Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Flip Gordon on Ring of Honor, AEW, Marty Scurll, injuries, Being The Elite, Villain Enterprises

Episode Date: December 5, 2019

Flip Gordon sits down with Chris Van Vliet at The Big Event in NYC. He talks about his status with Ring of Honor, the rumors about him going to AEW, teaming with Marty Scurll in Villain Enterprises, recovering from injuries, not wanting to do the 450 splash and much more! My audio equipment provided by Samson Technologies: http://bit.ly/CVVSamson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Chris Van Vleet Show. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Vleet! Well, here we go, my friends. Welcome to the Chris Van Fleet Show, where two people sit in a hotel room and talk. Maybe that should become the tagline for the show because that's exactly what's happening in this interview and in so many of these interviews.

This episode of the show is brought to you by Indochino, Harry's, and Ship Station. And if you're a fan of Ring of Honor, I know how stoked you are for this chat with Flip Gordon. He's been on the show before. I've had him on the YouTube channel before. But that was two years ago. And so much has changed for Flip Gordon in those two years,

including aligning himself with Marty Skirl and villain enterprises. And that's really allowed him to take things to that next level. Flip is a great guy. I had the pleasure of working with him as a ring announcer on the same show. It was Blueprint Pro Wrestling, their inaugural show in Deerfield Beach, Florida. He's a great guy. And you are a great guy or girl. If you're listening to this or downloading this,

thanks for just being on this audio adventure with me. Thank you for subscribing. Thank you for leaving those reviews on Apple Podcast. I'll keep reading them on the show because it's your, it's because of you guys. You've helped so much. You've helped put the show to the top 20 on Apple Podcast. and I think maybe we can crack that top 10. If not, though, it's okay.

We're just going to keep doing this. I love it. Jared Sauchuk writes, love it. It's a five-star review on Apple podcast. He says, The last interview with Enzo was great. Chris, you've got a way of communicating with these wrestlers

that allows them to open up in a way that we don't get anywhere else. Keep it up. Well, keep those reviews up. Thank you so much. And yeah, I got a lot of flack for the Enzo interview. A lot of people just wrote him off. Like, oh, you did an interview.

with Enzo, I'm unsubscribing, CVV. Well, the whole point of this is to give people the opportunity to talk. And I think that if you saw the Enzo interview or if you listened to the Enzo interview, you'd see that Enzo the person is very different from Enzo the character that we saw on TV. So to everyone who did listen and made that the most popular podcast episode of all time for the Chris Van Vleach show, thank you. And thank you for having an open mind for that one. I'll also thank you to Samson Technologies for the mics, the headphones, the cables.

The mixer's everything that makes the show sound as good as it does. And if you're looking to start a podcast or YouTube channel, audio is the most important thing. Samson makes it super affordable for you. So check out their lineup at sampsontech.com. So when I tweeted out that I was going to be interviewing Flip Gordon, almost universally, people asked whether he would be joining his being the elite friends in AEW. Well, of course, we dive into that with Flip.

We also talk about what's on the horizon for him. in Ring of Honor. He says he wants to be world champion, and I don't think there's anyone on planet Earth that could say that he doesn't deserve it. He also wants to be a farmer. Yeah, we dig into that. We dig into so many things here.

Put your hands together, my friends, for Flip Gordon. I think it's been like almost two years. Yes, since the last time you were on here, Blueprint Pro Wrestling, Deerfield Beach. I was the ring announcer. Yes. And you were in the main event. Ooh.

Did I win that match? I was you and Matt Cross. I'm just going to say I won that. Yeah, of course you won. Yeah. Yeah, I think so. But now, and here we are two years later. A lot has changed for you.

You have a beard now? I do. Yeah. It's a little bit shorter than what it was a few years ago. Yeah. The girlfriend wanted me to trim it, and I have a little bit of time off, so I figured I'd make her happy in the meantime. What was the, so it was totally her decision?

She's been bugging me for literally months and has been asking, can you please shave it? Can you please trim it? Please, please, please. I'm like, no, I'm a bad guy now. I have to have a long beard. Marvin told me to grow up my beard. So I cut it finally.

I finally gave in. But you got longer hair now? I have longer hair now. As I understand, you were growing the beard because you looked too much like John Cena. That was kind of a reason. But really, it was just I got out of the Army. And I had to shave every day for six years. And mainly in between drills, I was able to grow it out.

but for my hair I had to have it short. And so for the first time ever, I was like, I get to grow up my hair and grow up my beard. This is very exciting. And before the Army, I couldn't really grow a beard. So I was like, I was like, this is my chance. I always wondered, how were you able to balance that job and the job of pro wrestling? So in the beginning, it was very simple because I was just doing one weekend a month for the Army, two weeks during the summer. Okay.

So until I started getting booked every weekend, it wasn't really a problem. Um, but once I was booked every weekend, that's when it kind of interfered with my drill for the army, because I was National Guard. And so I tried to work with them for a few months and a few months. They were letting me make it up on different weekends. But literally, once I was wrestling every weekend, it was impossible. So that was right around the time I signed with the Ring of Honor. Right. And so I was like, oh, I can't miss these shows because it was like my first weekend with the Ring of Honor.

And I let them know. I was like, here, I'm going to miss these dates for the army. can you guys please let me make this up? And we just got a new commander, a new first sergeant. And so, like, they were very, like, stiff, very strict because they were like, hey, we're new. We've got to set down the law. Sure.

