Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Karrion Kross's Jesse Ventura Impression, Return To WWE, Bray Wyatt, Triple H, Scarlett Bordeaux

Episode Date: October 12, 2023

Karrion Kross (@realKILLERkross) is a professional wrestler signed to WWE and also known for his time in IMPACT Wrestling, MLW and Lucha Underground. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood, CA to talk about returning to WWE, his relationship with Triple H, his hilarious Jesse Ventura impression, how the Governor himself tweeted that he liked Karrion's impression over Will Sasso's, his wife Scarlett Bordeaux, the book he wrote about his life and when it might be published, his love of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and much more! Join Full Time Creator for just $1 at http://fulltimecreator.co Sponsors: MYBOOKIE: Get a 50% welcome bonus when you use the code CVV and sign up at http://mybookie.ag ZBIOTICS: Get 15% off with the code CVV and have a better morning after you drink at http://zbiotics.com/cvv GHOSTBED: Get 40% of your purchase with the code CVV at http://ghostbed.com/cvv MIRACLE MADE: Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to http://TryMiracle.com/CVV and use the code CVV to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF BLUECHEW: Use the code CVV to get your first month of BlueChew for FREE at http://bluechew.com PLUNGE: Get $150 off your Plunge with the coupon code CVV150 at http://plunge.com BONCHARGE: Go to http://boncharge.com/CVV and use coupon code CVV to save 15% Quote I'm thinking about: If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward. - Martin Luther King, Jr For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All systems are go. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Believe! And here we go. Welcome back to another one on Insight. I'm CVV, Chris Van Fleet. So good to see you here. This episode is brought to you by my company, full-time creator. So if you're a fellow creator and you feel stuck or you don't know what to do to take things to that next level

and to start to get paid for your YouTube videos or your podcast, join the full-time Creator Mastermind for just $1 at fulltimecreator.com.com.com.com.com.com.com. The link, of course, is down in the show notes. What a great one today with Jesse Ventura. Sorry, I mean, with Carrying Cross. Yeah, Carrying Cross. Isn't it so funny, though, that one six-second clip from a workout video that we put out last March could turn into what it's turned into? I feel like Carrying Cross secretly hates me for putting that clip out there. But as you know, there is so much more to him than just some great impressions because it's not just the Jesse Ventura impression. And you'll find that out during this conversation here. But there's so much to him. He's been on insight twice

now. I feel like this is definitely the most in-depth he's gone in any interview, not just our interviews, but any interview. And it's a really good look at who Kevin is. I mean, man that I'm honored to call my friend. And if you want to get to know him even better, he announced during this interview that he's written a book about his life. Hopefully, if all goes well, you'll be able to buy it sometime next year. And as I record this episode right now, we are the number two wrestling podcast in the world. Incredible. And it's all because of you. So a massive thank you. And if you're not already following the show, please take a second right now

to hit that follow button with a big old power bomb on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. And man, a five-star review from you may be the difference between the show being number two and the show being number one. So if you have the time,

and I know you do because it takes like 24 seconds, please just hit those five stars on Apple Podcast or Spotify. If you enjoy this episode, Snap a screenshot, share it with your friend who is a Carrying Cross fan. I know that they will love this. And snap a screenshot, tag us on social media. He's at Real Killer Cross.

I'm at Chris Van Fleet, and here we go. It's my conversation with Carrying Cross on Insight. In the flesh. Oh, it's so good to see you. You too. Yeah. And this bray tattoo is just, it's staring right at me. Yes.

I mean, that's beautiful. All your work is beautiful. Thank you. That I feel like is especially beautiful. Yeah, man. I didn't want to get too much into it until we were here. It's not a double talk conversation. But so Wyndham and I were talking on and off for like a long time.

When I was an extra in WWW, he would always talk with me like backstage. He was never about wrestling, me about like horror movies or tattoos or music. And then, like, I wouldn't see him. We weren't, like, friends, but he was very warm to me. And I think it was around 2018, 2019. He reached out to me, and he was like, we need to dance. And I was like, all right. Like, I was, you know, blown away, like, somebody that I look up to as a performer

is talking to me, like, indie Killer Cross, who hasn't made a name yet drawing any money. As we got closer to that time, I went up getting on board with NXT. We do the entrance, suplex Leon Ruff on his head a couple times, choke him, and he reaches out again,

and he was like, it's going to be me and you at WrestleMania one day. Wow. And I was like, oh, like, I always thought, like, I don't know, I just always thought him and I were going to,

I thought him and I were going to do this in a different capacity. you know oh my god hold on just getting upset so um we fast forward i haven't talked to like anybody but my wife about this so fast forward we were supposed to work last russlemania and nobody knew that except for a collection of writers and some people in the office are you talking russlemaid at 39 yeah we were in l.a yeah we were slated to do something um and we would talk for hours about how we wanted to get into it, what we wanted to deliver creatively for people, where we thought we both needed to be. We had ideas with like Alexa and Beau, Scarlet, you know, and then everything happened the way it did.

But he left, he left a mark on anybody and everybody that he ever met. And it's just, it's just very strange. the way everything kind of just played out, like beautiful and tragic. And he was always an inspiration to me. He always showed me warmth. He showed everybody warmth, you know what I mean? But I just have, I have so many,

I have more stories than we have time to share. But we were cool, and I'll never forget them. What does this mean now in your arm? It's a reminder, you know, for me to remember the things that he would tell me. He gave me a lot of good advice over the, over the years. Periodically, he would, he would chime in when he would see something that he thought wasn't for me. So usually he would kind of swoop in like a Jedi. He knew what I was thinking when

something was given to me that maybe I wasn't totally crazy about, but did my best. We know what you're talking about, you know. Um, you know, and it's, he would always provide me a really positive perspective just to reassess what I'm doing and make it work for me. And if that wasn't possible to let it go and just move forward, you know? Whose idea was it to go out? Because it wasn't just you that got the tattoo. There was a, like, a group of you guys that all went out at the same time and got some sort of Wyndham tattoo.

I was just approached in the middle of the day by a lot of the staff. They had let us know that there was a local artist in town. we're all upset. You know, it's still unsettling for a lot of us. What happened? So we just decided to collectively all do it. You know, it was something we all wanted to do together. And that's kind of how it came about.

