Insight with Chris Van Vliet - LA Knight Wants To Win A Title In 2024, His "Overnight" Success, Roman Reigns Match

Episode Date: January 9, 2024

LA Knight (@reallaknight) is a professional wrestler signed to WWE. He is also known for his time in IMPACT Wrestling and the NWA. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood, CA to talk about the incredible year that he had in 2023, what his plans are to top it in 2024, his goal to win a Championship, wanting to be "the guy" in WWE, being the top merch seller several months in a row despite only having a few pieces of merch in the WWE Shop, almost winning the Money In The Bank briefcase, his epic promo battles with The Miz, his rivalry with Logan Paul, his WWE Championship match with Roman Reigns at Crown Jewel, the various TV shows and commercials that he has acted in and much more! Quote I'm thinking about: If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. - Henry Ford Sponsors: MUDWTR: Get 15% off with the code CVV15 at http://mudwtr.com/cvv ROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and experience financial freedom: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv FITBOD: Get 25% off when you use the code INSIGHT at http://fitbod.me/INSIGHT MYBOOKIE: Bet on WWE! Get up to $200 cash bonus when you use the code CVV and sign up at http://mybookie.ag BLUECHEW: Use the code CVV to get your first month of BlueChew for FREE at http://bluechew.com 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 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 25% 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 Bleet. Yeah, welcome back to another one here on Insight. I'm CBV, Chris Van Vleet. I know you have a lot of podcasts out there to choose from. So thank you for being with us on this one. And thank you for making Insight one of the top wrestling podcast on the planet.

And hey, could I make a deal with you? If you're one of the thousands of people who listen to the show, but don't actually follow the show. Could we change that right now? Just by doing that one little thing, just by hitting that follow button, it's so incredibly helpful to grow the show and to help us climb up those charts.

So in exchange for you hitting that follow button, I promise to bring you the best wrestling interviews anywhere. Do we have a deal? Because this one today, this one with LA night back on the show, it's the third time we've had him on in the last 12 months. Our fourth interview in total. I mean, I did an interview with Eli Drake in 2019,

which you can go in the way back machine and go find that one. But what a time to have L.A. Night on. We recorded this. I mean, it's coming out right now, but we recorded it on December 31st. So we recorded it on New Year's Eve. And that just feels so perfect because what a year L.A. night had. It's not hyperbole to say that he had the biggest year of anyone in wrestling last year.

Not just WWE, but all of wrestling. Oh, but CVV, he didn't win any titles. He didn't need to. You don't need a title to get over when you're already as over as he is. And I mean, remember, he was the top selling superstar on WWE shop with like half a dozen items compared to the hundreds of items that Cody or Roman had. So we talk about his massive year, what he has his site set on for 2024, and also all the different commercials and TV shows that he's been a part of, that he was an actor in in the wild L.A.

Night multiverse that exists out there. This is such a good one. Aren't you glad you're following? Also, there's a CVV multiverse out there of movies and TV shows and commercials that you can find me in. And I always think it's so fun when someone takes a screenshot. of like, hey, is that you in the green shirt and the love guru? Or there's also this furniture commercial that I was in.

That's always so fun to say. So if you happen to come across one of those, tag me. I'd be happy to tweak that out. Speaking of tagging things, take a screenshot of this episode and tag us so we can share it. He's at Real L.A. Night. I'm at Chris Van Bleach. And here we go. Enjoy my conversation with L.A. Knight.

Yeah. Thank you for making the time to do this. Yeah. Appreciate you. Yeah. I'm supposed to be off today. It's supposed to be beginning a vacation. I'll make this feel like the least amount of work possible.

Let me not lie. I get like four days off. That's a huge vacation in WWE land. After five days in a row on the road. I haven't been in my own bed in three weeks, I think, at this point. So you're back tomorrow? No. No, two days.