And so they were like, no, you can't. And I was like, well, I kind of signed a contract, so I have to. And so for that month, they considered me AWOL. And then for the next month after that, it was a very situation very similar, except it was like my first or second UK tour or something like that. And I can't remember exactly. But I was like, I'm not saying no to this. I went there too, and they called me.

And they're like, hey, where are you? And I was like, I told you guys. Like, I'm going to be here. I think I was like, I think I was in Ireland at the time. It was the UK or Ireland. And they're like, we're going to have to consider you AWOL again. And I'm inside, I'm like, freaking out. I'm like, are you serious?

So for those of us. This is what I want to do. I was like, this is what I love. For those of us who don't know when you're considered AWOL in the Army, what happens? You can be in, you can get in very big trouble. Really? Yeah. You can actually go to prison if you get in big enough trouble.

Wow. But I was very fortunate and I was very lucky because a command star at Major I had met a couple years prior. He was actually an indie guy back over in the Seattle area. Oh, okay. Like many, many, many years ago. And he had looked at it and he was like, he saw that I was considered AWOL. So he hit me up me. He was like, yo, what's going on?

And I explained everything. And I was like, dude, I just signed with Ring of Honor. I'm doing this. I'm doing that. I'm like I'm going. I'm starting to travel so much. so I can't handle it and he's like he's like well what can I do to help you and I was like well if I could like make up my days during the week that would really help but my other

unit won't let me and he's like well what if I transfer you to my unit I'll let you make up you choose the days you have this many days to make up yeah you have this many days to finish up your contract let's make sure you get out on the right term perfect that way if you ever need to come back you have that option right he just he just worked with me and like they worked with me so well and I was able to get out I finished my contract on good terms and it was it was a I guess it's a good good example of the army can work with you. So honorably discharged. Honorable discharged. What was your last day or what was the day you were

discharged? It was actually last May, May 2nd. Wow. It's only been like a little over a year and a half maybe. Yeah. Wow. So this may will technically, I'll technically be like severed completely because I'm technically inactive for two years. Okay. Which basically means if we were to go to war before we do a draft, they'd call me back before they had a draft. Man. So unless that happens, and so free and clear for now. What was your actual, you know, job or job title with the National Guard? So when I first enlisted, I was a horizontal construction engineer.

So I learned how to operate all kinds of heavy equipment from loaders, dozers, scrapers, just big heavy equipment. We learned how to make roads and stuff. Wow. And then when I moved from Idaho to Boston, I reclassed and became a combat engineer. And that's when I learned how to use C4 and other explosives. So I learned how to build the bridges and the roads. then I learned how to blow them up afterwards.

Wow. Yeah, it was really cool. I learned so much and not only just like that, but it taught me so much about life. The main thing would be the discipline. Sure. And like teaching me how to be away from home because wrestling, there's a lot of being away from home. Are there like, do you think there's any parallels to the Army life other than the traveling and being away from home, but the day in the day out of Army life versus wrestling life?

I would say the competitiveness because even in the Army, like everybody's very competitive, just like wrestling. Everybody wants to be the best. Yeah. In the Army, everybody wants to be that best soldier. Because guess what? When you're the best soldier, you get promoted first. And when you get promoted first, you get more money. Yeah.

And everybody wants more money. Sure. Yeah. Especially in the Army because they don't pay very much. What do you think's changed for you as a wrestler? It's been about two years since we spoke last. What do you think has changed for you? Oh, gosh.

So much. I feel like I've changed completely. Which is funny because at that time, if, you know, if I had asked you the same question, Like, oh, I've learned so much now. Like, you probably would have thought at that time, you know, you were at the pinnacle of, not pinnacle, but you know what I mean? You would have thought you were so advanced at that point. Absolutely. And now, you know, just two years later.

It's been insane. In the last two years, I'm just trying to think like, ah, all in, you know, Madison Square Garden. Yeah. Like two huge shows. I went to, I went to Tokyo and for the best of super juniors. I wrestled in Cork and Hall. I wrestled on a cruise ship, just to name a few in the last few years. I want to too hard too much.

How different was wrestling in Japan compared to the other wrestling you'd been doing here? Oh, it was a lot of fun. I loved Japan. I felt like, especially best Super Juniors because I was wrestling so consistently, I felt like I learned at such a rapid pace. Because every time I was coming back, I was getting feedback. You need to do this better, this better, this better. So the next day, I would apply what I was told. And then I'd come back and be like, what now?

And they'd be like, you did this better, but this may be. You need a little bit more work, but you need to still work on this, work on this. And the main thing, they were like, more fire, more fire, more fire. So how much fire are you bringing in your matches now? Exactly. So now I try to bring as much fire and passion as I can. Yeah. So like the next time we've seen you in the ring, it's just going to be.

Oh, lots of fire. So much. So much fire. Well, I mean, do, have there been things that have happened in the last, I mean, the last year for you? The last year's been rough. Yeah. It's been, like, how are you feeling right now, as you said? right now i feel great i finally feel like i'm back to my normal self if not better like my my knees

are better than they've ever felt um my elbow obviously i blew out a few months ago it's it's not like a hundred percent but it's like 99.9 percent it still gives me a little bit of like eh here and there but it's it's there is there something like i'm putting up weight in the gym finally so i mean it's not that bad do you need to are you still rehabbing this i am still rehabbing it as well as my my knees because after being injured, I kind of changed the whole way I train because before I wasn't worried about my joints and all those little muscles. I was like, hey, let's just try to get as big as I can. And now I really focus on like the joints and the little muscles because I don't want to have to blow out another knee. I don't want to miss any more time. Two back-to-back injuries as

as serious as I did was heartbreak knee. And I never want to have to go through that again. Yeah. So what specifically has changed with your training? I train like an animal now I literally I'll go to the gym six days a week not even kidding and I'll go for two to three hours at a time and I do wow yeah and but I

warm up my legs now which I never used to do I stretch now which I never used to do I hit abs every single day which I never used to do and then I focus on like the little stuff like I use bands now and I work other stuff whereas before I was just trying to pick up as much ways I could. Now I don't even really care about the weight. It's more about reps and sets. So are you, like, you know, like do you still squat? That's obviously not going to be. Yeah,