It was very spontaneous, but it was a no-brainer. So when we did that workout video together, you had your left arm is full. And you said, my right arm, I'll never get a, tattoo on my right arm. Well, get a shot of your right arm. Yeah, yeah, you've got, you've got ink on your right arm. He's tattooed now. You said that was your mom's arm. Yeah. I had a guy at a, stoplight, recognized me in my car a couple months ago. He's on a motorcycle, a big guy, gets off the motorcycle. He's like, hey, Killer Cross, you said, he was like taking his helmet

off. He said you never tattoo your arm. I was like, what is going on? You watch the videos. A lot of people have watched those videos. Yeah. And so like a total stranger at internet, we had a red light. So I tried to quickly explain to the guy what happened. Like the light's about to change. But here's the story. It was crazy. People were pissed about this.

Yeah, it's your mom's arm. Yes. Yes. So I had an idea and a concept for a tattoo, the one I have here, very meaningful to me. It's a private thing. But I was doing a house show in New York, Madison Square Garden. And my mother was in town. And we went to dinner.

my mom, my dad, my godmother. And I said, Ma, listen, I got to talk to you about something. She was like, oh, what happened? What did you do? I said, I haven't done anything yet. But do you remember at the time when I was like 16, you got really pissed about my tattoos? And you made me promise not to do the other arm. She said, yeah, I do.

I was like, okay. I want to do the other arm. And I just wanted you blessing and just started laughing. She was like, you're insane. She's like, you can do whatever you want. She's like, I appreciate the novelty of you asking. But what is it exactly? you're getting and wise. I explained a whole thing to her and she was like, all right, but

let's not get carried away. I had to do it. You know what I mean? It's like, I don't want to, well, you're running out of canvas space. Yes. You can only do the left side of your body. Yes, yes. So I'm guessing that you're going to have a full sleeve on the right arm eventually. I'll tell you no today. Maybe the next time I see you, my whole arm will be tattooed. That video of you, you know, we had such a great workout. And I do so many things from that arm workout in my workouts all the time now. But the thing that people keep coming back to from that interview that workout is everyone keeps coming back to the Jesse Ventura impression. I feel like I'm so sorry. I feel like I have just ruined it for you because I don't think

there's anywhere you can go now where people aren't like, do the voice. It's inescapable. Yeah. I mean, it's been seen by many, many millions of people. I was telling you, too. We're just, like, training and joking around. Like, the things that you do, you don't think about to pass the time between the sets. And, like, if I just took off. And it's, like, six seconds. You also did Arnold during that workout? No one is a fantastic Arnold.

No one's talking about your Arnold impression. No. I mean, this, the whole, doing the imitations of, like, wrestlers or celebrities and stuff started when I was little. Like, my friends and I would do them. We were watching TV and movies like anybody does. It's not really something you think about. But then, like, the last 10 years, if I call one of the boys and they don't pick up, you're getting a really strange voicemail.

That's the deal. So Paul London could tell you how many strange macho man voicemails I've left that are like five, sometimes six minutes long, like as long as I can do it until the machine cuts me off. It wasn't just that you did a Jesse Venture impression. It's that you nailed the Jesse Venture impression. If I just heard that, and I wasn't part of that video, If I just heard that and I wasn't looking at it, I would swear that that was Jesse Ventura.

That's amazing. You know, he's heard your impression, right? Yes, he told me it was his favorite. I put out a silly video where I just wanted to put like Will Saso, who sat right here and did the impression and you next to each other in the video. And I just happened to tag Governor Ventura. And he tweeted back that he thought your impression was better. And I'm like, what world are we living in where Jesse Ventura is watching my

silly video and then watching these people who are doing impressions of him. I don't know. It's insane. I remember screenshoting it to you and being like, you believe this is real life. And I couldn't. It's even extra weird for me because like I grew up watching him on TV and like trying to like as a little kid like touch the TV screen and like talk to these people inside the TV and you can't. And then one day like the guy inside the TV is now watching me from the other side. It's what? Imitating him and he's amused. Thank God. Could we do the rest of the interview as Jesse Ventura?

I don't know what you're talking about. Just give me the line. You're a frog man. Listen, Chris, don't tell me it didn't happen. I was there. Jesus. It's so good. It's so good.

And again, my apologies for making that a thing. I think I saw you at a convention like a month or two later and you're like, the amount of people who've asked me to do that, voice. Yeah. Just being anywhere, somebody comes up, hey, do the voice. It's like, I am a human being. Pulling a string. I'm like in the middle of something over here, dude. Sorry, you can't have to wait a minute. Like, yeah, the puppet boy. That's, that, that may be, you know, one of the things that, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You know what I, you know what I have to do? I have to let people see the rest of the imitations that I can do so they can get over the first. No.

Why not? I'm not ready. Macho man. Oh, God. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's good. You know?

I actually, so when we did a partnership with Slim Jim with WW, we were doing, like, promos and commercials and stuff for Slim Jim to promote the event at SummerSlam. And I actually did one of the promotional things as macho man, but they didn't use it. So that's somewhere out there. Either WWA has it or Slims. Jim has it. I was just like, I'm just going to give it to them. They want to use it and, you know, whatever. People are so thrown off by the fact that you have hair and especially thrown off that your hair just keeps growing. Yes. Are you going to keep growing it longer?

Eventually, it's going to grow so long that it's going to take over the earth. That's the plan. That's pretty long. I think I want to do, I want to grow my hair maybe to like take her 98 length. Wow. I always thought that was a really cool period in his career and that whole vibe, that whole look was awesome. And yeah, I was telling you, initially, I was supposed to do the film. It got, like, we never finished it, never held off.

Like, or a bunch of things that went wrong. We never got to it. And I just decided to keep my hair. I feel like Taker 98, if you did the wet hair, it could be especially cool. Yeah. But it, it's just so interesting because as you sit here right now,

you look like a completely different person than the guy who was NXT champion. Yes. Like, that guy looks like he could be, like, related to you. Yes. But not only does that look like a different person, your presentation now, I feel like, is very different too.

Yeah, it's called multiple personality disorder. I'm not the original cancress. I'm a clone. Like the ultimate warrior? Fake ultimate warrior? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it was so funny when we did that interview right after you got released. People were like, what is going on here?

Like, he grew his hair out. And like, he just looks so different. Wow, he's actually what a hair line he has. Man, Caring Cross is pretty handsome. I don't know. I mean, I thought he might have been handsome before, but look at him now. Yeah, and here we are. Here we are with a whole head of hair.

And it's going to just keep going. What does Scarlet think? What's her favorite look? She, when we met my head was shaved, she liked it. When I started growing my hair out, it took her time to get used to it. Now she loves it. She was grabbing it and she's real nuts around the house. I tell you.

