83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff - Wise Choices with special guest Paul Walter Hauser

Episode Date: October 31, 2024

On this special edition of Wise Choices, Eric welcomes Hollywood film actor and MLW wrestler Paul Walter Hauser to the show. Paul shares what projects he's working on and the formula to his success. He also discusses his love for professional wrestling and how it's evolved into becoming a part of the business. Plus, there's a surprise at the end that caught even Eric off guard.  BLUECHEW - Try BlueChew FREE when you use our promo code WRESTLEBIZ at checkout--just pay $5 shipping. That’s https://bluechew.com/, promo code WRESTLEBIZ to receive your first month FREE. SAVE WITH ERIC - Stop throwing your money on rent! Get into a house with NO MONEY DOWN and roughly the same monthly payment at https://www.savewithconrad.com/savewitheric/ ADVERTISE WITH ERIC - If your business targets 25-54 year old men, there's no better place to advertise than right here with us on 83 Weeks. You've heard us do ads for some of the same companies for years...why? Because it works! And with our super targeted audience, there's very little waste. Go to https://www.podcastheat.com/advertise now and find out more about advertising with 83 Weeks. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCqQc7Pa1u4plPXq-d1pHqQ/join BECOME A 83 WEEK MEMBER NOW: https://www.youtube.com/@83weeks/membership Get all of your 83 Weeks merchandise at https://boxofgimmicks.com/collections/83-weeks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, before we get going today, I wanted to give you a heads up. Before you know it, Halloween's going to be here, and then Thanksgiving and then Christmas and the New Year's. And then we're going to have to worry about, uh, how do I pay for all this holiday spending? Let's go ahead and make a New Year's resolutions list. And let me go ahead and guess last year and every year before that. Two of your resolutions were pay some debt off, save some money. I can help you do both of those. Check both of the boxes at save with Conrad.com.

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trust me when I tell you that, folks, we'll be glad you're here, no doubt. We're going to talk about some wrestling stuff, but I've got a very special guest today. So I think one of the first times we've had a guest on Life's Choices, so I'm pretty excited that we're going to kind of start at the top and work our way backwards, so to speak. Ladies and gentlemen, Paul Walter Houser first ended up on my radar screen a couple of years ago with the television series. And since then, he has gone on to become like a major player.

in Hollywood. And I want to talk about everything that's going on in the world of feature films with our guest, Paul Walter Houser. Come on in, bud. Mr. Bischoff, Eric, how are you doing? I am doing well. And Paul, if I may call you, Paul, coming to us from London. So at the end of his business, say, in the middle of ours, what are you doing in London? Currently in London, doing a film, meeting up with some folks from Marvel briefly, and I'm also about to embark on my next film, which is Deliver Me from Nowhere. It's a motion picture about a portion of the life of Bruce Springsteen and his Nebraska album.

And I'll be doing that next month in New Jersey. So I'm kind of just going back to back on these movies. We had a bit of a drought, what with COVID, and then you've probably heard of the writer's strike and the actor's strike that took place. So as it happened, I had a bunch of projects kind of fall in line at the exact same time. So I did The Naked Gun at Paramount with Liamount with Liam Neeson. It's a remake of the Leslie Nielsen films. I did Balls Up, which is a Peter Farley comedy at Amazon and MGM with Mark Wahlberg. And now I'm doing the Marvel thing.

And then I'm going to go do the Springsteen thing. I feel pretty freaking spoiled, man. I got a full dance card. It's pretty amazing. How did you, how did you, I mean, you're, how did you get into the, to the feature film business? I, yeah, I grew up in Michigan. I'm actually born in Grand Rapids, raised in Saginaw. Well, see, that's what, that's how great of an actor you were.

Yeah, no, I can pull off the George accent and Richard Jewell. I watch enough footage on YouTube, but I, I just grew up loving films, you know, there was something about being a kid growing up in the early 90s. there were a lot of comedy stars then i don't know that nowadays it's as crystal clear who the comedy stars truly are you almost kind of have movie stars doing comedy rather than true comedy stars but when i was coming up everybody from billy crystal to steve martin to um whoopi goldberg to edy murphy you just had all these comedy stars who who were kind of owning that space and for me my big guys were chris farley and robin williams and jim carrie and i i saw their

films mrs doubtfire and ace ventura and all this stuff and i just said i apparently that's a job apparently it's lucrative i don't know how to get into it it's very elusive and i don't have any connections coming from my you know pastor teacher protestant midwest family but i knew that that looked like fun. And if I could figure out how to break into that, I could employ my extrovert, you know, fearless theatrical nature. And so I kind of stewarded that through school and did all the plays and got into stand-up comedy and bought screenwriting books from Barnes & Noble. And I just kind of immersed myself in those things in a really sort of ingratiated way and it amounted to what I'm doing today. That's, I mean, that's an amazing.

story in and of itself. You have an interesting life story. If ever you want to do a life story about you, I know a guy that knows a guy that knows a guy that can help you get that movie made. Let me screw up a few more times in life and then I'll make it really juicy. Yeah. Yeah, you need that roller coaster ride, right? Yeah, yeah. We need a third act still. There you go. Oh my gosh. Don't keep me talking about a third axe if we start talking wrestling. I'm going to lose my shit. It's interesting that story you told. I wonder your take on this, the way you talked about how comedians became movie stars and owned the space in that period of time,

do you think it was Saturday Night Live that was really the catalyst for that transition in terms of who ended up being feature film comedians? I mean, I think so. I think in the early days it was more like it is now where it's like you can put Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin in a movie and call it a comedy. And it was funny enough, but it wasn't funny, funny.

