Insight with Chris Van Vliet - AskCVV #9 - ALL IN Thoughts, Edge's Final Match, LA Knight, The Best Way To Monetize Content, In-Person Interview Advice

Episode Date: August 25, 2023

Here we go for another AskCVV episode! Chris is back at it answering your questions submitted on social media with the hashtag #AskCVV. If you have one that you want answered next month, don't forget to send it in! We've got a range of topics from ALL IN to content creation to Edge's final match on Smackdown. Here's a full list: Would love to hear about the whole WWE Press Conference experience? What kept you going when you first started creating content If Edge were to wrestle another match, who's the opponent and where's the setting? Edge possibly going to AEW, thoughts? What's the best tip you could give for doing an in-person interview? How do you get in the right frame of mind to record an interview and how do you get back into real life mindset after recording? What wrestling move have you taken that just hurts like hell? What is your favorite cuisine? What title belt do you see LA Knight defending or wrestling for at WM40? Is there such a thing as trying to monetize too late in the game? What advice would you give for breaking into the reporting and bts of pro wrestling? What was the hardest thing to grasp that helped you gain traction in terms of content creation? Big fan of your pod! Any difference between CVV the host and Chris at home? Best way to grow a podcast? What was it like meeting and interviewing Tom Cruise in Paris? What are your thoughts on the new Mission Impossible movie? Love what you do, brother! As a man who's interviewed so many people, are there any people left you'd say you want to get an interview with? Sponsors:  MANSCAPED - Get 20% off and free worldwide shipping with the code CVV at manscaped.com   To get 15% off go to http://mudwtr.com/cvv to support the show and use the code CVV15  Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to http://TryMiracle.com/CVV and use the code CVV to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF  Use the code CVV to get your first month of BlueChew for FREE at http://bluechew.com  Get $150 off your Plunge with the coupon code CVV150 at http://plunge.com Quote I'm thinking about: Not in doing what you like, but in liking what you do is the secret of happiness." - J.M. Barrie For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.  Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All systems are gathered. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Bleas! It is so good to see you here. Welcome back to another one here on Insight. I'm CVV, Chris Van Fleet. Thanks for being with us. And thank you, as always, for making this one of the top wrestling podcasts in the world.

It's because you tune in to episodes like this one. I mean, I say this all the time. Every AskCV episode, but if you're here, here on an Ask CVV episode, you're a real one. Like, I understand wanting to stop by for an interview with The Undertaker or an interview with LA night or an interview, yeah, or an interview with DDP. But if you're here, hanging out, a little picking of the brain, which is going on here, you are definitely a true supporter. And I appreciate you. Hope everything's going well in your world. We're going to get to many of these questions that you guys have submitted using that hashtag, Ask CVV.com,

on Twitter, Facebook. You've got one from TikTok here, a few from Instagram as well. I appreciate you guys. And if you're not following the show already, although I'm assuming, if you're listening to one of these episodes where it's you and I just chatting,

hanging out one on one like this, I'm assuming you're already following the show, but if not, take a second right now to follow the show or to subscribe to the show. It means so much. As we continue to climb the charts here, this is like one of the best ways you could possibly show support.

We had a question here from Mike before we get into all of this here. He said, what's the best way to support the show? And I was just like, I just wrote them right back and said, I mean, the easiest thing is just like like videos on YouTube. Subscribe to the show. Leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Leave a rating on Spotify. If you happen to even be remotely interested in any of the products that we talk about on the show, any of the sponsors for the show, go and buy one. or like, you know, I talk about Blue Chew.

There's like really no investment there. Your first month is free. You just have to pay $5 for shipping when you use the code. CVV at BluChu.com. That's actually a really easy one. But like there's things like that where it's like that, that product you talked about sounds really cool. What the heck?

I'm going to go type that code CVV in, save 15, 20%, get the first month for free, whatever it happens to be. That is the best way to support the show. Those ones cost money I get, you know, supporting the sponsors. those costs money, but liking a video, sharing a video, sharing an episode of the show, all free. And all like, this is like the barrier of entry there is so low. I feel like this should have been a whole episode on its own, but I feel like some people

on social media or on YouTube treat their likes like they've only got like 15 a day to give. Like, oh, my God, I'm not going to like that video. Even though I watched that entire video all the way to the end, even though I shared that video with my brother or sister or boyfriend, girlfriend, or parents. I'm not going to like that video. Guys, liking a video helps the creator so, so much. So all of that is to say, those are some easy and quick ways to support your favorite creator. And speaking of creators, I've been teasing this for months now. And if you follow me on Instagram, I've been kind of putting little teasers out there. It's coming soon.

but I'm about to launch a way to help fellow creators. It's going to be called full-time creator. If you go to at full-timecreator.co on Instagram, you can kind of get a sneak peek of what we've got going on there. We're going to be launching this in the next probably like two weeks. So by the time we do the next Ask CVV episode, this is going to be fully underway and fully going. But the idea here is that creating content often feels like you're alone.

