Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Gangrel On The Brood, Attitude Era Stories, His Epic Entrance Theme, Edge & Christian

Episode Date: July 16, 2026

David Heath (@gangreldavidheath) is a professional wrestler best known for his time in WWE as Gangrel. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Nashville, TN to discuss being a trainer at Rusev's KECH Pro Wrestling Academy, still wrestling today and how much longer he wants to keep going for, why he hasn't worn a white shirt in over 20 years, why the Attitude Era was so incredible, the rumor about why he was fired from WWE, not being a part of WrestleMania 39, his AEW appearance, spiking CVV with an Impaler DDT, and more! Please support our sponsors: HELIX SLEEP: Flash sale! Go to https://helixsleep.com/cvv for 27% off sitewide! COZY EARTH: Go to https://cozyearth.com/CVV for up to 20% off! BEAM: Go to https://shopbeam.com/INSIGHT and use code INSIGHT for up to 40% off Beam’s Dream Powder DELETEME: Use the code INSIGHT to get 20% off your DeleteMe plan at https://joindeleteme.com/INSIGHT FACTOR: Get 50% off your first box, plus Free Breakfast for 1 Year with the code INSIGHT50OFF at https://factormeals.com/INSIGHT50OFF PURE PLANK: The future of core fitness! Use the code CVV to save 10% on Pure Plank designed by Adam Copeland & Christian: https://gopureplank.com/cvv SEAT GEEK: Use my code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/CVV Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount NORDVPN: Exclusive deal! https://nordvpn.com/cvv Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! PRIZEPICKS: Download the PrizePicks app today and use code INSIGHT to get $50 bonus credit in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup! For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://chrisvanvliet.com If you have ever enjoyed any of these episodes, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast or Spotify? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. Follow CVV on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Hulu original series Furious is coming to Disney Plus, starring Emmy Rossum. Furious follows FBI agent Alice Black on the hunt for a mysterious and calculating serial killer. Both walk their own paths toward justice, and as their lives start to intertwine, the line between right and wrong begins to blur. Don't miss the three-episode premiere of the Hulu original series Furious on July 27th, only on Hulu on Disney Plus. Chris. Always good to see you.

Always good to see you. My pleasure, but what are you doing, Slumman here? You're a big star now. What are you talking about? Last time I seen you, you were just rising up. You're coming off Channel 7. You're just transferring, kind of transitioning into this world. Next thing, you know, I told somebody the other day, said, oh, Chris is going to come by.

Oh, bro, that's the biggest guy. Oh, yeah. What? Yeah, everybody. You're the man now. You're the man. That's crazy. You went from, like, is it tipping your, you know, sitting on the edge of the bed or putting your toes in the water.

You're out there running the Olympics swimming. and all that. Isn't it funny, though, that it took me leaving TV for things to grow? Like, I left TV, I left Channel 7 in Miami in 2019. You still missed, though. I was talking to a guy in the gym, literally, there's more people here in Nashville that are from Florida. It's crazy. I could see that, sure. They've all migrated up, so there's a guy going, and he's like, he's a student here now, and he's actually training, and I said, yeah, Chris Van Blee. Oh, the Deco drive. That's crazy. And I go, right? It hasn't been the same since he left. No disrespect to the other guy.

He's a man on that. He's so good. I watched Echo Drive just for you. And I think I told you that in the last interview. Yeah, it's not the same. But then again, you mentioned earlier when you first came in that not too many people watching in the news that much anymore. Well, it's different, right?

The screen that people are watching is not the one that you turn on with a remote. The screen that people watch more than anything is the little one in your pocket. Yeah, I do, but I got a bad neck. The shoulders roll forward, the posture. That's all bad for you. You look great. You've barely aged. You barely aged.

I'm a vampire. That's it. That's it. I see the bite marks. I'm aging. No, you look great. You do too. You look more in shape now.

I'm trying. I don't know how you doing it on the road. You must be out there. You're fanging and banging and banging. You're out there fanging and banging and getting all that content. It's trying to find a place to work out and not eat terribly, although we ate pancakes this morning. That sounds good, though.

You know what I had this morning? What you have? Just protein. Just 40 grams of protein. Hell yeah. Off I went. Usually I go to the gym, but I stopped in here, and I'll do this, but I'll hit the gym after, and then I'll get back here and run a session tonight. So we're at Catch Wrestling Academy in Nashville. This is Rusev's school. This is Rusev, yep. But you're like the main trainer here. A trainer, you talk to him sometimes to tell you we're partners. I'm not so sure what we are.

But he's definitely the guy to put all the money into it. He's definitely the founder of it, but he said he wouldn't start it unless I came in and ran it with him, you know, or it would be the head trainer. So here I am trying to make all that happen. It's doing good. We've been open a month. He's on tour. He's been on tour in Europe. I think that's just wrapping up. It's been pretty long,

WWE European trip, I think. Yeah. He should be back here at the beginning of July. And I know he plans on doing a lot of time in and out. So we plan on rotating in and out. So like if I'm here two weeks, I'll be here. And then when he rotates in, he'll be here to two weeks that I'm not here. So it's scheduled down through the summer to be two and two with each other.

Because, you know, he's still in L.A. He's still happily married and his wife's out there doing a lot of stuff like you do and different content things and acting and stuff like that. She hosts a wrestling podcast for TMZ. Yeah. So you know more than I know, but this is your world. My world's and they're just training. Your world's training the next generation.

Training. So I know he goes back and forth, plus being on the road. And I'm on the road every weekend still. So I'm still out there grinding. Every weekend, I'm in a different state. I mean, this past week, I feel like I was a, five, six, seven different flights in six days or something like that. But just to get back here to run this class, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,

and then I'll go back down to South Florida for Thursday, Friday, and then I'll run CCW for three days. I'll run it down there, and then I'll rotate back in over here. Well, the most important thing about a wrestling school is learning from somebody who's been there. So between you and Rusev, you've got a guy who's been everywhere in you, and you've got a guy who's still there in Rusev, that's the best way to do it. All right. Yeah, he comes in and I go, I go, you can.

could teach them just as much as I can teach me. He goes, no, no, I need you here. I go, no, you can teach them, you're in the current product, you know, you know what they want, you're living it, you're in it 24-7, you're all in, you're, you know what they're looking for. But what I give them is the foundation. I'm a foundation and a footwork guy, so I'm a slowest smooth, smooth as fast, you know, and I'll spend hours and hours on right foot drops and feeds and footwork and stuff like

that. I know that a few of my students have had tryouts and I'll go to them, they'll go, who trained you and they'll go gang grow like, oh, I figured because we could tell by the footwork. Wow. So I'm becoming, and I'm not boasting, but I'm just saying I'm a foundation and a footwork guy. And, you know, all the extra stuff, all the flips and the flops and the attitudes. That's going to come. That's who they are.

It's going to be an extension to who they are. And they're going to find that. But I'm, I'm there to instill a foundation. So when they come in here, I'll say, give me six extra months. I don't believe in the, you know, three-month program you're out or eight weeks or 12 weeks, you know, give me your money down. I'm the same way as I talk about slowest, smooth, smooth, as fast. I want you to be slow in the beginning, give you a foundation, and then I believe the backside.

So I tell them, if you give me six extra months, I'll save you six years of time, you know. So they get their footwork right in the beginning, just a slow build, get that foundation in, and then when they get past the ropes and stuff, when I get to that stuff like that, it's going to just ball in the place because the foot works there, the foot works there,

and I'm going to have a foundation, you know. You're 57 years old and you're still doing this. Like you are on the indie grind every single weekend. Do you still love it? Absolutely. 100%. I don't know about the traveling as much, but I still love wrestling. So I tell people, it's a lot like a musician, you'll hear him say,

I get paid to travel, not play music. I get paid to travel, not wrestle. I would wrestle for free anyway. When they ask me, what's your fee? I go, where are we talking about? I look at it. And my fee addressed to where that travel is. Because, you know, I've wrestled in every state.

been to a lot of countries and stuff like that. So I know exactly what's involved in that travel. And the travel is what adjusts my fee. It's not necessarily the wrestling part of it. I still love wrestling. It's the travel of it. Are you at the point now when you're taking bookings and you're like, I only want to take a certain amount of bumps or you want to just go out there and have a great match?

Oh, no, no, no. The hardest part about wrestling is getting your boots on. What's the boots run? I actually don't like when they, no, no, I can rewind this back. No, I do take only certain bumps now. Like I've eliminated certain top rope things that are just not necessary for a 57-year-old man with a new knee and a new hip and stuff like that. You know, I don't want to push the envelope too much. But no, no, once I get in my gear and I'm rolling out, I want to go, you know, you're either all in or you're all out 24-7.

