Dudes on Dudes with Gronk and Jules - The Miz on Facing John Cena | Wrestlemania 27

Episode Date: April 28, 2026

The Miz is in studio! The WWE legend and Triple Crown Champion is with us to relive an all-time moment in his WWE career: Wrestlemania 27 vs. John Cena. We're also breaking down his early days in wrestling, talking Cleveland Browns football, and a whole lot more.  (00:00) We kick things off. (01:13) The Miz joins us on the couch. (53:19) We breakdown both wrestlers. (1:04:40) We dive into the match. (1:17:42) We score it. Support the show: https://hoo.be/dudesondudesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2%. That's the number of people who take the stairs when there is also an escalator available. I'm Michael Easter. And on my podcast, 2%. I break down the signs of mental toughness, fitness, and building resilience in our strange modern world. Put yourself through some hardships, and you will come out on the other side a happier, more fulfilled, healthier person. Listen to 2%. That's TWO.% on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever. you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, the Cliford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clivert show on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes,

follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. I'm Daniel Alarcon, and this is my friend is much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far, but I'm John Green, co-host of the podcast The Away End with my old friend Daniel. On our podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup.

Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Auerkone and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. American Soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart the chip. Score! I'm Tav Ramos.

I'm Tom Boca. On our podcast, inside American soccer, you'll get the real storylines, the biggest decisions, and the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise. if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. April 3rd, 2011, the Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia.

71,000 screaming fans, The Miz, John Cena, with the heavyweight title on the line. And Dwayne the Rock Johnson. This. is WrestleMania 27. Ah! Welcome to Games with Names. I'm Julian Edelman.

They're Jack and Kyler. And we are on a mission to finding the greatest game, match anything in history. And today we have a very special episode with WWE legend, The Miz. And if you haven't already,

drop a like and then subscribe to Games with Names. Let's go. Games with Names is a production of I heart ratings. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Games with Names. I'm The Miz, the host Julian Edelman, Super Bowl winning MVP. Julian Edelman is going to interview me today, and that's how this is going to go.

So let's get to it. All right, there's your intro. Let's go. There we go. The Miz. Welcome to Games with Names. Today we are looking at WrestleMania 27, the Miz versus my daughter, calls the John Sina in one sentence, Ms. The Ms.

Why did you pick this match? Why did I pick this match to be my best in one sentence? In one sentence. Hmm. Because it's awesome. Because it's awesome. That's simple. I mean, it's not really a sentence.

That's not really a sentence because you shouldn't start with because. Yeah. But it is awesome. Yeah, we're starting to learn that. WrestleMania 27 is awesome. It is awesome. Being the main event of WrestleMania 27 walking in the WWE champion

and walking out the WWE champion is awesome. And not being able to remember it is not awesome, but still, still a moment. Now, not being able to remember it, will you remember if this is the greatest match of all time just in general? Will I? Yeah.

I will tell myself that. I don't know if people will agree with me, but in my experience and where I'm coming from, coming from Parma, Ohio, being six foot nothing and literally getting into WWE and people telling me that you're going to get fired within three months and then going on to main event, WrestleMania, something that very few superstars are able to do to walk in WW champion, walk out WW champion as the bad guy, which never happens.

Yeah, that's the greatest moment in my mind. And that is why it's the greatest moment in my mind. And I guarantee if anyone else was in that situation, they would be like, yeah, that's the best match ever because the experience, the moment, having my friends from Cleveland, Ohio, literally in front row watching me. And we used to watch the rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin, literally with the title that I'm holding at the main event of wrestling, in my living room. We would watch it, the paper views when I was in high school. And then there I am, what, seven, eight years later in the same spot. Well, the first thing that popped into my head

that you had rich friends because you had pay-per-view. We used to just steal it. Stolen. Stolen. My dad had the hot box. And so... One to 99 free. And so that's why all my friends would come over to my house because we had the hot box. You got to have the hot box. Yeah, had the hot box. Sorry, WWE. Yeah, sorry, but I mean...

Well, I mean, I think we have to be sorry because I feel like I've done pretty well for WWE. They've made their money off you. But I've stolen from them for years. You talked about... your friends from Cleveland, Ohio. You're from Parma, Ohio. What is the sport hierarchy?

I like the way you say that. Is it because you went to Kent Reed, Kent Wright, Kent State? I can't, is that why? I can't write. And yes, I did go to Kent State. Yeah. Why did you choose your NorCal guy? Why would you choose Kent State out of anywhere to go?

Are there the only one that let you play quarterback? You want to know why? Because I went to junior college my first year. I was a qualifier out of high school. I didn't get recruited or any sort of. scholarships out of high school. And I was a quarterback. Why, though? Why do you think? I was a five-foot-ten quarterback. And I had a running back on my high school team that went for like 2,000 yards. That was a monster, Tyrese Jack, shout out. And so, like, I wasn't the focal point of my high

school team. How is a big D1 university going to give me the keys to some ship? So I went to Juco, and then Kent State came after my first year, and they were Division 1 program. My goal was to be a quarterback in the division one at the division one level. You don't want to be a wide receiver. I didn't want to, I wanted to play quarterback. I was a quarterback.

But you knew you probably weren't going to go to the NFL, right? Yeah, but I was thinking CFL, I was thinking CFO, I was thinking, I just wanted to play quarterback. When I was a kid, I wasn't even thinking of the pros. It was like, when I was like an eight, seventh grade high school, we used to have a term, that's so D1. Like if you were on the baseball diamond,

you had a great play. That's a D1 play. You had like a great shot in basketball. That shit was so D1. I wanted to play quarterback at the division one level. And when Kent State came knocking, I remember looking at him. I'm like, where the fuck is Kent State? And then I actually was like, oh shit, didn't we learn about that like last year about the May 4th, 1970, state troopers, you know, shot the protesters? I kind of remembered that. But then I looked up the conference. And, that's where Brandon Jacobs and Bowling Green were in. I was going to say it was a bowling green tomato.

And he was in, and he was in the Heisman hunt that year. And so that came to me and I just, I was like, I went and visited and I went to Ohio and I got to see, you know, the beautiful state of Ohio and the cool campus of Kent,

which isn't that cool, but it's not. It's not. But it enjoyed it. I went to Miami of Ohio. So I went to the boot. Miami, Ohio was elite. Yes. And so was Athens. You know, it's funny. You said like, oh, in high school, I wasn't thinking I'm going pro.

Like in high school, baseball, basketball, any, any sport I played, I was like, there's, there's an inkling in my brain that would tell me I could go pro. I could do it. But I wasn't even the best player on any of my teams. But I just, there's something in my brain that would always do that. Like even when I went to Miami, Ohio, I was like, I could play basketball here. So I tried out. Did not make the team whatsoever. I think I airballed like three balls when I played for the tryout.

But yeah, like I just, I had that mentality of that kind of thing where it's like always like, I feel like I could do it. You know, I was always trying to prove people wrong because I was always the best or one of the best. Really? But I was always the smallest. So they were like, ah, well, he'll peter out. Always a chip on your shoulder.

Yeah, I always had a chip on the shoulder. So I was always very focused on what was on my plate at that time. You know, when I went to Kent, I heard. I had to beat out the six foot seven quarterback. That was the starter. And then, you know, it took me three years or a year to do that, did that. And then after that, you're so focused on just trying to win games for the university that gave you an opportunity to play your dream.

You know what I mean? So it was one of those things were, I didn't think I was going to, I didn't think about going to the pros. I always wanted to go the pros. But I was just focused about like, hey, let's go get seven wins for Kent State. Did the determination that you have, is that from? your parents or is that a coach? My dad. Is it your dad?

My dad. Did he give you like a regiment? Like, hey, this is what we're going to do. We practiced every day. We want you to be. So we practiced. So he was always with you. From high school, until high school.

Okay. And then once I left, you know, I went to Juko and I got older, you know, his little like drills that he used to instill in me and the art of trying to chase perfection each day in practice, that stuck with me. and, you know, that's when I would just do it without them, but had them in my head. So you weren't the type of kid that was like, I don't want to do this.

I don't know. Leave me alone. We all don't want to always do that. There's always that voice in your head. It's just you got to choose the other guy. So I got two girls now and I take them to like gymnastics or jujitsu or any type of sport. And they'll always be like, no, I don't want to go. I don't want to go.

But when they're there, they're loving it. Yeah. And so it's like, I don't want to be the dad that's like making you do something you don't want to do. but there's also a thing that I want to instill discipline. And I know that Jiu-Jitsu will help them in later in life. Yeah. Because I don't know. I saw like a podcast or something.

I think Dana White was talking about or Joe Rogan or someone was talking about like how, you know, a 300-pound man, like a girl can take care of himself with 300-pound man if they know the right technique in J-Jitsu. And in my head I'm going, I have two girls, six and eight. I want them to be able to take care of themselves if dad's not there. So jujitsu is one of those things that I was like, we're getting into jiu-jitsu. And I found a great teacher and I found a great school

and I love watching them. And every day afterwards, they're like, can we go practice? Can we go practice? And then we'll go in like our like playroom and I will wrestle with them and teach them or show them what they learn like side control or like an Americana or stuff like that. That's got to be awesome for you though.

Like because you're in that world and they're jumping into your world. Now with my, I have a daughter as well. She's nine. She plays soccer. She plays tennis. She rides horses. And I love the soccer for her because I'm a team sport guy. You know, and you learn so much in those team sports, especially as these little young kids are growing and their minds are growing. The accountability factor that you have to learn, the setting of goals, the embarrassment of letting a teammate down, you need to feel that. Because that's what you're going to feel every day in the real world. And when you start putting them in that early, they start to feel that, they resonate to that, and they learn how to learn. You know, and the apples don't fall too far from the tree, right? So your kids are probably going to learn how you learned. And I learned through sport. That taught me and made me

a better student because it made me really channel in my focusing on the field. And then I would learn how to use that focus in school. So I think there's a... And if you didn't do good in school, you're not playing in the sport. It's usually way it is. Exactly. Exactly. Now, back to Cleveland, Ohio, what's your sports hierarchy of Cleveland sports? Browns, number one. Browns. Every year we're going to the Super Bowl. And this is actually the first year where I'm going, maybe not this year. Maybe this is the first time. Like, even when we went, oh, in like 16, I was like, we're going to the Super Bowl this year. Brian Horace is taking us to it or something like that.

