Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Aiden English on WWE release, Rusev Day, marrying a Guerrero, Simon Gotch, his love of whiskey

Episode Date: May 15, 2020

Aiden English (Matt Rehwoldt) chats with Chris Van Vliet from his home in Chicago, IL. He talks about being released from WWE, what's next for him, teaming up with Rusev Day, being partners with Simon Gotch as The Vaudevillains, his love of whiskey and his show "Wrestling with Whiskey", marrying Vickie and Eddie Guerrero's daughter Shaul Guerrero, doing commentary on 205 Live, his love of drama and much more! Thanks to Bet Online for supporting this episode. Use the code BLUEWIRE at https://www.betonline.ag/ to get a welcome bonus on your first deposit at http://BetOnline.ag to get a welcome bonus on your first deposit. Also a big thank you to BlueChew! Visit http://bluechew.com and get your first order for FREE when you use the promo code BLUEWIRE. Just pay $5 shipping. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast episode is brought to you by Coors Light. These days, everything is go, go, go. It's nonstop hustle all the time. Work, friends, family. Expect you to be on 24-7? Well, sometimes you just need to reach for a Coors Light because it's made to chill. Coors Light is cold-loggered,

cold filtered, and cold package. It's as crisp and refreshing as the Colorado Rockies. It is literally made to chill. Coors Light is the one I choose when I need to unwind. So when you want to hit reset, reach for the beer that's made to chill. Get Coors Light and the new look delivered straight to your door with Drizzly or Instacart. Celebrate responsibly. Coors Brewing Company, Golden Colorado.

Hey, this is Megan Rapino, and I'm Sue Bird. We've decided to turn our crazy IG live show into a podcast for your listening pleasure. Enjoy the show. A Touchmore. New episodes of A Touch More drop Tuesday only on the Blue Wire. Podcast Network. Be sure to subscribe to the show on Spotify, Apple, or anywhere else you listen to podcasts. It's Chrysmania, brother. That's a great question. Look at you, man. With the powerful questions. Woo! This is the Chris Van Vleet Show.

Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Ville. Welcome back to the Chris Van Fleet Show. Or if it's your first time here, welcome. How are you? How's the family? This episode is brought to you by Bet Online and Blue Chew. And thank you for again putting the show in the Apple Top 200. It's so cool to scroll through that list and like Colin Cowards on there and Dan Patrick's on there. Shows from ESPN and Fox Sports and Barstool Sports. Of course, Talk as Jericho's on there. And there's me.

There's my logo. Well, it's me pointing kind of under the logo. I don't know what's going on in that picture. Kind of pointing under the logo. But yeah, so cool. So thank you for everything you do to help share the show and help get it out there and just by listening right now. And, you know, I don't ask for much. I don't have a Patreon, but I got to tell you, I get pretty excited when you take a screenshot and you tag me on Instagram or you tag me on Twitter and you let me know you're listening or you're watching a YouTube video. It's just, it's so cool to know that we are in this thing together. And for this episode, it's me and it's you and it's Aiden English altogether. And what a criminally underrated performer he is. He was part of some interesting storylines with the Vod Villains, of course, Rusive Day.

But he's someone who I feel like truly never had a chance to shine. And since he was part of that big talent release that happened on April 15th, that was exactly one month ago. I feel like, man, it feels like so long ago in some ways, but also so soon. so recent in some ways. But I feel like after this release, we're going to truly see what he's capable of. I got to tell you, I'm so grateful for these reviews you've been leaving.

I know not everyone listens on Apple Podcasts. I see the numbers. But for everyone who is listening on their iPhone, I appreciate you taking the 27 seconds out of your day to leave these reviews. We had 885 when the hurricane interview dropped on Tuesday. We now have 928, just a few. days later. Oh, man. So the new goal is a thousand reviews before the show turns one year old

on June 28th, our podcast anniversary. And this is totally going to happen now. It's totally going to happen because of you. And you're really the best part of the show. Otherwise, it would just be me in my spare bedroom that I call an office. But it's really a spare bedroom because it has an actual bed in it, which my microphone is resting up against right now. There it is. that's how you know it's a bedroom. So I really appreciate you leaving these reviews. Thank you for all the reviews that have come in over the last few days here since that hurricane episode. Wow. And if you haven't left a review or if you're listening on Spotify or Google or Castbox or somewhere else that doesn't have reviews, I appreciate you too. I understand. Thanks for being here. And thanks to Smickelis for this review.

It's titled, No One is Better Than CVV. I've been listening to the podcast since it originally started, and each interview is unique as it is knowledgeable. I grew up a huge wrestling fan and hearing all these crazy stories that wrestlers I grew up watching, and even some of the newer wrestlers tell, wishing the interview would never stop. I recommend the podcast to anyone who loves the wrestling world

as it is a perfect 10. Shout out to Sean Spears. Well, thank you smickelist. Sean Spears is pretty awesome. And he gives deadly chops. trust me i know so please keep those reviews coming my birthday is next week my birthday's on may 19th don't tell kane may 19th's my birthday so it would be a lovely birthday gift to get a review from you i was actually going to do one of those videos on my youtube channel where i open random packages

that are sent to my p.o box that was going to be like the birthday idea but you know with everything going on in the world right now i think we'll hold off on that that till next year. Opening mail from strangers during a global pandemic might not be the best idea, but I'll tell you what is the best idea. Sitting down with Aiden English, aka Matt Raywold. He is so talented. And his theater background and his acting background really gives him a different outlook on being a wrestler. We talk about how he acted in high school, how he went to college for theater, but how he always wanted to be a pro wrestler. So, after graduating from college, he picked up his whole life, moved from Chicago to Tampa,

rented a random room from a random person that he found on Craigslist so that he could train at FCW. It ended up leading to him getting signed from WWE less than a year later, which is crazy. We talk about how the vaudevillans were formed with Simon Gotch, his run with Rusev and Rusev Day, how commentary for 205 came together, 205 Live, marrying into the legendary Guerrero family and what his plans are now that he's been released and he has all kinds of options in front of us. So please, put your hands together

for Aiden English. The Drama King himself, Matt, thank you for joining us. Hey, thanks, Chris. Thank you for having me. I'm trying to get to your beard level here for anyone who's watching this on YouTube. Maybe there's people that are listening. I have no idea what we're talking about here. But your beard looking very good. So luckily this camera is pretty low quality.

It is in a frightful. I know you want to grow like a beard. You want to feel like I have this full thing. But especially in the world we're in now when not a lot of parlors and stuff are open, this thing is like, try. I get you. Yeah. I mean, like you can do some gross things with this right now.

and my wife is not with it. So who knows what's growing here at this point. Are you based in Orlando? No, I'm in Chicago. Oh, I'm sorry. Okay. So you're actually an hour behind our time zone right now. Yeah.