I'll finally get to go home and be in my own bed. Okay. That'd be pretty sweet. Yeah. I'm going to crack open an F3 energy here. F3 energy, everybody. They're fantastic. Yeah.

I'm going to give my first taste test right here. Okay. Wow. As we go. The original flavor. Oh. Stop it. Stop it.

No, it's actually pretty good. Dude, what a year you've had. What a year. It's been something. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good way to put it. it? Yeah, it's been something.

From low expectations came, well, not from me. I had great expectations from the start, but I don't think that there were great expectations put upon me, at least, you know, coming out of the beginning of the year anyway. Where did this change? I can't put a finger on that. But I think, God, I don't want to give you all too much credit, but I think the people did it in a lot of ways. Look, at the end of the day, I did it. Like, I mean, you know, if I'm not doing my thing,

then the people can't get behind me, right? So look, you get a little bit of credit, but let's leave the credit where it's supposed to be. But, yeah, I mean, once I made the people demand me and as cliche as it sounds became undeniable, there was a point in time where it's like, all right, well, I mean, we got to do this. And then there's a time where it's like,

all right, well, let's see if he's really got it. Let's see if you can really do it. Sing or swim, here we go. But it was like, he just kept getting louder every single week. And it's like, you got to a point where it's like,

can the crowd reactions get louder? That music hits? Oh my gosh, it's louder than last week. Yeah. And I think every week I'm always looking at like, oh man, it's going to slide off at some point.

And you know what? When it does, I'm just going to roll with it. And I'm going to get even better from that point. Because at that point, then you're all getting jabbed. But, No, I don't know.

At this point, it's like it's just, it's just been growing and growing. And I remember the very first time. I think we talked about it last time. It was in D.C. and March. And from there, it was like, oh, okay. Now we're starting to get somewhere. And then it was like more and more. And that wasn't necessarily the reaction I was looking for,

because especially coming out of the Bray Wyatt thing, it's like, all right, let me keep getting heat. Let me keep getting heat. But then it was like they put me out there with guys who were supposed to be, you know, getting, who are, and not even supposed to be. who were big baby faces, who were getting big reactions

and stuff like that. But then there was just something about me coming out there where it was like, I can't put a name to what they were seeing or thinking or anything like that, but there was something there

where they were just like, we want this guy, we want this. I mean, the last time we talked was before Money in the Bank, you didn't even have a yeah t-shirt yet. I was like,

you know, it would be a really good idea? A yeah, T-shirt, and you're like, it's in the works. Yeah. It's a problem. getting all that stuff done because I have ideas for things and it's like so you know you might try and run it through somebody oh okay well yeah we might do that and I think there was also just

skepticism at first like is this really a thing is this just you know is this just going to be a flash in the pen is just just going to be you know flavor the month and and that was kind of even a thing that we had talked about and and was even talked about with me it was like well you know we don't I don't want to give it to him too soon because then you know they might get over it and that's like, look, fine. If that's the case, and I'm not good enough to carry that, cool, let's go with that. But I understand the idea of also wanting to protect me at some point as well. But, like, I have the belief in myself that I can pivot and move and adapt to whatever the situation is.

So if the thought is, well, if we give it to them too soon, you don't want to give it to them too soon, but if you just try and not give it to them at all, come on, man. Like, I feel like I'm better than that. And I don't mean that in like a boisterous way, but just I'm confident in what I do. I'm confident in my skills. And at the same time, I want to be able to fail because when I fail, I get better. I don't know if you failed at all at any point this year. Well, maybe not this year.

And I probably have and who knows. But I failed a million times on the way here. But this year has been crazy. How funny was it hearing the, oh, man, L.A. Knight, an overnight success. How funny was it hearing that? Yeah. But it was. I mean,

it wasn't. It was, but it wasn't. I mean, it was 20 years, and then all of a sudden it was an overnight success. So like,

yeah, I mean. So it was a 20 year overnight success. Yeah, it was 20 years to get the overnight success, basically,

because it's like all of a sudden, you know, you've got anywhere I've been, anywhere, any other company, had a fraction of the audience that we had now. So to any of the uninitiated,

most of them were seeing me for the first time. So in a certain way, it is an overnight success to the broader audience. You know the gift, though, that gets shared of you the most. Is your promo Dave Marquez, the shoes of the champion? Like that gif of you, yeah.