And then I think, yeah, I do think outside of a Monty Python or something or a Jerry Lewis, the real comedy stars did start to emanate from Saturday Night Live that being Chevy Chase and Bill Murray and, of course, Eddie Murphy just became the guy at such a young age and it was like you were giving, you were entrusting these massive studio pictures to a 19-year-old, you know, it's actually pretty unprecedented. You don't see that that much at all. nowadays the equivalent of that is maybe a 19 year old gets a stand-up special on Hulu or Netflix, best case scenario.

So I think I did grow up in that time where comedy stars were really held in a certain air and treated it in a certain way. And I think that really, I fell in love with comedy because of them. And then something interesting happened where I was maybe 12 or 13 years old and I saw the movie, A Few Good Men with Jack Nicholson. Sure. And that was the first time where it was like, oh, there's a whole other world to this thing that I've not yet tapped.

There are these guys, the Daniel Bay Lewis's and Merrill Streep's and Jack Nicholson's. And what if I could try to do what they do also? So coming up, my dream was to be like a Phillips Seymour Hoff and a Paul Giumati where you play in both of those worlds. That's pretty aspirational. I love that. Well, and, you know, you saw it in the early 90s of John Goodman. And at the same time, he's doing an artful, quirky Cohen Brothers movie with John Totoro, like Barton Fink.

He's shooting episodes of Roseanne in L.A. You know, so it was definitely something that I went, well, this is clearly possible. This exists. Maybe I can be this character actor type who occasionally gets to star in something. And the journey began with all that kind of, you know, the same way a wrestler is like, well, I'm going to take classes. I'm going to watch tapes. I'm going to exchange tapes with this weird, crusty dude who is into New Japan.

And I'm going to, you know, whether it's the Steve Borden diet of tuna fish and OJ or something else, you're doing everything in your power to equip oneself for that moment. And I took that deathly seriously. So the same way Michael Jordan was in his driveway shooting hoops long into the dark of night, still trying to make a three-pointer. I was that kid who did 10 plays in high school, wrote for the school newspaper, wrote a 120-page feature as a senior thesis project, and was taking workshops and classes whenever possible. Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're culminated. Yeah.

My head just exploded on all that. I mean, at what point in your life did you realize you were a really special kid? Well, I think at first what I lacked in talent, I just had in. desire and grit you know what i mean i i really i was willing to you know there's that old Hulkogan story or the guy breaking his ankle on day one of training or whatever i i very much was ready to let somebody break my ankle or i'd break it for them maybe both that was the attitude going in and i had some talent certainly like i did i did impressions in the mirror i did a jack nicholson and jimmy stewart impression when i was like 10 years old you know but uh but it was

still more of a cute kid entertaining company at the family reunion. It wasn't like, it wasn't like Haley Joel Osman. You know, you watch Haley Joel Osmond in The Sixth Sense and you go, damn, this kid is on another level. I wasn't that. But I was definitely picking things up, nurturing my craft as an actor and graduating. So you graduate from Saturday Day Night Live skits to watching Sydney Lemette films and Martin Scorsese and Christopher Guest. And, you know, that's how you refine your palate and you learn what's out there and how to do it. And I never went to acting school, but I did learn by watching and learned by trial and error and I wasn't afraid to fail. So that all culminated when I was about 22 years old. I showed up

to be a background extra, a background actor in a movie in Michigan with Ed Harris and Jennifer Connolly. And I saw the director and writer there. And I just saw him and I was like, you know, I bet these locals don't even know who the hell this guy is. You know, they're not sitting on IMDB.com every day like I am. So I went and chatted him up for one or two minutes and congratulated him on his Oscar win. He had written the movie Milk, the Harvey Milk story for Sean Penn. And I said, you know, beautiful film, loved your speech. I'm a Christian. And when you said in your speech, the gay youth of America need to know that God doesn't hate you. That really touched me. And I thought it was something people need to say. And I really appreciate you. But literally 90

seconds to chatter. And I was just excited to meet the guy. But he said to me, he goes, what's your name? And he wrote my name down. And he said, there might be a part for you. So I went to be a background actor. And I ended up booking a part in the movie. And I was number maybe five or six on the call sheet doing scenes with Ed Harris and Jennifer Connolly. Oh, no, that's awesome. I made $10,000 and I moved to L.A. like a month later. It's crazy. Wow, what a great story that is.

That has to be, I was just about to ask you, what is the highlight of, you know, every career has a beginning and the middle and an end, unfortunately, and you're kind of in charge of the end if you choose to be early on. But for you, where are you in that trajectory? You know, like, let me ask you a better way. So far. What has been the high spot of high spots for you in the world of feature films?

I love that we can share that inside baseball or inside ring vernacular, the high spot of the high spots. Yeah, no, my splash in the corner, my penultimate stop, the finisher. That's been, I think, I think getting that first film was a big deal because you go, oh, it's possible. This is real. That was a big deal because you don't really know if it's real or not. Sometimes, you know, in my hometown, I would go to a Monday Nitro and be sitting second row and do the two sweet to buff Bagwell. I would see, you know, Gordy Howe in my local mall, shopping mall handing out autographs. You know, you get brushes of fame, but you still don't know if it's real.

So when you get that first job and they're paying you $10,000 for what was essentially 12 days of work and you're working with Oscar winners like, you know, Jennifer Connolly and Dustin Lance Black, that's a very big deal. And I had the boldness and I was very green, obviously, but I had the boldness to kind of improvise and really do my own take on everything and really believe that I was there for a reason. and that paid dividends to where when I would walk on sets, what I lack in talent I have in, you know, the fearlessness and the grit. Do you think that comes from your faith?

