Insight with Chris Van Vliet - How Sam Roberts got his WWE dream job, favorite interview moment, worst wrestling storyline

Episode Date: November 30, 2020

Sam Roberts talks with Chris Van Vliet from his studio in New York City. He talks about how his career started by writing letters to various radio stations, landing an internship with Opie & Anthony which lead to his first on-air job, where his love of wrestling began, his favorite interview moment, what he thinks is the worst wrestling storyline, how he got his job with WWE, his podcast being available on the WWE Network and much more!   Support the show by supporting our sponsors:BOSLEY- Losing your hair? Bosley can help! Get a free info kit and a $250 off gift card by texting CVV to 203-203 or visit https://www.bosley.com/lp/chrisvanvliet/  INDEED- Try it today with a $75 credit to boost your job post by going to http://indeed.com/BlueWire  BETONLINE- Get a FREE welcome bonus by using the promo code BLUEWIRE at http://betonline.ag Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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That's a great question. Look at you, man. powerful questions. This is the Chris Van Vleet Show. Chris Van Vleet Show. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Vibb! Well, welcome back to another insightful audio adventure on the Chris Van Fleet Show. And we talk about it quite a bit during this interview.

But Sam Roberts and I have had pretty similar career paths, both fighting our way to get an internship, which eventually led to a broadcasting job behind the scenes. then led to us getting a job on air. And then through that, we were able to merge our passions together, our passions of broadcasting and pro wrestling. And here we are with one job that is both pro wrestling and broadcasting in one. And there's a lot in this conversation that's really inspiring, especially if you don't have a job that you are necessarily pumped to go to every Monday.

So hopefully there's a few things in this that you can, you know, take out and apply to your own life. Take a screenshot. Let us know that you're listening to this and tag us on Instagram or Twitter so we can share it. I'm at Chris Van Vleet. Sam is at Not Sam and O.T. Sam. We actually both interviewed each other when we did this. So this is the interview that I did with Sam. And if you hop over to his podcast called Not Sam Wrestling, you'll hear Sam interviewing me. Two very different interviews, two great interviews, but two very different interviews. So I encourage you when you've done this one, hop on over to Not Sam Wrestling wherever you're listening to this

and yeah, check that out. And wherever you are listening to this, if it's your first time here, make sure to hit subscribe or follow so you don't miss out on any more episodes. And if you happen to be listening to this on Apple Podcasts, I would forever be in your debt

if you could leave a rating and a review. The goal is 2,000 reviews by May 19th, which is my birthday. Right now, we are at 1322. I also notice that Sam is at, like 1800. His podcast is like five years old. Mine's like a year and a half old. But it'd be nice to beat Sam Roberts. I hope Sam doesn't hear this. But it'd be nice to have more reviews than him. I'm just saying. Thank you to Donnie from Blackwater VA who left this review. I'm going to read

one out on every single episode. So thank you, Donnie. This one says the best there is, the best there was. And by golly, the best there ever will be. My God. Chris keeps delivering the best guest's week in and week out. Gladly would rate this podcast 100 stars if possible. Much respect, Chris, you are the man. Well, thank you, Donnie. But how could I possibly be the man if you're the man? And I appreciate the review. And even if you don't listen on Apple Podcasts, even if you haven't left a review, I just appreciate that of all the podcasts. I think there's like a million podcasts right now. I just appreciate that out of all the podcasts. You choose to listen to this one every single week. Thank you for that.

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That's CVV to 203-203-203. Now, there's a lot of places that you might recognize Sam Roberts from. I mean, he's one of the original wrestling interviewers on YouTube way before me. Yeah, years before me on there. But he's also one half of the Sam Roberts M Jim Norton show on Sirius XM. He was part of Opie and Anthony on Sirius for many years. And since 2016, he's been on the WWE pre-shows. And as of about two months ago, his podcast is now available on the WWE network.

We talk about the crazy ride that he's taken to get here and how if you're passionate about something, you should chase after it no matter how small the odds may look. So ladies and gentlemen, Sam Roberts. Sam Roberts. What's the haps? I love that. That's such a great way to start. I'll tell you, like, where you're going,

okay, I'll start with what's the haps? The only thing I can think of is like, okay, how do I start? What sound bite am I going to try to add in that he'll use as the preview soundbite at the beginning of the interview? Like I'm trying to think of something. Oh, you're going to create the sound bite. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just something that I'll sneak in there knowing like, okay, I know that was good.

He'll use that at the beginning. The thing is when I'm editing the interviews, I have no idea what. Soundbite's going to be at the start for like 99% of the time. Yeah. Yeah. And then you just decide like later, like as you're going, you're like, oh, I guess that. Yeah, I'm like, yeah, that works.

Sure. Yeah. Very nice studio that you have. Thanks. Yeah. I mean, you know, I feel like, I feel like people think that I'm much smarter than I am because I was ready for the lockdown when everybody had to work from home. I was like, yeah, I got this studio in my house.

But, you know, I built this studio. As soon as my wife and I moved into a house out of an apartment, it was like a priority. It was like, we need what I said to Jess, I was like, whatever, wherever you want to live, I don't care, whatever house you want to move into, I don't care. You can have the bottom floor and then rights all the way to the sky. You could do whatever you want with the house. It just has to have a basement that I can build a studio in and you have no access and no rights to the basement. She was like, all right, that's it. Hold on.

You live in New York City and own a house? Like, how much are they paying you? Okay. All right. Yeah, yeah, right. No, this is all that sweet WWE money. This is serious money. No, I'm smart enough not to live in New York City. I live in the suburbs.

Do you live in the state of New York? I live in New York. I live like 25 minutes outside of the city. Okay, because there's a lot of people that say they work in New York and then live in Connecticut or live in Jersey. No, I'm not, I mean, I guess I'm technically part of the bridge and tunnel crowd because Manhattan is an island. But I am in state.

I'm in Westchester, New York. Okay. So, you know, this is like, this is, yeah, this is the closest suburb to the city without going out of state. Technically, living in New Jersey is probably closer, but it's living in New Jersey. Well, you own a house with a studio.

That's all that matters. That's it. Yeah. That's it. I'm so excited to have you on the show. You know, and our paths have crossed many times. I think that your videos have definitely been on the recommended section. of my videos and vice versa.

But I feel like our careers have like a lot of similarities. We're the same age. And our careers kind of like are very aligned in that we went to school for broadcasting. An internship turned into a job. Our love of wrestling was able to be sprinkled into there. And here we are having this conversation. So here's the difference though. Your YouTube channel caught fire when like there were a lot of people on YouTube.