I'm just tipping back a little champagne, no big deal. So even if nobody saw NWA, they're aware that you were a thing. Well, yeah, because, okay, so apparently I've been married twice this year as well. And, yeah, thank you, even though I'm not married. it's a weird thing that once you start to climb and people start to notice you, now they start just looking for things. Now, all of a sudden, people are more aware of the NWA stuff or, you know, maybe even some more of the impact stuff where it's like, oh, wait, I want to know more about this guy.

And then you'll start looking for that stuff. And that's where the weird articles come up about like, well, does Elie Knight have a sister? Does he have a brother? He keeps his family life very secret and stuff like that. And then it turns out that I got married over a weekend, which was amazing that I got married that weekend because as far as I knew, I was wrestling in the ring, all that damn weekend. But somehow I found time to get married. You know, Wikipedia thinks your birthday is November 11th. And I corrected that, like, probably 10 years ago.

And somehow it got changed again because even when they, I did the key of the city thing a couple weeks ago in my hometown in Hagerstown. Yeah. They even had my birthday list as November 11th when they put the press release. I said, no, no, no, you got to change that. It's November 1st. It will be, I will guarantee you within hours of this episode being put up. It will be changed. And then some idiot will go in and change it back and then someone else will change it.

Well, you know, the cool thing is I get two birthdays, essentially, at least on social media, because then I get a bunch of birthday wishes on the first. I get a bunch, a couple scraglers on the 11th. And then it's like, oh, that's my birthday again. If this episode is brought to you by my favorite warm beverage, it's brought to you by mud water. I drink it every single day, and I love it. Mudwater is a coffee alternative with four adaptogenic mushrooms and only a fraction of the caffeine

of a cup of coffee. So you get all of the same energy, but without the jitters and without the crash of coffee. And in my personal opinion, it tastes better. I got to say, I had a pretty bad habit of drinking pre-workout, not just before a workout, but I was drinking it, like, as my caffeine source for a long time. Not anymore. Mudwater is my drink, and I love it. I know that you will too. Give it a try by going to mudwater.com slash CVV. And if you use the code CVV15, you'll get, yeah, you guessed it, 15% off. So please support the show by going to mudwater.com slash CVVV and use that code CVV15 to get 15% off. So we've got a lot in common. Obviously, we both love wrestling and evidently we love great conversations about wrestling. But I'm going to go

out on a limb here and say that if you're like me, you also like to save a dollar or two or maybe 10. And that's been the case since I signed out for Rocket Money. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that finds and cancels your unwanted subscriptions. It also monitors your spending and helps to lower your bills. Rocket Money has over 5 million users, myself included, and they've helped save its members an average of $720 a year with over 500,000,000. million dollars in canceled subscriptions. So yeah, they'll go in and they'll find those subscriptions that you completely forgot that you signed up for, and they'll do the hard work of canceling those subscriptions for you and saving you that money. So stop wasting money on things

that you don't use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to rocketmoney.com slash CVV. That's rocketmoney.com slash CVV. Rocketmoney.com slash CVV. Did you get to a point in 2022 where you thought that your wrestling career was done, your in-ring career was done? Yeah. Yeah, I was like, all right, well, this is, you know, the problem is you look around the wrestling landscape,

and I even think to my past, and I'm like, man, I had so much freedom to kind of beat me and do my thing, and now I'm doing this damn, whatever this stupid model thing is. I don't know who this is or what this is, but all right, well, I got to, got a nice raise out of it, so at least I'll try and make this thing work. And so I'm sitting there and I'm trying to do it.

