Insight with Chris Van Vliet - AskCVV #12 - CM Punk In WWE? Hulk Hogan's Stories, TNA Is Back, LA Knight vs. Roman Reigns, Best Advice Ever

Starting point is 00:00:00 All systems are go. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Bleas! Oh my goodness. Welcome back to another one on Insight. I'm CBV, Chris Van Fleet. So good to have you here. Thanks for being with us. And thank you for making Insight,

Starting point is 00:00:20 one of the top wrestling podcasts in the world. And it's because you come back each and every week. And because for a lot of you, for some of you, I should say, because you're following the show. Although I found out recently that about 75% of the people who listen on Spotify or Apple haven't hit that follow button yet. So if that's you, could I just ask for a quick favor? If you've ever enjoyed any of the episodes that we've ever done, please just hit that follow button on the app. It helps the show more than I could ever explain. And the bigger the show gets, the better the guests get. Although we've had a heck of a heck of a lot of

Starting point is 00:01:02 run over the last few weeks here. So I don't know how much bigger the guests could get. But actually, we've got a question about that in a little bit here. So we'll get to that. And maybe some of the names that I list off, maybe we can get them before the end of the year. We'll see. But thank you for being with us on this one. If this is your first Ask CVV episode, the concept here is pretty simple. You ask me questions. You send them in on Twitter or Facebook or Instagram using that hashtag Ask CVV, and we'll get to as many of them as we can here. I can't believe how many questions we had come in here. You guys are the best. You're awesome. So let's dive into this here, and we'll start with Franklin underscore 0981 on Twitter. You posted a poll about it, but do you think CM Punk or

Starting point is 00:01:52 Randy Orden, or maybe both of them, show up at Survivor Series? It's a very good question, Franklin. And that's why I put the poll out because I didn't want to vote. I didn't want to vote in that poll. I wanted to see what you guys had to say. And according to the poll results, the winner of that poll was everybody thinks Randy Orton's coming back. And then second was Randy Orton and CM Punk. Third was CM Punk. And then fourth was, no, neither of them are coming back. I don't think that neither of them are coming back. I think we're getting Randy Orton for sure. And it's going to be massive. because it feels like he's been gone for so long. And we already knew how good Randy Orton was,

Starting point is 00:02:34 but him coming back is going to be this nice reminder of, oh, man, he's even better than I remembered him being. But everything seems to be lining up for CM Punk to be there in Chicago for Survivor Series. And WWE's been dropping these little hints, whether they are on purpose or they're accidental. I just feel like there's too many that have been going on for this to be a coincidence. WWE could just be completely trolling us at this point. And I feel like when you go to any WWE post on Instagram, the USA Network account is totally trolling people.

Starting point is 00:03:14 Like they'll make these posts that they'll say like, look in my eyes. What do you see? And it's like, okay, we see what you're doing here at USA Network. And I like it. even if CM Punk doesn't show up, I feel like everybody's going to be looking at the show and watching the show, thinking that he might. Because it's a big question mark, right? It's not like when he showed up on AEW, it got to the point where Tony Con had basically said without saying like, hey, there's a really big surprise that if I was you, I wouldn't miss collision tonight and basically said without saying like CM Punk's going to be there. And maybe that'll happen between now and Survivor Series, but that hasn't happened yet. So I think what this does is it brings a lot of eyeballs to Survivor Series.

Starting point is 00:04:02 Maybe it brings a lot of casual fans that haven't watched it a while. Maybe it brings a lot of AEW fans who haven't watched a WW PLE in a while. Maybe it brings them over, spend that $499 on Peacock to watch Survivor Series. And even if he doesn't show up, you've got a pretty stacked card. And if he doesn't show up, well, you just gained a bunch of people. who watched probably a very solid show that probably also had a return from Randy Orton. So I don't know. I mean, nobody knows, right?

Starting point is 00:04:34 This is the best guest from anybody. But it sure seems like CM Punk's not quite done with pro wrestling. And it just doesn't feel like an accident that, remember there was that run there where he was making amends with everybody? He showed up at impact. and then he showed up at WWE and very quickly got told to leave. I don't feel like he did that just because. I feel like he was planting some seeds and just seeing what was possible,

Starting point is 00:05:05 seeing how he'd be received. And it just feels like with Triple H in charge, I feel like Triple H could book this in a way where it's very interesting to watch on TV. And it's also booked in a way, done in a way, where behind the curtain, maybe there aren't the issues like there were in AEW, the alleged issues. We really don't know what happened behind the scenes there. We can speculate all we want, but we really don't know what happened there.

Starting point is 00:05:35 And it's all third and fourth hand information and hearsay. But what I think is that Triple H would lay down the law and be like, look, if you are coming back, you are coming back under these very strict rules here. But if you think about it, it's been nine years since he left. That's almost 10, actually, but in 2014, but like the beginning of 2014. So it's been almost 10 years since he was in WWE. And there's a lot of people who credit their fandom now to the pipe bomb, bringing them back in to this like new era of like, is this real?