Can't stop, won't stop, banging and banging. You know, want something, get something bad enough, take some. And the hardest part about it is getting dressed. Once you're dressed, you traveled, you went through that, you got there, then just getting dressed. You're like, ah. Then the boots are on. Then it's all golden after that. You know, it's all good.

Does your rate change based on what you're wearing to the ring? Are you always going to wear a white shirt? You're always going to split blood? I haven't worn a white shirt in 20 years. You haven't worn the pirate shirt? I don't want to be a pirate. No. I love a pirate shirt.

I love sci-fail. I don't want to be a pirate. No, yeah, no. I haven't worn a puffy shirt. Puffy shirt. If somebody wants a puffy shirt, if they request it, I say, sure. You buy it, you know, make sure you get one.

I said, I'll sign it and leave it with you, you know. But I won't go hunt them down. They don't make them the same, this and that. They're cheesier, and to custom make them cost way more than what you could buy one for. It gets out of control. So if they want it, I'm not against swearing it, but it's just working. You just go through them. You get one show out of them.

They're either torn or that you can't get the stains out. Not the blood stains. The blood comes out, but I spray the blood every night. I still get off my wallet for the blood. That's, you know, you've got to have the blood. You know, got to have the blood and the appellate or DDT, you know. What's the flavor of blood? Zesty mint.

Zesty mint. Zesty mint. Does it taste like toothpaste? It tastes like zesty men? No, it tastes like a nice zesty man. Like, you know, when you're like, you're like, you're a cop-surped drinking guy all the time. Right. No, it just tastes like zesty man.

And I don't drink it. I mean, I just put it in my mouth and I just spray it up in the air. But I'll have fresh breath from my opponents. That's very important, you know, to have fresh back. Do you supply the blood or does the promoter supply? No, I get my own blood. If I leave it to them, they'll give me something toxic, you know, die. They'll cut corners and stuff like that.

The blood I will splurge on, you know, I will splurge and get, what is it called, Benet? I'll probably say it around, but I'll get it out of costume shops. Mostly I order it out of L.A. a lot, like out of L.A. And I used to just go right into magic shops and buy it. But no, no, I use a nice, testy man. And I'll water it down a little bit, pinning. upon canvases, like behind us is a black canvas. What determines the blood, the thickness of the blood is the house in the canvas.

So if it's a lighthouse and a white canvas or a blue canvas, I'm going to water it down so it's almost a pinky mist. Now, if it's a full house and it's kicking and it's rocket and it's a dark canvas, I'm thick to the, you know, it's going on. It's going in heavy. I'm going to spray heavy, you know. There's something about the way that you spray. Like, you must project it out.

I don't know, 10 feet. Like, it's a strong spray. Did you always have this? Did it take a while to get to that point? No, I think I just had a natural spray. I don't know. I have no idea. I just did it and it was the same the whole time.

Yeah, I've never even thought about this spray. So you mentioned it. Was there ever a point in WWE where they said, oh, we already got a guy that's spraying something, Triple H. You can't be spraying a liquid. Yeah, I think I was spraying before he was spraying. I think so too, but then his became such a huge part of his entrance. Well, maybe that's why I'm not there again.

But that was never a conversation? No, no, never a conversation. No, no, not about the sprays, no. If you were watching Backlash, you might have seen a face that you recognize sitting behind Michael Cole and Wade Barrett. Not only did I have those awesome seats, I also got an impromptu interview with The Miz and Kit Wilson. Check it out on my Instagram. out to Seatgeek for the great tickets and shout out to Seat Geek for sponsoring this episode. With over 35 million downloads, Seekek is the number one rated ticketing app.

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I scroll with the homies here in the last. live chat because there's a lot to scroll through on X, on Instagram, on TikTok. Cutting through the clutter, one hot take at a time. Love seeing you all in the chat before the show. I tried to jump in just a few minutes before to say hello. I love the chat interaction. Thank you for helping. But I do it to get all of the videos and all of the content that you won't find anywhere else.

Scrolling with Haley. Just search that up and I will be there. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. The last time I was in a wrestling ring with you, I made a mistake. Like this is all on me. I've said it a thousand times before. You say it a thousand times,

but I have everybody coming to me. Oh, you tried to kill Chris Van Bleak. I said, I did not try to kill Chris Van Bleak. I know how to take the move. I jumped up a little too much. I got a little too excited and I spiked myself on the top of my head.

It's had nothing to do with you. You are a consummate professional. You are the very best. I thought you died. I was so scared. I think about it. that moment more than I'd like to admit. I imagine, you probably,

your whole life flashed between your eyes. In front of you, but what little life you had at that point. You were still young. That was how many years ago? That was 2018. That was why, yeah, I can't add. You're the smart one. You do the math.

Eight years ago. Eight years ago. But I think about that. Like, we had the TV cameras there. We were filming a segment for your wrestling school in South Florida at the time. GWA gangor's wrestling. Right. And we were promoting the school.

And I'm like, oh, I'll go in there and, like, the ropes and I'll take some bumps because I did train when I was 20 in Toronto. And then I was like... And I believed you to I see you take the DDT. D. My bumps weren't bad. Who trained your Fuego? Yeah, it was Fuego's school, but I wasn't advanced enough to be in his ring.

I was in the beginner's ring. I get it. Yeah, you know. Earn the levels. You know how it is. So I was like, I know how to take a DDT, but I just, I jumped up a little bit too much. And it should be a front bump. Like you should be landing on your front and I jumped up.

a little bit too much. Yeah, ideally, ideally you want to lift. I like to try to keep the guy's hands. I don't want their arms across my waist, right? So just so you know on future reference. I'm never taking one ever again. Because I see Zaya, there's a lot of people doing it. And I try to explain it to him, even Jacob.

I say you want to keep their hands to the inside. You don't want it to go across your waist because you want to be able to float your waist up past them. But you want to get a hold right there, a pause, not a twist or anything. But if you can, a one Mississippi, two, it's really hard. But shoot for two, you might get a half. You know, so, but that half, I'll make something, then you want to hit together, but you want your waist to be higher than them, so then it looks a little bit more.

So it's you that take, it's me that takes a higher bump. Your bump should be the safest bump in the world, nice and flat, head turned to the right, two hands in fronty and not just one like this, not a forearm, not a spike or anything like that. But that's what I'll make it. It's like a flow and then there, but people all want to spike it. Everywhere I go, I'll constantly be like, I'll hurt my shoulders, like flexing my shoulders out because I've got grizzled shoulders. And when they go up, they're trying to spike it. And I'm trying to pull them back down because I don't want him to do a Chris Van Bleach.

It's turned into a thing. It's a CVV. I think about that of like this, we were filming this on TV. Like me breaking my neck could have been this TV segment. Then Martinez was going. Yeah. And I was so winded. I'm breathing like that.

And then it was it was me who put the clip up because like once I realized I could feel my fingers and feel my toes and I was okay and I caught my breath. I was like, yeah, I'll put that clip up. It could have ended up like that girl bungee jumping in Brazil. Ooh. Man, crazy. No rope on. What are they thinking?

Was that even real? Is that real? I don't know. I think so. I think so. Right? I don't know what to believe half the time. Isn't that crazy?

Yeah, well, maybe me taking the Impaler DDT was AI. No, there was no AI. It was AI, but it wasn't. They weren't. They were just easing the end to it. They were already AI and you, but people weren't using AI. I just, I've said it to you so many times before, but I'll say it to you again on camera.

I'm so sorry. Oh, no, I'm sorry. No, you don't, this is not on you at all. I'm sorry. I mess that up. And it is what it is. I do a lifetime of messing things up. Well, at least, look, my neck still works.

And you're looking good. You look in the best shape I've seen you. Oh, thank you. I'm trying. Life's been good for you. Life's been good. Lots of change since I saw you last. Yeah, it happens, right?

Change for me, too. It's like a whirlwind. You just got married, right? A few years ago? It did. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Amazing. Congrats. Keep this one.

This one's a good one. I've never heard of cuss, smoke, drink. She tolerates me not being home. I was home. Was it 24 hours in the last? Not even, I think it added up to 24 hours in the last almost two months. Like, I was literally,

No, that's not true. I came home for three days, three days and ran to school, but I didn't physically see her more than an hour. Like, I saw her like 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes before I went to bed, like for those three days. And then I was back out on the road again. So it's a little bit hard trying to balance the schedule with wrestling every weekend. And, you know, trying to still like, you know, born and raised in Florida. I'm a Florida guy. Love Florida. Always want to get back to Florida. Trained Rousseuf, you know, out in L.A. with Knoxboro School. I started with Reno and Hawaii. And then Rikishi came in out there. That's where I trained Rousseauv and Jacob, too.

