Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Billie Kay on WWE Release, Cassie Lee, The IIconics Breakup, Off Her Chops

Episode Date: October 4, 2021

Today's guest is Jessica McKay (fka Billie Kay in WWE). Jessica McKay is a professional wrestler and podcaster known for her time in WWE as part of the IIconics tag team with Cassie Lee (fka Peyton Royce). She joins Chris Van Vliet from her home in Orlando, FL to talk about being released from WWE in April, the new name of their tag team "The IInspiration", the issues that she has run into as an Australian trying to get a US work visa, the lessons she learned from Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and much more! 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.  For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://chrisvanvliet.com Follow CVV on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All systems are going. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Blaine! Well, here we go, my friends. Welcome back to another audio adventure on Insight. I'm Chris Van Fleet. Thank you so much for being with us on this one, as we're joined by a fellow podcaster, among many other things. Have you checked out Jessica McKay's podcast called Offer Chops

with a tag team partner, Cassie Lee, who you may know better as Peyton Royce? When you're done with this episode, give it a download and be prepared to laugh. Off her chops is what it's called. I mean, Cass and Jess are so funny on their own, but together, it's just magic. They're hilarious. So this is our second interview that me and Jessica McKay have done. The first one was almost exactly a year ago.

And obviously a lot of things have changed since then. The biggest being the fact that both her and Cassie were released from their WWE contracts in April. The other big one is we now know that Jessica is married and has been married since 2014. So she's been married for seven years. We talk about in this interview why that was something that she didn't want to put out there. I mean, think about it. Even though we know she's married, we don't even know what the guy's name is. We don't know what he looks like. So we talk about that and so much more. We obviously do know what Jessica looks like, especially if you follow her on social media. She's at Jessica McKay. And while you're doing things on your phone, give me a follow as well.

I'm at Chris Van Vleet. And make sure you're subscribed or you're following the show wherever you're listening right now. NWA wrestler Rush Freeman is our fan of the week because he left this review on Apple Podcast. It says, Insight is more addictive than pistachios. That's, I mean, that's pretty addictive. CVV is the man. I've been a listener of his program for close to two years now. The way he ends each show by asking his guests what they're thankful for has made me look at it from a different perspective. We tend to focus on the things that we don't have instead of valuing the things that we do have. Chris is a class act and treats each guest with kindness and respect. Even MJF.

He's an example of good things happening to good people. Thank you for the hard work and great content that you bring to your following, Rush Freeman and W.A. Thank you so much, sir. And it was so good to meet you. Wow, geez, that was almost exactly two years ago. Wow. Time is just, these last almost two years have been either the longest two years or the shortest two years. Isn't that crazy how that works?

But yeah, so good to meet you, Rush, and look forward to seeing you again in person sometime soon. And I'm going to keep reading one review on every single episode of the show. So if you have some time today, please leave a few words on Apple Podcasts. And I'll give you a shout out here on the show. for free. All right. This interview really covers the gamut from being hilarious at times, inspirational at other times. So did that did there? Yeah, the name of their new podcast or their new tag team is the inspiration set of the iconics. So yeah, it's inspirational at times and even emotional towards the end. Please welcome Jessica McKay.

Jay McKay. Oh, my. gosh, it's so good to see you again. I'm so interesting. Your bright, smiling face. You were so adorable. And yours as well, my goodness. A lot's changed since the last time we talked, and that was only about a year ago. I was just thinking that was, I'm pretty sure that was a year ago.

Yeah. It's wild. Yeah. A lot's changed. Not, you know, one of the biggest is you're sitting in a different room right now, and you had a, you had a, you just started getting into, like, YouTubeing and podcasting at that time. Yes. Walk me through. Walk me through everything from this last year.

We are currently in my office. And when we did our last interview, I was in my office. But I decided to redesign a little bit. Same room, but I ripped everything out and got this beautiful, like, white built-in wall and everything like that. So, yeah, same room. You can see my little, my devil dog latte's playpen is back here. Yes. right now.

But yeah, I was getting into the YouTubeing. I'll be honest, it's taken a little hiatus. A lot of work. Yeah, it's just, it's a lot of work.

And then I was just like, it was in the pandemic. So then when everything started to open up and like real life happened, I was like, oh, I'm sorry, I can't do things. And then, yeah,

we've still got the podcast going with off-ha-chops. So it's kind of just been diverted. to the podcast priority now. Yeah, so by the way, wherever you're listening to this right now, you can listen to Offer Chops, which is a hilarious show. Thank you.