Okay. So how's everything going for you in quarantine? I mean, it's not, it's not all things consider. Honestly, it's not too bad. It's just, I was saying before, just trying, like anyone else, not to climb the walls and getting outside more than usual, actually, which is weird and a sad state of affairs, and I'm kind of embarrassed to say. But it does feel like, maybe it's just to be a rival spring and everything, but I've got a lot of whiskey to keep me company, so that's been helpful. for anybody who knows me, that does me just fine. Is it too early?

I mean, it's 10 a.m. where you are. Is it too early to be drinking whiskey? I mean, you know what they say? It's 5 o'clock somewhere. I remember having one time I went to me, I meant to meet someone like a whiskey pal kind of thing in Kentucky. And we were recording the same thing. We were recording a podcast at that was like 8.39 in the morning.

He's like, well, what do you want to have a bar up to start the show? And I'm like, Okay, I guess this is happening. So it's never too early for the right occasion. Well, I'm very proud of the fact that I bought a whiskey ice ball maker recently. Oh, okay. I spent far too much time looking this up to find one that made the perfectly clear ones, which I'm sure you're very familiar with this.

Yes, absolutely. So, you know, there's a little trick. I mean, it takes a little bit more work, but there's a trick to do it where you can get like untold amounts of perfectly clear ice. Okay. And it's called an igloo cooler. Ah. So literally, that's a, so like, there's, I mean, for sake of ease, you can, you can,

you can spend a couple of vibes and you can get those molds. But literally, if you just get an igloo cooler and you have like a freezer in your garage or something, the way ice and water freezes, the oxygen and everything in that big of a space in those coolers will all go to one side. So I forget it's either the top or the bottom. And then you basically just get it out and you carve out your blocks or balls or whatever. And they'll be perfectly clear on the bottom. I didn't think this was going to turn into a chemistry class, but this is incredible.

I learned something new every day. And that's about the extent of my scientific knowledge. So do not press me anymore. So obviously the news came out. You know, it was about a month ago almost to the day here. How are you dealing with, you know, that was a place you worked for a lot of your adult life. How are you dealing with the fallout from this? I mean, the thing about it, it's like, I'm not even thinking about that so much because that is weird.

That kind of thing happens all the time. In this world, entertainment in general, so fickle, you're up, you're down, everything. That, honestly is weird. It doesn't bother me. It's that happening under the context of what's going on in the whole world right now. That's what makes it really stand out and unique because if this were to happen at any other time, it doesn't phase you. At least for me, I feel like it wouldn't be because you hit, boom, I'm going to start doing these shows and go work here. But everything is at a standstill.

So it's hard. You want to hit the ground running and you want to keep any kind of momentum, any kind of buzz or whatever. I'm going to take it roll with it. That's really hard to do right now. That is the hardest thing to deal with out of all this thing. And it's, I said in the video the day after it happened, though, I'm like, I feel relatively lucky compared to so many. I have so many friends, especially with all this whiskeys that like in the bartending

and service industry. So like for me, even though I've made it this long. And then, you know, I feel actually kind of lucky compared to so many people who are in dire streets. And you mentioned in a video as well that it's, you know, it's not just the people who's names were announced. There was a whole bunch of people in WWE behind the scenes who weren't even mentioned that are now out of work. Yeah. And that's the thing. And like we often will say, you know, behind the scenes people, but I mean, like there's, in addition to all our tech

and crew and there is an entire corporate office building full of people making, keeping the lights on, keeping the payroll going, keeping the plane tickets coming and all this stuff. So, so many people make this shit run. And so a lot of between, you know, furloughs and layoffs and everything like that. It was a, it was a tough day for the entire company. Did you have any sort of indication that when COVID hit, when they started having the shows with no audience, that maybe these cutbacks were going to happen? I think you'd have to think you were in the back, even when you didn't want to admit it, in the back of your mind, you're getting this is, I mean, this is affecting NBA, MLB, like every major sport, and every

major form of entertainment, like, you'd be, you'd feel foolish if you didn't think like, something could happen here. You didn't want to. I know I didn't want to just because I knew our television deals were strong and international television and everything. I was like, okay, maybe we'll be okay. But I think it was hard not to think something might happen considering what was going on everywhere. I think what was so interesting about this situation is, I mean, we're two months in now. Nobody thought that this was going to allow. more than a week or two or three, at least certainly weren't prepared for this.

And who knows how much longer this is going to go? Yeah, that's the unknown. That's the scariest thing on planet Earth is not knowing. And you see it now with all these people, you know, the argument, do we open up? Do we not? California just got three more months, supposedly, which is hard.

And like, it's funny because while I was still working, of course, you know, I'm on the, I'm getting paid and everything. And so I'm on the train of like, hey, let's be as safe as we can. Don't get me wrong. I am still absolutely on that train. But now being having what happened happened, I am sympathetic to the people who are like, I know it's dangerous, but God, I got to work. I got to pay my bills and something. So I understand that a little bit better now. but it's such a razor-thin line of what's appropriate and everything like that.

But the most important thing is just for everybody to stay safe. Yeah, I hope that you and your family are, you know, doing well throughout this time. When you look ahead, July 18th is the, you know, the day when you're able to go work elsewhere, do other things? Do you kind of look at that as like a benchmark of like, okay, this is when I'm going to start, you know, being able to do other things from now? I mean, yes and no, because one, it's like in a way, for certain thing, I'm already looking now because you've got to look ahead. But much like we just said, I don't know what July 18 is going to look like.

You know, who knows? You know, I've had people reach out and everything, but everything, everybody who does is like, hey, we'd love to have you. We'll let you know when we are able to do things. You know, which could be maybe later this summer, might be this fall. Who knows? So it's hope I'm hoping and it's week by week. I'm hoping by that point we'll have at least a better idea of how much, you know, again, if it is going to be the end of summer, if it is going to be early fall,

or if we're going to already be running things by the time July hits. But it's staying in touch with people reaching out to people. And in that meantime, I'm trying to do everything I can. And like, honestly, this world here, I have to imagine it's going to be exploding. and the digital broadcasts and content, everything online is going to be huge. So trying to dive into more of that and take advantage of that. Well, I've always loved to do my interviews in person. I would have much preferred to be able to sit next to you and do this interview and shake your hand

when, you know, if that was something we were able to. But we've all had to make adjustments to this. And what's been cool is watching you do wrestling with whiskey and really diving into that. Like, this is something. I feel like you might be just as passionate about whiskey as you are about wrestling and about drama and performing. Yeah, it's, and it really kind of sidled up on me when it first started kind of happening. And it all started, I've said this somewhere before, but like started off as just, I remember

being in Orlando and I was into like cocktails and stuff for a little bit. But then I was like, I was like, all right, you're getting older. You're not going to do, I'm not doing shot in a beer anymore kind of thing. My dad had always sipped on scotch. And I'm like, you're going to drink like an adult. You're going to appreciate something for what it is. You're not just going to slam something down like a college kid anymore. I just, I kind of picked whiskey because my dad drinks whiskey.

