’re standing around, they’re like please sit down and sometimes I’ll do it. But standing is better for me right now, actually, because when I sit down too long, my body locks up still, and I get spasms, still on a lot of medication to numb and block out the pain and also help enhance my and rejuvenate my muscles and my spinal cord. So I prefer to stand and honestly when I sit too long, I feel the effects of that.

Are you in pain right now?

“It’s just numb, it’s discomfort. It’s not pain. So my body’s more numb. My spinal cord is numb. I can maybe feel about 50% of the sensation in my hands, from the middle of my hand down to my elbow about the long head of my tricep on both hands are still numb. So I can feel this side of my arm, I can’t feel this side of my arm on both hands, so I have a lot of numbness still, but it’s not a lot of pain. So I still can’t do, I’m not able to yet, do a lot of things, but it takes time. I’m told that nerves take a very long time to replenish.”

What is Chris Bey grateful for?

“Family, friends and support system.”

Rob Van Dam On John Cena’s Heel Turn, Who Currently Has The Best Frog Splash, Paul Heyman, Retirement

in LATEST EPISODES on March 18, 2025 March 18, 2025

https://cvvtix.com – Get your tickets for INSIGHT LIVE in Las Vegas with VIP Meet & Greet!

Rob Van Dam (@TheRealRVD) is a professional wrestler and WWE Hall of Famer. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas to discuss the launch of OnlyWrestlers, John Cena’s heel turn and the reaction he got at ECW One Night Stand, what Paul Heyman meant to his career, why fans never booed a heel RVD, WWE changing its stance on marijuana use, who has the best frog splash, the secret to his crazy piledrivers, if he has retired from wrestling and more!
Quote I’m thinking about: “If you’ve forgotten the language of gratitude, then you’ll never be on speaking terms with happiness” – Inky Johnson
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On OnlyWrestlers:

“So OnlyWrestlers is an entity that I helped create, that I’m part owner of, and I like to explain it in two different halves. So half of it is a platform where it bridges the gap between the fans and the pro wrestlers in a way that I don’t think has been done before, and in such a way that I actually respond to all the messages that I get on my OnlyWrestlers profile, and the fans subscribe to their favorite wrestlers. We have over 300 wrestlers now and we’re getting more all the time, like every day. I still have a lot of my friends that I still have to teach them how to use it, but when they do decide to use it, it’s up to them how deep into it they want to go. Because on my profile I have a place for photos, for videos, I have a daily feed. I have a story on there, just like Instagram. There’s even a store where you can buy stuff on there. So each profile for each wrestler that the fans subscribe to it, they can follow their content. They can message them. There’s all kinds of ways to benefit both of them.

But the other half of it is that when they join and become a subscriber, then they’re part of this association, and moving forward, the association helps us with important decisions. So the OnlyWrestlers Association is actually everybody together, so it’s the fans and it’s us, the wrestlers, the company, and we’re running live shows. So the fans get to help us make decisions. They vote on things like who’s going to wrestle who. Sometimes it could be stipulations coming up. They’re taking a vote on which town we should actually come to, and also moving forward, the more we grow and the more the Association grows, the more the value of what they’re able to vote on grows as well. So the whole thing is just made to grow. We’re still at a point right now where that would say the beginning phases. It’s going to be our first live show on Thursday, March 20 in Hollywood. We’re excited about it. It’s star studded, a lot of fans are excited about it. And we’re also with this show hoping to raise a little awareness and some funds for the fire victims. I lived in LA for a long time, and also I was a big fan of those huge houses that burnt down, so I looked at a lot of those when I moved out there. Some of those fires were not too far from where I lived. But, yeah, we’re not gonna be able to do what the Grammys did or whatever. But it’s an important cause. I hope that we can raise attention and awareness.”

On OnlyWrestlers not being like OnlyFans:

“Very good point. But by the way, so here’s what I learned. I mean OnlyWrestlers sounds like Only Fans and that’s part of the catch with the name, it’s easy to remember. But OnlyFans got to be known for its sexual content. But did you know there’s actually a lot of profiles on there that have nothing to do with sex? So it’s up to the individuals on OnlyFans on what they’re going to want to share as content. With OnlyWrestlers, it’s what wrestlers want to share. So I wouldn’t join up if you’re hoping to see solo scenes, if you know what I mean, from the boys. But what I like to do, because it’s so easy to leave the story and it adds up. I like to keep up with me what’s going on throughout my day. ‘Hey, I just finished this podcast with Chris’, then I could add to it later I’m at the gym. Just could be whatever. But I wouldn’t go to OnlyWrestlers for this.”

On One Night Stand 2006 being the last true John Cena heel reaction:

“Yeah, that’s true. He knew what to do that night perfectly at One Night Stand, and he’s really great at what he does. So I think he’s going to really master the heel persona and take it some places that we didn’t expect. By the way, I mentioned this before, but I had seen him get booed. It wasn’t a lot, but leading up to that One Night Stand match, there was a town or two, I think it was in Wales, was the first time I think that I’ve heard it was very similar to the vibe in Hammerstein Ballroom, it was very similar. Anyway, that was the first time I saw him get booed, and he was great. I don’t know if I told you this story or not, but I’d never seen him [get booed]. Then he was like, ‘Good That’s right. Boo me. Let me know how you feel. As long as you’re out there in the crowd and you’re expressing yourself and you’re screaming that, I know you’re having a good time, and that’s what it’s all about tonight.’ Obviously he turned them all of a sudden, they were cheering him, and I was like wow, that’s why he gets paid the big bucks.”