Boy, dog. Yeah. And so, so now this is the first year where I'm like, maybe not. Whenever you're misses the coach's picture. Got a haircut. Because you got a haircut. Like, that's not a good look. Like, imagine going into that meeting

and a guy comes in late and he's trying to like tell the locker room, hey, you know, you're kind of late. Like, yeah, but you didn't even make the coach's meeting. You didn't make the coach's picture.

But to his defense, they changed the coaches meeting to earlier. And I believe he was getting a haircut before. But no one called him. He has no, he has no friends to like, Hey, dude, we're all here. Where are you at?

It's a cool world out there. It really is. But by the way, it always has to happen to the Browns. Like always. Like that's the type of like, like, why? Why is it always the Browns that have to like have all this stuff happen to us? And I like to say us because I feel like I'm a part of the team because I've been in Cleveland, I've been a Cleveland Browns fan my entire life.

Ever since Bernie Cozar. And we still can't find a quarterback. You available? No. Shadur, I changed positions for a reason, miss. Yeah, I feel terrible because I went to school with all the Northeast Ohio people and they are feigning for a great football team. And even if their team isn't great, they're still going to have their beer on the weekend,

drink it up and watch the Browns and act a fool and love them to death no matter what. So I just wish that, you know, in the near future, whole thing changes for them because I think they're deserving fan fan group. What do you think the, uh, the Patriots do that? Because I don't think you, you never played for anyone else besides the Patriots, right? So what do they do that sets them apart and makes them an excellent like place to win championship? Starts with the owner and the owner finding the right coach and the coach and the GM relationship and then also the quarterback. Those things have to be aligned. And if those are,

aren't aligned. But don't you think all the, all the owners are like, I want to win, I want to, I feel like Haslam wants to win. He wants, he's doing everything he possibly can. Hell, he brought a guy that does numbers. Yeah, but he's, he's, me, Ms. It's like, these are, these are really wealthy, successful men in business. They don't know a lick about football. So you get a football guy in a room with a business guy and he starts talking football this business guy thinks this guy knows football but like that the hiring process

of finding the right guy to run the show is the hardest hardest thing to do for these guys because they're not experts in the field you know what I mean so if you may hear something from a coach that's you know sounds like a goddamn car salesman when he's out there pitching for his job he he may not know how to lead a group of men or the intricacies of starting this kid.

But Stefanski was coached the year twice. Twice. Twice, man. And everyone I talked to in the football world. What the owner do? He stepped in. He brought in the whole the Sean Watson thing. Like, then we had, we had Baker Mayfield. I have never been so upset about getting rid of a person. I felt like Baker Mayfield had the grit, the moxie that Cleveland needed to be successful. And now he's over in Tampa Bay doing wonders, doing great. Well, they missed the playoffs last year. He has done very well. Whenever he's not injured. Whenever he's not injured, I feel like he does really well. And he did have a playoff win in Ohio. I know. That's crazy.

And then they got rid of them. They opened the beer fridge for him. I had the beer fridge. We all had the beer fridge. So the, what was it? Bud Light called me up. It's like, hey, do you want one of these fridges? I was like, yeah, but will it work in my house? And they were like, yeah. And I go, but I'm in, I was living in Austin at the time. And they're like, yeah, it'll work in Austin. I go, no way. So I get it. It's chained up, right?

And I'm like, oh, man, this is really cool. But there's no way this is going to work. There's no way that chain is going to fall. There's beer in there and everything. So I think it was the New York Jets game versus, and Baker Mayfield actually first came in. That was the first game. Yeah.

And I remember we won. And I remember me and Ryan Cabrero was over at the time. And we were watching the thing and waiting for it. And within like seconds, the change just fell off of the, like they had some sort of remote that they, and some sort of magnet that when they pressed it, it just released it. They came off, drank all the beer. Man, there was a celebration.

That is technology right there. We want a game. I remember watching this like every week in the Cleveland bars. Like, everyone would be like, no, we're not opening it. It's so cool. Like I, they did a, so I got to do a pretty cool thing where I went to Cleveland and I sold them. Like, I was like a used car salesman and like it was like a promotion. but yeah, I got to go there and, yeah, they gave me one and it was very,

and all Cleveland got behind it because we just wanted to win a game. Man, at least you got some. You didn't know what it's like to like. I went to Kent. Yeah, okay. I went to Kent. Maybe you do. I mean, I went to school with all the kids from Northeast Ohio, the Pittsburgh kids.

I lived in that part of the world for three years of my life, three years of my developing brain life. So I know exactly what you're going through. I felt it when I played at Kent where we didn't get the wins, but we loved it. And, you know, I think there's some good stuff coming around the corner for Cleveland. I mean, you guys should do is it?

Could be. Could be? I mean, you've been in football. You know football. You're a wide receiver. But it's not just one guy. You know what you won your quarterback. Yeah.

I mean, I just so happy. I got to play with the greatest of all time. So my judgment on quarterback play is kind of skewed because all I see is how it's supposed to be done. and a lot of guys who are even really good don't always do it the same way. So that's the hardest position to evaluate by far. And you need a lot of good things around it. You know, football is like we talked about with the daughter's ultimate team sport.

You got to have the quarterback, but your 53rd guy has to be as, you know, you're only as strong as the weakest one. So it takes a lot of brain power of the general manager of how the team is designed, the coaching power of having the general manager and the coach being able to coach the type of players that the general manners bringing in and the quarterback has to be able to get everything going. It's tough. It's tough.

Now hearing you talk, I always thought like, I was like, ah, it's a little bit of luck. But then seeing what the Patriots did this year with Rabel, I was like, it's not luck. They lucked into getting him and they kind of lucked into getting Drake May. Not luck. They had to suck.

Yeah, but they also, I don't know if that's luck or if it's just exactly what the Patriots are able to do each and every time. They find a way to win. They figure it out every single time. Like, has them. Our guy, our guy, Haslam's got to just, you got to find someone that knows the game. You know the Andrew Barry knows the game? Well, you know what?

I'll tell you, one of the strengths of Mr. Kraft, our owner is that if he doesn't know something and he knows someone else, an expert in that field, he'll rely on that. And he's smart enough to know that he doesn't know about that. But he knows enough now because he's been around it for so long that he can identify other things now. So like, I think that's all. It's the Holy Trinity, bro. I played a, I played at the American Century Championship, right? And Vrable's there. Yeah. And I get it. Like he is the type of aura. Not only is he an alpha, but he's an alpha that you want to hang out with. He's not a bully alpha. He's like the guy you want to. He used to be a bully.

People all like, he used to be a bully. People all try to talk to him like and try to get around him just to have conversation because he's fun. He's exciting. He always has a good story on the back of the head that you're literally like, oh my God, this is the best story ever. He can speak and he's a great storyteller. Yeah. You were just at the Masters too, weren't you? I was at the Masters. How was that experience? It was like everything I thought the Masters would be, it's surpassed it. I paid $1.50 for a sandwich. Which one? I got them all.

So I ate them all. You want to hear them ranked? Okay. So pimento cheese is number one. But a local told me... What kind of bread is it on? It's like white wonder bread. So pimento on white wonder.

Yeah, it's just white bread. Okay. So, but, so what a local told me was like, hey, you don't just get the pimento. You get the side of barbecue, a pooled pork, and you put it on the pimento. So I did that and that was, Chef's Kiss.

We'll be right back after this quick break. I'm Luke Wilson. Join me each week for Film Never Lies. Since retiring from the NFL, I've had a lot of my mind, and now I've got my own show. So if you're tired of lazy takes, if you want honest conversations, join us each week.

Film Never Lies available on all TSN platforms in the IHeart Radio app. 2%. That is the number of people who take the stairs when there is also an escalator available. I'm Michael Easter, and on my podcast.

I'll be a podcast, 2%. I break down the science of mental toughness, fitness, and building resilience in our strange modern world. I'll be speaking with writers, researchers, and other health and fitness experts, and more to look past the impractical and way too complex pseudoscience that dominates the wellness industry.

We really believe that seed oils were inherently inflammatory. We got it wrong. Many of the problems that we are freaked out about in the world are the result of stress. Put yourself through some hardships, and you will come out on the other side a happier, more fulfilled, healthier person. Listen to 2%. That's T-W-O-Persent on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in swing. media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only

deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right what you need to be.

Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. When you listen to podcasts about AI and tech and the future of humanity, the hosts always act like they know what they're talking about and they are experts at everything.

Here at the Nick Dick and Poll show, we're not afraid to make mistakes. What Coogler did that I think was so unique. He's the writer-director. Who do you think he is? I don't know. You meet the like the president? You think Canada has a president. You think China has a president.

The law crusade. God, I love that thing. I use it all the time. I wrap it in a blanket and sing to it at night. It's like the old Polish saying, not my monkeys, not my circus. It was a good one. I like that snake. It is an actual Polish saying.

It is an actual Polish thing. Better version of Play Stupid Games, win stupid prizes. Yes. Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift, who said that for the first time. I actually, I thought it was.

I got that wrong. Listen to the Nick, Dick, and Paul show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So then, I would say the ham and cheese on rye surprised me. I was like, I was like, oh, it's just ham and cheese on rye.

