Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Freddie Prinze Jr. On Why Cody Rhodes Lost At WrestleMania, World Heavyweight Championship Design, MJF's Brilliance

Episode Date: May 16, 2023

Freddie Prinze Jr. (@realfreddieprinze) is an actor, producer and former writer for WWE from 2008 - 2009 and 2010 - 2012. He joins Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood to talk about becoming a part owner of the Premier Streaming Network, his involvement at the Premier Streaming Network Showcase on September 9 in Metuchen, NJ, his thoughts on the new WWE World Heavyweight Championship design, why he thinks Cody Rhodes lost at WrestleMania 39, how he and his wife Sarah Michelle Gellar have stayed married for 20+ years, does he think MJF will go to WWE, pitching to Ken Griffey Jr. in the movie "Summer Catch", the brilliance of Dolph Ziggler and much more! For more information on Premier Streaming Network visit: https://watchonpremier.com/ If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. For more information about CVV and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com Follow CVV on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All systems are gathered. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Bleas! Oh, hello, my friends, and welcome back to another one here on Insight. I'm CVV, Chris Van Fleet. So good to have you with us here during my birthday week. Yeah, it is true. I was born on Kane's least favorite day. I was born on May 19, and this year it's a big one for me.

On Friday, May 19th, I turn 40. and maybe you've heard me talking about it during other interviews or maybe you've watched the progress on my social media, but my goal was to be in the best shape of my life by my 40th birthday. And here we are. Here we are. I feel great. And a lot of people have been asking about my workout plan.

Honestly, that's not even really been the biggest thing about this. But, I mean, it's been pretty simple. It's five days a week in the gym lifting weights, focusing on one, sometimes two body parts. a day like arms and shoulders are grouped together, but chest is one day, back is one day. And so it's five days in the gym. I do cardio six days a week and then one full day of rest. Maybe we'll do another episode. We'll we dive into all of that.

If that's something you're interested in, shoot me a message and we'll make that thing happen. But honestly, it's been all about diet. They say that abs are made in the kitchen. I don't know who says that, but they say that. And that's been a really big part of it. a heavy focus on a lot of protein, no sugar, no alcohol, and like moderating my carbs. More carbs on days when I'm lifting, less carbs on off days. So all of that is to say, I feel great, like better than I've felt in many, many years.

And yes, the best shape of my life at 40 years old. So no matter how old you are, how young you are, I just want to say that like it's possible for you too. So like just make some small shifts. Like maybe cut out drinking soda or maybe cut out drinking or eating candy. The little things go such a long way. Move your body like start to walk a little bit more. You don't need to walk 40 minutes a day on the treadmill like I'm doing right now, but just walk a little bit. So hopefully that, you know, lights a fire under you as we head into my 40th birthday. And as we head into the third interview with Freddie Prince Jr. So good to have. have him back on the show with us. So good to have him back in the studio. He's, he's my favorite

recurring guest because he's always dropping nuggets of knowledge, whether that's about Hollywood, it's about wrestling and his time that he spent as a writer and producer with WWE or just life in general. And I'm excited for his involvement with the Premier Streaming Network. And we get into that a lot during this conversation. But both Freddie and I will see you at the Premier Streaming Network Showcase on September 9th in Matuchin, New Jersey. Presale tickets are available as of today for Premier Plus annual subscribers. You can find all of the details on Premier Streaming Network.com. I hope you enjoy this episode.

And if you haven't checked out the other two, the last one was like six months ago. And the last one before that was about a year ago. They're great. And they're so worth diving into because Freddie just tells the best story. So please share this with a friend. Take a screenshot. Tag us on social media so we can share it out as well. He's at Real Freddie Prince.

I'm at Chris Van Vleet. If you're not yet, please make sure that you're following so you don't miss out on all the awesomeness that we're dropping. The podcast just keeps getting bigger and better every single week. And it's because of you. And it's because of you subscribing and following the show. So I appreciate you. Okay, let's do this thing.

Here we go. Please welcome. Freddie Prince Jr. So good to have you back in here. Thank you, man. Good to be back. I wish I could have you on every single month. Well, we did it.

We got twice in one year, right? I think it was close to that. The last time you were on was November. Yeah, because you were about to gender reveal. That's right. I was going to have the gender reveal. I have revealed. Now you're moments away.

Oh, my gosh. It could happen right now. If my phone starts ringing, I am out of here. You're allowed. It'll only take me two hours. to get back home with traffic. We'll get you a police escort or something. But you're now around in all the biggest moments of my life.

Yeah, that's that. Wow. Fortuitous. Uncle Freddie. Yeah, she can call me Uncle Freddy. So we're having a girl. Yeah, congratulations. They're better.

Better than boys? They're easier. They listen. I tell my daughter something one time she does it. My son, it's like I have to have a Tommy gun size clip in order to get him to understand and comprehend. So yeah, trust me. You lucked out. If you have a second and it's a boy, you'll be better prepared.

If I have more patience, you won't want to kill him every single day. It's way better. Do you worry about raising kids in L.A.? Because I worry about that. I worry about raising kids anywhere. Yeah. And people are crazy. Everybody thinks L.A. is such a weirdo place.

L.A. is a reflection of the culture. L.A. is a reflection of the rest of the country. It's selling to you all the time. Yeah. And you keep buying it all the time. Not you. I'm saying you. So yeah, it's a reflection of self.

There's a lot of money and it's pretty and the taxes are big time. But other than that, it's a reflection of the country. And people don't always like what they see. And sometimes they really love what they see. And when they love what they see, they become the movie characters. They become what they see in the films. And when they don't, they reject it and go the opposite direction. That's how punk rock became cool, man.

L.A. is so interesting to me because there's so many people that have moved here, from somewhere else, like myself, you know, I'm originally from Toronto. So many people have moved here from another place. And you've got this juxtaposition of like, you know, we're just miles away from where Brad Pitt and George Clooney and Freddie Prince Jr. and Julia Roberts and all these people live. Yeah, man. And at the same time, there's all these people that moved here from Middle America that are barely getting by chasing that dream.

It's a city full of dreamers. I think there was a line in kiss, kiss, bang, bang. Everyone goes, what movie's that? It's a really good Robert Downey Jr. Movie with Val Kilmer. And he had a line, he said, it's like someone grabbed the East Coast and shook it. And all the people who weren't strong enough to hang on ended up in Los Angeles.

And that's a good, I think that way. I think F. Gary wrote that line. And it's a very truthful line. And I don't mean it in an insulting way. It's a city full of people with a dream. So that's a certain type of person. They have big ideas, which you need to push society. forward, whether it's art, commerce, science, anything.