And my YouTube channel caught fire before. that. So you actually timed it much better. Well, I'm going to be honest. It was your channel and Peter Rosenberg's channel that I was like, I was inspired by. I saw what you guys were doing. We all kind of like worked in that same world. We had quote unquote real broadcasting jobs and access to these, you know, incredible people that we were having conversations with. And we kind of went, well, let's put those things online. And I saw what you guys were doing. And I went, oh, they're getting hundreds of thousands, if not millions of views. I can do the same thing. Yeah. And I saw too, like really early on. Like, you know, I've seen your stuff forever. Like before it was, you know, a thing. And like I knew exactly. I could tell what you were doing because it really was the same thing I was doing. Same thing Rosenberg was doing, which is like you were working in news. Superstars would come and do an interview for the news channel. And you'd be like, well, I'm a big wrestling fan while you're here. Can I get 20 minutes to just talk wrestling and I'll throw it on the internet? And boom. There you go. That's what I was doing with the radio show. That's what I think Peter was doing on radio. It's like,

and you realize that, oh, it's just one of those things when you realize, like, there was this this thing that was just sitting on the table the whole time. Yeah. And all you had to do was pick it up. It wasn't even like it was right there for you. You just sort of like, oh, I just saw this thing on the table. And I guess it's my table. That's right.

And nobody else was really doing it. And that was the other thing. Like I was having these in-depth, insightful conversations with all kinds of celebrities, comedians, musicians, you name it. And then every once in a while, as you know, wrestling would come. to town, whether it was WWE or Impact or Ring of Honor. And they would of course pitch, like, can we come in and promote the show? I always got a lot of pushback from my news directors. Like, come on, like, wrestling on the news, like people don't really care. I'm like, no, no, no,

I'm a huge fan. Like, this will work. You do these five, 10, 15, 15 minute interviews and only air 15, 20 second clip on TV. And I'm like, well, I had this great interview where I asked all these questions I cared about as a fan. And that's when I was like, it needs to live somewhere. And And that's when I put it on YouTube and then I saw what you guys were doing and I went, oh, there is an audience for this. Yeah. I had a similar experience. Like I was out, I remember it was when, you know, WWE would do press conferences and stuff for

WrestleMania and they'd be at the hard rock in Times Square or whatever. And like, I remember, like, I think somebody was coming in. I was working for Opin Anthony at the time. And somebody came in promoting WrestleMania the same day as the press conference because literally, you know, that we're in Times Square. Yeah. You know, there. So the publicist there was like, oh, are you coming to the press conference later?

And I was like, what do you mean? That's for the press. And they're like, yeah. And I was like, oh. That's you. Like, I didn't put two and two together. Like that is, yeah, oh, I can go to that. And they're like, you can go to any of them.

Yeah, of course. That's why we do them. I was like, oh, okay. And so I went. And then at first it was like, I'm going to try to get sound bites. And maybe like, I'll, you know, make a fool of myself and they'll play them on Opie and Anthony. And that'll be the goal.

goal. And then it was the same thing. It was like, well, I don't know if I'm going to get any sound bite out of this guy. So, I mean, I'm here. I might as well just video an interview with him, even if it's five minutes where I just, I mean, I'm like if it's edge, right? Like, oh my God, I get to talk to Edge. Like, let me just talk to Edge for five minutes and then put it on YouTube. And then all of a sudden you realize, you know, the same thing that there is this audience, this huge audience that's sitting there going like, yeah, I want to watch wrestling interviews. And I was like, oh, maybe I should just do that then. But when we started putting these on YouTube, there wasn't, like YouTube wasn't what it was. I started my channel nine years ago. YouTube wasn't this thing.

And I think in the perception of the broadcasting world that you and I came from, you were on TV, you were on the radio. You were on, you know, broadcasting. And if you came in and said, I've got this blog, I've got this YouTube channel. They kind of go, oh, that's really cute. Now those people are crushing it. And us in the broadcasting world are like kind of trying to play catch up. Yeah, we're just doing whatever we can to get some of these YouTube plaques. Like, that's the new marker.

Like people are looking at your background going like, I don't know what those trophy things are holding a thing up or I don't know what that is. Is that a YouTube black right there? I spoke at a high school and, you know, I have four Emmys. I'm obviously very proud of that. And I said, oh, yeah, I've been very grateful to win four Emmys. Oh, that's cool. And I recently won us or got a silver play button on YouTube.

Ah! Oh my goodness! And that's your point exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And you realize like, oh. And that was part of it too. Like in radio, even though satellite radio, I feel like it was a little bit ahead

of the curve because on satellite radio, you can kind of do shows that sound more like podcast sound like today because you're not hitting, you know, breaks at certain times and programming to a local audience and doing all that stuff. But still, it was like, it was that that made me realize, like, oh, getting content out on the internet and creating content that is just for the internet is a really important part of this, especially as you look at how the industry is changing. Yeah.

So for you, if we take it back here, when did you know that you wanted to be a broadcaster? I mean, it went. I liked wrestling and I liked I like broadcasting. I liked talking, but I like talking about the things that I liked. It was just what attracted me to it. In high school, I was listening to Howard Stern and I was listening to Opie and Anthony a lot. And it still wasn't one of these things. Like I didn't have the kind of brain in high school that was like, oh yeah, you can go do that.

That's possible. Like you would just hear the people that worked on the. show and you go, it's just a thing that happens to some people. Like, I'm going to have to figure out what kind of job I want to get. And, you know, slowly but surely, like, I'm very obsessive. I think people have figured that out by now with the things that I'm into. So, I mean, I kind of just surrounded myself with wrestling and I surrounded myself with the radio shows that I liked and everything. And I went to Syracuse and they had radio stations there that you could be on. So I was like, yeah, I could, I could do a copy.

college radio show, that would be awesome. And then I started learning more about internships. I got my radio internship. And I was like, yeah. And you know, and you and you kind of, this whole process has been a, just a learn by doing. Like you, you go, you know on some level this is what you want to do. Yeah. But you, you wouldn't be so audacious as to say, I'm going to do that because you have no idea how it's done. Yeah. And like, step one kind of presents itself to you. And you're like, oh yeah, I want to do step one just because I want to do it. And then there's step two. And you're like, yeah, I would love to do that.

Like, I would love to have an internship at one of these radio shows that I listen to. And then you start to pay attention to the people you meet there. And you're like, oh, this is all possible. And you just kind of surround yourself with the people that are doing the things that you like and the people that are doing things that you'd like to be doing. And you learn their stories. And you just kind of pay attention to the world around you. And you follow that path, you know.

Well, it's shifted so much. I mean, now if someone wants to start a podcast or wants to start a YouTube channel, you literally just push a couple of buttons. Next thing you know, you're doing it. Yeah. To work in broadcasting, there's, I mean, you skipped over a lot of the steps there of like how this thing actually works. Like, you don't just get an internship.

Like, you don't work to get an internship. Dude, so like, yeah, just getting an internship, just that piece of the puzzle. It was just like you figure out that internships exist, right? That's a huge piece, yeah. Because that's your foot in the door. That's where it's like, if I can get my foot in the door, then that's, that's something tangible. That's where I can start to go from. And man, I mean, I was sitting there in Syracuse going like, okay, it was my junior year.