I'm sure it comes partially from ignorance and arrogance, too, as a young man. But I would say, yeah, having faith is definitely important to me. I know some other, you know, wrestlers and people I admire that are, you know, claim Jesus, but hopefully don't take the horn inappropriately. And I think, like, I think it does give a sense of peace and belief in oneself that you're there for a reason. And my whole contract of God in my head and from my mouth was always, you know, Lord, if I'm not supposed to do this, I can be a school teacher. I'd be a great teacher.

I'd make kids laugh and inspire them and try to be a shoulder to cry on and talk to when they're feeling bad and lousy, I can be a teacher and still be a happy human being. Acting is like something I'm doing to try to do it. And if I feel it's not in the cards or the will of God, I can step away. And at least I can always say, I tried it. I attempted it and I did the right thing by me by doing that.

But of course, even as I did it, and there were times where I was crashing on somebody's couch in North Hollywood, eating 7-Eleven tequitos and trying to borrow money from a buddy to pay rent, you know, even back when that was happening in 2013, every time I tried to quit and had a crying fit or broke down and was ready to leave, that's when I would get my next job. And it kept accruing and building to where the writing was on the wall,

and it was like, wow, okay, I guess let's take this as, far as we can take it, Lord. Let's do it. I'm your vessel here and I'm ready to do this for real and see how far we go. And so far it's been wild to see the climb because I would have been content with far less. I could have been the guy on a three camera laugh track sitcom walking into the room going, I don't know where the donuts are as I brush crumbs off my chest. You know, that's still getting paid great money to make people laugh and it's a service industry. of entertaining folks. That's still a dream. But the fact that I've gotten to work with Spike Lee and Clint Eastwood and Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon, it's, it's amazing. And that's also

maybe part of what makes me believe that I can wrestle as well because I've already written screenplays and produced and acted and gotten further than I thought. So now, you know, I'm pursuing all things that mean something to me. And wrestling is one of them. You know what's really fat. I mean, there's a million things that are fascinating about you, and I actually got a little bit of a tear at my eye hearing your testimony, so thank you for that. Sure, sure. But you were a different cat.

I can read people pretty well. You're a very, very unique person, and this is a blasphemy. But what's really kind of, I don't want to say weird, because that would be offensive, but I can't think of a better word. It's a little weird about you is you're going about this whole wrestling movie career thing

in reverse you've become a major player in a world that the odds of you coming from Michigan in a small town and achieving this success that you just described is pretty slim right? You did that and now what are we do next? Well, I've been successful over here. I think I'll go become a professional

wrestler usually it's the other way around. Yeah, no, I looked at it initially like you know it once again it built up to where even when i met my wife in 2019 2020 i said to her i said just so you know there will come a day where i'm going to wrestle it might be one match it might be two matches it might be 300 matches i don't have the answer but know that i need you to be okay with me doing that so i knew it excuse me i knew it well enough to... I hate to interrupt you, but that's called the list of one non-negotiable. I heard one non-negotiable. Before we get married, you just got to know. This is the way it is. I'll take out the garbage. I'll clean the toilet. I don't mind cooking, honey. And yes, I'll go to

rom-coms. It's a movie. I don't care. But... But... Now, as all wise men know, your non-negotiables have to slowly eke out throughout the marriage, you know? You got to say there's one but really there's about 14 uh i think you know i think she looked in it like cool you know know guys that love nascar i know guys that love the NFL this is like his thing but i when i saw you know growing up i saw kevin green and laurence taylor get in the ring now they're athletes they're god-bless athletes these guys but they're also not doing huracananas or tope suicidas They're doing body slams and clothes lines and shoulder blocks. And I'm like, okay, well, even a good handyman or a good, you know, athletic school director can probably do that if they want to and I want to.

So what does that look like? And then you see Stephen Amel and Bad Bunny and these people get involved. And you go, well, wait a minute. I know those guys are not the athletes that Lawrence Taylor and Kevin Green are. So what are we seeing here? Technically, you're telling me anyone can wrestle if they do the work and know how to communicate in the ring and entertain a crowd and they, you know, do their thing. And so I'm thinking, okay, well, I'm going to start dipping my toes. And that started with just doing a cameo in AEW.

I got a guitar busted over my head by Jeff Garrett. Of course you did. You haven't been in the wrestling business for five minutes if you haven't had a guitar busted over your head by Jeff. Jeff Gerard. It was an honor. No permanent damage that I know of. But I looked at that like, well, that's a taste. And then a dear friend of mine, Dallas Page, invited me to one of of the Singh's first match in AEW. And I got to come by and they had a wrestling ring and Dally goes, get in the ring, take a bump. And I'm like, okay. So I roll in the ring. And I just did a flat back, you know, with my knees bent. It's all of a foot and a half drop.

to my back, but something magical happened that I tell people about all the time. Something really magical happened where the sound I've been hearing my entire life coalesced with the feeling of taking the bump. And it was like something clicked. It was like I've heard this sound and now I'm feeling it as I hear the sound. And I just said, I have footage of it. I have a video of it that I'll send you. It's me saying, I'm doing this.

I don't give a shit. I'm doing this. And I started taking classes on my dear friend, Darian Bankston, who is a wrestler in the Mid-South area. And there were some guys at the Nightmare Factory that helped me out a little bit. But my main trainer has been my buddy Paul London. And he and I have probably done 30 hours of work together. And I love doing it with Paul because as much as I love wrestling, he loves film and television. And so there's a very equivalent, you know, reverence for each other's work and the fact that we both now dabble in both.