And then, where was I going? Oh, so with him asking me to come here, you know, I'm loyal to him too and wanting to do a good thing and build a good thing because he really truly loves wrestling. You know, he is truly a wrestling fan. And he's always watching it. He's always checking in. And I see when he comes here he spent the first week here.

I see him with the kids. He's already getting attached to him. He's watching the pictures every night. And he's looking forward to getting back here in July. So he didn't want to do this without me. So he goes, he goes, you know, no, we're partners. What you say goes and this and that. He is a dude to put all the money in.

He put it all up front. But I'm here and I'm trying to make it work. So it's getting tough. I did the two months here. And now I'm going to start splitting time. I think I mentioned it when we first started talking. We're trying to balance it out where he's here when I'm gone and vice versa. So somebody's always here running the class, you know.

But if this is your job, if this is where you are, Do you not think you're going to have to be in Nashville full time at some point? At some point, I think, but not within a year. It'd be at least a year. This is a great place. It's a lovely city. People, we just moved here. One of the fun things about Nashville is you can't walk, you can't go past five people

without somebody taking a pitch meeting. They're truly wrestling fans. This is a wrestling town. You're going to love it here. They love wrestling. That's awesome. Yeah, so I'll go. I trained at a crunch fitness, you know, at least three pitchers,

I'll work out with some different people. and there you'd think you would run through the whole Crunch Fitness people by now, but you'd see three different people each day. Then you go next to order to the food line and grab some protein and this and this and that, and they're wrestling fans there, so it's not the place to go and hide if you're a wrestling

because they're a wrestling fans here. So it's a great city. Everybody's, you know, a lot of people moving here from New York and L.A., Florida and stuff. So the city's booming. Hopefully it doesn't get too crazy and burnout, you know, become like Las Vegas and then become super crazy.

in 15 years, but it seems like a really great place to be. People, the local people are welcoming. And the students are amazing here. Now, I'm not knocking Florida. I love Florida, but I don't know if it's too much heat year-round. Like, they have no seasons. I think maybe the seasons help the brain cells here. Because the guy, the kids here, like, we have 54, I believe,

54 students in the first month. And they're moving at a record pace. And I don't like them to move fast. I want to move them slow. but it's hard to hold them back because they're like, they're just getting it, they're getting it. But they also grew up like, ideally, like I said, you couldn't walk five feet

without taking a picture with somebody. They're all wrestling fans here. So it makes a difference when you grow up being a fan of all wrestling. And they grew up watching the Jerry to King Lawler. So they grew up watching storytelling and much like me growing up watching Florida Championship wrestling, you know, where personal angles and, you know, people's pain is, anybody else's cheers, you know.

But, you know, so they grew up the same thing. with watching at wrestling here. So they're really fun to train. It's really great to be here. And I'm looking forward to being here. Now, as to moving here, I would say it would be about a year. Rousse was like, he's like, no, I've given you an apartment. He's like, just go furnish it and move in.

He's trying to get me to lock down. If you do an interview with him, he says, no, he's here. He's here for good. But I am here. I'm here as long as it takes. And we're in this building here. He's a three-year lease on this. So, like, no matter what I do.

Yeah. A lot of wrestling schools that are like a garage. This is beautiful. He gets space. Yeah, he's all in on it and he's all in about growing it too. And, you know, in three years he wants to grow it. So there's so much more. This is so bare bones still.

If you would see the blueprints and the designs, he's got graphics going up on all these walls and more pictures and stuff like that. And he wanted different equipment in here and stuff like that. And the whoa, whoa, whoa, let's just get a ring. We'll get started there. So this is the very first steps of this. So looking forward to this journey and eventually probably will be in Nashville. But I'm a Florida guy.

I'm not a banding in Florida or anything like that because I got a lot of students there. I got some that are on the cusp of I think going to get signed too. And so I'm very excited about a lot of talent coming out of CCW and stuff like that. So yeah, yeah, I'm just all over the place, you know. But there's only so much you can do, you know, you spread your time. But I'm doing my best. I'm doing my best. You've been in the business now almost 40 years.

Almost, yeah, yeah. What's the biggest difference between the wrestling now versus? in the 80s when you started out? Meaningful moves make memories, memories make money. There's no meaningful moves anymore. It's like, so I believe that like, and I live by that,

meaningful moves, you know, make memories, memories, make money. They just, they're just, the wrestlers, not workers, right? They're doing wrestling. They're just coming out and they're doing a lot of wrestling moves, high flying, a lot of cool stuff.

But they're not working into those moves. Now giving me a story why you're building up to why this move is so deadly and so important because everybody's kicking out of everybody's finishes now. You wouldn't have got that 40 years ago or 20 years ago or maybe 15 years ago. Yeah, finishes were a lot more protected. A lot more protected. Even the attitude area where it was the Wild West and they were gunslingers and they kicked out on everything. But it's still kind of protective finishes and stuff like that.

So I just think it's more acrobatic, smaller guys. I have nothing against that because now I'm a big guy. I was never a big guy. Isn't that funny? Yeah. When I started in 87, they told me, oh, you'll be lucky to be a junior heavyweight at that, you know, because everybody was like 305 pounds, 6'7, you know what I mean? Here I'm coming in at 220, 2.30, thinking I'm going to make a difference at 6-2, you know. But now, I feel like a giant, but I feel like with wrestling, everything cycles too.

So I feel like they're cycling around to bigger guys and some body stuff in healthy ways. I think it's this crazy world of peptides. I mean, look at Billy Gunn, that guy. my gosh. You guys a cyborg. Yeah. I'm like, it's the best he's ever looking.

He keeps looking better and better into a 60s, which is like, a bit of an inspiration for me to try, like, Billy could do it. But Billy's always had good genetics in a sense. He's always had the height and he was lean. Yeah. Where I will carry weight. Like I pass in and out. I gain five pounds just by driving by in and home.

Didn't have to stop there. I gained five pounds by riding by. Whoa, the hell. You know, but he's an inspiration to work. out and train hard into that age and still be motivated. Do you want to wrestle into your 60s? No, I didn't say I want to wrestle in my 60s. I still want to look like Billy Gunn in my 60s.

I don't know when I want to wrestle too. It's a toss up. I tell everybody, you know, turkey is a big thing now with the hair. So it's a toss up. Before I thought my body would give out on me, but the body seems to keep motor and I keep getting healthier. And I think that has a lot to do with my wife and a happy marriage and, you know, a better lifestyle.

And, but I can't stop the hair from coming out. You got plenty of hair. Two, you get in these high-deaf lights. You know, these high-definition lights, when you're sweating and they shine down on you, they are unforgiving, you know. And I'm very vain. And if anything wrestling has done, it's made you very vain.

Yeah, you know, you should know that. You've interviewed enough wrestlers to know that. They probably said, no, I've got to shoot from this side or this side. I don't know if I've ever had anyone do that, but like, I get it. Your image. So I was the only one that's done that. I told you you're sitting on that side. You did tell me that.

Very rude. And it told me to give you water and an ascentric cord and you were five minutes late. It's true. Nashville has traffic since when? What the heck? Since people who are like us in L.A. and New York. So you're saying, if your hair sticks around, you're going to wrestle into your 60s. Is that what you're saying?

If the body's holding up, maybe. Are you going to go till the wheels fall off? Probably. I think I would. It seems like one of the wheels already fell off. Is Brand do you ever had a brand? It did fall off, yeah, and you got a new need. I was so bow-legged last time you see me.

I don't know if you remember how bow-legged I was. I had no ACL or PCL for, I don't know, over 10 years or something like that. Man. So it was gone for so long. I gotten so bow-legged. And I just was like every walk. I felt like I had a hit. I was like boom, boom.

I saw a doctor and he said, oh, you need a knee replacement immediately. And I go, ah, he goes, but your knee so bad that you get one knee replacement. And that's it, you're done. You can't wrestle. And he saw the look on my face. He goes, all right, you walked in here. You could walk out, come back when you can't take it anymore. I came back three years later.

He goes, three years. I thought you'd be back in three months. He goes, what brought you back in after this time? I go, it's got me walking. You know, funny, my back is hurting or my hip or something. I don't know. Something's hurting over here. So he watched me walk.