And I was like, I got to get an internship this summer. So in September, I compiled like a list of radio stations that I wanted to work at in New York as an intern and put together a CD of my college radio show and put together a resume. and sent out packages to like, I don't know, eight, ten, twelve different radio stations and shows. And then, and it was for the next summer. It was like for, you know, in ten months I want to get an internship. And then three months after that, I sent the exact same set of packages to the exact same people.

And then three months after that sent the exact same set of packages to the exact same set of people. And all told, I finally got one singular response from everything. Wow. And it was like, And that was Opian, and that was Opian Anthony. Yeah. That's a pretty good show to get back to you. It was the one that I wanted.

It was like, I didn't even bother me. I was happy that none of the others had gotten back to me after that because then I would have had to make, you know, a decision and I might have made the wrong one. But that was where I, that was my favorite radio show anyway. So I was like, this is, this is perfect. Were you at Syracuse the same time as Ariel Hawani? I think he was there before me. Or maybe you had a year or two that crossed.

I don't know. Maybe, yeah, he might have been, yeah, he might have been older. Because I don't, I don't think he's that much older than us. Us. Yeah, I think he maybe, maybe a year or two older. Yeah. I mean, we never crossed pads in Syracuse, so that's why I assume. But I also didn't go to broadcasting school.

Right. What were you studying? Well, I ended up with a degree in sociology. Oh, that's helpful. Yeah. Sorry. No, I'm sorry. I took many sociology classes.

I figured that if I graduated from Syracuse, people would assume I graduated from Newhouse. the Broadcasting School, which is like a great broadcasting school. And they do. So, you know, I get, it's fine. You've tricked everybody. Yeah. But getting the internship with opening in Anthony is, I mean, it's a big move, but then you have to actually move.

Then you actually have to go to New York City. That's a huge step to take. Well, yeah. So, I mean, I got it in the summer. So, you know, that summer, I was living, you know, I'm from Westchester. I was living in Westchester and just commuting into the city every day. But I was, you know, I started that lifestyle of waking up and, you know, and when it's the middle of the night still, three, four in the morning, whatever it is,

getting into the city and going in every day, like not trying to figure out like, okay, well, I'm an intern, so I only have to be here three days a week. Like, I was in there every day and kind of committed the entire summer to that. It was my number one focus in everything. I would go home after the show and try to figure out ways. to get some kind of content on the air, just provide value. You know, I think that it's not about, you know, getting air time or getting face time. It's like my mentality was I really want to provide value as much value as I possibly can

in the next three months so that when I'm gone, there's a lack there. Like that value is gone and there's a realization that, oh, Sam provided a value. And I, you know, hopefully I was successful. But the other key thing was that after the internship, they said that if I was local, they would have brought me back for another semester. But because I'm going to be in Syracuse, you know, it doesn't, that wouldn't happen. Like I can't commute from Syracuse to New York City every day. But when they said that, I was like, oh, no, I almost dropped out of school.

But, you know, luckily I did not. But I did start driving back to New York City every time I had more than a day off. So like if I had more than a three-day weekend, if I had a Thursday and a Friday off, I would Wednesday night drive to the city and I would just show up and work on Thursday and Friday at Ope and Anthony. And I spent my whole Christmas vacation there and I spent my whole spring break there. And I spent like every possible day I could that I wasn't in school, I was there. And like the week between finals and graduation, I was there. You know, I drove back to the city instead of, you know, partying with everybody. I drove back to the city, worked for free for Opie and Anthony.

And then like the day of the graduation ceremony, basically so that my parents could go, I drove back, did the little graduation deal and then drove right back to the city so I could be there on Monday for the radio show. But that to me, I mean, I was really lucky, I think, that I found something that I could sink my teeth into that much that early. Yeah. And yeah, I mean, it was, and it's a, you're right. It's a really long, slow process. I mean, I always just believed in sticking to the process. But you already had, I mean, you were still in college,

but you had one foot in the quote unquote real world, which I think is so helpful. A lot of interns never make it on air, whether that's in television or radio. So how long into your internship till they gave you, you know, a few seconds of air time? I mean, my first day, I had a few seconds of air time. Okay, that's huge.

It was huge. I mean, I saved the tape. I asked them to make me an MP3. I was like, oh, my God. And it was literally just a new video game had come out. And Anthony wanted it. And so he needed an intern to go get it for him because he didn't want to have to wait after the show. And I was that intern.

So they asked me what my name was. They made fun of me for a second. And then they gave me money and sent me to the video game store. And I'm telling you, like, I did not. And this is, I was running through New York City trying to make it back to the studio before the show. went off the air because I knew if I got back to the studio before the show went off the air, I would have another couple of seconds on the air where I could give him the video game. Yeah.

But I didn't, I mean, I came back to the studio all sweaty and the show ended like two minutes before I got back. And then from that day on, were you on the air frequently? Yeah, I mean, you know, it's it started slowly but surely. But, you know, I would, I would come in with stuff every day. I remember like, I think Hogan Knows Best was premiering at that time. Like it was the first episode of Hogan knows best. So I cut up clips as I was watching the show and brought him in the next day.

And I was like, oh, you guys got to see this show. Here's some audio clips from this show. And the way that show would work at the time is if I was bringing in content, they would get me to come into the studio and explain it, which was really a trick, which is a great trick. Because what it would be is if the segment didn't work, then they could always. They could just destroy me on the air and they would still have a good segment. Right.

But if the segment did work, then, you know, I got to leave without being destroyed. So who was the first wrestling interview that you got to do? And how long into this whole process was that? I mean, it certainly was after the internship. Okay. You know, I had been around, you know, the first, so the first, one of the first, one of the, There were two things. Like two big breaks, I feel like, that got me consistently on the air to some degree and got me to like kind of show my personality a little bit on the air.

The first was when they realized that I had a really picky diet and it was even worse when I was younger. And so I would have like fish sticks for dinner. And I like I'd eat little kid food even though I was in my 20s. And so they'd bring me on the air every day. They'd ask me what I had for dinner and they make fun of me. But they also knew what a big. wrestling fan I was and what a big McFoley fan I was. So kind of the climax of that bit was that they had McFoly come in studio and feed me steak like a baby. Like, you know, here comes the airplane.

And, you know, and then they watch me gag on it and just have the worst time ever in front of my idol. So that was like the first interaction. And then the second sort of thing that I got on the air a lot for was when they blew up Vince McMahon in a limo. Yes. And like they were laughing about it on the air. And they were like, I wonder how Sam's doing. And they brought me in. And without even thinking about it, they were like, Sam, what's going on?

I was like, things aren't good. They were like, what's wrong? I was like, Vince McMahon blew up last night. They were like, what do you mean? I was like, he's gone. He blew up. Carrey was him blew up. And just like played it so straight the whole time.

And the week that that bit was happening in, WWE, like www.com was putting up updates throughout the week as to what the conditions are with Mr. McMahon. And they said, I think there was one that like they said the federal investigation council is investigating it. And so I went on the air the next day. I was like, guys, this is legit. The federal investigation council is on it. They were like the what? I was like the FIC. The FIC. I was like, yeah, guys, this is serious. So those are probably the the first two kind of incidents of wrestling, you know, seeping into that world. Well, I think at the heart of all of this is you made yourself irreplaceable.

