Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Bronson Reed On Destroying Seth Rollins, Tsunami On A Car, Throwing A Fan At Braun Strowman, WWE Return

Episode Date: October 8, 2024

Bronson Reed (@bronsonishere) is a professional wrestler signed to WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Ontario, CA to discuss his return to WWE and his recent rise up the card, hitting Seth Rollins with 6 Tsunamis, his many viral moments with Braun Strowman that also included a fan being thrown and a tsunami on a car, Wade Barrett's unique call of his finisher, winning the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal during WrestleMania 40 weekend, becoming a dad and more! Quote I'm thinking about: “Consistency compounds." - John C. Maxwell Complete this survey for your chance to win $500: https://bluewirepods.com/survey Sponsors: VUORI: Get 20% off your first purchase! Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet at https://vuori.com/cvv MANSCAPED: Get 20% off plus free shipping when you use the code CHRISVAN at http://manscaped.com HELLO FRESH: Get free breakfast for life at http://hellofresh.com/freeinsight ZOCDOC: Instantly book a top-rated doctor today at http://zocdoc.com/insight BONCHARGE: Use the code CVV to save 15% off your infrared sauna blanket at https://boncharge.com/cvv MAREK HEALTH: Get a 10% discount on Marek Health's Optimization Package with code CVV: https://marekhealth.com/cvv BLUECHEW: Use the code CVV to get your first month of BlueChew for FREE at http://bluechew.com ROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and experience financial freedom: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv PURE PLANK: The future of core fitness! Use the code CVV to save 10% on Pure Plank which was designed by Adam Copeland & Christian: https://gopureplank.com/ PLUNGE: Get $150 off your Plunge with the coupon code CVV150 at http://plunge.com For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you have ever enjoyed any of these episodes, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast or Spotify? 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

Oh, it is so good to see you, my friends. Welcome back to another audio adventure here on Insight. I'm CVV, Chris Van Fleet. Thank you for being here. And thank you for helping to make Insight the number one wrestling podcast on the planet. I don't know why I said it like that. It was almost like a promo there.

But thank you. What did you guys think of bad blood this weekend? I was there in Atlanta. I feel like I saw some things that maybe, you might not have caught when you were watching on TV. We'll break all that down on this Friday's AskCTV episode. But today, we have a big episode. Big Bronson Reed is back on the show and he has been killing it lately.

Think of all the viral moments that he's created over the last few months. The six tsunamis to Seth Rollins. The tsunami on the car to Braun Strowman. Actually, that whole match, really, that throwing Braun through a wall there, Also throwing a fan on Braun-Stromen. Crazy. We talk about all those moments, but we talk about the fact that he is a very different

Bronson-Reed, this run, compared to that first run when he was just in NXT. He was let go in 2021. They brought him back in 2022. He went straight to the main roster, and pardon the pun, but he's been putting some pretty big spots, and he's in a huge one right now.

Like, he is setting up a program with Seth Rollins, And this is a guy that at some point in time, I don't want to put a timeline on it, but if you think about the next year or two, that's a guy who's going to have a championship of some sort in WW. Snap a screenshot and tag us so we can share it out as well. Let us know that you're listening to this episode.

And if you're not already following the show, please do that as well on Spotify or Apple Podcast. He's at Bronson is here when you tag that screenshot. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. And let's do it. Enjoy this one with big Bronson Reed. You good? I'm good. Do I need to take the label off this or anything? No, no. That's fine. During a drink it. And you're sponsored by these guys. Yeah, so you can drink that. I mean, actually, let me know what you think. I think that that's the best flavor for sure, I think, strawberry lemonade. That is good. Yeah. I'm sure you're somewhat of an energy drink connoisseur. Yeah. Anything with a lot of caffeine is good. Anybody working the hours that you guys work,

Oh, yeah. You're, yeah. That and just like early mornings in the airports and stuff like that. Right. It's super short nights. Yeah. Yeah. And then I get home and then I have a baby at home.

So then it's that as well. Congratulations. Thank you. I haven't seen you since you became a dad. No. No. How's that going? It's good.

We're very lucky. She sleeps through the night. She's just almost seven months old now. Yeah. Since she was five months old, you slept. Oh my gosh. Yeah, seven at night until about 6.30 in the morning.

So I can't complain. It was like a year for us till. That's what everyone says. Yeah. Everyone says that first year is super hard. I get it. But it's fun as well. Also, the first night that they sleep through the night,

you're like, is everything okay? Yeah. What the heck? Like, you'll randomly wake up at like four in the morning and you check the monitor and you're like, yeah. Wait a second. I've done that a bunch of times. Yeah.

I have the monitor there and be like, wait. What? Okay, oh, they're moving. Okay, good, good. Everything's good. But congrats. I know it was a, it was an interesting journey for you guys. Yes, yeah, definitely. But congratulations on becoming a dad. I appreciate that. It's definitely changed my life and for the better, I think. Yeah, isn't it amazing how your whole perception of everything? Yeah. Changes when you're responsible for this little human being. Yes. Yeah, I mean, I guess your purpose and life changes a little bit, you know. I saw, Not that I was going through life without a purpose, but it's just everything now is about her. So it's good. I like it. Did you think you'd be in this position now where you're back in WWE?

I did. You know, I had a lot of faith that when I was released that I would end up back in WWE. I didn't think it would be so soon. So when I got released, I remember Drew McIntyre messaging me and talking about his experience. And he said it took almost seven years. years before he got re-signed. He did a lot, obviously, in the UK scene and stuff like that. So I was planning maybe three or four years, maybe I could get a good run in Japan for a couple of years and then be back in WWB. But then it ended up being 16 or 17 months I was gone.

Obviously, things changed. Hunter was sort of back in charge again. And I was always a hunter guy in NXT. And he reached out to me and ended up back. Was the goal after you got released, like, I'm going to do whatever I can to find my way back to WWA? Basically, yeah, yeah. Like, I've always had a big passion for Japanese style wrestling. When I started wrestling, I trained in the Inoki style of wrestling, the guy that trained me actually trained under Anoki.

So I always had a big passion for that. And I thought, well, if I can't do WWE, that's where I'll go. And then I ended up fitting really well. And then I had a decision to make whether to stay in Japan. ban and continue to pursue that or to come back to WWE. And I think for me, I've been a lifelong fan of WWE and I didn't get to do things like be on a Monday Night Raw or be on Smackdown or the PLEs or pay-per-views, what they used to call them. So that sort of was the like drawing force to bring me back. I still had a lot of moments. I think I needed to get ticked off.

What do you think they're seeing you now that they didn't see in you the first time around? Because you're being presented in a very different way now. Yes, yeah. I think Hunter or he saw it. Obviously, I don't think the other higher ups saw it for whatever reason. Obviously, I was babyface at the time. I've always said I worked better as a heel. And I tried to push for that in NXT and it didn't happen.

They wanted to keep me as baby face, which is fine. Now that I've back, I've been able to be a heel. But I sort of still was on the back burner for the first year or so, I'm one of those guys that is almost like a match guy, I guess you can say. You can throw me in there with a cruiserweight, someone like a ricochet, and I'll have like a great match, or I can go in there with someone like Braunstram and have a good match. They always know that they can get a good match out of me,

but it's those extra things that I think have elevated me in the last three months or so, which is attacking people and all the backstage stuff and just some viral moments, which I've always wanted to do. I mean, there's been some incredible viral moments. Yes. I think we'll begin with the six tsunamis was crazy. Yes, yeah. Was it supposed to be six? No. I think it was supposed to be significantly less. And then the way that it turned out, like with Hunter's vision, it just was more and more and more. And it was one of those things where you're listening to the audience and you can just feel a change in the audience as I was doing it.