With Jess and Cass, and you guys are just like, you're like a comedy act without actually preparing the comedy. It's amazing. You're just naturally funny. It's so funny. Cass always,

she always freaks out. By the way, I'm so not that I can call her Cass and not freak out about saying Peyton. But I just realized that. Anyway, She's so funny She will like do an episode

And she's like No one's going to think that's funny And I'm like it's fine People like our bantile We just got to trust it Because we really didn't know How we would be perceived We just had this

Well she had this great idea of a podcast And I was like yeah let's do it Me and her are very similar We can't half ask anything We have to like put everything into it So we did a lot of work To kind of build this brand very quickly Because we needed it released by a certain time

And we've just been very overwhelmed with how it's been perceived. And it's just, it's so cool. Because we literally are sitting in my dining room talking about shit. And it's so nice when we see the tweets and the comments. And it's just making people laugh and just bringing a smile to their faces. It comes out like obviously late Thursday night here Friday morning. And then it's Friday afternoon back in Australia. are. So like we get so many people listening to it back home on their way home from work or just

something like that. And it's really cool just to kind of be a little bit of a light in someone's day. Well, and the thing about podcast is so great is you get to be a part of someone's life. You get to be a part of someone's day. Like they bring you along as they're driving to work or they're at work or they're walking their dog or whatever it happens to be. And, you know, if it was a few minutes as a part of R or Smackdown that you were part of their life, now you're part of their life for like an hour every week. Yeah, it's a lot. And we made the decision to kind of open up a little bit more on the podcast.

We have spoken about some heavy topics, some things that we have never said before. But we thought that was important because we're not with WWA anymore. This is an opportunity for people to get to know us as scary as that was. But yeah, I think we just, what's today? Let's say it's quince. Oh. Yeah. Anyway.

We have like episode 19 coming out this week. So it's just it's, I can't believe we're already up to 19. And I know that's not a high number, but it just seems like yesterday we were like still thinking about what our podcast could be like. Well, when you're doing them once a week, 19 is almost half a year. I know. And then Cass wants to bloody get to 300. And I'm like, so it's a 300. You should start doing two a week.

I can't. I struggle getting this out. I can't. Oh, I've been too much. You talk about letting people in and like revealing a little bit of yourself. This is letting people know who Jess is rather than Billy Kay. Like, where was the divide there for you? It's so crazy.

I feel like I had this idea in my head when I was with WWE that Billy Kay had to be a certain image. And I couldn't talk about anything else and I didn't want to. I was extremely private. I didn't like I kind of let people know me, but I didn't really. It was just what you saw on TV, which was, you know, a couple of minutes, if best. Um, so when I was Jess and, you know, my handles changed on social media and it was my, my name, it was so strange having people call me just letting people like in on who I am and what my daily life is like and what I've been through my life. Yeah, for some reason, I just had that wall up with WWE because I think people think you have to

have a certain image to be in that company. Like it's very, you can't talk about certain things or and not that that's the case, but that's how I felt. I was like, oh, no, I have to be this perfect little superstar. And that's not the case, but I always felt that pressure. So it was nice to have that relief come through. So moving forward, your in-ring name is going to be Jessica McKay. Jess McKay?

What's it going to be? It's going to be Jesse McKay, which is what I went as on the Indies before I got signed. Okay, Jesse McKay. Should I title this video, Jesse McKay then? I don't know. Maybe we'll go Jessica McKay for this one. It's because it's different. It's such a little change, but like, I'm still.

letting everyone know Jesse McKay before they know Jesse McKay. And it's so silly because it's like two letters. But it's just, I'm enjoying this like time of like putting myself out there for who I am. Yeah. And when you talk about putting stuff out there, I think you surprised a lot of people when you were like, oh, by the way, I've been married for seven years. Yeah. It's so funny. I would have people that I worked with that I saw every week have no idea that I was married. it's something that my husband and I decided very quickly that we're going to keep private. He has his own career here. And I didn't want to put him in the public eye.

So I was very private. I'm private about my family too. I don't post pictures of my family. I very rarely talk about them on social media. I'm just, I feel like I'm just so protective of the people that I love. and I don't want to put them in, because let's be on our social media, is a pain me ass sometimes.

So I just want to, like, protect them from that and be that shield for them. So we made that decision, and it was for the best, and it was just not many people knew, to be honest, only if you were, like, a true friend that you knew that I was married. But, yeah, we've been together since we were 19. Yeah, and then seven years married. So we got married before I moved here. So we literally got back.

from our honeymoon and then I was like, okay, bye, and then I moved to America. And he didn't? He couldn't, because he's on his separate work visa, issues, immigration. So we were apart for about four months before he came over. Oh, wow. Yeah. So, I mean, I don't want to go off in too much of a tangent here, but how do you make a long-distance relationship work when they're 15 hours?

Is it a 15-hour time difference? Yeah. I want to say yes. I think it's like 14. But 15 sounds great. It was tough, but we actually had done long distance very early in our relationship. So it was nothing new to us. And when that happened and I got signed and I was, you know, in NXT,

I was like so laser focused that the time actually flew by so quickly. Plus I had cast there. And we were just legit so busy. So it would be like I wake up to a text, text back when I'm about to go to bed, I'd get a reply and it would just be that. But we were just, we knew that we were setting up our future, which was, and we had been waiting to do this for so long. So we were just, we were ready to go. So how did you decide now is the time you were going to let people know, yes, I am in fact married?