You went in with a plan of like, I am going to find a way, one way or another, to turn this internship into a job. And maybe the initial plan wasn't to make that internship a job there, but it was, I'll get enough stuff here, I'll get enough content here so that I can get a job somewhere from this internship. And best case scenario for you, you ended up getting hired at the same place you got an internship at. Yeah, and it was definitely the goal. I mean, pretty quickly, I was like, this is the type of radio I want to be doing.

This is the creative environment I want to be in. Yeah, it was definitely. And I was thinking like, okay, if this doesn't work out, I do need to, like you say, build some kind of resume and catalog of content that proves my value elsewhere. But it would definitely, working there was definitely the goal at the time. I think what's so amazing is you went from intern there to eventually executive producer of the show. So you went from the absolute bottom rung to the absolute top rung. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, look, there is a lot to be said about just not leaving, just being that cockroach that just never, just never leaves. Eventually, they'll look at you and they'll be like, well, Sam's still here. We can do something with Sam. And that's it. That was all it was. I'm sure. Yeah. Me just sitting there for 10 years.

And they were like, okay, all right. Let's make him executive producer. Is there something that you learned from Opie and Anthony that you still apply to your broadcasting career every day? Yeah. I mean, and it actually helps in WWE, too. I mean, Opie and Anthony's ability, it was a very, it was a very underproduced show, not in the sense that there weren't producers making content. all the time, but in the sense that it was not planned out in any way, shape, or form.

Like, those guys would just show up with four hours of airtime in front of them and just make up the show as they went. And they had stuff they could pull from at all times. But it wasn't like this regimented thing where we knew, okay, every Monday at 830, this is what we're going to do. And we have to prepare that segment. And we have to prepare this. It was just like, be ready for anything at all times. And, you know, watch as these guys are able to turn nothing, literally nothing, into a hilarious four-hour radio show every day. And I think that that's probably the thing that I took away the most. And I would imagine they're on your list of like broadcasters that, I mean, you listed a few of them, but broadcasters that you looked up

to growing up. But who else was there? Opie, Opin, I can't even say it. Opie and Anthony. It's always been difficult for people. Howard Stern. Who else is on this list? Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Opie and Anthony, Howard Stern. I mean, really like, I grew up listening to wrestling commentators, obviously. Oh, so who are your favorites there? I mean, people, I mean, look, I grew up with Vince McMahon on commentary. Like, so, you know, there's something about, what a maneuver. Like, there's something about that that brings me, right?

It, like, holds this place in my heart where I go, yeah, that's what it sounds like. But I mean, like, yeah, Randy Savage and Vince McMahon always held a place in my heart. I think, you know, if you go back and listen now, Bobby Heenan is, like, such a genius in that position. and so far ahead of his time. I think Roddy Piper was really, really good in that position. Gorilla Monsoon is so good, you know. So, I mean, those guys were, they permeated through my childhood. So, you know, they were big for me.

I feel like we kind of skipped over the part where it was like, who was your first wrestling interview? Right. Okay. and stuff were happening. So like, I guess MVP came in during his first run. And to this day, it's so funny, like there are a handful of guys that have known me for a really long time. And they remember me a certain way. And then there are much, many more people that have just gotten to know me now. And they like, they look at me completely differently. Sure. Because when MVP came in,

I had to, I had to interview him on the show, except they made me read the questions that they wrote for me. And it was like the most humiliating. And I literally had to look at this guy who I never met before. And he remembers to this day how funny it was. But like I had to look at him right in the eye and standing. And I'm looking at him face to face. And I go, Mr. MVP, what's more fun? WWE or jail.

Oh, wow. Don't make me. And he just and he just looked at me. And I'm like, no, no, no. Did you tell him the setup? Did you tell him that these weren't your questions? He saw me reading them and it was live as it was happening. So he knew what was going on.

Okay. Luckily, thank God, you know. And everybody was laughing, like, as I read the question. So he got it right away. But I also think that he enjoyed really making me sit there. I went into your YouTube archives. And the first wrestling interview that you posted on your channel was Triple H. Yeah.

I mean, yeah, that sounds about right. Like, yeah, because Triple H used to come in and do Opie and Anthony too. So he's one of these guys that I've known forever. But this was a press conference. This was like you took him aside after a press conference and did an interview with him. Yes, yes. He's very confused when you asked him, what's the Haps? Yeah, see, that was such, what's the Haps was such a gold mine for, I mean, and it continues

to be. It was a goal mine with Brock Lesnar. But like, I mean, it's just such a terrible question to start an interview with because It's so annoying and you don't even really know what it means. And like, what are you going for here? Like, are you trying to be cool? Is this like a, are you being annoying? Like, why would you say that?

So, yeah, I figured out pretty quick that asking guys, what's the haps was going to be my thing for a while. I mean, the first, like, big thing that I remember was probably that press conference. And I did like a montage of like different interviews that I did at that press conference. And I was asking everybody, what's the HAPS? And Paul Haman, who I don't even think was working at WWE at the time, but he was pretty big on Twitter still. He was like, you know, he was one of the early adopters of Twitter and developed the really big following. And, you know, he's Paul Haman. So he ended up tweeting the video.

And I don't think I'd ever, I don't think I'd met him at the time. But he tweeted out the video just because I think he and whoever was around him at the time thought, what's the Haps was so weird and funny. And that. happening was huge. That was like the first big thing that was just mine and it was just in the wrestling community and it was like an acknowledgement from an icon. So that was probably the first thing that I think of that was huge

and that was just mine. And it's interesting when you break into that niche. You know, you and I are very much a part of this niche called pro wrestling. But it's interesting that you have a background where like, you've been on mainstream radio for your entire career. But then you find this like niche and you become accepted in this niche and you're among your own people and it's like, ah, now I'm on to something.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It feels better. And everybody, everybody like, at first they like you because they're like, oh, this guy could be one of these guys who gets wrestling interviews and waste the opportunity.

But he doesn't. Like I think that, because I know as a fan, like if I saw somebody, Like, if I saw you get an interview because you're on the news and you ask dumb questions, I'm like, well, that was a waste of time. Like, why would you do that? And so you get excited when you see somebody that actually asks great questions and does this great interview and uses the opportunity for what it really is.

I mean, eventually they turned on me, but. No, they haven't all turned on you. But you also kind of embrace this. You have like this, it's like a heel persona that you have. Well, I just like, I just like really. reactions. And, you know, it's not necessarily that I'm like, oh, I'm going to go be a heel guy. But like, when I saw the amount of backlash that I could get for what I thought was not doing that much, like I didn't do any work to stop it, you know, because I kind of got a kick out of it.