You need big, challenging ideas, but they're not always left-brained people. They're not organized. They say things like, oh, I flaked, and that's a legitimate excuse to them. By the way, that is not a legitimate excuse. Being an asshole is not a legitimate excuse. That happens in L.A. way too much. Way too much. But it is a reflection.

I'm sure it now happens, you know, everywhere else as well. It's not like all those people were born and raised in Los Angeles. They're from all over the country. And somehow with all of that said, you and your wife have this incredible relationship. Yeah. Everyone talks about you and Sarah Michelle Geller being, you know, relationship goals. You just celebrated your 20th wedding anniversary, right? I think we're past 20 now.

I think we just hit 21. Oh, really? I think we hit 21 and we've been together like 23. I don't know. That's a long time. I thought it was just 20. I'm a guy. I don't remember that stuff.

Well, it's a long time, especially like 20. 20 years in Hollywood is like 150 years in real life. Yeah, but dates just aren't a bit. Like, I forgot last year's birthday until I saw it on Instagram. And someone was like, my birthday, not hers. My own birthday. I was like, oh, damn. And then I said, I'm 46.

And Sarah said, no, you're 47, you dumbass. Like, so I'm just not, I'm not that guy. My mind isn't on that stuff. What's the secret to what you guys have done? How have you made it work? We could ask that all the time, man. there's no answer. There really isn't. I could, you know, BS you and, you know, give you something to clip, but it wouldn't even be truthful. Like, you're either, you're either both trying to make it

work or you're not. And if you're both trying to make it work, you're good to go. And if you're still in a point in your life where you need to be selfish, and I don't mean selfish in a bad way, where you need to be selfish to accomplish your goals that you set out for yourself, not your bosses, yours, which are even bigger than that, or to go after your dreams, there is a level of selfishness that must exist. And if you got married before you accomplished that and you can't give as much as they do, then it's either, oops, you're bad. Or you ask them to sacrifice. And when you get to where you need to be, then you'll sacrifice for them. And I've seen relationships like that work beautifully, people that have been together as long as Sarah and I. And she worked

so he could go to college and she worked three jobs, and he got a great job in finance, and now he bust his ass, and she gets to pursue her dreams. And like I said, double-decade relationship, and that was a sacrifice. I've seen other people who said, listen, I got into this situation, and I shouldn't have, and I think we need to get a divorce,

because I can't give you what you need. I can't give you what you deserve, right? He was very smart the way he expressed himself in asking for a divorce. But it wasn't like, I hate you. It was, I have to be alone in order to accomplish this. And I can't be the man that you need me to be. And they got a healthy divorce.

And she didn't take them to the cleaners. So it was amicable, which never happens. So there's ways to make it work. But if you're not ready, don't get married. That's the best advice I could give someone. If you're not where you want to be, and you know what it takes to get there, then you know what it takes to get there.

And there's a, like, listen to any modern rap song. You know what I mean? Like, they're telling you, but it's not in an insulting way. It's not crapping on anything. It's like, yo, I'm about money. I'm about getting to where I want to be, and I don't have time for relationship. That's a very honest, straightforward,

not rude, not disrespectful point of view. They're literally being more honest with you than any other dude you would date. Any other dude, oh, yeah, I love kids. Oh, yeah, marriage is good. Like, they'll say anything. But these guys are saying, look, I have talent, and I want to see where that talent can take me.

And that's not a two-lane street. That's a one-way street. And it's a motorcycle, not a four-door sedan. There's no room on the back. And I respect that. You know, Sarah and I were able to sacrifice and say, hey, when you work, I won't. When I work, you won't.

And we were in a position where we were able to do that, which was beneficial. But that's, you know, maybe that's how we made it work. It's especially tough in this line of work. because it's a lot of shiny things, right? Like that life can feel very shiny and it can attract your attention, especially when you're on set with very beautiful people, especially when you're...

I guess so, but I have buddies who are, you know, in tech and fix internet that have, you know, seen their spouse be in an affair. You know what I mean? So pretty people are everywhere. Everywhere. It's just you're either in it or you're not. You guys are both. It's that simple.

I've kissed way more women on camera than off camera. Like, it's not a thing. It's just my job. It's my work. I didn't even like all of them. You know what I mean? So it's like, I respected them, but I didn't like all of them. It wasn't like, ooh, I get to kiss Rachel Lee Cook.

No, that was our scene. And we, you know, did our scene. How do you kiss someone you don't want to kiss? It's your job. How do you interview someone you don't want to ask? interview. I try to find something interesting about everybody. All right, well, that's what you do as an actor. You find something about

the character that you love and you focus on that and not the person and then you party on. You know, like pretty much every guy around my age had a giant crush on your wife growing up. Of course. And guys outside that generation too. They still do. Older, creepier ones.

But I guess at the same time, there was a lot of women around that age who had a giant crush on you too. Yeah. But again, Again, still do. All I can say is you're either in a relationship or you're not. And I'm in a relationship. So it's pretty easy.

I've never had a good answer to these kind of questions because that's just not a life that I live. And look at my history. You can see, like, I can count on both hands how many clubs I've been to in my life, how many nightclubs. In L.A., New York, Las Vegas, Paris, London, Australia, all combined. count on two hands. Nine. That's the number. I'm 47. I don't think I'll see double digits in nightclubs. That wasn't my life. We could go make it happen tonight. You've never seen me go to rehab. Drugs isn't a part of my life. You've never seen me deal with alcoholism because it was in my life, my family's life, and I never wanted that. So I stayed very, very disciplined. The people who helped

raise me were very disciplined men and women. One was Bob Wall, who I think you and I, I've even discussed before. He was my godfather. He passed away last year. These men didn't play games. They didn't raise assholes. They raised humble, disciplined, confident young men and women. My godsisters are gangsters, man.

They see something and they kill it. My youngest god sister had her own coffee shop that she financed. She got the loan. She did everything at 19 years old. and sorry at 21 years she was 21 years old and that's to have the guts to do that and the confidence to do it well and by the way it's still there today she sold it but it's still there today like these are these are are disciplined people they're not just people that that dream they're people that go out and figure out how to accomplish that dream ask questions shut up and listen

when someone has more experience than you be quiet ask a question and be quiet and don't don't say things like, oh, yeah, I know, I know, because you don't know. Shut up and be humble and learn. And it wasn't, they weren't mean. They were saying mean things to me. They were just strict. And nowadays, they'd be called abusive. You know what I mean?