I still squat, but I'm not going to put up three, four, or five plates. I'm like, I'm lucky if I get two on, you know, because I'm not trying to go. I'm working on form. I'm working on everything, all the little things because my knees were really weak. And like, I want to make sure that I never have any new problems again. So stretching. I got to start doing that before my workouts. Yeah, stretching is very important. Like, do you stretch? I stretch after the workout, which I used to like stretching before but they say you're not supposed to and so i've been stretching afterwards which is really nice because you think after you have that workout it's nice to just you know stretch it all out get that relax and then go home i'm sold it's just really hard because after you're

at the gym for like an hour and a half two hours you're like do i want to stretch for like 10 15 minutes you know what i mean because then you know i don't know but this is like this is your job now like it's wrestling and working out that's that's the way i looked at it when i got hurt when i blew up my in January I was like all right I can't do legs and I was already getting in like a really like good like fitness plan and then I blew up the knee but I was like all I can still go I just won't do legs so I just did upper body six days a week and I was just like just got addicted to it yeah and but after like like when if you're injured that's your job your job is to come back as soon as you can and so that's

what I did was there any part while you were injured while you weren't able to take bookings or wrestle matches where you just like, man, what am I going to do with my weekends now? Yeah, at first, it was really weird because I felt like I was getting a little overwhelmed at the end of last year because I was working so much where I was like, oh, I need a break. Like I just need like two weeks off to just to get it out of my system. It's a good problem to have. And then I had like those two, three weeks off like Christmas and New Year's, came back that

first weekend and boom, there goes my knee. And then I had too much time off. To the point this year, I just had too much time off now. especially with both injuries, I'm getting super antsy. And I'm like, I want to get back. I want to get back. Yeah. But I was waiting to make sure that my body was 100%.

That's why I just kind of taking it easy towards this end of the year. Yeah. We've got final battle coming up for Ring of Honor. So I want to make sure I can give my absolute best at that show. Yeah. And then come next year, I'm going to be a maniac again. I'm going to work as hard as I can because I miss it. Do you think there's anything that you would maybe be hesitant to do with the knee injuries now?

Yeah. I mean, since, I mean, I always think now, like with moves, like, I'm always thinking, like, how am I going to land? Even with my elbow. I'm like, I'll probably never do a 450 again. That's what I heard it on. But it could, it could have happened in ring too because of the angle I came, I fell at, you know? Yeah. So like, like, the thought of blowing out my elbow again, I'm like, yeah, I don't, maybe I won't do that.

Maybe I won't do this because just too much error. I'm going to, it gives me a challenge, though, because it gives me a chance to expand my arsenal and work on other things that I definitely need to work on. because I'm still very new at this. But your name's Flip Gordon. I am Flip Gordon. And I still will throw flips in there every now and then. But if I can learn the other stuff, then when I sprinkle those flips back in, you know, it could be magic. That's it.

That's what my trainers tell me. I don't know. I mean, I'll take the word for it. So we're here at the big event, New York, you know, meet and greet autograph signing. When you do these, what's the main thing people want to say to you or ask to you when they're in your line? Oh gosh. The big one, believe it or not, still to this day, is where do you think you're going? It, like, it blows my mind that is still a thing.

Like, because that was a while ago. That's going to be a thing forever. Forever. That was, that was a lot of fans' first introduction to you. And now you haven't been on being the elite in a while. Do you miss it? Of course I miss. I miss those guys.

Yeah. Do you still keep in touch with them? You know, it's really hard to keep in touch. touch people, they're dead. Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for your loss. Touchy subject.

Yeah, it is. Touchy subject. So where do you think you're going? Where do you think you're going? And then I think after that, believe it or not, is probably another BTE thing is Marty and Flip take Japan. People will come up and they will sing that to me all the time. So this is if I'm anywhere near you tomorrow, this is what I can expect.

Yes, absolutely. 100%, especially because me and Marty are here at the big event. Together. That's, do you know if you're going to be close to him? We should be sitting right next to each other, I'd imagine, because we're both in villain and everyone. Are you at the same table? I mean, I'm probably not that special.

Oh, yeah. Marty kind of pulls rank around here. Yeah, I guess so. I got to, can you, since you know, maybe, maybe you could get him on the show sometime. Oh, that's easy. Really? Yeah, I'll just give you, you to text him right now. I'll give you his number afterwards.

You hear this guys? Kay Fab. Yeah, sorry. I mean, yeah. But when we, you didn't get it from me, though. Yeah. No, no. When we tweeted out that we were going to do this interview, you saw the barrage of... Oh, there was a lot. Yes. I tried to read through as many as I could. Some of them were horrible. I'm sorry.