Was WWE egging you on and saying, yeah, yeah, play a little bit, play that up a little bit. Well, they, at that point, what made me kind of shift was that they really made it clear that they were like, we don't, we didn't bring you here to like be do an audition to be a WWE guy. We don't want you as a WWE guy. You're not going to be a WWE guy. That's not why you're here. Like, we like you. We want you to just be you. Like this is and I kind of took that in and I was like, like, wow.

What a blessing, what an opportunity that people just don't get to come in and don't worry about fitting this form. Don't worry about like stories that you've heard about how everybody has to fit this mold. Like just you've been you for all this time doing other things that you've been doing. Just come in and be yourself. Yeah. I was like, all right. I started thinking about it. And I was like, well, what could I do that would make me mean?

And I was like, what if I just gave my real opinions? What if I didn't worry about like, you know, a sound. or hitting a post or selling something or whatever it was. What if, you know, I let the professionals that are there to do that and do it better than I do anyway, what if I just let them do that? And I just come in and just run my mouth because I can do that, you know? And I was like, yeah, let's try this. And then when it got a reaction, I was like, well, this is what I'm going to do.

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sign-up bonuses. Just make sure you use the code Bluewire at betonline.ag. That's Bluewire, all one word at betonline.org. Betonline. Your online sportsbook experts. I mean, you obviously had a working relationship with WWE for many years. You know, you were interviewing a lot of their talent. But when did you start having conversations with them or when did they start having conversations with you about bringing you in and actually working for them? It was, I mean, it was a few months before I did it, really. I mean, they're always, I'd always, I'd been around, like you said, forever. I'd gone to shows. I'd, you know, I'd met so many people. I'd auditioned. I'd sent in tapes. I'd, I've done everything.

Like there's, there's, I'm sure, if they really dug, there's plenty of footage that they have of me trying to warn my way into a job that just didn't work at all.

So, and I, you know, kind of stopped that and gone like, well, I don't, maybe that's because that's not what I do. Maybe I'm just not good at being that guy.

I'm just good at being me. So let me focus on just being me. Like I have my wrestling podcast. I'm on the radio. I can do these interviews. Like, that's really, it's really pretty,

good. So I just started doing that. And one day I just got a call from Michael Cole, who I'd known for a long time. And, you know, and he was like, look, dude, I told you I've been, I've been trying to get you in here for a long time. And you know, and you never know if that's just something people are saying to be polite or if it's true. But either way, just the fact that that's the sentiment I'd always appreciated. And he was like, you know, I, I, I, we want to bring outsiders onto the kickoff to just try something and just see. if like, you know, having that outsider opinion is cool, would you want to come in and do it? I was like, yes, Michael Cole. I would love to.

And you're going to pay me? Sure. Although if you read the internet, they don't pay me. So I would not, I don't want to, I don't want to ruin that urban legend either. Right. Did you think this was just, did you think this was going to be just one show? That's all it was. I mean, you know, they said, they said if it's, they said maybe we'll bring you back if it works and maybe we won't.

just go out there and kill it and have fun. They just go have fun. And I was like, okay. And, you know, I didn't know how it was going to go, but, you know, ahead of time when I got to kind of talk to Renee and Booker, really, those were the people that made me realize, like, this is going to be really fun. Like, you know, these people are amazing and they're welcoming me. And they're going to allow me the opportunity to just go have fun with this. And, you know, I mean, from the beginning. And it's still my philosophy today.

It's like if this is one show, if I'm on the kickoff show once, that's fine because they can never take that away from you. Like once that show has been aired for the rest of your life, you did it. Like you got there. So it's like everything after this is icing on the cake, but this is it. So it's like every time you go in, every time I do anything for WWE, I'm like, this is amazing that I'm doing this right now. I don't even know if people can fathom how unreal this truly is for who I am. And so if this were the last thing I ever did, I don't want it to be. But if this were the last thing I ever did, I did it.

And that's amazing. I mean, you did commentary there. It's crazy. So here you are four years later and you're still doing stuff consistently for WWE. There's got to be like a pinch me moment. And we haven't even talked about the fact that your show is on the WWE. Network, which is, I mean, congratulations to you on that. Yeah, that's, I mean, yeah, the fact that they're still, like, I'm still having

conversations where I'm sitting there going like, this can't be real. Like, you can't seriously be, okay, like, I'm not going to correct you on it, but this can't be real. Yeah, I mean, it's literally still, every single time I do anything, like every Thursday when not Sam Wrestling shows up on the WWE Network, I wait until 10 a.m. and I pinch myself. Like every single time the show comes out, it's a pinch me moment.

Every time I do something for that show that I didn't think I was ever going to get to do, it's a pinch me moment. Every kickoff is a pinch me moment. Every time I go into a commentary booth is like a pinch me 10 times moment. Like it's every time I step into an arena, every time I go into a locker room,

it's nonstop pinch me moments. Because I think like I think if you lose that, you lose the whole reason that you're in this thing and it loses. I don't know. I never want to lose that. I don't want to be too cool to have those pinch me moments every single time I do something. Now that your shows on the network, is it still the same show or are there any restrictions that have been placed on you?

No. So, I mean, the beauty is that not Sam Wrestling on the WWE network and the Not Sam Wrestling podcast are still two different shows. So every week I do the not same wrestling podcast. And then every week I also do a show for the WWE network, not same wrestling on the WWE network. And, you know, it's amazing because there really are no restrictions. Like they came to me with this idea and they were like, you know, we won't, we,

again, we think that this perspective that you bring isn't on the WWE network right now. And, you know, we think you have a way of talking about this stuff that's really interesting. and we want to try it and, you know, but we want you to produce the show yourself. And I'm like, that's not a butt. That's like an addition. Like you're saying that I get to produce it myself. Yeah.

You know, that's like a, that it's even more. That's another pinch me. Like I get to write the show. I get to produce the show. I deliver the show to them, you know, when I deliver it. And that's, that's the relationship.

Like I get to create the show that I think should be on the WWE network. And then they put it on the WVE network. And then they put it on the WWD network. It's wild. And now are both shows kind of helping each other grow? Yeah, for sure. You know, I think like not Sam wrestling is, I think not Sam wrestling works best as an audio show

because a lot of shows I don't even have guests on anymore. A lot of shows, I just go and I keep it pretty topical, pretty, you know, current product-centric. And I'll just go for an hour on whatever. But, you know, when I thought about doing it on the WWE network, I was like, you know, I don't, I don't like the idea of me sitting in front of a microphone at a desk for an hour. And then that's the show. Like, that doesn't seem like that's a TV show to me. And you guys are giving me the opportunity to do a TV show.

So the WWE Network show I looked at as more of almost like a kind of hybrid podcast, talk show, variety show type of. type of thing, but just all centered around wrestling fandom. On the interview bucket list for you, and this can be wrestling or otherwise, who did you cross off and you were like, I can't, I never thought I'd get that person and here I am talking to them. Well, Chris Van Vleet was one of them. That's at the top of everybody's list, yeah. Undertaker, you know, I, so technically, so I've, technically I've interviewed Vince

McMahon twice. Wow. But you know coming from the world that we come from, it still counts. Of course that counts. That counts. Yeah. Wow. He's number one on my list now.