It's not really going to. But it was, awesome. Egg salad is number three, but everyone loves the egg salad. Everyone's like, saw the guy at the hat. He did have the hat. That's number three. And then I would say that's my top three. The chicken sandwich didn't do it for me. It didn't do it. Didn't do it for me. It didn't. No, but everything else is great. Oh, and the, if you're, if you consider ice cream sandwich, the Georgia peach ice cream sandwich is phenomenal. Yeah. Georgia peach. Crown's Nest is a solid beer.

I had everything. I wanted the master's experience. I wanted to experience everything. I sat at hole number one and watched everyone drive the ball on whole number one, watch Rory. And in my head, I'm going, God, this guy's short. But just stocky, like full of muscle. And he uses every ounce of his body to hit that ball farther than everybody.

And you can just tell when I saw him, I think it was Thursday, he was locked in. He was ready to dress. and Navy blue head to toe. I was like, this dude, this dude is on a mission to go back to back. It is so incredible to watch him hit the ball. And he's a superstar. Like you watch other people walk up to the tee and it's like, Rory walks up, kind of silenced, like a little takes your breath away kind of aura.

You know, an aura of a superstar. I imagine Tom has that same. So what's his wrestling equivalent? Like a John Sina. What about Scotty Schaeffler? Scotty Schaeffler. Maybe like, I didn't see Scotty that day. So I didn't get to feel the aura.

Like, Undertaker has an aura. When Undertaker walks in the room, you go, whoa. Have you met Undertaker? I haven't yet, but I have an Undertaker. He is, ever since I first met him even until now, he just, he doesn't realize it. He doesn't know, like, when he walks into a room, it's Undertaker. Like, whoa. Like, there's an aura around him.

What about Brooks Kepka? Do you get to see him? Brooks. Kepka? I didn't see Brooks. No. Kind of a bad guy. He could be heal now. Kind of bad guy. Because he went to live.

That would be me, right? Then I'd be the bad guy. I mean, but he's pretty damn good. I'm loyal. I'm loyal to my company. You're loyal to the soil. I'm loyal to the WWE, yes. That's amazing.

It's all I ever wanted to be. I wanted to be a WWE superstar. And now here I am 20 years in, still doing it and still going and still feel great. Like, I'm 45. And I honestly feel better than I've ever have. I'm smarter than I've ever been. And I just feel like any time I go out there, I can compete with any person

and literally make a crowd, have a moment that they will have for the rest of their life. Every time I go out. When did you know you wanted to become a professional wrestler? Real world. Real world. So when you growing up, I guess you always were like,

I'm going to play football and play football. Me, like I would have in the back of my head, I could do this, I could do this, but it was never like a real thought. The real thought was always like, when you're done with high school, you go to college. After college, you go back to where you live.

You get a job, you get a family, and that's a due for the rest of your life. That's, that was my mentality. Then I saw, I was at Miami, Ohio and my fraternity. And I saw on TV, I was watching Real World New Orleans. And it said, do you want to try out for the real world? Here's how you do it. And I was like, I want to try out. All my friends are like, dude, don't try it.

You're not going to make it. There's like 60,000 people. Like back then, MTV was everything. It was huge. It was huge. I love the world. Everybody watch. Yeah, everybody watch.

Yeah, I'm glad that you remember those days. people now MTV, it's like, what's that? It's like, it's no, like, it was the biggest shit. It was everything. It was like, the housewives. You know the housewives now? What's the real world? I would even say it was bigger than the housewives.

What's the equivalent, Jack? He's a big reality TV guy. I would say Housewives is up there. You got your summer house. But I think Mike's spot on. There was nothing like the real world, man. Nothing. Like, it appealed the broad appeal age range.

I mean, I was like eight years old. I wanted to go on MTV Spring Break, bro. I did do that. So my goal was like to go do the real world, do the challenges, and host spring break. And I got to do it all. I went to, I went to Cancun for a month. I think they gave me the key to the city. Talk about hitting for the cycle.

Oh my God. That's how you do it, maybe. Did you meet Pauly Shore? Was he, was he still hosting? Did I meet Polly Shore? I didn't meet Polly Shore. No, no. The wheeze?

No, he was not hosting it at the time. I did a show for like Dr. Pepper or something like that. Man. Dude, the Strangle old MTV had on us, unbelievable. Now, when you're doing the real world and you figure out that you want to do wrestling. Well, first off, when I was doing the real world, it wasn't like, oh, I want to be a wrestler. I'm going to do the MIS. I did the MIS because I was uncomfortable in my situation.

And whenever I would drink, I would just start cutting promos like I saw my wrestlers do. And everyone ended up starting loving it. So everyone, all the castmates who hated me were like, do the Mizz, do the Mizz. Because it was fun. It was exciting, right? And so I'd just start doing the Ms. And then the Ms. They liked Ms. more than they liked Mike.

And I was like, wow, this is fun. And then afterwards, I remember going back being in my dad's condo and being like, what do I want to do for the rest of my life? Like, what do I want to do? I want to go back to college, Miami, Ohio, and have business classes that I literally was like getting D's in

and not really doing well in because it was college and it was fun. And so I was like, you know what? I'm going to become a WWE like, superstar. I'm going to try that. So I went on my computer. I looked up like wrestling schools. And there was one in Louisville and there was one in L.A. And I was like, I'm going to L.A. I'm going to L.A. I'm kidding me. But I didn't have any money because real world doesn't pay. Like I made nothing on the real world. Like legit. I went bankrupt on the real world. I spent all my

credit cards. Like, because I was like I wanted to live the life. Right. I'm in New York City for the first time. Had a credit card. Blasted. Blasted. Oh, you guys want drinks. Here you go. Here you go. great city to have it into. Oh my God, the best or the worst. Best or the worst. Expensive but awesome. Very expensive. And I lived in like a three-story like mansion. I'll never have a house like that in New York ever again because it was unreal. And so it's funny. People always ask me like, is it really real? Is it really real? Like that's the number one question I get with real world, wrestling, everything. Is it real? Is it real? And I always say real world was as real as you can get on TV because there are cameras around. There's cameras around. You're talking.

24-7. But once you have a camera around you 24-7 for a week, it just becomes a part of life. And it's the norm. And so then you just start living your life. And that's the way it is. Now, is there editing? Is there music? Is there all these different things? Yeah. The experiences that I lived there were 100% true. And so I, and whenever people tell you like, oh, they edited me wrong, they did this wrong, they did this dirty on me. Usually those are the people that they weren't themselves on the show. They tried to portray. a character or a character, and then they watch the show and they don't see the person that they are or they don't realize who they are. And then they see it and they're like, well, that's not me.

And it's like, that's the way you were on the show. So I don't know. Oh, that's the reality. So then, so then I got on a challenge because I didn't get paid anything, right? They offered a challenge to me. I was like, oh my God, a challenge. Yeah, I have to win this thing because I need money. So I ended up going on the challenge, winning the challenge, and moving, taking all that money and moving to Los Angeles, paid for rent, paid for people. Like, would you, would you buy your big, what was the first thing you bought? I was like, well, I bought wrestling classes so I can learn how to learn the art of professional

wrestling, acting classes, improv. I went to groundlings, improv Olympics, and second city. And then I was like, I remember the only way I could afford like a workout was like through like muscle and fitness, like magazines, right? I'd buy a magazine and just find the workout. And like I had a nutritious that came in there. I had to pay him $100 a month in order to get me like the right foods that I should be eating to really lock in my body.

And so that's kind of all the money that I spent on WW. And you would think since I was on the real world, the most popular show in America at the time that WW was like, hey, come on over to WWE, but they weren't. As a matter of fact, it was a negative. Like if you were on a reality show, you were not like Hollywood didn't want you. You weren't allowed to go on like auditions. Now nowadays it's like, oh my gosh, you have a fan base? Yes, come on.

Let's do it. Oh, you have social media. You have this. You have this. Influencers are like, oh, like everything. Back then, oh, no way. You were an anomaly. Yeah, nobody wanted you because you were taking one in Hollywood.

You were taking jobs from actors, real actors. Like you're a no talent hack. all you're on, you're on a reality show. You're, you, what have you done? You lived your life in front of a camera. Congratulations, you have no talent. So I wanted to obviously prove them wrong. Chip on my shoulder, kind of like you had.

And so I just kept going and kept working, kept working. Every time I'd go out to a club, people would be like, why do you want to be a wrestler? You want to be a wrestler? You know who was always supportive? Anytime I'd go on a challenge, the castmates of the real world, they could have been jealous, right?

they could have been like, oh, whatever. They were so supportive. They would wear, like, I saw that WW did a lot of merch, right? So I was like, I'm going to make my own merch. And WW will see that I can sell merch. And if I can sell merch, I have a fan base, I have an audience, I'm doing all the acting,

all the improv, all the wrestling school. They'll see me and they'll want to try to give me a tryout. And that still wasn't the case. But I was going to try to do it. And whenever I brought the merch onto the challenges, they all would wear my shirts, would all wear my logos. They would always ask me to do promos,

and they were so supportive, and they didn't have to be. And now you will see that no one's allowed to do that anymore because I ruined it for everybody. No one's allowed to bring their own merch on TV, on the challenge. Licensing is now, yeah, because now they do that, like,

they didn't have that back then. I ruined it for everybody. You fucking the Wall Wall West back then, you killed it. But think about it. You try to find, like, it's like with football, right? I imagine you find all the tools you could possibly do to succeed when you were going for your tryout for New England or when you got drafted, what, seventh round?

Yeah. Like, you weren't making that team. There's no way you were going to make that team. But in your mind, you were. And you were going to use every tool you could possibly do in order to make sure that you made that team. Whatever it possible is. Same with WWE.

You need to find every single tool to find to make sure that you're a no-brainer. Yeah. That they have to take you. And it took three years, three years of. like going on the independence. And you know what's funny? Matt Light, I wrestled for his foundation.

Matt Light Foundation. Shout out. Matt Light Foundation. Shootout. Shootout. By the way, Matt Light, thank you for actually booking me. Because no one would book me.