Some of them were horrible. But you saw the recurring theme here and you probably get it every single day. Yes, every single day. Everybody wants to know when you're going to go join your dead friends in AEW. Who says I'm going to go join them? The people. I'm just... Why do people say that? Why do they assume why do they like why do they get to say where I'm going next I they're just saying that's where they maybe like to see you they're not saying you're going to go there that is true well there is lots of options and I saw one question that had asked where do I see myself in five years from now and that's like a mind-blowing question because I haven't even been wrestling for five years that's crazy when you put it that way so look how much the business has changed since I've

started. It can change so much more another five years. So I'm happy with what my ghosts of my friends are doing. But I want to see how the landscape of professional wrestling changes because I am the mercenary and I'm going to see all my offers before I make any decision, whether it's staying or going anywhere. Right. Well, when you do look ahead five years, five years, that's mind-blowing to think. Five years. What's it look like to you? I'm not saying where are you going to be, but like obviously you're still going to be wrestling. I would have absolutely. Yep.

Yeah. Well, I mean, maybe, who knows? I don't know. Five years is a long time. Maybe you'll be living somewhere else. Who knows? I would love to move somewhere warmer. Okay.

I'd love to buy a farm someday. Okay. We were talking about Canada. I mean, five, I mean, five, that's doable in five years. You can have a farm in five years. Absolutely. Yeah. Maybe three.

Ooh. Maybe put a little pressure on myself. Give yourself a three-year plan. Yeah. Yeah. Well, if you sign a big contract. Ooh, you hear that, people? Yeah.

Give me some money so I can buy a farm. Where would you ideally like to buy this farm? Pride in North Carolina or Nashville. Not Nashville, but like Tennessee. Yeah. So those are like the two states, me and my girlfriend, kind of talking about. Why a farm? Because I grew up on a farm for a portion of my life, a very important portion of my life.

Where was the farm? It was in Columbia Falls, Montana. Okay. And that's where I started backyard wrestling. with my brother, I would force him to do it. And we would jump off my stepdad's like construction, construction, like trailer. I would do like 450s off of that. Not no more.

No more 450s, but I would do 450s off of that. I had 450 perfected at like age 12. Not really, but like it's just so much, so much memories. Was it jumping into the pool? Is that way you laid? No, trampoline. We had a trampoline. I would jump off the roof onto the trampoline onto him.

He would always move. I decided to eat it every time. He'd push me off the ladders, like, oh, that's the reason I don't do a shooting star, actually, because I was going to do a shooting star off the ladder onto the trampoline. Yeah. And when he rolled, I blame it on him. He had nothing to do with it. But when he rolled and I went, the ladder threw off and I landed right on the metal part on the trampoline,

literally just straight up and straight down. And I was like, yep, never again, never again. You don't do a shooting star because of a backyard wrestling accident. Yes. because if it can happen once it can happen again well you're not going to be landing on a trampoline yeah could you imagine landing on the post or on the turnbuckle that'd be horrible

yeah what was your backyard wrestling name uh it was it was my shoot name okay yeah well that's not but i'm a junior so like my finishing move was the t2 that was a huge cna mark i laughed because i was a backyard wrestler and it was just a tkoh because i couldn't i couldn't be like cina but I had to be close to Sina, so it was a TKO. So then you must have loved when people thought that you looked like Sina a little bit. Until I started getting into wrestling.

Then I was like, oh yeah, I don't know if I want to be compared to another wrestler. I want to be my own person. Yeah. Well, what was... But as a kid, I loved it. I was like, yeah, I guess who I look like. I guess what I look like. Now you don't look anything like John Sina.

No. The beard and the long hair, I think, helps a lot. I just had a strong jaw line. I guess that's what it was. I mean, that's a good thing to have. I'm really enjoying this chat with Flip Gordon. Let's take a quick time out. To thank our sponsors, this episode's brought to you by Harry's.

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Once again, that's harries.com slash blue wire. This episode is also brought to you by ShipStation, and the holiday rush is here. You have to get those orders shipped out quickly, effectively, efficiently, and affordably. Yeah, but how do you keep track of all those orders? How do you decide which is the right carrier used?

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It's really no wonder why ShipStation is the number one choice of online sellers. You will ship more in less time and you'll get the best rates available. So take the hassle out of your holiday shipping this year. Let ShipStation do it all for you. Use my offer code blue, B-L-U-E. You'll get some. 60 day free trial. That's two months of free, no hassle, stress-free holiday shipping. So just visit shipstation.com. Click on the microphone at the top of the page. Type in blue. Once again, that's shipstation.com. Enter the code BLUE. Blue shipstation. Make ship. When you were developing the Flip Gordon character, you know, what kind of thought went into that?

So I didn't really pick the name, which a lot of people ask me. Well, you pick the name flip Gordon um but i had never had a nickname in my entire life until i started training at uh the new england pro wrestling academy and the first thing i did when i went in there was just started doing flips and like that was the first thing like and uh so everybody just started calling me the flippy kid the flippy kid then it kind of just started shortening it up to flip and at first i wanted to use Travis Gordon uh which is my first and middle name mainly because my last name everybody butchered in high school and so i was like yeah i don't want to have to go through that again yeah i i hear you i got one of those last names yeah and so i decided to shorten it and uh

get rid of it to completely and then my late uncle's name was also gordon so i wanted to do a little tribute to him as well and so i was going to do Travis Gordon but then everyone's like no you got do flip flip Gordon like flash Gordon it sounds like superhero yeah yeah so then at first i was like all right i'll do Travis flip Gordon but then i was like oh just get rid of the Travis sounds more wrestler-ish, and I guess that's the story. But you're not just a guy who does, you know, flips in the ring. There's so much more of your character. Yeah, because, like, I have, like, a huge background.