I think, well, when Kels brought up the podcast, I spoke to her and I was like, I think I'm going to let people know because I'd be holding it in for so long. So part of me wanted to let people know, but it was so scary. But I had that talk with my husband and I called him Snuggie. He's producer Snuggs as well on Twitter because he produces our podcast at the moment. Yeah, it was, I spoke to him about it and he was fine with it. He's still got a little bit of mystery to him. I still get people asking me if he's real because no one's ever seen a picture,

they don't know his name, that don't know what he does. And I'm like, no, no, no, that's fine. You just get a little taste of that because I still have to respect his privacy as well. Right. Well, congratulations. I mean, it's seven years overdue, but congratulations on your marriage. Thank you so. Also, congratulations on the podcast.

Isn't it crazy thinking that you're doing this in your dining room? Here I am in my corner of my apartment here. And this is being like put out for the entire world to hear and see. It's wild. When we were, we used a studio for the first episode, but then that didn't really work out. And we were trying to think. And I was like, we can do it at my house. And I'm walking around and we're trying to figure out where to do it.

And I just knew, knowing Cass and I, we need like space. We use our hands a lot. We move a lot. We need a table. like so I was like okay the diner and table that's our only place we're going to have to do it and we've kind of like a couple episodes we're in one share and we like kind of shifted at the corner so now we have like our setup down but it took some while to try and like figure it out but it's just it's so crazy that it's just in my dining room well and you never would have been able to do this like this is the silver lining of anyone who gets released from wb this is the silver lining they go all the things that I've always wanted to do now I have the freedom to be able to do it Absolutely. And that's when I got over the initial grief of it and I could think about all these things that I can do now and pursue and things that I had been passionate about for so long, but just didn't have the chance to do it. That definitely helped getting over that grief as well. I think I was so surprised when you and Jess, or when you and Cass released, I thought that you had so much more to share.

show and so much more to prove. Did you think that you'd be released? No. I was so shocked, to be honest. There had been rumors. I remember someone saying, I think they're going to do releases after media. And I was like, oh, okay, I didn't think they would.

Just because of the year before, they kind of did like a clean out, if that makes sense. But then I was like, on the other hand, oh, maybe they will. but I never thought that I was in jeopardy, so to speak. I mean, I was on WrestleMania literally four nights before I got released, and I had been told of a possible storyline that I would be going into. So that's where the blindside came from. And then, I mean, the first thing I did was poor chaos, and she was in a massage.

And then she finally called me back, and she told me, and I was just like, I was just, I was shocked for both of us, to be honest, because like you said, I felt like I had so much more to give and I feel like Cass had so much more to give too. Like they didn't even scratch the surface with us. Yeah, which I feel like wherever it is that you go next, it's going to be like, all right, well, here's what you missed out on. It's go time. Yeah.

Yeah. We're thinking about so many things and, you know, we definitely just still want to be a tag team. So, yeah, it's going to be exciting times ahead. So you want to move together as the inspiration now, which is the name of the tag team. How much fun did you have? Obviously, we know how much fun you guys have together. How much did you enjoy going off on your own and showing what you could do? I really enjoyed it.

And I didn't realize how much I needed that until I got released. Because when the breakup of the Iconics happened, I was... I was so lost. I was so lost. I felt like a piece of me was missing. I just didn't know what the hell I was doing. And I would be thinking of what this character could be, where she could evolve.

And I was really struggling. And TJ was the one who really helped me just embrace who I am. Because I would vent to him, every week at Smackdown and being like, I just don't know what I'm doing. And he would listen to me and he would talk to me about it. And when I told him my idea about the headshot resume and just what I wanted to do, I was like, I'm just going to go full comedy. Like that's where I feel comfortable.

He supported it. He's like, let's do it. Let's do it. And then every kind of match that I was in or involved with, he was just so supportive of all my ideas that I had. He would take them and make them even 10 times better. the girls were amazing too. That locker room was so special to me.

So it was a time that I needed to be on my own and to grow as a performer and a person as well. So I am glad that I got to do that. So was this whole gimmick with the headshots your idea? So my first promo after being drafted to SmackDown, my first promo that I was in, it was given to me. It was in the promo.

And they said, you're going to hand a headshot resume to Pierce. And I was like, okay, cool. And then we shot it. And I was like, I felt like there was something there. And I went up to the writers. And I was like, it was just a cluster of them there. And I said, I want to keep doing this because no one knows who I am on my own. And I said, I would love to just keep doing this.

And I'm like, yeah, let's wrong with it. It took a little bit of time to get, like, caught on. but I was emailing a list of who I could do it with. I was like, this is so like neutral. It could be a female, a male, a re-announcer. It could be anyone. And then I would say if you, on the pre-show, if you have 30 seconds you need to feel, I'll be there.