He goes, well, let me get an x-ray of your hip. And he comes, he takes me over when he's got the x-ray up. and he says, you know, he says, you see this line over here, like, all that. I go, yeah, he goes, that was a break like last year at some point. I go, my hip was broken. He goes, yeah, yeah, hold on, hold on, hold on. He goes, do you see these lines over here right here? I go, yeah, he goes, it's fractured right now.

Like, that's a fracture. That's a current, like, your hip is fractured. I go, oh, really? He goes, yeah, but that's not the problem. Let's go here. I'm like, hey, why? He goes, you see how that looks like a light bulb? He goes, you look at the other one.

It was just frayed off, so it was like, and he goes, you see how. you see how there's no line here and it's overlapped and you got a gap over there he goes well you're supposed to have the gap your hip's not even joint he says your knee so bad and your hip went out you had no idea because you just balanced yourself out and I was still wrestling just as much as ever but you didn't know your hip was broken yeah and he goes he's like I gotta replace your hip before I do your knee I go ah I don't do that he's like you know but I did it because my wife's a doctor too and she's like oh you got to listen so and I don't even know she knows this but they did the hip in July

and they did this the knee on October 31st. I wrestled the show in between the hip and the knee. You're insane! And then they did the knee on October 31st and then I did some shows in December and then at the end of January I did a 14-day straight tour in England, 14 straight shows.

And I come back in for my six-month checkup for the doctor and he's like, he's like, have you been wrestling? I go, no. And he goes, were you in Europe? I go, oh, because, you know, I'm on Facebook. I'm a ho on Facebook. You can't turn your thing out without me checking in somewhere.

You know what I mean? And just staying current, letting you know I'm alive. I'm here, you know, I'm that guy. And he goes, yeah, my son, he's seen it. And he goes, how many shows you to do? And I said, like, 14 straight shows. And he goes, he checked everything out. He goes, I'm never going to clear you to wrestle again.

I'm never going to clear you. So I go, he goes, but your body's good, man. And he goes, I don't know. You're good. It's healed up. So that was two years ago, right? You're like Randy the Ram in the wrestler. Everything's going to go black in the ring.

I hope not. What happened? Did he die? I assume he died, right? Spoiler alert. I do feel like Randy to Ram, except I don't go to the top rope anymore. That's a bit too much.

Okay, good. Yeah, yeah. I'll give Superplex, but I'm not going to, I don't take them. Man, that's a little crazy. No, it's just wrestling. Meaningful moves, make moments, moments, I mean, many of them moves, make moments, moments, make memories,

memories, make money. You just got to remember that fun. It's good. I'll never forget what Nigel McGinnis told me. It's a great quote. He said, wrestling's what happens in between the moves. Yeah.

And it's exactly what you're saying. Yeah, it's a devil in the details. It's all the in-between. And that's what your original question is what I feel so different. It's not so much working, you know, it's just wrestling. You know what I mean? You need more workers that wrestle,

not wrestlers that wrestle, you know? Yeah. Workers that wrestle that can tell the story between everything. I think a lot of it's, nostalgia, but even looking back on it now, the attitude error was magic. What do you think made it so special? Well, you had a lot of freedom. I think, I think that a lot, 60, 70%, maybe even a higher ratio of the guys going into the attitude era were coming off. They were already in WWF at the time, but they came out of territories. So they knew how to work, right? So they knew how to work. They knew how to

to grab the crowds, create those moments. They knew how to grab them. So with that being said, the agents, they don't, like right now, you know, WWE is, it is whatever it is. A lot of it's just scripted. They go over every last detail. They rehearse matches. We never rehearsed matches.

An agent will come up to me, and I'm sure all the other matches, and they go, this is where they want in the end, this is the deal. If it goes good, we take the credit. If it goes bad, we're blaming you. And that was your agenting. That was what you got. right. They didn't hold your hand through everything. Now they would come back and say, what are you doing?

You give them a jest of it. But they gave you that free reign. It was like the Wild West. But the people doing it were able to do it because they came out of the territories and different things. They had that experience and they were workers that could wrestle. So with that, that, and then giving you free reign and then that power of TV and those crazy crowds and night and all that, you had the Wild West. It was just a shootout of the corral every day.

Yeah. And then it would start trying to top each other. And that's where the injuries would come because then everybody was trying to, they started, that's where the moves got bigger and everybody was trying to top everybody, you know, because everybody was competitive too, you know, who's going to, you know, get the biggest response to this and this and that. But they still, still would work to those things. They didn't just go out there and do them with no rhyme or reason. And I think the attitude era was also special because you had the supporting shows like shotgun Saturday night and Sunday night heat. They were all a supporting cast, you know, to the Monday Night Raw. to the pay-per-views, right?

So everybody had a storyline on shotgun Saturday night. So the strong guy who was over on shotgun Saturday night are being built there. We'll move to heat, which would... They would get a guy over on Sunday night heat. They would eventually move to Raw to get a guy. But then you would just keep elevating from there, and you would climb your storylines, and you would evolve when your timing was right,

and you'd fill in that slide. So they all built to each other, much like a pay-per-view, the cards, the matches build, you know, and everything like that. So I think all that was contributing factor to. And the fans cared about all of the characters. They did. Everybody was, because there was characters. Everybody could connect to somebody in some kind of way.

When I came along, you know, I get people to come up to me and they go, thank you for letting me be weird. I go, what do you mean being weird? They go, yeah, it could be weird. I was just a vampire. I didn't think I was weird. Every once they never thought I was weird. I was just cool-ass vampire, you know?

And they were like, thank you for let me know it was okay to be weird. I was so confused. Are you weird? I was cool. Yeah, you were cool. But I think that it opened the door for a lot of the kids that were, you know, wanted to paint their nails and that little bit of a goth lifestyle or that, or that emo, or emo, what it's called emo.

And all that stuff comes around. And I think that just, it opened it up and they seen that mainstream and it was acceptable on something that they loved. And so when they were in school and stuff like that, They were like, it was okay because like, oh, the Gangrel had black painted nails and fangs, you know. He's a cool wrestler, and everybody's watching it. So a lot of people come up and thank me for that. How'd you get the name Gangrel?

That was a dicey one there, right? So for years, like you mentioned earlier, it was at 88 or 87. 88 they started at WWE doing jobs. I worked a big boss man. You know, it was so funny that you would see where I worked a big boss man in, what was it, an eight-year difference or 10-year difference. And then I'm going over on a big boss man. boss, you got a match where he's handcuffing me to a pole and Bobby Hina's going, look, Dave Hesha's just hanging around.

And I'm like, like, probably the first guy that they would handcuffed to a pole and did that whole, like when he would have boss man would cuff you and hang outside on the pole and be behind and stuff like that. And then eight years or whatever it is later, I'm working them in like, you know, like a semi-main event or something like that on a Raw or a house show or something. And, you know, so I've always been around WWE since a kid, you know, like, or WWF doing enhancement matches and then like I had a try out in um 92 91 91 as the vampire thing because I came from Puerto Rico and they they just they just laughed at it they didn't

they were like whatever when I used it but then Jerry Lala came up to me and he goes oh I like I think that's cool do you want to come work in Memphis and then went down and started working in Memphis with Loller you know so did the whole Memphis loop and when they were still territory at the end so that came around so I was always doing the vampire thing but I was always pushing it to them like going, ah, you guys don't get it. Like, you could be a vampire and get your butt kicked every day to week. As long as you're cool doing it, people are still going to like you. And they're like, no, we don't get it. We don't get it. And it was constantly sending them stuff material on culture and stuff and like role RPGs. And so like dungeons

and dragons, but with the vampires called masquerade, right? So it's sending them stuff like that. And then eventually they were like, well, okay, I was on an old Japan tour. They hired me. I lost all this weight. I was like 228 and blah, blah, blah. And they signed me. They signed me. They said they had some stuff for me. And when I signed, and they told me I was going to send home for a year.

But then it was Vince Russo, I guess. He called me up on a Friday and said, hey, can you still do the vampire thing? Or was it like, braw? I'm like, of course. But they had already told me. I had fangs permanent. I had rid of the fangs.

I had like a skullet. I'm glad I got rid of that because I looked a lot like Brian Knobbs. And I don't know. So I got rid of that. I grew my hair in and all that. I'm like, well, I didn't tell him I didn't have, I don't know if he realized that they weren't permanent or whatever. But so he called me up on a Friday,

and then he goes, you're flight, and they send me my flight for Saturday. So I'm like, oh. So this is like Friday evening, like at 5. So I run out to Hot Topics. You know, what was a good vampire do? They go to Hot Topics before it was mainstream back then, right? So I go into Hot Topics, and I'm like,

oh, they want some kind of shirt. So that's where the white puffy shirt came from. But I don't want to be a pirate, but that's when that shirt came from. The suede pants and all that. So I go, and then I had to get, I got like little gimmick fangs at a hot topic. They sold fangs right at the counter back then, you know. So because I didn't have fangs anymore. So I said, I'm just got to make these work, you know, figure it out.