Like, I did MMA. I did amateur wrestling all throughout middle school and high school. Like, I'm not just a flippy guy. I love flipping because I have a gymnastics background as well. Yeah. But, like, I love the actual, like, grappling technical side of it as well. I just haven't been able to really show that. Well, now you can.

Because it's hard as a flippy guy. Well, when your name is flip, I kind of, I know. That's why I was scared of like, that's why I wanted to do the Travis at first. I was like, I don't want to pigeonhole myself as just being a flip guy. But then I don't know, I just having a nickname for the first time was so cool. I was like, I got to keep it. I got to keep flip, you know.

How different do you think Ring of Honor has become with, you know, with the guys that left to do AEW? The roster shifted a lot. And then guys like you get a lot more attention. But how do you think as a whole it's changed? I don't know. I feel like that's a difficult question for me. answer because I've missed like six, seven months this year. Yeah. So I've only, I was gone for the first four months, five months they were gone, came back for a couple months. So I mean, all I can say

really is that the roster right now is very hungry because they know there are these spots available and they know that Ring of Honor is, let's say, in a rebuilding phase. So there's a lot of pressure to build new stars and everybody wants to be those next stars, myself included. Yeah. When you look at, you know, your career right now and you look back at the matches you've had. What's the one match that if someone's watching you right now in this video for the first time, that you would say you need to go watch this match? Ooh, that's tough. Or is there a certain opponent?

I would have to say probably me and Will Osprey. Okay. Just because I've had two good matches with him or two matches with him and both of them were probably my two best matches I've ever had in my opinion. And I think the first one was better than the second one, so I definitely need a rematch so I can make up for that last one. But I'd say that just I feel like he's on such role right now, and he's just such a special entertainer that he's able to bring the best out of everybody he's in the ring with. And now that you're healthy, who's on your list of like, okay, I need to have a match with that guy? I would really love a match with Jeff Cobb because we've been in Ring of Honor for some time together.

and yet our paths having crossed for some reason. I feel like that's a match that needs to happen. Yeah, that'd be a great match. Well, I think we can make that happen. We need to make that happen. I don't know why I'm talking like I can make that happen. Hey, Twitter, can you guys make that happen? They can come on.

They can make that happen. I mean, everybody listens to Twitter these days, right? I mean. Do they? I don't know. I try not to even go on Twitter anymore. Have you had times, though, where you've been on Twitter and you know, you've just been, you've seen something.

on there that you're like, oh, come on. You didn't need to say that. Well, that and I'm just also the most gullible person. So like, I'll see stuff and be like, wait, what? And they're like, I'll get God all the time. Like, K-Fave News gets me all the time. I'm like, oh, you got me again.

WWW fake news on Instagram gets me every time. I'm like, no way. And then I scroll down and it's WWW fake news. You'd be surprised sometimes, though. I mean, the real news sometimes sounds like should be fake news. That's true. That is true. You've been, I mean, you get ribbed a lot for this type of stuff.

I do. I get ribbed all the time. But my, my most recent rib was for a well done steak, which apparently is like illegal in this country. Apparently. I'm, how do you like your stakes? Medium. Medium. Yeah. Yeah. I can understand though, like I like the, I like the burnt outside. I do. Like if it's possible. See, I don't want it burnt because I don't want to not be able to. Well, if you're getting it well done, you're pretty much getting it. See, I just, I say I do medium well technically, but this steak that I got medium well, they set back like three times. By the time it came back, it was like, it was just too bad. So you, so you're saying you ordered it medium well? A little, I like a little bit of pink, but like, yeah, no pink's better, but I mean,

a little pink is tolerable. Well, no pink is well done. Yeah. And that's, that's okay. Because it, well, if you get medium well and you let it sit a few more minutes, technically doesn't it cook a little more to be well done? Are you dipping it in ketchup? No, gross.

Gross. No. Because a good steak, if it's cooked well, shouldn't need any sauces. 100%. Yes. See, we agree on that at least. No, and I agree with you. I ate well-done steak when I was, like, younger.

I think a lot of it had to do with my grandpa. Like, he always did well-done steaks and well-done everything. And, like, he made the best burgers, best steaks, everything. And so I'm just like, I'm going to eat the way my grandpa did. This is a great story. Then you shouldn't be ribbed for that. Yeah. Yeah.

Shame on you, Marty. Yeah. Shame on you. Yeah. I will admit that I get pizza well done. Really? Yeah. Like a little crispy? I want the crust to have just a little bit of a burnt edge to it.

There you go. I get like when I get fries from five guys. Yeah. I ask for them well done. Well, I get it. Five guys makes theirs a little bit soggy. A little bit soggy. Yeah.

See, man, did we just become best friends? I think we did become best friends. Wow. Believe it or not, my first legal job was five guys. And it was the first five guys in the state of Montana. Were you flipping burgers? I was flipping burgers, but I was the ultimate fry guy. I actually had people would come in.

If I'd be on like the grill doing burgers, they'd be like, hey, can we get him to make our fries? Because I made the best fries ever because they'd want them like too soggy because that's like the way the five guys fries are supposed to be. And I was like, no, people don't like it like that. Now, true or false, after being the fry guy for so long, doesn't it not give you pimples and acne? Have you seen my face? Does it look like I have pimples? No, you're not working at five guys anymore, though. No, I mean, I never noticed anything.

That was a thing. I didn't know that was a thing. Yeah, being around the oils so much, apparently makes your skin. No, I mean, that makes sense, but I mean, I didn't know that. I'm glad to hear that wasn't a thing, though. Yeah, thank God. It's because we used like 100% peanut oil. Maybe that's why.