And I can just insert myself into any situation. And I think that's what really helped because I was on, I was at every pay-per-view. I did a couple of pre-shows and then, you know, it was the rumble and everything. So I thought it was just a lot of fun for me. This is why I came as such a surprise, though, because you had this new character, this new gimmick that was building,

it was getting over, and then at nowhere, it's like, well, that's over now, I guess. I know. And one thing that I wish, like, obviously, WrestleMania, there were fans of attendance, which I was so grateful for that I was there. Oh, my gosh. But it was so good to perform in front of people again

for the last time, and I didn't know that. And for my last match to be at WrestleMania, like I think that's a really cool thing. But I always wonder if there was fans when I was doing this regularly, if it would have picked up massive momentum and become more of a big thing.

I always wondered that because it's, you know, we were in the Thunder Dome when this was happening. Yeah. And I would, I try to self-social media. But I would check Twitter just to see if this was kind of something that people were liking or because this was something that I was just trying out. But I always wondered that if there were fans in the stadiums, how that would have been perceived the whole handshot resume character. That's such a good point because so many of these gimmicks got over because the crowd won them over. And they could change people's careers from the fans dictating what they like and what they don't like.

Yeah, like Daniel Bryan comes to mind. immediately. Yeah, totally. There have been so many that people have gotten certain opportunities, certain storylines, anything from the fans letting them know. But I feel like the best is yet to come for you. And I think that after you guys both got released, people went, all right, where are they going to go next? And can they go somewhere next? Because we know there's a lot of people who aren't American or don't have their green cards yet. Yeah. I have to figure that situation out. So when I talked to Cass, this was a few months ago. She was still working through that.

Is that where you guys are at now? Yeah, it's a long process. I know. I mean, I'm preaching to the fire. I feel like people don't realize how tough it is for non-citizens to legally work in this country. It just takes a lot of time, especially with COVID and the pandemic. Everything's backed up by two years. So everything's still processing still.

We're still in this little kind of waiting game, but everything's kind of been filed and done. So it's just the waiting game right now. But we're optimistic. We did everything the right way. And unfortunately, there's so many people in our position, too, that have been released, that aren't citizens, and they've got to figure it out on their own,

which was what we had to do. So it was very scary, very stressful. We didn't know what that meant for our immigration. we had to kind of figure it out on our own. But it was something that we just got done straight away and hopefully it's kind of done soon. I hope we don't have to wait two years. I didn't want you to put that into the universe.

Because it's just so stressful, not knowing and literally just sitting and waiting. It's like the most exhausting thing ever. And it's so hard not to think about it because you need it to do anything. But we're just staying positive. And you mean literally anything. So for people that don't understand this,

you and I had the same visa. You have that visa. It's an 01 visa. This is the performer visa, basically. It's the alien of extraordinary ability. Yes. That's what it's called. And what people don't understand

is you can only work for the company who has sponsored your visa. So you can't, Even if you get job offers elsewhere, you can't do anything unless a new visa is provided or transfer for that visa is provided. Exactly. Exactly. And it's just a lot of legality. And, you know, Cass and I never wanted to take shortcuts with immigration because we didn't want that to come and bite us in the ass down the road. So we've just taken every step by step, making sure we have all the right paperwork and all fees paid and all this kind of stuff. So we just want to do it the right way. Yeah, and it is a literal petition to allow this immigrant to enter the country and work legally, a literal petition. Big old, it's ridiculous how big it is. Yeah, well, best of luck to you.

Yeah. Now, I'm putting it out into the universe that it is, it's going to work. And everyone is going to, okay. Yeah, it's all going to be, it's all on me now. And we're going to see you guys pop up on TV and we're going to go, ah, a new visa. The maze is come through. But have you been thinking about what, not just what the next move is and where it is,

but what the evolution of your tag team will look like? Oh, yeah, absolutely. Cass and I've had numerous discussions on kind of what this evolution would be. Obviously, everyone knows our tag team and the inspiration. So, yeah, we spent some time pitching ideas, which are they like literally with pictures and all this other stuff

and showing each other and figuring out what this meant and it's been really fun because we don't have any boundaries anymore. We can literally do whatever we want. So it's just been a really good time to reconnect with what we really want to do. You guys really are the inspiration.

Like when you think of your story, think about this. You grew up in Australia and growing up in Australia, and I mentioned this to Kamm, there's no one you can go, I want to be like that Australian wrestler who went to WWE and made it big. That wasn't the case until you're much older. And I think Teneal was the first one to really do that.

Yeah, Teneal was the first one where it was like, oh, this is possible. Still a big dream, but it's definitely possible. Because, yeah, we just, there was no one to, I mean, especially for a female wrestler. Like, it just wasn't a thing back then. but now there's a massive influx of Australian women in the WWA and it's just, it's freaking awesome. Yes. So where did this start for you?

Like obviously, you know, you want to be a wrestler and you're doing everything you can to try to line yourself up for that. But when does this dream start to become something more than a dream and it seems to start to become a reality? Gosh, I want to say probably when we found out we had, there was talks of a tryout happen. I feel like that's the reality here because I had been doing the independent scene for a while traveling all over, coming to America to train with certain companies and stuff. But I feel like I never had that in because back then social media wasn't what it is now.