So I could, you know, fake it to you make it here, figure it out. So then I come out and I go, man, I need, what I got to do for boots? You know, what's next to Hot Topics? Journeys. So I roll into journeys. There's a pair of new rods. I go, oh, these are cool, these boots and all that. So I go, and I grab the new rocks.

I get them and go, okay, and then a Renaissance fair, so I found the shin guards to put over the boots and stuff like that. So I come up with all that, but while this was all going on, this is a Friday night, right? So they filmed on a Sunday night. It was a Sunday night heat. I think they actually filmed it on Sunday. And find out, well, they had to come up with a name.

And I gave them all this material and research, but I heard there was Vincent Mann, so I liked the name Gangrel. What was your name to that point? Vampire Warrior. Vampire Warrior. He goes, I like the name Gangrel. Well, this was a weekend. Nobody ran it through legal.

Nobody ran the name through legal. So that Sunday Night Heat by Monday came or whatever. They had a lawsuit for like $5 million. So I don't know if you noticed that in all the WWB magazines it would say masquerade, White Wolf by White Wolf, Gangrel. and they had to do that for five years. So I feel like when that deal ran up, so did mine. I feel like I had a black mark of my name from that gang girl name.

So they had to pay for that a certain amount. They never contested it in court or anything because I guess they realized, yeah, we screwed up. And I heard they let that whole legal department go that was involved in that. Wow. But I don't know the real story. You could hear the whispers, but you don't know. But I feel like I got a lot of heat from it. but I weathered it out.

And it came and gone. So then eventually when that all ran out, they let me go. Nobody paid attention to the name Gangrel. So then I just kept watching it. Watching it. And then I had a lawyer. I just filed on the trademark. Nobody fought it, fought it, fought it.

So I ended up with the gang girl name. How long have you had it for? Since I think I had it when we did the interview in 2018. I've had it that long now. I could actually go to them. Like White Wolf say, hey, you can't sell your jewelry. I could come. I could anybody uses it.

I could go. I haven't done that yet, but I have lawyers telling me I've got to have to start enforcing it or the show that, you know, I'm using the trademark. You know, I still use it every word to show that, but they say you still got to go and tell people, hey, quit using it. Yeah. Yeah. But that's how that came along. They picked it out of that, like, last second and caused all kinds of controversy. My name is Peter Parker, but I'm also Spider-Man.

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Follow and listen on your favorite platform. How much do you think your theme song had to do with you getting over? It's still current. It keeps me current now. I think my theme, I think that music keeps me present because people do, what do you call them? You're in this world. Mimis? What is it? Gifts.

There you go. Gifts. Yeah. So everywhere you go, there's somebody doing something to my music. There's like, you'll see one where a girl rises up on a thing. You'll see people going to a funeral. Oh yeah. The girl is like on like the parking little post.

Yeah, the post it comes up, the block you out. But it just constantly comes up and different things. And I think that just keeps you current with the younger generation. And then they go, they look into it. And then Edge did a real good, Adam did a real good job, keeping me relevant with bringing back the brood stuff and always referencing that with the current audience. So between stuff like that, that music definitely and then Adams' influence still being in wrestling, still always paying tribute to the brood era he was in and stuff like that. It's really helped keep me what's kept me really busy now. Besides outliving all the other attitude era guys.

That's true. Sammy's sad enough. It's still wrestling, you know. You're still going. A few of us, right? I was going to get a shirt made that said, I survived the act. attitude era, but I thought it would be too dark, especially if you had all the lost people. You know, but, you know, dark humor, but, but, but the truth, the truth.

And I think that, uh, another reason that, that I say book currently a lot is because I do still wrestle. I do, don't question, I don't put a bump limit on. I, I, I just work, whatever my ability is. I work with all my heart and all my love, uh, you know, and when matches are bad, it, it, I'm, I feel bad. I feel low. It's the highest of highs and the lowest lows, you know. I feel like I came off a couple of rough matches this past week. But I've learned to let him go, but I've also, I acknowledge it. I'm like, ooh, I go, well, not necessarily it was out of my control, but I could have took more control and putting it together, so I'll leaving it to other people to put it together, you know, but still, it didn't get hurt.

I'm here the next day, but I don't work like that. Oh, I just go on there not to get hurt. I work to work, you know, but if you're trained right, and they're trained right, you should be able to go on there. Accidents happen, human error, but you should be able to go on there, your job and walk away and be able to do it the next night, the next night, the next night. Do you remember hearing that song for the first time? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I do, but, but, like, people tell me I'm crazy, but, like, they asked me what music did I picture myself coming out to?

You know, and I was just rammed to my head, and this is all that second. They came up with this, Doug Johnson, whatever his name. Jim Johnson. Jim Johnson. He wrote this in that day. Wow. Because they contacted me on a Friday. The entrance and all that was done.

Saturday for Sunday. This was all done in that 20. What a song. Yeah. So, and they asked me, and I said, well, the TOTE's Possum Kingdom, you know, I go like, you know, there's things. So I'm the only one that hears that. I feel like he sped things up, slow things down. I hear it, but nobody else hears it. And they tell me I'm absolutely crazy. But maybe you can listen to it and you'll hear it. You put headphones on, but it has the whispering in the beginning. And that's, of course. Was it? I am dead. I am buried. I call walk with me. I buried Paul Walk with me. I buried Paul. So he's a big Beatles fan. So that whispering is actually, if you play it backwards, it'll say, I buried Paul, walk with me. So that's a little Easter egg in that,

because he was a big Beatles fan, Jim Johnson, right? So that, I hear a lot of the toadies, mixed riffs in there slowed down and sped up, but nobody else does. But maybe one day you'll listen to it and you can hear it. I don't know. But yeah, that song, when I heard it, it was a dry rehearsal.

I didn't hear it. I was down in the elevator, so this was all new to me, right? we get there because it's all just a rush. He'll come up in this elevator, it's fire. And what are you going to do? I came up with the blood spray. You know, that was a tribute to Gene Simmons, guitar solo, you know,

when he comes up and he, the blood comes down, you know, figured I'll spray it, be a little different. You know, I come up through the fire. I'll go to the ring, you know. Took a while to figure out the whole goblet thing for a while I was making love to the blood. And they were like, hey, that's a bit too much, you know. Because I'd go, ah, you know, it was really weird.

If you watched the first couple ones, I had a leather jacket on with the white puffy shirt. And, you know, just trying to find your way with it because it was all throwing together overnight. Yeah. Literally thrown together overnight. I've been a vampire, wrestling as a vampire for a while, but the look and the ensemble of the gang girl character

was thrown together overnight. And the blood, I hadn't been doing blood up to that point. So this is all new, so it was very weird if you look at me. You'll go back. If you show a clip, you go back, you'll see me like, you know, like, this dude, too. I can only imagine whoever was at Jim Rossi. I'm like, ah, yeah.

They probably had somebody in your ear going, what the hell, bro? It's going, but we figured it out. You know, it got stripped down and laid it away to what worked. But where were we at? Well, look, the fire entrance is amazing, right? So it's not just the song, it's the fire entrance as well.

It was cool. So when I heard the music the first time, yeah, yeah. So it was a dry rehearsal, right? So I hear that. I was like, that's cool. And then you come up, and then the elevator had a show, shim in it, right? So it's hey, be careful, there's a shim, you come up. So that was all cool.

It's light and everything. The music, that was the first time I heard it. That was great. One dry rehearsal. Then came showtime, right? So which is totally different. So you come up, you hear that music and then you kind of gave me goosebumps because it's like, oh, because it's blacked out now. The arena's blacked out. You come up, you see the firelight, and you come up and everything and you see these people, they're probably like, what the hell are we looking at? And the same thing I'm looking at. What am I looking at? You know, this is so cool. I'm coming up and I feel that shim in the elevator because there's supposed to be a little shim like this and then it would lock and you can walk right so then we're riding up now we're going to go backwards

to the point that I went to journeys and bought boots but I didn't have time to change the bottoms to wrestling soul so I feel the shim in the elevator and there's fire and this pool this like coolest moment of my life right this is so cool right you know I'm freaking out you know inside you know you're like oh this is this better do I could ever imagine I go to step and when I go to step it turns out I the shimony the elevator didn't happen yet. So when I stepped, my foot slid under the, the flooring of the stage in the elevator. So clamped down on my foot. So the lift locked up. My foot was stuck in between. Thank goodness I had those big thing. With the fire. With the fire. So I'm standing there with the chalice going, ah, I'm a fire. I'm stuck. So they clip that away. They were able to clip that

away because I'm literally going, ah, like I'm standing in the fire. Like foot stuck in the elevator. Man. So with that, with that being said, then I had a certain walk to the ring. I don't know if you notice that walk. Of course. To the beach. That walk came because my foot was crushed. I mean, I walked to the music.