Like, oh, he's so mean. Like, all right, well, if you like me, you'd definitely like him because he helped raise me. You know what I mean? If you don't like me, then you probably wouldn't like it because he raised me. I also love that you dive in to the things like, the nerdy things that you like. Like we could sit here and talk for four hours about Star Wars. And we could sit here and-

Sci-fi, yeah. Star Wars, I think I got about 90 minutes. We could probably talk about, you know, for 18 hours about pro wrestling. Probably 18 days, actually. Yeah, let's see. Let's see. I'm sure that's probably a Guinness record, longest podcast. Oh, man. 18 days. No way anyone hit that.

I mean, I love sleep too much to make that happen. I think we should go. Just bring a bucket and let's go for it. Look at one. Let's, we can talk wrestling, dude. love wrestling. And your podcast is so good. Thank you, man. It's wrestling with Freddie. We call wrestling with friends because my buddy Jeff dies, my co-host on it now for two years. And I love talking wrestling. That's all we do. He's a stand-up comic, so he's really funny and his takes are

ridiculous and often right. And yeah, it's just two guys that love it. We don't talk about the stuff we hate. Although if there is somebody I love that I see something bad happened to, we definitely talk about that kind of stuff. Look, there's enough negativity in pro-restless. Yeah, I try to keep things positive and I don't want to talk about stuff I don't like. You know what I mean? It's so funny, though, because you're so knowledgeable about wrestling and not everybody knows your background, working for WWE twice. And I think a lot of times people will hear your takes, which are so often spot on and they'll be like, we've gotten it right a lot. Of course. And there's a lot of people that are like, wait a second. Is that the guy from Scooby-Doo?

talking about wrestling? Some people get mad, but that's okay. You're allowed to get mad and you're allowed to think my opinions suck. You're allowed to think anything you want. I still do the show that I do every week because I love it. And if you think I'm wrong, party on.

But it's just that people have their own perceptions, right? It's art. They're allowed to. But they don't realize that you were a writer for WWE, that you flew on Vince's jet with him. But there are people who painted with Picasso and there were critics and fans of theirs that didn't know that relationship existed

and just judged them based on what they had seen and that's how they're conditioned to interpret their information. That's why Amadeo Modiani wasn't beloved until after he was dead. And it was Picasso who went and chastised the masses and said, how dare you not give this man the honor that he deserved? And his paintings and portraits went from like four francs to 200,000 francs. And the reason they did was because of that Picasso endorsement. But what people didn't know was Picasso had bought up all of Modiani's art before he made the speech and then sold it all and made a fortune.

That's bro. This is why I love having you on the show. How dirty is that, man? Dirtyest, right? Every time, though, that you give your take on things, there's a lot of people that go, why isn't Freddie running his own company? He's talked about running this company. What's going on here? I have been working on it.

I'll actually, I can talk a lot about the process. I wrote a wrestling show, and it was also a promotion. Like a scripted show? It was partially scripted and then wrestling matches as well. And depending on the talent, you can let some people do their own thing. Some people need to be written for. Some people shouldn't talk. They're more skilled in the ring than on the microphone, right?

Yeah. But it was different than what is out there today. I felt in a good way. And I started going out with it, the traditional Hollywood way, which is find a producer who's passionate about the material and or showrunner, attach them to the material. And then you and that showrunner producer go to networks. I don't like this process. It adds people that weren't an organic part of the process to it at a very early stage. And it makes it seem like it's okay to change everything.

It doesn't always go down like that, but more often than not it does. and the producers that I found all wanted so much ownership that by the time I would be done with the network and the showowner, I'm making less than both of them. And it's my idea. And that's normally how it goes when you sell a half hour or an hour-long television show, right? So I wanted to shift or switch tracks, I guess,

is a better way to say it, and completely self-finance, produce, and create something that then already exists and license it then to studios once I can establish what it is, the way Vince does Monday Night Raw with the USA Network. He license it to them. They don't own it. He licenses it.

The same way, he doesn't own the arenas he's in. He leases them for that night. And that there are ownership laws that exist, but that's not ownership, right? So I wanted to own it, and it's an independent wrestling promotion, but I needed an education in independent wrestling from the distribution side

and from the actual physical promotion side as well. Matt Cardona, who we both love, introduced me to the wonderful people that helped create Fight TV, and they've created the premier streaming network, PSN, you can go on a phone and go to the app store and download it right now. And it's almost like a new

cyberpunk territory system where they're bringing all these, independent wrestling promotions to their network. And you can watch everything they're doing, but more importantly, everything they've done. So a lot of the wrestlers that you can watch are wrestlers that you would see on AEW and WWE, but now you can watch their early matches.

You can watch Generico matches. You can watch Kevin Steen. You can watch, you know, all these guys doing their thing at a young age. And with all the new wrestling coming in, they have something. And I usually need to go to my phone for this, but on September 9th in New Jersey. I will be there. And you are actually a part of this, which is so awesome.

I'm hosting the free show. You're going to Medellin, New Jersey at the Medellin Sportsplex, and they're doing their premier showcase there, which is basically, and I love this, each independent promotion that they represent sends their best wrestlers to this one show in the hopes that their wrestler will win the premier championship, which is a championship that PSN has created and will allow to be defended on any independent promotion that the wrestler wins it from and then goes to.

It's so old school. It feels like Kumete from like the old school Van Dam, even though Frank Dukes was a fraud. You heard it here. Straight up, that's real talk. The real ones, no. But it feels like a Kumete tournament and you get to have this sort of winner,

at the end. I just hope somebody screams Maté instead of taps out. And you're an investor in PSM. I'm a co-owner of the company. A co-owner? Yeah, I really believe in what they're trying to do. Josh Sharnoff is the one who's kind of headed this up. And that guy works his ass off. He busts his ass. And they know

independent wrestling. They have access to so much. And I can instead of going to film school for four years, get on a set. You'll learn a lot more. That's what I would always recommend to people instead of getting in debt. And this is the same thing as like throw me in the fire and and hope I don't give burn too bad. You know what I mean?

But it's an education and a trial by fire and I think will prepare me better when I do my own show, which I'll more than likely also be doing with PSN as well. So if I'm co-hosting the pre-show. If I'm there, we got to have a segment. Let's do it. This means you're my boss. Wow. Well, I'll be your partner that. I'll be your partner. I'll be your partner. Yeah, I'll be your color guy. That's so interesting, the interesting thing about you is it's like so many people view you as the, I know what you did last summer guy or as the Scooby-Doo guy or as the my favorite

summer catch guy. You're so weird. I love it, man. It's so good. And also as like, you're also the wrestling guy. But your wrestling knowledge is, it's high.

Look, I have a lot, but I'm by no means an historian. I think it's an historian, not a historian. I believe so when it's a vowel sound. Yes. But I have a good education of the physical process and how the business works.