I was having a hard time on the Indies to try to do it. And he had this show at like, maybe it was like the Roxy in Boston. And by the way, everyone showed up. Oh yeah. Like that was one of the cool moments. I was like,

oh wow like all the almost the entire offensive line uh Brady was there and it was just a show at the Roxy and I was a part of the show they flew me out to Boston to and this was like in 2000 before I was in WWE I was on real world but was not getting booked and uh got to meet everybody and hang out with everybody and it was awesome because if you could see why they're winning Super Bowls like they were they were friends yeah they were hanging out with each other. You know, that's how you build a bond. That's how you build a locker room. And like, that's how you win a men, how you have a winning mentality. 1,000 percent. I mean, you willed yourself to become a W.W.E. superstar. I mean, acting class,

wrestling school, nutritionist. I mean, people don't, I, I hope people understand how hard it is to chase your dream. And it's not everyone, whenever, whenever any, says, oh, I would give anything to be in that guy's shoes, you wouldn't because you had the opportunity to. You want the lifestyle. You want the lifestyle. But you don't understand the grit and the hard work it took for you to transform yourself. Because at that time, like you said, first thing I first thing I said when I went when we got you on the show, I was like man, it's so crazy that he became from the, he came from the real world and now has been in the

WWE for 20 fucking years and has been like no one even knows he's part of the real world but if you're my age, that was crazy. They do though. People do. Like they do. To this day, I still get recognized on a daily basis for the real world for the challenges. Challenges. Who is the Boston guy?

C.T. CT, man. CT's the man, dude. He was so good. We were friendly for a little while, I think, years ago. He was so good at the challenges and still is still good at the challenge. He just knows how to play. I hosted a show called Champs versus Stars.

It was like a spinoff where celebrities like T.O. came on and they would challenge the challengers, like the champions. And the challengers would mop the floor with all these superstars. And I'm talking, these are athletes. These are like T. These are like T. Yeah. type athletes and they were just beating them because they know how to play the game.

There's a game within the game of the challenge. You need not only be athletic, but you need to know, have the mentality to know how to play that game as well. Survivor's shit. It really is. Lord of the flies. All those games.

You know the athletes didn't read Lord of the Fly, so they have no shot. All those games, every single game out there, it's not just about athletic ability. Like you look at, you know, sometimes you'll see traitors, right? and you'll see all the athletic ability that you have to have,

but also like you have to be able to play the game. All those games, they're games. And gamers are able to really figure out how to win. Like I was able to win two challenges. And the reason I won them, one, I was very athletic and I was very good at things, but I also know how to play the game. Yeah.

It's politics. It really, it really is in those games. All right, let's go good chance. Real quick. So when was the actual first time you got the call from the WBE? The call, okay. So the first call from WWE was for Tough Enough. And I always thought I wasn't allowed to do Tough Enough.

Tough Enough was a show on MTV, very popular as well, where you could win a WWE contract. Yes, tough enough. And so it was on MTV. And so I asked one of my producers for the real world. I was like, hey, can I try out for Tough Enough? And they went back and they said no, because back then you couldn't mix

other shows. You could do the challenge because that's a sister show. But you could not do tough enough. So I couldn't do both. But three years later, it was getting off of MTV and going on to the CW. And so it was going to be on during SmackDown. And so they were like, would you like try out? I thought I wasn't allowed. They were like, yes, you could try out. It's a million dollar tough enough. You could win a million dollars. And I said, can I get back to you? Now, you might be going, wait, this is your opportunity. This is your moment. But I knew back then respect was a big thing.

And watching what happened to the tough enough contestants, they would get just beat up, right? They were, they were, like, being on a reality show, you are looked at as lower than dirt. And so then being on a reality show and going into WWE, they got to weed out the people that are just there for 15 minutes of fame. They got to know that you, love what they're about to teach you because it's an art form. And by the way, these people are paying

their hard earned money to see you. What happens if this guy is just a person that doesn't show up on time or isn't professional or is just here for the glitz and glam isn't there for the right reasons. And if you're not in WWE for the right reasons, if you're there for the fame, the money, then you're in for the wrong reasons and they will weed you out. At least back then, that's the way it was. Yeah. And so, I was under the, like, I knew that because I was trying, I was training in the independence and you'd hear stories about you don't want to be on tough enough because you want the respect. You want the older guys, the main eventers, to teach you how to become a main eventer.

You don't become a great wide receiver without other great wide receivers. Randy Moss coming in there and telling you, hey, hey, Edel nut, you need to, you need to do this, this, this, this, and this in order to be successful. You're not doing this, right? And so you need those guys, right? Definitely need. I needed those superstars in WWE. And if I came in on tough enough,

I might not be able to get them. I might not be able to get the respect. So I was like, I don't know if I want to do it. So I got off the phone. I was like, oh, I'll call you right back. Just got to check my schedule, blah, blah, blah. Hung up.

I called the guy that did UPW, Alkampin Pro Wrestling, which was the school I went to is Rick Bassman. He's like, hey, call Mike Bucci, who is Simon Dean at the time. He was in WWE. And call him. He might give you advice.

So I called him up and I said, hey, I just need to know, should I do this tough enough thing, man? Or should I try to get in the right way? Like I want to go to Japan. I want to make sure that, you know, he's like, are you getting opportunities in Japan? I'm like, no. And he's like, well, are you getting opportunities in the Indies? Not really. I don't understand why.

It's like I'm doing everything I possibly can. I feel like I'm doing all the right moves. He goes, you have an opportunity for a million dollars. Do you know what most people would give for a million dollars? It's like the money was second to me, which is crazy to think. think, because I wasn't rich. I had no money. Like I was broke, if you will. I was spending all my money on trying to become a WWE superstar. And then here I am getting the opportunity to have a million dollar contract, but I wanted the respect in the business. I wanted to learn from the top guys.

And I felt like if I did that, but the opportunities weren't knocking. I would go do, try to do what were called dark matches. I'd go backstage. And I would shake hands with everyone, do the whole, hello, sir, hello sir. And by the way, back then, if you walked into back, and you did not shake someone's hand and look them in the eye, then that was considered very disrespectful. And it could mean that you're not going to get a job or it could mean the end of WWE as we know it. Right. Like so when I'd go backstage, I'd do all the handshakes. I would practice in the ring. They would take a look at me and they would just be like, all right, go ahead, kid. And they would do interviews with me like that the social media knew who

I was. So the social media would have me like talking and doing stuff. Like even the social media had me doing like an article. Like I'd do articles for them. You do right? A little blog action? I would do articles for them. Vlogging? Yeah, vlogging.

I would vlog for them. But I wasn't signed. I wasn't with WWE. But I was trying to get in. I was trying to knock on the door. But no one was no one was answering. Yeah. So finally I was like, you know what?

I'm going to figure this out. So Simon Dean was like, you have an opportunity of a lifetime. You're not getting any opportunities. You might never get this opportunity again. take every opportunity you possibly can. Yeah. So I did. I went for it.

I wasn't given the opportunity. They were like, hey, you can be one of 50. If you make it to the top eight, then you get to go move on. So I had to try out. Went and tried out in Venice.

I remember Bill DeMotte coming up to me. And it's like, there was this obstacle course on the, on the sand. And it was very difficult. Everyone was getting like three, like four minutes, three,

45 around that. And so Bill DeMont comes up to me. And it's an idea for a reality. show, right? You got to make drama. Oh, you're the reality show guy, huh? Yeah, what time you're going to get? Oh, I'm going to do my best. I want a time. Now I have to say something fast because, and I'm thinking I need to pace myself because if you blow it right in the beginning, you're done. So, and I never done that obstacle course before, so I don't know where I can really sprint it. So I'm like, oh, man, you know, I'm going to, I'm going to do as best I can. I want a number. I'll do under three. I'll do under three. Under three. There hasn't been anyone under 3.30 and you think you're going to be 30 seconds faster than everybody else. Oh, here's the reality guy, everyone. Oh, big real world guy going to start it up. And so the bell rang. I did the obstacle course. 257.

Let's go. Let's go. Yeah, I did it. At the end, at the end, Bill DeMont, slap my five. I thought I was going to faint. I thought I was going to throw up. but I did it. I made it on to the final eight and I made it all the way up to the runner up and didn't win tough enough. It was an, if the execs were voting like they usually do,

I probably would have won, but the audience was voting. And this guy, Daniel Puter, came in and almost tapped out Kurt Engel. Like, legit. It was crazy. We'll be right back after this quick break. I'm Luke Wilson.

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What Googler did that I think was so unique. He's the writer. director. Who do you think he is? I don't know. You meet the, like, the president? You think it's the president? You think Canada has a president. You think China has a president. Lozwe-Rouzette. God, I love that thing. I use it all the time. I wrap it in a blanket and sing to it at night.

It's like the old Polish saying, not my monkeys, not my circus. Yep. It's a good one. I like that saying. It is an actual Polish saying. Yeah. It is an actual poem. Yeah. Better version of Play Stupid Games, stupid prizes. Yes.

Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift who said that for the first time. I actually, I thought it was. I got that wrong. Listen to the Nick, Dick, and Paul show

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And so that kind of set him over the bar. It was like, oh, man. So then I lost, and I was like,

oh, I lost my opportunity. That was it. Like, that was my chance. That was my opportunity. They gave me everything that they possibly could have given me. I had promo time.