And I would literally send promo packets with like a DVD. This is back in the day, a DVD of my matches, a DVD of my promos and like promo pictures. and I would pack it all up and send it to the PC or FCW. And I would do that every, I think, like, three months. I would send a different package and keep going. So it was just, it was just always, like, so far away, like physically. And then just like, it's just a crazy big dream. But that's what I wanted to do.

So I feel like when we found out there was rumors of a try it happening. I think this was like early, maybe March, that it was happening in August. It was like, oh, this is what I've waited for. And I feel like that was the reality of, okay, I have to start getting my life set up. That's when my husband and I started talking about moving over. Like, we, when I say I had everything lined up for when I signed that contract, I had everything lined up because Cass and I knew that we were going to go to that tryout and we were going to get signed.

Like, I was not taking no for answer. And neither was she. And we were just like, if you're in that room, we were like, we were so focused and just ready to go. We had prepared months diet training. We got, like, we were so poor back then. We were working like three jobs, barely surviving. We got our hair and makeup done, which was like a big thing, bought all new outfits. We had new gear made. Like, we were like ready to go. And then when that happened, I was like, sign the contract. I was like, we're good. I've set my whole life up. So it was, it was such a crazy year because that's the year.

I actually got married as well. So it was just everything happening in that one year. And it's crazy to think that one year set up where my life would ultimately end up. How many people did they end up signing from that try out? Me and Cass. Wow. Out of 40. Wow.

Yep. Can you imagine if it was you and not her or her or not you? No. No. I've got goosebumps right now. No. It's hard because when people ask this question, like they kind of ask her,

there's a couple of ways people ask like, oh, what would you do with that house or that kind of thing? I can't ever think of my life without her because she's always been there. And I don't even know what that would look like, what that would feel like. Because she's just been a part of me for so long. like we're going on 16 years now it's just i can't i can't think of my life without her

it's it's amazing that wwee saw in you guys what you see in each other yeah i did think about that totally because i i think the world of her like she is of the best person and when we got split up i was i was on board with everyone i was like She's going to be a damn star because I see her as that. And it's funny, like, she's my inspiration, you know, like, we vibe so well together. We just gel. She's just like my life partner. So it's, I've always known that about her.

She's just incredible. So is this why it's called the inspiration? You guys inspire each other. What is the name? What is the meaning behind the name? We were just spitballing one day. And I'm pretty sure. sure Cass came up with it and she's like look hear me out and she said it and I was like I love that

because and it's funny when we made that decision the amount of times that we say the word inspire or inspiration to each other I notice it every time now and it's all the time it's just crazy that we never kind of like really thought about that um but yeah can't can't get too into that you're you know, we're working out those details. You know, it's funny because Cass told me that right before she got released, they were talking about having her do like an inspirational speaker type of gimmick.

Yes. Yeah. What was that? Peyton's... I can't remember the name of it. But yeah, it was an inspirational speaker. I remember she was talking to me about that. And I was like, that's, that's all. Like, yeah, that's great.

You know, she was just finally getting something. She's like, yeah, it kind of reminds me of, like, you know, code angle in three eyes. And I was like, that's incredible. Yeah. And that's the other thing.

We finally thought that we were like starting to get somewhere and then it just never happened. I mean, I think that all great tag teams eventually break up. Like I can't think of too many that haven't broken up. So I thought for the iconics, one of you guys will turn heel or one of you will cost someone the match and then it will lead to this massive match at WrestleMania or something like that.

Why was the breakup done the way that it was? I didn't want to feud. I didn't want one of us to turn to heal on each other. That's just me being selfish. I wanted to leave it open-ended. I wanted there to be a reason for it, but I didn't want one of us to blatantly turn in each other. Only because we thought we would get back together in the future.

And also, I feel like every, tag team does that. Every tag team does that. And I was like, I want to be different. What's different? Breaking up but not hating each other. That's, you know, it's just, it's been done so many times and we were always

trying to think of what's different, what hasn't been done. So when that stipulation, when we found out the stipulation, like the loser, no longer a tag team, I was like, oh, perfect, you know, kind of fits what we were going for, hopefully, because they could have, you know, booked anything. but I'm glad the creative kind of stayed in that direction. But that was always, I personally always wanted to end up mutually, so we could always come back to each other easier.

It sounds like you actually had some input in this, which isn't always the case. Yeah, I mean, we were spitballing ideas and stuff, but at the end of the day, you hope for the best, because you could show up and it's going to be completely different. And that was a lot of us talking. and just trying to figure out what we would prefer, because we didn't know when it was happening,

and there were still kind of question marks around it. So we were just trying to figure out what we would like. And then when it actually did happen, and we found out the stipulation, and I was like, okay, this is, we can work with this type of thing. Yeah. So there was a week where you couldn't perform or weren't there, and Cass was like, yeah, well, like, book me. Put me in a match.