You know, I hit the first two. Yeah. They're sort of booing. It looks like that. it. And then I go out for the third one, people sort of be like, what the hell's going on here? Then I go up for the fourth one. They can't comprehend it what's happening. And by the fifth one, they're chanting for more. There's like bloodlust amongst the crowd for someone that they love as well. They love Seth Rollins. And I was glad that it actually ended up working where after the sixth one, I left and they still started chanting like he's, you know, singing his music that he comes out to. So it was like it worked. But also chanting one more time. Exactly. Yeah, yeah. As much as they love someone like Seth Rollins or any of the, you know, the top guys that are that are super over, I guess that move now has its own law, the tsunami. And I always tell people, if you get to see it live, it's different to seeing it on TV. Sure. It's very impactful. So I guess to have six in a row, which I've never done.

But even seeing you in person, I think, you know, you look big on TV, obviously. But then you see you in person and you're like, oh, Oh, okay. Yeah, you understand it a bit differently. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I could not imagine laying on the canvas and all of this coming, hurdling at me. No, yeah. I've had many a wrestler say to me,

it's one of the scariest moments they've had in wrestling, laying there and seeing me like fly 10 feet in the air, but, you know. When you went out to the ring for that segment, was it finalized at that moment? This is going to be six? No. So at what point are you saying to Seth, stay down, we got another one coming?

During the, you know, as it's happening. So it's one of those things like, yeah, you know, he has to be willing to be able to be there and I have to be willing to be able to do more. But it definitely worked out and made for such a great moment in television. I think, you know, I had so much buzz around that. And then people online as well as saying they haven't seen something like that in, in WWW for so long way you can take someone to just propel them in one night with just one segment. not a match, nothing else, just brutality.

The commentary put it over the top. Yes, yeah. Michael Cole is very good at what he does. Man. Yeah, yeah. Somebody called a National Guard. Yeah. That's right.

That was a Pat McAfee line, right? I think that was Cole, right? That was Cole, right? Pat McAfee was, we need a tranquilizer. That's right, yeah. So obviously in the moment, like, I was like, okay, this is working out. Like just from your action of the crowd. And then once I went back and watched it,

I realized what a sort of like a pivotal moment it was for what I'm doing at the moment. And seeing the reaction of Cole and McAfee, definitely, yeah, put it over even more. There's very few people that have a defining moment in their career. Yes. There's really only a handful that you can think of off the top of your head. Yeah. That's your defining moment. Yeah, I think so for sure.

You know, I spoke with Hunter like right afterwards and he said like, that's a moment that will last forever. Like, they can replay that as much as possible. For me, I like to, I'm not going to say it's nowhere near as good because it's, you know, he's one of the best ever, but it's like Stone Cold at King of the Ring doing the 316 line. Like that promo, you instantly remember it and you instantly remember a switch and his character and where you went from then. And I'm hoping that people remember the six tsunamis are something similar.

I think that if we take it back just a little bit before that, when you got called Big Bronson Reed, yes. There was a real shift that happened there, too. Yes, that's true, yeah. So they were looking for a moniker for me, and obviously I used colossal in NXT, which was a hunter idea. And for some reason, they didn't want to go with that when I returned. I pitched a bunch of things.

So many different things. And then the most obvious, just the word big is what they went with. And that was actually a Vince McMahon call. So that was one of his last things. I think he sort of had to deal with myself before he, you know, they changed and Hunter was in full control. And then I heard maybe it would change, but it just stuck. WWB loves alliteration. Yeah, yeah. Big Bronson. Yeah, yeah. But I think giving you that moniker, it states the obvious, right? Like, anybody can look at you and go, yeah, it's a big dude.

Yeah. But when it's being reinforced every single time you come out there, I think it did something for your character. Yeah, I think so. I think people can always relate. Like, again, even though it is a little obvious, people can relate to it. Like, okay, that's the big guy. Sure. And I started realizing, you know, traveling in airports and I get recognized in Florida a lot, like going to Target or wherever I go to, people see me. And people used to say, like, some people would say Bronson or some people would be like, oh, you're the guy from TV. But now a lot of people would be like, oh, that's big Bronson Reed. Like, they always say big. So I'm like, it obviously, works, it sticks in people's minds.

You traveling on an airplane must be fascinating. Yeah. For the first, like, when I was in NXT and then when I first returned to WWI, I was still in coach, and then I had to do some contract negotiations because I'm like, I can't. I don't fit in one of those seats. Yeah, that's legitimately the thing. I'm like, I don't fit like I need first class travel, which I have now, thank God. Have you ever sat in a middle seat?

A few times back in my independent wrestling days. So when I was working for PWG here in Los Angeles. Yeah, way to call them out. Yeah. I think people know. It was a great breeding ground for wrestling, for sure. But the budget was, you know, something else. Sure, it's indie wrestling.

Yeah. And to have, like, independent company flying me all the way from Australia to L.A., like, it's a lot of money. But there was a few times I was stuck in the middle, and I was like, oh, my God, this is. That's like a 12-hour flight. Yeah, 14-hour flight from Sydney. Yeah. Yeah, awful.

But, you know, I got through it. It was all worth it in the end. If I'm already sitting on a plane, so you're talking, you know, the window person and the middle person, and you're walking down the middle of the plane. Oh, it's awful. Please don't. No, please.

No, not in my row. That's what everybody's thinking. I used to, like, yeah, with NXT, we'd travel a lot with, like, Southwest. And obviously, you want to get the A group so you can get in first. But there was a few times where I didn't get it. And I'll tell people that are in the row, like, please let me sit on the aisle or the window because it's going to be a bad experience for all three of us. Yeah.

If I sit in the middle. Look at the size of my shoulders, okay? Yeah. There was a few times as well. I don't know if it was a rib, but in the next to, me and Keith Lee got booked next to each other. Yeah. There was one flight that was Keith Lee, me, and Dan Mather. And it was just like this for like two hours.

I feel like they'd have to rebalance the plane. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Terrible. I was like, surely this has to be a real thing. rib, I don't know. Seriously. Yeah. But I'm glad you're flying in a much more comfortable seat now.

Much more now. Yeah, it's great. Like, I actually, not that I look forward to travel because I feel like in this business, you get used to going on planes, but at least I'm comfortable now. I can just put on my headphones and chill. Yeah. First class is much better. I don't know if I could go back to a flying coach.

Well, I mean, you get both armrest this way. Yeah, yeah. This way I'm chilling. I can recline more. I get food. It's great. Yeah. The stuff you've been doing with Braun Strowman's been, I mean, it's viral.

You've had so many moments. Do you go into them going, if we hit this right, people are going to talk about this? No, I don't think I didn't. You know, I was excited to be able to work with Braun. I think there was a natural chemistry there. Like we have maybe touched one time before in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal last year. And I was like, oh, we could do something there. me and him. But then it's like, what do you do? And then Hunter, obviously, had great vision

for things, came up with like the car angle and everything. And then once we were filming that, it's in the moment. I was like, okay, this is going to be cool. I think people are going to really, like, respond to this. And then it ended up being WBWA's most viral moment for the week. I think it got almost 13 million views across social media platforms. So it worked. But you can't practice that. No, you can't. It's one of those things like the car's there and it's like, if we practice it, we're going to destroy the car. So it just has to be. And that's also was all one live take as well.