Starting point is 00:06:13 Is this a work? I don't know what's going on. I think that there's something there. and even if he doesn't show up, and I don't know this for a fact at all, but even if he doesn't show up, I feel like those options have been explored in great detail.

Starting point is 00:06:29 But I will tell you this. I will be there at Survivor Series. This will be no surprise. So if you're going to be there in Chicago, it'd be awesome to be able to say hello to you and give you a high five, shake your hand. But I will be there. You may see me in the post-show press scrum.

Starting point is 00:06:46 Hopefully, you know, I'll have my hand up. I'll be able to ask a question, but you will see me there, and I hope to see you there. Jacob Winsley on Instagram says, what do you think about TNA coming back? I love it. I love it because there was no one that was a bigger TNA fan from about 2005 to about 2007, eight. I went to so many shows. They came to Oshawa, Ontario, which is maybe like 20 minutes from where I grew up in Pickering, Ontario.

Starting point is 00:07:17 I remember like sitting online and refreshing the screen and getting front row tickets for a house show. And then they came back not long after that. I got second row tickets to a pay-per-view. What was it? Was it? Oh, I don't want to get it wrong here. But I was, let me see. TNA, it was no surrender.

Starting point is 00:07:36 No surrender, 2008. And what a card there. September 14th, 2008, the General Motors Center in Oshawa, Ontario. So all of this is to say, I love it. And I get why they're doing it. Nostalgia sells. Like, I think that's a really big thing that works in the pro wrestling industry is nostalgia. That's why we see these returns from people like The Undertaker or from Sting or Stone Cold Steve Austin or The Rock.

Starting point is 00:08:05 Because nostalgia is this drug that cannot be replicated by anything else. It takes you back to a time and a place. And when you hear that music hit, you go, oh, my. my gosh, I remember whatever the memory happens to be, you know, insert it there. And with TNA, I think that even though it's officially been impact wrestling for the last many years, there's still a giant portion of the fan base that has just continued to call this TNA. They'll even be wrestlers that work there currently that will refer to it as TNA. So I think for everybody, it really has just been TNA. And I think that when you think about TNA, and I think that

Starting point is 00:08:44 when you think about TNA and impact wrestling, everybody automatically goes back to TNA being like the time that they loved and the superstars that they loved there and the roster that was just so incredibly stacked. AJ Stiles, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, Kurt Angle, the list goes on and on and on, Motor City Machine Guns and Beer Money Inc. You know, it's Abyss. I mean, look, I'm going to list miss so many people, but you get the point here. There's a. stacked roster. But here's what I think. If they are going to go all the way in here, if they are going to, to borrow a line from TNA, if they are going to cross the line, then they've got to go all the way in here. They can't just dip their toe in and call it TNA,

Starting point is 00:09:30 but still looks and feels a lot like impact. It really comes down to this. If it's going to truly be TNA wrestling, you know where I'm going with this. They've got to have the six-sided ring. Without the six-sided ring, it just still feels like Impact Wrestling with a different name. So if you're going to do it all the way, if you're going to cross the line, you've got to go with the old logo, you've got to go with the six-sided ring, you've got to go with everything that made TNA, TNA, with, of course, the exception of, you know, a lot of the roster is already signed the contracts elsewhere, which you're obviously not going to get. But the six-sided ring is a must. And I don't think that information is going to be leaked out at all.

Starting point is 00:10:16 I think when that first TNA event happens in January in Las Vegas, I think that we're going to all look at that and we're going to go, oh my gosh, it happened. It's the six-sided ring. And I think it's going to be a lot like what they're doing with the CM Punk thing. It's one of those like, could it be? Is it?

Starting point is 00:10:38 We're not sure. I don't know. Oh, my gosh. And then you tune in and you see it. So it'll be very, very interesting. It'll be very, very interesting when that happens. So it's hard to kill January 13th, 2024. And what a fitting name for the pay-per-view.

Starting point is 00:10:59 Because if nothing else, TNA has been very hard to kill. And I, for one, will not just be tuning in. I will be there. so if you happen to be in Las Vegas for Hard to Kill in January, I will see you there, my friends. This episode is brought to you by Bond Charge, and if you follow me on social media, you know that cold plunging is something I do every single day.

Starting point is 00:11:24 And now I've been stacking that with sauna. Yeah, if you want to burn more calories to help with weight loss, or if you're looking to detoxify after maybe having a few too many drinks, check out the sauna blanket from Bond Charge. Bond Charge is a holistic wellness brand with a huge range of evidence-based products to optimize your life in every single way. You can burn up to like 600 calories in just one session with their sauna blanket. I was looking into getting like an actual sauna, like a sauna you would sit in, but they were like many thousands of dollars. Checked out the sauna blanket, it's a fraction of the price and it has the same results as the sauna.