Uh-oh. I mean, I'm not complaining. However, however, yeah, she's good with it. She teaches me how to, like, use it and, like, do stuff with it. I had no, I grew up in, like, my dad was, like, super macho and, like, wouldn't explain to me how to, like, take care of your hair. Like, you take a shower, shampoo conditioner, you grab a towel, you dry your hair, and you go.

go outside. Maybe you use some hair gel. There's a lot to taking care of hair that I had no idea whatsoever at all, probably because he had no idea. What I think is so interesting when your partner, in your case, your wife, is in the public eye like she is, I can just imagine the type of messages that both of you guys get as a result of that. Like your wife is the absolute crush for a lot of people out there. Although I also feel like you're your wife outside of the spotlight is very different than what we see presented on television. Yeah. I mean, we understand the nature of what it is that we're doing.

We're playing larger than life characters. That energy, that charisma, that just that vibe needs to be turned up. Hate to disappoint people, but like, you know, when the music gets turned down and, you know, the lights are off and the show's over. very much just like very grounded people and like to just chill out and you know i don't know i couldn't be any more normal than you could probably ever imagine like that does throw people off if you're in an appearance with her are there fans that come up and they're like dude i'm so sorry but i just need to tell you scarlet how much i love you that hasn't happened yet oh it's about to because of this i'm sure it will but she has a very strong fan base it's never been weird like

When we used to do autograph signings on the Indies, there would be more guys that would be in line to get her stuff and just her stuff. Oh, of course. But for me, it's like the both of us are professionals and we're in the industry. And it's like we understand the both of us understand the types of audience that we're playing to and the demographics that are watching and what they're interested in. It's never bothered either one of us. It just is what it is. And like, to be honest with you, like, I mean, I can't personally say this, but like just knowing women who have been in the business hearing their stories and then knowing Charlotte and her history and what she's had to go through in the business, being a woman in this particular business has been very challenging, very difficult. And she has had, she has found a lot of success.

And so, like, I'm happy for her, you know. Plus the other thing, too, is like, we're both very secure. You know what I mean? Like, there's nothing, that's not like a weird situation for us. But I could see how that would make, like, regular folk uncomfortable. But when you're in the entertainment industry, it's just different, right? Like, if we were, I don't know, if we were both in the, we both came from the service industry. So initially, you know this, I was a bouncer.

She would work as a bartender or a cocktail waitress. If we were never in the entertainment industry and we're having people come up to us and behave like that, it would be received completely differently. Like, I would definitely punch a hole through someone's head, go to jail. Through their head. Yeah. So without even thinking a second thought. But you have to be able to empathize these people, watch her on TV, watch her on shows. And this might be the only time in their life they get a chance to see her and talk to her.

So you don't want to really have for them. Not only did you work as a bouncer. I didn't know until recently until you told me actually that you lived in Toronto for a long time. Like not just a year or two, like 20 years, right? Yeah. Yeah. Almost 20 years. I lived in Toronto.

I loved it there, man. You know this too. Everyone on the whole world moves like to Toronto. Like it's a giant melting pot. So when I lived in New York, you know, and I'll always have a special place in my heart for New York.

And it is very diverse. It's not as diverse as Toronto. And I didn't, I learned more about the world living in Toronto than I did in New York. I don't know what it is. It's like Toronto had that. And just my,

my philosophy, my perspective about people, places, and things, and just beliefs and stuff, it expanded living there because I got to meet people from everywhere. And as you get to know them, you get to understand the way they see things and think about things. And it was like, I feel very lucky, actually, to have lived there for as long as they did. Same. I feel very lucky to have been born there. And I obviously, as a result, very biased.

But it's my favorite city in the whole world. I lived there for the first 26 years of my life. Toronto and Pickering, that's my hometown, but that's right next to Toronto. It's amazing to me to think that we both live there at the same time. I frequented a lot of the bars slash clubs that you worked at.

There may have been a time when you looked at my ID, which may not have been authentic, by the way. That may have existed. Well, listen, no fake IDs got by now. Not me. the last time we spoke, you weren't with WWE. Nope.

Nine months went by when you weren't with WWE. Then you came back. And it felt like not only did you come back, it came back like you hadn't missed a beat before the kind of weird stuff with the helmet was happening, as you were leaving. It kind of just felt like it picked up where it had left off. Where did the conversation start to get you back into WWE?

When Hunter reached out to Scarlett and I basically just asked us, hey do you guys want to come home we're like absolutely so he had just said to us i would like to kind of reprise you know what we had created in an x-t and translate that to main roster and so without needing to have much more of a conversation beyond that because we had worked together i doesn't have to over-explain himself i get the idea and the vision so did she we were like well let's let's give the audience what they wanted that they never got when we came up Like, I can't even, it was inescapable. When I was released everywhere, her and I went, fans were saying, we just wanted to see you guys together and get that murder run on main roster that you had on NXT.

We wanted to see that translate. They wanted to see the guy, you know, come out of the ground and start fighting people on the mountain up on main roster. That whole thing. And we were just like, this is just, this is exactly. what they want to see is what we want to do is a no-brainer i feel like you you are so fortunate to be able to work with your wife like there's there's a lot of people that work with their wife or husband they work in the same show you get to actually be part of this together with her that's really special yeah no it is and it's people have no idea how hard it is to have a job on the

road and be away from family you know i feel and she does too very fortunate like in the last years since we've come back. We have traveled to Scotland together, London, Ireland, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, places that like we've never been together before or at all and have been able to perform and also engage and see cultures and stuff like that. If I was, you know, in a relationship or married to anyone else outside the business, I'm there alone. And like, sure, you have the boys, you know, I traveled with them for years prior to, you know, being married with Scarlett, it's not the same. You know what I mean? They are your road family. And that's priceless. But it's, it's not the same. When you're away from your significant other for so long and

you're on the other side of the planet, you have no idea what's going on back home. You don't know where they are, what they're doing. You don't know if when you're coming back home, that was a psychologically rough weekend. Maybe you're on the outs. They want to split. I don't have to worry about any of that. Yeah, yeah. So you're in it together. Yes. This episode is brought to you by Blue Chew.