I had every opportunity. The fans didn't want. me. But then they gave me a developmental contract. They're like, hey, go to Deep South wrestling in McDonough, Georgia. So I moved from L.A. to McDonough, Georgia, and lived there for six months, became the first ever Deep South heavyweight champion. It was a brand new territory at the time. And I remember Bill DeMott telling us, going, if you can sell out here, then you go to another territory. The old school way was you sell it at one territory, then you go to another territory. You sell out there, you sell out there. Then you get to go to the big territory, which would be

WWE, right? So we had our first show. It was sold out. Like we had to turn people away. Second show sold out, turned people away. My merch was selling crazy, right? And I was a baby face. I was a good guy, believe it or not. And so then I became first ever deep south heavyweight champion. And after I did that, Paul Heyman was like, all right, we want to see how you'll do at Ohio Valley Wrestling. So Paul Heyman brought me to Ohio Valley Wrestling. And it wasn't the same. as it was in McDonough. I finally learned like territories, different states, different places,

different cities are all different. And I imagine that's the same for football. Different styles too. Different audiences, different noise, different things, they like different things, right? So I went there doing what I did in McDonough and it wasn't working. It was, I mean, it was, I had reactions,

but it wasn't the reaction I was getting there. I said, Paul, I don't know what's going on. He goes, you know why? You're not a baby face. You're a heel. And I go, I don't know, man. back McDonough, Georgia. I'm telling Paul Heyman this, by way.

I can't have done to Georgia. I was pretty over his baby face. And he's like, no, you're a heel. Let's try it. I go, okay. So Paul and I wrote my first heel promo, went out there and did it. And I'll tell you what, from that moment on,

I was never a baby face ever again. Ever again. I was a bad guy. Before we get into this match, what goes into making and brainstorming the perfect promo? The perfect promo. Yeah.

What goes in? The story. Yeah. Like that, that would I would say is number one about always is what story

are you trying to tell? Where are we going with this story? Are we going to WrestleMania with it? Are we going to SummerSlyme? Is this a one-off?

So then that's the first thing. First thing is always story. Then it's like, how can we captivate an audience? How can we get them into this promo? What's, what's,

like in improv, you would say, what's the game we can play? The back and forth. What are the lines that we can use to really engage them and get them going. And so then you figure that out. And sometimes you use catchphrases in there.

Mine is, I'm the Ms. and I'm awesome. Very simple, very easy. You would think like, that's it. It's like, yeah, sometimes a simple word like yes and no are our promos that are great. That's all. Wow. Jackie, let's jump into this. This match.

We got, oh my God. What a match this was. WrestleMania 27. 71,000, the Georgia Dome. unbelievable. You got the rock coming out. I mean, Sina coming out with the choir.

You got the Miz with the bubbles. I mean... By the way, and before that, you got to mention the, hate me now, yeah, so I,

before I was going out in this, I'm going to, can I set it up? You said, lay it on me, me, yes. Can I set it up correctly?

Yes. So in this, in this moment, I'm an up and coming, I'm the champion, but I'm like, an up-and-coming superstar, right? Seena's made.

Rock is living legend, movie star. We all know the rock, right? And then there's me as the champion. And I'm trying to compete with these icons. And I'm not at icon status yet. Like, I'm not there. It's very, it takes a long time to develop that. But I was getting the momentum.

I had the momentum. And so I remember the week before cutting a pro, I dressed up as the rock. and I remember going to Vince going, this isn't going to work. No one's going to believe on the rock. I don't look like the rock. I just don't.

I have blue eyes. Like, I'm not bald. Like I, I, I, I'm not six foot seven Samoan, right? I'm not, I'm not the rock. And he's like, don't believe. And I go, it's not going to work, man. It's like, we'll put a bald cap on you. Thanks.

I'm still not six, six, five. You know, I'm not, I'm built, but I'm not built. So I ended up putting on the t-shirt, the rock music hits, right? And the crowd goes nuts. This is when rock wasn't there all the time. Yeah, yeah, he was due movies. Yeah, he came back.

I mean, the crowd went nuts. And in my head, I'm backstage going, this is going to be horrible. And then I remember as I'm about to walk out, Vince, since I'm going to wait. And I'm like, and then I hear the crowd at the peak. And they start coming down. He's like, now!

And then I walk out and I did the best rock impression I possibly could. And as I'm walking out, there's another eruption bigger than the one before. And I'm like, how is this working? Do they not know I'm not the rock? So then I'm like, you know what? I'll give them a little something else. I'll take the sunglasses off and see if they pop again. Took the sunglasses off.

They pop again. And I'm going, this is unbelievable. And then finally, as I start walking down, they start realizing it's me. and the pop goes into a huge chorus of booze, which is exactly what we want. I beat up John Sina. I cut a promo on the rock, on the fans, on John Sina,

and we are ready for WrestleMania. I remember that day, I flew back to L.A. and I got a voicemail from the rock being like, that's how you do it. That's how you step up to the plate and hit a home run. It was like one of those motivational,

by the way, does not have to do this. He's the rock. He's a rock. But man, it was like one of those inspirational like, I mean, this is the guy. Like, I remember when I was on the real world and people were like,

what made you want to do it? I remember my castmates got me an action figure of the rock and that it was on my shelf. And when I was looking at myself in the mirror saying, what do you want to do with the rest of your life? There was a action figure of the rock. And I was going to be a W.W. Superstar. And then here I am getting a voicemail from the rock being like, this is, this is what you needed to do.

So then cut to the day of WrestleMania. Like, I felt like I was, I was where I needed to be. I was in the place I wanted to be in. And so I remember doing like press conferences and the crowd was ready. And then right before I'm about to go out, they play this vignette. And it's like people call it, they hate me now. I would say it's the best vignette ever. Some people say it's the Rock Austin one with Limp Biscuit.

But I think it's my vignette because it's me, right? And this vignette, not only was I there, It set it apart from everything else. And it got everyone right. And you can hear the crowd go, oh, it told my story. Like I told you, the best promo is about stories. Story. This vignette told my story in three minutes and 30 seconds and got you prepared.

And made you go, wow, this guy had to go through a lot to get here. And now he's there. And so as I'm walking out, they're like, there's going to be like 20 seconds of pyro. Like, so make you stand there. I'm like, oh, man, first time getting pyro. go, let's go. I bust through these bubbles, by the way.

By the way, when I first saw the bubbles, I went, bubbles, bubbles, like, I had a girl in you. I'm the main event of WrestleMania, and I'm popping through bubbles, you know? But I come to love the bubbles and they ended up losing them somehow, some way. I wish I still had them. So I bust out of the bubbles. I hoist my title up.

I get the pose. And all of a sudden I see the pyro and it's just like sparklers that are like, 15 high. I was thinking like boom, boom, boom, boom, pop, pop, pop, pop. And it's just like, and I'm like, oh, man, all right, okay. So as I'm walking down, I'm thinking about that. I get in the ring. I see my friends that were all in the front row that were in my living room. And I'm just, I look at them. I'm like, dude, we did it. Because like, without their support, without your friends and family support, like sometimes you, you won't be able to make and believe in yourself the way, you know, other people believe in you. And they believe to me,

the entire time. So to sit there and go, we did it with the title that we watched Rock and Austin have and then watch Sina's choir, this beautiful choir. I'm like, he gets a choir. Of course he gets a choir. Why wouldn't John Cena get a choir? Yeah. So then we go into the match and to be on it, I don't, I don't remember a lot of it. I just, I don't. That's because the concussion. Yeah. So in the end of the- Was it the one where you hit your head in the back? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, the, the ground is undefeated. I remember, I remember like everything was like, we just, we did it in the match like we did in the ring. Like a lot of times people call matches or whatever. We did that one in the ring. We called in the ring. Wow. WrestleMania main event was called in the ring.

Wow. Yeah. So how do you control your emotions of having that real like right before that match? You're sitting looking at your friend. You're sitting looking at the rock. You're sitting here in John Cena. This is like your fucking make it moment, bro. How do you control that to then go on and execute your game plan of how you have to go into this match. Okay. How did you make that catch in the Super Bowl to make you into the preparation? Through preparation. I was ready.

All the preparation that I prepared myself for this. And when the big moments happened, I want that pressure. I love that. I yearn for that pressure. Some people can't handle it. It's very, like, a lot of people are like, why didn't, like in football, why didn't this guy make it? Why didn't this guy make it?

And you could be in the room with them. and you can be like, I know why. Like they just, they didn't, they couldn't handle the pressure. Some people, you know, just fumble under it. I feel like that's when I'm at my best. When the pressure is at the highest is where I feel like I am at my height. And I can really do it in all my preparation. By the way, I am big, big on preparing.

When you talk about promos, I am going through every scenario. Before a promo, I am nervous. I am about to throw, I don't know about you in games, but before a game, I'm not hyped or before a match. I'm not hyped up. I am going through everything in my head that could go wrong. And all my,

all the things that I could do. Exactly. Cramming. That's all I'm doing. And I feel like I'm going to throw up, I feel I'm going to pass out. But once my music hits, everything goes away.

Yeah. It all, like I use that energy, that nervous energy, and it just becomes adrenaline. And it just, I do what I do because I'm, I've prepared for it. And all the preparation, all the stuff you don't want to do.

Like, I honestly, I hate working out. I do it because I know I need to. Getting in the ring, I love getting in the ring. I really enjoy wrestling, but it hurts, man. It hurts. It's tough. Like, to practice all the time and get to a certain level, it hurts. But you go through it. I remember being at Deep South wrestling.

Every day I'd wake up and go, one more day. You can do it. One more day. You can do it. Most people quit. And I'd watch people quit. And the best advice that I've ever gotten might have been. It should be what Simon Dean told me, but it's not.

I was at the Playboy Mansion. Yeah. It's a little thing. It's a flex. It's a sick flex. But this is when I was on the real world, right? And so I got in the Playboy Mansion and I saw Billy Kidman there. Tori Wilson just did the cover.

And I was like, I have to go to this party because I might meet somebody, you know, and maybe be able to get into WWE. I saw Billy Kidman and I said, hello, sir. Is there any advice you can give me? And he's like, stick with it. And it might sound, I don't know, that's kind of an easy one, but it's not. That's like the most difficult to stick with something when everything is tearing you down,

when your body is hurting, when your family and friends are like saying you're not going to, or your family is saying you're not going to make it, or your wife or your girlfriend, or, oh, traveling, or there's so many excuses that people can come up with in order not to do something. So stick with it. If you stick with it, it gives you an opportunity. It gives you a chance, you know?