Starting point is 00:12:06 heats up quickly. Actually, it heats up the quickest on the market of any sauna blanket. Super easy to clean up. So if you've been looking into this, if you're looking to get an edge, just like I am, go check out bondcharge.com slash CVV and use the code CVV to save 15%. That's bond chart. B-O-N-C-H-A-R-G-E.com slash CVV. That coupon code is CVV. You'll save 15%. percent off, and you are going to love this sauna blanket. Jay Thomas 1066 says, will L.A. Knight be a one-shot wonder, or will he continue his hot shot run post-crown jewel? Well, look, I think we're all going into crown jewel, expecting L.A. Knight to not win. And I don't think that that's a big surprise.

Starting point is 00:13:04 Roman Raines has been the champion for the better part of three years. But I don't think that this is a bad thing. That doesn't mean that everybody that's faced him over the last three years and has lost has looked bad. There is a way to lose and still look strong. I actually think that this puts him in a better spot than he was a few months ago when he was so close to getting that money in the bank briefcase and didn't get it. Now he has a title shot. He has a title shot on a huge show. But I will say that Crown Jewel just falls into this kind of weird, I don't know, like, it's just,

Starting point is 00:13:38 You know what I mean. It doesn't feel like it's totally within canon. It kind of feels like an alternate reality. Like it just feels like it's another universe in crown jewel. And things could happen there that, I don't know, maybe don't make a lot of sense. And we've seen some strange returns happen there and some strange matches happen. So I think we're all going into that expecting, we know the outcome of that match. And if you think that's the case, and I didn't actually mean to do this, but if you do, you know you can bet on WWPLEs at MyBooky. So if you use the code CVV, you'll get a nice little cash bonus there. But if you are like dead set on Roman Raines is going to win, why not make a little bit of money on it? MyBooky.ag. I didn't even mean to throw that in

Starting point is 00:14:22 there, but it makes a lot of sense for what we're doing here. And no, I think that L.A. Knight continues the momentum because he's the most over wrestler. I was going to say in WWE, but he might be the most over wrestler on the face of the planet right now. And I don't think that WWE gives him a title shot at Crown Jewel and then that's it. He doesn't get another title shot. It doesn't get anything else ever again after that. So I think that this is actually going to be a true test of like how over is he? We know he's pretty over.

Starting point is 00:14:52 But when you see a crowd overseas chanting for him, cheering for him louder than anywhere else, I think that that's a true test. that he is the most over. So I think that win or lose in terms of the actual match, he comes out a winner for sure. Amazing. Like Emma Zing? Amazing.

Starting point is 00:15:17 Who do you think was the most entertaining interview? It's got to be The Rock. It's got to be the Rock because what you see with The Rock on social media is who the Rock is when you interview him off, you know, on camera, off camera, that is who the Rock is. And he brings it. Just bring it. I didn't even mean to do that.

Starting point is 00:15:37 Just bring it. But the rock brings it. Like the rock is very hyper aware of the fact that like there's cameras there. This is going to be a moment. This is going to get shared out everywhere. And he does whatever he can to make it such a great moment. And I just have a huge respect for the celebrities that do bring it. And even though maybe he's not looked upon with a great amount of favor right now,

Starting point is 00:16:01 Will Smith brings it when you hit. interview him. He brings this a massive amount of energy and this charisma that's so infectious and so he's just so engaging in the conversation. So Will Smith's another one. Anthony Mackie, same thing, just this magnetic personality. So there's just a few right off the top of my head. Like entertaining, fun. Yeah, just so much. It's just a great time. And Will Saso recently, how good was that? If you haven't gone and checked out that episode, from the second we started rolling. He was making funny faces and doing voices.

Starting point is 00:16:38 And the whole hour that we spent with him was just like me, try my hardest to not like laugh over what he was doing to ruin the audio of it. So good. Trevor Skad says, it feels like you've interviewed everyone. Is there anybody that you haven't interviewed yet? Yeah.

Starting point is 00:16:57 Like the list is pretty long. And I know it's been a really good run over these last few months. and I appreciate you for being with us, no matter who the guest has been. But yeah, there's a lot of people. If we're talking just wrestling here, I still haven't done an interview with Brett Hart, which I'm working on.

Starting point is 00:17:15 I mean, I just interviewed Natty, and I said, hey, next time you see your uncle Brett, could you put in a good word for all CVV here? And she said she would. Sean Michaels, I haven't interviewed yet. Randy Orton, Samoa Joe. Although I met Samoa Joe years ago in an indie show in Ontario,

Starting point is 00:17:31 Ontario, Canada, but I haven't interviewed him. Christian Cage, who I, you know, I also met if you saw the way back Wednesday post that I put out. I met him in 2001, the same day I met Kurt Angle and Tristratus, who's, she's another one I haven't interviewed before. Edge, I guess we're calling him Adam Copeland now, which, let me just go off on a very, very short tangent here. It's so interesting to me how when someone changes their name in pro wrestling. Just like that, you're not calling a edge anymore. It's Adam Copeland.