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bookie.ag. Bet anything, anytime, anywhere, only with my bookie. Your entrance is so cool. take me back to where the conversation started to make your entrance look like how it does so hunter asked us what sort of musical vibe we you know direction we wanted to go in and I had mentioned something heavy melodic if we could find some sort of chorus or riff that was something haunting

he sent I guess those details over to the music department they developed the music and he sent it to us and we had some ideas about how long it would take walking from the curtain to the ring

and how much time we'd have in the ring before the bell rang. So we came up with some choreography in our apartment at that time and so when we got to work like Hunter already had the idea for the mood with the lights and he had put the bird

up on the Tron which is a playoff carry him. He, like, I don't know, just all the conversations that the three of us had, we were all so on point. It was crazy. It was like, didn't have to over-explain anything. Like, we all just kind of had a good working chemistry. So he had, he had that whole thing set up for us when we got there.

And I think, like, if this, you know, if I was your opponent, I'm standing in the ring and that entrance is happening in front of me, I'm probably just going to, yeah, I'm good. I think I'll just take off now. Because it is. It's like a menacing entrance. That was the whole purpose. You know, I was fortunate to have a lot of time on the independence working all over the world before I got to WWB.

I understood the assignment of what you need to do when you get there. The whole premise of WWE is larger than life characters. What can I do that's different that's not on the show than anyone else? I can bring this guy to life. I've had a lot of practice. And with their production experience, I mean, nobody can do it better. So there was a video you posted recently where you were keeping an eye on John Cena and what he was doing in the ring.

It's possible that maybe we'd see Caring Cross and John Cina? I can't say it's not. I can't say it's not impossible. So during the lockdowns, fans were fantasy booking tons of stuff. Yeah. They started fantasy booking me versus John Cena. That blew my mind. I was still in NXT.

I was expecting maybe ideas and concepts like that would come in a later time one day when I'm on my main roster. They were already saying they wanted to see that. Then I think one day John posted a picture of me on his Instagram with no caption, no context. People went crazy over it. You know, unfortunately, some things happened from that point to where we are now where I was no longer with the company and now I'm back and he's here as well.

Just thought I put it out there and see how people still felt about it. People seem pretty excited about it. Yep. Yep. I was a lot of people who didn't forget. Did it at any point, did you ask John Cena like, what was that post about on Instagram? I did. I said, was that you or was that your media team?

He goes, it was on Instagram? I go, yeah. And he goes, that was me. I'm like, okay. Cool. His Instagram is fascinating. It is. Because like you said, he posts photos with zero contacts.

It's up for the fans to decipher it or attach some sort of meaning to it. I feel like that one's kind of obvious. Yep. I feel like if he posts you again on Instagram after this conversation, maybe we're on to something. Maybe there is a match happening. Who wouldn't want to see it? I mean, seriously. especially you've done some great stuff like you and ray really really good stuff thank you

and a j when you're working with veterans like that what what do you borrow from them what do you pick up from them that makes you a better wrestler timing and footwork it's it's something that wrestlers typically don't go into great detail about because it's sort of the fine details of the stuff that we deliberately like to leave out. So much of the business is already exposed. So there's quite a bit that we still don't talk about. But in terms of just like making every single, every single step count, making everything that you're doing means something, I always watch for stuff like that. It's just these small nuanced things. It's a half a step this way, a full step that way, two steps backwards,

it's footwork and where they're landing, specifically in the ring. Like certain parts of the ring, they never tell you this, but they hurt a lot worse to land on than the others. And I just find it interesting to see where guys land themselves when they're going for stuff,

how they space things out. Ray and AJ are absolute freaks. Like they're just in their own separate categories when you're thinking about who the best are and you categorically put people in the same columns. Like, Ray has his own category that no one else is in, and so does AJ. Because in my first year on main roster, being able to work with them is a huge honor. Do you have a favorite AJ Styles match?

Honestly, any, it's, I guess it's not that bad, but they probably weren't his favorite matches. Any, any sort of no-d-Q matches he ever did with Abyss. Oh, yes. I mean, like, there was just, you didn't even need to know who they, were. Like, the first time I saw those matches that he did, I didn't know who they were. But just the insanity of what that all looked like, I was immediately drawn in. It was a, it was like David and Goliath to the max.

There was a time in like the late 2000s in TNA when every match he put on. It didn't matter who it was with. Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, Abyss, Kurt Angle, whoever. It was just insane. And I mean, that's just a testament to how magical AJ is when he's in there. Oh, yeah. He's awesome. He's absolutely amazing.

And so are you. And I feel like it's a result of working with people like that. Speaking of calling people out or keeping an eye on them, 2019, you call out Dave Batista. You're not with WWE at the time. What was the thought process behind that? So it's crazy how it can either. happen immediately or it can happen over time how how people will attach like a crazy context to something that might not totally be accurate. So like when I called Dave out, my intention was,

first of all, he was in the hotel we were wrestling in. It was a GCW event. He was filming a zombie film. Someone told me right before I walked through the curtain that Batista was here. And I was like, I want to meet him. They're like, no, no, not here. He's in the building. Like, what? Oh, he's in the building filming a movie. I'm like, oh, of course he's filming a movie. And at that time, I was bummed to hear that he retired. I was a huge fan of his growing up. And just even being at the, you know, the smaller level that I was at at the time,

I love that. Like, I still love this. It's hard for me to imagine not being in love with this anymore to the point where I would be comfortable and okay to retire. So I was thinking in that context of the time. Like, there's no way he doesn't love this. anymore. Maybe he just needs something creative that he would be really interested in, because that's, that's all of us. You can hook us back into wrestling when we're retired if there's something you're

genuinely interested to do creatively. And Dave has like a shoe background. He's like a legit brown belt in jiu-jitsu. Yeah. So I go out there and I do the match with Nick Gage, choke him, get up, and, yeah, call it, but he's out with the intention hoping that if he really didn't want to be retired. And he wanted to do something that he's never done before that would be in his wheelhouse that people have never seen him do, which would be like the shoot work stuff. Yeah. I would have been happy. This was like a blood sport, right? Yes. It's blood sport. Josh Barnett's blood sport. Yeah. Do you know, did Word ever get back to you that he found out about that or heard that promo? I doubt it, but, uh, I doubt it. I doubt it. Josh knows him.

So maybe Josh may have told him. But it was never in, in a way, where it was like, you know, screw Dave Batista. No, not at all. No, like I, you heard the reaction from people. They really, right away were like, it would be awesome to have Dave Batista on Bloodsport. It would be awesome.

And like for people to see him move legit, you know what I mean, on the ground and free roll and flow with people and stuff like that. I think it would have been awesome. I love all the jujitsu videos that you post. And recently what, what was it? You just got a third degree purple belt.