And all praise to Mason Mansour, because, I mean, I even heard them, you know, kind of sharing the stories about how Vince was just, it was really weird because it was like, you know, I was told not to talk anything like I did, nothing. Like, don't say any of the things you said. Don't talk any of the way you did. And I'm like, okay. I mean, what brought me to the dance? is getting completely stripped from me.

But all right, I mean, at the same time, I kind of looked at it as a challenge. I'm like, I'm frustrated by it, but I'm also kind of like, okay, well, let's see how we can do this. And then, I mean, in short order, it was just like, this is crazy. And then he's, he and I were kind of, it's not like we were buttoned heads necessarily, but it was just like he had a vision for this thing that put such a microscope on it. And I didn't know what the hell it was, but I was trying to figure it out. And it just was not going well. and I was very unhappy, and I'm sure he probably was,

and then at some point it was just like, all of a sudden I'm not on TV, and I'm like, well, I'm pretty sure I'm fired. I'm pretty sure this whole ride's over. And at that point, I'm kind of looking at other options and what I can do and where I can go to kind of, you know, just keep my whole thing rolling. And lo and behold, circumstances prevailed

that kind of put me in the right spot where I could at least come back in a wrestling capacity, do my thing, And again, like I said, I don't think there were great expectations thrust upon me. It was just, hey, here's a guy who can handle himself. He's a professional. He knows how to do his thing in the ring. And we can work him with some guys who can, you know, he can have some good programs.

Well, surprise, surprise, all in your eyes, because things just got a little crazy after that. You still got it over. This is the best thing about you, whether you're Eli Drake, whether you're Max Dupree, or whether you're L.A. Knight. I don't want to hear that name ever again. Yeah, go ahead. You find a way to get it over. You know, I can't say that for Max. I didn't have a long enough time to do that.

I don't know. There's nobody that would, if you're a wrestling fan, you know it's Max Dupree because you made that work. God. Yeah, yeah. You love Max. Such trash. Yeah.

I, I, um, yeah, maybe. I mean, a lot of it is, is one of those first lessons is, uh, act like you belong. kind of like just just kind of owning the room owning the moment and kind of just being bigger than I guess anybody that's in there like like when I'm walking in that arena I'm a god and I don't not not as me

but like in that character when I'm walking in that thing it's like I that's the only trait the only persona the only thought that I can take on is like there's nervousness before I come through the curtain. If you don't have that, you're not alive. I guarantee you everybody gets that those jitters where it's like, I got to go out. I'm going to do this.

I'm going to do this thing. And then once you break that curtain and you are out there, my God, all of a sudden you have to embrace that like this is my arena. This is my ring. This is my world right now. And you're all living in it. And there's really no other way to approach that if you really want to own that moment and own what you're doing. And so I think that that kind of helps present those things or to get those things over in some way.

Do you have a highlight from 2023 for you? God, I got a lot. There's so many personal ones. And some of that, I mean, that first night in D.C., because that was kind of special because it kind of kicked things off a little bit. And if people don't know what we're talking about, Seamus and Drew, in the ring your music hits yep and all of a sudden there was a big unexpected pop where i'm just like okay that's that's different because i just kind of i came out of the bray wyatt thing um you know getting booed everywhere i went and then all of a sudden it was like i had nothing and i'm just

floundering i'm not doing anything i'm just kind of floating in the ether and i'm just talking about russomania or whatever and then all of a sudden it was like now there was something maybe possibly to chew on because now there's this possibility to be Intercontinental Championship match. And so I don't know if that's what got people interested, but all of a sudden now it's like, and then I'm like, all right, well, I grew up an hour up the road.

So maybe that's what it is because we were in Washington, D.C. the time. Well, then we went to Pittsburgh, and then we went to New York, and then we went to blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and here, and here, and here, and here, and it just continued to go. And then when you go to go over to Saudi Arabia, and I'm not even on the show for Night of Champions, and they're chanting at Triple H, that's a huge moment.

