Insight with Chris Van Vliet - David Otunga on NEXUS, John Cena, Theme Song, Commentary, Vince McMahon, One More Match?

Episode Date: November 18, 2025

David Otunga (@DavidOtunga) is a professional wrestler best known for his time in WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at West Coast Creative Studio in Hollywood, CA to discuss his journey from NXT Season 1 to the main roster, the Nexus' shock debut on Raw, whether John Cena winning at SummerSlam buried the group, winning the Tag Titles with Cena, how the coffee cup became a part of his character, getting to wrestle Bret Hart, the transition to announcing, what he is doing now, and more! Subscribe to David Otunga's YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@ddotunga  Please support our sponsors!   PURE PLANK: The future of core fitness! Use the code CVV to save 10% on Pure Plank designed by Adam Copeland & Christian: https://gopureplank.com/?ref=tibcloux FACTOR: Get 50% off your first box, plus Free Breakfast for 1 Year with the code INSIGHT50OFF at https://factormeals.com/INSIGHT50OFFSTASH: Go to https://get.stash.com/INSIGHTto see how you can receive $25 towards your first stock purchase and to view important disclosures   SEAT GEEK: Use my code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/CVV2025 Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount   NORDVPN: Exclusive deal! https://nordvpn.com/cvv Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! PRIZEPICKS: Download the app today and use code INSIGHT to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup!  TIMELINE: Go to https://timeline.com/insightto get 10% off your order of Mitopure!   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   ROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and reach your financial goals faster: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv MIRACLE MADE: Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to https://trymiracle.com/CVV and use the code CVV to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF   ZOCDOC: Instantly book a top-rated doctor today at https://zocdoc.com/insight   BONCHARGE: Use the code CVV to save 15% off your infrared sauna blanket at https://boncharge.com/cvv   BLUECHEW: Get your first month of BlueChew for free with the code CVV at https://bluechew.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

I don't think we can fit your arms in this shot. Look at my goodness. And I flex on key. Anytime somebody mentions my arms. Look at my little puny arms by comparison. Are you in better shape now than when you were wrestling? Yes, I would say so. Really?

I would say so, well, for me, because from a physique perspective, like, I've always weighed 235. Like, since I was 22 years old, no matter what. But my body fat percentage, you know, is way down, like, the detail, the condition. It used to be all just about size and just getting big for me. And I did that, got really strong and all that. But then it's like, all right, Ben there, done that. I want to look like a superhero. And so I want to maintain the size, but just lose fat, etching the details.

Yeah, I love it. But you're not in a job anymore where you have to take your shirt off and you're in front of everybody and your underwear. That is a great point. And people ask me, I'm all like, what are you training for? Like, what are you coming back to the rig? Yeah. Well, that's not why I'm doing this.

I do this because I love it every day. And that's a challenge of it is sometimes like trying to find that motivation when I know that I don't have to have my shirt off, but yet still trying to push myself as hard as I can. Yeah. Yeah. It's tough. But I love that idea, though, of doing something hard every day.

Yes. Like pushing yourself to do something when it's uncomfortable. Yes. Like when it's part of your job to be in great shape, it's just a job requirement. When you look like this and you're like, yeah, I'm a. I'm a lawyer. It's like it's a different type of discipline. No, it absolutely is.

And it's one of those things that like, you know, it's earned. The only way you get that is by going every day, by being dedicated on your diet, all of that stuff. You can't buy it. You can't go to school to get it. It just takes hard work and dedication over a period of years. So it kind of became, you know, it has become my hobby and then kind of my passion too. Because like what I'm really grateful for is being able to pass this on. to my son now who is, I mean, his physique is amazing.

I wish I looked like that when I was 16. I saw a clip that you posted of you and Arnold Schwarzenegger at Gold's Gym. Oh, yeah. Like, that's so cool. The fact that Arnold just works out there like a normal person, but the fact that you got to like share a moment with you, he wanted to work him with you on a machine. Yeah, yeah. Bro, that is one of the crowning achievements of my life.

It's one of the best moments because the reason I got into working out was looking at Arnold on the cover of muscle and fitness and just, you know, seeing his physique and saying, man, I want to look like that. Then fast forward, I met Golds working out. He comes up to me and, you know, wants to work in. But then he's like messing with me. And he like tells me like how, you know, I've got the greatest physique, you know, I'm sexually better looking than him bigger than him.

He's like, get away for me. And then I was like, wow. He really said that. And then I was like, man, I wish I had that on camera. So then he let me record it and he did it again, which was the coolest thing, man. Like, golly. I mean, 10-year-old would be going crazy right. I would never imagine this.

That's so cool. So what are you up to these days? Well, I've just started my YouTube channel, which I'm really passionate about. This has been so much fun. I did a video covering the Rajah Jackson incident and covered it from a lawyer's perspective and a wrestler's perspective. Because I'm probably the only person qualified to talk about this in that regard. because I understand the wrestling lingo, the definitions, all that, what was going on behind the scenes, the setup, and then talking about it from a legal perspective. Anyway, I did a complete breakdown on that.

The video blew up, and I realized, like, I really enjoyed this and was getting great feedback. So since then, I've started making more, and people have been asking me to cover different cases that were famous in wrestling that would, you know, apply to the legal standards and just being able to break all of those down, which has been awesome. All right. So everybody watching now can go subscribe to your YouTube channel. It's just your name, David Otanga. David Otanga. Actually, I believe it's D.D. Otunga. So it's YouTube.com slash D.D.Otunga.

But if they type in David Otonga, they'll find it. Yeah. So everyone can subscribe. Also link it down below. So it's easy to find. Oh, thank you. Is the goal to make a weekly video? Do you want to do once a week?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And then I want to start covering other things. Like there's a video that we just released and it's talking about what happens when a fan jumps the guardrail. Oh, that's a good one. You know, looking at like the top five times that happened and breaking down the legal ramifications there. So I want to start doing videos like that and then taking people's request in a way,

kind of like what Maven is doing, but more from a legal standpoint. Maven has changed the game. He really has props to Mavis. Shout out to him. Of course. I love to do a collab with him sometimes. That would be fun. That would be so cool to see you guys do it together.

But Maven has changed the game of like what it means to be a former wrestler still talking about current stuff. Yeah. And the first time I saw a Maven thumbnail, I went, oh, he gets it. And he's like, oh, I had nothing to do with that. My YouTube partner, Zach, he figures it all out. And like, shout out to Zach as well. Zach's so talented at all that stuff behind the scenes.

Them coming together is why Maven has. almost 800,000 subscribers. Yeah, he's killing it. And his videos are great. Yes. What I love about it is he's such a humble guy and he's just telling you, you know, what it is from his perspective. And, you know, this is what happened.

And he's genuine about it. Yeah. That's what's important. Did you bring this in to stay in character? This is so, I love this. So look at that. Yeah. I don't know why I didn't acknowledge it earlier.

You know what? You know what's funny? This is really me. Like, you know, being a lawyer, once I was in law school, I started drinking coffee like crazy and I love it. That's all coffee? Yeah, this is ice coffee. You can hear how much is in there too.

Oh, I had to fill it up before I came in. Oh my gosh. I can't run out. But it's funny. The bathroom's just down the hall of the left, right? It's funny because people will see me and, you know, fans from WWW. But hey, where's the coffee mug? Where's the thermos?

Oh, I got it. You should brand this. This is going to be in every single shot. You know what? Like, we've got a little, like you got a spot for a logo right there. I know, right? What are we doing? Hey, I have a new logo too. Wow. Okay.