On if he experienced a similar crowd to One Night Stand:

“Not exactly no, but there’s certain pockets around the planet where I could tell they were big ECW fans. One of them that sticks out when you ask me that was leading up to the match with Cena, because I had the Money in the Bank briefcase, I wrestled Matt Striker and it was in Belgium, and that crowd just stuck out to me as being the most ECW crowd that I had engaged since I left ECW at that time. It was obvious that they really watched it all. And I think also with the name Van Dam there’s a connection there, with Jean Claude Muscles from Brussels. So that was part of it too. But they were awesome. I just remember thinking wow, good to know if I never wrestled here in Belgium this one time, I would never know that they were such big fans of mine and everything I stood for the whole extreme hardcore movement and perspective.”

On what Paul Heyman meant to his career:

“Okay, so if I hadn’t met Paul Heyman I would have jumped probably right up to WWE or WCW, because at the time they were the top two. There was no seeing one of them going down and the other one sticking around. I wouldn’t have developed the way that I did. I wouldn’t have probably been as comfortable or fit in, because before 96 when I came to ECW, I was hardcore and I was doing things that I hadn’t seen done in the ring. When me and Sabu would wrestle we were diving out to the crowd and breaking tables and stuff and then when I wrestled Sabu in ECW the crowd had never seen anything like that, what we were giving them, but we had. So I feel like if I hadn’t come to ECW I wouldn’t have found a proper voice, and I probably would have been much, much different, whether I was as comfortable or not, it might have been better for business. I have a lot of things that work against me. To be the absolute best pro wrestler, what would that mean? You have to include not just your moves and you got a lot of P’s, not just your promos. What about politics? You got to be good at politics. That’s something I could never do. I forgot what I was going to say about some of the other P’s, but you have to be good at being a puppet sometimes, because you’re a vessel for other people’s values, creative ideas and stuff. And in a lot of ways, I wasn’t as flexible on a lot of stuff like that. I was more stubborn. So having all that, as details to answer that question, I don’t think it would have worked out as good for me if I wasn’t able to build myself in my more organic, natural environment. But in the end, if I would have been able to be, whether you want to see it as manipulated, but if I would have gone down some other paths and learned to like them, or deal with them, or whatever then, who knows, maybe a champion of the world right now.”

On it being hard to boo RVD as a heel:

“That sounds like a hell of a compliment. I feel like I get a lot of cheers, even against the plans or the agenda, sometimes in the wrestling environment. So that’s where everybody wishes I would just stay, but I’m so transparent, open-minded, open mouth, in a way that when I do my podcast or I do interviews or stuff, I stand up for things I believe in, and I talk against things even if they’re commercially accepted or government agenda or whatever. So I think through a lot of just being honest and genuine. There are some people out there that sure seem like they would prefer to give me a boo rather than a yay, at least that’s the way I take it when somebody tries to change me into them. But everybody has their own stink they want to put on you as the expression goes. I’ve always had that with wrestling. Even I think everyone gets it when you’re in school. ‘Why you hanging out with that kid? He’s not cool. Nobody likes him.’ I’ve always hated that. Hated all of that. So I found a common and comfortable bond with just being a non-conformist. And the more people talk about me being one of a kind and unorthodox, the more I felt like yeah, I’m proud of that.”

On the fan pushing Eddie Guerrero off the ladder:

“I’m just thinking it wasn’t the first time that I had that happen, or seen it happen, or have it happen when I’m in the ring. So I was just thinking, do they got it or do I need to do something? No, it looks like they got it. Alright, cool. I’m just going to keep working. Well, usually I find when the fans decide to breach the safety zone and get into the ring, usually everyone in the business wants them to regret it, that’s gotta be safe for us. It can’t be a normal thing to have to look, turn around and watch your back while you’re trying to watch your front. I remember Sabu talking about Puerto Rico years ago, way before I ever went, and he was saying that to get to the ring the wrestlers had to go underneath the bleachers, and that they would drop rats on them. Another thing he said they would do would be heat up coins. They would heat up coins, get them super hot, and then drop them on them, or even throw them at him in the ring. I wouldn’t want that to be the norm, let Puerto Rico keep that.”

On who else has a great Frog Splash:

“I think Montez Ford, definitely. And, of course, Eddie. You know me and Eddie’s, that’s the lifelong contendership everyone’s going to compare our frog splashes. [Have you seen Logan Paul’s Frog Splash?] I don’t think I’ve seen it. It’s probably pretty good. I’m sure it’s a move that out of all my moves it’s the least original. That one, I mean, I watched Tonga Kid do it, Jimmy Snuka, but I did kind of make it my own by turning in the air and being able to go all the way across the ring, I started going for the furthest corner every time for a while, that was my thing. And sometimes that’s cool if a guy’s closer to one corner, or go and grab the corner, look at the crowd and be like, Nah, go over to the other ones, like that. Sometimes that’s fun. And then sometimes I regret it.”