Starting point is 00:18:06 It's great. But how funny is it that when the stadium where your favorite sports team changes their name, you can't, you, you're just like, I'm not calling it that anymore. It'll always be the staple center to me. I'm not calling it crypto.com arena. It'll always be skydome to me, even though it changed this name to Roger's Center like 15 years ago. It's just so funny to me, how people are like, I would rather call it this corporate name.

Starting point is 00:18:30 I would rather call it Staples rather than Crypto.com Arena or whatever it happens to be. I find that so funny. But in pro wrestling, the person, like Edge is actually a perfect example. On Saturday, he was Edge. And then the next day, like hours later, he was Adam Copeland. And the fans will not call him Edge anymore. And I just, I find that so interesting. There's just a little aside there.

Starting point is 00:18:55 AJ Stiles, who I've met but never interviewed, I did an interview with Kevin Nash, years ago. It's such a sad story, but the audio cable for the mic wasn't completely plugged in. This is when I was recording all my interviews on an iPhone. It wasn't completely plugged in. And we got the video of the interview, but the audio wasn't there. And I was so sad. I was so sad. We were driving home from this. This was in Orlando. I was driving home. And I said to my buddy, Jamil, I said, oh, hit play on that interview. Let's see how it looks. and he hit play and I'm like yeah turn the volume up he's like the volume is up I'm like what do you mean like turn it up what's going on here it's I don't hear anything he's like I don't

Starting point is 00:19:39 hear anything either and then we very quickly found out that there was no audio so there is a lost Kevin Nash interview that that's it we lost it so I feel like I need to do another Kevin Nash interview and in terms of celebrity interviews there's a bunch but quickly off the top of my head Matthew McConaughey, and I love who he's become and what he's become. And if you haven't read Greenlights, what a fantastic autobiography. And I would encourage you to listen to the audiobook on that one. He says so many great little stories that he adds on there. Martin Scorsese, I haven't interviewed him yet. And Christopher Nolan, who I think is the best director working today. And every movie that he puts out is so good. And I would just love to talk to him specifically about his fascination with time.

Starting point is 00:20:29 because think about it. Think about the way that he views time. It's so interesting. Every movie, from Inception to Dunkirk to Interstellar to Oppenheimer. They all play around, Memento, of course. They all play around with time. And I would just love to dive in a conversation about that.

Starting point is 00:20:52 Bossman underscore 771. Why did you interview Hulk Hogan? All he does is lie. What a great question, boss man. And it's so funny to me when I put that interview up on YouTube, it was up for like four minutes. And there were already like a dozen comments that were like, all he does is lie. Look how many lies there are here. Why would you even give this person the time of day when it's just going to be an hour of lies?

Starting point is 00:21:18 And look, I get it. If you don't like Hulk Hogan the wrestler, it's fine. If you don't like Hulk Hogan the person, that's okay too. but what was so fascinated to me about those comments was if I go back through them now and there was like 100,000 views in that YouTube video, there's not anyone that actually like bullet pointed out the lies. They were just like, I know it's this cool thing right now because of that Jim Cornetta episode or it's this cool thing right now because of some threads on Reddit of like Hulk Hogan's a liar. And sure, I get it. He embellishes a lot of stories.

Starting point is 00:21:52 And there's also a lot of apocryphal things that. he says. But I don't think he's like going into these going, I'm going to pull a fast one. Like I don't think he's he's trying to like lie. I really think that he has a terrible memory. I'll give you a perfect example of this. When I asked him about like a final match and he said he wanted to have him with John Cena and he's like, oh yeah, we were talking about it happening at WrestleMania 25 in Orlando. And everyone's like, oh, there he is lying again. Everybody knows. WrestleMania 24 was in Orlando. WrestleMania 25 was in Houston.

Starting point is 00:22:30 Hall Cogan, what a liar. It's like, come on. Like, come on. He's almost 70 years old. Like, I'm sure that he doesn't know the, the location of every single WrestleMania all the way back from, you know, from 39 all the way back to one. Just because he said that WrestleMania 25 was in Orlando,

Starting point is 00:22:49 he misspoke. He misspoke. It's not a lie. He misspoke. We make mistakes. all the time. And I just think it's so funny that it gets picked on. Like there's plenty. And I get it. I get it. There's a lot of crazy stories out there. They are well documented. I get it. I just think, though, that it's become this fad to just like instead of appreciate the

Starting point is 00:23:13 conversation for what it is. And sure, maybe there's a few apocryphal tales inside of there. But instead of appreciating the conversation for what it is, there's just these garbage comments. And I just don't get it. I just don't get, if you don't like Hulk Hogan, that's fine. But I will tell you this, when Terry walked into the room and we shook hands and it gave me a hug, and he introduced himself to my videographer that was working with me in Tampa, Harry Aaron, who's fantastic. He said, hey, good to meet you. I'm Terry. It wasn't like, oh, what's going on there, brother?

Starting point is 00:23:49 Hulkster here. Like, Terry himself was fantastic. And I loved being able to sit across from Terry at Hogan's hangout in Clearwater Beach and have a conversation for an hour. It's one of my favorite episodes of the year. And I know that other than that very loud, very small minority of people who are leaving those trash comments, I know that I've had more people reach out to me over the last few weeks since that Hogan episode came out, saying that they loved it. And it's one of their favorite episodes, too.