And I've loved working with him. And I got to the point where Sammy Callahan said, do you want to make an appearance at a show in L.A.? And I said, sure, it's for a good cause. They're raising money for the wildfires in Hawaii. And I said, I would love to come sign autographs and, you know, do a pro bono thing. And then a week later, he said, do you want to have a match? And I was like, well, of course I want to have a match, but should I have a match? And I ended up doing maybe nine minutes with this guy, Matthew Palmer, who is married to Athena in ROH.

And Matt is a tremendous talent and sweet guy. And he and I had a really fun match. And I did some stuff I'd never done, you know? Yeah, I took a scoop slam. Yeah, I took a DDT. But I also gave a butterfly suplex off the top rope. That's impressive, my friend. I gave a side rush and leg sweep, and I'm doing these other things,

and I'm making it about the timing and trying to remember where the hard cam is, and I'm trying to play to the fans. So I do have this built-in thing of being a performer who's done stand-up comedy and theater and movies and television, that plays in, and that really supports what you do. The other side of it is like, it's all about repetition. Wrestling isn't impossible for anyone, but you have to be pretty

unafraid to, you know, feel the pain and you have to perfect stuff because I might tell somebody, hey, I can do a vertical suplex and then you do it. But guess what? Your vertical suplex looked like crap. You can see yourself counting to two or three as you brought the guy up

and it looked underconfident. So it's not enough to do a vertical suplex now. You have to do a good vertical suplex. So like, that's what I'm learning by watching my footage and doing these matches with wrestling, revolver southern honor MLW it's just about me getting my reps in and getting better and better and learning from the brilliant talent that I get to to kind of play with but it's interesting to hear you talk because what you're talking about in in general is ring psychology the psychology

and how you do a vertical suplex and the psychology behind it and the timing of it and all that do you think you've worked with some great directors you know you talked about working with Clint Eastwood on his movie, you know, doesn't get much bigger, better than that. Do you think some of what you've learned just through your film career, I know the answer to this, but I'd like to hear just how much, how much of what you've learned working with great directors has helped you to understand how important some of the basics are, the fundamentals, along with psychology. Oh, my goodness. Yeah, no.

You know, wrestlers almost have to be directors while putting together a match or a moment or a segment. You know, it is a collaborative medium, this wrestling thing. And there are multiple voices, be it in front of 500 people in a gym or the stints I did with AEW. It wasn't one person. It was a whole crew of people speaking into it. And really the best direction is when someone is thinking of the overall picture. Because I think some guys fall in love with an idea. And it's like, okay, well, this is, you're not wrong.

This is a good idea. And I say, guys, I mean myself included where I'll get excited and think, let's do this thing. And then I have a guy like Mike Bailey or Matt Cardona, pause and say, well, that doesn't really line up with this thing later. And it breaks continuity. And I go, oh, wow. Oh, this person knows what the hell they're talking. talking about on a different level as far as psychology and how to anticipate what an audience is going to do or perceive.

So, yeah, no, it's, there's definitely some direction going on there. And I think Clint Eastwood's advice of, you know, keeping it simple and trusting your gut is very prevalent in wrestling as well. You know, sometimes we try to overcomplicate and we forget this basic stuff still really works, you know, the video game wrestling versus the hard. Harley race wrestling, you know. I think I'm sort of learning how to try to live in both worlds as a wrestler, because in truth, I don't want to ever have to perform a,

I don't want to ever have to perform a sunset flip through a flaming table or a poison rana off the apron. I don't ever want to do that. I want to do a gourd buster, and I want to do a Death Valley driver and a Texas clover leaf so how do I live in a in a poison run a world while still doing gourd busters and so that's that's kind of what I'm learning is is how to marry the two and live in that world and not you're not going to bore people because you're saying this is this is part of the buffet of wrestling as you've called it what am I on the buffet how do I identify how do I

refine what that is on the buffet and and I'm enjoying that process very much conversation. And you mentioned MLW. You were in, you participated in MLW battle riot, right? Was that one of your first big, big shows? Would you consider that? That was, yeah, that was, that was a Paul White for sure, big show for those not paying attention. We, we, we, I got that invite through Sammy because I've been doing this, uh, wrestling revolver show with him and, and Corpauer, you know, took an interest and said, why don't you have him come be a part of the battle riot kind of a surprise celebrity entrant kind of a thing and uh and then he also put me in a match with tom waller we ended up shooting a cinematic match

um while i was doing a naked gun in in Atlanta for paramount so we uh we shot a match and we did battle riot and i did a segment a promo segment where tom had the audacity to attack me of the steel chair i guess that's part for the course in that world but I had a blast working with those guys and court just kept in touch with me and kept saying, you know, if you want a home here and you want to learn how to wrestle and do your thing and be a part of this world, we would love to have you.

So I'm sort of signed unsigned over there and just working with them and we have a lot we want to do but it's very difficult with the insurance companies because they get win that I'm wrestling and they all freak out. Oh, yeah. You're talking about the feature film side. That's right.

Oh, it's, my manager and agent are like, oh, God, just text us after the match. Let us know you're okay. Because I fit two matches in between jobs. I had like a week off. And I found a match myself

and Mike Bailey wrestled Matthew Palmer and Rich Swan in Texas. And I wrestled this guy in NWA, Sal Renaro, in Georgia. And it was like, man, I got. I got to fit it in when I can and do it while I'm young enough because I'm 38 years old. You know, Dallas started pretty late, but Dallas was also an athlete and he knew the business better than me.