I had a good mind for the business when I worked there. I learned a lot from all the old school guys. And so a lot of my philosophies are old school. In the last two years, a lot of the new school guys have really charmed me. And so I feel like I'm a good balance between the two. Who's charming you right now? Well, just from people that I actually know the next generation. Like I'm friendly with MJF.

Nobody likes MJF. I love him. Nobody likes him. I know, but I love him. So he's got one. Just like you're the one guy that saw Summer Catch. I'm the one guy that loves Maxwell. Jessica Beal is in that movie, all right?

She is. And that's a great reason to love it. It had nothing to do with me. But MJF is King Midas. And there's the threat that he touches himself and turns to gold as well, thus ending his reign. but I don't think we're there yet. And his philosophies on the business

are sort of tattooed in his soul old school, but his mind is not old school. His mind is new school. So I think he's a perfect combination of mixing the two. He takes risks, which I like, allow artists to take risks.

It might not always work. He may screw up sometimes and do something that people feel crosses the line. Allow artists to take risk. They learn from them, I promise. He wants you behind him, whether you hate him or love him. Either way, if he sees something doesn't work, he doesn't do it twice. He changes and evolves.

So the criticism's fine, but just allow for these mistakes to happen. Allow for artists to have regret. You know what I mean? There's movies that I did, and looking back, I go, yeah, I probably wouldn't do that movie now. It's not that I hate it. It's not that I'm unappreciative. I have regrets about the process and how it went and where I was. versus where I wish I would have been as far as my skill,

as far as being able to hone my talent at a later age instead of an earlier age, which I wish I could have done quicker. But it took me 10 years, you know what I mean? But the interesting thing about movies is they are forever. They are, and you have to see that image for it. So a big reason why I don't watch my stuff, I don't want to see anything that I would deem a mistake on camera because it pisses me off and I obsess about that.

So it's better to just stay away from it, and know that I was a better actor at the end of the movie than when the movie started. And that's really the main goal that I put in when I was a younger actor. Because I got older and my perspectives on the business changed a bit, evolved, then I would set different goals during each movie. And I started thinking much more how the audience would react, how they would take this, where the music would be, how loud it would be in certain moments.

And that's all just experience and seeing other old school actors, ask questions, give information, and just stealing little things here and there from them. I remember Sylvester Stallone told me when I interviewed him, this idea that movies are forever. And when that goes on the big screen, that will live on for decades, centuries to come. And I feel like we're more forgiving in like sports. If you see an athlete who's doing something early on in their career,

we go, yeah, but that was early in their career. Yeah, as long as you're not a degenerate gambler and have money on them. Sure. Then there's forgiveness. Right. But in a movie, we go, oh, man, that movie, from 10, 20 years ago. They'll assassinate people for it.

I won't say any names, but there's actors who their early work, I was like, man, I don't know. Like, who auditioned that was so bad that they lost to this? And then 10 years later, looking at them and being like, wow, how did he, how the hell did he do? I'm stealing that.

That's so freaking good. You know what I mean? And that, but he had time to grow and develop. Yeah. You know, he just got pushed quick and got famous quick. and then developed the talent into a skill over the next decade to the point where it wasn't just me. Other actors I know are like, oh, yeah, I love that guy.

And felt the same way I did early on. And I'm sure, by the way, I'm one of those. I look back at where I was compared to where I got to by the time I was in my 30s, and it was night and day. And I'm proud to say that. So I have mistakes on camera that for sure will live on forever. But at the time, it was me at my best. It was me constantly challenging myself,

learning what worked, what didn't, not always as quickly as I wanted, but learning. What do you think is your best performance? It was a movie called, they changed the name of it. And I don't read title pages. It was called... Doesn't watch his own movies, doesn't read title pages.

It was called, I'm Nailed Right In, and they changed it to Brooklyn Rules. And it was me, Jerry Ferrar, Scott Kahn, Mina Suvari and Alec Baldwin. What a cast. It was a really good cast, and it took place in the 80s, and it was basically Terry Winters,

the writer from Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire. It was his life story as a young man, and I played Terry. I don't remember what the character's name was in the movie, but it was the Terry Winter's character. You don't remember your character's name? Brother, I was 33, maybe 30? Like, that's 17 years ago, man.

No, I don't remember my characters from... We have all the world. information right here. Do you want me to look it out? I'm not Googling myself to see what rules I played. You know what I mean? Like, I did it. I know I did it. What was the movie called? Brooklyn Rules. Okay, let's see.

Watch now that won't even be the name. Let's see. Brooklyn Rules, okay? I'll say Mike was the name. Okay, that Brooklyn Rules is the name of the film. All right. You were Michael Turner. Look at that. Come on. I just think the most generic name I can think of. I think it was Mike, maybe John.

Mike or John. It was Mike or John. I know I've played Ray, and I know you did because I watched that movie for my horror podcast. That was pretty scary. My buddy made me watch it. And I actually really enjoyed it. It was a surreal experience to be certain, but I really, really enjoyed it. Yeah, we got to give some love to your horror podcast.

Thank you, man. Yeah, check it out. You can listen to it anywhere. We're on the morbid network. I love those women. All they do is death and horror, whether it's real or from movies. I love being there. All I watch are horror films.

We're getting ready to record another one on Thursday. We're doing Fright Night from 1985, which is one of my favorite horror movies and one of the greatest top ten horror posters ever made. And Chris Sarandon plays the vampire. And y'all, he's so sexy. There's a reason Susan Sarandon kept the name when they divorced because he's that damn fine.

And he plays a vampire just beautifully. And I love the movie so much. And John, my partner actually wrecked. He goes, dude, we should do Fright Night. And my brain just exploded. Because I haven't seen it in like 15 years. And it was just like, oh, my God, we're doing Fright Night. And it just holds up.

Tom Holland was so underrated in the 80s as a horror director. And some people like Fright Night 2 just as much. It's not quite as charming, but it's still super good. But Friday Night 1 is just horror gold. And there's comedy in it too. Yeah. So wherever you're listening to this podcast right now. Yeah, there's two others for you to listen to.

Just what you need. Two more podcasts. There's not enough in the world. Not enough podcasts. That's right. Do you think of how different your life could have been had you got Scream instead of I know what you did last summer? Not until this moment.

No, because I had no shot at Scream. And I knew we actually did scream on the horror podcast and I talked about the whole story of audition, which I believe you and I have spoken about before. But I had an audition and the one note they gave me was try to be a little more edgy. And this was me at like 1920, okay, sweet boy, Freddie. I walk out and there's skeet with like some stubble, leather jacket, white t-shirt, and just at edge. I mean, as sharp as a barber's razor before he cuts the guy's throat because he's secretly an assassin. That's how frigging edgy.