It's going to go right there. Okay. Hey, Derek, let's get on this. Yeah, come on. But so this is you. It's not just, no, this is me. How did this become a gimmick in WWA? I'll tell you, I had just started doing the lawyer character. And I was getting ready to go out for a promo.

I think it might have been during people power, even, with Big Johnny. But I was getting ready to go out to do a live promo. And I had my coffee with me in the bank. as I always do. And I started to walk out through the curtain. Then I was like, wait a minute. I went back. I grabbed it.

I was like, something tells me, just bring it. Because I just wanted to be natural. It'd be as, like, I wanted it to be as obnoxious as I could. Like at first,

I would take really loud sips with it and stuff. But anyway, I went out with it and then Vince loved it. And I came back in, and ever since then, it was part of my character. Man. Yeah.

Backstage shots, you name it. Do you consider yourself a retired wrestler right now? No. I just, I just consider my, myself by just haven't wrestled in a long time. Do you remember your last match?

I do. I do. It was a live event against Our Truth. Yes. In Rockford, Illinois. July 7th, 2015. Yes. And you know what was funny about that match?

So my son was still a young at the time. And my entire family was there and they were in the front row. And Ronnie was cool. I hadn't wrestled in a while. So he gave me pretty much the entire match. And I was just hammering him. and then at the end he got like a roll up or something on me and went over and I remember my son was crying he lost it and then Ronnie rolled out of the ring afterwards and my son took a swing at him

he tried to punch him like legit and we get in the back and Rodney's like hey man he's like your son took a swing at me um and I went and I got him and I brought him to the back and this is the first time he was crying and he's like dad you have to just tell just tell me the truth did you let our truth win? And I was like, what do you think? He goes, I think you did. It's like, yeah, hey, he's like, all right, I knew it. I knew it.

Because he knew, he's like, there's no way you would dominate this guy, but that's what I had to sparring him up to the business. So why was that your last match? How did you know it was time to stop wrestling? Well, it never was, it wasn't necessarily my last match. That's the thing. It's like, in my mind, I've never had my last match. match.

Okay. That's the thing. It's just where I was like in the company and becoming an announcer and doing all that, they didn't really want me in doing in ring stuff. And you actually get a different contract where you are, you're on an announcer's contract then instead of a talent one. So it just was they weren't, yeah, they weren't even thinking about me booking me creatively.

Although I did pitch some ideas and, you know, it was going to have my own stable. I wanted to, but got a little bit of traction. but okay who's going to be in your stable well i don't know you know what it was i pitched something and it was i don't know if i called it like the firm or what it was but i was it was kind it was kind of like what uh the hurt syndicate ended up becoming but it was before that so it was uh three years before that maybe i don't know when they came out it might even been long because it was 2019 this is before COVID so at least but anyway and I was going to be the leader of that as you know a heel lawyer

and uh yeah they liked it but obviously didn't go to they liked me better as an announcer yeah so how'd the transition go from in ring you're wrestling to them going we want to try something else with you we want we want to see what you could do as an announcer um okay so it went like this um man I've never talked about this but like I stepped away from the ring uh in it's probably like 20 2013 or so. My son's mom was my fiancé at the time. You know, she needed, she was going through some stuff and needed me at home. That's what I'll say about it.

So it was a choice I made on behalf of my family where I put my career aside for a while to, to be the man I needed to be in our relationship for her, for my son. And it was what it was. And so then Vince and I always had a great relationship. And they liked me enough and me. as a as a talent. And so it's like, you know, I want you to see what you can do announcing. Why I always got a good promo. Well, so they say.

So anyway, I started doing the pre-show, the raw pre-show every week. I do it with Corey Graves, Scott Stanford. Shout out to Scott. That's a white guy. Booker T. And we had so much fun doing this. And we're like, we're laughing all the time. Like, nobody even watches this.

And then the office would tell us, yeah, but there's one person who watches this every week. It's Vince. And he loves it. And so then I did. that for maybe a year or two, and then I get a call one day, like, hey, we want to try you out as an announcer on Raw. Whoa. Like, I never, I never considered that. I never saw myself as an announcer. That was never something I wanted to. The whole time I was doing the pre-show, I was thinking, right, I'm doing this now. And because it allowed me to have more time at home. That was the thing,

and how I was able to do that still. But eventually, I'm going to get back in the ring. But then, when they gave me this option to be an announcer, they're like, we really want you to do this, try it out. I was like, all right, I'll try it. I did. And announcing is tough. It's fun, but it's, that's a tough job. But anyway, they liked my work in that so much. That was it.

It's kind of like, you know, they tell you, be careful. Like, if they offer you a gimmick when you first start out, be careful how well you do with it. Because if you do really well with it, that's going to be your gimmick. And they're just going to go from there. So it's one of those things where I gave it a shot. I did well enough. And then they just saw me as an announcer after that. When you say announcing's hard, what's the most different?

part about it. The most difficult part is you're working. We're telling the story and we're making up that we're selling the storylines, but you're not out there just saying whatever you want. Like, you're not just saying, oh, your real thoughts on the match or whatever it is, but you have to push forward the story. So I was a babyface announcer, which was a disconnect, I think, for my fans, too, because I was always a heel. And, you know, John Cena was one of our biggest enemies. He's now all of a sudden on SmackDown. I'm putting over John Cena. He's the greatest.

He's the greatest of all time. Meanwhile, you know, as a character, we hate John Cina. We have, you know, he who cheat with John Cina. So it was kind of inauthentic in that manner. I did my best with it, but I think that was the disconnect for fans. How much was Vince in your ear when you were on commentary? Well, he's always there. So, like, he, me personally, he would just give me, he might give me something to say

or something funny to say to rip on cold. or somebody, whoever was out there with me. He never yelled at me, but like, I had him, I'd hear him get a hold of some of the other guys. But he, he was right there the entire time. So you, you called your last match in August of 2019 on Smackdown. Okay. When were you with WWE until?

Until COVID. Yeah. Ultimately, COVID. I was laid off with COVID, the grand layoffs are in that. Yeah, but before, so I called my last match. on Smackdown and then I was doing the pre-shows up until COVID. Yeah. Yeah.

Do you want to go back? Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. It was, like I said, it was so much fun. Although, you know, now I'm still doing announcing with Fourth Rope, West Side Gun and Smoke Disman promotion, which has been awesome. And I'll tell you what, like, it's pretty cool because of the training that I received at

WWE, like, prepared me so much for doing that. But the difference is there, I really can. say anything I want. I'm still putting forward the stories, but there's nobody in my ear. So really, hey, that's kind of how I really feel at the time. When you were coming out of Harvard Law School, what was the goal at that point in time? Oh, coming out of Harvard Law School, it was, well, to pay off my student loans, number one. Right, still paying them off. Yeah. And so I took a job at the biggest firm in Chicago. Well, see, let me back up. Initially, I never even planned on going to law school, but how that developed was I was really close with my dad. And I was pre-med in college.

But when I graduated college, I did not want to go to medical school. I wanted to be an actor. And I got an opportunity to manage a cognitive neuroscience lab at Columbia University. And so it sounded super boring to me. But my dad was all over this. It sounded amazing. So I took it. I went, lived in New York, and in my mind, there's Broadway there. So it's going to be way more acting opportunities. I thought I could be out there, get my big break. I'm set. Got my dad off my back because he was excited about this, you know, boring job that I have. And I'm talking to him every day on the phone. And my dad mentioned one time how he'd always wanted to be a lawyer, but he never thought he was smart enough, which was wild to me because my dad had a PhD, two different master's degrees

and a certificate of advanced studies. Like, he was like the most educated person I've ever known. And so he came from Kenya who was an immigrant and also used to tell me about like Harvard and how that was the only college he knew of when he was in Kenya and that like he didn't even think it was a real place. Like it was kind of like a mythical place to them. So anyway, having these conversations with them and, you know, my dad and I started talking. I was like, you know, I might take the LSAT, the law school entrance exam. And I had a friend who had been my roommate in college who was studying for it. I was getting ready to take it. So I call him one day.