And so that's what I always took with that. And I was like, stick with it. Keep going. Keep going, Mike. Keep going, Mike. Keep going, Moik. And there I am in the main event of WrestleMania and can't remember a damn thing. You can't remember it. Can we put a bow in this thing? It's perfect.

You don't remember anything because we're out of time. Let's go. Man. We're on a time. You're kidding me. I'm sorry. I know. No, it's amazing.

Hey, we're having fun. I hope this is as good as Matt Lights. Matt Light was my favorite. Listening to him talk about a, and arrow and at like, at like the practice facility. Like that I was like, I, the Matt Light, I remember like, I mean, he was never, he would never tell those stories like that. And I was like, oh, man. So something still is fucking around in my, my house.

Like my TV turns on at like 9 o'clock at night sometimes. My house is either haunted or Matt Light has installed something in my system that I literally think about when it happens. Fucking Matt King. He really is like. He really does. does that. He really does that. And so when you, when you have him in your house, you're thinking, wow, this is Matt Light. No, I'm thinking, by the way, he always makes you think about him, huh? I'm thinking, A, look for important things that may have been stolen and be, be look at all the

electronics in your house. If it is something that Matt Light did, would you find it and kind of smile and laugh and be like, Matt? Yeah, I'd be like, thank God I found this. But the thing is, this guy will leave it, he'll leave a prank going for five years. Like, he made a, friend think he had AIDS for like two years got his wife involved. It was bad. Let's grade this guy. Oh my gosh. Let's do it. It's the name of the game. We came up with some names, but if you have a specific name, we'll go with that. We came up with

WrestleMania 27. The title defense. You can't beat me. Thanks, Dway. The three-way feud. All hell in ATL. A.M. Torek. Night. Or something else. Or something. So what is,

is this the greatest game of all time? Let's score at decimal. Okay. Is this the name the game? We're naming this. What's the name of this? This podcast? The match.

Your match. My match. Oh, okay. WrestleMania 27, the title defense. The match the Ms. can't remember. There it is.

The match the Ms. can't remember. There it is. You really are good at this improv shit. There it is. You go to know. Is this the greatest game of all time? Let's score.

We encourage. decimals, the stakes of your first, this is your first world champion, or no, this is your first, reign. Yes. Is a champion? First ever two 10 years. But this is your first main event. Stakes, everything's on the line.

I mean, zero to 10, zero to 10. Um, so the stakes, I mean, honestly, you're going to get a lot of 10. I mean, I know you're supposed to do like 10.0 then. 10.0. You know, if we have to do a decimal point. But I mean, the stakes were all, every, by the. way, every time I go out there, whether it's WrestleMania or a WWE Smackdown or a WWRWA, if I'm doing this podcast, the stakes are always at a 10 because I want it to be the best,

the best I could possibly make it. And it's not me going, oh, I've got to make this. It's like, that's just the mentality. And everything I do, I want it to be a 10. So I put my stakes really high. Like, before I came on here, I've watched a bunch of your, whoever does your clips, by the way, does a really good job. And they're always in my other. He's right there. Always in there. Great job, buddy. You do a great job.

I mean, I've seen a lot of your clips and you do a really good job of just being natural and talking and you find guests that are just very fun to like listen to. So yeah. That's why we got you on, Bob. Thanks. Appreciate it. So everything's a 10. 10.

10s, baby. Star Power. Star Power, the Ross, John Cena, myself. 10. 10. Gameplay. Let me do my. My stakes, I got to go a nine.

We've done... Jack at 8, 9, I have 4-1. Just because... Star power, we got to get him out. He's got so many other things to do. Star power for me, I mean, you got some of the craziest stars of all time. Who's a bigger star than the Rock? Is Brady?

I don't know. Rock or Brady? Who's bigger star? Rock, internationally? Rock. Nationally. Scorpion King. Rock.

So, I mean, would you get Brady? I mean, my daughter, because of... the Scooby-Doo movies loves John Cena. You know, it's crazy. I think he gets recognized more for movies now. Dude. Yeah. You know what I mean? But they also, because of the meme world, they kind of know that. It's fast. It is.

Things go fast. They do. I mean, I've been out for five. Soon people are going to be like, you were a wide receiver. I thought you were just a podcast house. Dude, when I went out to Brazil and we did that roast, everyone knew me from the Netflix roast and not from football. Yeah. What a roast, man. That was nuts.

Best roast I've ever seen. My Star Power. I got to go 9.2. The gameplay of the match. What would make a 10? If the Rock and Johnson and myself. There is no perfect 10. A 10 would have to be like. Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt.

No, it'd have to be like Abraham Lincoln. Oh, okay. Martin Luther King. Ologan Tupac. Don King, Tupac. It had to be people that are just not even around. Okay. Gameplay, I got to go.

when you got a, you got a fucking people's elbow when you won the match. I know. When do you ever see that? Never been done before. I don't remember it. I got to go. It was pretty sweet though, huh? It was,

it was all time, man. That was all time. Well, the stare down. Like, it was, you were like, you could see that you're like, you're the rock. This is like my time. And he's like, no, this is not your time yet? And then you, like, looked at him, like, he's not going to do this, is he? And he looked at you and you're like,

like, I'm going to do this kid. It was like the vet to the rook thing right there. I loved it. I'm going to go with the 9.1 and then the match the Miz can't remember. I mean, I'm a concussion guy myself. I got to go with the 9.0. There we go.

That's not a bad. Those are high. By the way, we talked for an hour and still haven't talked about American gladiators. Please. Coming out. I mean, you guys. Is it coming back?

I'm the host. When is it coming? Of the all new American gladiators. April 17th, Prime Video. Like, we have a full season and let me tell you, do you remember American Gladiators? Do I remember? That was like what I wanted to do my whole life when I stayed home from school.

We'll be right back after this quick break. I'm Luke Wilson. Join me each week for Film Never Lies. Since retiring from the NFL, I've had a lot of my mind and now got my own show. So if you're tired of lazy takes, if you want honest conversations, join us each week. Film Never Lies available on all TSN platforms and the IHeart Radio app. 2%. That is the number of people who take the stairs when there is also an escalator available.

I'm Michael Easter, and on my podcast, 2%. I break down the science of mental toughness, fitness, and building resilience in our strange modern world. I'll be speaking with writers, researchers, and other health and fitness experts, and more, to look past the impractical and way too complex pseudoscience that dominates the wellness industry. We really believe that seed oils were inherently inflammatory. We got it wrong. Many of the problems that we are freaked out about in the world are the result of stress. Put yourself through some hardships, and you will come out on the other side a happier, more fulfilled, healthier person.

Listen to 2%. That's T-W-O-Persent on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes, of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next, we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast.

It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. When you listen to podcasts about AI and tech and the future of humanity, the hosts always act like they know what they're talking about and they are experts at everything. Here, the Nick Dick and Poll show, we're not afraid to make mistakes. What Kugler did that I think was so unique. He's the writer-director. Who do you think he is?

I don't know. Do you meet the president? You think Canada has a president? You think China has a president? Does law a russet. God, I love that thing. I use it all the time. I wrap it in a blanket and sing to it at life.

It's like the old Polish saying, not my monkeys, not my circus. Yep. It was a good one. I like that saying. It is an actual Polish saying. Yeah. It is an actual Polish saying. Better version of Play Stupid Games, win stupid prizes.

Yes. Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift who said that for the first time. I actually, I thought it was. I got that wrong. Listen to the Nick Dick and Paul show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Me too. It was WW Superstar American Gladiators. Those were the two things. I mean, obviously, big, bulking. Who was the guy? I always thought I could get past them too. You know, and the fucking, you always play with your friends. Powerball, joust. Well, we all wanted to have the tennis ball shooter at the end. Yes. You know what I mean? Where you had to like crawl and then get rid of the dude. You know why they did assault? Why? So I found out as the host now, I was like, I found all the little inklings. The reason they did assault was for an injured gladiator. Because if you remember, They weren't getting hit.

By the way, injuries happen. Oh, my God. In every sport. And so when they had that documentary about the injuries and all that stuff, I was like, yeah, it's a sport. Like, and watching it live in front of me, I was like, oh, my gosh, like what the gladiators have to go through each and every time because the contenders, they want to win. And they want to prove to themselves that they can beat the gladiators.

So it's like two Titans going head to head against each other. No, 1,000 percent. You got guys that, like, the gladiators don't want to be embarrassed by some guy that ain't a gladiator. And then the guy who's trying to go against the gladiators, he's putting up all his mustard and steam to try to beat the gladiators. This shit's crazy.

I loved gladiators. Are they going to be wearing the same uniforms? They're wearing similar uniforms, but let me tell you something. The ones that they had before, they were big, right? I'm telling you, these gladiators are bigger, better, faster, like ever than before. And they all have unique characters

that literally you'll either fall in love with or you won't be able to stand. some are true characters in their own way. There's a guy steal that is literally the human highlight reel. Like everything he does is a highlight. Neon is like his name. Like the names match the person like neon. He shines.

Like he is bright. Every time he walks out there and does something, it's talked. It's noteworthy. And some of these got eagle soars. Like whenever it's like hang tough, I remember hang tough with the rings being kind of when I was a kid, it might be the most fun you will watch the way the eagle just soars through it and literally comes on. You'll watch like a 300-pound guy just yank on a person. The guy's just

holding on for dear life. And they're just like, no, please, please no. And just yank him down. It is awesome. There's Crush who is just one of our females that is just, when she hits, you hear a boom. You know who you need to have come be a gladiator? Who? Danny Amandola. Oh yeah? I think Danny Amindola. He had my dancing with the stars partner.

Didn't he win? Yeah. Third. He did. Whitney. I thought like, are you going to do it? Come on.