You're like a five guys salesman here. See, I can't believe I remember all this. It was just coming back, maybe. Anyone who's watching this in another country other than America is like, what are these guys talking about? I just hope the five guys like CEOs watching this. I get like free five guys for life. There it is. The Flip Gordon.

Fulking up, baby. I don't. I've seen your abs. Oh, stop. Yeah. Oh, stop. I just eat five guys all the time. All the time.

Actually, my real diet consists of mainly just candy and ice cream. Because I'm such a picky eater. It's so hard for me to find real food I like. So what's the go-to candy? Go-to candy would be airheads. Oh, okay. Yeah, only I only like the cherry red airheads. Okay.

But then I like Laffy Tad. taffy, pink and cherry, so strawberry and cherry. And then red vines. Red vines, I can always go for red vines. So much better than Twizzlers. Way better than Twizzlers. Yeah, that's a debate. It's a huge debate, which it shouldn't be.

No, that's like, it's not even close. That's like In and Out and Waterberger. That's another big debate. Yeah, in and out all day, all day. Geez, in and out for sure. In and out are five guys? If the CEO is watching, five guys. But if he's not watching, in and out.

And sorry to everyone that's watching this in Texas. Yeah. I don't think I've even had Whataburger. I don't think I've ever had it. Well, you're not missing much. It's a third place, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Fourth, third. I don't, I'm sorry. Are we being too harsh now? There's going to be people that are like, oh, Waterbergers, the biased. It's in Texas. And I'm like, I'm sorry. I just, I can't do it. What's your girlfriend think of this diet of yours?

She complains all the time. she says I'm very unhealthy. She says, she's like, you're going to get diabetes because you eat too much. I'm not even can't. She says all this. And I'm like, yeah, but I look better than like all your friends. Like, it doesn't, like, I'm not, like, fat. Like, I'm healthy.

I go to the doctor, the heart. Like, the doctor listens to my heart. He says it's perfect every time. Like, I'm not worried. Where did you and your girlfriend meet? We met on set of a movie, actually. Oh. And we had our first kiss on the same set of the movie.

And it was just. Yep. And it was just magic from there. What movie is this? It was called The Find. It is not out yet. It is still in the making. And how ironic that you found each other.

Yes. On the set of the find. And co-star was Vinnie Marcellia, who was also in Ring of Honor. Wow. Yeah, he was the murderer. So it's actually supposed to be out soon. It got picked up by Lionsgate. Wow.

And so they needed it to add more, because it wasn't long enough, so they needed to add more scenes. So this is a few. So we actually got my dog in a scene too in the same movie because they need to add scenes. It should be out any month now, actually. So the find coming to you soon. Wow. So you guys, and I know there's a lot of dead time spent on a movie set.

I've been on a couple of them and like there's a lot of time just spent just sitting around. Is this where you guys met? Yeah. And we actually lived in the same house for five days because we were shooting from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. Okay. And so, yeah. And like, so then we would be up during, like, we'd sleep for a few hours and then be up all day until 5 p.m. just hanging out. So we'd be playing, like, card games.

Like, there was a magician. So we'd be watching him do, like, magic tricks. Like, it was super cool and it was super fun. Just five days. Just, it was awesome. What's the premise of this film? Um, so, oh, gosh, you shouldn't ask me this. Um, well, you can just see it when it's in theaters, everyone.

So it's basically, like, a bunch of kids that had never really, like, partied or whatnot, go to this party. And the house is basically like casino on like a, like a haunted, like, gosh, I don't really know. But basically it's haunted. I'm following along. Basically, it's haunted. I'm the dumb jock. And we're in this thing.

He dies quickly. Yeah. I have a fight scene. It's badass. You don't want to miss it. Is there any flipping in this fight scene? I guess I technically do a flip. Okay.

If I flip over or fly over something, right? Sure. If I get thrown and flip, I guess that's technically. Were you on wires? No, I did all my own stunts. Oh, yeah. I think you get paid more when you do your own stunts. I did a little bit, not much.

Yeah, but that's a low budget. That's the next rate increase, I believe. I'm serious. Really? Yeah. I'm going to have to hit up my agent and make sure I get the payday. Like, unless, I don't know. I don't know the technicalities here.

But yes, hit up your agent. Yes. Tell them that I. Especially know the Lionsgate's got. I know they got money now. If this goes into distribution, you have the potential to make a lot more money. That is true. Yeah.

They did tell us that when we signed the contracts. This is great. Yeah. I mean, I didn't read it very well. How well did you read your Ring of Honor contract? I actually, I was very smart with my Ring of Honor contract and I had a lawyer look at it. Oh, there you go. That's better than the movie contract.

That one was longer. It was more pages. I don't want to read that many pages. People are. You know, people are very interested in your contract. I know. It's like, it's mind-blowing. Yeah.

Like, I didn't think, like, it's cool. I mean, I didn't think I'd ever be in this position, so I'm really excited. It's very nerve-wracking. I don't know what's going to happen. So I don't know how other people know what's going to happen. I mean, I guess time will tell. It's, I mean, it's a position you've created for yourself by being good and by putting in the work. This is, this is an exciting position to be in.