His name's also Dave. And I was like, hey, Dave, you know, when's the L set? And he's like, oh, brother, it's three weeks away. I'm super stressed out, but, you know, it's whatever. And I was like, I'm going to take it. He said, what, this one? He's like, no, no, no, you can't do that. And he's like, you can't just show up and take this test.

Like, you know, if you don't do well, they'll average your scores, yada, yada, yada. But I saw him, I'm not planning on going to law school. It's just something fun. I'm doing with my dad. I show up and I take the test. And to my surprise, I do very well. way better than I expected. So my dad is over the mood about this.

Well, you got applied all the top 10 schools, just the Ivy League schools. And I'm like, all right, all right. So, you know, we work on them together, sending out applications and all this stuff. And I'm telling you, like, I barely get the applications out. My dad's asking me every day. So, David, have you heard back? Did you hear back from any schools yet? No.

So dad, you know, takes time. And I get a call one day. And my dad had a heart attack and died just suddenly. Oh, wow. And it was, yeah, it was the most shocking thing, you know, never happened to me. I'm so sorry. Yeah, thank you. And it put me, I mean, obviously in this weird space.

So I fly home to be with my family, to bury my dad, and it was maybe two weeks to the day. And I find out I got accepted to Harvard Law School. And that was such a bittersweet moment because it's this amazing accomplishment. I want to be so happy about it. but my dad just missed it. And for him, this news would have been everything. This would have been better than winning the lottery, hands down, to know his son, was going to Harvard Law School.

So anyway, I now have this acceptance to Harvard. And I'm like, well, this is, I got into this too far. I wasn't planning on this going that far. I never intended to go to law school. But like, what do I do now? And my mom was like, David, you are not going to turn down Harvard Law School. So I looked at it as, you know what, I'm going to go to Harvard Law School. I'm going to get my degree in a way to honor my dad.

That's something that I want to do. And I feel like I need to do this for him, something he would love and to finish what we started. So that's the reason how I even wound up in law school. That's beautiful. Thank you. Thank you. So now to answer your question is that when I graduated, I kind of didn't really know what I wanted to do. But I loved helping people.

And I realized I loved actually defending clients and course. I wanted to be a public defender. They don't make very much money. But I love the idea of actually helping people who needed it. And, you know, I had student loans and stuff. And then I heard how much money they were going to pay me at the firms. I was like, oh, man, you're going to pay me how much to look at it, to read a contract? Okay.

I'll go and do this just to pay off my bills. So I just took the job at the best firm in Chicago so I could be closer to home. Pretty crazy that you're going to Harvard Law School. And everyone else there, you know, they're probably so grateful to be there. And you're like, yeah, I don't even really want to be a lawyer. Yeah. And that's so true. And I had this weird sense of like imposter syndrome, to be honest, because like I'm going to school with people who work their entire lives to get here.

And, you know, six months ago, I wasn't even thinking about this. And here I am. Wow. Me meant to be, though. Me meant to be. Sounds like it. Absolutely. So then how did wrestling come about?

Okay, so I leave, well, I'm at the firm still. I hadn't left yet. And I get the opportunity to be on a reality show. And I turned it down a few times. But then they told me if you ever wanted to get into entertainment, this could be a great first start. And obviously, I wanted to be an actor. So I went. I did the reality show.

It was I Love New York, two, huge ratings at the time. And after that, I came back. And I was like, I think I need to leave and really strike while the iron is hot. really tried to make a push for entertainment. I went home and I talked to my mom about it. And ultimately it was her who told me to quit the law firm, which was shocking to me because she was so proud when I got that job. But then she knew I always wanted to be an actor.

And she told me, you know, I think it's time for you to quit the firm. I think that that is holding you back. So that was the scariest decision I made because, like I said, those checks on the law firm were huge. and they stopped coming. And when they stopped coming, it was, that was a scary time

because I didn't have anything, you know, set up. This is the first time of my life, I didn't know what my next step was going to be. Like, I jumped without a net, but just trusting myself.

And I knew I always wanted to be a professional wrestler also. So I started looking up, how do you get into WWW? Because back then, there was no performance center. There was no NXC. That didn't exist. And it was really secretive,

like how you get into professional wrestling. So I looked in some site. I don't even know what this was, but it said you had to have at least wrestled for five years before WW will even look at you. So I'm like, well, I have zero experience. So I started looking around at wrestling schools. And I found one in Los Angeles. I called it. They wouldn't answer.

I called it for like days. So I ended up leaving a voicemail, never heard back. And I was like, well, there goes that. Fast forward. I get a phone call one day. And it's from one of the guys from wrestling school. I guess he got my message. And he said, he's starting a reality show.

He's casting for it for Hulk Hogan's championship wrestling or something. Some reality show Hulk Hogan was doing. And he asked me if I'd be part of it. And I said, yeah, man, this is going to be my way into WW. Sure, of course. Calls me back like a day or two later and tells me that the spot got taken. And so I'm crushed. God, man, I was going to go and do this, but now the spot's given away.

But then he's like, yeah, but have you ever thought about trying out for WWE? I'm like, yes, yeah, this is the whole reason I'm like, want to do this. He's like, oh, you don't need this show for that. He's like, I can get you an audition with them. And I'm like, whoa, hold on. Now, you realize I don't have any wrestling experience. And he's like, oh, trust me, it won't matter. With your look, your physique and your story, Harvard Law, he's like, trust me, they'll be interested. I don't know. But two weeks later, they flew me to Smackdown. I came in. They met me. I'm at the head of talent relations. And, you know, it was Johnny Ace. And he said that he was going to send me to Tampa for a tryout.

So the next week I went to Tampa for a week-long tryout. After that, they signed me just like that to the development. Yeah. And that's literally just how it happened. So who was Dawson Alexander? The DA. So Dawson Alexander was my first ring name at FCW. Because when you're in FCW, whatever your ring name is down there isn't necessarily going to be the same when you get up to the main roster.

So I was a baby face for the first part of the run. And, but I chose Dawson Alexander because I wanted his initials to be DA, like a district attorney. He was all lawyer themed. Yeah. But he was my very first character. But crazy that when you did get called up to the main roster, you got to use your real name. Yeah. Well, I push for that too.

That's where being an actual lawyer comes in because, yeah, I knew what I was doing. And I wanted to owe my own IP, although technically they own it in regards to wrestling, which is, which is fine. I'll get into that. I have to get into that. A YouTube video on my channel. I will discuss this. Because I heard this is related to this, but a bit of a tangent, I heard that John Sina was on, when he was on Howard Stern, he was talking about how WWE owns his name. Yes.

I'm like, but that's his name. Like, that's his. Right. And I remember this clause vividly is that they control your name and likeness in relation to professional wrestling. So let's say John Sina wanted to go to AW. He couldn't just use a name John Sina. because WW has the rights of that in wrestling.

But that's crazy because it's his name. Right. Right. Wow. I get it if it's a stage name, right? Like if your name is CM Punk, I get it. Right. But John Cena's his name.

Yeah. Well, that's the thing is he can use his name anywhere else. But in his contract, he signed that when it comes to wrestling, John Sina is a character and trade name with WWE. And so that's the distinction there. This episode is brought to you by HIMS. Tired at trying to figure out what actually works for hair loss. Through HIMS, you get access to clear solutions, expert guidance,

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which the FDA does not approve or verify for safety effective mis or quality. Prescription required. See website for full details, restrictions and important safety information. When you got the WWB contract, I've heard it's very large. Were you coming through this going,

I'm not signing this, this, like redlining everything? Um, you would think that. However. Yeah, you're a lawyer. Right. I was going through it like that, but I knew I was going to sign it basically no matter what it said in there. And so that's the difference.