On how he sold the frog splash:

“Yeah, well that’s inconsistent as far as that goes. I mean, you can tell sometimes my face hits or whatever, but sometimes I could be winded or could be fine, or it could be a pretty solid hit. When I would do Frog Splash to Big Show and same thing to Mark Henry, there was no way that I was going to be able to reach the ground with my extremities. Not my knees, not my hands, elbows, nothing. It would just be like boom, because they’re three feet tall when they’re on their back. So I would go [groans] it would just knock all the wind out of me, and I knew that that was going to happen, but it was part of it, and hopefully it was worth it. Hopefully it was the last move of the night.”

On what hurt the most:

“Probably getting my ribs broke. That’s pretty painful. That’s a pretty painful thing to have happen. I guess my worst injury, because the only surgery that I’ve had was my knee in 2005 doing that 420 leg drop probably, but it was in a match with Rey Mysterio, that’s why I say that. But my knee had been hurt for a long time. I was just whittling my ACL down to nothing, and then I finally snapped, and that hurt, and I had to have surgery on that. But a broken rib is so bad, and I’ve done it a couple of times. Last time was just like three years ago or something in Qatar. It might have been 2021, otherwise 2022, and I knew soon as I did it but there’s nothing you can do to feel comfortable. It’s like everything you do, just lifting your leg, it’s part of your frame, it hurts to breathe. The whole time on the plane ride back, because I was breathing in a strenuous way, the stewards would come by and they would hear me just making these noises. They’re so bad. And they’d say, ‘Excuse me, sir, are you all right?’ And I swear every time they’d say that, I’d say no, and I look at them and they had no idea what to follow up with. Sometimes they walk away. Other times they’d be like, ‘Can I get you something?’ Yeah, another champagne.”

On WWE changing its stance on marijuana:

“It’s interesting in a good way. I can’t say I’m surprised. I always knew the direction that marijuana prohibition would go. I was just ahead of the curve like I am with a lot of things. I’m ahead of my time in a lot of ways. So when I started advocating and telling people, ‘Dude, put that cigarette down. That’s killing you, Marijuana is not.’ Everyone thought I was crazy back then. Smoking was so popular with cigarettes, which kills one out of two users statistically, long term, and I was learning that they say cannabis is a schedule one worst drug, but no one has overdosed from it because it’s not even possible. So I was like I gotta tell people about this and stuff. Back then they didn’t want to hear it, but because people like to be told what to do, they really do. I feel like people like to be told what to do, and then they determine their own self-value, self-judging by how good they’re following directions. That makes them a better person if they stopped all the way at a four way stop sign when there was no other cars around. In a lot of people’s minds, because they’re doing what they’re supposed to nowadays. Everyone before that was like, ‘Oh, marijuana is horrible.’ Now, because the government’s come around everyone’s like, well I eat a couple of gummies before I go to bed at night. It does help me sleep. What about all you guys saying it’s going to lead to harder drugs? When are all these people that are having a couple of gummies going to come out, ‘I went straight to heroin, and then that wasn’t enough.’ Because that’s what they believed before, before the government finally came around and said, Oh, we weren’t right about that.”

On if that would have affected his WWE Championship reign:

“Who knows where it would have went? I don’t know what [was planned]. I was always last one to to know what people had planned. I don’t know how long the championship would have been around, but for sure, I would have been able to do a hell of a lot more to keep ECW going.”

On if the reign would have been longer:

“1000%. Now, that was all because of the marijuana bust, which is not even a thing right now, in that same Hanging Rock Ohio for that same 18 grams you’re not going to get arrested. You’re probably just going to get let go. I said I was just ahead of my time. To me, what I’m doing right now isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just because the authority says that it’s bad. People that think that, no, they say it’s bad, that’s bad. Well, they change that all the time. Coffee’s good for you. Coffee’s bad for you. Guess what? Do some research make up your mind for yourself.”

On if he has retired:

“I don’t [think I am], and I don’t think I will [retire]. That’s how I feel right now. I feel like even if I don’t take wrestling bookings anymore, I don’t think I’ll make a big deal out of retirement. Because when wrestlers retire and they end up coming back and wrestling anyway. ‘No, I want one more match.’ For me, that is completely eating up the credibility that I had in wrestling retirement matches. I doubt that I’ll ever feel like, ‘No, I’m going to be different. I never want to wrestle right now. I’m done.’ I just see me is just going with the flow. And someday, when you say, are you still wrestling? I might say, It’s been six years, and then I might have a match.

I’ve always said also I want to price myself out and not wear myself and my value down. A lot of my peers, they were worth so much in their prime and then they are not worth as much, can’t get booked as much, so they come down and compromise and that has a cycle effect where they are worth less. But I’m not gonna do that, I’d rather have less people afford me until I don’t wrestle that way instead of wrestling myself into a grave and my last match was $5.”

What is RVD grateful for:

“My wife, my family, all the love from the fans, my freedoms and that I get to manifest my dreams.”