Third degree purple belt. Is brown belt, the next step? Yes, it is. Are there three degrees for each belt? To my understanding. Okay, I don't know. I don't know either.

Don't choke me out, please. You post these videos of you just like, hey, here's a new choke I want to try. I'm like, oh, that's pretty incredible. Your knowledge of it is vast. Thank you. So I started this whole belt system just recently. I was always doing no ghee, which is basically no uniform for people who aren't familiar with that.

I started doing No Gee back in like 2019, 2020. I really enjoyed it. Yeah, I don't know about all the degrees. I know the general idea of colors. I try to tend not to focus on being promoted and doing things with the intention to be promoted. I more focus on the practical application of what it is that I'm doing. Like some people, they try to memorize a curriculum, but then under stress and pressure, they can't apply any of this stuff.

So they could be moved up, you know, in ranks and get degrees and belts of stuff. But like, unfortunately, when somebody shows up and, you know, puts it on them, they don't know what to go to, right? Because they're like curriculum people. So I just try to focus on stuff that is legitimately practical that will work for me immediately and doing the best to retain that. And I'm teaching now. So I've been asked by my instructor to teach.

So I've been working with kids and beginners and I love it. If these videos that you've been putting out on social media are any sort of indication, you are a fantastic teacher. Thank you. It's, I mean, you're very articulate with everything you do, whether it's speaking here, it's on a promo or it's teaching. That makes you a great teacher, but it's the fact that you're able to explain what you're doing and then do it and then we can see it in the video.

It's, I know nothing about jujitsu, and I feel like I could do it after watching your videos. Good. That's the whole intention. You know what I mean? it's like I definitely believe in providing people with the tools like arming people to succeed, you know? And it's something it takes seriously. Like if someone, if I'm becoming accountable and responsible for someone to learn how to defend themselves, I don't want to teach them something that's not going to work. I really need to understand what it is that I'm doing. And I think

that's probably why my instructors ask me to teach because they know I'm authentically approaching things like that. Although if a little kid is joining your class and they're like, Oh, hey, because people forget how big you are. Yes. I don't know why that is. Like when I stand next to you, I feel very small. And I feel like I'm a fairly normal sized human. Sure.

Good triceps. Thank you. But I feel like people underestimate how large you are. Why is this? What happens? I don't know. I have no idea. I get told all the time when people meet me like on the street or in airports or at the events and stuff.

They're always like, oh, you're a lot bigger in person. I don't know what the hell it is. I have no idea. You do have massive forearms. Come on. It's fantastic. Coming on the time. Our workout was silly.

Yes. Yeah. Yes. Callbacks forever. Seriously. Yeah. I feel like we need to do another one. That was just arms.

We do. So now we got to do. What do you want to do next? Chest. Back. But back to the jujitsu thing. If you're a third-degree purple belt. And Batiste has a brown belt.

You guys are almost on the same level. Yes. This starts to make a lot more sense. If he comes back, man, I would absolutely jump at the opportunity to work with him. When I interviewed him right after his last WrestleMania match, I was like, Dave, we all know how wrestling retirements go. He's like, no, no. This is a real restaurant. I saw.

This is a real one. Yeah. And like he said it with such sincerity that I genuinely believe he's probably not going to come back. Yeah. And that's, I was, that's when I was so bummed about. I was like, no, no. You know, at least power bomb me once before you split. You know what I mean?

You don't even need to go over, man. Just let me work with you. One match. Who cares? You go over. Just let me have that for God's sakes. But he seems convicted to, to hang it up. He feels like, it feels like he's done with wrestling.

And that's okay. At some point, he'll go into the WWB Hall of Fame. It hasn't happened yet. He was announced but not inducted yet. Maybe there's something around that. I don't know. But I feel like that would be incredible to say. So you're suggesting to attack him at the Hall of Fame?

Yes. I like how your thing. Maybe you induct him and you're saying all these nice things. And then when he comes out and goes to give you the hug, he turn on him that. Listen. What am I doing? A little gable grip around that hug.

He ain't going anywhere. That looks good. He ain't going nowhere. Yeah. They're popping out everywhere here. I like it. I feel like you were right on the cusp of like maybe it was a title shot on the main roster, maybe it was some sort of big run that I feel like it's just around the corner for you here.

You're doing some big stuff with Drew, right? Yes. I feel like that was going to lead to maybe it was you and Roman. Yep. I don't know. Yes. I mean, so I landed, this is just my opinion. My opinion.

I landed into a very interesting time in the programming. So if you notice, we've got three very strong heels with three titles for quite a while. Theory, Gunther, Roman, right? These guys all had very long title runs. Functionally, from a programming standpoint, these are the top dogs, right? baby face has got to go up to the PLEs to fight the heels, you know? I kind of look at it and think about it. Like when I go back and I watch NXT when I was a heel champion,

I was the most dominant heel champion. I was the most dominant heel in the program because I was champion. When you're the heel and you've got the belt, a lot of the programming of the show should go in that direction. Like if I'm writing and formatting a wrestling television show, that's how I'm going to format it. So, you know, a lot of it, time really does need to go to the people who have the belts.

And that's like anyone, not just them, those three specifically, but anyone who has a belt, that's the whole purpose of that. If, like, you were to compare, you know, Game of Thrones, everyone is trying to get the throne. And there are subplots, but they're not taking up a massive portion of the show. The show should be about trying to get the throne, just like in wrestling, the show should be about trying to get the belts. But you get some baby faces around those belts. you know there's been a lot of people going back to nxte like becky lynch is there right now

it feels like you could go back to nxte yes you could be so incredibly dominant there and you could win your third championship yes is that something that's of interest to you you know what i will say um i don't want to say i was dishonest but i wasn't entirely honest when i discussed how difficult being in lockdowns was for me. During the whole pandemic, I was in Florida. A lot of my family was in Canada. Some of them are older. I got some family in New York.

I didn't know at the time if it was a smart idea or even safe to go visit them. So I didn't. And I felt very isolated like I was at work, which was a relief. I had Scarlett, but it was a really, really difficult time for me personally, like for all of us, you know. It was just, it was very difficult to get through, and I was always hoping while I was at NXT that I would be able to get that big, pay-per-view-like premium live event type crowd.

I never got that, you know, like the takeovers that they did in New York and the, you know, know, we had that little audience, whether they knew it or not, they were like family to me. Even when they were booing me and calling me every name of the book, which they should have been because that's what I was trying to elicit out of them. In place of my family that I didn't have at the time, I had those people in the audience. And I don't think they realize just the few of them there what that was like psychologically doing for me. It was that audience carried me through that period. And it would be nice to see them again.