Technically, I was limping to the music because my foot had been crushed by the elevator. And I put hurt for months. So that walk just stayed permanent. That walk became a permanent walk. you know, and then for the first three months, too, it would come up because the entrance was so cool because the music was so cool, and the people would start

getting into it. More and more, they'd go, what are you doing, smiling? You're supposed to be a vampire. I go, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, like, I would hold that smile. You know, I started spockering, it was so cool. And then the most I could get was halfway down the ramp. Like, this was in three months of process.

If you watch over time, I get halfway down the ramp and then be like, eh. They finally said, all right, we give, man. You just have a menacing smile. So then I just started to smile. You know, there were these things that couldn't change. And it's funny how the things work with a walk with the foot and the music and the elevator. And then almost getting burnt in it being stuck there, you know.

Crazy. Didn't you have another scary incident with the fire years later in WWE? I did. I did. They let me go for a while. For whatever reason, they brought me back. And then we were going to work a tag match. It was me and Visser against the young.

Undertaker. So JBL brought me back in for this feud. So they go, we don't have your regular lift anymore, but we have what Ray Mysterio pops out of, which was like, if you could see the padding on the floor, it wasn't much bigger than this, right? So very small. Where the other one was six foot by three foot. So it was six foot wide. You had three guys on it. Three guys can fit on this. Three guys aren't fitting on this. Barely my big butt was hitting on that. So what they didn't, we went to do a dry rehearsal, but what they didn't guess, and I heard they fired a whole that pyro crew for that is when they started. the fire because it was such a small hole, it backdrafted in, so it pulled the flames in on me.

So I was standing in this little hole getting barbecues, you know? I literally jumped up. I became the most agile I've ever been in my whole life. I jumped up out of there because it was a slow crank lift because they would just pop and he would come out, right? So they had this slow, they were manual cranking where the other one was a powered lift and everything. So they were like cranking and I'm like, oh, again, there's me, but I'm actually burning this time. My foot stuck in the first one, I wasn't burning. It was just really hot in my nuts. You know? This one, I could see the skin.

My skin was just hanging off. So I jumped up and I was hanging on my skin. So I get up up there and I go, no, no, it's cool. You know, a smart guy would have went and sued and retired or something, right? Not me. I was just happy to wrestle. I love wrestling. You still wrestled that match?

I did. I wrestled. I wrestled. Well, they did. They cut the skin off, cleaned it up and bandaged me up. And then I went, I wrestled. If you look at that match, let's see the arm's little thicker because I had it all bandaged up. and then I went, I was out

three, four months. I had to get skin grafts and stuff like that, you know. Wow, what's your arm look like now? Good, you don't even notice it now. You got tattoos covering it. It's a little lighter. It's a little lighter. I got tats over it, but it's just a little lighter of color.

Man. Not bad now because they had the graphs, and they did a great job. And I wasn't out that long, three months or four months. What was the original idea for the brood as a whole? Well, I don't know if they really had an idea for anything. First, they never explained. the whole story, I'm wrestling, and then all of a sudden there's this, Edges just watching

my matches, and then I'm angry at him for whatever reason, and I'm watching his matches, and then we just start fighting for whatever, and they'd be like, oh, maybe they're from a village from far past. They never said he was a vampire, but they just would say this Gothic trio and this gothic lifestyle. You know, I had fangs that never actually even called me a vampire, I don't think. Maybe Jerry Lawler might have said something, he's a vampire, JR, you know, but, but, like, WWF would never actually call you like a vampire for whatever reason. And they never explained it. And then one day I bring Christian in.

They don't even explain that besides, oh, it's Edge's brother. Like, okay. Well, why have his Edd brother? Nobody knows. They never said. Again, they're like, oh, they're from the same village. You must know something we don't know because I don't think they knew. And then me and Christian are getting destroyed by Kane.

And then Edge comes out and helps us. we just, we just, we just were a brood all of a sudden together. Now, my idea of the brood was, I was a big fan, excuse me, of the freebirds. I was like my favorite, like, trio faction, you know, the freebirds. And the, the, my vampire character stemmed from the movie The Lost Boys. So I was a big fan of Lost Boys. So that was the Freebirds meet the Lost Boys was the brood. So that was that. Now, WWE, what they seen with it, I have no idea what they seen. I think it was just a shuttle. They didn't know what to do with Adam. They told me that he was they would say hey I would start next star. They made that clear like they didn't say it's so much about Christian but they were like no

Edge Adam is the future you know what I mean they knew that and I think the brood and what they wanted was just it was just a way to shuttle him in keep him experience get him crying and then and then go on from there. I know when I did their podcast I talked to him and they were talking and it's the time came up because how long was the whole brood run? And I said it was less than eight months. He goes, no, I go, yeah. Isn't that crazy? Yeah, and he was like, I don't get why they ended it so quick, this and this and that.

And I said, yeah, sure, I do. And so when I explained it, I go, I asked Edge Adam, when you go to conventions, what's the first thing people say to you? Oh, the brood thing, the brood, they bring the brood stuff up. I go, okay. Now, if it was only eight months, imagine three years of the brood before you would have never been an edge. They had to get you out of there before you were consumed in that thing because it was this, it was just something that happened organically that people liked. They were drawn to.

Like, they tried to make us heels. They put us in the ministry. We would go out. We were in a ministry. The whole ministry we'd line up on the stage. And they'd be like booze. And then the booze would go brood, brood, brood. And I remember looking at it out and I said, oh, we're done.

He goes, what do you mean? I go, oh, we're done. That's not good. because it's the ministry's moment, not takers moment, not the brood's moment. And sure enough, like a week later, they said, you know, we don't see you in the ministry. We see you a feud in the ministry. And I go, that's never good. You know, you can see the incoming.

I can see the incoming because, you know, being with Luna for 18 years and all that, and her growing up in wrestling, you were able to read the room, you were able to see the signs. You know, you understood how the business worked, you know. I think Edging Christian won all of their tag titles in, like 11 months. There's something like seven, yeah, like seven tag titles. And it's such a short period of time.

Yet they're remembered as one of the greatest tag teams of all time, but it was such a short thing. Ladders matches and all that crazy. Of course. Everybody asks what happened to you. I go, well, my fear of heights is what helped me back. How long did you have real fangs for? A few years, four or five years, something like that?

And they were permanent? Permanent, yeah. Like, is this something where you go to a dentist and you have them install? Yeah, I had them come in and ask them. They ended up veneers, pour some veneers over a thing. Yeah, they made them short enough

where I had a bite and I could eat and all that. So, yeah, those fangs. What's the same as somebody when you see them with natural fangs, you know? You go ask them, how do you eat with those fangs, guy? But what's life look like when you're out and about outside of wrestling and you've got vampire fangs?

Well, it was a little different because Luna convinced me, or she convinced me, she said, hey, you got to immerse. yourself into a character and a culture like, yeah, Luna, she could never tell the difference, you know, she would go back and forth between a character, which is scary, but the, sorry, I'm sweating a little bit. Got to get an air conditioner.

Yeah, yeah, back here. The office is nice. It's freezing up there. The, uh, you immersed yourself, immersed yourself in that lifestyle. So we'd go and go out to the gothic clubs, this and that, and black leather coat. So you were just kind of living that thing. You were just kind of that person.

would have to say nothing. They just, just, just, no, no, no. Just felt normal. When Edge had his brood entrance at WrestleMania 39, the match against Finn Baller, there were so many rumors that you might be there. Not only were you not there, he didn't even use the brood entrance to him. Like, it was so interesting

that they used another song. It's south of heaven, didn't he? But he opened up with the brood at first, didn't he? It said brood edge, but like... But it showed clips of us coming up through the fire and stuff. If you look at it and stuff, yeah. Yes, but I think people thinking you'd be a green theme. I'm not sure, but I think it might have been Hunter. Some people

said Vince, but I think it might have been Hunter. Somebody, somebody cabashed it, you know what I mean? So when that didn't go down, he left the next year, right, to AEW. And then he wanted to make sure that he's a guy that wants to have his way, right? Don't tell him no on something. He's going to figure it out. So in AEW, he had me come back and come up to the ring and stuff like that. So, yeah. Were you close to being part of Russell Mania 39? And Edge's mind, yes. He was trying. hard, but in their minds, no, I don't think so. Edge told me that he was told that fans wouldn't remember

you. It's like, come on. That's ridiculous. That's what they said. That's what he said, but I think it was a little bit more to it. I don't know what it is, but I think it was a little bit more. It's weird, too, because I was like, just speaking of the name, you know, the nostalgia deals they have and stuff? Yeah. So I went through that. I'm not going to mention the person in the office was going through, but it was all lined up. It was

right down to the final things. And then when the last third end should be signed, they come through, it came to me and said, do you have a letter saying from White Wolf that you can use the name, that they relinquished the name to you? I go, you have lawyers after lawyers. You clearly can see that I have the trademark and the register, all that stuff. And they were like, no, you don't have a letter?