Yeah. Even if you get him for three minutes, right? Even if I got them for one question. Right. Still counts. You know, the rock was the same way. I know you've gotten the rock a few times. I got the rock once for like three minutes.

I saw it. WrestleMania 28, right? It was either 28 or it might have been 27. 27. That's right. 27 press conference. Yeah. Yeah. But so yeah. So that was definitely so, but once those get crossed off, I mean, yeah, the Undertaker. And the Undertaker always was on that list anyway. But yeah, I mean, for sure, without question. Having interviewed the Undertaker and done a real interview with The Undertaker and really just sit there and talk about wrestling for an extended period of time, like that's a thing that I never, never thought was going to happen. I think it's easy to ask what your favorite interview is, but I'm actually interested to know what your favorite moment is of any of these interviews you've done. I like that question.

I mean, that's not my favorite moment because you're doing the interview, but I do like the question. No, my favorite moment, actually, it's definitely this moment I had interviewing Sean Michaels because it changed my entire perspective on the way I look at wrestling. This is before he came back to do that tag match with Triple H and the Brothers of Destruction. I think it was before he was even back training at NXT. He was like promoting some signing or something like that. And I got to do a phoneer with him. And I was like, yeah, yeah, talk to the heartbreak kid. Yes, please.

But I was talking to him about like, you know, man, you're still in good shape. You know, I know. And there's guys out there that want to, AJ Stiles is talking about this. you know, do you ever see a context where there could be something that pulls you back? Like at least gives you the itch. And he kind of broke down really. And like it was just off the top of his head. Like it didn't even occur to him that he was breaking ground, at least to me,

when he explained that like he looked at the Shaw Michaels character and he looked at the road that character had been on. And the end of that character arc losing to the under. Undertaker was so perfect that he didn't want to ruin that. And the way he explained it, it was the first time, like, I had this aha moment where it's like, wait, the Sean Michael. I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it. This is the stuff that like I love. I love it. The Sean Michaels that came into WWE in like 1988 or 89, whatever it was, the Rockers, Sean Michaels with Marty Chenetti is the same character that retires at WrestleMania against the Undertaker.

There's one clear line. And you could sit there and you could go like, you could talk about these, these little storylines. You could talk about like Sean's story with Mari. You could talk about, you know, Sean Michaels and Jericho. You could talk about all the different storylines that Sean Michaels has been a part of. But when you really pull back, you realize there's this one arc that stretches all the way from the rockers debut in the WWE until Sean loses the second WrestleMania match with the

undertaker. It's one long arc. And that's what made me go like, oh my God. And it made me start thinking about all. It made me start thinking about the Undertaker differently and Triple H differently and all these characters that you can draw that enormous art over the course of decades. Yeah. This is what makes wrestling so amazing.

I completely agree. And now I'm thinking of all kinds of different characters differently now, as you say that. Unfortunately, though, there's a lot of times when they try to make us forget about that thing that happened. a year or two or even six months ago. And sure, it might still be on the same story arc, but they're going, oh, yeah, yeah. Well, don't mind that thing that happened over here.

Don't worry. Well, yeah, we don't want to get into specifics. We just look at the wide arc. Like, for instance, like, Kane's arc would start at Kane. Like, it would start at Bad Blood 97. It wouldn't start at Isaac Yankham. No, because that's Glenn Jacobs. Like, that's not, we're not talking about a character anymore.

Like, Isaac Yankham is a character by himself. Fake Diesel is a character by himself. and then Cain begins at Bad Blood 97 and goes all the way until current day, really. What's so interesting is we forget as wrestling fans that these are characters. And we don't do that in acting. We don't do that in movies at all. We don't go, Brian Cranston, oh, you know, he's great as, you know, he's great in Breaking Bad, but you don't think of him as Walter White.

In wrestling, Michael Hickhambottom is Sean Michaels and Sean Michaels is Michael Hickonbottom. this very weird gray area that just keeps getting grayer and grayer. Well, yeah, I mean, it's also like the work that goes into some of those characters is so often ignored. Like, I mean, I think when, you know, you talk about Emmys, like, I've been thinking about this more and more. When I see the Emmy Awards give Emmys to other award shows as if that's the best live produced show of the year, I'm like, any episode of Raw is more complicated than any

award show. And they do 52 of them. And then they also do 52 Smackdowns. And then they also do 52 NXDs. Like the amount of, I think, kind of ignorance that a lot of the industry has to what's going on in wrestling is astounding sometimes. But when you talk about characters and the way like, yeah, it's amazing. We give Brian Cranston. And Brian Cranston, by the way, deserves it.

You know, because Brian Cranston's unbelievably talented. And Breaking Bad is one of the best shows ever. And one of the things that makes it so great is you look at Walter White and you never see Brian Cranston. You just see Walter White. But like, look, at the same time, as ridiculous as some people think wrestling is, I interviewed the Undertaker. And then I went and I watched an Undertaker match.

And I was like, that's not the guy that I interviewed. I don't, I never, I never talked to that guy. I talked to a different guy. And that's when you realize how much character work is being done here on top of the fact that they're destroying their bodies. Well, the interesting part about this is you did an interview with Mark. You didn't do an interview with The Undertaker. I never call him that, but yes, yes.

But this is what's so strange about wrestling is you talk to Mark, everybody still calls him Taker. Yes. It's a really, that doesn't happen in any other industry anywhere. Like it'd be so weird. When I was interviewing Undertaker, I was calling him, Undertaker and Taker. When I interview Xbox, I know Xbox like a friend. But I've never in my life called him Sean.

It's always Xbox. Always. Because that's how I know him. But like, if I was interviewing Brian Cranston, and I was like, so Walt, he'd be like, what's wrong with you? Why did you call me Walt? Like, that's not a character's name. That's not my name.

That's what's so strange about this. It's also the reason we love this as much as we do. Yeah, because you get, I mean, the suspension of disbelief exists so much more when the performers start to live these characters. Even like the smartest fans start to have trouble differentiating the character and the performer. I mean, that's when it's like,

that's when you've got 60-year-old men that are watching this, that know, that have been watching for years and they know how it's done and they know all the tricks and you still are looking at their faces and they're still completely taken away by whatever story is being told.