I mean, as I sit here right now in my office, I'm alone. It's just me. But I understand that when this goes out, it's me and you in your car or, you know, in your headphones when you're doing cardio or you're walking the dog or maybe you're cooking, whatever you're doing right now. It's funny because you feel like you're doing this in a vacuum. And sometimes you feel like, you know, there's no support. You're alone. And the idea here with full-time creator, which I'm doing with my good friend Travis Chapel, who is an absolute killer. when it comes to building out brands and creating content and just being a kick-ass entrepreneur, we're partnering in on this together so that you can learn from people like us who have been there

and who have made a ton of mistakes. So we don't want you to make the same mistakes that we made. A little fast track for you to get to where you want to be. So a lot of the questions, actually, that we got for today's episode of Ask CVV have to do with content creation. So I know that there's a lot of you out there who do not enjoy going to your job every single day. And I get, I get that. I totally understand that. That was my main goal when I started working was to not hate the job that I was working at. So the whole purpose here with full-time creator is that, yes, in 2023 and beyond, you can work as a full-time creator. And we're going to try to give you the skills and the tools that you need to just absolutely crush it in that world. So at fulltime

creator.co on Instagram and that'll be launching in the next few weeks here. So I hope you're on board. It's going to be a mastermind where we just dump everything from our brains into your brains. So you'll have all the tools. You'll be equipped to just knock it out of the park and do it. So that's, that'll be much more of the focus on the next one. And I have, I hope that you guys join us. It'll be a great journey that we're going to embark on. But a ton of questions here. So let's dive into these. If you have a question for next time, just use that hashtag, Ask CVV on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. I guess you could do it on YouTube as well. And of course, on TikTok as well. So take a screenshot as well. Let us know that you're listening to

this episode and tag me and I'll share it out. The show continues to grow. It's been a top 10 wrestling podcast for the last few months now. And there's, you know, it's been some times that we've flirted with number one. We were number two there for a long time. Jim Cornett, number one wrestling podcast in the world. And congrats to him. That's incredible. What he's built there, the halt of Cornett is a very real thing. So congrats to him and everything that he's built. But I'm just saying, we're knocking on the door there. When you look at the wrestling podcast that are in the top top. and to realize that insights right up there with Bruce Pritchard and J.R. and Talk as Jericho and Eric Bischoff, thank you. Thank you, guys, because without you, none of this is possible. All right, we're going to kick

things off with the mercenary on Twitter. He says, what are your thoughts on All In and which match are you most excited for? Look, All In was a success from before one match was even announced. when they announced that All In was happening and 70,000 plus tickets were sold at Wembley without a single match being announced, massive success right there. Because if I told you five years ago that there was going to be another wrestling company that wasn't WWE that was going to have, I mean, even 10,000 people, right? Because when the first All-In happened in Chicago in 2018, 10,000 was a huge deal. So now there's 70 plus thousand before one matches.

even announced, as we sit here right now, 80,000 people are going to be there for all in. Massive success. And this just is a testament to where we're at with pro wrestling right now. Pro wrestling is hot right now. And I get that pro wrestling does this cyclical thing. And we do this often as fans ourselves, where you're really into it for a few years and then you're like, eh, I can go, you know, without seeing it for a few weeks. Or I don't need to watch every single episode and then it cycles back around where it's like, I got to watch everything. And that's where we're at right now. And rising tide lifts all ships. And that's kind of been a thing since AEW came in in 2019. Rising tide lifts all ships. AEW doing better. AEW having success

is better for WWE and better for New Japan and better for Impact Wrestling all the way down every single company, independent wrestling companies as well. As for the match that I'm most excited for. I think this main event's really interesting. And seeing MJF as a baby face has been so, so entertaining. I feel like there's no way that MJF doesn't leave this match as a champion. Like he for sure is the champion at the end of this. And I think there's going to be an iconic moment or an iconic shot where it's MJF holding up the championship. Zoom out 80 plus thousand fans screaming. I think that that's going to be an iconic moment that's going to be played in A.E.W. videos and, like, legacy videos for decades to come. The match I'm most excited for, though,

selfishly is Will Osprey, Chris Jericho. I've been such a Will Osprey fan that is no secret. If you listen to my interview with him from a few months ago, you know this. But Chris Jericho is one of the greatest of all time. Whether you like him or not, you cannot argue against the fact that he's one of the greatest of all time. And it doesn't matter what gimmick he's had, whether it's Lionheart or it's Y2J, suit and tie guy, the list, the Ocho, painmaker, and everything in between. They've all gotten over. And here he is now 30 plus years into the business, still as relevant as ever. And one of the biggest names in the business now and one of the biggest names in the business of all time, really. And I love Will Osprey. And I also hate the fact that,