You're like, the lawyer in me says, I shouldn't sign this. Yes. But the wrestler in me says, I'll sign right now. I'm always going to bet on myself. And I figured that, you know, when you get to a certain level, I have certain cloud there. The contract will be better. No, I remember I took the contract to, I still had an entertainment lawyer out here. I didn't look at it.

He's like, there's no way you should sign this. Absolutely not. And the thing of it is, he made sense. I knew he was right, but I also understood everything that was in it, but like, I get it. That's, that's the game here. I mean, they have, they have all the power here. Everybody wants to be here. If I don't want to sign this, there's a million other people who do, but I want to be there. So it was like, I'll sign this no matter what. Yeah. The Nexus, the Nexus debut was iconic. Did you realize as they were setting this up how big this could potentially be?

No, not at all. None of us had any of us. idea how big the Nexus was going to be. In fact, I think part of what made it work so well is it was so real because we were the guys who were on NXT, the first season, which I don't know if people remember, but was a reality show. Yeah, and it's funny. It gets a little convoluted now because NXT is its own wrestling break. Right. It was almost like a version of tough enough. Yes. It was done back then. Yes. And the thing of it was, it was supposed to be a reality show, even though WW in and of itself is a work. You know what I mean?

It's kind of scripted. But they actually, this was a shoot reality show for us. Like we were surprised. Like the promo competitions, all of that stuff, we didn't know beforehand. So nothing was prepared. It could have. I don't know why they didn't just make it a work like everything else. But so it was kind of a rib on us like the guys in it.

But everything was so serious because it really was real. So when it came time to the end after NXT, I ended up being run. her up. And so Wade Barrett was the only person who was guaranteed a contract. The rest of us, we thought we're going to be fired. Like, we're going to be sent back to developmental and, you know, depending on how well you placed, fired. So after the show was over, they called us at TV the very next week, all of us. And we were terrified because we thought they were going to fire us at TV. And all day, like nobody would talk to us. And so it was, like, it was really, really weird. And we were all, I remember, we all huddled around like, hey, what do you think's

going on? What are they going to do? Like, well, clearly, you know, there's, the fire raiders like this is not good it gets close to showtime it might have been half an hour before the show started and they brought us into vince's office and it was all of us just eight of us from nxtd vince and michael hayes and they told us what they wanted us to do they wanted us to go down to the ring in the in the main event storm jonsina versus sam punk and just wreak havoc tear everything up be both of them up anybody there leave nothing moving destroy the ring all of this Vince described it as he wanted to look like a pack of wild dogs. And he said, this has to be real.

It has to be vicious. And to put even more pressure on, as I said, and if it's not, you're fired. If it doesn't look vicious enough, you're fired. And that's it. So this is our last chance. And so I remember thinking, like, this is a lot of pressure. And they didn't sparking anybody else up to this. It's like none of the boys in the back knew about this.

I don't even know which referees knew about this, but that's part of what made it so real. John Sina and Sian Punk know about it? Yeah. Okay. I know Sina knew about it. I do not know if Sian Punk knew about it or if they, if Sina told him while they're out there. But I mean, eventually he knew, but I don't know if he knew about it. I don't know when he found out of it.

But yeah, it was like that hush, hush. To the point where I remember after it was over, like we were all hyped up and we came to the back. Like, we're nervous still. I was that good enough? Like, did we do it? And some of the boys were lined up like they wanted to fight us. because they didn't know they bought it. They got work.

They didn't know this was part of it. I don't know. I don't know who it was, but that's what the agents were telling us. Yeah, they had to tell him, hey, guys, that's a word. The storyline. Is it true that, like,

CM Punk got poked in the eye or something during that? And he got, like, mad for real? Oh, I don't know, probably. I've heard a story like that. That probably is true. I don't know. I wasn't part of that,

but I believe it. John Cena was bumping for you guys. Yeah, he was. I got to give him a lot of credit for that, too. Because it wouldn't have worked, you know, if it wasn't so vicious on the top star, on the top guy. Like that's what had to be. It was Irish whip into the clothes line, followed by Irish whip into the clothes line. Like, and he was like taking some real bumps there.

Yeah, he was. Yeah, he was. And, you know, they were stiff. And they had to be. He's told us. Yeah. But seen a guy has receipts on us. It just felt really, like, authentic.

Like, it just, it felt very, for life or better word, raw. Yeah. And I think part of it was too because it wasn't that well staged. They just told us go down there, tear the place up. We're going to leave box cutters for you and like different things. Like, all right, tear up the rig. It's like, we have another one. I don't care what you do to this.

It's like, wow, this is the first time like we got to expose like what's under a ring and like how it's made. And like it was, it was something. And I remember for me, like I was really green then like at the time. And I had to be the one to kick this off. Like I had to punch the referee. when we first got in the ring. That's a lot of pressure to put up me because this is the first shot. And this is going to set the toe.

If this does not look good, we're done. We're done. And I was just learning how to throw good punches. So I was like, you know, I'm just going to have to haul off and hit Chad Patt Patton. He might just have to eat one. Sorry, Jan. But it looked great. And, you know, luckily, that was probably the best punch I ever threw.

He didn't lose any teeth. And it looked awesome. When the announcers get taken out. And then when Justin Roberts gets taken out, that's like, wait, a second, the ring announced who doesn't get messed with. Right. And that was like the first time that had really happened and anything on that level. And a story I heard that I think was so awesome is while this is going down, like you can hear somebody ringing the ring bell. Yes. That was a fan in the audience who really thought like these guys went crazy. Hey, get some people out here to help.

Like they bought it that much. It was awesome. And then you guys were off to the races from there. Although I want to put a pin in what you just said. What receipts did John Cena give you? well, he came to us all the time. But there was a time, I can't remember what happened after it, but we had to slide in and he had chairs. And this was my first time ever being hit with a steel chair. Let me just tell you right now, that's real. They do not.

Well, at least he didn't pull him then because he wanted his receipt. I was like, golly. Hey, everything's supposed to be working. I was like, this cannot hurt that bad. He hit me once. And I was like, oh, no, I tried to move out of the way. He hit me again. I think I was supposed to stay in there for like four or five shots.

Uh-uh. Two, it might even be one and a half. After that first one, I don't want a part of this. I tried to get out of there. I'm getting out of here. Yeah, but that was definitely the receding gave me. You guys were in there with Undertaker. You were in there with Brett Hart.

Yeah. In there with Ricky Steamboat. Like, after that debut and it going off so well, it was like, they strapped a rocket to your back and you guys were off to the races. They really did. And the thing if it was, every week, they would threaten us. hey, you got to beat up Ricky Steamboat. If this doesn't look good, you know, you guys are fired.

And the thing is, at that time, he was at FCW with us, like, helping us train. Like, this is one of our coaches. Like, and, you know, he's an older guy. I don't want to hurt him. They're like, no, this has to look bad. Man. So every week, though, it just ratcheted up. And, like, we became those guys.

And then they wanted us to stay together, make this real. Which I thought was awesome. Like, they wanted us to maintain K-Fabe, like, outside of the ring. Like wherever we were, we had to have our armbands on. And so it was kind of like a fraternity. Like you didn't want to be caught without your arm band on because there could be repercussions. I didn't want to take a photo with a fan and not have my arm band on. Then, like, we weren't even supposed to take photos with fans.