Some people thought that maybe we stopped, recorded that earlier in the day or something and then, you know, did the rest live. And I was like, no, that's all one continuous thing. Everything me and Braun's done has been live. Man. Yeah. Do you, like when you're up there and you're about to jump onto the car, we're about to do the tsunami onto the car, are you thinking about your knee? Are you thinking about your knees? Sometimes, yeah.

I always wear knee pads. But I've sort of, I think from doing it for so long, like even in the independence, I used to do a frog splash. I stopped doing that because I injured myself once. And then I went to the normal style sort of splash. But I think my knees are so like conditioned now that it's okay. It's one thing to do it in the ring. It's another thing to do it on a car. On a car.

Yeah. It's one of those moments where like I climbed up onto the wall. And I did it earlier in the day just to see how high it was. And I was like, I'd be fine. And in the moment, obviously, like, it's live television show. You just have to go for it. There's a moment before you climb up there, before you do the tsunami on the car, where he throws you across the hood of the car.

Oh, yeah. And you land hard on the asphalt. Yeah. And nobody's talking about this. No, no one except everyone backstage when I got backstage just talking about that. Hunter thought I broke my neck or, like, cracked my skull open. They were hoping that I was fine. And it was just like just happenstance.

So he checked me across the car. Obviously, I didn't think about I was going to be all sweaty. And I just, that thing, I don't know if they buffed the car earlier, but I just slid straight off. And luckily, like, you know, from years and years of wrestling, I've always been taught to tuck my chin. And as soon as I felt myself going, I tucked my chin as much as possible. And I sort of just landed across my traps. Again, luckily I have big traps and stuff like that. I feel like someone else that could have been very bad for them.

I mean, when you watch it back in slow motion, it's like that actually seems legitimately scarier than the car spot. Well, it's the same as right before that, I get chokeslammed onto the other car. And because it didn't, for some reason, it didn't make like a big sound or anything. Yeah. But that hurt much worse than anything else in that segment. Like, I got picked up and thrown onto a car and I don't think anyone appreciates it. What's crazy is that a choke slam onto a car has been a big spot in other matches.

It's true. Yeah, yeah. And here it was just like, oh, that's just the thing that happens before this. Yeah. It's getting to that point now where we're doing some crazy stuff where it's like, what do we do now to try and want up that? And how do you? Yeah, it's hard. Yeah.

It's trying to be inventive and still stay within the realms of being, you know, nothing too crazy. I think things still need to be safe. But it's hard to come up with new stuff. Do you remember an oh my God moment when you were growing up watching? Yeah, I think for most people in my generation, I grew up, you know, through the 90s, it was Foley getting thrown off the cage, like off the hell in a cell. Like, I remember that distinctively seeing it being like, what the hell? Like, I'd never seen anything like that in my life. And then afterwards, you know, him getting up and coming back and doing the rest of the match, like, I remember seeing that and it sort of, I guess, I guess Mick Foley was a bad influence on me.

I remember being 13 and jumping off the roof of my of my house, like onto mattresses and stuff. Oh, man. Because of McFoly, yeah, trying to copy him. So, so it's not the first time I've jumped off of things. Him getting chokeslammed through when he wasn't supposed to fall through. It's like, oh, I cringe when I watch it. Yeah, I still now, like, I've watched that hundreds of times. And every time I watch it, I'm like, that's the, has to be the worst bump anyone's ever taken.

And then the chair falling in space. Yeah, following him. Yeah. The thing about the first throw is like, there's no build up to it. There's no tease of like, I might throw them. Maybe not. I might throw him. Maybe not.

Just out of nowhere. It's like off. Yeah. See you later. Yeah. Which I sort of love that because the crowd, not that the crowd wasn't into the match, but, you know, it happens. A pay-per-view, a lot of stuff has happened.

They're sort of Undertaker and follow you are up there. They're sort of, the crowd's a bit murmuring. And then out of nowhere, he gets thrown. And it's like completely obviously engages the crowd. And it also opens it up to if that. that's possible. What else can happen? If they're willing to do that, what else could we see? I know. Yeah. And I feel like sometimes those moments stand in the time where it's like, I don't know if you can top that. It's just the. And plenty of people have been thrown off hell

and a cell since. Or there's been big hell in a cell moments, but it's not the same. It's not the same. Yeah, yeah. I think that was the first, the feeling and just the way he was thrown and how he badly his body hit that, hit that table, the impact. Like, obviously he's a bigger guy as well. Yeah. Close to 300 there. Like, so those things, obviously, that I always tell people as well with me and Braun,

the reason that works so well is because we are so big as well. Like, if there was any two other people doing that sort of stuff, it wouldn't work the same. I mean, it's your big dudes. Yeah. That's 100 plus pounds. I've never worked with anyone as big as Braun. Like he's, he's definitely.

like a giant like you know he's six foot seven he's 365 pounds like for me to feel the impact of someone that's bigger than me is usually weird because I'm the big guy in there so yeah it's definitely been a learning curve as well with that do you work any differently when there's someone bigger than you in the ring yeah I think so I think pacing is a little different it's two big guys we can't be running around doing stuff like that um obviously everything that we endure every you know punch from Someone that big is different to a punch room, someone's smaller. And I think that's a problem. I'm not calling anyone out.

But in our business now, a lot of people will sell things the same for every single person. So they wrestle with someone. I can't even think of an example, but who's someone. Akira Tzauer, who's great. But I'm not going to sell for Akira Tzauer the same way. I'd sell for Braun-Strauman. But there are people in our business now because they're so used to just doing whatever routine. That's just the way they sell. Yeah, yeah, that's how they sell on. It's like, no, you need to change your, like every match should be different. Yeah. Yeah. You threw a human being. I did. You threw a fan at him. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He had a yeat shirt on, so. That's where it comes from. But what a spot. Yeah. I mean, I didn't expect that one to be as viral as it is. Like, that actually got the most views out of everything from that most recent match we did. I thought maybe going through the,

The wall would be more viral, but it was hit with the fan getting thrown. I think because people just aren't expecting it again. Yeah. Like where, you know, he's doing his train thing and then out of nowhere, you just see some guy come into screen. So it's totally unexpected in that moment. Yeah. Yeah.

And I, you know, obviously people understand how spots like that work. Yeah. But I think then there's some people who are sitting front row going, could that happen to me? Yeah, yeah. Could I become a human lawn dart in the next match? I had a lot of people say. that. You know what I mean? A lot of people like, he just grabs a fan and throw him in. Like, the thing is, I've done similar things on the independence where it was a fan.

It was an actual fan. Yeah. Yeah, but those crowds a little bit more wild and into the, show. So, but yeah, it definitely made for a great moment. So did you meet that guy earlier in the day and go, okay, so here's how it's going to work. I'm going to grab you like this. For the first time, yeah, but it was sort of like, just be ready. I'm going to throw you. You're like, I got you. Don't worry. Yeah, yeah. It's going to be okay.

Like, he was maybe like, maybe 180 pounds or something. It's like my size. Yeah, I was like, I can throw you. It's okay. Just stay open. I grab him by the belt and then see you later. Just launched it. Yeah, yeah.