I didn't know all the different kinds and everything. And it just started sitting on my couch, drinking, having a Coke and a whiskey. And chasing until I no longer needed the. chaser, et cetera. It was like an exercise in like, tour. I just wanted to make, like,

you're going to do this. You're going to do this so it doesn't, and not spit it out because it's like a workout. You're just training. But then it opened up and I started tasting wild things. And then you don't realize how much, there's like a whole subculture to like whiskey. Like the way we have,

there's wrestling fans and, you know, they have their role playing accounts, right? And forums and conventions and everything like that. There's kind of a similar thing in the whiskey and especially like American whiskey and bourbon right now. Facebook groups are unreal. Reddit, you know, subreddits just dedicated to bourbon.

People, you know, selling bottles illegally on different various forums and stuff like that. People yelling at each other over what's good and what's not. And it's crazy, dude. It's a whole world. This is the thing I love about the internet, is you can find the most obscure interest, not saying that whiskey's obscure, but you can find the most obscure niche thing, get online and realize, oh, my God, there's a million other people that like

the same thing. There is. Life's a niche and then you die. Like, there's, there is a niche for everything. That's what this kind of helped me discover. I'm like, there is, you, no matter, comic books, sci-fi, film, television, theater, all the sports. Literally, there are communities, he's like rooted everywhere. Are you thinking of making your own bourbon? So that's always, that's always the question. Like when you can put out your own? When you get to take one?

And it's kind of a funny thing because as cool as that would be one, I will never ever say like, I'm going to make my, because I don't have that knowledge. I told you before. That is the extent of my scientific knowledge is weird. Yet. You can learn anything with the internet.

Sure. And give me 10 to 15 years and maybe a little bit. But the thought, of maybe one day like partnering with people with the people who do know um there's a bunch of different options to maybe do that i would love to do something like that or even just be involved with certain up-and-coming brands because there's a ton going on in the craft world just like craft beer there's craft whiskey distilling and everything um but uh it's just like the wrestling community the whiskey community is not very forgiving of people who don't like pay their dues so that's that's the

other side of it like they they're a little sketchy about whenever like a new celebrity endorses something like when mcconahe started coming out for wild turkey everybody started pooing and like who is this guy what is what does he know and stuff like that so that there's a there's an attitude like that a little bit in the whiskey world too they want genuine people well look if the rock can be a tequila guy you can be a whiskey guy i'm more than happy to uh stand shoulder to shoulder to shoulder with that. What is your go-to? If you and I were to hang out tonight and have a drink of whiskey, what kind of whiskey and how do you prepare it? Well, so I'm in all kinds. I'm getting into all kinds now, but bourbon is what brought me to the ball game. And let's take a look. Oh my God. Look at this.

so I'm gonna I'm gonna take this full screen so everybody could appreciate here there it is so this is my baby collection which is about I'm probably at about 110 bottles now my god um yeah so spoiled for choice is the thing there's so so much and they're super fancy like rare stuff there's bottom shopping You know, $10 stuff. For someone who's new to bourbon, there's about a million different, I will say. And for anybody who's just listening to this and not watching it on YouTube, that is a closet. Matt has a closet full of whiskey. Yeah.

So it's, yeah, my wife was Jenner-sen up in our office in our apartment here. Let me, I'm like, can I, because, so we used to live in a house in the suburbs and we moved into the city. So space was a little bit less. I used to have a basement where it was all. up on the walls and everything. So I was like, shoot, where am I going to put it? Because one, it needs to be out of direct sunlight. And then you need just somewhere to go.

I'm like, can I please have the closet? And she was nice enough to let me do it. But if you're new to bourbon, I strongly recommend Buffalo Trace. It's cheap. It's easy to find. Super delicious. And a great, not too high in proof, because my, I love super high proof stuff

Because to me, that's where the most flavor lives But not everybody likes to get punched in the face The first time that puts hair in your chest Yeah, as they say So I always like to start people Ease them in, you gotta ease them in Now do you drink it straight? Do you drink it with ice?

How do you drink it? I'm a neat guy. I'm straight up because again, I want to taste it exactly as they intended it to be kind of taste, which is depending on where they proof it at and everything like that. But there's a lot of snobs in the world who will tell you if you add ice, you're a heathen and all this stuff. But you talk to these guys who make it, these distillers have been doing this for 50 years.

They don't give a crap. You can take their $800 bottle, like if you want to pour it with Coke and ice, if you're buying the bottle, I want you to enjoy it, however you enjoy it. And I agree with that policy. But for me, I'm generally a meeting. I think the real takeaway from this is anybody who's watching this or listening to this that has a passion for something, dive into it, like double down on it, triple down on it. And, you know, you'll be surrounded by other people within the community who appreciate this and love this as much as you do.

Yes, especially entire, especially right now. And there's a lot of time at home and like, well, we're on the Internet. We're on our phones and stuff. Yeah, if there's something you love, go after, at least connect with other people, because I'm telling you, whatever it is, I don't care how weird, twisted and profane you think it is, or whatever it is, man. There is a community out there for everybody. And I think, I think actually, to kind of segue a little bit more serious, that's an important thing to kind of say right now, too, just because a lot of people feel isolated. A lot of people do feel alone. They don't have, they're not living with a big family.

They might leave living literally on their own. So sometimes that connection, even if it's just with a hobby or something like that that you like, find these groups, find these message boards, forums, whatever they are. And you'll find a community that I'll support you. I don't know if everybody is aware of this that Vicki Guerrero is your mother-in-law. Is she a whiskey drinker? She is a beer drinker. I tried to, I remember I selected my own single barrel. of bourbon last year and I brought it to her house and her her brother so my uncle-in-law

it loves whiskey he's actually getting into bourbon so I talk with him all the time about it so me and me and him had him tried to get her to have some and she'll she'll have it with coke or something like that but she's more of a beer lady and I guess you know the other thing here is you're also part of the Guerrero family you know you've married in to the Guerrero family. How does that feel? As a wrestler, you are in the the Guerrero family now. And so that's another, that's a weird question. It's not the first time. And that, Vicki was kind enough to have me on her show not too long ago. And she kind of asked a similar thing, which was really weird coming from her to ask that the same question. So a little bit of

pressure. But for me, I try not, like, I never really think of it in that context. I just, I don't. I'm not saying I haven't. And like, so of course, there's a little kid in me who was a huge fan of the Guerrero family. And so it's like, oh, that's kind of a neat thing. But to me, it all comes down to I've said it before. I just fell in love with the girl who happened to have a famous last name. You know, like she's all I care about. And our relationship never really had much to do with that at all.

And so for me, it was just about us. And all of that was just superfluous in the outset. So I don't think of it in terms like that because it's just us. And that's all it is. Was your wedding like a Guerrero family reunion? No. Our wedding was really small. God, it wasn't even a great family reunion.

I mean, like it was small, intimate. It was in the Orlando area. And her mom came, her sister came, her best friend. And my parents and brothers were there. We had a few friends. But that was pretty much it. So a lot of people were busy. And plus we were in Florida and nobody else.