unless you watch a lot of New Japan, you might not be that familiar with his work. So I love that this is a chance for him to display what he's capable of on the biggest possible stage. And I think it's going to make a lot of people go, oh my gosh, I knew Will Osprey was good. I've heard the buzz about him. Now I need to go back and watch a whole bunch of his other 26 five-star matches that he's had. So I can't wait for that match. But the whole card, top to bottom, I don't think there's a match that you'd want to miss. And I'm so excited to see how this all plays out. I think from the second the show starts, it's going to make us all go, wow, look at this. This is unbelievable. So congrats to AEW on pulling off the success they've had even before this show starts. And I will say a pre-congratz to them

on making this event happen. And whether you're an AEW fan or not, this is just great for pro wrestling. This one is from TikTok. This is from Emreet Pat Singh. I would love to hear about the whole WW press conference experience. It was so cool seeing you kick off that press conference and ask Cody Rhodes a question. Yeah, that was really cool. That was such a cool thing. I was also the press conference for WrestleMania.

I don't know if you saw it. Maybe you saw like the back of my head there, but it's such a cool thing that WWE is doing, giving us access. And there's like, I saw someone make a comment that was like, oh, these questions. are all scripted. No, these questions are not scripted. And there was no one from WWE going, okay, so Chris, what question are you going to ask? Okay, great. Yeah, we can give you a mic for that question. That's not how this happens at all. This is like an actual press conference for any other sport. The journalists, reporters, whatever you want to call us, put our hands up. And

Byron Saxton literally selects you and then a microphone comes over and you ask your question. There's no one pre-approving these questions. So I think the fact that this has been a thing, I mean, AEW started this with the media scrums right after double or nothing in 2019, the very first AEW event. They were media scrums at that point in time where you were literally holding a microphone and putting them in, you know, the person's face. And now they're like these press conferences. And it's a really cool opportunity to get some actual answers. It's also really interesting, especially when you see someone like, say, Paul Heyman, how he walks the line of like what's real and what's not real and weaving in the storyline into the answers. It's really cool. So WWE's been doing these

for their bigger shows every single time they come around. So that's Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, Survivor Series, SummerSlam. And I'm hoping to be there at Survivor Series. Although Survivor series is on Thanksgiving weekend. And I know Thanksgiving's on a Thursday and Survivor Series is on a Saturday in Chicago, but I don't know. It might be hard to leave my baby's first Thanksgiving to be like, well, I'm going to go to Survivor Series now. So I don't know. I'm kind of on the fence whether I'll be there or not. But it's a really cool thing. And it was also really cool to have WWE hand me the microphone and I got to kick off that press conference and ask the first question. So I think you'll be seeing my face in the crowd at many more of these to come.

This episode is brought to you by Blue Chew. And if you've ever been thinking of trying Blue Chew, how about your first month for free? Yeah, when you use the promo code CVV at checkout at bluechew.com, you'll get your first month for free. You just have to pay $5 for shipping. Guys, this is the same active ingredients as Viagra, Cialis, and Lovitra, but it's in chewable tablets and a fraction of the cost.

And the best part, it's all done online. There's no doctor's visits, no awkward conversations, no waiting in line at the pharmacy. And look, even if you don't struggle in the bedroom department, this is kind of a fun thing to try. And I promise you, the missus or the girlfriend or whoever it is is going to be a big fan of this too. Bluechu.com. Use that promo code, CVV, at checkout, and you get your first month for, free, you just have to pay $5 for shipping. That's bluechew.com.

The promo code is CVB. If you want to get a better night's sleep and change your bedding less often, let me put you on to Miracle Maid's bed sheets. These are the softest and the best sheets that I've ever slept on. So they're inspired by NASA and Miracle Maid uses silver-infused fabrics to make temperature regulating bedding so you can sleep at the perfect temperature all night. long. And because these sheets are infused with silver, it prevents up to 99.7% of bacterial growth. So they stay cleaner and fresher up to three times longer than other sheets. So no more gross smelling sheets here.

And these are soft. Like we're talking like five star hotel soft here without the five star prices. Give them a try for yourself and see what I'm talking about. Go to try miracle.com slash CVV. They're already on sale right now like 40% off. But if you use the promo code CVV at checkout, you'll get an additional 20% off and three free towels on top of that. So go to try miracle.com slash CVV and use that promo code CVV. I'm Rich Perez on Twitter. What kept you going when you first started creating content? I think the simple answer to that, Rich, is just the love of the process. You have to love the process because let's talk about podcasting as an example here. There are so many elements that go into making a podcast, especially if it's an interview show. You have to book the guest.

Then you have to research the guest. Then you get to do the interview and actually record the interview. Then you have to edit it and produce it and upload it and then also promote it. So there's so many different hats that you're wearing here. And if you don't love the entire process and you don't love every single element of it, it makes it really tough. So for me, I've always loved creating content. We're going way back here to when I was a backyard wrestler and I was 16 years old. I was the one editing the videos. I would take them at that time from like the video camera. We were recording on actual tape and digitizing them and then putting them into my computer and them editing, editing them from there and uploading them to our website. I love that whole process of it.