So what else do you have up your sleeve? That's the thing. So I still do have a lot of things up my sleeve. There's still things that like I did on the independence that I haven't done in WWE. Like I've done the tsunami off the top of a ladder before. for. There's still that. There's still some dives that I haven't done. So there's still, there's still that. But then there's also, depending where me and Braunstroma goes, I assume it's getting more and more violent. So it has to be a hardcore match or something like

that. So most recently, so I'd never done any sort of like hardcore match in WWE, but on the independence, I did a bunch. Like growing up in Australian wrestling, it was sort of a staple in my home state. So I got to do it with the Mizz and you got to see a little bit of that, but there's a lot more that I could do with like weaponry. Oh.

Yeah. Anything could happen here. Yeah. Anything can happen. Yeah. The way Wade Barrett sells the tsunami is, it's just perfect. Perfect.

And since he's been back, he hasn't been able to say it yet. I haven't hit it since he's been back. So I'm a good point. Yeah, he's patiently waiting. Like the last two weeks, he's like, tsunami. And I'm like, no, yeah.

Soon enough. Did he tell you he was going to say it like that? No. So obviously, like I told him what the finisher was back in NXT. And he was like, I'm going to think of like a way to say it. And then he just instinctively just went with my motion, I guess. And it's perfect. Like his voice, everything.

And everyone wants him to say it. Like there's nothing against like Michael Cole. Great. Everyone's great. Everybody loves Michael. Yeah. Come on. Yeah.

But everyone wants wait to say it. I mean, he's like, he punctuate. It's something about his voice and the way he does it. It's just perfect. This episode is brought to you by Timeline. Timeline is a Swiss-based life science company, and they're a global leader in urolithin A research. So what's urolithin A? It's a powerful postbiotic that's nearly impossible to get from your diet alone. Mitropure is the first product to offer a precise dose of urolithin A to upgrade your mitochondria function, increase cellular energy and improve muscle strength and endurance.

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you know, perching yourself up, getting your balance and then jumping. There's something, I don't know, maybe it's almost ominous about the way you climb it like a ladder. Yes. And then you climb and jump off as you're climbing. Yeah. So I used to do the tsunami two feet up on the top rope in NXT, jump and do it. And then when I was going to New Japan, I was watching a lot of old Vader matches,

a lot of a Bam Bam Bigelow. And I noticed Bam Bigelow used to step one foot and dive to do his headbut. And I was like, oh, that's different. And I think anything that's different in this business, even if it's something small like that stands out. So I'm like, yeah. So I was like, I'm going to try it.

And I tried it for the first time in Japan. It worked. And I was like, this is going to be how I do it from now on. Yeah. Because it is different. And now, luckily, because people are getting more receptive to the move. They know as soon as I get to the apron, I can feel the crowd starting to come up with every step. So yeah, it's definitely worked out. I'm trying to get the law around

that move where it's like, you just know tsunami, you know the stone called stunner, you know, these things. Hopefully people will correlate the splash with tsunami. I think they're, yeah. I mean, there's a lot of other people doing splashes in WWW at the moment. It doesn't look like that, but it's different, yeah. Yeah, it's a totally different approach to it. It's true. Yeah, yeah. What do you think of these comparisons to some of the iconic big man in wrestling? I mean, I'm always flattered. Like, I do watch a lot of those guys. Like, like I said, Vader, Bam Bam.

Even more modern stuff, like I grew up, you know, my teenage years were sort of shaped by like a Samoa Joe, which is like, he's a big man, but he's a little bit more athletic. I think that's sort of where I went down that road a little bit more. Yeah, when he was in the X division, people went, oh, he's a big man, but he can move like that. Oh, yeah, yeah. He's a freak of nature for sure. Definitely. So, yeah, he definitely helped shape my, like, early indie career. And then as I got to WWI, I sort of went more towards, like, a Vader or a Bam Bam. Yeah, a lot of comparisons to Bamben Bigelow.

Yeah, I mean, I did the Bam Bam Bigelow gear in NXT. Like, I did the flames and stuff. And I still wear flames now, but that's about to change. I'm changing it to waves for the tsunami. So you get to see that soon. Okay. The gear's coming soon. I've also heard comparisons to Mark Henry's Hall of Pain.

Yes. Like what you're doing right now and just the anger that's behind it. Yeah. Reminds people of what he was doing with the Hall of Pain gimmick. I love that as well. Like, I was a big fan of Mark Henry and what he did. So if I can get, I want to keep it that way as well where like everything I do has a sort of violent nature behind it that's a little bit more distinctive or a little bit more aggressive than the other heels on the show. Yeah.

And he's been someone like with what I. I was doing, he reached out to me and like, just spoke to me about like how he did it and stuff like that. He's, again, another great mind for wrestling. But I think me doing what I'm doing sort of excited a lot of the older big men in the business to where, you know, Mark Henry said there hasn't been someone like big man that can move and do the things that you do in a long time that they would actually get behind. So hopefully it stays that track and I keep going on at this. Yeah. Also, this being a natural disaster, the tsunami, there's the comparisons to earthquake. There is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I like that as well. Like, you know, I said you could have earthquake, typhoon, tsunami. And I said eventually, Dozer would be landslide.

Otis landslide. Yeah. I said, if all else fails, me and Doza can be the natural disasters, 2.0. Have you guys wrestled? We have. Yeah, yeah. We had a few matches last year. Again, I think because it was sort of just in the midcard, it was just some, a couple of matches. And they're all, they're all. They're all. of really fun. And then we did a bunch of live show loops against each other. But I think now, given the change in my character and his as well, it'd be way more over because he's more over as a baby face and I'm more over at the heels. Yeah. That might be something we could revisit. What's the trajectory you see with where your character's going? I said like, I think I said it in a video when I was walking backstage and it was just, I'm always sort of talking shit when I'm walking around the ring.

Sometimes I've got to watch myself as well because I'm Australian and I swear a lot. So Hunter has told me a few times like, hey, just remember there's cameras on you at all times. I'm like, okay. But I said to a camera like, I'm a top guy now. That was after I did the six-year-old Mr. Seth. And that's what I want for Bronson Reed. I want him to be involved in that main event scene in the World Heavyweight Championship

scene. I know like Gunther is the champion. You have a hill champion. So maybe that makes that a little bit more difficult. But I think there's a lot of like top names that I haven't worked with yet that are big baby faces. Obviously, whenever Seth is cleared and to come back, there's a story there with me and Seth. I'd like to work with a CM Punk, Ray Mysterio, and even John Cena in his back. So I think it'll be a perfect, I'm the perfect John Cena heel.

You know, the matches he had with like Maga and those guys, like, I'd be perfect against him. Oh my gosh, that could be great. Yeah, yeah. But whether that happens, I don't know. Like, that's all just stuff I'd like to do. Yeah. It's up to WWV. It feels like you could be inserted into the intercontinental picture immediately.

Of course. Yeah. And I mean, there was an opportunity there and, you know, you had to take some time off. But I feel like that just feels like it makes a lot of sense. Yeah, I think a lot of people would like to see Bronson versus Bronn. I think that's cool match as well. Like, we've never touched at all. Never wrestled at all.

But, like, again, if people compare me to the Vedas and stuff of the past, obviously they compare him to his uncle and his dad. Seeing Vader and Bam Bam versus Steiner's in Japan was incredible. We do a modern version of that. It'd be pretty wild. Did you think at the start of the year that any of this was possible? I mean, I was hoping for this when I first debuted, if I was to be honest, And that's nothing against the way I came back to WWE.