It's a very exciting time, but there's always. always that one question is could you make the wrong decision could you could you I mean I don't know I mean depends on the way you look at it I guess so or you could just take the you know the position that you're given wherever it happens to be in whatever company and you do the best with it like you haven't all I know is that regardless of when my contract expires I am going to perform my heart out I'm be the best professional wrestler I can continue to grow as much as I can year in and year out no matter where I go no matter where I stay because that's my goal I just want to be the best professional wrestler that

I can do you think there'll be more movies it doesn't matter where I go long as I get a wrestle so do you think there'll be more movies peppered in there I would love to I don't think I'm just a one-hit wonder I don't think wrestling is the only thing that I'll be able to do in this life I think I have lots of talents that I can put other places. Yeah. And I would love to go on those other ventures here shortly. But wrestling is my main focus will always be my main focus, but I would love to start doing other projects as well, yes.

Has there been someone, you know, over the growth of your career, over the last, since we spoke last, I mean, your career has really taken off. Has there been someone that's giving you some great advice in that time that's really helped you kind of step things up to that next level? Absolutely. Absolutely. One person that I would say that has helped me a lot and give me in the most advice would actually be my boss and my CEO, Marty Scroll. Ever since the best of the Super Junior's when we did the Marty and Flip Take Japan,

he kind of taken me under his wing at that time and really just provided a learning tree for me. And it was really cool because this is one of the top stars in this business, one of the top gimmicks characters in this business. and for him to want to take time and help me, you know, somebody that's new and just getting their feet wet in this business, that means a lot. And I'll truly be grateful for that and he knows it.

So if he does and he does now. Maybe he'd be watching this. I don't know. He's a very busy guy. He doesn't watch very many things. Yeah, no. But if he is watching this, we'll make sure we get him on next time, right?

No, we are making that happen. We are making that. We already, we already said that. Oh, it's already booked? Yeah. It's already booked. Yeah, I already got it booked. Yeah, thank you.

Absolutely. The Ring of Honor World Title, is that something that's, you know, do you have your eye on? Absolutely. I've said this a couple times, but when I set a goal, I'm the type of person where I want to complete that goal. I have to complete that goal. And one of the goals I made was to become Ring of Honor World Champion. And that is something that I am destined to become. And it's something that I will become. And I won't stop until I get there. Have you set, you know, when you set this goal, did you set a timeline for yourself? I want to do this in two. years, five years, whatever. No, not really.

I try not to put timeframes on things because some things could take longer than others. Some things can come quicker than others. Like buying your farm? Yeah, I mean, because, well, I didn't, I mean, I didn't think I was going to get injured this year. And I did. So that kind of set things a little back. Sure. So if I try to keep the timeline on something, I mean, that timeline kind of already passed, I guess.

Because the goal I had would have been this year. I would have loved to have been Ring of Honor World Champion. And obviously that didn't happen. Yeah. But always next year. Well, if you weren't injured, I mean, there's a real possibility that it could have and should have happened. Absolutely. But we won't know.

But like I said, there's always next year. And I'm excited for next year. We got lots of big things coming up for Ring of Honor. A lot of it I can't discuss. But it'll be coming out in the near future. And I think it'll get a lot of the fans really excited about what's going on with us. Walk me through the phone call you have to make to your girlfriend when you get injured. Oh, gosh.

So I always do it via text. Oh, okay. Because I'm backstage. I'm like, yeah, I got hurt. I don't want to have to hear it. But she was actually with me. Her first time she ever saw me wrestle, I wrestled Joey Mercury for Northeast Wrestling. And he whipped me into the steel steps.

And my head went under the ring a little bit. the crossbar and I busted my head open and was just gushing blood everywhere we finished the match we went like 15 20 minutes and afterwards she's like oh you need to go get stitches everybody's like you need to go get stitches blah blah blah I was like I'm hungry I didn't eat yet so we went tgI Fridays got some food ate quick then went to the emergency room had to get like eight stables in my head oh my god yeah what's been the most so now she's always like be careful be careful what's been the most painful injury you've had Oh gosh most painful Probably the knee

Okay Probably the knee That was definitely the most painful You probably knew instantly like Oh this is messed up Yeah well I mean the elbow was I thought I broke my arm And the elbow happened

But like there's so much adrenaline And everything that I feel like that one Just kind of flew by quick I think the fear of the knee Because knees are notorious For being so serious Yeah I think just that first week

Was just it was a panic week because it's that before you get the MRI results, you don't know whether you're out like four months, six months a year. You don't know the extent of it. And that week was, that was hell week. Oh my gosh.

I've never been like so like mentally like frustrated. It was sure. It was tough. Well, all you have to do is just buy time until you get these results. Yeah. But the toughest part is just not thinking about it. How are you going to do that?

I mean, luckily like a blessing this guy is I had my puppy. and like he was a very good distraction. He was actually a very good rehab aide as well because he forced me to get off the couch. He forced me to get outside to walk. Because he had to take him potty. I had to take him for walks. And he was a little bit of polar when he was a little small.

And now he's like 100 pounds. Your dog's so cute. Thank you. And but like just going for walks and runs with him, he just literally pushed me and helped me. And he's like one of my, he's like because of going through all this with him, he's one of my best friends now.

Oh. And my girlfriend. She's one of my best friends too. because she's literally helped me so much, and especially when I needed somebody. Wow. This is look a great story. Yeah.

Tying all the best friends together here. I'm starting to have a pretty cool family. Yeah. I'm loving it. Wow. Yeah. Now you just got to get your farm. Are you going to have a...

Yes, I need to get a farm because she has a horse. She has a horse? Yes. We need to get another horse so we can ride together, and we need a place to put these horses. I need to get that farm. So you're going to get your farm in Tennessee or North Carolina. Are you going to have more animals on this farm?