I go, no, and I never heard back from him again. So it's something weird. It's something a little bit more to it. Maybe if you could figure it out in your investigative journals, you can tell me. Do not call me a journalist. But at this point, I've mowed it on and done my own thing for so long that, you know, it would be great, you know, to go back in some kind of form or fashion and do something.

Of course, that would be awesome, you know, and I'm sure the money's great. And, you know, and it gives you long longevity to be on that powerful TV. But at the same time, I've been busier than I've ever been busy. I wrestle more than I wrestled. Yeah. And then with the two schools and then committing to a lot to this school, too, more so out of the two. I'm here trying to get this gone. It's been insane. It's been insane. How did the AEW appearance with Adam and coming up through the ring, how'd that come

together? I was just Adam. He wanted it. Him, and I think he talked to House of Black, you know, and they thought it would be cool too. So he had a lot of creative control there. So he, he orchestrated all that, brought all that together. You also had an appearance with the Young Bucks. The Young Bucks, and they were the ones that wanted that, too. It was a young bucks that was funny. They came out as the Hardy Boys. With you. And then prior to that, I did something with Matt Hardy during COVID, the Hardy compound thing when he was right in Sammy Guevara. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah. And that was Matt they wanted that. So I've been blessed to have good relationships with guys that I was a part of, the new brood, the brood and stuff. And they've always really tried to give back to me in their own ways the best they can and help out. So they're amazing individuals. There's a rumor you got fired from WWE because you didn't tuck your shirt in. I never tucked my shirt. Would you like to clear this up?

I don't know if that was the rumor. I think the rumor was they said, Vince saw my stomach and said, ah, he's got to go. I think that was the rumor. No, I don't know. They hired me back. I got burnt. I sat home all that time.

And then they let me go. Then they hired me back told me I was going to be the sci-fi channel. They said, you're going to be a big star. On ECW? ECW, you're going to come in. You're going to have a group. Kevin Thorne. I said, great, I went home, never heard from him.

I was signed back, never heard from him. Never did an appearance on TV or anything. So there's no shirts, there's no nothing. You got hired. Nothing. And I see Kevin Thorne comes on. And then Shelley comes on with him and I let go. And then I get a call from Johnny Ace going, you know, it never really took off.

It didn't work out. We're sorry, I'd save it, save it, save it. I'm going to go back to England next week. Okay, yeah, go, go. So it was nothing. They brought me back for the sci-fi. I never did any TV. I never did anything.

They didn't... They know what it looked like. But you were under contracts? Yeah, for like six months. For, W.W.E's ECW. Yeah, yeah. And they just never put you on TV? They didn't let me go.

And then that started circulating. Were you... So that's why I don't know. Were you ever close to... I am sensitive, you know, about my way. You look great. You look great. Were you ever close to going to TNA?

I feel like you've wrestled everywhere else. I've wrestled in TNA on and off. But when TNA was first going, for some reason, they wanted you to buy your own flights in. when they were filming here at the fairgrounds in Nashville all the time. And I was just so busy doing other stuff, I just never followed up on it. So, yeah, so I don't know what happened there.

I just have always been able to stay busy. But I did do shows for them. I tagged with, like, I think I was in that, what was it, Sinister Minister and Wolfie D and all that. So it was part of all that stuff. I was there. And I did some hard 10 things with Sunny Sasaki, I think, going to. So I did matches.

I came in and out, but never had a contract there, yeah. Care for your skin like you care for the game. Dove Men Plus Care is an official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and has just dropped their new limited edition deodorant and antipersprint collection for 72 hours sweat and odor protection, helping you stay fresh from kickoff to the final whistle. Visit dove.com slash CA slash E.N. slash men dash care to shop now. People know you as the brood, and of course they remember that theme song from that. But the new brood and getting the hardies like on TV with you, I feel like that was just as big. It was, but it was short, even shorter. That was like three weeks. It was only three weeks?

Yeah, it wasn't really that short. Yeah, it was like a month or something. It was short. You have to go back and look, but I think it was short. If it was more than two months, I'd be shocked. This is the funny thing about, like, I say all the time, nostalgia is a hell of a drive. Yeah. Right?

Because like you watch something or you remember something and it just hits you a certain way. Like the brood thing seemed longer and then the nude brood thing seemed longer but it was all short. All very short but very powerful stuff while it lasted.

For sure. Very impacting, very, you know, and memory. Meaningful moves, make memories, movies. There it is. WrestleMania 15.

WrestleMania 15. You're part of this moment where Undertaker hangs big boss man. You're the one who's actually giving Undertaker the Noose. What do you remember about the setup of this? What I remember is we weren't on on schedule for anything in WrestleMania and then we all get like a memo saying you have a rehearsal we're like rehearsal for what? So we show up and you know they go oh you're going to come out of

the ceiling we're like we're looking at each other like who's coming out of the ceiling no you three are going to come out of the ceiling and come down on top of the cage so we rehearsed it at one time there and I know none of us were happy about it. We're all freaking out. None of us like, you literally like, we were in the top of the First Union, that building is tall in Philly there. And you're looking down and everything just looks like ants. People look like ants down there. And you've got to like literally climb off the catwalk and hang off here in these harnesses and go down. So it was terrifying. We did a rehearsal. Everything went fine and we got back up, you know, then came WrestleMania. You know, again, it's a lot like the entrances, you know, you do a drive

rehearsal, it's one thing, but then there's live crowd and in the moment. So we all go off and we go down. I almost missed the cage, like one foot's over here, but I get back on it. That was scary. Then we go over and then we're on that. And all I'm thinking is don't fall through the cage. Because you think about mankind following the right. I'm sure they reinforced it after that. The cage is kind of rigged too for you to be able to rip it open, you know. So we're up there. We got the news from I. We're ripping. I'm like, please don't fall through this cage, you know, because I don't like heights at all. And so we get that and get that. We go, we go, we go to go back up and then the circuit breakers blue, you know, so we're all stuck in here.

That's why you got a picture of Edge a lot hanging right there in his coat. He was hanging the lowest. I was between the soundboard and the lighting. And Christian, I think, was just where his hands were on the beam to get back on time. Oh, it legit went out. Yeah, it legit went out. We were stuck. And it felt like forever, but it was probably only a couple minutes, you know. But it felt, I kept thinking they're going to come on this soundboard and just blow my ear drums out because I was in between the lighting board and the sounds, the speakers. And Edge was down low. and he was getting all the pictures because he was stuck in his coat load. That's why you see that a lot.

Yeah, there was just one rehearsal, and then we did it. And there's a bit of a heavy thing, you know. Hanging's a bit strong, I suppose. You don't really see them. I don't think they push that much anymore and stuff like that. I think if you go look for it, it's hard to find that, right? Yeah. That thing, I think because it was so graphic and kind of strong.

It was disturbing. Yeah, yeah. It looked believable. Yeah, I remember watching that as a kid being like, How are they pulling this off? I guess he had like some rig around him or something. Yeah, they had a harness. He wrestled in that harness the whole time.

And then they were able to hook it up. And then the rope come behind him. And he did a great sell. Yeah. Yeah. Out of all these questions, I figured you would ask, oh, what about the time you spent on Donald Trump and Madison Square Gardens and stuff?

Would you like to tell us? I don't know. Do you want to hear it? Come on. Yeah. So this involves Kane too, right? So this is a house show. A Sunday, TV's are on Monday.

Kane nor I were scheduled to be in the garden for whatever reason. We weren't on that loop. And I didn't know where they said, hey, you've been added on to the garden, right? So, oh, cool. You know, that's a great payday. The garden's magic. You know, it's always good. And then, you know, I'm working Kane.