And I just looked at him and was like, I'm so dead. And it wasn't like I psyched myself out. It was just, I was a very humble, realistic artist and was like, yeah, that's what they want. And I'm the safety valve in case he just completely implodes in the audition or doesn't show. And on the last one, I went in red, knew I wasn't edgy enough, but did my best. I'd never even tried to be edgy before because I get smacked by my family if I did, walked out, saw him, and was like, hey, man, you're good. and just walked out and knew it was over. So, no, I never really thought about it

because I never felt I had a legit shot at booking it. I was the other guy. But yeah, I guess it's easier in hindsight to look back and go, I wonder what other roles would have been made available had I done Scream as opposed to not. But I had so much fun on almost every job I've done and met so many solid, solid friggin people that I'm still friendly with to this day.

I don't think I could, I don't think I could trade it. And I don't know how long I could endure the fantasy of the other thing because I just met, like, I would have never met Brian Denahey. And that guy taught me more in two and a half months about acting than damn near anyone in my life. That was on your favorite movie, Summer Catch. And, uh, stop hating on Summer Catch. I'm not. I'm telling you why I loved it. He was one of the most influential people on me as a, in my life.

late 20s as far as what I was trying to accomplish on camera versus what I was capable of accomplishing on camera. And he really helped me start to bridge that gap. So yeah, man, I wouldn't have ever had that. It would have taken even longer to figure this shit out. You and I should do a summer catch podcast. Because the world needs one podcast. It's just one episode, a one off, take it or leave it. How fast was your fastball? 83 was the fast. That's not that fact. That's impressive though well we that was after training and everything still train for like a good month and uh they clocked me at they clocked me at 83 but i had really good control so they let me do a lot of my own pitching except when it's on my back you see this dude with a big old butt and that was the guy

that was my my double um but i got to pitch to griffie junior which was amazing i got to pitch for a bunch of minor league guys in the movie and uh griffy take you yard the very first pitch Or no, the first pitch I threw a circle change. And I was supposed to throw heat. And he didn't even swing at all. Like he was never going to swing at it. And he just looks at me and goes, okay. And then I was like, hey, whatever.

He's cool. He's chill. And then I threw, I didn't throw two seamers. I threw four seamers. And I threw a four seamer. The first one, boom. He hits it out dead center field. I'm like, Jesus, that was so good.

And then the director says, this was when they played at Synergy Field. I don't know the name of their stadium now. but the director said, hey, junior, could you hit it over the welcome to Synergy Field sign? And he goes, yeah, no problem. And my ego was just like, oh, God. And I don't know why my ego did that, because there's no way I'm going to hang with a pro at any sport.

But my ego still is like, oh, he's just going to put it exactly where he wants. I'm like, I'm going to throw this shit as hard as I can't. And so full wind. I'm going to throw it low and away. I think I even did a windup and there were men on base. Like, that's how piss. I was. I think it could have been from the stretch, though. All I know is I

threw it so friggin hard. I was in physical therapy after, because I threw my shoulder out a little bit, and just threw it as hard as I could, and I don't know if they clocked it, but it felt faster than the 83 that I was throwing on the movie, right? And he just, whop-a! And you couldn't even hear the ball hit the bat.

It was just like, and you just see the ball go right over the synergy. Welcome to Synergy Field side. And my reaction was legit. The one they caught on camera was just Jesus Christ. How did he do that? And for him, it's nothing.

But he went 0 for 5 in the game that night. So, got him. Yeah. He blew it all on you. Yeah. So the Pirates owe me one. Do you think I could be in the sequel to Summer Catch? There will never be a sequel to SummerCatch.

It only made like 50 bucks, man. You should have brought your bros. I didn't go see it enough times. He should have brought some bros. My friend Greg watched that movie all the time. You didn't bring any ladies with you? I don't. Had you both brought ladies?

there would be a sequel talk. But now there's not. We need to make summer catch too. Back to the miners. So what else you want to talk about? You want to talk about fatherhood? You want to talk about movies? You want to talk about...

We can talk about everything. What do you want to discuss? I actually want to go back to MJF. I'm fascinated here because there's a lot of talk about everything he's doing in AEW. So good. And people are like, one day when his contract's up, he's going to go to WW. Do you think that'll happen? I don't know.

You know, the character of MJF will go where the money's best. But I think special stars get special treatment and exceptions are made for exceptional people. And I feel like any offer WWE would make,

Tony Kahn would match. And MJF has a ton of freedom, a ton of freedom where he's at. And at WWE, you simply, don't. It's a publicly traded company. There are people to answer to. And I've heard, I heard that when I worked there. Yeah. So it's just a different environment. And I don't know if, if Max would trust the process there at that company to get him as over as he is at a smaller company. And

AEW, by the way, they're doing fine. They pre-sold over 35,000 tickets in London for a pay-per-view that's technically two paper views away. Yeah. So, they're doing well that's a big win for them so as long as they keep producing like that you know i don't if i were him i wouldn't leave because like the storyline they put him in with with the other three they're the four pillars yeah they're they're the they're the they were the young ones that helped build the company with jericho laying down the foundation right and cody um but yeah man i don't i don't i don't get any mj i get the mj f hate i just don't agree with it. And I don't think he would leave. It's, listen,

WWE does great stuff. All right. The whole bloodline, Sammy Zane thing, that was great stuff. But they also do stuff that feels very tight and constrictive. And you feel like the talent is being someone that they don't believe in. And it's, it's hard to ask a professional wrestler to just get rid of who they are and be someone else. They're not a trained actor, 99% of the time. They're amazing in the ring. They know how to that kind of psychology, but they don't know how to break down a monologue, which they call a promo. When I was there, that was, I mean, I was literally teaching them what I was learning in

acting class on how to break a scene down as far as like goal, objective route. That's what I want. That's what's stopping me from getting what I want as an actor. What choices am I going to make to get that? Am I going through the objective? Am I going under it? Am I going around it? Those are all the things. And we would talk about that with their promos. Like, what is it you want out of this promo? I want to get over. Everybody wants to get over. What is it the character wants?

He wants a shot at the title. Okay. What's preventing you from getting that shot at the title? Well, this guy's, you know, he's making me wrestle all these other guys to earn a shot. He's interfering in all the men. Perfect. What are you going to do? Now's the promise you're going to make to the crowd.