We were the only ones in our respective families living in Florida. So a lot of older relatives, nobody wanted to fly and stuff like that, which honestly for us was fine. I'd much rather deal with, you know, 30 people than 300. So I'm good with that. So it was actually really nice, intimate and lovely. I'm guessing the answer is because we're both wrestlers. But is that how you and shal met?

I mean, yes. So we first met at FCW, way back before anything was NXT. So I remember walking in and, you know, I'm a wide-eyed kid and everything like that. I knew she was down there amongst so many other people and obviously her lineage and everything like that. So like the first time around when I was there, I was like, like I said, I was like a shy school kid. and then and then she had left and we'd kind of moved to Orlando things became NXT I was kind of getting my feet under me

I was just starting I think I just literally started the whole singing drama king throwing the roses kind of presentation on television and she came back and she claimed I never felt this way she claims she's like you had a whole new confidence about you and all this stuff she's like I noticed you this time plus i guess she was single she was not single the first time around

that's the difference yes and uh so we just started talking and uh kept talking and then we lived in the same apartment complex which just that's dangerous which doesn't everybody live in that complex to be fair in oh man in uh Tampa for yes there was like two that every like it was like a big wrestler commune i remember i lived literally across like the breezeway from big i used to go grocery shopping with page uh like rick victor lived on the other and mike uh mike i almost called it mike dilton tyler breeze uh lived like one two doors down yeah it was a yeah it was a wrestler commune uh people spread out a little bit more in orlando but but they still found like i had sammy zane and somebody else in my complex too so we all we all we

We all migrate to the same kind of areas. Well, the reason I asked you at the start of the interview, are you in Orlando is because I feel like that's just the place where most wrestlers live. So how were you able to make the transition from living there for many years to now living in Chicago? I mean, very easily because it's home. This- You weren't tied down.

You didn't have to be close to the performance center? No. I mean, I only moved once I was on the main roster. Okay. That was always my long-term plan. I always wanted to come back home. I remember hating Florida at first. I grew up in Chicago, cold weather.

My first six weeks in Tampa, I swept through my sheets every single night. And I kept the AC on like 65, and I still swept through my sheet. But I did learn to love it, and I appreciated it in the winter months when you would, we would do shows in Minneapolis and then would land in Orlando or something. like that was, you know, 75 degrees. I learned to appreciate things like that. But, no, the long-term play for me was always to go back to Chicago. And luckily, by the time that rolled around, Shull was, she was down for it.

She just demanded that we get proper boots in a coat and prepare her. But bless her heart, the first time she ever visited my family was she came right after Christmas time and like she didn't know so she had like a tiny coat and like she wore this like very like sheer dress to like go to dinner and like all this stuff and she had no idea what to expect and it was freezing so she got a rude awakening and still somehow managed to agree to come back here so I'm very very lucky you know I find it hard to believe that you say you were like a shy kid when you went to FCW because you know you're a drama kid and i i was in drama in high school i know what the drama kids were like they're usually like the hey everyone i'm here ta-da and it it seems

strange for me to hear that you were shy so i've always found they're either one of two two ways they're that there's it's it's kind of like people and athletes like there's there's the type a's there's the people who yeah they're look at me and they're very generally very extroverted, but a lot of performers, and I see the thought in the comedy world and stuff too, they're really introverted and the performing is there one way to kind of let it all out because most of their life and everything, they're very inward, they're quiet, very introspective, shine, insecure. That's the crazy thing. A lot of these people who go up and literally bear their souls sometimes on stage and they are some of the most insecure.

people. I mean, they argued me, why else do we go out in front of audiences of strangers and beg for their for their cheers and their claps and their chants and everything like that? Because there's some little insecure kid inside us all along. So was drama your first love? Almost. I would say right before that was writing. Okay. I, yeah, I grew up, again, that was the shy kid. I was way too shy to perform anything, especially like, It was like middle school and stuff.

There was no way I was getting up in front of anybody. But I would write like poems and songs and short stories. I love doing that stuff. And then it took until almost the end of high school. And then I started playing music with my friends. And it took till like the end of high school until somebody said, why don't you try out for like to play or do something? I think you'd be good at it.

So I gave it a shot. And then I really, really fell in love with it. And what was the first play that? you were in first first play i was ever in was a play called translations by brian freil um he was in i was in my high school first thing i'd ever tried out for in my life and i got the leading role not to brag uh which required and again as like a 17 year old kid with no acting experience required me to do a british dialogue and an irish brogue interchangeably The whole thing was like this British officer who was going to like the ancient Irish people.

And so the Irish rogue was supposed to represent speaking like Gaelic, but we didn't actually speak Gaelic. But I just like talk to this person in an Irish rogue and this is like this, you know. And then to do it, they're over here. This is what they said. You know, they were trying to tell you this. Oh, well, the officer trying to tell you, you know, like I literally on stage. I'm not sure I'd ever done in my life. You're singing this too?

No, this would. If I had to sing in two different accents, I would have been done. No, that was just a, that was a straight way. So when did you discover that you actually could sing? You sing very theatrically. You know, when did you realize that you could do that? Well, the secret is I can't. Come on.

I tell that to everybody. I'm like, I faked it. I'm not that good. I just on it so like I playing music I learned to

carry a tune I didn't sing in choir I didn't take vocal lessons I never did musical theater really

I think on my Wikipedia it says I did I did I did mostly straight theater but I just

I thought but I thought musical theater was easier I remember this when I was at FCW thinking of the character

I had done all this acting but just straight like theater like Edward Alby like people don't get that like that's that's hard it takes a lot of explanation to an audience like hey I'm the guy who does like okay like Shakespeare maybe you get or Glenn Gary Glenn Ross you have to really tell him but if you go oh oh that guy's you know opera singing douche get that so I was like all right I'm going to have to take my ability to quote unquote carry a tune and just turn it up you know a notch or two. And so it forced the vibrato and eventually it just kind of became second nature and just ran with it. I want to take a quick pause because our sponsor for this episode and many episodes before this, Bet Online has been awesome. And with currently no NBA, NHL, or MLB, you might be thinking, well, there's actually nothing to bet on now. And that's where you'd be wrong because our exclusive

partner, Bet Online, still has hundreds of events, games, and props to. wage you're on from their online casino to poker and blackjack they are bringing Vegas to you if you're missing the NFL no problem because bet online has live daily madden NFL 20 simulations that you can bet on it's just like the real thing you can still bet on survivor big brother American Idol stock prices you can even bet on Nathan's hot dog eating contest and it's all open 24 hours a day and it's all online Go to betonline.ag. Use the promo code Bluewire to join today and receive your new welcome bonus.