Starting point is 00:24:21 And yeah, it's, look, he's an absolute legend. Pro wrestling is where it's at right now because of what Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon built in the 1980s. And you know this. And I've talked about it at a great length. Rock Hogan, my favorite match, and in my opinion, the greatest wrestling match of all time. At the Fog Jones on Twitter says, favorite dad moments. Oh, man, there's a lot. she turns five months old on Sunday at the 29th.

Starting point is 00:24:56 I was trying to figure out when was the 29th. It's the 29th on Monday or it's on Sunday. On the 29th, five months old. It's just the little moments, like her smiling for the first time. She laughed the other day for the first time. And there's just something about the way that a baby looks at you with this like excitement and wonder. And that's it.

Starting point is 00:25:17 and it's just those moments where you are their world. They're looking at you. They're looking at mommy. They're looking at the dog. And there's just this excitement. And yeah, that's, and look, there's going to be so many more moments. I could be asked this question on every single one of these Ask CVVs. And I'd have a different answer as she continues to get older.

Starting point is 00:25:39 And don't worry. I won't do that. For all of the non-dads out there, the non-parents out there, I will not bore you with this. But I'm just saying it gets. so it's just so exciting every single day there's something new every single week there's something new it's all these new milestones so it's all of that it's all of that and i love being logan's dad which is the best kylor underscore palermo on instagram says what's been the biggest challenge

Starting point is 00:26:08 balancing being a content creator and being a dad i think the biggest thing's time the biggest thing has been time, like especially with workouts. I would drive to the gym. So that's, you know, 10-ish minutes. I would work out. I would sauna. Then I would drive home. So that's, you know, an hour and a half-ish, maybe a little bit more. And now it's like, if the baby goes to sleep, let's go to the garage and bang out some squats and do whatever we can with the dumbbells and kettlebells in there. So that's been the biggest thing is managing time. And it's also so hard. I travel a ton with work, and I'm going to be, I don't know if I'm supposed to like be leaking this out, but I'm going to be at the world premiere for the Iron Claw in a location to be announced later,

Starting point is 00:26:56 at a time and date to be announced at another time, but that's in Dallas. So see, I already said it. It's a trip, right? So I'm traveling for that. I'm going to be in Las Vegas next week. It's balancing that too. And I just feel like it's so much harder every time to leave and to get on a plane and to sleep away from both Rachel and Logan. But I will say it makes it feel so much more special when I come back.

Starting point is 00:27:26 Like it's just so exciting to come back. So I think that's been the biggest thing is it's time. He's balancing all the time. Yeah. Tom talks rubbish on Twitter says, when you moved houses, how did you know what room was right as your new podcasting studio. How did you move all your equipment without it being damaged? I'm moving into my very first flat without my family, so this would be very helpful. Love all that you do. Thank you for inspiring me. Well, first of all, Tom, congratulations.

Starting point is 00:27:55 I'm moving out in your own place. Your first flat by yourself. Dude, that's amazing. Congratulations on that. For me, I've moved a lot. I have moved a lot. And I think the biggest thing is if the interviews are going to be happening on camera, I just need good lighting. That's it. Whether it's natural lighting coming through a window or it's the studio lights that I have inside my office right now, lighting is the most important thing. But when I first moved to Los Angeles three years ago, I would, I didn't have, my furniture hadn't made it yet. I just had what I packed in my car when I drove out. So I did a few interviews where I set up my laptop on like moving boxes and I was sitting on a separate moving box. So if you go check out my interview specifically with

Starting point is 00:28:41 Wade Barrett, the lighting's fine because I had a big bright window in front of me. But you'd never know it. But I was using a moving box as a desk. So that was a big thing for me is just fine and good lighting. And when we moved into the house that we're in now, it was pretty clear. There was like an office space on the main floor of the house. The bedrooms are upstairs on the second floor. So on the main floor of the house where I'm sitting right now, it's very clearly like an office, although it didn't have a door. So we had to get a door installed here so that, you know, we can keep some of the sound in here. For the second part there, how did you move all your equipment without it being damaged?

Starting point is 00:29:20 I just packed it carefully. It's not a ton of equipment. For me, at least, it's a microphone, which I'm speaking into right now. I just put that in my suitcase, wrapped it up in a bunch of clothes, and that was it. I actually travel with it on occasion. With the camera, I put it in a camera. case and the lights, I just folded them down. And that was it. Like I, I didn't, I, so I put them in my own car. I didn't trust those to the movers. I didn't trust those to like put it in a box.