And it would be nice to do one of those takeover events. But narratively, it should make sense, and it should be under the right circumstances. I wouldn't want to just go back for the hell of it. I want to go back with something good for them. So you kind of surprised me when you sent me your book. Kind of like, just out of nowhere, you're like, oh, by the way, I wrote a book and I want you to read it.

And I started reading this. and I'm like, number one, it's a fantastic book. Thank you. I can't wait for this to be released whenever that happens to be. But number two, what a life you've lived. Yeah. I feel like I've lived a lot of different lives. Like I tried to do everything I possibly could of my life

instead of doing pro wrestling and sports entertainment because I just, I knew it would take over my life and I didn't have the type of support I thought I needed to pursue it. And I try to do a lot of things, but it was funny. Not that those things didn't work out, but everything kind of just circled me back to thinking about wrestling

until I eventually decided to do it. And I am... Because I guess you started late-ish. Yeah, in comparison. Yeah, to people that start when they're 20. Yep. Yeah. I told you, I feel terrified

that people are going to read this book because I felt like I wrote it, like, naked, you know? Like the... Oh, it's all out there. Yeah. The book is like, a good book needs to have honest vulnerability

in it. Otherwise, like, what are people reading, right? And I had a lot of stories I wanted to share that I think would be helpful to people that are in similar situations or just continue to want to be entertained, you know? So putting pen to paper and beginning to write a book, I think is the hardest part about writing a book. What were the steps that led you to finally going, all right, today's the day. I'm actually going to start it. I had numerous people over the years who have, like, known me for a long time, me that I should write a book and just the the idea of it like me as a person like I I don't have some involuntary feeling to like personally share myself in my life like how I actually am with people like I've told you naturally I'm an introvert I think being locked down I've kind of tried to

reach out of that but then like as I began to talk to people about things that things that I had to overcome, things that I've never talked to anybody about, and I realized how much it helped them, I started to become, like, become a little bit more comfortable with the idea of writing a book, because I think with the, with the proper intention, you can, you can help people. And I, I feel like if that's the goal of writing the book, is the intention to potentially help people, again, or at least entertain them with some funny stories that some of them are really violent. I think that's, you know, that's a win.

Can you tell people what the title is? Are we there yet? No, okay. Don't tell them yet. Well, can we talk about the chapter that? I read a few chapters, but this one chapter called, Thank you for smoking. Thank you for not smoking.

Thank you for not smoking. Yeah, yeah. The simple premise here is you stand up for your sister. In the most violent way possible. Yep. It was a bit of an accident. I don't know how much detail we want to get into here, but basically someone said something about your sister.

You stood up for her, and you ended up with most of this man's hair in your hand. Yeah. So he was in his car, and I just, I've had to work on my temperament for a really long time, which surprises people. the time because I don't know, I think I'm pretty even keel. I'm not a... I'd hate to see what the other version of you was. I was very wound up. Somebody said something and I went into cruise control and I walked around on the side of his car and the idea, I think, what I was thinking, I just saw red. I wanted to grab him by his hair

and pull him out of the car through his window. So I was really mad. I think I should just preface that one more time. I think that's evident. His seatbelt was on. I don't know why we're laughing. I pulled this. I pulled like, I pulled like, basically scalped him. I pulled like kind of a piece of the top of his head off with his hair. And so I thought I was going to pull him out of the car.

And then I look at it and he's in his head. He's in my hand. And I just, I kind of snapped out of it when I saw that, right? I was just like, oh, shit. shit, like, I'm in a lot of trouble now. I think I'm in a lot of trouble. So that was, yeah, we talk about that in the book. I was my little sister, though, so I...

I can't wait for people to see this or to read this. When do you think it might be out? If we were to just guess. So I submitted the book to WW8 because I would like to have it published through them. Everything that I do I would like to do through WWW. Sure. I want to be a lifer, you know what I mean? I would like to think that it could be published by the end of this year.

The book is being reviewed or has been reviewed. There's just a couple other moving parts that need to be set in place for it to be published. But when I submitted the book, I had the formatting down. It was edited. There's photos in it. I gave them like a totally finished product. So it's whenever they have all of their ducks in a row for some things that they're trying to line up for all of us on the publishing side, the book will be published. but I'm really excited for people to read it.

And again, I'm a little bit scared, but I think that's probably a good thing. The United States Soccer Federation present the U.S. Soccer Podcast. My name is David Goss, and I'm joined by my co-host, Megan Clemenberg. And now we're giving people an inside look at the World Cup. Times ticking.

I think you can feel the intensity. All the guys are wanting to really stake their claim, and they want to be on that World Cup roster. There's no doubt about it. Hosting the World Cup on the home soil comes with its pressures, but we're just really excited just as the people are. The U.S. Soccer Podcast, presented by Henko.

Follow and listen on your favorite platform. I think your demeanor is a very fascinating thing to people. Because like you said, you're very calm, you're very even keeled. And then we see these promos. And in these promos, you feel like a villainous character from a movie that also feels like you could definitely exist in real world. And where I'm going with this is how much has cinema influenced the character that you have? I mean, like 99% of the way I visualize putting together and building vignettes and stories for people,

I would definitely say in terms of presentation is cinema in my head. With WWE being sports entertainment, it's not just pro wrestling. A lot of people have a hard time understanding that. They have a very broad range of things that they can produce and create for people. And I don't think it's a bad thing that wrestling companies produce backstage programming so people can understand how certain things work because they actually wind up having like a deeper appreciation for what we're doing. So, you know, when you do stuff like that, I feel like it's okay to take people away

from live promos, which I would love to do more of, by the way. it's okay for everything to not be a live promo or a live backstage. When you have these incredible cameras, you have an amazing production crew and staff on digital. They know how to wash colors out and create a mood and a vibe with so little words. I think in 2023, we've entered the realm where we can create the coolest stuff possible for fans. And it doesn't necessarily always have to feel like it's live, you know?

And so I just kind of think and create from there. Is there a certain director whose style that you has really influenced you? I would say probably David Lynch, David Kronenberg. David Finch. I'm just naming David. All the Davids. And, you know, probably Clive Barker. something about the mood set with horror films

has always kind of struck a chord with me people in real life don't like to be scared but they like to feel unsettled in a controlled environment you know I think if you can find a way to cultivate that through the things that you're creating from an artistic standpoint you have something special the reason I lean so much into that

as a performer is because a lot of the other other bases with characters are covered in the program. Like I give you an example, and I don't mean this in a derogatory way. LA Knight, one of the best live promos you're ever going to get, the way he can maestro an audience, he's a loudmouth type character. Again, I don't mean that in a derogatory way. I just mean he's the guy as a character. He will get in your face.