What's the promise going to be? It doesn't matter how many things he throws at me. It doesn't matter how many times he cheats. I'm still going to be here. You're not going to, you know, and then that's how we would develop a promo, basically. but I don't but even then when it was done sometimes it would get changed last minute because you know Vince caught a wild hair and all of a sudden it was oh this sucks I'm like it was great an hour ago those were your words this is great this is shit like what happened in 60 minutes yeah you know what I mean like who talked to you man who got to you was his name Kevin um so yeah man so things changed last minute there at a much higher at a much higher at a much higher at a much higher rate. And I'm sure there's, there's pros and cons to both companies that people that are more on the inside are far more aware of than I am. But if I were him, I wouldn't leave. Would you,

you finish building your perfect castle, your perfect castle with all the defenses you need. You have, you have, the people are happy. They're, they're well fed. Everyone's starting to make money. And then you're just going to go, oh, it's this castle over here. No, man. Why would you start over? Cody Rhodes did that. Yeah, but I think coach is an older guy with kids and had different priorities than what a young 20, how old is he, 24, 25, 26, 20s, somewhere in there, mid-20s. I mean, your priorities and the way you look at the world is completely different in that age gap between the two men. I remember saying like years ago, so when someone was getting released from WW, it would always be like, are they going to sign to AEW? They're going to sign to AEW.

And I said, one day, somebody is going to do the opposite. One day, somebody's going to go from AEW to WW. And nobody's talking about that. I think little did I know it was going to be Cody Rhodes. Yeah. And people are talking about like Kenny Omega now and things like that. But again, that would just seem so weird to me, considering how much freedom he has at one company and how little he would have at the other. There's tradeoffs, I guess, right?

Sure. But at that level, they're all making money. They're all making good money. You know what I mean? Like, it's not, it's not like the old days. If you're a mid to top guy, you're making good money. Yeah. I feel like Cody's path has been very interesting.

Check this out. Okay. So a buddy of mine who knows way more about wrestling than me, he's Broadway active and he loved, I don't want to say his name because if he got it right, I don't want WWW to, like, prevent him from getting tickets, right? But he's so cool and he loves wrestling. And he hits me up after Cody lost at Manny.

and he goes, what if it wasn't Vince that made him lose? I said, okay. And he said, he goes, what if when he talked to Triple H? And he says, and you know Triple H as a student of the game. Like he knows every storyline that's ever been told. He loved all those old guys. Yeah. He said, what if the plan was for him to lose all along

and they recreate the Dusty Roads Hard Time storyline? So for the whole year, Cody's just getting F time and time. and it takes him a year to earn his way back until the very next WrestleMania. And Romans the champ all the way? And Romans the champ all the way. And so I was like, well, what happens at backlash? He goes, Brock squashes him. Brock kills him.

And I go, dude, you don't think he kills the charity? He goes, if they're doing the hard time story, it doesn't. Because that's what Magnum T.A. did to Dusty on his road to the time. And I'm sitting there, and he pitched it so nice. And if I could do my impression of him, I could do it. I could do the whole story, but that would give away who it is. But it was just,

his pitch was so good. I was like, I'll be damned if they're not. And I'm completely convinced now that that's what's going to happen. So watch backlash if this comes out before then. If not, I think it comes out after then.

Oh, well, then you'll know whether we were right or wrong at that point. But even if he wins, they could still do it. I think they just have to connect it more to the bloodline story again. What's interesting to me is I really enjoy

at WrestleMania 39. I was there at night one. We did night one too. Oh, awesome. I must have missed you there. We did, yeah. I must have missed you in the sea of 80,000 people. Exactly, the sea of flesh. It's interesting because I really enjoyed the whole show, night one and night two.

And there's a lot of people that go, man, WrestleMania sucked. And they're only saying that because Cody didn't win. Yeah, that was a great match. I haven't heard anyone say it sucked. I heard people get pissed with the finish of that. I was pissed with the finish. I was just like, oh, my God. You made me believe.

And my fear was he made promises because that's what a promo is. So Pat taught me, rest in peace, was a promo is a promise. Anything you bring to the ring is a promise. That's why they don't have wresters bringing a gun to the ring because you don't use it. You broke the promise.

You bring the sledgehammer. You have to use the sledgehammer. That's a broken promise. Anything you say on the mic in a promo is a promise to the audience. And if you break it, you lose credibility. and he made a lot of promises and put a lot of philosophy out there.

And so that was my fear and disappointment. But once my buddy convinced me of hard times, baby, I was just like, oh my God, it's going to be hard times. It's going to be hard times from Cody Rhodes. And he's going to finish the story and look up to his dad and they both had hard times and he's got the title. Hard times breathe better men. I'm telling you, I think that's what they're doing.

I hope it is. WrestleMania 40 in Philly. In Philly. in Philly. You want to talk about hard times. Sports town in America. And cruel is a nice word. Cruel is me being nice to y'all.

I will say this. The energy that Philly crowds bring to a wrestling show, even though I find your behavior oftentimes completely reprehensible, is still the greatest wrestling crowd that I've ever seen. Like they're just, the level of investment is so much higher. than any other American city. And more than San Antonio, with Luchador's going, more than any other place, more than down south,

like more than anywhere else. Montreal has some great wrestling crowds. Only America. Canada's a whole different beast because they don't get it as often, so they appreciate when it comes there. Same with London. Like London's always a great crowd. Because they don't go there as frequently,

so when they get it, they show that love. So you could say they even outperform the Philly crowds, but as far as America goes, Philly owns America as far as crazy wrestling. I just hope it's warm. Like, WrestleMania first weekend in April in Philly, oh, I can go either way.

Philly doesn't care if it's warm. I hope it's cold and that you stay out. So they have more tickets for us. But there's going to be so many people flying in. They don't want us there. They don't want us there. They want to sell it out themselves. They don't care.

They could. I just wish WrestleMania had the same rule that the Super Bowl has, where it needs to be either indoors or a median temperature of 75 degrees. I don't know how the... Look, it'll be April. New York, WrestleMania 35.

A little chilly and then it rained. It did. Not great. And it's usually such a bad omen when it rained. Somebody usually gets hurt really bad. Did you go to WrestleMania 35 in New York? No. The last WrestleMania...

It was so hard to get an Uber out of there at the end of the night. It was the worst. Yeah, you got to have like alternate plans already made up for escapes on how you're going to be. And the worst thing about... Uber's not the way.

The worst thing about MetLife Stadium is... It's not even in New York. It's in another state. Parsipany, right? Parsipany, New Jersey? No, it's... Oh, now, everybody's... We have all the world's information, of course, in front of us here.

It's in... Oh, no, that's where the Jets play is Parsipan. Right? Metlands. Is that where the Giants and Jets play? Yes. I thought that was Parsipany, New Jersey. It is in Rutherford, New Jersey.