Starting point is 00:29:49 And I've moved, again, I've moved a ton. I've moved all over. I've moved from a different country to the country I live in now. I move from Canada, the U.S. I mean, look, okay, I'll go over. Toronto, Vancouver, back to Toronto, Cleveland, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Cincinnati, Studio City, Costa Mesa, California. Now I live in Orange, California, Orange County. It's a lot of moves. A lot of moves there. So I don't trust anything that I really want to keep tabs on to the movers or to boxes. Those things go in my car. So I think that that's a really big thing. That's camera equipment. That's, you know, other personal effects, if you will. But yeah, that's it for me. But congrats. Congrats to you, Tom. It's amazing. I'm going to take a little sip here. Got a You know, F3, F3 energy here.

Starting point is 00:30:40 So good. F3Energy.com, by the way, use the code CVV. He'll get 15% off. You might have seen these in a few videos. So good. So good. Sean Howe on Twitter. Mr. Van Fleet.

Starting point is 00:30:55 Have you seen wrestlers on Netflix? First of all, who is Mr. Van Fleet? Is that my dad? Actually, my dad, my dad's never really a Mr. Van Fleet. Never a Mr. VV. He's just dirk. Dirk Van Vleet, D-I-R-C-K, Dirk Van Vleet. Yes, of course I've seen wrestlers on Netflix,

Starting point is 00:31:12 and it's fantastic. And I always get a little bit worried when there's going to be a show about pro wrestling because I don't feel like it's always shown in the best light, but wrestlers far exceeded any expectations that I had. And I've been to Ohio Valley Wrestling, and Al Snow's awesome. I would call Al Snow a friend. Yeah, I stayed in a house with him and some other people and Dave Hero,

Starting point is 00:31:41 WrestleMania two years ago in Dallas. And he's awesome. We were like late night, 2 a.m. eating pizza and he was telling great stories. Love Al. And I love how wrestlers has showcased who Al is and what he's all about. And I love that it shows the good and the bad of the wrestling world. So with that said, I've been trying to get Al on the show.

Starting point is 00:32:03 and it sounds like we're going to be able to do an interview when he's in Los Angeles next week. So keep an eye out. Keep an ear out for that one coming up real soon. But I love the show. And I love what they did with it. And the way it's shot, the way it's edited, the stories they tell there. So, so good. Alcus underscore re underscore gammo on Instagram.

Starting point is 00:32:26 Alcus Regammo. Do you think we're in the best era for wrestling? that is tough. That's so tough because I don't think you can really gauge an era until the era's done. And going back to that concept of nostalgia when we were talking about TNA, I think that the attitude era is looked upon so favorably now because it has the rose colored glasses of nostalgia that we are looking at it through. And don't get me wrong, the attitude era was great. But for every Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Undertaker, McFoly, the Rock, for all the great stuff that was going on there, there were also some pretty questionable storylines that were happening

Starting point is 00:33:06 there. Naked Midian is one that immediately pops to mind. There was just, you know, for everything good that was happening there, there was also some bad stuff sprinkled in. So I will say we are in an incredible time right now. And if not the best time in pro wrestling, it's certainly one of the best times. And I think we all kind of understand that wrestling is cyclical. like wrestling gets hot for a while and then it kind of cools off and loses the excitement and then it gets hot again. It's hot again right now. It is red hot again right now, whether that's WW AEW, TNA now, New Japan, whatever it is. Wrestling is exciting again now. So if it's not the best era, it's certainly one of them. And I think there's going to be an entire generation of people who

Starting point is 00:33:58 either weren't born during the attitude era or were too young to really appreciate the attitude era that are going to be talking about this era, whatever it's called, right, that's going on right now, they're going to be talking about this in 10 and 20 and 30 years. There's going to be a whole lot of people in 10-ish, 20-ish years who are going to go, I became a wrestling fan because of that era that was happening in the early 2020s. And I wanted to become a pro wrestler because of what was going on in the early 2020s. And we're going to see, I think, some amazing talent coming out of being fans of this era in the

Starting point is 00:34:41 same way that we're seeing amazing wrestlers now and we have for the last five, 10 years because they were huge fans during the attitude era. So I'm super excited for that. But I think it's so hard to be able to pinpoint and put your finger on it. like, is it the best? I don't know. Let's judge this in 20 years. Ask me that again on Ask CVV number 614 or something like that. T6 Brian on Instagram says, what is the best piece of advice that you've ever received? Three words from John Sina. Control the controllable. That's it. And I've talked about this before, but quickly, it's just the idea of we can't control

Starting point is 00:35:27 the things that happen to us. What we can control is our response to the things that happened to us. And when John Sina whittled it down, summed it up in just those three words, control the controllable, that was so powerful for me. So if you haven't checked out that interview, it was 2019, WrestleMania 35 in New York City. I had the chance to talk to him. That's that interview where I went to wrap it up and he's like, no, we got more time. And then I went to wrap it up again. And he's like, no, no, you get time for one more question. So gracious with his time there. But like so profound with so much of the things that he was talking about during that interview.

Starting point is 00:36:04 But control the controllable. Best piece of advice I've ever received for sure. Jake does musicals on Instagram. Will you be in the 2024 Royal Rumble? I mean, look, anything is, anything can happen in the WW.E. I feel like any duo. I need to take another drink there after doing a Vince of Man impression.