It's fun. It's a lot of work though. I don't want to cut the rug. It's a lot of work. But dude, it's... I think he could be a great gladiator because me and him used to go look for obstacle course. I was just going to say, bro.

We used to go look for obstacle courses and literally said, we found one right over here in Brentwood at one of the high schools. like 10 years ago. We drove by it and we're like, we're going to go do gladiators. We raced this thing. I ended up busting my shin, getting stitches.

It was crazy. Would he beat you or would you beat him? Dola would win, no question. We don't have enough time for that. Come on. Who used to win? I think he won that day.

Oh. He won that day. All right. Then Danny Amandola. There we go. Bring him on. He's a stud. Bring him on.

Dude, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you, man. I really appreciate it. I wish we have more time, but we got publicist over here saying you got to go because you got to hit 20 other. I got things to do, man. I'm promoting Merrin Gladiators, pulling WrestleMania 42 on the ESPN app.

Who do I got? Man, I'll tell you what, ever since Big Mouth Pat McVee has come in there and been around Randy Orton. Randy Orton is one of the greatest ever doing. Yeah. But Cody, I think, is going to be able to win at WrestleMania and beat Randy Orton. And get rid of Pat Macbby forever in WWE. And then also, Becky Lynch and the international. Rear Ridley, let's go.

Beckie's great. Seth Rollins, her husband is one of the most elite. If you want to talk about Mr. WrestleMania, look no further than Seth Frick and Rollins. Then you have CM Punk and Roman Rains going head to head at it for the world heavyweight championship.

So it's a huge, huge, huge night. ESPN app with the unlimited plan. I'm telling you, April 18th and 19th, Allegiance Stadium going to be sold out, going to be amazing. And those are all the things that I don't even have a match, by the way, at WrestleMania right now. but you never know what's going to happen because when I hosted at SoFi,

I had two matches and I wasn't supposed to have it. I heard the day of that like, hey, you're having a match today. Wait, what? At WrestleMania? So anything can happen at WrestleMania. I could have a match at WrestleMania that is not advertised. You never know what's going to happen. Right now I'm cursed by Dan Housin.

And I'll get rid of that curse very soon. Gladiators coming out. April 17th, Prime Video, the all new American gladiators, you're not going to want to miss it. I can't wait. Just freaking go. Thank you guys. Thank you so much, bro.

Edel nut. Man. We could have gone on for three hours. Four hours. You know what? I think it's a compliment when anyone says, man. It flew by. It flew by.

That means they were enjoying their time here in the Nut House. Time flies when you're having fun. He's got a bunch of promotions going for gladiators. So he had to leave super early. I felt like the Miz wanted to stay for two more hours. I think he's a fan of the show, too. He was going to put up patrician numbers in here. I would have let him.

1,000%. And his one out is, he said he doesn't really remember the match. I know. I know. I mean, I've been 15 years. I mean, I slipped in under low key right there, if you heard. I said that that ground's undefeated. Anytime you hit the head on the ground.

It's true. Helmet or no helmet. She is undefeated. Undefeated. Doesn't move. It doesn't move. immovable object, whatever that saying is. For us. Fun fact,

his, like, talk about that match he did with the LoudFund, the Light Foundation with Matt Light. He wrestled against a Bruin, a former Bruin. What was his name? Wouldn't it, Lyndon Byers? Yeah, Lyndon Byers. You know what? I think he was a scumbag. We'll redact that if he wasn't. He really talked about manifesting something. My guy, if you're really

in need for some motivation, you should watch him. Because, like, yeah, you could say his schick. oh, he's goofy, this, that, the awesome, the bubbles. This guy lives, dies, and breeze wrestling. He literally thought this, and he wouldn't have made it happen. He willed himself through a entire career. And it was really hard with the whole real world tag. Yeah.

Like, people don't realize that now. Oh, yeah. Because nowadays, you get, like he said, you get a little social media following. WD, come on, give it a try. Back then is the exact opposite. It was the opposite because it was such a niche market. of type of people that loved it. You know what I mean?

That was, he was really cool. He was, I love his perspective and his story and his excitement for, you know, what he's gone out and done. And it's, it's incredible. Don't freaking give up. I'm with him, man. Never. Just look at that.

Don't stop. Don't stop. No. Stick with it. Stick with it. Stick with it. And like he said, it might sound corny or tripe, but like that resonates, bro. That means something coming from a guy.

He does. You could tell you. He had a lot of positive. energy. In the workspace, you could tell he's probably one of the guys that like, even when it's a shitty day, like, all right, let's go, guys. I know. And it's one of those things where like, I don't want to put words in his mouth, but a guy with a bigger ego would have been like, I'm not getting in the mix of just seen a rock robbery from my moment. Like, he understood what that meant for the company and where he stood in the company that time and what that

moment was and didn't make it bigger than himself or about him. Team player. Like you could tell he's egoless. Coming out with the bubbles. was changing over to the heel when he wanted to be baby face. Like there's a lot of like swallowing the ego for all that. And he's, I don't think he gets embarrassed about anything. No, I don't either.

He's very self-aware. I think he's very confident. And very confident. And his, because like a lot of the stuff he does sometimes, you're like, man, that's so cheap. You know what I mean? With the bubble.

But he like he embraces like, oh, fucking that's my bubbles. And like he said was awesome. Like, that's his catchphrase. It took him two years for that to get over. For two years, I'm like, that's this, fuck. What do you do?

What is it? Stuck with it. Stuck with it. That's pretty applicable to so many facets of life, bro. And look at that moment. When he was a team player and he stuck with it and he did what was best for the company, this set up WrestleMania 28. 1.3 million pay-per-view buys.

Cina in the Rock. WrestleMania 25 made the company 72 Mill. Set up one of the biggest feuds since Rock and Stone Cold that the WD's ever seen. The MIS is part of that, man. The MIS is part of that, bro. Everyone can say what they want. to say the Miz got that Riz. The Miz got that Riz, bro.

He was the man. He was. Maybe one of the snaziest dressed. Oh, he came in dappered up. He came in. Those shoes. Dripped out, dripped out. Those cap toes.

Ooh, they red bottom. Hey, that boy, they're going to get no, man. We needed a little bit of tons. We needed a fit check. I need a head to toe fit check. I need a head to toe fit check. I need a head to toe fit check. 3P.

Man. We had I need any red bottoms in here in a minute. Jack, before we wrap up this episode, the show. Is there anything that we didn't cover from the match? that we want to make sure it just said just for a prosperity sake. I think Riley coming in with the steel briefcase.

Riley. We didn't get into Riley at all. That moment was crazy. Oh man, I wanted to ask him so much what's like wrestling against someone you can't see. Yep.

But you can't see him. We failed. We didn't, that wouldn't fail. We just didn't have time. Snooky was on the undercard. Snook! Snook!

Snooky. Peeee Herman was there. He was there and a, we cut a promo, watch that. I love the peewee candy. The rock and peewee Herman cutting a promo. Wait,

what do you? Yeah, because he was, I do smell. I love what the we is cooking. Yeah, he was like, no,

he said the pee. What he smoked the bee? Yeah, just for a little backstory, they framed peewee in this segment as John Cena's number one fan. So then the rock had to, of course, bully him into joining a team bring it or whatever the rock was saying back then.

Bring it on. Bring it, baby. other things from the match. I think anytime the ref gets knocked out, I love that. That happened late in this match. Ref gets knocked out. Sina pins the Mizz,

but there's no ref to count it out. Doesn't count. That was awesome. We talked a little bit about the Kinkush. The Mizz just absolutely getting rocked over the barricade onto the hard concrete floor. Unbelievable moment. Tapped out, or 10 count.

For both. For both. So the match is ruled to draw. The rock comes in. You never see. One thing, one thing I never thought I'd see. The Rock coming into a main event in reading off a laptop.

It was insane. But he threw that laptop. He said, get that out of here. There's root and toot and candy ass laptop. Then he said, we're back on. I declare this match back on.

And they got in there. See the perfect though with the rock, even in his performance. When he threw the laptop, do you watch, he grabbed the mic to throw it with it so you get the sound effect. Bro, it's unbelievable. Like,

just going. They're, they're fucking. always. They're all thought out. The Miz walks right in, knows which camera was his. Yes.

Like, we were watching this before and Kyle was like, that's part of the business. The Rock, the Miz, Sina, these guys are the pro.

They know where their camera is at all times. They do the little things like that. Drop the mic with it for the extra sound effect. I mean, just pros, pros,

seeing all three of them. Fucking the Miz, man. He's been doing it for 20 years. How about that? Insane. Did you cover unbelievable?

The rock after the match? too? Yeah, we didn't get into that enough. He interfered with Sina to put Mizz over and then he gives the MIS the people's elbow. Yeah. Slams the rock or slams Sina. Exits the ring. Miz slides in, takes his opportunity. One, two, three, retains the belt, beat Sina. Then we talked about it a little bit there. He got that epic stare down between the rock and the Miz. And then you're like, oh, what are we going to do? Which way? Is he going to turn and go to the tunnel? Is he coming back? Oh, he came back in the ring and laid the smack down. He said, still my. company. Come on, dog. I've been away, but it's still my company. And then just to sort of bring it full circle, we talked to roast mode. The feud kind of started when the rock came back for the first time and a long time to do a little bit of a roast at the WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony when he was inducted his dad. And he gave Sina a little bit of a Marine joke. He made a joke about the Marine and people at Guantanamo Bay having to watch that because it was such a bad movie.

And then it gave us, that did give us an iconic John Cena meme. the that was John Cena reacting to it again I said it again you know do it in front of the camera there you go you know that me I'm talking about you know what I'm talking about no oh hold on let me pull it up real quick just for this this match was this is a high match 2

8.42 is our new 37th just behind just ahead of wide right Super 25 Bills versus Giants and 18 to 1 super bowl I got you know hit whatever his charisma and his passion for the match may have skewed my scores. I mean, we were putting, we were all like put in the spot.