It is in Rutherford, New Jersey. Rutherford. Rutherford. He's brother for... We'll be in Jersey for some wrestling. Yes. And if I can get out there, I will. I might be working.

We'll see what this writer strike does with everything. And if they can work it out. But I might be working and not be able to go. But I'll still be promoting the hell out of it. What did you think of the new design of the World Heavyweight Championship? It's fine. I'm not... It's just fine?

I don't care about the titles. I only care about the person wearing it. I mean, do I have favorite titles that I go, oh, it looks cool. Sure, but it's more about the person who wore it and did they make it mean something. Did they need the title to get over? Did they help get the title over?

I think more about the individual than the jewelry. And that's all it is to me. It's just jewelry. I think it's a great-looking design. I don't even wear a wedding ring. I don't wear a chain. I don't wear bracelets. Oops, sorry.

Killed the microphone. I don't wear bracelets. I don't care about jewelry. My wedding ring is made of silicone. That's cool. Look at that, right? It's nice and bendy. I just don't like the way it feels.

I don't like the... Well, I can work out with this on if I choose to. I can work out with mine, too. I don't even feel it. I don't even feel it. I think that the title is a great-looking design. My problem, and I don't know if you'll agree with me here or not, my problem with bringing back the World Heavyweight Championship

is it becomes a secondary title. Because the perception of it that WWE created was it is a secondary title. I feel you... Because both of the titles that Roman has, that's the WWE Championship. So whatever is that any title below that isn't that title. It was like when Sina was WWE champ and Edge was the World Heavyweight Championship. And everyone on Smackdown knew that Vince didn't care as much about that title. I won't say he didn't give a shit, but didn't care as much.

And he did his title. And that's why John always had the nicer titles. So, yeah, that's a fair, that's a fair concern. And then there's also a lot of guys who will win just the big gold, but they never got a chance to win the WWE championship. And, you know, the one that immediately comes to mind is Dolph Ziegler. It's like, like, I should have won the championship. Dolph's the man, dude.

He's the best. He sat right there just a few weeks ago. I had to direct the very first Dolph Ziegler segment ever, the first three, actually, when he was just kind of up to people and going on hot. Dolph Ziegler. Yeah. And Jamie Noble's like, I know your name already. Like, we were just.

trying to do anything we could to make this not suck. Because I've fought against this idea so much that Vince made me do it. They were like, what are we going to name him? And they hates that name so much. They said, Dirk Diggler. And Vince was like, that's great. And I stood up and I'm looking at the guy who pitched and I'm like, dude, we're going to get sued.

It's from boogie nights. You can't do that. Why can't we just give him a normal name? Why does it have to be goofy? And then they were like throwing all these names out there. Well, it looks like Dolph Lundgren. And he's like, what about Dolph Ziegler? And I literally was like, we're not doing Dolf Ziegler.

And I think this guy, DJ had my back too. And I don't love that. And I fought so hard. And Vince was like, all right, it's Dolph Ziegler. And he goes, Freddie, you're going to handle that segment. And I looked at him. I was like, what kind of middle finger is that? Just tell me to fuck off.

Why would you do this? And so I went to him. And I think it was either me or Freebird that broke the name to him. and he was just like okay and he just went for it man the same way he goes for it in the ring like he committed right away he knew it

was crap and people hated it till they loved it it was very reminiscent of the new day people hated the new day and the same chant that was you suck became oh my God we'd love you guys and they became and it was the work on the mic and the work in the ring

that got those guys over and for for Dolph's case or in Dolf's case, it was his work in the ring, and then his mic work, which developed about a decade into his career, where all of a sudden you were like, here we go, here we go, career versus Ms. Let's do this.

And those promos... That match is so good. And those promos were top shelf. I remember that storyline, and I shouldn't, but I do. You know what I mean? That's how good those guys were in that. And I genuinely thought he was gonna lose, and that was gonna be it,

and he was gonna retire from wrestling. I mean, that's how well he made me believe it. But yeah, I was there when they conceived, the name, fought against it, and was punished for my efforts. Nick Nemith is a good name. It's a great name. That should be his name. It should, and it is not.

Look, nobody sells better than Dolph Ziegler. No one does. No one takes Spears better. No one takes Super Kicks better. No one. We could list every move and nobody takes him. Seriously. That's right.

No one takes him better than Dolph Ziegler. He's the man. He is so, so good. He actually said it's a detriment that he takes moves so well. Because they want him to, they go, make other guys look great. You take the brogue kick really well. So you've got another match with Seamus

so you can take the brogue kick. Yeah, in your face again. Because you make it look like you're getting killed. Yo, he's the man. I love, I mean, I just love professional wrestlers. I love, look, my favorite part of the Jackie Chan movies are the fight scenes. I like fight choreography.

That's all pro wrestling is. Do you like UFC? Yeah, I like UFC, but I don't like seeing people get hurt that bad. You know what I mean? I'm really getting into BKFC right now. I've watched a little. bit of it. I just, I know a few of these guys and girls now, and I can't watch someone I know fight. I hate that. Like, I hate it. I don't even, even if I know they're going to win, I still

know they're going to get hit, and it just does something to me. So I have to not know either competitor, not follow them on Instagram. Like anyone that I like, I don't want to see them get hurt. That's why I don't follow Kevin Holland. He was losing too much. But you do jujitsu. Yeah, I know some of these. Like, Brian Ortega helped me get my blue belt. back in the day. Wow. And he was a belt do you have now? A purple belt.

Wow. But yeah, man, like I've known Brian for, I mean, for damn near. He was a brown belt when I met him. He was a brown belt when I met him. He was teaching autistic kids jiu-jitsu and made this non-communicative kids speak when the kid did a trap and roll. The kid went, yeah. And his dad started crying.

And Brian goes, why, why are you crying? He goes, that's the first word my son ever said. Wow. And I'm just sitting there like, Brian's telling me this story. I'm like, what, dude? And then like two weeks later, I'm in there. And there's this kid. He's like 11, 12 years old.

There's this kid. He's like 11, 12 years old. And I'm talking to this dude. And he seems like a cool kid. He's like, oh, you were in Scooby movie? I go, yeah. And he goes, oh, that was my favorite. But I said, cool, make sure you give your dad some love because you probably made him watch it more times than he wanted to.

He goes, I will, I will. And he was so well-spoken. He was like talking to a 17-year-old. and Brian comes in and he goes, oh, hey, buddy. And he's talking to him too. And the kid just lights up when he sees Brian. And the kid leaves to go to group class. And I go, man, what a cool kid.