Like, we were serious heels. And I remember one time I was with my nephew and a little boy came up and wanted a picture. And I turned him away. And oh, my gosh, I felt terrible. My nephew said, oh, Dave, you know, I could take a picture? It's like, no, no pictures. I ended up doing it anyway. I came.

I felt too bad. I just snarled at the picture or something. Yeah, I can't do that. Yeah, but it was so real. And you're right. I mean, the push was amazing. Amazing. I mean, it's too bad that, you know,

wouldn't end up happening to it, but what could have been, never know. So do you think the push just came to a complete screeching halt because of SummerSlam 2010? Yes. Yeah.

So, like, the narrative is, Sina buried the Nexus. Yes. Do you think that's true? Oh, yeah. That's 100% accurate. I mean, that's what happened. That is what happened.

Like, is it because Sina wanted to go over in that match? Yeah. Yes. And I don't know why he wanted to go over. But we knew all day. We were supposed to go over. And then things started getting weird. And then they tell us, no, the finish changed.

And it's because John, you know, wanted to go over. And we weren't happy about that. the other guys in the match weren't happy about that. And if I'm being honest, I think John probably knows that wasn't the right idea. I mean, maybe that obviously at the time he thought that was the right call. But in retrospect, I don't even think he would agree that that was the right thing to do. What was the finish supposed to be? I know we were supposed to go over.

I don't know how many. Wade Barron wins? Yeah, I'm assuming. I don't know how many of us there were, but there were some shenanigans, but we ultimately, we went over. Yeah. So, Sina, for those that don't remember, Sina takes a DDT to the exposed, concrete on the outside from Wade Barrett. And then he goes back into the ring.

It's two on one at this point, right? He ends up... I believe so. He ends up beating both of those guys in winning the match. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. But either way, I mean, you spend six months or however it was building this faction and we're the strongest thing.

We're the hottest thing they have. And then now, why would you have us lose that? And this is the main event. Like, to really build these new stars, you want us to keep going. You know, we could have rode this all the way to Maine. But then after that, we've now lost and that, you know, took us down a few pegs. And then after that, we never regained the steam.

They ended up separating us. And even then, they started to have a good storyline going where, you know, I was going to, we were going to oust Wade Barrett and I was going to take over. Like, I remember I kicked him out, kicked him out of the group. I think it was raw. And then the next week, I was supposed to then become the leader. However, then, hey, surprise, guys. we got a new leader for you.

What? C. M. Punk. Wait. What? Who? How does this fit in? And I guess he needed a faction. Straight Edge Society was done.

And he needed a new faction. So I don't know why they decided just to give him nexus. So then the storyline that we had going just stopped. And now we're the new nexus with CM Punk. Which, eh, it never really took off, I think, because it was a disconnect for the fans, too. Wade Barrett said that before that SummerSlan, a match, Vince basically told him, we need the fans to be sent home happy. Like, Summer Sam needs to have a happy ending.

I've heard that before, too, because I know, like, on house shows, they would do that, is have the baby face up, like, at the end. Not necessarily on pay-per-views. I mean, maybe they, maybe that did come into play, and they thought about that, but it's still, that still wasn't the right idea. I mean, that's like, you know, winning the battle, but losing the war, ultimately. Yeah. So where would Nexus have gone from there had you guys won that match?

I think we would have had a major run kind of like the Shield because if you ask me, I feel like the Shield was Nexus 2.0. Like what they did with the Shield, everything they did wrong in Nexus, they made sure they did it right with the Shield. That's my opinion. So I assume we would have had a run kind of similar to that. It's funny because when Seth Rollins was on the show, I said, what was the original idea for the Shield?

And he's like, we were just like supposed to be out there beating up people for CM Punk. And I'm like, so right. Like, people don't remember the original part was just them like beating people up for punk. Yeah. And then it turned into its own thing. And it took on a life of its own. But it seems like with the way that things went with SummerSlam, Nexus just kind of just like fell apart from there. Yeah.

It really did. Never, never recovered from that. It never was what it should have been. which is unfortunate. But there's so much promise. And they had the core and the Nexus. And then even that, like, eventually we should have had, like, one giant end-all be-all match or something like that. Yeah.

We never did. Were you with CM Punk? Like, were you guys paired together when he cut the pipe bomb? Yes. Oh, wow. So this was funny. So, like, CM Punk is part of New Nexus. And McGillicuddy, Curtis Axel,

Joe Henig, that was my partner. We used to drive punk. And so we drove around, we got to know him pretty well. And, you know, he would talk to us about stuff. And, you know, sometimes you talk about, like, the officer complain about different things or booking or whatnot. And I remember, so the day, the pipe bomb promo, I'm backstage. And I'm watching this, you know, he starts talking.

I'm like, ooh, ooh, wait a minute. Yo, he's talking about real stuff here. Like, I don't know if he should be saying this. Like, this is of the stuff we talked about the car. And I was like, oh, man. I remember when he walked back to the curtain, he worked me. I went up to him. And I was like, hey, punk, man, if I don't see you again, I just wouldn't tell you, it's been real.

Because I was like, I have no for sure. This guy is fired after this. He's not coming back. And it was funny because he laughed at me. And he's like, oh, Tonga, he's like, you'll see me again. I don't know about that. I daft him up. I was like, I think this guy is out of here.

But yeah, I honestly believe. That was such a great promo, and he talked about real stuff and then layered it in a storyline where, yeah, he worked me, man. So he didn't let you in on like, hey, man. This is what my promo was going to look like? Oh, no, no, no. He didn't discuss anything like that with us or whatever. And, I mean, we would have just thought it was storyline, but just, I think it's just the way he delivered it and the fact that it was real stuff. Like, it seemed legit.

That was such an inflection point, too, because there were a lot of people that were or maybe lapsed fans that watch that promo on early days of YouTube or saw that promo somewhere on social media. And they're like, wait a second. I have to watch now. Yeah. Brought a lot of people back. And it also made people think like, wait a second, he's not the champion.

Could he win and leave with the belt? Like that whole thing and money in the bank? Right. It was a lot of like very real things. And I think wrestling's at its best when you tow that line of like, I don't know what's real or what's not real here. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, exactly.

When you can blur those lines, that's the best. And certain characters and performers can do that. And punk is one of the best at doing that because you never know what's real, what's not. Because he's another one who used to keep up K Fabe outside of the ring as well. I'm a big proponent of that. Did you think he'd ever go back to WWA? Yes, I did. I did.

Just because he loves it so much and the way he went out was so epic and that everybody was just clamoring for him. I mean, I didn't think he was. would take as long as it did. But I thought he would have gone back sooner. Yeah, they chanted his name for almost 10 years. Yeah, yeah. And but it's because he was on such a high and then when he went out and again, like, that was legit.

And that's blurring the lines, though, still too, because you know he is really upset. You don't know necessarily what it's about, but you know there's animosity there. And there really was. Yeah. With John Cena on this farewell tour right now, you're this fun answer to a trivia question of like, Who did John Sino win the tag team championships with? And I think a lot of people go, yeah, he won it with David Otunga. So how did that come together?

Well, that was part of the Nexus storyline when we, you know, we're going to make John Sina join the Nexus. And so we went over on Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre. And the whole story of the match, it was pretty cool, was that CETA was supposed to do all the work where I took all the credit for it. So that's what happens. And then we would, I think Sina gets a pinfall. Obviously, I run in. I get both belts. I'm going crazy.

Like, this is awesome. It was an awesome. A little bit, too. It was really, really cool. And then I get down off the turnbuckle and he aAs me, which, you know, completely ungrateful. And then, you know, takes both titles and walks out. But the thing of it was, we were only supposed to have it for 24 hours.