So I'm very green, but I also know what's possible. And my acting career has been a testament to that of you don't know how many ceilings you're going to break through. Your job is to be diligent, to be prepared for the opportunities, and to be kind to other. people on the journey and that recipe has gotten me to a pretty psychotic place where I'm I'm working with Pixar and Marvel and Eastwood and yeah like Pixar you did a movie for them that was like the eighth highest grossing movie ever just that little thing it was like inside out too right yeah I had a small part it was it was a bit part but I'm part of an ensemble that you know I think we're number I'm pretty sure we're number eight on the highest grossing films of all time

between, I think we're between a Jurassic Park movie and a Spider-Man movie. It's a good neighborhood, brother. It's a good neighborhood. This episode is brought to you by Bluetooth. Let's talk about sex. I mean, Conrad's favorite subject, but since Conrad's not here, let's talk about it anyway. Guys, you remember the days when you were always ready to go, like if the wind changed direction or the temperature varied by two or three degrees? Or, you know, if it was daytime or nighttime, whatever, you were ready to go.

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what's so funny man i knew more about w w f because of the merchandise all the kids had the merch but what i was watching early on was wcd sunday night on tbs because i'm a little kid i'm not staying up till 10.30 at night, you know, it was convenient for me to watch that on a Saturday evening after before dinner. And then I had an uncle Robert Ziff who lives in Florida near, I think he's in Northport near Sarasota, but he showed me Clash of the Champions summer of 91. And that's my earliest memory of seeing wrestling. I was, I would have been not even five years old four and a half and i have a vivid memory of watching watching clash of the champions and the match i remember was brian pilman and el gigante versus arne anderson and barry wendam

i think i was there for that one it was like right after i started i might have remembered that one because i mean i remember i got to wcw and el haigante was there but he was only there for about two days after I got there and he quit or they sent him home, whatever. But I remember seeing him backstage. I came from AWA, Minnesota. The tallest guy around was me.

Yeah. But, you know, and I'm looking up at this guy, he's getting on the monkey suit. Oh, man. Oh, my gosh. I'm sorry. He, uh, no, yeah. He, he was only there, I think, like, a year or two. And then he I think he went to WWF and did

that program with Undertaker, but, short-lived, but I really, I love the polarity because you got to remember the mind of a four-and-a-half-year-old kid. I'm watching this and I'm going, well, Arn Anderson looks like one of my dad's friends. He doesn't look like Ultimate Warrior or Hulk Hogan. And then he's wrestling this guy El Gigante who looks like he's out of a comic book. So I think the visual polarity of regular guy fighting comic book characters. that was part of the allure and the fascination. And then eventually you learn that there are these baby faces

that you come to love because of their moral fiber and their cool moves and their appearance. And for me, that was Sting. I liked Hulk Hogan, but I liked him as a part of Americana. You know, I liked Hulk Hogan the same way I like Coca-Cola. Sting was more of a personal choice of saying, I love the surfer look. I love that he's lifting up a guy like Vader for three scoop slams in a match

and he's jumping off the top rope even though you're kind of not supposed to in early WCW days like you know it was it was that allure and that's what made me fall in love with wrestling and it was only until 94-95 that I actually began watching the WWF and came into that sort of era of the PG silly characters of Duke the Dumpster Drosie, Adam Bomb and stuff. And that was my intro to WWF. So I'm kind of like, you know, why would I watch Mabel versus Brett Hart when I can watch, I don't know, Rick Flair versus Hulk Hogan.

To me, that's the better choice in 94. And then, of course, it was only a year and a half later that things started to heat up with you and Ted pulling the trigger on Nitro and WWF attempting to compete. and then, of course, having their reemergence in about 98, I suppose, you know. It was a fascinating journey. I think when people go back and they look at, much like they looked at the late-night comedy wars, you know, with, I think it was Leno and Letterman. Conan and Letterman, yeah.

Someone will go back. It's not from a wrestling point of view, really, but from just an entertainment, pop culture point of view, really dissect that period of time and what else was going on on pop culture that, you know, it was all kind of, it was great timing. A lot of it was just timing. You know, the audience was ready, not only in wrestling, which were ready outside of, in other forms of entertainment for that kind of counterculture and anti-hero kind of badass character.

We just got lucky. I think a lot of good moves were made as well, which, you know, I don't know who to give credit to all of them. You would know better than me, clearly. But there were just key moments that. worked and you never know if a moment's going to work there can be something that sounds stupid and then it's genius there can be something that sounds genius and people think it's stupid you know i always think about the the sandwich a french dip what is a french dip but a sandwich that fell in a vat

of thin gravy au reju and suddenly it's a menu staple in in restaurants everywhere so you know wrestling is kind of dealing with that sort of au jus uh hopefulness uh with every new or pay-per-view. And I think WCW for me had moments like Bash at the Beach 96. I didn't even have the money to watch it. I was listening to it on the TV that was all scrambled because my family didn't have the money to afford it back then. But I was listening like kids in the 50s would listen to baseball games on the radio

on a front porch. And I cried my eyes out when Hogan turned heel. And I got to give credit to that team. being Heenan and Chivani and Dusty because their voices are what really told that story for me. And at the end, you kind of hear Tony Chavani almost get choked up where he's like for Dusty Roads. And you hear him kind of stammer.

And it's like, you bought that, man. That's a performance vocally. As an actor, you bought those guys timidity and discomfort and fears and disappointment in that moment. And so you have an emotional moment like that. Then you have a comical, violent moment like Ray Mysterio being lawn darted into the side of the production truck by Kevin Nash. It's like, when you have those types of moments, that is the buffet of wrestling.