You know, let me show you what I got. And she seems to feel that her saying, like, let me show you what I've got, was them thinking, oh, she wants to be a single star. Yeah, I feel like, and I'm not sure of the actual timeline stories, but from what I can remember, because I wasn't there was like, Vince saw Cass in the ring in a singles match. I thought she's incredible. She's a style. Yeah. I feel like there was, like, duh, yeah. And I feel like there was, what do we do with the archonics?

Maybe we should just split them up. I feel like that kind of sparked the conversation. But again, this is all, I wasn't there. And then you don't know what said behind closed doors. You don't know what said in those meetings. So I have no idea what the direction they thought was. But, I mean, we still had like a little time together after that she had that thing that was match. So I feel like they were still trying to figure it out what we could do and stuff.

So, yeah. But like you said, tag teams, I mean, unless you're a bloody new day, which I would have loved to beat a tag team for that long. But it's kind of inevitable that you evolve and kind of go separate ways. But I was glad that there was a draft coming up because I knew that I needed, like, they needed to put us on separate brands. It's like New Day and the Young Bucks. And that's it.

And that's it. It's just two. Everyone in the comments is going to be like, yeah, but what about this tag team? Yeah. Yes, everyone, you are right. Hold your horses. So what do you envision for you guys in the future? Like, what are you most excited about now?

I'm excited, honestly, just to be a tag team with Cassigan. Because we had time away and I loved that. But when we're together, it's just so, it's, I want to say it's easy. but that sounds like a bad word. It's just so, it's just so good. Like we just, our chemistry,

you can't match it. There's no one that has that chemistry. And it's just nice having someone that's got you back, to be honest, and that will look out for you and that, you know, inspires you and stuff.

So I'm just looking forward to that and to just having no boundaries. Like, we are so excited just to like not even think about, well, this person does that. We can't do this because of that. Or they said you can't do this. Like, it's just, there's none of that anymore.

So that's what we're really excited for. You don't have to tell me where, but do you know where you want to go next? I mean, we're still, we have to sort out immigration first. And that's a tough thing. You have to be able to legally work first. And that's the thing. Like, it's on, it's literally on pause. Like, we can't, we can't do anything until that's sorted.

So that's the other frustrating thing. That's part of the waiting game. Yeah. Do you think about life after wrestling? Do you think about what's next after that? Yeah. I feel like when I got released, I really had to look at that because that was the other confronting thing.

I was like, what do I do? Like, this is insane. When I got released, I was 31, just about to turn 32. And I was like, this is life. what I was just so confused. I didn't know what I wanted. But I quickly figured that out after the shock and grief kind of went away.

But I've always been into acting. And I feel like that's like all the people that get released, say, oh, I want to get into acting, I want to get into acting. Because we are performers. You know, we are on stage performing. But I've always been the biggest movie buff. My favorite memories of my brother and I,

growing up, obviously I'm watching wrestling, but then also him showing me movies. I would sneak into his room after school every day and watch and bring it on like 10 times. It was just like he showed me like TV and films and I just fell in love with that. And I've been doing acting classes for about a year now. And that's, I just fell in love with it. And you know, a lot of people say like, oh, I'd like to be an actor, but I had that feeling, but I didn't know if I would love the process of that. Because it's very much like wrestling.

You have to just, you have to jump in and you have to make it your whole life. So when I started the lessons and it's an acting school in Orlando, I fell in love with it. I fell in love with the process of breaking down a script, the homework that goes into it, memorizing, becoming this character, the classes with all. my fellow, like, classmates. Like, I fell in love with that. And I'm so glad I did because I didn't know if I would ever love something as much as I loved wrestling.

And that was very scary for me. I was like, like, that's what I wanted to do my whole life. And now, like, what does that mean? And you've got to think about, like, five, ten years from now. Like, when I can't wrestle anymore, what do I do with my life? Yeah. So I'm so thankful that I found another. and I fell in love with acting because now I can have both.

I imagine this is like a real identity shift because your whole life, you're training to be a WWE superstar. You want to be a WWE superstar. You become a WWE superstar. You're doing it. You're living the dream. And that it's taken away from you. And there has to be a moment where you go,

but this is the thing I've always wanted. And now I don't have it anymore. So what's next? Yeah. It was such a shock. And there are still good days and bad days. But it was, it was, yeah. I just felt like I didn't know who I was at all.

Because you're right, like my whole life, I'd be trying to get to WWE and to have that, like, ripped away from you. It was, I'm sorry, I'm going to swear, but it was fucking hard. Like, people don't realize the amount of, like, that was my whole life. Yeah.

Like everything I did was to be a superstar, a W&E superstar. And you're in this bubble. And you're in this bubble, you know, traveling and training and being on shows and it's amazing. But then when you're out of that bubble, it's like real life just like floods in. And you're just like, what the hell? But it was, it was tough. Like there was, I didn't leave my house for like three weeks. I couldn't talk to my family.