And I think that that's a really important part of this is you can't enjoy just the result of what you get and the views that you get and possibly the money that you make from that content without enjoying everything that goes into making that. That's just my personal opinion. And I think that the best creators, like look at how much Mr. Beast loves the process of creating a video and then putting it out there. And okay, now it's on to the next one. And that's always been it for me. That's what's kept me going from way before I even knew that there was a possibility to make any money with this. I've been making content since, I mean, you guys know I'm 40 years old, right? You know, I got in the best shape of my life for my 40th birthday in May.

But I think I started editing videos for the very first time in the year 2000. So here I am 23 years into this. I just love it. That's that is my, that's my short answer. to it is like appreciate the process, love the process, and don't try to think about the outcome, try to think about the process of like getting to the next step here. So what I mean by that is like, let's try to book the best guest. Okay, great. Check that off the list. Now let's try to do the best research for this interview. Okay, great. Awesome. Now let's try to conduct the best interview and listen

and follow the conversation. Okay, check that. You know what I mean? Like, I think that that's the most important part about creating content. Kevin Cox 31 on Twitter says if Edge were to wrestle another match, who's the opponent, and where is the setting? I think he for sure wrestles another match. I think what we saw on Smackdown was his last match in Toronto. Is it just my opinion? I don't know the full situation here, but I think he looked at the schedule and went, oh, man,

we're not going to be back for another televised show in Toronto until maybe about this time next year. Who, I don't know if I'm still going to be wrestling by this time. next year. So I think that was a send-off in Toronto and his hometown crowd. I think that's what we saw there. I think there's one more match. And I think that if you've had a career like Edge has had, and he's really had two careers, really, you know, kind of pre-injury, pre-first retirement, and now the second version of this after the Royal Rumble return and everything after that. So I think that when you've had the careers that Edge has had, I think that it has to end at WrestleMania. So I think

it's a match at WrestleMania 40. The opponent, I don't know. I don't know. Like, who would maybe, I don't know. I could throw out some names, but I'm not going to be right here. But I just think it's a match at WrestleMania. And I think it's a match where, as you know, the tradition of wrestling is, you know, when you're about to retire, you put over the person that you're wrestling. You're the one looking up at the lights, one, two, three. And you ride off at the sunset giving them a victory. So I think that that's what happens. It's wrestling. Mania 40. It's a loss against somebody who I think could really benefit from a win over Edge, which leads us here to this next question from the underscore SDG on Instagram. And by the way,

guys, thank you for all these questions. This is Edge possibly going to AEW? Thoughts? Yeah, I think there's like a zero percent chance that he goes to AEW. And I know that it's fun when someone's contract ends or when someone gets let go of like, oh my gosh, are they going to be All-Elete now. I think when you look at Edge's career, the guy started in WWE, and he at this point has wrestled nowhere else but in WWE. I think there's a zero percent chance that he's going to go 25 years in WWE and then go wrestle one or two or three matches elsewhere. Not happening. Fun thing to think about and those graphics that everybody makes are highly entertaining, but no, this is not happening. It just, it would not.

make sense for the legacy of Edge the person and the legacy of Adam Copeland the person. I just don't think that that's happening. Robbie Collins at Robbie C-1877 on Twitter. What's the best tip you could give for doing an in-person interview? I am a big fan of in-person interviews. And I'm trying to do as many in-person interviews as I can now. That's not to say I won't do interviews over Zoom. and I've got some big ones coming up in the next few weeks here. Oh, it's true. It's damn true.

I've used that reference a few times, but you clearly know where I'm going with that. I prefer in-person interviews so much just because you can really connect with a person. You can shake their hand. You can look them in the eye. You can give them a hug. And there's something about like, you know, even though Zoom's great, there's still that tiny little slight delay. You're talking, but they're talking. And then you've got to pause because they're talking. So I prefer interviews and person way more than doing them over Zoom. And I'd rather spend the time and the money to fly somewhere and put myself up in a hotel and do all that stuff. I'd say the biggest tip for doing something in person, number one, you've got to have great gear. Like if an interview looks and sounds like crap,

if your content looks and sounds like crap, people will just automatically assume that it is crap. Like perception is reality here. So get a decent camera. And if you don't have a decent camera, like just make sure you're in a well-lit area with your phone. Like I shot so many of my interviews on my iPhone. I still shoot like the wide angle shot of my in-person interviews using an iPhone. That's such an important part about it. It's just like be in a well-lit area, have decent recording gear, you know, an okay camera, but like microphones I think are so important. I'm talking right now into a sure SM7B. That's kind of the gold standard of microphones and podcasting. It's the microphone that Joe Rogan speaks into, you know, the, the, the, the,

the black microphone. It's like cylindrical in shape. It doesn't need to be a sure SM7B, but get a decent microphone. And I always say the most important part of any interview, whether it's in person or it's a virtual interview is the interview starts the second you walk into the room or the interview starts the second you walk into that, or you log onto that Zoom room and that conference room. Bring the energy. Like be excited to be there. Like be excited to be partaking in this. And hopefully that person will match your energy. But I think that's a really important thing. You can't just walk in a minute.