I came back and I helped the Miz win his match. I think he was feuding with Dexter at the time. But I feel like what I did with Seth was how I should have debuted. Yeah, there was something, and I mean this with great respect. There was something that was underwhelming about your return. Yeah, I think it was sort of, this happens at times. Like, obviously I'd been rehired. They want to use me.

They don't really know what to do with me. So they sort of just rush something. can put you in something. So you're at least on TV. They can start to establish you and stuff. But I'm like, I think the best way to do things is just to make them impactful. I did something similar to what I did with Seth with TNA when I went there. Impact Wrestling.

I attacked Josh Alexander on my first night. I only gave him three tsunamis. Just three. But it was enough to be like, oh, my God, this guy is an instant threat against one of the main guys here in TNA. Like, what's he going to do? And I think that's sort of what I should have done in my debut, WWB. But that's out of my control. But on the other hand, it was right onto the main roster.

Yes. You could have gone back to NXT. That's true. That could have been your return, but it was right onto the main roster. You're in there with future Hall of Famer and the Miz and aligned with him. There's a lot of pros there. But I just think that people expect returns to be the big, oh, my God, this person's here. Yeah.

Yeah. And that's what I think it could. have been that, but yeah, it just didn't work out that way. And yeah, that's nothing against the people I worked with. Like I said, the Miz is incredible. I've learned stuff from him in the last couple of years, especially with promos. I've been able to do some promos with him,

and he's like a master of that stuff. Andre the Giant Battle Royal and winning that. Yeah. Is there a plan after you win that? Because that hasn't even mentioned since. No, I feel like people sort of, and hopefully not people within our company, but people sort of not disrespect the trophy,

but it's sort of just like a throwaway match. And I wanted to win it and make sure that it wasn't that. I was hoping that I could do more with the trophy, but it just didn't, like, I'd won it, and then I didn't see it the next week. I don't know what they did with it. But I said, like, I wanted to carry it around for a couple of months and make it like a thing.

Yeah. But that didn't happen. But I said, like, Andre the Giant is such a pivotal figure in wrestling. Like, he became bigger than wrestling. You know, you could go to Australia where I'm from and mentioned Andre the Giant in the 80s and people would know who he was. Like, he was a worldwide name. So I feel like they need to sort of make that more of a thing than what it is. What did that moment at WrestleMania mean for you?

I mean, it still felt great. Yeah, yeah. Like, because I am such a big fan of Andre the Giant and just wrestling in general. And it's WrestleMania. Yeah, yeah. It felt really cool to be able to do it. And it's just another little accolade I can put on my resume that, you know, I won that. trophy. So, yeah, it was great. But to be considered, like, a lot of people are in that match.

And they're saying, you're going to be the guy. Like, you're going to be the winner of this. That means they see something in you. Yeah, 100%. And I'm not sure of many people remember, but the year before I was in the same match, but I came down to the final two of me and Bobby Lashley. And he got me out. So it sort of felt like a good redemption arc to get back the next year and win it. What's going on in wrestling with all the Australians? What do you, You guys are taking over. I know, yeah. And I feel like hopefully there's going to be more to come and take over and do great things as well.

I've been telling people for years, like, you know, once I started wrestling around the world a little bit more in getting to see the other, like, independent scenes, I started saying to people like, our Australian wrestling scene could beat the American wrestling scene. It could beat the UK scene. It's just that people don't know about it. But the, like, per capita, the talent we have is ridiculous. And it's still like that now. Like back home, there's so many people that I could put over and be like they could

be working for WWE or somewhere else. But yeah, I don't know. I'm hoping, yeah, we take over even more. What makes you think it's even possible as a kid growing up in Australia? Because there's no one to look up to. No. There's no one who had been there and done it. Whereas, like, for example, I grew up in Canada.

If I wanted to be a pro wrestler, oh, Chris Jericho did at Edge, Christian, Valvinus, test, the list goes on and on and on. Brett Hart and Owen Hart. For you, how do you even think it's possible? I didn't. So, I mean, as a kid, it was my dream. You know, I'd tell people back then, I'd be in the WWF or WCW. I didn't know what's going to happen.

But, you know, it's sort of just like a dream that people sort of like would go, oh, yeah, cool. But like, no one believes. Like, what are you really going to do? Yeah, yeah. And then when I was a teenager and I said, like, I want to pursue this pro wrestling thing, my goal was to get to Japan because. I knew that there was an avenue to get to Japan and it was more realistic than WWE.

And still, there was no representation of Australians in WWU when I started wrestling. And then I think Tineal got signed, Emma. And then I started to think, oh, wait, maybe there is a way of getting in here. And then they started doing tryouts and stuff. And I was like, okay, I need to change my perception of WWE and start focusing on trying to get into WWE.

But yeah, I never be. believed it was a thing until I was actually wrestling and I saw others do it. Because it was Teneal and then it was the Iconics and Buddy Murphy? Yeah. Yeah. And now it's you and Grayson Waller and Rhea. I mean, and many more to come, I'm sure. Yeah.

Yeah. I think so. And I feel like now that we do have that representation, like I did some media with Australian television and radio just two days ago. I said, now that we have representation, hopefully there's kids growing up that go, oh, I can do this. And then they do pursue it wrestling in like, you know, 20 years time, there's even more Australians in wrestling. Do you have a special bond with Rear Ripley? I do, yeah, because we're from the, like, same city as well. So, like, obviously, I get along

with all the Australians, me and Grayson as well, but growing up in the city, we grew up in, it's sort of like, how can I explain it? It's almost the Florida of Australia. Like, people sort of crap on it a little bit and be like, uh, not that place. Like, and, like, and, like, and, like, It's the smaller city out of all the major cities. So I think we sort of get not picked on a bunch, but people are like, you're not going to do anything coming from. Florida's kind of like the island of misfit toys.

Yeah, 100%. And that's Adelaide as well. I lived there for five years. And I've told this story many times, but when I first moved there, someone told me it's a sunny place for shady people. That's pretty good. I mean, I'm like, that's very accurate.

But it's like all of the misfits from like New York and Boston and Chicago, all the East Coast just kind of funnel into Florida. I feel like, I follow like a few Instagram pages that are like only in Florida. Oh, only in Dade makes the track up so much. Yeah. Because I lived there. Oh, there you go.

Dade County. Yeah, yeah, Dade City. We used to wrestle there for NXT and it was awful. Yeah. The crowd was always awful. They were like zombies. They just wouldn't do anything. And I'm like,

Florida man's a real thing. Oh, yeah. Have you seen the thing where you type in Florida man and then your birthday and you see what the headline is for your day? No, but I want to do that. Oh, I'll do it. Let's do it right now. Okay, let's do it.

We have all of the world's information. Perfect. So what is it? August 25th. Oh, this is going to be great. 1988. So we'll just go Florida Man August 25th. I'm sure there's a lot of them.

Okay. What's the first headline? Florida Man sprays woman with roach spray breaks out nunchucks. That's awesome. Over loud music. Okay. That's awesome. Let's see what's.