Oh, I got choked up. Oh, I saw something I've never seen before. Oh, did I mention Dean Malenko had the most amazing match ever with Eddie Guerrero? If you're doing all of that, I'm a devoted fan. That's like watching an NFL team and saying, wow, you put the money and intellect into having a great fullback, a great nose tackle, a great quarterback, and two powerful wide receivers. You look for people to have that weaponry in that buffet, and I think for about two full years, WCW really had that, not to mention an amazing roster in the early 90s that we'll never get to. the credit it's due, which is Dustin Rhodes, Rick Rood, Johnny B. Bad, you know, Bobby Eaton, Arne Anderson, Steve Austin, Cactus Jack, Vader and Sting. It's pretty incredible the names that

went through WCW, but I'm not sure they get the full credit that a WWF does when you look at their history. You know, when you going back to your description of you listening to Best at the Beach in 96, I really connect. with me for a couple of reasons. One is I could vividly imagine it because it flashed me back to me and my father back in the early 60s

listening to Cassius Clay and saying on the radio. And there's something, it was my only experience. Like, I'm not old enough to say, I remember back in the day we used to listen to radio. I'm not that old. Yeah. But I do remember there's something

being magic about listening to good color commentary, describing the picture, describing the smell in the arena, the energy, I mean, painting of pictures for those of us at that time who weren't able to watch it, really listening to it. And what you described, especially with Dusty and Bobby and Tony, first of all, could have found three better people to be in that position at that particular moment because they were all three the best of the best at that point in time in my opinion. But the other part of it that worked is they legitimately did.

not know they had no idea right right and and i got a lot of heat for that as the guy that was calling the shots because they were offended it's like oh you don't trust me and it wasn't that it's that i knew they couldn't they couldn't generate the emotion to the degree i wanted it to be if they knew in advance because then they'd be acting and they're not actors but they are they are but they're not that's that's you being a good director because you're saying to your I know how to get the best out of you. I'm going to do this thing. I wish you were around back then

because I took a lot of heat. I could have used you. Listen, he worked for Clint Eastwood. He knows. Oh, my God. No, it was one of the greatest moments and one of the greatest, you know, play calls by everyone involved.

And, you know, just the... Also, also, WCW was looked at as the... I always felt like WCW felt like the tamer of the two products, even before the attitude era because there was just something that felt a little more corporate and less familial up in New York, Connecticut. So when you saw fans throwing trash in the ring and at Great American Bash, you a member of, as we the fans know, you a member of the creative and business arm of the company

being assaulted. It's like you could feel a turn. You could feel the turn as it was happening. It wasn't, it was more gradual. than overnight, and there was something kind of dangerous and exciting about that. And then, you know, I can't give enough credit to you guys when it comes to the Dennis Rodman, Carl Malone stuff, because, like, as a kid, it's like worlds colliding. You love the NBA.

You love wrestling. And suddenly it's this crossover thing where, like, characters from other worlds are coming together. And if anything, that's kind of what I'm trying to do a little bit with me wrestling. It's, you know, I am trying to give back to the. of fans. This isn't some adult make-a-wish in which I wrestle for 10 years to just be obnoxious and annoy everybody. I understand that the majority of fans would rather watch Will Osprey or Seth Rollins as well they should. But in the buffet of wrestling,

I like to think that someday I might have an Academy Award and my own production company and I'm hosting Saturday Night Live while also putting wrestling over in the mainstream and having the occasional amazing match where I look like I've been dipped in blood and the next day I'm on Good Morning America. You know, to me, I think that's cool. You just got the, you just got a big fan. Let me tell you that. You've got such a great, healthy, positive outlook.

And honestly, I don't think there's any stopping you. And I can't wait to just watch for the sidelines, man. Well, and I, listen, man, I'm doing this Chris Farley movie that I signed on to do for New Line Cinema. I've been talking with Mark Wahlberg, Dallas Page, a bunch of guys I know who are really into health and wellness. The moment the Farley movie is done, game over, you're never going to see this again. I'm doing it for my two boys. I'm doing it for myself and my wife. I'm going to lose an extreme amount of weight.

I'm going to tone up and get healthy. And you're going to see an absolute transformation. And what that will do is that will open up new roles for me. Because to be honest, I don't want to play the fat, dumb, weird guy, 900 more times. I've already done it in sitcoms. I've done it for Clint Eastwood. I've done it in every capacity. I've done a serial killer who is the low status weirdo guy.

So it's like after a while you go, man, I'd really love to do what Miles Teller or Ben Foster are doing or Chris Pine. And there's no reason I can't. I just don't look like them right now. So the move will be to live a healthier life for myself and my family while also being, exponentially more capable and less blown up in a wrestling ring and then pursuing those other roles that I would normally never be considered for. So it's a ways off, but you can bet your bottom dollar. It's happening. Here's the deal, brother.

It's already been done. You just have to catch up. The book's been written. 100. The rolling the credits on that movie, you just haven't gotten into the theater yet. I can't wait. 100. 100, man. I can't wait. What else? What else you got?

What are you looking forward to the most? Like, I know you're in London, you're promoting a movie, you're probably reading scripts, you've got people taking you out to dinner, you're doing that high-profile Hollywood thing in London. You probably hate it. And you're looking forward to your wife and your kids. That for sure, I know. Yes.