Oh, hey, yeah, it's good to meet you. Really appreciate you. We'll taking the time to do this with me. And then like three, two, one. Hey, I'm here with so-and-so, and it's so good to be doing this conversation with you. I think you got to bring that energy from the very start. So that's the biggest tip that I would give you.

Tom talks rubbish on Twitter says, how do you get into the right frame of mind to record an interview? And how do you get back into the real life mindset? after recording. I didn't purposely put these questions back to back like this, but I feel like they make sense. To get into the right frame of mind, I always try to be in the best mood possible. And I get that life happens, right? Other things may be going on in your world and life may be happening around you. And maybe it hasn't been a great morning or a great day. None of that matters when the red light goes on and you hit record because these interviews exist very much in their own

little bubble, right? Someone's going to watch this a week from now. Someone might watch this a year from now or four years from now. And the fact that your dog died that day or the fact that you didn't get a lot of sleep or, you know, any other terrible thing that may have happened doesn't matter because within the existence of those 45 minutes, half an hour, an hour, however long that interview happens to be, it exists within its own little bubble. So I would say, leave all of the things that have happened that day at the door, and you're walking into this with a clean slate, a clean, excited slate. Like, that person is giving you their time.

I would say the very least you can do is be present with them. So that's a really important thing to keep in mind to get into that right frame of mind. I also work really hard in, like, how are we going to start the conversation? What's the first question going to be? Because if the first question's good, it can lead to, like, really setting the tone for the rest of it. The first question doesn't go off too well, oh my gosh, you're really struggling to get out of the gate here. So I would say that that's another important thing is to like really focus on what's the first question going to be? What's the icebreaker going to be? How are we

going to build the rapport here? And then getting back into real life mindset after the recording, I think for me, like this does kind of feel like real life. So I don't really have a lot of advice for getting back into how life functions after that. I just think it's like, you know, you close up the laptop or you, if you're doing an in-person interview, you get back in your car and you go home. And I think it's just, it's on to the next one, right? And it's thinking about, okay, what's, how can we get the best content out of this in terms of making like TikToks or shorts or clips or something like that? And then it's like on to the next one. That's it for me.

which is at C.M. Haggri on Twitter says, what wrestling move have you taken that just hurts like hell? I haven't taken a ton of wrestling moves, but I think the one that hurt the most and was certainly the scariest was when I took the Impaler DDT from Gangrel. And if you haven't seen the video, if you don't know what I'm talking about,

go take a quick look right now on YouTube and you'll see what I mean. I got a little too excited. This is not on Gangrel, who is one of the nicest people and one of the safest workers, I jumped up a little too high. I spiked myself, pow, right on the top of my head, folded over, and I was a little nervous. I mean, I landed on the top of my head.

I could have been really injured here, but I landed on top of my head. I got winded instantly, and I was like, oh, my gosh, did I break my neck? And I was like feeling, oh, I can feel my fingers. Oh, I can feel my toes. Okay, we're good. We're good, we're good, but I was just so scared. And I think about it to this day. I think about it to this day, like how terribly bad that could have gone.

So that's probably it for me. It didn't hurt a ton, but more like I was just really, really scared for what could have happened. And of course, you know, I think the immediate thing when people think about moves that hurt and CVV, you think about the chops. Yeah, of course they hurt. And, you know, my chest was really tight and sore for. a while after that. So yeah, they hurt. Would I take a chop from Gunther? Yes. Of course.

I don't know if I'd take more than one. I don't know if I'd take 20 chops from him, but yeah, I would do it again, especially if there's a camera there and we can make another video out about that one. Carla Thornia, WZWA on Twitter. What's your favorite cuisine? Pizza. Is pizza cuisine. I guess pizza technically falls under the Italian cuisine umbrella, but yeah, pizza. I love pizza. And when I was doing that, get into the best shape of your life, I was eating a lot of ground turkey breast and a lot of beef and a lot of bison, a ton of vegetables, a lot of rice. There was no room for pizza in that diet. So every once in a while, I would have like a cheat day or a cheap meal, I should say, not a full cheat day. But like I'd have a reefy day. But like I'd have a reefy

where you'd really carve up and then I'd be able to get some pizza in. So pizza for sure. Number one, I'm such a sucker for Domino's pizza. Oh, such a sucker for it. Jason Adelboro, what title belt do you see LA Night defending or wrestling for at WrestleMania 40? I feel like it should be the World Heavyweight Championship. And I feel like him popping up on Raw kind of sort of lent itself to that story. So I feel like between now and WrestleMania 40, he's either been the World Heavyweight champion or he's definitely in the picture