Starting point is 00:36:30 No, I wish I could be in the Royal Rumble. I will be at the Royal Rumble, though. I've already booked my flight, so I will be at the Royal Rumble. I will see you in Tampa, but I don't think I'll be in the Royal Rumble. But look, Stranger things have happened. Stranger than me being in the Royal Rumble,

Starting point is 00:36:46 I don't actually think that's happened. Strange things have happened in wrestling. But nothing strange. No, that's probably not going to happen. Nicole underscore 32. on Instagram says, when will you interview the man who is your first wrestling interview? Bobby Lashley. Hopefully soon.

Starting point is 00:37:03 I've been talking to Bobby Lashley about making this happen for like two or three years. We've gone back and forth on DMs. We've gone back and forth on text messages. I will say like we're getting closer to making this happen. And I feel like Survivor Series, if he's there, a real good possibility. although that is Thanksgiving weekend. So I feel like there might not be as much stuff going on around Thanksgiving or around Survivor Series because it's Thanksgiving weekend.

Starting point is 00:37:32 Maybe it's Royal Rumble. I don't know. But if I had to give it a timeline here, I'd say within the next six months, this seems very possible. So let's throw that out into the world. And I can make up for that very silly interview I did with him in 2007 with that ridiculous blonde patch in my hair. But seriously.

Starting point is 00:37:53 in all seriousness. What a hell of a career that Bobby Lashy's had. And I would love to be able to sit down with him for an hour plus to just go over everything. Everything. WWE, Impact Wrestling, MMA stuff, all of it. So cross your fingers for me. Mike Lewis official on Instagram says, Would you like to interview Pat McAfee?

Starting point is 00:38:17 Hell yeah. Hell yeah. He is so insanely good at what he does. does. And I'm not just talking about the commentary in WWE. I'm talking about what he does with his show, what he does on college game day, everything with ESPN. So talented. And he has that magnetic charisma that when you turn on the TV and you see him or you turn on your laptop or your phone and you see him, you're just drawn in. So I would love to have a conversation with him. And I tried really hard like two years ago. I was going back and forth with one of his people back, you know,

Starting point is 00:38:51 when we were super locked down and everything was happening. happening over Zoom. And it just kind of kept getting punted. See what I did there? He just kept getting punted. It was like, he's not available now, try again, you know, we'll see what his schedule looks like next month. So I, you know, hit them back up. He's not available, you know, hit me back up next month. And we just kept punting this down the run. And I finally said, I'm like, look, we've gone back and forth on this for months. It doesn't sound like it's going to happen, does it? They're like, well, you know, anything could happen. And I'm like, all right, well, like, we'll see if it ends up

Starting point is 00:39:23 one day. But yes, I would, I would love, love, love to have a conversation with him. And it was interesting. If you listen to the Baron Corbin episode, which just got put out yesterday, Baron Corby told some great stories about sleeping on Pat McAfee's couch. I think that Wikipedia has it where they were roommates, but he's like, that wasn't his roommate. I just slept on his couch. So he had such great things to say about Pat McAfee. And everybody that I've talked to has great things to say about Pat McAfee. So I would love to meet him. If that means me flying to Indianapolis and making it happen, if that means our paths cross in a college game day city, sign me up. But I would love to make it happen. Ben Ybrow, Ben Ybrow, 345 on Instagram says, what is the best platform for

Starting point is 00:40:13 recording virtual podcast interviews? That sounds like a full-time creator question right there. And I love it. We've had a, I guess we've had a few. creator-ish questions here, like balancing time with being a dad, a creator. By the way, if you are a creator and you haven't even just looked at the website, full-time creator.co, and what I have going on there, take a second today and go take a look. If you're a creator who truly wants to take things to the next level and you're not willing, willing to spend a dollar, how serious are you really about getting to that next level? because I know that if I had the opportunity to learn from someone whose podcast is in the top 10,

Starting point is 00:40:54 who's getting millions of views on YouTube a day, who has many followers on the platform, look, I'm not trying to pat myself on the back here. What I'm saying is, I want to help you. And that's why Travis and I have built this out. We want to help you. So if you want to be helped, which I would hope that you would want to be helped, if you'd want to shortcut things just a little bit. Maybe take a few months off of the process, maybe take a few years off of the process, maybe get to making some money as a creator quicker, boom, than you

Starting point is 00:41:26 would if you did this on your own. If you, if you are serious about that, go sign up for a dollar, give it a trial, see what you think. But we're building out a community in the full-time creator mastermind to help other creators just like you. So, what's the best platform for recording virtual podcast interviews? I love Zoom and all the interviews that WWE sets up, they're over Zoom. I've used other platforms. I use Streamyard and I lost an interview as a result of it. Like it just didn't save.

Starting point is 00:42:00 And I had to very sheepishly and embarrassingly message that person and say, hey, so he'll never believe it. But that interview that we did, it doesn't exist anymore. And that really soured me. Streamyard's great for going live, but I was using Streamyard for recording interviews and it let me down. And then I think Riverside's really good. The quality of the interviews that you get from that is really good, but it only works great if both people have a rock solid internet connection. Like I'm talking if both people are plugged in to the Ethernet cable. because otherwise it's kind of frustrating to record on Riverside.