Aside from that, what are you looking forward to when you get back? Well, for clarity's sake, the high-profile London experience looks less like me. going out to fancy dinners with actors and people, and it looks more like me watching wrestling on my iPad while ordering in-and-out burger bunless protein style into my hotel room from Uber Eats. A little less cool. I'm not that cool.

Never have been. But what I'm looking forward to is I can't talk about it, but I will say, because he brought it up in another interview, I got along pretty well with Matt Damon on this movie I did at Apple. It's called The Instigators. And I only had a bit part. I think I shot three, four days maybe. But Matt and I kept in touch and I went to Damon and Affleck and said,

I have a movie me and my buddy wrote. It's something I want to star in and I want to produce it. Would you guys take a look? And within about a week's time, they had signed on to produce it. So I have Damon and Affleck producing a movie that I wrote and am co-producing and co-starring. And I can't talk any more about that, but just the idea that two people I greatly admire who have been so successful are taking a chance on me and giving me that opportunity that's at the forefront of my excitement. And then outside of that, I mean, I'm really excited to wrestle again, you know. I am watching tape on everything I do and I'm seeing the mistakes that are obvious.

Some of them are circumstantial and I am not hard on myself. But other ones I go, oh, you know, there's too much timidity there or you're not you're not as aware as you need to be, et cetera. So I'm really excited to hone my craft for that. And I hope some of the guys and gals, you know, the boys, as we call them, I hope they understand that if the roles were referred, and they were coming into my world wanting to act, they would be met at least for me.

I can't speak for Tom Cruise and Viola Davis. But from my perspective, if an actor or athlete comes into my world and they want to do what I do, I would be there to befriend them and to be additive in any way that they deem interested. So I know that there are some people who are like, F this guy.

He's headlining the 2300 arena know is Sammy Callahan. He's an MLW. Why is he getting these opportunities? Nobody said to Dave Batista, get in line. You campaign Guardians of the Galaxy. You have to go do a five-episode arc on NYPD Blue. That's not how it works. In the real world, if you're given an opportunity, you're given an opportunity. And I don't have to pay dues, but I do have to hone my craft and I owe it to myself and the fans to only get better. And I mean, that's the ultimate respect, right? Somebody coming in from the outside, that's one of the reasons why guys like Kevin Green,

who came into WCW and Mongo and Dennis Rodman, even Dennis Rodman, as controversial as he was. A lot of guys are like, oh, he's making how much money. You know, there's a natural resentment. It's like a herd mentality, jail food mentality kind of thing. I get it. But when those guys showed up, they worked. And they had so much respect, not only for themselves, but, for professional wrestling that they didn't want to leave

and have everybody talk about how bad they looked. They poured their heart into it. And they got everybody's respect real fast. And that matters. And it also does a good thing for morale boosting in the locker room. It's someone coming in and saying, I'm willing to risk whatever criticism or injury because I respect what you're doing.

And I'm going to play with you for a night or a week or what have you. Sure. And I, you know, I don't know how these guys feel, but I have to imagine, I don't know that guys like Colby Carrino, Adam Priest, Darien Bankston, I don't know, I don't know that they know that I've watched a bunch of their matches. And I go up to these guys in a locker room, some of whom aren't the biggest wrestlers. And I say, I love that match you had. I've been watching you on YouTube.

Love this thing you said on Twitter. I'm showing them that the fanship is genuine and I respect what you do, the same way someone might stop me. and say, hey, I love Richard Jewell, I love Cobra Kai. I'm telling these guys, I love that match you did in front of 200 people. And I mean it, you know. So I think that mutual respect is hopefully translating to the guys and gals I run into and hopefully not breeding any kind of resentment or anything.

What's the next big thing at MLW? When are you going to be there next? Yeah, I'm looking at playing with those guys, hopefully as soon as they're show in December, which is in New York City, December 5. We got a show called One Shot. And then there are two dates in the new year, January, February in Texas, and I believe Atlanta or Los Angeles, I forget which, but I'll be doing those as well.

And I'm going to have any of my film TV engagements work around those because I'm not missing out. I've already missed out on too much. And I really want to get back to playing in that playground with those guys. Your ages must love you. because he's got to be on the other end of the phone call with the studio or with the director or the producer.

There's nothing I can do about it because he's got a wrestling gig. Yes. He's got a wrestling. Yes, professional wrestling. It's, you know, what's funny is I said I equated it to, I was on the Stephen Colbert show talking about

my work in wrestling revolver. And I said, you know, Bruce Willis had a harmonica. That was like his hobby on the side. Everyone knew Bruce is going to the house of blues and playing is harmonica. I like to think wrestling is my harmonica. I'll go to, you know, Atlanta, Georgia or Chapel Hill or wherever, and I'll go do a show, and that'll be my harmonica bar. But obviously, I'm ingratiating myself a bit more than a

harmonica in the hands of Bruce Willis. So per usual, I'm taking it probably further than anyone wants me to. But it's okay. It's worked out so far. By the way, don't you get, like the same way I'm itching to get back in MLW. Don't you get that feeling of like wanting to be an active part of a program or a show? Yeah, on any given day, some less, some more. But for the most part, there's not a lot I miss about being in the business because I got to do a lot of things. But I do miss, I miss the creative process. I miss working with talent, not in the ring or even in front of the camera, kind of be

behind the camera. I used to love producing things. Yeah. I miss, because it's collaborative and there's energy there. You know, it just starts to be fun. It's like a really cool party when you get the right chemistry in the room. That's, and I, you know, I say this also because in the back of my head, I'm thinking, I'm like, what's to stop you from like the same way someone can come in and do a program and a company? Couldn't you theoretically do a program as a producer in a wrestling company, even if it were a one-off or a. technically do that?