And so, like, for me personally, it was an awesome moment. But I never really felt like, you know, I earned the tag team championship. yet. Like my, my second win with McGillacuddy was much more satisfying because I felt like we'd earned it, like at that point, whereas this was just a cool story we're doing for 24 hours. So I never really celebrated it like, you know, like when you win a championship. Yeah. But it's Sina. That's the thing. But it is Sina. And so, which was, which was cool. But man, he tried to rib me over that. So he didn't really let me enjoy it to be honest, because like, he tried to rib me by taking the title. And then he told me, hey, make sure you grab the titles and take up to the next town.

Because there's the TV titles. And then there's like the live event ones. And so TV wants to try out. He wanted me to get the live event ones, which I had to go get from Cody and Drew. And I was like, okay, all right, I'll do it. But then, like, he got on his bus and took off. And I guess he had already taken the titles, but to tell me. So his plan was he wanted me to go crazy backstage and like searching for it and freak out.

So I went and asked Drew for the titles. And he's like, oh, I already gave him to Sina. And I was like, okay, that was the end of that. So then I got in my car. I think I was with Heath Slater or something. We drove over to the next town. I get to the building the next day. Like, oh, man, what did you do?

Cina's pissed at you. I'm like, what? Like, yeah, he's mad. He's looking for it. You got to apologize to John Cena. I'm like, for what? And then, like, well, apparently you didn't get the titles last night. Yeah, I know, but he hasn't.

They're like, no, he said you should have looked for him. And then you should have looked for him and bet up so you couldn't find him. I'm like, what? So I'm like, well, hold on. second. You're telling me I need to go apologize to him and tell him. I'm sorry that I wasn't upset about not finding him. I didn't look hard

enough. And I can't apologize because it's prank didn't work out. Yeah. And I'm like, you do realize this sounds nuts. I can't remember who's telling me this. They're like, yes. This must have been an agent. Somebody because they actually give me advice, like you need to go talk to him. And he's like, yeah, I know, but just do it. So I

literally went and apologized to John. Hey, John. I'm sorry. I looking for the titles, I didn't understand, you know, I thought you had him. I don't know. He was too mad at me, though. He was too mad. Because his prank didn't work out. See, that's the thing.

That's what I always said, like, which is always kind of funny to me. Like, hey, yeah, your joke didn't work and you're mad at me about it, but doesn't that kind of fall on you? Planned your joke a little bit better. What have you thought of John Cena's farewell tour so far? Honestly, it's been lackluster, but because I do think John Cena is. He's one of the goats, if not the goat. Like, his farewell tour should be awesome. Like, all jokes aside, like, you know, like storyline-wise,

we're always against each other. But, like, John's a great guy. And he was probably my favorite person to work with. And, you know, I do look up to him and think that, you know, he should be on the Mount Rushmore. And his farewell tour should be such. They should be like Kobe's or something, you know. And it has not gone that way.

It just hasn't. The heel turn was not the heel turn to everybody was waiting for. Like, I kind of wish they wouldn't have even. even done it. The heel turn itself was amazing. The heel run that came after it was lackluster. Yeah. And I think that even John would be like, yeah, like, didn't know where to go with it or whatever. Like, I appreciate, though, that it's his final year. And he could have played the greatest hits. He could have gone January or December and just played the greatest hits and done his moves and went out there and basically what he's doing on the back half of this. I like that he took a chance.

I like that he went. I always wanted to turn a heel. Here's my chance. chance to do it. Here's our chance to surprise the audience. And it was really cool at elimination chamber. But then it led into this match at WrestleMania that kind of had us scratching our heads and then what kind of came after that, which then all ultimately came to SummerSlam and us going, all right, he's back. Yeah. The colors again, what a huge entrance. This is the John Cena we want for the rest of the tour. Right. And I agree with that because, you know, I'm one of those people, too, for a long time. I want to. wanted to see it heal Sina and what that could have been.

And this just, it didn't live up to it. So if we're not going to have that, I'd rather have the John Cena we know and love going out. Let's do that. And I really think, you know, his match with Brock even, I think that was cool. And for, you know, it reminded me of the match they had before when he took 14 Germans. And I think that was John wanting to put Brock over, like doing doing business. And because that's who he is because he loves the.

business so much and respects it. I think that was really cool. Like, I think a lot of fans didn't really understand why that would happen. But, like, to me, like, to the workers, like, I respect that. I respect that from John. A lot. I think a lot of fans saw that as, oh, they must be having another match. Why else would this match be only eight minutes?

Right. I think it was John Cena's way of saying Brock, Brock versus Cina's, this legendary, like, rivalry, like, John Cena just can't get one over on him. Yeah. John Cena's two wins over Brock, ones by DQ, it's like, Brock's seen, Brock's just the guy. Like, Brock and Sina's going to be this great rivalry, but Brock Lesnar's always going to be able to get one over on him.

I think that was his way of saying that. Yeah, I need to. And I think it helps, and it helps the company right now. It helps solidify Brock as this unbeatable guy. Don't forget, he's when it was ended the Undertaker's streak. Of course. Yeah, yeah. It goes together.

But I think you saying Kobe is a really good reference. point because like Kobe on his retirement tour like didn't matter what city he was playing in they paid the respects to him there was a ceremony before of like this is his last time playing in Toronto or Indianapolis or Miami or whatever city it happened to be let's appreciate this and then we'll go out and watch him play right and that's how I feel like you know it should be with John I still hold out hope we're going to get that I think that's where we're at now yeah like he basically called his shot with AJ yeah and that magic crown jewel and he doesn't have the ability to build up for his final four appearances.

Right. So it's raw, raw Survivor Series in the final match. I think he's just going to call his opponents. I hope so. Which feels to me like that kind of Kobe mentality we were talking about of like, you know, you know who I haven't worked yet? AJ Stiles, let's have a match. So I wonder who those other four opponents will be.

Yeah, me too. I don't know. If you're a betting man, who do you think his final opponent's going to be? I honestly, I can't even call it. That's so tough because I don't know what way we go on this. Like, does he go over or does he go out on his shield and put over a younger talent? I think he does the honors. I do, too.

For somebody. I could see some, you know who I could really see Bronbreaker? I think that would be a great one. It would be amazing. Yeah. And really just give him an amazing push. Somebody like that, though. Dominic Mysterio?

Dominic Mysterio would be a good one. too. Absolutely. You know who hasn't been talked about much in John Cinas farewell tour? Who's that? Is Roman Raines? That's a good point. Right?

Like, Roman's the guy or one of the top faces. He is. He is, but I feel like he's already solidified and established. I don't really think there's much more for him to gain with a match from John, other than like the fans, like we would love it. But I don't really see what there is for him to gain from that, though. Yeah. Whereas somebody else, like a dominant.

Mysterio or Bronwick could really use that match as leverage. Yeah. Gunther, that'd be a great one. It feels like a prototypical John Cena heel. Like, I feel like they could have a really great match together. I don't know. That's the great thing. With just a few months left on John Cena's farewell tour, we have no clue.

Like, it could, there is five or six names that it realistically could be. And then you could throw a random one in there and they're like, well, man, maybe it is edge if his contract ends with AEW. Possibly. I just love that that's where we're at right now. Yeah. Yeah. It keeps it. And that's when wrestling gets fun is when you can't predict what's going to happen. You don't know what's next. And then you don't know who's going to go over. That's the best. When we talk about all the big names that you were able to be in there with when Nexus was at its peak, you worked many matches with Brett Hart. Yeah. There were a lot of six-man matches where you were in there with Brett. So what was it like working with Brett.