Like, I was so, like, embarrassed and, like, just ashamed. And I really had to, like, figure out who I was. And it's the crazy thing because I had to figure out who I was without Billy Kay. And that sounds so silly. But it's, like, you really have to, like, leave her. I had to, like, say goodbye to her. Because she wasn't, like, she'll always be a part. of me, but I had to like let her go because I didn't want to be defined by Billy Kay.

Like that's a part of me, but that's not who I am. So it was so hard trying to like bring out Jessica again because I've been Billy for so long. And I love Billy so much. I think that's what the other thing that hurt so much is that the world won't see her again. And she was like she was fucking cool. Like she was amazing. So it took a long time to kind of get Jessica out again. My family really helped with that.

It must be really hard to not take it personally, but you need to know, Jess. It has nothing to do with you at all. Yeah. And I realize that now, but it's just when you're in that moment and, you know, my whole life was around, under my work.

Like, I didn't, I didn't do anything else. Like, I don't have friends. Like, I would stay in my house because I needed to work out. I needed to meal prep. And then we were traveling. So I needed to, like, get my gear stuff ready. It was my whole life just revolved around WWE. You put so much into it.

But now I want to have that balance. I want to have that healthy balance. And it's crazy. Like I was always like so stressed and anxious and just on edge. And it wasn't until I think about him, I think about two months later or three months later. My husband looked at me and he's like, you know, you're a totally different person now. And I was like, what do you mean? And he goes, this weight has just been lifted off your shoulders.

And he's like, I don't know if you can see it. But he goes, it's not in day difference. So I can see it. And I was like, oh. I just, I always used to put so much pressure of myself to be perfect and it's just not realistic. So now I can just be myself and not have any expectations or have to prove anything to anyone. I'm just going to live my life the way I want to and be happy. And whatever's next for you guys is going to be so big.

Wherever it is that you go, you're going to make such a huge impact, huge splash there. I hope so. I hope, I hope everyone still roots for us because... Come on. I know. It's just been a while. It's been a while, but also, like, all of these other big appearances have happened like the day after that they've been able to do that. Yeah. I think that people are going to see you guys and go, oh, yeah.

They're out there. Oh, my gosh, this is amazing. Oh, I hope so. I hope so. I hope everything can get sorted and figured out and bloody immigration. But yeah, I really, I hope so. And that's what's exciting for the future as well. Yeah. I have my fingers crossed for you guys that this gets taken care of sooner rather than later

because I know, I know from doing it. It's not an easy process and it's not a short process. And it's not a cheap process. No. No, it is not cheap. That's why I'm just like, can I just get the green card? because damn, you're cleaning me out, man. Yeah, don't worry to tax write off, though.

That's true, yeah. Like that, oh, it's funny, though. I feel like Cass and I have kind of spoken to you and Renee the most about immigration, and you guys both know being from... We grew up five minutes away from each other. Oh, really? We didn't know each other, really growing up.

We crossed paths when we were both on television in Toronto in our 20s, but she grew up one town away from me. That is wild. Yeah. Look it is now. Look at us, yeah. Actually, you can barely see me now. This is the earliest interview I've done over Zoom, by the way.

I was going to say it got dark. Well, the sun rose over here. Oh. You're on the East Coast. I'm on the West Coast. The sun rose over here and see how bright it is. But I'm hidden behind a shadow here. Oh, bless you.

I thought it got dark. And then I was like, maybe he's light just to turn. turned off with that. It's so bright. It's like, you know, it's like the start of the Lion King over here.

You know, you talk about acting and your good friend, The Rock, has made a very smooth transition. Do you still, do you ever keep in touch with him? I haven't spoken to him in a while.

I'm very, I want to, I don't want to, like, infose. Do you know what I mean? I feel like some people had his contact information, they would have used that.

And I just want to be very respectful. Yeah. And, but I mean, all the interactions I've had with him were just a dream come true, like out of this world insane. So I want to rein on a good term with him. So if I ever do need to give him a call or anything, he will take that call. What do you think is the biggest thing that you learned from DJ, whether it's something he told you or something you just observed from him?

What do you think is the biggest thing you learned? I mean, when you look at his career for a, and foremost, do you think, like, wow, like, he just hustled. And I really respect that about him. And then when we met, it's very simple, but he just said keep going. And I've kind of never forgotten that because amongst all the shit and negativity and drama and, you know, immigration and being upset and overwhelmed, you just have to keep going because, you know, I have goals that I'm going to reach.

So I always have that back in my head. Just keep going. Yeah. Yeah. And my nose is running. I'm so sorry. It's not everywhere. Well, we, and I'm in the dark over here.

You're. I'm a grand old time. But look, if I go just slightly to the right here. I can just see your nose outline and your eyebrow. It's so good to be able to catch up with you. I probably just should have flown to Orlando and done this in person with you. Mate, next time, come on over

and we'll do a two-for-one. We'll do it in your theater room. Yes. I have to show you that still, yes. This sounds great. Speaking of The Rock, what is your favorite Dwayne Johnson film? There are so many.