It's bombastic. Yes, right? That lane's covered. What good am I doing the program to come out there and be another loudmouth? Or give an example, Pete D.E. Butch, best technical wrestler in the world. That was his thing for a long time, right? Everybody knows that's his thing.

If I come on the program and I'm doing a technical wrestling gimmick, like if I was doing just straight blood sport type stuff, they've got Pete. They've got that. So what can I do? And when I got on board with the company, I didn't feel like what I am doing and what I have been attempting to create with Scarlett.

I felt like that lane was wide open. So I've always tried to lean into that direction and bring that to life for people. So they have that variety in the show. There was this one vignette that you posted. I think it was right before you got re-signed and you're smoking a cigar and just kind of like talking about

the stuff you see and the people walking by, there was a certain like uneasiness about it that kind of, I guess, lends itself to this horror theme that you're talking about. Like it's a great promo and again, you're so articulate.

But there was a certain uneasiness that you were talking about these people as they were, you know, making their way in and out of the frame. Yep. I don't exactly what you're talking about. When I was performing independently, when I had shot that, prior to WWE, before I had the character, presentation of Caring Cross with the lights

and all of the production stuff, you know, with absolutely nothing, I had to think about what I could create for people to get into. and taking a person, for instance, you know, Killer Cross, developing that character. What is that character about? That character is about psychologically assessing people, sociologically assessing where they're at, where they're from, you know, what their motive is, what they're doing as a collection of people. And being able to identify that he's not like them. He's predatory.

He's missing certain things that they're not. have to feel attached and associated with each other. He doesn't have that. He wants to see what it's like to just start picking them apart and taking things away from them until they're as close as possible to look like him. And that was where I was coming from creatively when I was doing that vignette. He just looks at things and it's just an equation to him. It's not even real people doing real things. It's just these aren't even people. These are just vessels with behavioral patterns. It's case study psychopathic stuff. This feels like you feel like you're a serial killer

when you're saying something like that. Maybe I am. Maybe I am, Chris. A little head shake there felt like someone else. I don't know what you're talking about. It's always going to come back. What have you done? All of these are going to be clipped out, by the way.

Probably not even by my team. It's just going to be clipped out by people. tell us something about Scarlett that we might not know I hope you're not going to get mad at me so Scarlett is doing a paranormal series with WWE something we haven't talked about publicly is there have been a lot of strange things

that have happened that while we've been together paranormal experiences and I will be the first to tell you bro I'm not a guy I used to watch ghost shows I'm not a guy who believe in ghosts I'm not someone who is seeking that stuff out. When I see a light in the sky, I'm not like, that's a UFO.

I'm not that guy. I'm really not. So it takes a lot for me to buy into this type of stuff. There were things that were happening. Some of them I won't even mention because they're just going to sound made up where there was absolutely no other logical or scientific explanation as to how or why these things were happening. So that's been happening to Scarlett since she was little. She's seen apparitions.

you know, I don't want to tell too many of the detail stories because it should come from her. I don't want to paraphrase because I may leave out really important things. But I've always been a vibe person. Like I can go into certain places and I have just an involuntary feeling. It's like here. I know if something bad has happened when I've gone like to somewhere. I always get that bad buzz when I go to a hospital or like a very, very old building with her. Same thing.

Something people don't know about her, she's been studying for her psychic mediumship, like legitimately, like for real. Wow. Not as a part of a character or anything like that. No. Wow.

Not as, it's not a gimmick. It's not a work. It's not a character. We've been reading up on this stuff and meeting with people who have had similar experiences. And we've just kind of been quiet about it

because like in a modern belief system, people will just tell you you're schizophrenic. You're going to tell you you're nuts. Or it's psychosomatic. and that you're just making things up and you want it to be like, no, like, there have been things that have happened that there's no other explanation for it. And until you meet people who have had those same experiences, then you don't feel crazy when you talk to them. But if you try to talk to someone who's never seen stuff like this, they just automatically assume you're sane or you're

making it up. Her show's out now, right? It's on WB on YouTube, right? Yes. So she's been going to some of the most haunted locations in the United States. She's been bringing equipment that measures There's electromagnetic frequencies, temperature changes, all kinds of stuff. And we've been filming it and making a program about it with Shotsie as well. If you do, if this is something that you believe in, are you not worried about bringing that kind of stuff home with you? So we've read books about that. I was worried about that. They call that attachments learning about this too.

I was like, I don't want you talking to these things because sometimes I can feel like sometimes if there's something, you know, give me an example. For example, I stayed in a haunted hotel. Bad idea. It was in Chicago that the hotel was on fire and there was a bunch of murders there a long time ago and then it got, those sections got rebuilt and I stayed there. I didn't know it was haunted at the time. Okay. So we go to sleep. The lights keep going on in the room. The door's opening and closing like the bathroom door. Some weird stuff happened at Lizzie Bordenhouse. We stayed there, well-knowing. Lizzie Borden and the whole history there. So I wasn't a surprise when weird stuff started happening in that house. But the way to cut off attachments in literature that we've read is basically to say a prayer and to basically

say out loud that you're we're cutting off all attachments and there's a whole mantra. She's got this stuff. She recites it. Anyone who comes on the show, we make sure that nothing leaves with us. But they have a whole, there's literature that shuts all that stuff down. I was concerned about that too.

I'm getting scared just talking about it right now. Dude. I did not want to, I did not want to believe in any of this. I wanted to, any other explanation that would have been provided to me, that would have made sense, I would have took it.

I was just in Las Vegas last week because the new Saw movies coming out. Saw X. And they sent me through the Saw experience. So I interviewed the director and the producers and the production designer. And they were like, we've got the Saw Escape Room and we're setting it up for you guys. It's like a five minute like experience. I knew full well going into that that it was a haunted

house, they're going to be people jumping out at me. Bro, I couldn't sleep that night. And I know it's all fake. Yeah. I know it's just people in mass jumping out. And I put the video out on social media and I'm just screaming my head off. I'll show you after this. But there's, there is something about just that world in general that, uh, I don't know,

gives me the hebie-jee-jee's a little bit. I know what you mean. Yeah. Yeah. I follow. You guys are looking at it right in the eye. Yeah. Yeah, we picked up a lot of really cool stuff, footage-wise, that is all going to be on YouTube.