And I didn't even know that was happening. I'm in my hotel room in Saudi Arabia. I was just over there to do press. And all of a sudden, we get tagged on everything. And I look it up. I'm like, oh, wow. Okay, that's different. So, I mean, things like that.

And then you look at just the whole buildup to money in the bank, trashing Logan Paul, you know. I feel like that story's not done. I mean, we'll see. I mean, you never know. I can say that. Never say never is what they say, right? The Slim Jim Battle Royal, even now doing the Slim Jim sponsorship.

I'm on the commercial with Randy Savage. I've got a whole campaign going with that. What, we've done two commercials already. There's another one or two coming out next year. So, yeah, I mean, there's a whole hell of a lot of highlights. Crown Jewel. I mean, almost winning WWE Championship right there. I mean, within a short and curly of doing it.

There's a moment when you're in the money in the bank match, when you're climbing the ladder, and everybody in that arena, and everybody watching at home is going, it got to a feverish, bitch. It's going to happen. Yeah. This is it.

Yeah. And then it was taken away. And then, yeah. Story of my career. But it really felt like in that moment, like, this is our guy, it's happening. The thing we want to happen is happening. Yeah.

And it's funny because I just joked story my career, but at the same time, it's like I've, God, I always, I hesitate to say this stuff because I feel like it sounds like I'm like being self-congratulatory, but like I can't help with state the facts that like I, I willed this shit into existence. Like I couldn't stop. I couldn't just be like, well, I'm just here. I'm just going to be happy with that and that's cool.

Like I wrote an email to one of the writers when I very first came back because L.A. Knight and I just said, hey, look, I said, I'd like to do this and this and this. And I said, at some point, I'm going to ask for the ball. And he was like, probably just was kind of, you know, brushing me off. I don't know. I can't speak for him. But I'm sure at the time was probably just like, his response was like, you know, I appreciate the ambition. And it was kind of that. And I'm sure at the same time, he's just thinking like, oh, this guy. I, whatever. But I meant that. And I meant that in the realest possible way to where, like, I want the damn ball. And I'm going to make that happen. And so as many times I've been told no, as many times that maybe I've shot myself in my own foot or slipped on a banana peel or whatever it is, I need to will this thing in existence. And so far, 2023 has been a hell of a climb and making that happen. And so my goal is to just continue on in 2024, 2025, and who knows from there. And, you know, people want to look at the age number, but my God, I'm in some damn good shape.

You are in great shape. I'm not wearing any braces. I'm not beat up, and we're going to keep it that way. It's amazing when you look at the success you had in 2023. You still haven't won a championship in WWA. Yeah. I mean, there's a million-dollar championship, but you still haven't won a championship in W.

Yeah. And it just feels like that seems. to be something that should be happening maybe this year? I mean, it seems past due, I guess, in some regards. Some others would say, oh, he doesn't need it,

but for me, I think I do need it. And I think the reason I need it is because it's the recognition that the company is saying, and not even that the company's saying. It's that I have gotten to a level where I am,

I have proven that I am beyond worthy. I've proven that I deserve it, and I've proven that I've earned it. Now, is this a championship? Are you talking about the championship? Any of them, in all honesty, but I mean, I'm

looking at the top spot. Look, anybody would love to be a tag team champion, a U.S. champion, an intercontinental champion, the world champion, any of that, I want to be the guy. So whether that means I need to win, you know,

an intercontinental championship or a U.S. championship on the way, I'm about that. I look at the guys who've come before me, and they've used the intercontinental championship or the U.S. title or something like that as their way to the top. And I've been able to springboard straight to the top, just falling just barely short. But if it comes down to it, yeah, yeah. Let me use that leverage of an intercontinental or U.S. title. Who informed you that you had the highest selling merch month after month after month?