for that. So that's what I see. And I say that because I truly believe that Roman Raines is going to be the champion, the universal champion leading up to WrestleMania 40. I don't know how it's going to work right now with how things are lined up, but I think it's Cody Rhodes walking out of WrestleMania 40 and finishing the story there as the

champion, but I just don't see, you know, Cody's on Ron, Romans on Smackdown. I don't know, as we sit here in August, how that's going to happen. But I guess we'll see. But LA Knights, far too talented to not hold gold at some point

in his WWE career. So let's see what happens there. False Finish HQ on Instagram says, is there such a thing as trying to monetize too late in the game? No, absolutely not. Absolutely not. And at the risk of sounding like Gary Vaynerchuk

here, you know, you still got time. And look at all these creators on, I mean, TikTok, a ton of them on YouTube that became famous content creators in their like 50s or 60s or later. No, you're never too late. If you're breathing, you still got time. And I think that there is an avenue and a way now to monetize any niche that you happen to be in. And I think it's just a matter of finding someone who's already in that niche, figuring out how they were able to get to where they're at, reverse engineer that back to where you're at and go, oh, okay, when they were at step two in the game like I'm at, they were doing this thing. And then the next step after that is doing this other thing over here. Okay, great. I got to do that. But no, it is never, ever too late.

And I know that we'll talk specifically about the pro wrestling space, because I think a lot of us are pro wrestling fans here. There are content creators even now that are coming into the space and that are just absolutely crushing it. Look at, look at my friend Mr. Santi Zap, who is, I guess, a Twitch streamer and also a TikToker. When I first became connected with him, not even a year ago, so like 10-ish, 11 months ago, I think he had like 80,000 followers on TikTok.

And now, as we sit here right now, let me just probably should have pulled this. I'm opening up TikTok if you're wondering for wondering what all that is. And now on TikTok, he has 575,000 followers. And he recently quit his day job and now he's a full-time creator. So this definitely still exists. And there are people that are every single day finding a way to monetize what they do. So no, there is no such thing. as trying to monetize too late in the game at all.

Crush it. Go crush it. Wrestling with Roman on Instagram says, what advice would you give for breaking into the reporting and behind the scenes of pro wrestling? I always come back to you got to bring value. You have to be able to bring value to the space that you're entering into. It is very obvious. What's in it for you, right?

I think it's really obvious of like, I, you know, I'd have a chance to interview the people I've always looked up to. and I'd have a chance to write these articles for a big website or something like that. But what's the value that you are bringing? And I think that if you really truly want to break into the space, find someone who's just willing to say yes. Like reach out to if it's reporting you want to do and let's say it's written reporting you want to do, reach out to literally every wrestling website.

It's not hard to find those emails and say, hey, here's who I am. Here's what I'm passionate about. here's what I'm capable of doing. Here's the value that I bring. Would you be willing to give me a chance to write an article for your website for free? And maybe you could give me some feedback. And if you like the article, you're welcome to post it on your website. That's what I think people need to do. And I think there's too many people that are trying to skip that first step of like the getting experience part and just skipping right to the, well, what can you pay me? Now, my time is valuable. What can you pay me? Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, pump the brakes there. Homeboy. I think it's the idea of like, what can

you bring here? What are you able to do? Are you even good? Why should I be paying you if I don't even know what you're capable of doing? So I'd say, find a way to intern for somebody, find a way to volunteer for somebody, find a way to write our articles for free and get somebody who's been there and done it to give you feedback on your work and then move from there. That is the best way to do it. Always, always, always lead with value. Jason underscore pain underscore James. What was the hardest thing to grasp that helped you gain traction in terms of content creation? I think the biggest one. It was really hard to wrap my head around this two-ish years ago was just how much content I thought was important to be creating because I was like, oh, I'm posting like one thing a day.

I'm posting like a photo a day or a throwback photo a day or something like that. And I saw when reels were like starting to become a thing on Facebook. I saw a fellow creator that was like, I want you to do the 30 day, 30 real challenge. Post a reel a day for 30 days. And I was like, a real a day. Are you kidding me? I don't even have the content to put out one reel a day. That's crazy.