Yeah, well, I'd kind of make a list to go, well, WW, no, they're not gonna, yeah, Tony. I'm just saying, I know you're, I know you've worked in sales, so I'm just, I'm giving my quick pitch of selling you on MLW, which it's not like I've talked to court or anything, but I'm just saying like what we're doing that right now and the way the roster has grown with these veterans like Kentsa and Paul London coming back, these newer released guys like Matthew Riddle

and Donovan Di Jajikovic, you know, these guys are, these guys are really mixing up and we really got a great roster and I think court court is really in a good place right now with the company I really like what they're doing I feel like I don't know I would love to have you come do something with us man well you next time you see court you bring it up and you're back to me I won't hold my breath that's okay no no no I can literally call him right now he'd probably pick Yeah, I really appreciate that. Should we at least do that?

He might not even pick up. Should we just do this for Chris? Can we just have me call Court Bauer and see if he picks up? Yeah, you know him, brother. I don't. That's your call. Oh, do you not know him? I guess I assume that are all in.

I mean, I know him. We've crossed paths, but it's not like, you know, we don't chat. We don't, you know, place football bets together or anything like that. I'm just going to, I'm just going to try him. Here he is. I'm just going to try him. Oh, God. It'll be funny regardless, even if he's like, why the hell are you doing this?

Yo, what's up? Hey, Corey, it's Hauser. How you doing, man? Not bad, man. How's everything out your way? Good. Out my way is London right now, but I actually called you because I'm on a podcast recording with a buddy of mine who's also in the wrestling business. and I was thinking of you and I thought I'd call you.

Is that okay? What's up, man? What's going on? Well, it's Eric Bischoff, who I don't even know if you guys know each other, but I'm on his podcast entitled Wise Choices. Have you heard of it? I love, dude. Listen to when I work out in the morning.

Okay, so you do know what? Wait, did you say you listen to it when you work out in the morning? Damn right. Okay. That's a good start. Well, I was egging Eric on because I was. I was talking about he hasn't been in the ring or in the squared circle world for a minute

from a producer standpoint. Would you ever consider him doing a one-off or coming in and doing like a bit for MLW? Without hesitation, the answer is absolutely. Oh, no. Can I, do you have each other? You don't have each other's numbers, do you? Can I put you guys in a group text?

For sure. Oh, wow. Okay. That's unbelievable. I don't know what happens after this, but I know that I just got you guys to talk on this show live, so that's pretty cool. I'll tell you this.

We actually have a thing coming up called One Shot. I was just telling him about it. Yeah, dude, Eric, going to enemy territory, but one place has never promoted a show. New York City for one night, calling the shots. That to me sounds like money.

In fact, you know, they say, controversy creates money, I think, or controversy creates cash, I think this is money. Controversy creates cash. I like it. Wow. I ask them if you'd be down for doing something in December 5th. Shit, okay. I'm going to put you guys in a group

text right now and let you go at it. Let you go at it. But either way, because I don't even know if you're available in December, but my point is this could be cool, man. Don't we all, everybody chime in. Don't you want to see Eric Bischoff back?

doing something in the wrestling world directly. I know I do. Just say it. Me too, man. I'm telling him. That's a real court power. All right. Thank you, buddy.

Wow. Late. I'll hit you back in a minute. Whoa, dude. That was quick. Shocked. Now what? It's like, wait a minute.

I feel like I put it on. I feel like I did this too fast. I kind of pushed it on you, but I also didn't know that he was going to be, well he should be that receptive though you're eric bischoff it's it's not like i hit him up with some random dude it's one of the best people to ever do this so i i mean and forgive me if i'm being too pushy i just thought it'd be cool if we tried no no no man you you you're an inspiration just some of your stories and how you came up and your thoughts on your career and your future

and the way your perspective is so it's so refreshing to hear that uh i'm great I don't know what I got myself into. I might be in a little bit over my head, but hey, life's about exploring, right? I, dude, this is, I only know one version of Corpower who I met back in, I think it was May of this year. But the whole time I've known him, that's what I do like about him is he's, he's open-minded, he's energetic, and he's got this optimism and this giddiness that, you know, I feel like I hear a lot of jaded stories about these guys who've been in the business for a long time. And like, that's not what I get out of Cort Bauer. And so if you're down to do it, man, I think we'd have fun. Maybe you and

me could do it. I'm down to do it. You know, you may have to you. Okay, I'll put you guys in a group text, the moment we're off. All right, man. Well, listen, I appreciate that. I know you're probably dying to eat your in-and-out burger in London, all protein, no bun. Yo. I'm going to take that. Shout out to five guys. I worked at a five-guise burger place on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City and it was one of the last jobs I had before I acted full-time. So a nice nostalgia trip with every new burger. I love it. Well, man, I can't thank you enough for being here. You just, you just raise the profile of this little experiment quite highly and I appreciate your time. I look forward, I guess, to see you early December. I don't know. Yeah, I don't,

I don't know why, but I have a feeling that court's actually going to be super cool and want it to happen. It's going to, it's probably going to end up being more on you and you're available. mobility, but we would, I know I speak for the boys, it would be really cool to have Eric bitch off in MLW, even for one moment. Well, you put us together in that text. I'll reach out to court right away. See if we can figure it out. Thanks for having me on the show. And thank you for a huge part of my childhood, man. Thank you for unknowingly fostering a great love of professional wrestling for me. Thank you, brother. God bless. Cheers. God bless you, bud.

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