So where do you, you sit on the K-fabe is dead. K-fabe should still be a thing. K-fabe is the best. K-fave is the best. I don't think K-fab's dead at all. I think that people who say K-fab is dead are K-fabing. Like, I think that there are, I think that there are, like, there are different lines of it now and where you, you almost let people in to a degree, so they think they know, but they really don't. Like, there's still that other level, that you're still, keeping away because it's like it's safe to bring them to here. And like you can't sit there right and go well, no, this is real and that guy's really my enemy. Like now you're treating people like

idiots. Right. So you can't do that anymore because there's there's too much out there. But there's still there's still a line that you can go to that keeps like K-fabe or whatever you want to call it. So I think I think when people say specific people, there are some people that just don't believe in K, which is fine. But I think when experienced wrestlers tell you K Fabe is dead, you better look really closely at what they're telling you. Is it probably working you? It's like a magician. Yes. Yes. Where he's like, he'll show you one of the tricks just so that you think the other

trick is legit. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, this is getting deep here. Oh, yeah. With all this dead across all of wrestling right now, who do you think is the best at keeping K-Fab? Well, I mean, look, like, I think Paul Heyman is really good at keeping K-Fab. I think that Paul Heyman figures out a way, even when you see him doing interviews, like when he was representing Brock, he was representing Brock in those interviews. Now he represents Roman in those interviews. I think Roman is really good, you know?

I think that Roman has finally found this spot where he can exist, you know, that character, even like I think he did an interview with, with, with, with, with, with, with, with, Corey Graves on his podcast. And there was still this element of tribal chief in that interview where it's like you can watch this and kind of believe it. You know, I think I think JBL is really excellent. I think when you can turn the internet on you as a bad guy. Yeah. I think that that's better than people realize it is. And maybe because people don't want to realize that it's being done on purpose. Like they don't want to that. But like I think when you look at Triple H, right? Like, Triple H was one of the top, most popular good guys in the company at a time. And then when

he started his relationship with Stephanie, fans on the internet started to turn on him and we're like, oh, he puts himself over and he does this and he does that. And so that, I think, gave way to this evolution character, Triple H, where the character kind of started embracing that backlash. he was getting. And so it all becomes this thing where, yeah, the internet doesn't like him. And yeah, he's getting booed. But that's because he's the top bad guy. He's supposed to. You start to lean in to that thing. I think that that's where it gets really, really interesting and really cool. I'm very curious to know what you think the worst wrestling storyline of all time is. Okay. I don't really think in those terms, but I'm sure I can come up with something.

There's got to be something right on the top of your head and you're like, oh, yeah. the worst wrestling storyline of all time. Well, like, it's interesting because you look at the, like the Bobby Lashley, Lana wedding storyline. To me, it wasn't the worst of all time, but it just popped into my head because to me, I think people are really unfair about that segment because I think the wedding segment was excellent. Like, I think that the segment itself did everything it was supposed to do.

It got everybody talking. It got people tuning in. Like I thought the segment was excellent. The problem was that the story didn't really go anywhere after that. But I don't, I, I would have to. Roussef told me there was no payoff. Right, right. He told me there was no plan.

It was a one-time pop. Yeah. Yeah, and it worked as a one-time pop, but then you go. But then you went, where do we go? So what's the story with Liv Morgan here? Is there, is there more? Nope. What does this do for Rusev?

What does this do for Bobby? What is this? You know, yeah, yeah. So I think that that's important. But the worst storyline of all time, I'm sure it'll come to me. That's what I'm trying to stall and think of something. It's going to absolutely come to me and I'm going to like text you or something. It'd be like, I'll just thought of it.

I'll add that in later. Yeah, yeah. Maybe I'll like make a video for you to just like add at the end of this interview. And by the way, I'm, you know, one of the most positive people when it comes to watching wrestling. I think a lot of people, unfortunately, just focus on the things they don't like about Ross, Smackdown, Dynamite, NXT, whatever it is. I like to go, yeah, yeah, maybe you didn't like that one or two segments, but like eight of them were really good.

Okay, okay, okay. Here's one of the worst things in the history of wrestling. The Alliance to End Hulkomania. WCW, 1995, I think it was, yeah, it was 95. I want to say it was uncensored, triple cage match. It was the Alliance to End Hulkomania, which was when the Dungeon of Doom, the Four horsemen, Zeus, and the actor that played Bain all came together. Not Tom Hardy, but the original Joel Schumacher Bain.

All those forces came together to try to destroy Hulkomania. And you just watch this thing play out. And you're like, this is absurd. It's like the whole way through it's absurd. And then you get to the main event and you get to the pay-per-view. And it's literally all those people I just mentioned, the entire dungeon of doom and the entire Four Horseman and Zeus and the actor that played Bain and the Joel Schumacher Batman facing macho man and Hulk Hogan.

It's pretty bad. And macho man and Hulk Hogan, of course, end up winning. But what really makes it insane is that, you know, in a match like that, you would probably start with your weakest and go to your strongest, right? Like, you know, save the best for last type of thing. Right. The hot tag. Yeah. Rick Flair started.

And Bain ended. It was the craziest thing I've ever seen in my life. You got a lot of heat for that moment in the WrestleMania 34 pre-show. And when you, you know, you fumbled on your words, I looked at that as a broadcast and I said, I know exactly what's going on there. Someone was talking your ear.

Was that what was happening? Well, okay. So you mean my action? I mean the action. Action on the way. Lots of action. Yeah. Yeah, not only was that, it was my second WrestleMania, but it was the first time that I had done something that was not just going to be on the network, but also on the USA network.

And it was the first segment of that kickoff show that was on the USA network. And that's when it all went wrong. So what happened was, it was obviously, it was obviously live. I don't think I have to tell you that. And Vic Joseph often tells me that that was the first, that was the first time he got to commentate a WrestleMania match and I ruined it by giving him that because I went straight to Vic Joseph after that. But yeah, so it was live, obviously, and I was in the middle of the crowd.

And the earpiece went out halfway through. Oh. And the instructions on the segment changed as the segment was happening. And so then the earpiece came back in and there was like panic. And they were like, okay, same, we're not going to do that thing. Just tell them actions on the way. And I was like, and actions on the way. And they were like, no, say that at the end.

And I was like, oh, and actions on the way. And I just handled it like somebody who had never been on live TV before. And yeah, I mean, that was one of those, the number one. Like, first I had to get over it. Because like, so that happened. And I was like, oh, that felt really bad. And then I was like, but I'm also very self-critical. So maybe this is one of those times where that felt really bad to me and nobody's going

to know what I'm talking about. And I get back to where the pre-show podium was. And like the match was going on. So Renee, Renee and a, Renee Young in a concerned way, not in a make fun of me way, in a very concerned way, just leans over and goes, what happened out there, man? I was like, oh, it was as bad as I thought it was. And so then I was like, okay, I have to get over. over it. And then I was like, okay, at least I'm going to be able to play this on the radio and let

people make fun of me and make good content out of it and do all that. And it was a very, very valuable learning experience, as corny as that sounds. Because I had to sit there and go like, okay, that can't happen. Like, you can't have WWE put you in a position of trust. And then that's what you do on their live television. Like you grew up watching WWE. This is, to me, me, WWE is like excellence at broadcasting. Okay. So like for me to do that, I'm like, I can't, I can't, that can't happen again. So it's one of those things now where if I'm on live TV, no matter what happens, I have to be able at least somewhat eloquently to get out of whatever we're in because, because that, that completely fell on me. And I did not handle it well.