Bet online, it's your online wagering solution. Also, a big thank you to our sponsor, Blue Chew. And guys, are you looking to last longer and go a few extra rounds? Mm, get to Bluechew.com because Bluechew.com has the first ever chewable that makes your performance in the bedroom on a whole new level. They've got the same active ingredients that are underwent. Viagra and Seales so you know that they work. And since they're chewable, they work faster. You can take them anytime. Day or night, you can even take them on a full stomach. Plus,

you don't need to go to the doctor's office and have that conversation and you don't need to spend time waiting in line at the pharmacy. Blue Chew's online physician is free of cost, and once you're approved, your order shipped straight to your door in discrete packaging. So here's a great deal for you guys, visit bluechew.com and get your first order for free when you use that promo code, Blue Wire. Just pay $5 for shipping. Once again, that's Blue Chew, B-L-U-E-C-H-E-W.com, and the promo code is Blue Wire. What I find so interesting about your career path is you could have taken a completely different direction. You could have gone on a completely different direction and been a stage actor,

been a commercial actor, been a film actor. How did wrestling get worked into this? Because wrestling is obviously performing, but it's a very different kind of performing than what you were doing in high school and college. Yeah, I mean, there's no other way to say. I mean, I guess, getting back to your earlier question,

wrestling was my first love, really. Before I even gotten into music and stuff like that, I was trying to watch. I love watching wrestling. I wasn't into it as like a little like five-year-old kid. I didn't sit on my dad's knee watching it. But as I was growing up right at the height of the attitude area, I remember all my friends would talk about it at school.

But I didn't have cable TV, so I couldn't watch Monday Night Raw on the USA Network. So I was like, what the hell? What is this stone cold Steve? What is, who's drinking beers and punching people? Like, what is this sounds like the coolest crap on earth? And so like I would try to go to friends' houses and watch it. I remember when shotgun Saturday night was on,

that was on like local stations so I could see what was happening and watch like Al Snow versus Takamichinoku or something like that. And that was, even that was like so much for me and I loved it. And then I mean the Smackdown came on UPN. And then finally we did get cable television. And I was, I watched, I never missed an episode of Monday Night Raw for like seven or eight years. It was just that that was my first love. That is what I always wanted to do. I was going to find a way to do it. In fact, I think one of the reasons I pursued acting, I really loved it when

I started doing it, but I was like, hey, if I want to wrestle, this will help. Because if I can perform and be in front of an audience and just know a character, I'm like, I know that's going to help. And then I did gymnastics in high school for almost the same reason. I had a trampoline as a kid and I like to flip around. But I was like, hey, if I can learn how to do this well, I can do this off the ropes or I can be an acrobatic wrestler or something like that. That's the only reason, you know, a 6'2-10-pound kid joins gymnastics. I didn't do wrestling.

Even then I knew I'm like, amateur wrestling. Like, I'm not going to do that. Plus, I would have been flattened. Like, no, I'm going to do gymnastics and learn backflips and stuff. like that and actually it came in handy a lot i so you know you started working on the indies and you got signed at wwe like very quickly how did that happen that's an excellent question that i wish i had the full answer to um yeah because when i was like within a year yeah less because i when i was all finishing up with college because it my i was my parent i wanted to go to wrestling school

right out of high school. My parents thing was get a degree. I don't care what in. Do I get a piece of paper that says four years? I went to school. So somebody, if this doesn't work out, we believe in you and we love you. But if this doesn't work out, you at least have a degree in something. So, but at the end of it, I'm looking up schools. And there were a couple in Chicago, but at the time, nothing very reputable. And so I knew there, I knew FCW, Steve Kern, was offering like on the side just like beginners glasses um and so i was like well those guys trained the wwe guys you know at fcw so i'm going to go learn from them so i rented a room off of craigslist and in a stranger's home in Tampa florida um and the only the only reason

I did is because I um when I contacted him he told me that like there was like a little pool house or something he goes there's another one of the wrestler guys he's staying in there so it's like okay there's two of us i'll be okay um but i literally i packed the ruffler yeah i packed the duffel bag and went down there for the three-month class uh with norman smiley primarily um who was incredible had a great rapport with him um i just i was able to pick it up pretty quickly and i loved it and met a great group of guys and girls down there and then basically norman just just kind of was like hey i think you can be good at this keep it up that was all that was all i had at the end of it i came back home got in touch with a couple yeah like you said a couple indies

here but then so i got home from training in like april i got contacted from wwe in october and i'll never forget it because it was on my birthday and um and i was like that's a coincidence and it was at the time was this guy named tie bailey who everybody hated um um But he was running, he was running like talent relations. And it was just this obscure out of the blue email that said like, hi, Matt, how are you? That was it. Oh, I'm like, but he, you know, from time of you know, WWE talent, I was like, what the, what do you mean? How am I?

Uh, Frank, I'm good. I wrestled. Here's, and I, of course, I just started giving him the resume and stuff. And then, um, and then Norman called me and was like, hey, I'm not sure if he, they, somebody's reached out yet. He had talked to me and just had asked me if I had had any of my students or anybody knew that, you know, that I would basically put over or that I was interested in. And he's like, I mentioned your name and I said, I said you got a lot of talent. And that was it.

He goes, I don't know if they're going to get in touch with you. And then I told him that they did. And he goes, okay. He's like, he goes, just keep in touch with him to stay on them because sometimes, you know, they can get lost and everything. And then I did. And then eventually, like, after staying in touch a few times, like, I mean, a month later, John Laronitis called me and just didn't even, like, introduce himself.

But, like, didn't even say hello. That was he goes, hey, this is John Lornitis. By the way, we're going to offer you a developmental contract. It's going to start like this, blah, blah, blah. And it was like, okay, all right, talk to my secondary. Like, and that was it. And then I reported to FCW about two, two and a half months later. Wow.

All right. So do you remember the wrestler that was living at that same house and do they still wrestle? Does that person still wrestle? No, they did for a little bit. They were from the same part of Illinois. They were from up here outside Chicago. Yeah. His name was Ron Potoski, but he wrestled under Ronnie Metro. I remember I wrestled him for like our final match for the training class. And he wrestled.

He spent, I remember, and if he watches this, I love you, buddy. But it was so funny because he spent $250 on a pair of. patent leather boots, but then couldn't afford gear. So he went to the mall and got a pair of striped hings underwear and wore that for his gear. Meanwhile, I'm wearing, I did something similar, but I didn't, I couldn't even afford boots. So I just had like, I borrowed somebody's kick pads, was wearing A6 wrestling shoes, and I got like, uh, almost like biker short speedo from the mall, same thing. And I wore that.