Oh, my goodness, me. You've put me on the spot. Okay, I'm going to go, it's an oldie, but I feel like I used to watch this over and over and over and over again probably walking tall Oh, that's so good That and the rundown, it's like fantastic moves

The rundown too, yeah, see, okay, So I was thinking of the rundown, but it was called something different in Australia That's right Okay, so I didn't want to say that and then sound like an idiot because it's, but I couldn't understand, I didn't know what the one over here was called

Okay, so it's a rundown over here, okay, yeah What was it called in Australia? Um, well, the, God, they all had different names. Or the rundown. All of his films had different names. I'm going to look this up. Australia. I am so curious.

Um, but I think it was just the rundown that had a different name. Yes, the rundown. What's that called? Let's see if we can, uh, I don't, I don't even know if we can. Oh, welcome to the jungle. Welcome to the jungle. Yes. Wow.

Put it up then. Wait. Okay. I'm so glad you figured that out. Yeah. Well, yes. Welcome to the jungle. was

over there. We've got fun and games. Yeah. So if I had to choose to definitely welcome the jungle

because I just loved his early stuff because that was when I was like heart eyes and everything. But he's incredible now and it's so like

everything that he does and just like wow. Yeah, what he's evolved into is pretty incredible. It's just a whole freaking

life brand franchise and it's incredible to see. I always like to remind people that, yes, what The Rock is doing now is incredible and he's so insanely successful. The Rock also failed at his dream to become a football player. And instead of going, well, I got cut from the CFL, that's the end of my career. He went, all right, well, what's next? And what can I do even better than this? And I think there's such a lesson to be learned there and nobody talks about that. That is so true. Damn, you need to

like write that down and put it out into the universe. I should, that should be my TED talk. The Rock is a failure. That's what I should call my TED Talk. Start that off for the bag. What's true? The Rock is a failure. It's a failed football player.

It's so true. I love that you said that because I'm going to probably hold on to that. Because that's really, that's really amazing. I actually asked the Rock during an interview, I said, if you could go back and change things. So you could live that dream. So you could be an NFL player, which was your goal and your dream. Would you go back and change anything?

Obviously, things worked out for you, and he said, I wouldn't change anything. Sometimes in life, the best things are the things that don't happen. Absolutely. I was like, oh, it's so good. And he's just so smart and wise. Yeah. Isn't he the best? Let me just have a discussion about him.

Well, the next one. I'll just be an hour about the rock. About the rock. That's fun. I end every interview with the same questions. So you see behind me here, be great and be grateful. and I start and end every day. I don't know if you can see that because it's so dark now.

I got to remember, I can't do interviews until the sun has come up here. It's so bad. No, it's okay. I barely do this time. You're getting darker and dark. Although this was where I was sitting two minutes ago. So. I had to shift.

What are three things in your life that you're grateful for right now? Oh, my husband. Your secret husband? Yeah. Obviously my family, but we can clump that together. I will say Cassie, but that's another person as well. So maybe we'll just go people into one category. I'm going to save my life because I feel like I'm exactly where I need to be. I need to be great for that. And also my health. yeah I have I'm healthy right now and it was funny I had acting class last night and someone brought that up of how they'll be grateful because they were fully bought like bodily

they're fully body fully body I don't know English they were able to do everything and they were healthy so that evil bodied last night what was say able bodied is that one body that's it I'm horrible at talking. Yes, I will go ahead. So I definitely say that. I'm appreciating that right now. All right.

I appreciate you. Thank you so much. I appreciate you. Thank you for having me back on. I was so excited when you text me. I was like, yay. I just wanted,

you know, I wanted to catch up with you. And I also wanted to get you before you become a mega star that you're going to become. I'll always come back. Thank you so much. I can't wait to see what's next for you.

Thank you, darling. I appreciate that. Isn't she great? Big fan of Jess and Cass. Big fan of Jess and Cass together as well. Excited to see where the inspiration goes next. They just announced on their podcast that their visa situation has been taken care of. They can now legally work in the U.S. for any company.

So it's just a matter of time before we see them make their debut. Their podcast, again, is called Off Her Chops. you can find it wherever you're listening to this right now. And speaking of finding things, you can find Jess on social media at Jessica McKay. If you're not following me already, I'm at Chris Van Fleet. And with all the change that she's been going through, and I'm sure you're going through some change as well in your own life, this seems like a fitting quote to leave you with.

The great Albert Einstein once said, life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. Be great, be grateful. We'll see you on the next one for some more insight. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock, but there was one band that had it all.

Hammer Alley. Whatever happened to Hammer Alley? How did they go from top of the rock? I'm looking for a music video. They're a band from 1987. Hammer Alley. Ever heard of them? To Rock Bottom.

Dude, I was born. in 1987. I can't believe he's doing this. Hammer Alley. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.