That was awesome just to share the ring with him and getting to talk. Brett is one of my favorite people in WW period in all of professional wrestling. So just getting to talk to him, getting to know him. That was awesome. And he's so humble and so knowledgeable. And then being able to share the ring with him was it was awesome, but it was, it was nerve-wracking a little bit because we didn't want to hurt him. Like, you know, we know that he'd had some injuries and, you know, some health problems

before. So we were very, very careful with him. but it was awesome. It felt like the Nexus beat downs on Brett Hart were, they were a little, they weren't as violent. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Took it easy on them.

We really, yeah, we had to. We really pulled punches and everything. Yeah, but we really took care of him. But it was just such an honor just to even share the ring with him. Is your theme song a low key banger? Yeah, man. I can't tell you like how many times people bring that up to be. And like my comments will just be loaded with that.

Oh, and I know exactly what they mean. And the funny thing is like, people ask me, did you have input in it? Not really. Not at all? No,

I just approved it, but like I think, I don't know if they would have cared about it or I liked it or not. But funny thing is like that people don't know this, but Justin Gabriel had that song for like two weeks. And then they tried it with him. They didn't like, oh, I think it works better with Otanga.

And then I don't know what they changed his to. But then, like, I remember it was before a raw or something when time, like, hey, it was so good. I was on the stage. Here's your entrance music. And it's like, well, that was Gabriel. It's kind of cool. Like, what do you think? I love it.

Great. But I did. And, you know, the more I listened to it, like the lyrics kind of, they do go with me. Yeah, but it's a bang. It's all about me. It's all about the power. That's right. Yeah.

Standing next to me. Yeah. You know it. Your finisher was like, like, what a powerful move. Oh, thank you. Yeah, the verdict. I based that off of Farooq's, uh, Farooq's slam. Makes perfect sense. Yeah. But, uh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think you. It definitely was, it was kind of stiff sometimes. Yeah? I remember, uh, the first time, like, I got to do it in Nexus and I hit Chris Jericho with it. And I remember, like, I was so nervous just because I wanted to make sure I did everything right. I didn't mess up. And we came to the back. They got his feedback. Jericho pulled me aside. boy, he was heated.

He told me it was too stiff. Like, what? And then, like, man, all of this that could have gone wrong, I did that right. And you're telling me my finisher was too stiff? Like, come on, man. Just, it's the last bump of the match. Just take out to mention, like, bro, you nearly killed me out there with some stuff. But yeah, that's one of those things I remember is, yeah, the first time, like, you know,

I really got to do a good one. Jericho told me it was too stiff. But I feel like if you don't, like, really follow through on that move, it doesn't have the same impact. Right. And the way I was doing it, it's like I would hook their leg and it gives torque.

Like, it looks nasty. Yeah. So then if you don't do that, yeah, it takes the teeth out of it. Yeah. It's a pretty move, but, you know, it's not supposed to be pretty.

It's supposed to be pretty. It's supposed to look like I drove you through the mat. Yeah. What was your finish before that? Because you had something before that. No, that was only one. Maybe it was a different version.

Maybe it was you not hooking the leg that I'm thinking of. Yeah, yeah, I would do it slightly, slightly differently. But for the most part, It was the same thing. The verdict, the DA. I love how many references there are when you're working in law.

So many different things you can pull from that world. Yeah, absolutely. And I got to give credit to Norman Smiley. He gave me the name for it. Oh, that's good. Yeah, shout out to Norman. The last time I interviewed you was when you were in that Tyler Perry movie. Yeah.

Medea Family Funeral. What was it like being on a Tyler Perry set? Because he notoriously shoots very fast, right? Like you guys shot that whole movie in like six days or something. Yeah. Yeah. It was wild. Yeah.

It's a lot of script in a short amount of time. But his studio is amazing. And the way he, like you walk in the room, it's already lit. So that's what takes a long time when you're shooting a movie is the lighting. And then you set the camera up for one side. And then you have to literally flip the world to catch the other side of that angle. But he's already got it set up. Like he had a full neighborhood built and working homes and lights and everything.

So you just go. in and shoot that cut down so much time. Is it weird when you're talking to Tyler Perry who's directing this, but he's dressed as Medea? Yeah. Absolutely. I had a hard time taking him serious, like during that part. But it's his voice, you know, like, he's tall.

Medea? Yeah, he's a big dude. He's like, six, four. Yeah. He's tall and in a dress and talking to you as Tyler. I would have laughed so much. And he's a funny guy, too. So, like, sometimes, like, you know, he'll be funny.

But I remember seeing, you know, true genius. though, like, there was a scene where he played four characters in the same scene. And so he, we shot that, like, all day because he would be in one outfit talking and there would be like stand-ins. And then he would reshoot it from the other person, from the other person. So they have a four-way conversation with himself. But he kept it straight, the characters, and it was seamless. And he did it so fast.

Man. So if acting was your first love, your first real goal, where are you at with acting now? I'm still acting. I'm actually, in two days, I'm getting ready to fly to Chicago. to film an independent movie, which also will be shot very fast. Not quite as fast as Tyler Perry foot, but very fast, too. No, but I'm still very much acting. Yeah.

You're living out here now. Yeah, now I'm in Los Angeles. So there's a lot more opportunity here with that, I feel like. There is. And you know what the funny thing is, though, is now the things that would have booked me are back in Chicago, where I just left from. But when I was in Chicago, everything that would have booked me, Wazid, L.A. Yeah, I feel like a lot of stuff happening in Atlanta, too.

Atlanta, too. That's where Tyler Perry's studio is. I feel like stuff gets cast here, but then shot. And all the places. Yeah. Tax benefits and whatnot. Yeah, a lot of tax benefits in, like, Georgia. Yeah.

Do you think you'll have another match? I think I probably will. I mean, I don't know when that'll be or where. Yeah. I don't think. Have you wrestled anywhere outside of WWE? No. Right?

FCW and WWE. That's it. That's it. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe fourth rope. Maybe fourth rope. If you're doing stuff with fourth rope.

You never know. I don't know. But this is the thing about wrestling, right? It's never say never. Yeah, it's never say never. And I mean, whenever there's an interesting angle or storyline or a booking, you know, I'll take it. I've been offered a bunch and been offered to do independence. I was a couple days ago just offered for that.

But it's more, I want it to mean something. You know what I mean? Because like you said, like I have only wrestled in FCD. and WW. So the next time I wrestle, I wanted to meet in something or to have legs. I don't want it to just be a random match.

You know what I mean? Like I wanted to go somewhere and add to my legacy as a performer. And like FCW is underneath that WWE umbrella. So like you really have only worked within the WWE system. I really have. Yeah. Yeah. Framework.

Yeah. It would be why. I mean, doing independence would be interesting because it would be so much more lax. like, kind of do whatever I want at a way. Yeah. It might be really fun. Wade Barrett told me years ago, maybe it was like four or five years ago that he got

called for a Nexus reunion. Did you get called for that? I did. I did. And we actually filmed a documentary, an entire documentary that never came out. It happened. This was right at the beginning of COVID. Like, because we all sat down and recorded.

And it was awesome, like from what I heard. Because I know the stuff like I talked. Like I talked about and what I said. I know my part was great just saying I couldn't wait to see it. And then I stayed in touch with the producers and they told me that too, hey, your part is so good. We're putting you on last.