He didn't like what she. was playing and broke up the numchucks. Florida man attacks woman with hammer and pours acid on her. Jesus. Maybe that's would be too extreme that one. The nunchucks in the road spray. That's very Florida. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You can fight someone with nunchucks, but the acid. Too much. So because you guys are both from Adelaide, there's just a special bond there? Yeah, I think so, yeah. I think, so I tell people this story all the time, but she used to actually come to the independent shows when I was wrestling. As the independent wrestling, she was a fan. And then I remember she started training and I was like, oh, this girl is going to be

famous. Like I could tell straight away. Like just there was something about her. I was like, if she signs to WWE, she'll be, you know, off and running and it happened. Yeah. She found something that she's dialed right into. Yes. Because when you look at her when she debuted in NXT to looking at her now, they look like

two very different people. Yeah. And I think the rear you see, was always in the rear before. But I think when she signed to WWW, and this happens as well, is that you feel like you have to not change yourself, but you have to be a certain way.

And I think she thought that as well, like she had to be this certain look for women's wrestling, and that's what's going to work. And I think she just got more comfortable when being herself, and that's sort of what's become more popular. And it's working. Yeah, 100%.

And same for you. It's leaning into like what is truly an authentic. you. Oh, yeah. And I feel like that's what we've really been seeing over the last, call it three to six months from you. Yeah.

Even things like, little things like for the longest time, like I wear band shirts all the time because I'm into music. My whole life, I just listen to music. And the last few walk-ins, I've had like a gangster shirt and then something else. And people online are like,

oh, this is cool. I'm like, it's always good if you get to show people those little bits of your personality. Because for the longest time, WWE were like, oh, just wear like plain black or plain shirts.

we don't want to see anything. And I'm like, I'm going to start doing, I'm going to start being me more. And even the aesthetic with like Godzilla, like my entrance is like Godzilla. I'm a huge Godzilla fan my whole life. I tried to push that in NXT. And we got a little bit of it. And then when I returned, I said to Hunter, like, we've got to do something with like me and God's, like the entrance.

Like I've been wanting to for so long. And I'm glad they went with it. And I think you're going to see some of those Godzilla things come into play with me in Braun as well, filmed some cool stuff recently. I think there's something when you can showcase even just a little bit of your personality to endures you to fans. Yeah. And I think it shows, you know, I would hope that most of the wrestlers are creative people. Not everyone.

I've met some wrestlers that are really dull. But you should be able to show your creativity as well as like the creative of the WWE side and make it a collaboration. That's the best. But it's little things. Like someone is going to look at the wide shot of this interview and go, he's wearing Jordan threes. Yes. Oh, man. Yeah, yeah.

I wear Jordan threes. And I actually often do wear Jordan threes. Yeah. We're wearing ones today. And I feel like, like I've always been a big sneaker head again, my whole life. And now it's become a culture in pro wrestling. Yeah. Like everyone, like even if you don't particularly like sneakers, I see people in Jordan ones.

And I'm like, oh, cool. Yeah. And I've said it backstage for a few guys. And they're like, I just got them because I think that's what you have to do now. Yeah, sure. And like it was like the zoo bass back in the days with the boys. and like that sort of look. But I love it.

And like I grew up sort of no money, poor. So like I always wanted shoes like this. And now that I can afford it, I have a little bit of an unhealthy collection. Yeah. How many do you have? At the moment, I probably, I got to say, I got like at least 150 pairs of shoes. Oh, man. Yeah, yeah.

That's a lot. It's too much. How do you decide which one? And I tried to like, I would like donate shoes to, you know, goodwill and stuff. of that rather than trying to sell them. Imagine going to Goodwill and seeing these. I know, yeah, yeah. I try to do that.

It's a nice thing to do. You should start signing them and just giving them to fans. That's a good idea, yeah. That'd be, I mean, Goodwill's great. That's a fantastic donation. But if you signed one of these or both of them and gave them to fans? I think the thing I'd run through the most is like I have my beta shoes and that used to be Air Force ones.

And like once they're a little bit too dirty, it's like, yeah, then they're done. Can't wear them. So maybe that's what I just start doing is signing my shoes. dirty Air Force once. People would love those. Giving it to people, yeah. Now we're where the, the dungloid pandas all the time.

They're like my go-to beat a shoe. Hey guys, it's Sam Roberts. Forgive the interruption. But if you're still looking for stuff to listen to, after this episode is done, head on over to Not Sam Wrestling. Simply the premier wrestling analysis that you will find anywhere,

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And listen or watch, not Sam Wrestling, every single week as well as emergency podcasts, that inevitably end up dropping multiple times, interviews as well. You can subscribe across all audio platforms as well as YouTube, for full video episodes of the podcast. Just search Nazi wrestling across all the platforms and hit that subscribe button. I can't believe how many wrestlers are wrestling in Jordans. And there's that as well, yeah.

I mean, Roman Raines has a deal with Jordan. Like, that's my all-time goal with sneakers is to get the dunk-low tsunamis. Yeah. Those are the most companies. The threes are the most companies. I wear it threes, I'd say, like, 25% of the time. I like the look.

are the fours the most. I agree. I think the fours look better, but the threes are more comfortable. I think because I didn't grow up skateboarding, but I love to skate shoes because they're so comfortable. Yes. And the chunkiness of the Jordan fours really appeals to me.

Yeah. So that's why I have half a dozen Jordan fours, I think. And they did that release. Who did the recently release where they did the skate Jordan four? Oh, yeah. It was Eric Koston maybe? I don't know. I wanted to get those.

But I grew up liking skate shoes as well. the big chunky globes and Osiruses and stuff like them. Yeah, yeah. But threes you could stay in all day. They're so comfortable. But there's something about that, just showcasing a little bit of like, like someone who's a fan of Joy Division is going to look at this and go,

what? No way. It's that scene in Step Brothers. Did we just become best friends? Yeah, it's true. Yuck. And I listen to like, I'm a big hip hop head. You should probably list a bunch of bands so everybody's then endeared to Bronson

Reed. That's true, yeah. I mean, yeah, I'm a big hip hop head, but I do listen to a lot of like British New Wave sort of music, like Joy Division, The Cure, the Smiths. You're winning over more fans. Yeah. Every band you list here.

Hopefully, yeah, yeah. But I can go on with like metal and stuff like that. I sort of listen to everything. You might as well start listening some, listing some metal bands. Yeah. Get the metal heads over here. I think we already have the metal heads in wrestling. We're going to start appealing to these other.

Name just one. We're going to start, I mean, hate breed maybe. Okay, there you go. Now all the hate breed fans like that. Yeah, they're a good band I like to put on when I'm, like, doing heavy deadlifts or something like that. Like, that gets me fired up. Whereas this is more for, like, the plane music. Yeah, yeah.

I'll, like, I'll list off like a deep cut in a podcast episode. And someone's like, no way. You love the dangerous summer. Hell yeah, I love the dangerous summer. And then, like, there's just something about that. Like, you know about a band that nobody else has heard of? Yeah. That's crazy.

I feel like I grew up like that. I used to, like, especially with hip-hop, I used to try and find, like, all these underground. on like hip hop artists and then I'd find someone that knows about them. It's like, oh my God. Yes. You know this? Yeah. Have you heard their EP?

Yeah. Let me introduce you to this. That culture sort of lost a little bit now because now you can just go on Spotify and find everything. Yes. Most things. Yeah. Whereas when I was growing up like I used to have to go to like certain record stores

and stuff to find like an underground section or then it became like mixtapes online. I go to like datpif.com and. Yeah. And then Torrance and. Torrance, yeah, yeah, yeah. And Napster. Big illegal streamer.