Dauvese going to publish all the videos over the next couple weeks, but we just did a video. We were in Bobby Mackey's, and I'm not sure if we were talking to a demonic entity that was pretending to be a child, or it was a child pretending to be a demonic entity. But we made contact with something. Videos out. Wow. People can watch it. That's on the WWE YouTube channel as well. Yeah.

I was happy to leave once it was. was done. It was very, very unusual. And I've been to places where they're like, oh, it's haunted. You walk in there. They set the equipment up. Nothing goes off. It's absolutely not haunted or whatever's in there doesn't want to make contact with people. This place, the level of activity that went off was, I mean, I was uncomfortable. I don't necessarily get scared, but I'm uncomfortable. And I'm ready to go whenever they are. All right. Tell us something about Kevin that we may not know. Oh, well. I like long walks in the rain, Chris.

Put me on the spot. I mean, I think last time it was, I didn't know he does a spot on perfect Jesse Ventura impression. Yeah. You're never going to be able to top that as the little piece of information. No, it's over. That, I mean, something, I don't know. I mean, people just recently found out in Puerto Rican. They lost their mind about that.

That's true. It was, what, Hispanic Heritage Month. Yeah. And WWE is celebrating people with Hispanic heritage. And you were on the list. And I think people went, what? No way. So where is it in your lineage?

It's on my dad's side. So they moved from, my family moved on my dad's side from Old San Juan into New York. And yeah, it's, I've always done character work in wrestling. So when you're doing character work, you kind of remain in that lane. So I guess people just kind of drew conclusions about like, what my background was or whatever and just didn't, I don't play like a, like a Hispanic character.

Well, I guess it just also wasn't on the forefront. Right. You know, I think that if your last name was something Hispanic, people might go, oh, I get it, you know? Yep.

Yeah, that was definitely surprising. And then Bobby Lashley was on the list. Yep. And people were like, really? Yes, Bobby and aren't going to join the LWO. With Cody Rhodes. Yes. It's also on the list.

Yes. I think people knew that one. Yes. Cody's mom is Puerto Rican, I think, right? Puerto Rican or Cuban. Cuban. Yeah, yeah. I think that, yeah, you guys should join the LWO.

Yes. I don't know. It'll be very difficult standing up to Cody in the LWO, though, because I got to tell you, you know, once upon a time I was the face of black and gold, and he was the face of the elite. And once upon a time, I was defending the throne that he was smashing apart on the other channel. I see what you're saying. Yeah. Yeah.

Maybe there's something there. I think there definitely is something there. It's going to be whether they want, you're going to want me to discuss it. Listen. What else you got in your back pocket there? Quite a lot for him. So glad he's on board. I'm looking forward to working with him.

Yeah. Oh, that's good. Mm-hmm. This has been good, man. This has been great. I'm glad we got a chance to catch up. Yes. And I'm glad we got to hear a little bit more from Jesse Ventura.

Sorry for doing that to you. One day we all get on a show together. I was trying so hard. to get Will Sasseh to come in here and surprise you. He doesn't live far from here. Yeah. He sat in that very chair when we had an interview. I messaged him when we first set this up,

and I'm like, I don't know what your schedule looks like, but on this exact date at this exact time, Caring Cross is going to be in the studio. And he's like, oh, I might not be in town. But if I am, I will not miss that. I would want, if he was going to surprise me in my mind-perfect scenario, he shows up dressed as Stephen Seagull.

And when he goes to introduce himself and shake my hand, he breaks my neck. That's what I would want to have him if I met Will Sassau. Will Sassau is such a legend. It's the man. He's the best. I wanted you and him to talk as Jesse Venture for an hour. Oh my God. You think you can keep it up for an hour? I can try, but he's, he's going to crack me up. He's the master. He is so, so good. Yeah. All right, I end every conversation with the same question about gratitude. It's such an important part of my life. What are three things in your life that you're grateful for as we sit here right now. My health, the health of my family, and to be able to do what I love for a living, I have come to realize over the years, it is not necessarily about how much money

you're making. It is about how much you are actually engaged in your life and how personally you're fulfilled with your own decisions. You know, it's, I feel so fortunate, you know, I really, really do. And not to end it on a negative note, but just like with, I don't know, Wyndham's passing, you just don't take a second for granted, you know? And that's like what always happens when a friend passes, like it's frame of reference, you know? I think a lot about that. I make sure that I'm not neglecting the important aspect.

of my life while having tunnel vision focusing on like an occupational goal. You know, I try to just stop every once in a while and just take in presently where I'm at and to be grateful that like everything works and like I can think and speak coherently and like I can get up without like my body hurting. I can go work out. I can run. I can swim. All that stuff. Because there been times you get hurt and you can't do that and you're like, oh my God, so much of my subconscious identity is associated with my mobility in general or my health. You take that away from somebody very quickly they don't know who they are. It's amazing how many people take that for granted too,

which is one of the main reasons I ask this question at the end of every episode because I want people who are listening or watching to go, oh, wow, carrying Cross is grateful for those three things that I have in my own life, maybe I should start being aware of all the things in my life that I can also be grateful for. Absolutely. Just being able to sit here and talk to you, dude. Like, yeah. It means more than you think presently, you know, really think about it. I appreciate you, man.

Appreciate you. Great conversation. Thank you. Thank you. That was such a good one. Big thank you for being with us on this conversation and for listening all the way until the end. That's how I know that you're a real one. If you still haven't yet, for whatever reason, please hit that follow button wherever you're

listening to this, man, I'm excited for that book. I've read most of it, and I can tell you, it's incredible. And so I'm hoping the book that I read is the book that gets published because it's deep. And he reveals a lot of things in there that like he said here, it's like maybe it's a little bit uncomfortable for him to be putting it out there. And he's lived like such a private life. And it's interviews like this one where you get a peek behind, who is he? What makes him tick? So I hope that you enjoyed this as much as I did. Please share this with a friend. It's have a screenshot.

Tag us. He's at Real Killer Cross. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. And how about this quote from Martin Luther King? If you can't fly, then run. If you can't run, then walk. If you can't walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.

I hope that speaks to you. And whatever is going on in your life right now. Be great. Be grateful. Have an amazing weekend. We will see you on the next one for some more insight with Natty. Oh, man, Natalia Knightheart's on the show. Got so many big ones coming up. So make sure that you're following the show. Boom. 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.