Like this is this documentary is amazing. Great. So we're all ready for this to come out. COVID hits. You never hear anything. I ended up call it and checking. And I remember the producer was like, oh man,

the whole group got let go. Like he was, this gentleman was the only person still left in his department. And so he was like, yeah, as far as I know, they've just held the video or scrapped or whatever and it never came out so this exists somewhere it in the wwe vault and it's supposed to be good i do remember that it's like he told me he was like it's so

good he said i can't believe it i spent you know just a couple days ago i spent like hours finishing it and it's even finished it's finished yeah and and they even had to cut it down because they're really trying to get it out like they have they have like extended scenes they don't even have so this exists somewhere which we get our hands on it well there's a wwee vault youtube channel now. This seems like a good place for this to be released. Absolutely. They've been putting a lot of like throwback matches on there, but why not a Nexus documentary?

Yeah. I'd love to see it because honestly, I only know what I said, but I would love to see what everybody else said too. Yeah, it'd be great. So was this going to lead into some sort of Nexus reunion? That was the indication I got. They'd never said specifically, but that's what, yeah, that's how I understood it. Yeah, it was that I don't know.

We were going to come back for, I think it was going to be Romania and Tampa, to be honest with you. And I don't, that, yeah, that's about what I knew is we were going to go there. Now what we were going to do there, I don't know. Wow. Is there still the option to have a Nexus reunion now? I mean, there is. Some ways just has to call for it. We're around. We still have a group thread. We still talk. You have a group chat? A Nexus group chat. Who's in it? Everybody, but Daniel, Brian. I mean, he turned on as a SummerSlam, so. Everybody else is in it? Everybody else is. All right. Well, it seems easy to connect you guys. Oh, yeah. Hey, man, we're all for one. Either nexus or you're against us. Yeah, we weren't kidding. This was real. But in all seriousness, though, like, we went through a lot together. We knew each other and FCW became friends and then started on the road together. Went through NXT. Like, we formed real friendships. And, like, also, it was nerve-wracking and stressful. And we were rookies. Like, we're in a class together. And, you know, like, we felt like we were being hazed and whatnot. But going through all that together, it makes you bond.

And it also sounds like you were constantly on the chopping block. Yes. Yeah. You never knew when you were done. You never knew what was going to be your last batch. Yeah. Wild. Like there feels like, and I heard you mention this in another interview,

it feels like they could have tied this into at least one week of television with Jon Cena on the farewell tour. Oh, yeah. I mean, because we were such a big part of it. Yeah. And I think that would be cool because that's still something people bring up all the time. It's like, you know, that's something that Sina did that, you know, shouldn't have been done. This is a way for him to write that wrong or not, but at least let us come back and, you know, get our one-on-one with John Cena or our seven-on-one, really. I feel like he mentioned this somewhat recently where, like, you know, I'm paraphrasing, but he's essentially saying, I've heard what you guys have said about me.

I've heard it about me burying talent before and what I did to the next is like owning up to it, I feel like. I feel like I heard something along those lines as well. Yeah. Yeah, it wasn't a direct apology. or taking responsibility, but it was adjacent to that, I'll say. Do you feel like you're owed an apology? No, no, no, I don't feel like I'm owed an apology. Not at all. I mean, you know, he makes his own decisions and, you know, the business ultimately, ultimately is Vince's decision.

Yeah. But I mean, no, we're not owed an apology, but I do think if you're telling the John Cena's story, the Nexus needs to be a part of that. I do feel that. It's a big part of it. Yeah. And I feel like everybody would love to see it. And it would make sense because, like you said, we did film a Nexus documentary.

but it never came out. We were supposed to come back, but we never came back. Yeah. If you're going to have the Nexus back at some point, what would make more sense than John Cena's farewell tour?

I think, you know, his last match, whatever it is, he's about to go over. All of a sudden, coming through the crowd. What? Otanga?

Barrett, Harvard, Miller, you know, everybody's popping up. Yeah. I feel like even though it's not law-related, this would be your most watched

video on your YouTube channel. What's that? You talking about John Cena in the Nexus, SummerSlam 20-time? Oh, yeah. Well, you know what? They don't need to be law-related, right?

No, no, no, they don't need to be law-related. You're right. I thought you were getting that. Can I sue him for it? Oh, yeah. I love that your mind went there. That's where it was a lawyer. I was like, wait, are you seeing something I don't?

That will definitely pop on your YouTube channel. Then you know what? You heard it here first. All right. Make a great-cover that. Make a great thumbnail for it. Look to Maven's channel for some great thumbnail inspiration because the thumbnail is the absolute key to a YouTube channel.

right thumbnails and titles thumbnails and titles what's a good title for it oh something about john's type in john sina nexus and then your titles will kind of write themselves john sina buried us uh you know the true story of john sina and summer slam john seen the nexus something i don't know yeah you'll figure it out the word buried i'm sure would get a lot of people

to call oh absolutely absolutely and then you can even say in the video like maybe it wasn't john's decision maybe was vincent's decision i don't know but tell the real story There's your most watched video right there. I like that idea. Yeah. You have to subscribe to make sure you. That's right, right.

D. O Tunga. There it is. YouTube. But great to see you, man. Hey, you too. You're looking very well.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. It's a gold. Jim, you're always working out at or is that a special occasion? No,

no, no. I always go to Golds. I go to Zoo Culture, Bradley Barnes, shout out to Brad. LA Fitness, 24-hour fitness, speak easy. I've legit,

like, you should see my keychain. I have legit six different gym memberships. just in Los Angeles. That's not even my Chicago keychain. But, like, I love this so much that, like, I'll go to certain gyms just for a machine. I drive to the Speakeasy in Pasadena just to use a particular chest machine. So that, I used to work out there. Oh, did you?

That gym still exists. Yeah. Oh, it's awesome. So the reason that Speakeasy exists is because of COVID. So it used to be USA Fitness. And then when COVID happened and you couldn't work out indoors, they put a tent up in the parking lot. and took all the machines from inside,

brought them outside of the parking lot, put them under a tent. They called it Speak Easy Fitness. Like it was like a secret gym in the parking lot. It was crazy expensive because it was the middle of pandemic. It was like wild prices, but it was the only place you could work out.

Yeah. So that's so funny that years later, they kept the name and obviously moved everything back inside. Bro. That's hilarious. I still have the key teet tag for it. It's awesome. And then like if you go to the other ones,

like it's like a club in a way. Oh, that's amazing. There's no window. No, it's trippy, though. If there's no windows, I would go in there and I wouldn't know what time it is. And the lighting is like club. Oh, it's like Las Vegas. Yeah.

And I would come out. I've been in there for like five hours. Whoa. Yeah. That's so funny that they kept the name. Yeah. It was like you had to know somebody to know somebody like, yeah, yeah, there's a gym in the parking lot of the gym. What?

Right. I, I, I'm smart in L.A. night up to that. Because he was living out here. Yeah. He's like, dude, thank you. Without you, I wouldn't have a gym to go. to him. Somebody help me. I helped you. But great to see you, man. You too. Congrats on everything. Congrats on launching the YouTube channel. Thank you. I will end this interview asking you the question.

I ask everybody at the end because gratitude is such a huge focus of my life. Yeah. David, what are three things in your life you're grateful for as we sit here right now? My son, my health, and great, just great memories. So like, I'm grateful for all the things that I've accomplished in this crazy, you know, just journey. I'm grateful for this right now. Grateful for today for you, things like this. Being present, yeah. Being present, yeah.

And trying to just enjoy everything that I do because I feel like life happens so fast. And like a lot of things like in WWE, we're moving so fast. And the nexus days, I never really had time to sit and enjoy it. The 24 hours, I was tag team champions with John Cena. I didn't really get to sit and enjoy it. But like, I try to really make sure I do that and reflect. So yeah. But grateful for my son, health, and this life I'm living.

Well, grateful for you, man. You too. Thanks for this conversation. Yeah, absolutely. Good to see you. Yeah, likewise. 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. You'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.