That point I was probably putting out like one reel a week. And I realized that the more content that you put out there, it's kind of like the analogy here would be like taking swings in a baseball game like how many bats are you getting here and the more content that you put out is the more played appearances that you're getting the more chances to swing that bat the more chances to hit a home run more chances to get on base so i you know by not posting a lot of reels two-ish years ago i just wasn't getting as many played appearances now if you follow me on tic talk or instagram or youtube you know i post a lot of vertical videos. My editor actually makes 75 videos a month for me. And then there's

some older videos that I repost. So I'm probably posting, I would call it 90 vertical videos a month. So on average, three a day, maybe more. That was the hardest thing for me to grasp is the more spaghetti you throw at the wall, the better the chance for one of those pieces to stick. So, you know, you throw 100 pieces of content at a wall. Maybe one of those is a million views. And if you only posted 90 pieces of content this month or 80 pieces of content or 70 pieces of content, maybe you wouldn't have found that one piece of content to stick. So that was the hardest thing for me to grasp is like, I really think it's about quantity over quality.

And that's not to say that the videos that I'm posting, I don't believe they're quality. because I really think that my shorts editor named Troy Blair is so talented at the type of videos that he creates and the stories that he tells within those. But I really just think it's a matter of like if you have an hour long interview and you can break that up into 10 or 12 shorter pieces of content, post them all. And you're going to be shocked by some of the ones that do end up ticking off. And you're going to be shocked by some of the ones that you thought would do really well and, you know, really just fell flat. So that's what I would say. Brian Dowey on Instagram, big fan of your pod. Is there any difference between CVV the host and Chris at home?

I'd say if you ask my wife, Rachel, she will tell you, probably not. I like to have a lot of energy. I like to have a ton of energy. And I don't know if there's anything that's really that different from when the mic is in front of my face or when the camera is on and when it's not. Maybe it might even be a little bit silly. We were just singing and dancing to some song about dinosaurs with our little girl, Logan. So I guess you don't see singing and dancing to silly songs on YouTube or on the podcast.

But look, I think the best creators, and I'm certainly not putting myself in the category of I'm the best creator, but I think that the best creators are authentic. Because we live in a world now where people can so easily see through the fact if you're not being real or not. If you're not being authentic, people can smell it from a mile away. So I think that the more authentic you can be, the easier you can connect with people. So if the person that you are off camera isn't similar to the person that you are on camera, I think you're really going to have a tough time connecting with that audience. Pipbomb news on Instagram, if you don't follow pipe bomb news on Instagram, you are missing out.

He posts so much great stuff. stuff. So keep up the great work pipe. Post so many great throwback videos of like on this day 19 years ago here. Check out this awesome storyline that happened or this most really memorable moment. He says, hey, Chris, what was it like meeting and interviewing Tom Cruise in Paris? What are your thoughts on the new Mission Impossible movie? Love what you do, brother. So I love telling this story because it's one of my favorite interviews that I've ever done.

So The Rock was at the top of my bucket list for interviews. And then I was fortunate to be able to interview The Rock for the first time. in 2012 and, you know, not that I'm counting or anything, but I've interviewed The Rock now 10 times and hopefully there's some more around the corner. But after I interviewed The Rock, I was like, well, who's the next person that I would love to get an interview with? I know it's Tom Cruise, you know, arguably the biggest movie star in the world, arguably the last real movie star that's opening movies based on name value alone. That doesn't really exist anymore. So I was so fortunate to be invited to interview him for Mission Impossible Fallout, which is the sixth Mission

Impossible movie. And the red carpet, the world premiere, was in Paris. The Eiffel Tower is right behind us. And we're getting there. We're all getting ready to do these interviews. And the way that a red carpet works is like the media kind of all lines up behind like a red velvet rope type of thing, like a partition of some sort. And I was, I don't know, 30, 40 people down the line.

So when Tom Cruise comes out, he signed some autograph. he poses with some photos with some fans and then he starts doing the interviews and that's like he does the first interview then the second interview and the third interview he works his way down the line and the closer he gets you're kind of like oh my gosh tom cruz is four media outlets away he's 20 feet away from me i can see him and so if each interview's two or three minutes oh my gosh i'm like 12 15 minutes away from interviewing tom gruse and then you know he moves one interview closer and then one interview closer. And then all of a sudden, he's right next to me. And he's doing an interview with one of my best friends, Jake Hamilton. Oh, my gosh, I'm next. Here we are. We're doing the interview.

And then he was so kind, so generous with his time. And he looks you right in the eyes when you're talking. And even though there's thousands of screaming fans, snapping photos and yelling things, it's as if it's just you and him having a private conversation. And he's so incredibly present for that. And then afterwards, I'm like, would it be okay if we take a photo? He's like, of course, yes. Then we took this great photo. It actually hangs on my wall along with some other, you know, great moments that I've really been fortunate to be part of. And it's me, him, the red carpet, and the Eiffel Tower, literally behind us. Like it looks so cool that it almost looks like it's green screen. So one of my favorite moments and answer the second part of your question,