Starting point is 00:42:43 And sometimes there's a slight lag and you're talking to the person. They look all fuzzy. I did an interview with Sean Ross Sapp when I was still using Riverside and the sink was off. And it was just so frustrating. So I had a subscription to Riverside. If you don't know what I'm talking about, Riverside.fm, it records in 1080P, which is great when it's great. And it's not always great.

Starting point is 00:43:05 So I just use Zoom. And I think the biggest reason I use Zoom is because it's kind of just like the currency of online meetings. Yeah, there's Google Meet and there's Riverside and there's Stream Yard and there's teams. There's all these things. But I think that people just kind of associate a video call, a video meeting with Zoom. It's definitely the like industry leader. So I just send people Zoom links because with everything that happened with the world being shut down, everybody has Zoom. whether it's on their phone or their tablet or their laptop, everybody has Zoom. So I think kind of

Starting point is 00:43:39 the international language of video calls is Zoom. So that's why I use Zoom. I am well aware that the audio quality would be better if I use something else. I am well aware that the video quality would be better if I use something else. But I've been burned too many times. And I've heard good things about Zencastr, haven't used it before. But I've just been burned too many times. And since this is such a big part of what I do for my job. I just need something that's reliable. And Zoom has never let me down, ever. So that's why I use Zoom. And wow, here we are the last question. Okay. And if you want to send in a question for the next one, Ask CVV Lucky Number 13, just use the hashtag, Ask CVV on Twitter or Instagram or Facebook, wherever it happens to be.

Starting point is 00:44:30 Sure, on the YouTube community wall, whatever it happens to be. Brian Dowie on a Instagram says, do you feel good slash proud when an interviewee says, that's a great question. Because you should. It is a good feeling. It is a good feeling, especially when you're doing those celebrity, like interview, the movie interview junket stuff, like where the person's sitting in the room and a different reporter is cycling in every four to five minutes and they're doing 20, 30, 40 interviews in a day.

Starting point is 00:45:00 And if you were able to ask them something that they haven't heard, you know, number of number one, that day or number two, just ever. And they say, that's a great question. And they're trying to buy time to answer it. Yeah, it's a good feeling. It just makes you feel like you've asked something original and interesting. Instead of them just flicking on, I'm in publicity mode, and I'm going to give you the standard answer that I gave the other 46 people that came

Starting point is 00:45:24 before you. I love that it actually makes them use a different part of their brain and actually, like, think of an answer. So, yeah. I also love when you ask the question. that person goes, that's a great question and gives you a super insightful answer. My favorite part of all of that is when somebody that's watching or listening to the interview get something out of that. They either learn something about that person that they didn't know before or they hear a story that that person

Starting point is 00:45:55 went through in their life and then it inspires them to do something in their own life. That's my favorite part about that whole thing. That's my favorite part about just the medium of podcasts. in general and the medium of broadcasting in general is being able to tell stories. That's always been my favorite part ever since I got into this. My favorite part is just telling stories and then the effect that those stories can have on the rest of us. Because at our core, if you go way, way, way, way back here to like when we were sitting around campfires and trying to keep the, you know, bears away from eating us, I'm talking

Starting point is 00:46:32 thousands of years ago, if you couldn't tell. It all came down to stories and the stories that were passed down from generation to generation to generation. And that's the thing I love about all of this. It comes down to stories. A ton of great questions there. So for everybody who asked a question here on Ask CVV, I will say to you, it's a great question. It's a great question. I'll leave you with this quote from Rabindr Nhtugur. Nath Tugor. Rabindrath. I'm not saying that right at all. Rabin, Rabindranath. Rabindranath. Tugor. Wow. Geez. Worked through that. That didn't. Look, and I get it. My name gets mispronounced all the time. But what a great quote here. You can't

Starting point is 00:47:28 cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water. So if there's that thing in your life that you want to do, I would say to you, I've got two words for you. Just start. Just start. You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water. You got to take that first step. So whatever that is in your life, whether that's starting a podcast, it's going to school. you know, you want to go to go back to college, starting a YouTube channel, becoming a pro wrestler, going to the gym, whatever it happens to be. Take that first step. You can't cross the sea, merely by standing and staring at the water. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. I always love being able to hang out with you and just talk one-on-one like this. It's awesome. And you're awesome.

Starting point is 00:48:18 Be great. Be grateful. And we will see you on the next one for some more insight. with Mello himself, Carmelo Hayes. Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because I have a job to do. With rapid fire takes. So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs on this notion today. No idea what you're talking about. You're complaining more than you like to breathe air.

Starting point is 00:48:45 It's like you get up in the morning only to complain and cry and moan on social media about things that you don't even understand. He's the spitfire of sports smack. Take advantage of you. up in here. The Jim Rome show podcast. What should be? Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You've been warned.

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