I would love to have cows. pigs, sheep, chickens. I don't think... Those are all the... I mean, those are all animals we had when I was growing up. I don't think when people look at you, they go, that's a guy who's going to own a farm.

So, believe it or not, in high school, like, freshman, sophomore year, I used to wear South Pole. Like, baggy... Like, this was the trend back then. Baggy pants, baggy sweatshirt, cap backwards, and nobody believed I lived on a farm

because I dressed that way, but I lived on a farm at the time. You were just dressing like John Cena. Well, it was... Technically, Yes, yes, but it was also like my first time I had ever came to the East Coast right before my freshman year. And I met my dad for the first time since I was five when I was 15. And like that was kind of like all the clothes they had over here on the East Coast at the time.

And I was like, oh, I'm going to like my dad bought me all new clothes. So I just went like all out on it, no pun intended. You looked up to John Sina, you know, as a wrestler. I did, yeah. Who was the in ring, like, who was the in ring style you really looked up to? Eddie Guerrero. Eddie Guerrero is the one I'd say is like the guy emulate my style most after. Yeah, with more flips.

Yes, absolutely, yeah. Yeah. But I just loved like the way he moved in the ring. And like he, like you wouldn't picture a guy like him to be able to pick guys up and fly around around the ring the way he did. And that's kind of the reason like I want to try to get a little bigger as well is because I don't want to just be looked at as like a junior heavyweight. I want to be looked at as like a guy like him who can be a heavyweight who can still be a high flyer. who can do multiple different styles and be a great, amazing wrestler. You've been putting on a lot of size.

I've been working my ass off. It's all the ice cream and five guys guys. All the ice cream, five guys, and all the candy, baby. Look, I'm excited that you're healthy. I'm excited to see you back in the ring being able to do your thing at 100%. I think that that's super exciting. Thank you. I really appreciate that.

And thank you for coming back on the show. Absolutely. I'm sorry it took so long. That's okay. We've run into each other a few times, but it was like, okay, we are making this thing happen. Yes. Did you have fun at the party? Which party? Oh, yeah.

Come on. What party? The last time we saw each other. Gosh. The all outside party. Yes. That was great. I interviewed Colt Cabana there live.

It was a great turnout, right? It was a lot of fun. Did you see the finality of my dunk, the dunk tank contest? Yes. Unbelievable, right? Storybook, you can't make it up. Yeah. I was like, what?

That was impressive. You're like a true athlete. I mean, I just like I said, all those people there. I was watching every single person I went before me. Yeah. I saw what they did. I was one of those people. I saw what didn't work. And I took all their methods and I created the master method. Yeah. I went three for three. I went up not long before you. You didn't do too good though. What happened? And I played baseball in high school and college. And I was like, I got this thing. Frank the clowns sitting up there. He's like, you got nothing. Chris. I'm like, yeah, we'll see about that. And I did

this big wind up. And I missed every time. My favorite one was that one, I think it was a, it was a a little girl she came up yeah frank started talking smack like oh you throw like a girl blah blah blah blah one throw boom dropped him oh it was the best oh oh it was unbelievable so the party was great thank you for having me there absolutely thanks for coming and thank you for being on the show again absolutely i'm so excited for what 2020 holds for you oh i'm excited for what 2020 holds for professional wrestling me too because the industry is just booming uh before our eyes and it's It's just, it's special to be a part of. 2019 was a magical year that I think we'll look back on and go,

that was when wrestling, like, really shifted and changed. Now we take all that momentum into 2020. As a fan, I'm excited, and I'm excited, you know, I'm sure you must be excited as a worker. Oh, I'm super excited, especially because they said at one time we were going to have flying cars by 2020. So I want to be the first person to have a flying car to the ring for an entry. That'll be awesome.

Goals, right? Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you so much. Where do you think you're going? Oh, gosh. Not a dead. Yeah.

Well, there you have it, my friends. Flip Gordon, or should I call him Farmer Flip? I love that. I love that he wants to just live on a whole bunch of acreage with a bunch of farm animals. If you enjoyed this, please share it with a friend. Take a screenshot. Tag me. Tag Flip Gordon.

Let us know what you thought about this one. And if you've been listening to the podcast or if you subscribe to my YouTube channel, you know that the goal this year was 50 wrestling interviews. in 2019 and I just counted because someone was like they tweeted me and said how many interviews have you done this year? Seems like a lot more than 50. Well it is a lot more than 50. I just counted. I've uploaded 93 videos this year including everything.

We're ending the year so strong. There's so many interviews. This interview was in New York. Just did the John Moxley interview in Chicago. I'm flying to Las Vegas soon to do an interview with Austin Aries where he talks about literally every controversy he's ever been involved in. We've also got Santana and Ortiz on the way and a really interesting chat with Just Incredible, who had some very well publicized battles with addiction. So there's so much on the way.

Thank you for being part of this journey. The podcast began in 2019, but it's only going to get stronger as we head into 2020. So thank you for being on this journey with me. We're going to do this thing together. I don't know who this quote is from. If you know, please tweet me or hit me up on Instagram and let me know. But it's such a great quote. In the end, everything will be okay.

And if it's not okay, it's not the end. Have a great week. We will see you next Thursday, or maybe we'll pepper in a little surprise interview in between then. So be subscribed and we'll see you soon. 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 get it? go from top of the rock. I'm looking for a music video. They're a band from 1987. Hammer Alley. Ever heard of them? To Rock Bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987. I can't believe he's doing this. Hammer Alley. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.