Of course, we all were. Yeah. It's also, I feel like now it's, it's, have you seen them live? Oh, yeah. That is true. That is the, I have a bucket list of a lot of bands and artists I want to see live. And there's too many. Yeah. What's cool is you find out some of these bands are wrestling fans.

Yes. And then there's like this immediate like chemistry there. Yeah. I listen to like pop punk music as well. And I've had a few like bands like on Instagram, like I'll use like songs. like songs for certain posts. And then I find out they're following me and it's like, oh,

and they send me merch and stuff. It's great. Pop punk's like a, that's real near and dear to my heart. Yeah, I was a big blink 182 guy. And with them like obviously, you know,

getting back together, I went and saw them live, which was a bucket list thing. But yeah, pop punk and like pro wrestling works really well. I know. I saw Hot Mulligan comment on someone's post. Me.

Yes. They sent me out some merch and stuff. Yeah, yeah. And then I saw they were following me and I was like, Oh, what? Yeah. Hey, maybe they'll send you that t-shirt. Could you guys, please?

Pop Mulligan. I don't know if I followed them back. Yeah, you got to follow them back. I did it immediately after this. I did a Mount Rushmore of pop punk music recently. Okay. And I feel like there were a lot of people that were like,

oh, man, you're one of my people now. Who is your Mount Rushmore? Well, Blink 128, I think, is on everybody's pop punk. Of course. You have. And if they're not on yours, you're just a liar. Yeah, yeah. Newfound.

People act like. They're not a fan of them, but it's like, you have to be. You have to be. And they laid the groundwork for everything that came after that. So them for sure, Eminus State was like the soundtrack to like, yeah, 1999, 2000 for me. Newfound Glory was also a really big one and their self-titled album. And then from there, it's like, all right, well, then how do you, you know,

where do you go from here? Some 41 meant a lot to me. Yeah. They grew up in Ajax, Ontario. I'm from Pickering. They're from 10 minutes from me. Okay. So that was like, oh, it's a bit of,

band that I like is from like right there. That's always great. And they've made it. And then da, dun dun dun dun da dun da dun da dun da. Fat lip was like what a riff. I feel like that when that came out and just the film clip and everything like instantly that like made a fan of me.

Yeah. And then it's always tough to do the fourth spot. For me, it's Hawthorne Heights because they introduced me to like, do I like screamo? I don't know. Yeah. Oh, I do when they do it. Yeah.

And Ohio's for lovers meant so much for me when I was in college. I ended up living in Ohio. a handful of years later, which... So there was just a real, like, melding of the two worlds there. So that's my four. It's hard. Dare I ask you what yours are? No.

I mean... I'll be here all day. Yeah, the hard thing, whenever anyone... Like, people ask me this with wrestling all the time. Like, who are you like, Mount Rushmore wrestling? It's like, so hard. Yeah. I'm so influenced by so many people.

The same with music. Same with... I watch a lot of, like, movies and film as well. And people are like, what's your favorite movie? and I'm like, I can give you like a list of 30. You don't have one favorite movie? I don't know. Like, I always go back and forth on like what my favorite movie is.

And depending on that, like, I always say like Jaws is one of my all-time favorites. Sure. Just because it has everything. But then like, depending on the day, like, Blues Brothers might be my favorite movie or classic. Or more recently, like a drive is like, that's in my like top 10 for sure. So it's hard. I don't know. It changes all the time.

And I feel like I do that. with wrestling as well, there was one moment in my wrestling career where my top four would be all Japanese wrestlers. And then as I went on in wrestling, it changed. And now it's probably even more sporadic my Mount Rushmore of wrestling. Who stays on there all the time no matter what? My top two of all time, Kenton Kabashi from Japan and Stone Cold Steve Austin. They're always on there. And then the other two sort of fluctuate. But usually a third is Dusty Roads. I just was a huge fan of Dusty Rhodes and just, I feel like he could do everything, wrestle, promo, everything. And also was another big guy that people don't realize, like, he was 300 pounds and he was

moving around and they're like, yeah. But when you talk about art, whether it's music or movies or pro wrestling, I love how subjective it is. It is, yeah. Your favorite match could be something I wouldn't even think about and vice versa. Oh, yeah. You know, and you might like someone for completely other reasons than I might like them. Yeah.

And that's what's so beautiful about it. Yeah, I agree. Like, I may, my favorite movie all the time is back to the future. It's a great movie. A great movie. But there's some people are like, yeah, no, it's fine. And I'm like, I want to fight you. What are you talking about it?

It's more than fine. But there's, I appreciate the subjectivity of it. Because you will see the beauty in something that I may not. Yeah. And I think that there's something really special about that. That's why I always tell people, again, like I said, I feel like it has to go off how you feel in that moment. That's a great thing about wrestling.

Obviously, it brings everyone together. Like, I look out into the crowd and there's so many different types of people. But say you're feeling sad, you might connect with something that they, you know, music-wise, different to what you're feeling if you're angry or happy. And I feel like that's the same with movies. It's the same with wrestling as well. How do you not let it get to you when you're going out there doing your best work? And some fans may not relate to it.

They may not like you. I mean, I get a lot of that. Like, I feel like, I feel like online maybe it's like 50-50. But I don't mind. I feel like, you know, I heard a quote once, like, you're not successful unless you have haters. And I'm like, make sense. You know, people are talking about me whether they like me or they hate me. You look at someone polarizing like a John Cena or Roman Raines.

I'm like, as long as more and more people are talking about me, that's all that matters. And what's that other quote? It's like nobody doing more than you will ever try to tear you down. down. That's true. And it's so true. You know, John Cena's not going to come up to you in the locker room and be like, hey, man, this sucked or whatever. It's very true. They're always trying to build you up, right? There's that other quote. It's like there's two ways to have the tallest building in town. You can either tear down all the other buildings or you can just build a better building. Yeah, exactly. And I think that there's a lot of people, especially online when they're nameless and faceless.

Yes. trying to tear other people down because maybe they're not happy with where they're at in their own life. 100%. I say that all the time. I'm like, I obviously don't mind, again, wrestling subjective. If you don't like the way I wrestle or whatever, that's cool. Like say whatever you want. But then there's people online.

I always tell, I've said it multiple times. I think it's like a disgusting thing to do. But like people that like, I wish you'd get released or wish you didn't have a job. And that's about other people as well. I've seen it. There's so many people. I'm like, you're wishing for someone not to be able to make money for their family? like that's a little too much.

Like, but no one's going to say that about whatever job you have like and be like, I wish you didn't have that job. Yeah. Could you imagine walking into someone's office building? Yeah. And be like,

I hope you get fired. Yeah, it's insane to me. It is. But again, a lot of these accounts that say this stuff will be like one post, zero followers. Yeah.

I'm like, they do it just to like, it's a lot of like trolls and stuff. So it's like. Yeah. And their username has like 14 different, uh, numerous numbers after it.

Yeah. And I've never once had a fan to approach me not being nice. Yeah. So. But if you're a heel and people online don't like you, doesn't that kind of mean you're doing your job? Exactly. And I can tell the difference of like a troll and someone who doesn't like me because I'm doing my heel work, right?