But the first month you had it, who informed you that? So we were at Money in the Bank, and I was told that my t-shirt was highest selling t-shirt over the weekend. And I'm like, oh, that's cool. And then I think we got to maybe a couple days later, and they were like, I think you're number four this month. Or maybe that was the month before. I can't remember.

But at some point then, I think the report came out somewhere online. or Russellnomics or somebody does it. And then I think August or September, I think I signed an agent and now he lets me know everybody. So I mean, we're on top of that stuff. He's like, he's like, all right, we're doing real well.

It's you and Cody up here. And, you know, it's you and punk. And I'm like, cool, well, let's get these things rolling. It's you with a lot less pieces of merchandise too. Yeah. Oh, my God. So much less. I mean, especially if you're looking back at even like the first month, I don't know if it was July or August, where it was the first month,

where I was top. I think I had like three things on there. And those guys each had, like, Roman and Cody were behind me and they had like hundreds of items. I had maybe three. So between all that, that's crazy to think that you could be the number one spot with only a few things. But then at that point, that's what I'm like, all right, let's start pumping out some more shirts and, you know, all this other stuff. I'm like, oh, good. Thank you. Finally. You could have 17 shirts with the word yeah on it. And all 17 would sell. At the same time, I don't want to, you know, I don't want to exhaust everybody on that. So I'm coming up with more things. More things that we can diversify the pack, so to speak.

Guys, dummy is back. You said dummy the other day. I mean, it sprinkles itself in here. It's there. I don't want to lean on it. That's a T-shirt. Maybe. Maybe.

There's possibly whose game is a shirt coming out that I'm working on. A couple other things that I'm trying to do. I try to design. Well, then again, I don't know. Because half the time there's shirts coming out and I'm like, oh, I didn't even know I had that. I didn't even know that was there. But, like, the core shirts that I wear on TV, like I design.

most of that stuff. Like, I'll go in Photoshop and hey, let's do this and this and I'll send it to them. They might spruce it up. Hell and I'm a Photoshop skills. Oh, man. Dan, I'm a do-it-yourself kind of guy. You are.

I learned how to do that stuff a long time ago. Look, I can't, like, do illustrate or, like, create things. I have a terrible visual imagination. But, like, if I know, okay, I want this, let me grab this and this. I know at least, you know, if I don't know, I can go get a tutorial. I know how to do this stuff in Photoshop.

I remember, like, drawing something out. on a piece of paper, taking a picture of it and sending it to my graphic designer and being like, I know this is a terrible crude design, but here's what I think. I've done that with my boots. So I wanted my boots based on Jordan 11th. So I basically just put paper.

Are these Jordan 11s? No, these are Jordan ones, but my boots are based on the, come on. Come on. I'm not a shoe. It's okay, it's fine. They're great. No, these are Jordan ones. But no, the Jordan 11s have like the patent leather around them, which might draw to those when they came out in 95,

I was like, they kind of remind me of like Brett Hart's wrestling boots. That's kind of cool. They were kind of like wrestling bootish basketball shoes because of the patent leather. So I was like, why don't I get my boots to make, to look like those shoes? So I had a picture of the shoe and I just traced over it and then like added like a little bit of boot. And I started drawing all the stuff. And I was like, I want this year and this year and this year. And I took a picture of it and sent it to the bootmaker.

And he's like, okay, yeah, yeah, I can make that. I'm like, cool. So I mean, yeah, it's just coming up with these little. amalgamations of like how can I piece this and this together it's a weird business because I mean it's not like you just go to the wrestling boot store right you know so it's like I you gotta find these people and hey can you make this no all right on the next can you make this no all right how about you buddy okay cool it's gonna take how long in three months no no not you uh eight weeks I can live with that okay so it's it's it's kind of screwy find it you're switching gear

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the intensity. All the guys are wanting to really take their claimant 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 Hencom. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.