But he wrestled for a little bit, but I don't think he does anymore. Wow. The thing that I love at the heart of this story is you said, I'm passionate about wrestling. The best person who can train me lives in Florida, which is not close to where you live. And you picked up your life and moved down there. And, you know, all paths ended up leading to WWE for you. Yeah, it was like, that's, I'm not a big fake person. but that kind of at least that series of events in my life really seemed like it was just supposed to happen the way it happened like it was especially like especially like that like the fact I know I was an adult but still I was like a 22 23 year old kid and I tell my parents I'd never left home before I'd never moved out of state and I'm like hey I got a room off Craigslist I'm going to throw $1,500 to this wrestler guy who I've never met and they're going to train me to rest.

and I'm going to go there for three months at least. And yeah, so I'll talk to you guys when we get there. It was really silly and foolish sounding when you say it out loud now, but that and then, yeah, meeting Norman and just the training and then staying in touch with them and everything kind of happened the way it needed to happen. And then, you know, I think that what really puts you on the radar for a lot of people was divide villains and being paired up with Simon Gotch. take us along in that storyline or that that timeline how long from when you got signed to when you really got that first you know real break so i mean so i got i started in february of 2012 um and the first i mean before the vaude villains like i said was that drama king i got a little run i was doing those matches with big casts and um and stuff like that on nxte first and that was a great time though because i got to wrestle

I don't know, to this day, I don't know why, but they were putting me in the ring with guys like Seamus, guy, Rod Van Dam. I had a lot of matches with Neville Pock at the time. So I felt so lucky to get some of those matches, but that all started, again, I started in February 2012. I worked a lot, like, just kind of learning, and I did a lot of, like, enhancement work for some of the up-and-coming talent, but probably about a year and a half after I started, maybe a little less, is when I kind of started getting my first run of things.

And what was it that they saw in you and that they saw in Simon Gotch that went, okay, you guys would be good together? So the way I heard it was, so a dusty Rhodes pulled us aside and told us told us this, that I think it was at an Mxte. I had just finished up, I don't know, again, I don't know if it was that run the big cast, or I did something with somebody else, and AAA was at TV,

and Simon was new at the time. I think he had done, like, the Rosebuds thing on TV a few times. And he showed up, he had the full handlebar, and he would show up to, even when he wasn't working, would show up to television pretty much in gimmick, in character, dressed, you know, dressed very well,

mustache waxed up. And so I think I heard Triple H was looking at him, the interesting looking fellow. Here's English, there's theater, singing guy. He just kind of finished up what he's doing, so I'm not sure what to do there. Like, well, what?

This is like a weird, like a vaudeville side show thing. It's kind of the way it was presented to me. They didn't know what either, but they were like, two interesting looking, two interesting characters, what's there? And so that dusty roads is that he's like

I don't I don't know but he goes you guys kind of get together figure something out and we'll present it to him because Triple H wants to see it so we did I went and I just went home that night and I just kept the vaudeville thing in my head and I'm like well I've always been a bad guy so if I'm still a villain

I guess I'll be a vaude villain and screw it let's go with that and they loved it and rest of the history wow and congrats because that worked out. Yeah. Yeah. But then, you know, I guess the, the real thing that put you on everybody's radar and, you know,

really got you over was Rusev Day, which, as I understand it, was supposed to be a one-off thing, one and done, and never happen again. As far as we knew, yeah, it was like, Russo was doing this thing with Randy. And I was like, I just happened, because I wrestled Randy once or twice that summer, just putting him over, just kind of just doing the thing. It was just an opportunity to work with the top guy. Nothing there. But they were like, all right, well, Roussa is part of this segment tonight too.

And we're like, okay. And then they did that. And it was nothing really. And then the next week they're like, well, you've got this character. Like Lusat's going to have this big celebration. How about you sing for it since you kind of helped him last week but didn't? I don't know. So I was like, okay.

So I remember had to get a, I got a call from Michael Hayes to I think probably 48 hours before television get a tuxedo and learn the Bulgarian national anthem so yeah learn a song for you know national television in a language I've never spoken and get a tuck it's now Sunday morning at 9 find a tuck shop that'll give you something to pick up

in time for Tuesday morning or something like that. Wow. But by God, I was on YouTube looking up the thing, listening to it for 12 hours straight and found a men's warehouse. And it was in like Phoenix or something like that that somehow was able to get, I got measured up. They sent it out there and I picked it up in Phoenix. And all this stuff, it was a, it was a very whirlwind segment that all came to game.

Harder. Getting the tucks or learning the words to the Bulgarian national anthem. Getting the tucks. Yeah, that's what I would think. Yeah, like, because you figure out, whatever, I figured out the song, that was hard. But like I said, it was like a Sunday morning, so like nothing was open or at least wasn't open to like two in the afternoon. And then to go to them and be like, hey, I need to get measured. And this needs to be ready for me to pick up like to go on like Monday night and it's Sunday afternoon. and in another state, if possible. So there was a high threshold

that needed to be done. But somehow I found a great lady at this men's warehouse near me. And she's like, all right, here's the thing. I'll send it to them. You can pick it up there, drop it off before you fly home and stuff. And somehow some way it worked. And the segment worked too, because this ended up

rolling on and being wildly successful and putting both of you guys over. Yeah, man, it was such a weird, random, but organic thing. Because it was just after that, you know, that first segment was the first Ruseb day. I think they called it that in a bat stage segment or something. And then we kind of talked about it once more like the following week, but then all of a sudden, people just started like chanting it, whether it was ironically or something at first, but then more and more people got involved.

and it just really took on a life of its own. And I loved it because it allowed us to just really open up and have fun. And I think that's what people ended up connecting with like long term. Yeah. When Roussev Day ended up disbanding your partnership with him, did you have a plan for what was next? Because I feel like you ended up, you know, doing commentary, which you were very good at.

But I felt like there was a missed opportunity there for you. Yeah, and that's one of the things I wish I would have gotten more of an opportunity with. And to be fair, that's something I wish I would have fought harder for. I had ideas for sure about ways to take. I wanted to take that eight in English character and stuff that I had established with the drama king and everything. But evolve it, make it a little bit more. Everyone always talks about being like darker and serious. I think that's lazy.

but I wanted to flesh it out and I wanted it to be a little bit more threatening and I wanted it to be a little bit more maybe screw lures or something a little bit more intriguing my big thing was I wanted to be the tortured artist and who couldn't stand the fact that his ultimate masterpiece

or whatever could never be realized and I'm driven mad by that kind of a thing and I just thought that was I had all these ideas for vignettes and I pitched them to some people but as often happens you know, it's constantly moving things and it falls on either deaf ears or people who were too scared to pitch it themselves.

And so that's where I wish I would have, I wish people would have listened to me, but I also wish I would have taken a little bit more initiative to go to the top brass and been like, so that's one lesson that I took away from that. But yeah, I think there, I agree. I think there was, there could have been something really cool there. It doesn't mean that there can't be again, though, somewhere else or down the line. or et cetera, et cetera. So I still have ideas.