I go, oh, well, three minutes. It's a great payday for three minutes. You run out there basically attack him, take a boot and get choke slammed or something, you know, something in that nature. So, but are you excited? You're on the road and you do TV the next day. wherever, and the metal ends, or wherever the TV was the next day. And then, so I get there and everything, and then go to the ring, you know, and walking.

And I could hear the crowd was like, like, it's the garden door, so the crowd was like extra-amped. And I see a guy, somebody's sitting there and I go, like, that person doesn't belong there. But I got the shades on and there's a red light, you know. It's kind of hard to tell with things on. But I clearly looked and go, this guy doesn't belong here, whoever it is, you know. So I go to go up the ramp, and I'm like, and people are like, whoa. And I'm like, oh, they're really digging me in the garden. So my ego's going.

I'm like, oh, you know, gang girls over in the garden, you know, whatever, you know. So I go up there and I go to drink the blood. And then they're like, you could really hear the crowd go, oh, and like louder than I've done before. And you're like, I don't even do this on a pay-per-view. This is awesome, you know. So I chug down extra zesty man. I take every last drop down deep into this. I can take it.

Like, oh, and when I go to spray it, I just hear the crowd roaring, like, oh, so I just let out with one. And I let it out up, and I let it out long, you know, so I went up and then finished because I took an extra, so I had to get it out, like out. And I just hear the crowd go crazy. So apparently they were going crazy because it was Donald Trump down there with his girl, Marlena, whoever it was at the time. She was there. They were there. And, I don't know which one. You have to go back and look.

I'm not good with my president and his wives. But they were trying to, the fans were trying to touch him and warn him. So he was pulling away and moving closer to the barricade. So he was going more into the spray zone like the Gallagher zone, you know? So he's moving forward. So when I hear them, we're like, oh, I sprayed extra hard. And if you see in some of the WW magazines, they just put a little quite modest thing. It's a duck Donald duck.

But you see him like this, Trump duck in and you see her going, and it's just to miss the blood coming down. And I started coming back. And like the pirate, not the parochroo, but you know, the backstage, the tech guys and everything, like, that's awesome.

And they're high five of me. I'm like, yeah, it was great. Like, yeah, I'm over. I couldn't figure out. How did I become so like over and popular? And when I was saying, you spit all over Donald Trump. That was awesome.

who? What year was this like late 90s? Yeah yeah yeah 2000 or late 90 yeah no later than 2000 so it was either 99 or 2000 and then um and I'm like Donald Trump the rich guy like the rich guy like oh no you know and then so that all went down and then Stephanie goes I see Stephanie later she goes my dad's not happy with you I go what did I do it's because you spit all over his friend and blah blah blah and like what what? She goes, yeah, he wants to meet with your TV tomorrow. I'm like, oh, so here I am. I'm like, I didn't know he was there, man. I was just spraying my blood, you know, I'm innocent.

You know, I mean, like an innocent, I was just doing my job, you know. If it booked me on because it was like a special attraction, no reason. Me and Kane were on there, just added us onto the show. And then then that went down, you know, you know. I sprayed the blood when I got choke slammed, basically. That was it. And I was coming back and getting high five. So she goes, yeah, my dad's really upset, you know.

So, like, TV comes. the next day and I'm waiting to see Benz and then she'd come around again. She's like, oh, he's too busy today and he's not going to be able to see you. You have to see you tomorrow. So it was another night like, I'm going to get fired over this. Like, you know, you don't sleep or anything.

Sure. I didn't know he was there. I feel like you know, sign, but when he goes, I don't want to be a pirate. I'm like, but I didn't know he was there. You know? So yeah, I got all these signs fell out episodes running through. I'm like, I'm sitting in there and I'm so, and then I go Tuesday and it was time to see, you know, Ben.

He waited to the end of the night to see it. Like going to see the principal. Yeah, so you're going in to see the principal. Going in to get fired. You think going in to get fired. That's what you think, yeah. And I walk in and he goes, wasn't that great? He's laughing.

So what it turns out, it was like a double rib. He knew that he was coming. So he put his seats there, booked me on the show, flew me and knowing I'm a drone of an idiot, that no matter what, I'm going to spray that blood, because that's just what I do. I just do what I'm told. I go, I do my thing, and that's it.

So that, and then it was a double rib on me for, like, spitting, you know, like, thinking I'm going to get fired for it. So it was just an ultimate, like, rib. They say he's not a funny guy, but it was funny guy, you know. That was a good rib, you know. And apparently, she had, like, this mink or whatever. It was a certain type of sweater, cashmere or something like that. So when she came in, they had already asked and sized up that,

and they'd already had a runner with a backup one. So it was mapped out. Oh, wow. Everything was mapped out, yeah. Yeah. So yeah, that was that. So, like, I mean, guys could say they, you know, spit on the... Spent on a future president. Future president.

Yeah, yeah. Thanks for hanging out with me. Always good to see you. Thanks for coming in. Thanks for checking out Catch Pro Wrestling here. Yeah, how can people sign up if they're interested? I don't know. I know you guys are on Instagram.

You go on, Catch Pro Wrestling on Instagram. Catch Pro Wrestling Academy. You can go on there. You'll find it. You'll see the logos of bar scans on different things. But it's easy to find. And I'm on social media. Gang Girl,

David, you'll see me posting every week. So when I'm here, I'm posting heavy. When I'm in Florida, I'm posting heavy. So I'm back and forth doing it to it, man. You're still doing it. Yeah, yeah. So great. Thanks for coming out and taking time.

Welcome to Nashville. I heard you're moving here too. So awesome. Yeah, we just moved here. And I'd say give me about a year and then I'll probably be here. You'll be our neighbor. Sounds great. I told him, like, literally, he's like,

here's a two-bedroom apartment. That's how nice he is. He's like, here's a two-bedroom apartment. Go furnish it. come here and let's get this going, you know. So, like, he's made it way more than possible to be able to do this. And he's being more patient with my schedule. And they're being very patient on my schedule in Florida, too.

So I got to thank both for them for being patient with me. But as I try to, like, I'm not trying to be greedy. I'm just passionate for both. I'm really trying to make everything work here. So, like, yeah. I don't think I've asked you this question, but I end every interview with the same question. That's about gratitude, because gratitude is such an important thing for me. With the career you've had, you're going on almost 40 years.

You're still doing it. As we sit here right now, Gangrel, what are three things that you're grateful for? Well, number one is the fans. The fans. You can't do it without the fans. You can't do it. They didn't show up. They're not there.

They're not supported. There's nothing to do. There's no job to do. Another is the social media now, which gives it people like yourself. I don't like to do a lot of interviews and I don't and stuff like that. I mean, I'm on there a lot, but I'm grateful for that because it gives them. This is a platform and to still be able to see me from the past and bring it into the current and educate people on it. And so they can go back with all the YouTube's and the video categories and different things.

And they can see that. What I'm also grateful for was coming up through the territories to learn how to be a worker that can wrestle. And despite what you see when I wrestle, you see a lot of character, the vampire stuff. But that's given me the longevity to be able to train people to wrestle, like to. understand that and understand the art of professional wrestling. So to be able to give back and give them a foundation. And then I get to live on in the future and see myself work through Rousse of in the Ring or Jacob Fah to.

Or everyone you're training. Lola Weiss, Nikki Blackheart, NWA, Damien Finreir, Ruthie J, NWA. And so many more on little things that are going on. Jay Vidal, he was in TNA, the other ones were NWA. Jay Vidal when he was in TNA, different things to see them, the ladder. So when they're winning in life, you know, and doing what they love, not necessarily one, three, rest of the way, but when they're doing what they love and you see them succeeding, I'm succeeding. When they fall and they stumble, I fall and stumble or two, but, but, but I, I get

to see and instill a little bit of my imprint in them and get to see that going to the future and then here you get rusive opening a school, so he starts giving back. So now I know that he's younger than me and he's longer, he's going to go on longer than I'll go on. So he's going to give back. So there's still part of me coming back through. into the future, into the future. So I'm really grateful for that, too. Well, thank you again, man. Yeah, thank you.

Great to see you. Hi, man, thanks. Scrolling with Haley. I'm Haley Karania. I scroll with the homies here in the live chat because there's a lot to scroll through on X, on Instagram, on TikTok. Cutting through the clutter, one hot take at a time. Love seeing you all in the chat before the show.

I tried to jump in just a few minutes before to say hello. I love the chat interaction. Thank you for helping. But I do it to get all of the videos and all of the content that you won't find anywhere else. Scrolling with Haley. Just search that up and I will be there. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.