Oh, you went really high, Jules. Yeah, I was. That's okay. I went real low. I got bullied. I got, I went real low, so it offsets it. I got passionately bullied. Although we were like really, really running.

You know this one. We're really running low for time, but you were still like, here's the thing. Why I scored it so low. Yeah. Yeah. Here, let me bring in a new, a completely new top. I'm like, hey, no more time left. Have you heard about Danny and Mendoza? We used to hang out.

Danny, I can see Danny at the gladiators. Dude, I could do. I was so... American Gladiator is fucking awesome. I was so annoyed that I was like, time, time, time, because that would be a great conversation because American Gladiary is awesome. I wonder if the fucking tennis ball.

Yeah, he's a perfect host. Oh, it's a tall. Oh, that timer. What is it? He said it's on Prime. Yeah, prime. I think a dream job would be naming the American Gladiator. Oh, yeah.

It's like naming paints. It's awesome. colors, yeah. I'm trying to eagle, neon, soar, blaze, laser, and phaser. Blazier. Laser.

Laser. Razor. Phaser, laser, laser, taser, taser, slash, bash, rash. Yeah, like, they really, really get the animonopoeia's going. Rocky. Rocky.

Dude. Hold on. I wonder what the new fits look like. I got to look those ones. The best American Gladiator names of all time. Here we go. Nitro, Laser, Ice, Blaze, Blaze. blaze, turbo, zap, tower, thunder, sky, storm, hawk, viper, saber,

phoenix, Atlas, diamond, siren, Malibu. Malibu. Melibu. Electra, jade, lace. Wake, seta. All right. Dude, I got to say, fun episode.

All time episode. We got to get the Miz back. But, posing the question to the gang here, all three of these dudes that we talked about today have done their fair share of acting. Who is the best wrestler-turned actor? Is it the Rock or is it Sina? Is it no, no, no shade at the Mizz? But I don't know that he's, he's put up the box office numbers either.

Not yet. Not yet. Not yet for the Mizz. So, I mean, it's got to be the Rock. It's got to be the Rock. Rock's got in Kevin Hart, dude. Rock's got, he's in Mummy. There's Dave Batista.

Yeah, I forgot about Batista. He just kind of is. Yeah, I don't even think it's close. Kevin Nash is funny. I know it's not in the same way. I don't think it's close. I don't think so either. I will.

say Jesse Ventura Jesse the body Ventura Hogan back in the band. I will say maybe this is my like rock obviously more bankable, bigger movie star, pop leading man making money. I do like watching John Cena. I think he's a better

performer. I think he's the way that he can be funny. John Sina's his comedies are the way he can be funny. He's really acting. Yeah. Yeah. And he does like small roles like he showed up in the bear. He shows up and stuff. He does comedies. Like I think he's more range of an actor. I also think John Cena's journey in acting is more interesting

and even more, not to glaze him up too hard, but it gives me more, it's more commendable, like, I got more respect for Sina given his journey. Now, do we put Arnold in there, even though he's not wrestler, but he's bodybuilder turned actor? No. If you do, he wins.

Because he's Arnold. But Sina, after the Marine, in some of those WWB productions, which are down the middle and what you would think a wrestler would be doing, like didn't go well at the box office. He took a break from acting. What did he and his age right now?

Where are they going to now? In such a hurry. Oh, Rich Eisen. What? Probably. I don't know. Bro.

You could be right. We have, sometimes they go from Eisen to us up to four or five or us to Eisen. But I would be, but Sina came back into a train wreck, baby. That got him back into it. That role. Also, he's from Massachusetts, John Sina.

I know. Shout out, dude. But this was all about the Mizz. What a great episode. The Miz, baby. What has got the Riz. The Riz from the Miz. Could you take a people's elbow, you think?

I'd eat that people's elbow for the ones. Can I do a Comedgini take? There's no, what's, there's like nothing like, it's all theatrics and not a lot of like the people's elbow. Oh, yeah, the people, I mean, it's all theatrics more than like, like a tombstone, like, oh, fuck, that'll break your neck. D.D.T.

I like Diamond Dillon.D.L's Diamond Dallas. Diamond Dallas. Diamond Dallas. Diamond Dallas. Pallus page cutter, DDP. Those are pretty tough. I mean, chin music too, like getting kicked to the chin, that hurts. Skull crushing finale is pretty tough because you're literally like-crushing finale. Like getting slammed right on your face. On your face.

We didn't ask the Miz about that. That's another thing I wish we could have talked about. The tailbone talk, bro. We're watching this match. He was asking me questions, though. Oh, yeah, he was. Yeah. Like, Rick Mizz.

It's my show. Although, you know, you know what? You've told a lot of your stories a lot of times because we're on the mic a lot. but he actually got some new stuff out of you. What? There was the, it was a Kent State thing about, oh,

Brandon Jacobs and the Heisman. We talked about that before. Not on the show. No? I never heard that. I wanted, that's why I liked Kent. Yeah. Because Brandon Jacobs,

the year before, was in the Heisman talks at Bowling Green. Like, wow, they talked about him in the Heisman. Fuck it. I'm going to go to Kent. Yeah. I don't think that's ever been on the show before.

Wow. Shout out. We got to make that one a clip. It's not. It's not. Brandon Jacobs? No. Omar, no.

Something Jacobs. Yeah, because Brandon Jacobs was to Auburn. It was a quarterback. It could have been another. Boardback, Bowling Green. Oh. Isn't it Omar? No.

Like 2005. From Florida, went to the Steelers, played in the league. He played for like. Omar Jacobs. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He was all-in. Bowling green from 2002 to 2005. And then Rothesberger, too, was bawling out. I don't know. That was after you.

She didn't even get to ask him about Roth. He probably went to school with Ben. Lodge. They were hanging out. Yeah, he did. I mean, he wasn't who he was until... Yeah, but if he's at the frats... He is who he thought he was.

We let him off the dark. We'll be right back after this quick break. I'm Luke Wilson. Join me each week for Film Never Lies. Since retiring from the NFL, I've had a lot of my mind, and now got my own show. So if you're tired of lazy takes, If you want honest conversations, join us each week.

Film Never Lies available on all TSN platforms in the IHeartRadio app. 2%. That is the number of people who take the stairs when there is also an escalator available. I'm Michael Easter. And on my podcast, 2%, I break down the science of mental toughness, fitness, and building resilience in our strange, modern world. I'll be speaking with writers, researchers, and other health and fitness experts, and more to look past the impractical and way too complex pseudoscience that dominates the wellness industry. We really believe that seed oils were inherently inflammatory.

We got it wrong. Many of the problems that we are freaked out about in the world are the result of stress. Put yourself through some hardships and you will come out on the other side a happier, more fulfilled, healthier person. Listen to 2%. That's T-W-O-P-Cent on the I-Hart Radio app. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

creators and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast,

or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. When you listen to podcasts about AI and tech and the future of humanity, the hosts always act like they know what they're talking about and they are experts at everything.

Here at the Nick Dick and Poll show, we're not afraid to make mistakes. What Kugler did that I think was so unique. He's the writer-director. Who do you think he is? I don't know. You meet the president? You think Canada has a president.

You think China has a president. The Law Crosette. God, I love that thing. I use it all the time. I wrap it in a blanket and sing to it at night. It's like the old Polish saying, not my monkeys, not my circus. It was a good one.

It is an actual Polish saying. It is an actual Polish saying. Better version of Play Stupid Games, win stupid prizes. Yes. Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift, who said that for the first time. I actually thought it was. I got that wrong.

Listen to the Nick, Dick, and Paul show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Dude, Miami, Ohio is a great party school, huh? Huge. With babes, all that? Oh, nice. Oh, I keep fucking elongating this thing. Second Mac gets, I believe. What?

Tyler said, we got Max Crosby, Eastern Michigan, the Miz, Miami, Ohio. I think that's our only two Mac Daddy's on the pod. Correct me if I'm wrong. You got any more? I get cribs on. Gotta get cribs. Hey, young. You gotta get crib to the crib.

James Harrison would be sick. Marilyn Katz. Oh, Antonio Gates. Oh, Gates, duh. Can say it's the third. But there's more. Well, it's not burned. Mac action.

Mac action. Action. Well, what a match. Thanks again to the Miz. That was spectacular. Wish we had a little more time. Shout out with publicists. That's another episode of games with games.

By the way, in the future, when we're doing that, that works. Calling out the publicist. like let it simmer down a hair. It also cues to the talent because I think he just didn't know what time it was so he was going. But he knew he had to go out too so just like cueing them all in.

Publicist shows you gotta go. All right next time. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you listen to podcast, comment a game you want us to do and remember Rate and review. Leave us a five-star review on Spotify

while you're there. Remember to follow games with names on YouTube, Instagram, X, TikTok, Snapchat, and Facebook. leave a comment on the YouTube full episodes. We love reading those in future episodes. Don't forget about that old hotline. [phone].

Love those. We'll see you guys next week. Games with Names and the production of IHeartRadio for more podcasts from My Heart Radio. Visit the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. 2%. That's the number of people who take the stairs when there is also an escalator available.

I'm Michael Easter. I'm on my podcast, 2%. I break down the science of mental toughness, fitness, and building resilience in our strange modern world. Put yourself through some hardships, and you will come out on the other side, a happier, more fulfilled, healthier person. Listen to 2%.

That's TWO percent on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media.

Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok. Podcast Network on TikTok.

I'm Daniel Alarcon, and this is my friend. This is much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far, but I'm John Green, co-host of the podcast The Away End with my old friend Daniel. On our podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things,

football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to The Away End with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on the Army. I'm Tab Ramos.

I'm Tom Boker. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines, the biggest decisions, and the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals.

Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Boger and Taber on the iHeart radio app apple podcast wherever you get your podcast