Is that the plan? Is that the plan when you start working indies, when indies can start to be worked, to really start to craft this new darker character? Yeah, I mean, I think so. I think there's a lot of, as they say, meat left on the bone now. But there's also like, there's a lot of that, like, baby face Roussead day kind of persona

that I wouldn't mind exploring either. because I think that was one of the things that we had fun and a hard time with is that for so long, we were clearly getting baby-faced reactions, pretty much treated as a baby-faced by the fans, but in the booking of it, we were on the heel side of everything. So, you know, we couldn't embrace it as much as someone like, I saw for us this is getting, and Xavier, Kofi, and Biggie, if I'm speaking out of turn, they'll let me know. But at the time, I'm like,

I feel like this could almost be a new day kind of evolution because they started off these kind of out there characters who were booked as heels. But the audience just fell in love with them to the point where you just, you had to turn him baby face. And I thought we were kind of on a similar path. We were these kind of goofy characters,

odd couple, if you will, and the two bad guys who were just, the fans were loving more and more. So I'm like, I think we can. could be this really kind of unique, again, oddball couple baby face tag team. And we got a couple little spurts in there, but I really think that could have been a lot of fun. So something to explore that option could be cool too.

Well, there's certainly the possibility for a Rusev Day reunion, a Rusev Day World Tour even. You literally took the text out of my phone on the day everything happened. We texted each other back and forth. It was A&N. I hope you're all right and all this stuff. thanks for everything that we did. And I said this, I go, you know what? Hey, Roussef Day, you know, indie world tour.

He goes, let's do it. So the possibility is 100% there. Well, there we go. Well, hopefully, you know, hopefully indie shows can be running sometime this year. And that's a possibility, I guess. Absolutely. So when, how did the transition then go from in ring to commentary?

from the outside looking in, it seemed like it kind of came out of nowhere. Yeah. And of course, everyone's asked, are you hurt? What happened? Like, because that's what seems happens to a lot of people. It's something to do while you're injured, which I get. This is a great way to utilize someone. For me, it was just at the time, after that Roussef day, I was trying to get things

going. It didn't quite. So I wasn't doing a whole lot at the time, no way, no which way around it. And I remember Tom Phillips had come to me and was just like, hey, do you want to try commentary? And he was just talking about coming to like the PC and recording and just kind of getting in the booth. And I was like, I think you'd be good at it. And I go, sure, why not? Again, I wasn't, I didn't have much going on at the time.

So I'm like, it's worth a shot. So I remember we did, we had a loop in Florida. And so at the end of it, I just went to Orlando. I got in the booth with him. I think we did like maybe an hour, 90 minutes. called a few matches, you know, it was fun, and I was just doing basic, super basic color, and I thought it went okay. And Tom said it, he was like, it was good.

And so I thought that was there. I'm like, hey, in a few months, we'll try this again maybe. That's cool. Next, the following week, I get to television, and Michael Cole calls me in the gorilla. Say, hey, Tom said you did great. How do you, we're going to put you on 205 live for the next three months and see if you like it. I go, okay. hey. He's like, yeah, you can still wrestle on Smackdown and live events or whatever it is.

But yeah, just after Smackdown, you'll come and do 205 live with us. Does that sound good? And I was like, sure. Why not? I, TV time is TV time. So, yeah, the following week I started, which is like the week right before Royal Rumble. And so like my first week on commentary, I'm doing like the Royal Rumble kickoff show, which had the Cruiser A title on it. it and everything and it just it would have to stay on it every week thereafter and then at that time i was starting to really really like it i liked it a lot more than i thought i'll tell you that much i recently interviewed alex riley who was in a kind of a similar situation they said hey do you want to try some commentary and he was like sure but he saw it kind of like as a i don't want to put

words in his mouth, but he saw it as like a, it was taking him away from the ring and he was like, I like this, but I'm in my prime right now. I feel great. The more time I spend here in commentary means the less time I spend out there in the ring. Did you feel that same way at all? So it's funny, so that you say that because I think Tom will remind me of this, but two years before that, I remember I was, I might even have been in NXT still, maybe just about to come in the main roster and he had approached me when he was doing like nxte televisions kind of in a similar way like hey you want to jump in the booth with me and at the time i think i had a similar reaction like you're not getting me out of the ring you know what i mean like i if people see me

doing this they're going to think i'd only do that and like i didn't i was still very much in that like i was trying to navigate the shark filled waters thing i had my back guard up and i was like no i'm here to train i'm here to wrestle and all this stuff and so i kind of shut it down and i actually kind of regret doing that. And so then when he came to me again, I was much more open. And then maybe it's being up on that main roster and seeing the ups and downs and the crazy politics of it all and the whirlwind that is that roster and everything like that. It was just like, hey, like I said, I kind of came down from the Roussef day thing. I'm like, look, this is an opportunity to be on television, to contribute something every single week. That was a huge thing to me,

especially at the beginning. Because I think you've probably heard it from a lot of wrestlers. There's sometimes when you don't have something going on, it's the quote unquote, it's sitting and catering, right? You're trying to get things going and, you know, whether the roster's too full at the time or people aren't hearing your ideas. So you're just showing up and you're not working.

That's a really hard feeling for a performer. I know a lot of guys like that, him felt that. It sucks. And so that was one of the things that, at least at the beginning, the commentary was like, look, you know what? Every day I'm coming, I'm going to have something to sink my teeth in. I'm going to have a story to tell.

I'm going to have talent to put over. Stats to give. Jokes to tell, whatever it was. You know what I mean? Like trying to do something to tell a story. And that's funny because that comes all the way back to what I put my first love as a young kid was writing stories, poetry,

you know, trying to tell a story with words. As much as I love wrestling, And I will do it as long as I can. My power, my superpower is words, written, spoken. I'll give me a microphone for days. Like that is my, that is my thing. So I really saw it as an opportunity to do that.

It was a live mic for 42 minutes every single week. I'm a WWE network. And that was the thing. A lot of fans, especially at first would, Oh, do, are you getting punished? Are you getting this? And I would tweet back. And I bit back a little bit.

You know what? I wasn't doing anything on Smackdown, you know, a month ago. But again, I'm like, I got a live mic every week on the WWE network. And so to me, that meant a lot. And so I really fell in love with the craft of it. And I think that it showed that you're criminally underrated when you have a mic in front of your face, whether it's on a headset or it's in your hand, whether you're cutting a promo or you're doing commentary. And I look forward to seeing more of that from you. Whether it's in

wrestling or, you know, I know you have this background and acting. Maybe you'll start to do some more acting in these next few months and years. Yeah, man. Like, that's the opportunity is there. And I'm, I do, I do miss that. So I love being on a set, you know, or whether it's, whether it's film set or a theater or anything like that. I miss that. So, like, I am 100% open to all those opportunities and everything, too. I saw that you posted on your Instagram story yesterday that your left peck is torn. First of all, how did this happen? And second of all, are you going to get this fixed now that you're not wrestling all the time?

So it's kind of a funny story. It kind of a stupid story. So, yeah, I remember it very, very specifically. So it was, this was 2015. This was shortly after me and Simon had won the NXD tag team titles at Brooklyn. And it was a house show in Lakeland, Florida. And it was, I remember it was a six-man, I believe the six-man tag, me, Simon, and it might have been, his name Mike Rawless at the time.