He goes, that was a little dude I was telling you about. And I was like, what? He said he was non-communicative. He goes, not anymore. Wow. And I'm telling you, it was like talking to a young adult. I was just like, what did you jitsu just do? And that's one of the reasons why I love it.

When I talk to guys like John Jax Machado. Yeah. I'm even wearing his shoes right now. Oh, yeah. And great socks, by the way. Oh, yeah, I got the Ace Venturas. Can we make it? You can you can.

If you just lift your, there it is. Oh, get the angle. Ace Ventura, a pet detective. Ace Ventura. I quote that movie all the time. I got to have weird socks. You got some pizza socks. You got weird socks.

I haven't eaten pizza in so long because I'm on this very strict meal plan right now. I'm on a diet as well. I'm trying to get, I am getting into the best shape of my life by my 40th birthday. Dude, your arms are getting, she like Austin. Theory arms. I'm trying here. Not quite, Austin. Nah, I mean, his arms are gigantic.

His arms looked like they were plucked from another human and put onto him. He looks like Apollo, like the Greek statues that you see. Or you're just like, hold up. What, bro? Like, shave the beard and I'll love you forever, dude. He's got the young man's beard where it can't really grow up in it. It's working for him. I don't like it.

I'm telling him, he shaved that beard, gold mine. He had the no beard for a while. Well, and he was still developing. But he grew the beard to have more edge. You don't take it from someone who has no edge and never had edge and still made it and made all the money he wanted to make and was as successful as he wanted to be, Austin. You don't need the beard. I feel like Vince McMahon goes, you're going to be a heel?

Yeah, I need to grow up here. I feel like that's a thing. Exactly. Have you seen this meme of your character, Fred, from Scooby-Doo with the blonde hair, walked so that Ryan Gosling with the blonde hair as Ken and the new Barbie movie? movie could run. Have you seen this meme? No. The only because you got both have very blonde hair. The only Fred Jones meme or whatever they're called that I remember or am aware of is the one where the cast is talking about Scooby-Doo

like it's an Academy Award going to be an Academy Award nominated movie and then whoever edited this was just glorious. And then it cuts to me and you just see me go, it's a talking dog. And that's it. And Sarah had just been like it was, you know, it wasn't about gender, it wasn't about race. And Matt's like, it was, you know, it's like the Bible. And I just believe in it so much. And Linda, she was kind of BS in her way through it. And then it just gets me, I'm like, it's a talking dog.

Straight lines, baby. Always straight lines. Those curved lines take too long to get to the same location. Straight lines. I mean, there are some similarities between Ryan Gosling as Ken. I haven't seen, I don't watch movie trailers. So I don't know anything about. No, I don't watch them because I don't want to see.

You want to see the photo? Oh, the photo, sure. I just don't want to show you the trailer. You don't like trailers? Nah, they ruin the movies. Really? Huh. I do not like them.

I watch as few as humanly possible. Even the ones, well, you don't even watch your own movies. No, no, no, yeah, I'm not watching those. They used to send me some for like approval back in the day, and I'd be like, you honestly think I care. Like, we're good, man. Tell me where the premieres. Look at the similarities here. Look at the similarities.

Yeah, the first. one is similar. The second one is a four-piece wig. He's just rocking the dyed hair. But still? He might have a wig too, though. That might be a wig. Maybe. A good wig. So September 9th. September 9th, PSN, check them out, subscribe to it. It's easy to do. It's on your, it's on your app store on anybody's phone. It's also premier streaming network.com. That's right. Yeah. You can do it on a computer if you don't like your device. Yes. If you're anti-device. But yeah, check them out. Check out my podcast. check out this. List the names as well.

It's wrestling with Freddie and that one I do for IHeart, but you can listen to it anywhere. And the other one is called That Was Pretty Scary. And that's the horror one, obviously. And that's me and my buddy who's James Juan's protege, his name's John Lee Brody. And we break down and relive kind of every

horror movie ever made. As we wrap this up, I'll ask you the same question that I ended with on the last interview. Perhaps your answers changed. Yeah, it probably has. What are three things that you're great for as we sit here right now today health definitely grateful for that dealt with like long COVID stuff a while back which just suck and beat my ass because I'm old um so I'm super grateful for that

grateful for my kids they've been doing amazing stuff lately my son had a he plays flag football he's really small though he's speedy but he's not big and he's playing in a league where the kids are a lot bigger than him and he had this step back where the kid reached and fell down and he stepped back and moved. So I was grateful to to get to be there and see that and be a part of his life and not be at work on set or out of the country, something like that. And I'm

grateful for sushi, man. I'm telling you, in L.A. It is the best in Japan. It's great, but they're still very strict in some areas of Japan. And so a lot of their more creative chefs move and come to the West Coast out here because they have more freedom with their food. And some

of the stuff I ate last night with some sake. Oh, that's nice. It was It was good. Dude, thank you so much for coming back. Yeah, my pleasure, man. Thanks for having. We'll have to do this again next month. Yeah.

Or in nine more months. Oh, geez, I'll have more news back. Yeah, what if you have a second kid? I'll have an eight-month-old at that point in time. Just don't get those Irish twins. Be careful. That's what she wants. Is it?

Then do it. Okay. Keep her happy. All right, dude. Thanks, bro. Oh, man. I could talk to Freddie for hours. Like, I seriously think that he needs to come on the show.

Not every six months, but like maybe every six weeks. I don't know if that's. something we could figure out that'd be amazing because the insight that he brings, pun intended, is just so good. While you're listening to podcasts right now, while you're in the podcasting mindset, go check out his two podcasts. You will not be disappointed. Wrestling with friends.

And that was scary. So listen to them wherever you're listening to this right now. And head to premier streaming network. com for more information on the premier streaming network and the showcase that we will be at in Matuchin, New Jersey, on. September 9th. They're building some great stuff there. So my hats off to Josh Shernoff for everything that he's doing with Premier Streaming Network. Tag us. Share this episode with a friend and share it on social media as well. He is at Real Freddie Prince. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. And have you seen the new

Michael J. Fox documentary? It's called Still. And as you know, back to the future is my favorite movie of all time. So obviously I was going to watch this documentary. But he said something in there. that really stuck with me. And it's a quote that I shared on Twitter. And it's a quote that I'm going to share with you now. You know, I love gratitude. So this was like right on point for me. With gratitude, optimism is sustainable.

With gratitude, optimism is sustainable. Be great, be grateful. We'll see you on the next one for some more insight. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make in the world of rock, but there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley. Whatever happened to Hammer Alley?

How did they go from top of the rock? I'm looking for a music video. They're a band from 1987. Hammer Alley. Ever heard of them? To Rock Bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987. I can't believe he's doing this.

Hammer Alley. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.