I think the other thing is, you know, from what I was seeing is it looked like the segment was supposed to be longer. And the instructions got mixed up. And then you wrapped up the segment and they weren't ready to go to the next thing. So then you're standing there on camera doing what you're supposed to do. Always keep eye contact with the camera. They didn't know it to throw two next. So then it made you look even worse. Yeah, that moment where I go like, like now my friend send that as a meme.

like when they're like, hey, you want to go out on Friday? And then you send the meme of me going, if you had said actions on the way, boom, it cut right to Vic Joseph, nobody would have thought anything of it. But it's the fact that they didn't know where to go next. And then there was that awkward five seconds of you, maybe it was four seconds. I don't know. Of you standing on camera.

I thought it was an hour and a half. I'm pretty sure it was 90 minutes. I don't know how long it was. It was the entire pre-show. Yeah, I think it was. Yeah, but I mean, you know, that's why there's a person there that counts you down. You're supposed to follow their account. You're not just supposed to stop.

Yeah. But look, I think what also makes it tough is that was at the start of the show. And if that was at the end of the show, you would have gone, yeah, yeah, we've got them next time. So at the start of the show, now you've got to think about that for the rest of the show. They have to sit in it. Like, you just got to marinade in it. Yeah. Like, why would they ever, why would they, first of all, you should go find a seat in the arena

somewhere because you have no business backstage after that. You know, like that's just going on in my head. I shouldn't even be looking at any of these people. These people are all busting their asses for WrestleMania. And this is the performance I give them. It's terrible. Well, unfortunately, we've all had those moments, right? I've had many of them in my career.

The thing that always gets me is nobody realizes that there's a producer and there's a technical director and there's a director and there's a cameraman and there's a floor director. They don't realize there's all these other people behind the scenes and maybe someone else wasn't doing their job, which made it look like you weren't doing your job. And I'm not saying that's the case here, but it all falls on you. It does all fall on you, but I also feel like it should all fall on you. Because if it doesn't all fall on you, then Chris, our only job is to just talk on camera. Like we have to do something that is work, right? Because otherwise, you get all the glory because you get to be the person that's on camera.

So I absolutely feel like, you know, if somebody behind the scene, and nobody behind the scenes dropped the ball on this one, but if somebody behind the scenes did drop the ball, I would still take that on me. because they should take it on me because, you know, you get to be the one in a tuxedo at WrestleMania telling people 150 times that action's on the way. So there should be something in that that is not just a treat and a joy. Well, I was saying this as me going,

I understand where you're coming from and I sympathize and empathize with you in that moment. That I can appreciate. That I appreciate it much. And of course, anybody that has done live television, I don't think they're looking at that going, oh, I've never seen anything like that before. They're just like, yep, it's like a comedian.

Like when you see a comedian bomb, other comedians take joy in that because they've all been there. Like, it just happens. It just happens sometimes. I've really enjoyed this conversation. I feel like we could talk for hours and hours and hours, but we're actually going to do another interview

with the roles reversed. So for anybody who's listening to us watching this right now, where can they see that other interview? That other interview will be, on Not Sam Wrestling. That'll come out. Not Sam Wrestling comes out every Monday, wherever you get podcasts.

Just look up Not Sam Wrestling. I also, like, I sporadically keep my Not Sam wrestling YouTube channel up to date. It's really not the heavy hitter that it should be. But I'm now rejuvenated in terms of my enthusiasm for the Not Sam Wrestling specific YouTube page. So eventually, the interview that you and I do will be up there I'm also going to start posting snippets from the WWE network show on the YouTube page.

Of course, the new not-sam wrestling episodes drop on the WWE network every Thursday at 10 a.m. So if you haven't watched it and you just, I mean, look, like, I'm so happy with the WWE network show because, like, I sent them a show where I do a 12-minute monologue about why doink in 1993 only is one of the greatest characters of all time. I watched it and it was hard to disagree with you. See? But just the fact that that exists on the network. Just think you've got a wrestling fan that's just sitting there talking about how great doyink is.

Like this week on the network show, I ended up going 22 minutes. So I was like, okay, I want to do something to celebrate. The show was themed around family. I want to do something to celebrate the brothers of destruction. So let me just tell, you know, because like I said, I love these character stories. So I just decided to go on and tell the story of The Undertaker and Kane and Paul Bearer in the debut of Kane. And it was like 22 minutes long. And it's just me telling this story.

And I mean, I love that content. I love the fact that that content exists now on the WWE network. It blows my mind that it exists. And hopefully, you know, that's the type of stuff that you guys enjoy. Do people still think you're the lead singer of the Sam Roberts band? Canadians do. That drove me. Dude, I'm so, I found out about Sam Roberts,

the Canadian rock star when I was, I mean, when I was in college, he's been around forever. This guy's career will not die. Like, all I want is for Canadian rock star Sam Roberts to, like, have his moment in the sun.

I don't want to take anything away from him. I want to take food off his plate. But like, have your moment and hit the bricks and let me like, do my thing because he won't go away. He just keeps getting more popular. Well, there's, yeah, that's the thing in Canada. You know, Canada has this thing on radio called CanCon, Canadian content.

And 35% of the music that is played on the radio has to be from a Canadian artist. You know, that's why technically Sirius XM and Sirius XM Canada are two separate companies. Yeah, that's exactly why. That's serious XM and Canada because you would need to have 30% Canadian or 35% whatever it is. Yeah. And like, you know, we're not just going to do that on serious. So Sam Roberts, the, you know, you know, Musician is never going to die. I'm sorry.

I know he's not. I know he's not. It's been such a pleasure. Such a pleasure to chat with the last professional broadcaster. So thank you so much, Sam. Yeah. Thanks for having me, man. Well, there you go, my friend, Sam Roberts, ladies and gentlemen. And you can listen to his podcast called Not Sam Wrestling, wherever you're listening to this right now. And if you hop over there right now, actually, you can listen to Sam's interview with me.

Take a screenshot of either this podcast or or Sam's podcast. And let us know that you're listening. I'm at Chris Van Fleet on social media. He is at Not Sam. And I have a tremendous amount of respect for what Sam has built with his career. And an extra layer of respect for him

because morning radio is not easy. It's every weekday. It's four hours of live airtime on the radio. And Sam Roberts and Jim Norton do their show on Series XM and they just make it look so effortless. So my hat's off to them. And I'll never forget Ryan Sechres

sharing the best advice that he ever received from Dick Clark. And I think about this every single time I step in front of a camera or every single time I'm in front of a microphone like this. And he said, make it look easy.

Try to make it look like anybody could do that gig. It's so true. Make it look so easy that people watch and go, I can do that thing. I could easily do that. That is the goal every single time.

And I love that quote from Ryan Seacrest talking about Dick Clark. So there you have it. Be great. Be grateful. Have a great week, my friends. We'll see you on the next one. A fascinating conversation on Thursday with Eugene. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary.

Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock. But there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley. Whatever happened to Hammer Alley? How did they go from top of the rock? I'm looking for a music video. 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.