So I like getting to see that difference. And it's fine. Like I said, you can love me or hate me. It doesn't matter. Yeah. What is this tattoo on your left arm, man? So I had this, so from here to here, I had done when I was younger. Your forearm. Yeah, yeah. I had that done maybe when I was like 23, 24, which I'm half Samoan,

but it's more traditional like Hawaiian this tattoo. So it represents shark teeth and the black going away is supposed to take the darkness out of your heart sort of thing. And then I actually went to Simone Mike, who does Romans and Jay Uso's tattoos and had from here to here done. And this is almost like a warrior shield. So it's a lot of like traditional Samoan stuff and like folklore. Like there's shark gods. And then I have like a centipede god here. It's a lot of stuff in one tattoo.

But for me, like I think Jay maybe said something similar and he's got even more on him. Like I have a lot of tattoos, but I only have this part that's like traditional Simone Tatau. It's sort of just like body armor, sort of like that. Yeah. And I'm going to definitely get more. With your Samoan roots, if you go way back here, generations, is there any tie in to any of the famous Samoan families? I don't think so.

Because a lot of my, I mean, I'd have to do like a- If you did like MyHeritage.com. Yeah, maybe I'd have to do that and see. So like my, my Samoan side, I don't have a huge connection with.

I grew up mainly with my Australian side of my family. So I'd have to, yeah, I'd have to do something like that and see. But so many people ask me like, oh, you're like cousins to like the Uso's or the Rock? And I'm like, I wish. I probably would have been in the business quicker. I'm sure you're somewhere related.

They could be. I mean, seventh cousins or something. Yeah. The good thing about like all those boys is there is that like, you know, like again, it's a cultural thing. You're just friends instantly. Sure.

Like I get along with all those guys like the Uso's solo. even when I met the Rock, he was just super cool. I'm like, okay. So which is good. Yeah. That's a good thing. Isn't this tattoo similar-ish to Aquaman's? It is.

Yeah, yeah, very similar. He has a similar one. I think maybe he has a little less. But yeah, same meaning, I think because he grew up, you know, partly in Hawaii. I actually met the Aquaman character, but like, no, Jason Momoa. Yeah, yeah. And I think he recently got some more of the, like, the tractor. I think he got it on his head recently.

So I might have to steal that look as well. A head tattoo. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I like it. I like the head tattoo. I don't know. I'd have to probably get that okay by David Rue. Probably.

I mean, a lot of my tattoos, I didn't. I just went and did and they're like, oh, you have more. They probably didn't notice till like months later, though. Wait a second. The good thing, I remember Batista saying in the interview, he's like, every time I got a new tattoo, it just meant I got a new action figure. I was like, that's pretty good.

I've heard that from a lot of people. Yeah, yeah. It's why Chris Jericho changed his facial hair so often. There you go. That's why Dustin Rhodes was doing so many different colors with his face paint? Yeah, it helps. Like, I think I have another figure

coming out soon, but it's like, so far it's been all my different, like, entrance gear. You know, that's a big thing with figures, so. Do you have a favorite figure? Probably the first one I had, which was the, it's me and the Bam Bam style gear. Yeah.

Yeah. That's a pretty classic look. Yeah, it's a cool, it's a cool figure, yeah. I'm just so glad we were able to connect on this. Me too. Thank you for making the time to do this. Yeah, and I think last time was obviously via Zoom.

And your name was Jonah. And it's different to do it in person. It's always... It's much better. We're doing all of these in person now. Okay. Because there's nothing like shaking somebody's hand. Give them a hug, you know,

looking them in the eyes. Yeah. There's also that weird, even as good as Zoom is now. There's something about like... No, no, no. Sorry, you were saying something? Yeah. It happens a lot.

Yeah. Whether that's like headphones or whatever lag or whatever, Whereas, yeah, it's different to do it in person. But I knew you guys would be out on the West Coast at some point this year. And when I saw that was announced, I'm like, dude, we got to make this happen. So thank you for waking up early to do this. No, no, no. Thank you for having me.

Early, early call time on the West Coast. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's good because it means I get the red eye and get to get home earlier. Yeah, which my wife appreciates. Yeah, you'll be home tomorrow morning. Yeah, I think I'll be home at like 7 a.m. So, what's next? What's next for Bronson Reed?

I feel like what's next for me is the main event scene. I'm going to push as much to be, whether that's on Raw, whether that's on PLEs, I'm going to try my best to stay within that main event scene. And I'm working with, you know, the people I'm working with backstage, you know, Hunter. I work a lot with Paul Heyman. I think I'm getting to that point. Paul Heyman must be just bestowing so much knowledge. He's, yeah, he's been, I tell people like all the time, like the biggest,

influences on my career where my trainer, Hartley Jackson from Australia, then probably Hunter. But now in the most recent, since maybe the start of the year, I usually sit down and speak with Heyman every week at Roar. And he's just a wealth of knowledge when it comes to wrestling. Amazing. Is there one particular thing Paul Heyman's taught you that's really elevated you? I think it's how to present myself in the ring. You know, like I've always wrestled a certain way for the big man, but there's even more I can do with my size and to make myself look different. You know, he's always looking for something that's different. That and just his promo work is ridiculous.

You know, I'll go to him about a promo, and he would just cut a promo off of his head, and it's like the best promo I've ever heard. And you're like, could you say that again, but slower? He's just, yeah, a genius with words. Amazing. Yeah, yeah. I'll wrap this up with the question I ask everybody at the end of the interview. Gratitude is so important to me.

So what for you are three things you're grateful for as we sit here right now? I think number one, obviously since we spoke last time, is I now have a daughter. So number one is 100% her that's changed my life. I spend, if I'm not on the road, all my time is with her and my wife. So 100% grateful for my daughter, Dasia. Number two would probably be my wife. She went through a lot to get her in the world. and we got there and we have that.

And then number three is probably the wrestling fans. You know, I wouldn't be anywhere without the fans. Like I said, whether you like me or hate me, you're helping me out. So keep talking about me. Man, thank you so much. No, thank you. Thanks for having me. All right, there we go.

I can't wait to see all the comments about my pop punk Mount Rushmore and how you would have added this band on instead of this other band. That's the whole thing about Mount Rushmore. more, their personal choice. And for me, those are my four. But isn't it always so great when you find out that the mean and nasty characters on TV are actually some of the nicest people in real life. Big thank you to Bronson Reed for joining us this week. Thank you to you for being a real one and sticking around all the way until the end here. We also recorded a new episode with Carrying Cross that same day that we've recorded this one with Bronson Reed. So keep an eye out for that one

at some point next week. Snap a screenshot, tag us so we can share it. He's at Bronson is here. I'm at Chris Van Vleet, and we'll wrap it up with a quote from John C. Maxwell. Just two words, and it's not suck it. Could you imagine that? Could you imagine we wrap it up with, and I'll leave you with this very impactful quote that really resonates with me.

Suck it. No, it's consistency compounds. I just am obsessed with the idea that success doesn't happen overnight. Long-term success is achieved over, or is achieved over a long period of time. And it's all of the little things that compound one on another, on another, on another, to get to where you're at. So consistency compounds. I love that.

And the whole idea behind the show here is I just am fascinated with how and why people do things. And how and why people do things today. in their career versus maybe how they did it five years ago or 10 years ago or at the start of their career. But it all comes down, I think, a successful career all comes down to those two words. Consistency compounds. Be great. Be grateful. Share this episode out with someone who you think will love it. We will see you on the next one for some more insight on Thursday. Jonathan Coachman is back on the show. I love that guy. We will see you then for that one. In the 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 then? To Rock Bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987. I can't believe he's doing this. Hammer Allie. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.