And we were going again. Baron Corbyn was a baby face. No, wait, we were baby faces. What am I talking about? We were the good guy Vaudeville. You remember this specifically. Yeah. So I thought, wrestler brain.

Trust me. You know what I mean? I'm okay. I remember this much. No, so it was like a six-man tag, and I remember Baron Corbyn's deep six, which I think I'd take him before. It's fine.

The move is super easy. But on this night, just as I went up, wrap my arm around his head to spin around and jacked my arm back. And I felt this, that classic, they say like a hot line, go right down your arm. It just felt like fire. And I go, oh, crap. I thought it was my bicep. And I just hugged my son of a bee.

Luckily, we were going home. The finish of the match was coming up. Of course, the finish of the match was me doing a swan time. So that was fun. But did that when it came back and told the trainer, I think I might have strained my bicep or something. So it looked at it, put some ice on, and it showed up the next day. And the next day, it started getting black and blue all down my arm and in my peck.

And I was like, that's where, again, I thought the bicep was torn. But it didn't roll. When you tear your bicep, it rolls up your arm. and that didn't happen. So I was like, okay, maybe it's not that. And my peck was really swollen at the time. And so they were like, all right, they gave me some things for the pain. We put some ice on it.

We're like, we're just going to keep an eye on it, take you off shows for a little bit. So as I was kind of like rehabbing, I kind of started getting range of motion back. And I'm like, okay, this is weird. It feels weird. But like, I can do this again. And I'm like, all right, well, and of course I'm a young, stupid wrestler. I'm like, well, if I can go in the ring,

and I can show them that I can roll and I can bump and all this stuff, but I'm going to do it. And I'm going to avoid being put out for four to six months. And so I didn't. And I got my range of motion back and I didn't have pain. But just as everything healed up, sorry, I'd start to flex. And this is this big divot right here. And I'm like, yeah, that's a terror of some kind.

And I kept, I stayed healthy. up and I kept working and same thing I didn't want didn't want to stop it and uh here we are some five years later and I found ways to work around it and stay in shape thankfully I just I can't bench press what I used to tell you that are you in pain because of it no there's there's literally no pain it's just it's a weird it's super weak I can do push-ups but like if I go too long the one side just gives out Is this something you need to get fixed? Need?

No. I mean, I can live a functional life without it. I just can't do a lot of push-ups. What I like to, sure. One of the things I probably should have gotten it fixed before I left in WWE. So, because I don't, now I'm in the same boat. I don't want to pay for that. You don't think they'd still cover it?

I don't know. I mean, it's five years later. Yeah, but it happened on their watch. Maybe I'll ask. I think it's worth asking. I mean, what do I know? I don't know. I don't know.

I mean, what do I know? I'm the idiot who's been wrestling around in a torn peck for the last five years. It'd be nice to have two functioning pectoral muscles. Yes, that is true. The symmetry is much better. Yeah, especially for an occupation where you remove your shirt all the time. Yeah. But hey, this gives me an interesting gimmick maybe.

I don't know. Oh, this could. It all comes back around to this new gimmick that you're working on. Oh, yeah. It's torn from absolute like rage and despair or whatever. I literally ripped it off my own. Yes. It's like lifting the heart out of my heart right in the left side. Yeah. Yeah. Like a piece of your heart was ripped out. Wow. Yeah. We're on to something. I love that through all of this, you just have this amazing positive attitude. And I feel like there's this real excitement for what's next.

for you. I mean, yeah, you got to be because I, and I don't, I never want it to seem like, I don't know how to put it like, I'm blind to the hardship and anything like that. Like, you don't want to, you don't want to come off as like foolish or like short-sighted. Because there's a lot of bad thing. And like, it's very uncertain right now. But at the end of it, if you get, if I give into that, you know, that kind of despair, it only cuts my legs out from underneath me. And I think that's true for anybody. It just, it stops you shorter than where you ever wanted to be. So, I mean, to be as positive as you can, be confident in what you can do and what you offer and what you bring to the table and things will work out. And that's the way I do.

And a glass of whiskey doesn't hurt either. Or two. Or three. Why not? Hey, the FDA recommendation is two. Two per day is perfectly safe. Well, for everybody who hasn't followed you yet on social media, you've changed your username. So can you let everyone know where they can find you now? Yeah, absolutely. So my primary accounts are now under Drama King Matt. That is on both Twitter and Instagram. But as well, of course, you can please follow Wrestling with Whiskey. On Instagram, there's wrestling with whiskey.com, wrestling with whiskey on YouTube. And it's on Twitter as well, but it's wrestle whiskey because for some reason I can

couldn't do the full thing. So the name was going to do. Yeah, yeah. So it's wrestle with whiskey, but it's still there. So search that on most of your social media is too. And it's there as well, as well as any merchandise, pro wrestling teas.com slash wrestling with whiskey. Are you surprised that Drama King Matt wasn't taken by like some 14-year-old drama student?

Yes. Thank God. I couldn't believe it. When I was working that out, I'm like, oh, please. Yeah, please don't be taken him. Thank God it wasn't. Wow. This has been a great hour.

Thank you so much. This has been someone hanging out with you. Thank you very much. I appreciate you for having me on. This has been great. No, and I'm so excited for what's next for you. And you and everyone else who was released, you know, July 18th's the date that we're kind of looking ahead to to see, you know, what's next for you.

And I'm so excited to see what's going to happen for the rest of the year and what's going to happen just in your career in general. Thanks. I know I appreciate it. I'm excited about. about all the possibilities. Well, thank you again, and I hope that you and your family are well.

Thanks, man. You too. Well, there we go. Great stuff there. Thank you for listening. Please take a screenshot. Tag me at Chris Van Vleet. Matt is at Drama King, Matt. And a big thanks to him for this conversation. Are you seeing a theme here with Zach Ryder, Heath Slater,

Hurricane Helms, now Aiden English? they are all so positive and are looking for the best in this situation. When it would be so easy to look for what's wrong in this situation and look for the negatives in the situation. They're looking for what's best in this situation. But that story about Matt moving to Florida and living in a random room he found on Craigslist, that one really spoke to me. I mean, so often in life we find excuses as to like why we can't do something.

It would have been so easy for Matt to say, Florida's too far. I don't know anyone that lives there. It's too hot there. What if it doesn't work out? Whatever. But instead, he found every reason of why it would work and why it did end up leading him to an eight-year WWE career. Incredible. And I saw this quote from Michael Jordan that sums this up best. Some people wanted to happen. Some people wish it would happen. Others make it happen. That's exactly what Matt did in this situation. So pumped to see what's next for him. Thanks for hanging out with us on this conversation.

We've got many more coming up. How would you feel about an interview with Kurt Hawkins? It's next. Have a great week. We'll see you soon. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock. But there was one band that had a lot.

at all. Hammer Alley. Whatever happened to Hammer Alley? How did they go from top of the rock? I'm looking for a music video. They're a band from 1987. Hammer Alley. Ever heard of then? To Rock Bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987. I can't believe he's doing this. Hammer Alley. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.