I liked the Mission Impossible movie. I liked Mission Impossible. Reckoning Part 1. I liked it. I didn't love it. Like, I think objectively, it's a great movie, and it's, I mean, what really holds it together are some absolutely insane stunts. Perhaps some of the best stunts in the history of cinema. But I just think the story of the movie is just a little flat. I don't want to give too much away for people who haven't seen the movie yet, but the whole story centering around AI and like at one point, like changing the lights at this part. And, they're at, it was just a little far-fetched. And I just thought that Mission Impossible Six had a great story that from start to finish, had you, like, invested in everything that

was going to happen. And I think that most Mission Impossible fans would agree that number six is the best of the franchise and number two is not the best and the worst in the franchise. So I'm excited to see what they do for the next one. And I think that it's really setting up here. Like, I don't know how you can outdo that. motorcycle off the cliff and then fighting on the train. Those two stunts are so, so good. I don't know how you can outdo that for part two, but it's Tom Cruise and he is going to find a way. Brian Dowie on Instagram says, big fan of your pod. Any, no, we already got to that one. Sorry, Dane Mello on Instagram. Best way to grow a podcast. I'm already uploading weekly interviews and making

TikTok and shorts. This might sound like too simplistic, but, this was some advice that I followed really early on. If you're posting one interview a week, honestly, the best way to double your download numbers or at least come close to downloading your doubling your download numbers for the podcast is to double the amount of podcasts that you make. Like seriously, if you're getting, I'm making up numbers here, a thousand downloads a week from posting one episode a week, well, what would happen if you doubled that up? You probably get pretty close to 2,000 downloads.

a week. And I know that's a lot, especially if you're doing interviews, a lot that goes into making an interview and, you know, finding those guests and everything else that goes along with that. But I truly think that we're in a game right now. And I don't know how long this is going to be around for. But I think that we are in a moment of content creation right now where the more you create, the more followers you'll get, the more views you'll get. If you're monetized, the more money you'll be able to make from this. like there's really no diminishing returns from posting more content. So I think that that's, if you have the bandwidth to do it yourself, if you're editing your own videos, if you have the

bandwidth to do it yourself, I would say try to post as much content as you can. If you have the ability to hire someone out and have someone make videos for you, edit videos for you, I would say do that as well. But I really think that if right now you're posting one a week, try to make it two a week. If right now you're posting one short a day, why not try to make it two shorts a day? Or if it's seven a week, could you make it 10? I really think that that's a big part of it. These on-camera videos are doing so well. I mean, I personally could be doing a lot more than myself. I probably should be leading into that a lot more than I am. But I think that that's a really big thing is just like make more content. If you have the capability to do that, you know, if you have the

free time and the bandwidth to do that, that's what I would say is the best way to grow a podcast. And also, if you have the ability to do it, try to be a guest on a podcast that's within your niche or do a guest swap with somebody who's in your niche. Because the best way to find podcast listeners are to go on other podcasts because you know for sure that that person that's listening to that is a podcast listener. Oh, wow. We only have one question left here. So first of all, for all of these great questions. If you have a question for next time, send it in with the hashtag Ask CVV on all social media. This is from Big underscore Mo 83. As a man who's interviewed so many people, are there any people left that you'd say that you'd want to get an interview with?

Oh yeah. There's still a lot. And I've had people that are like, oh, you've interviewed everybody in the wrestling space. There's still so many that I haven't. Like Vince McMahon, I've talked about at great length, of course, he's at the very top of my list of someone I want to. And I want to I interview, but I also have never done an interview with Brett Hart, Scott Steiner, Sting, Edge, Triple H, Christian, Sean Michaels. Like, there's still a lot. There's still a lot of people that I want to be able to do interviews with. And of those people I just listed, I get, I think that all of them are probably possible. You know, they're all still with us. They're all still actively doing things in the wrestling space. So I think, I think it's possible. Of those, you know, I think maybe one or

two of those might even be able to happen this year. So, you know, stay tuned here. We'll find out. Could it be Brett Hart on Insight with Chris Van Fleet before the end of the year? Could it be Scott Steiner? Maybe. I mean, I've been in the same room as Triple H a bunch of times. He does all those press conferences for WWE. So, I mean, me asking a question at the WWE press conference of Triple H doesn't really count as an interview, but maybe down the line, this could turn in. into, I don't know, something else, maybe a longer interview with him. I guess we'll see.

All right, again, thank you for all of these great questions. I love doing these AskCTVV episodes. I love being able to disconnect with you one-on-one. We've got a ton of great guests coming up in the next few weeks. I'm actually about to head to Nashville. I've got a few in-person interviews lined up in Nashville. So you're probably thinking, who lives in Nashville? What wrestlers live in Nashville?

Well, stay tuned here. You'll see in the next few weeks, which interviews we did in Nashville. And I'll leave you with this quote from J.M. Berry, which I love so much. It speaks to this whole idea of being a full-time creator, being passionate about what you do. Not in doing what you like, but in liking what you do is the secret of happiness. Be great. Be grateful. We will see you on the next one for some more insight, my friends. 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. 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 it. Get up in here. The Jim Rome Show podcast.

What's your beef? Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You've been warned.