True or false? You know all the words to John Sina's entrance name? No, that's false. Because you dropped that in a promo. Well, wait, well, okay, so are we talking Dr. Thugganomics one? Are we talking news? Because you dropped the doctor of thuganomics. You dropped a random line that nobody picked up on until like days later,

except for John Sino who's standing there in the ring going. Yeah. You know what, though? I almost wonder if Roman did too, because almost his look was almost kind of like, wait a minute. But yeah, and what timing there on that one? Because there was, I didn't even,

I had that line stuck in there for when Sina was around. But for whatever reason, when I used it, it just kind of, it was one of those where it was in my back pocket. Like, I didn't plan to use it there. But it was like, all right, well, if this fits, cool. And then it just came out and I was like, oh, I'm so glad Sina's standing right here. But yeah, I only know that one because it stuck with me.

I think it just came up randomly while I was working out one day. And I heard that line and I was like, that's a pretty good line. So, yeah. The fact that you dropped it there with Sina standing behind you, Cena knew exactly what you were doing too. That was such a cool moment. What were the conversations with John, like, backstage before you went out there? Like that particular time or just in general?

Any of the times. Man, you know what? that is one of the easiest guys to work with everything's simple everything is uh there's not any over complicated uh thought process it's just kind of like hey look we're gonna go out there we're gonna uh we're gonna do our thing it's gonna be this this this cool yeah great wonderful but but beyond that um super easy to talk to super cool super nice uh what my girlfriend was backstage at fast lane and he was like it wasn't like she wanted to meet him hey can i mean he was like can i meet her? And I'm like, yes, absolutely. And she was, like, thrilled that he, like, wanted to meet

because he saw her pass by when she was going to the bathroom or whatever. And so stuff like that. Like, he's just super nice and cool. And, like, I, you know, I wanted to pull him aside and just ask him a couple things and, and more than willing to give me the time and any kind of words that he could give me to kind of direct me one way or the other or anything like that. So just awesome, dude. Your promos have always been on point, but I feel like you going toe to toe with the Ms. stepped it up just a little bit. Yeah.

Like you guys were. Well, and, and, and Ms. Ms. was really bringing it to the point where, like, I remember a couple guys in the back just being like, wow, I feel like this is like best work. Ms. has done in a while. Coincidentally, I felt like it was some of the worst work I'd done in a while. I, I, uh, so, God, I hate pulling the curtain back a lot, but, um, just a little bit. Um, I'm not a good planner.

I like to be off the cuff and I like to kind of just listen and react. But sometimes in these scenarios, when you're doing this, you have to plan a little bit more just because there's so many moving parts and things like that. And people want to know where you're gone and whatever. But in the past, you know, other places I've worked, it's just kind of, all right, well, we're going to go out there. We're going to generally talk about this. Okay, cool. I'll say some stuff. They'll listen to me or react and go back and forth.

And in this case, it was like, now I had kind of like planned canned stuff, but it's like, I don't know, whatever I'm thinking or saying at like 3 o'clock is not going to be the same stuff at 8 o'clock. And so where I should have probably just dropped some of that stuff and just listen and reacted and just shot back that way, it was like, I got to keep this stuck so we got time. And we got the, you know, I got to hit the time and they're expecting this. So some of that, I was just kind of like, ah, this just doesn't feel like, it doesn't feel like my best.

And some of it's happened. But that's also, I think, a bit of the process and still adapting, because I'm still that old school, let's go out and call it out there. Let's go out there and do it on the fly. And let's just kind of, you know, I'm going to listen and react. You're going to, I don't want to know,

and I don't want you to know because I want it to be fresh I want it to be real like I don't want you to already know what I'm going to say because then it's like oh okay I'm going to react no no let it be real and then that way I can really digest what you're saying to me and then just bring it back

so but yeah but at the same time I think that feud in general rivalry whatever you want to call it some people hate the word feud feud so that in general, though, I think helped elevate us both in certain ways because, I mean, I think it brought out a passion in him because I think there are similarities between us, even though I think

we are different, but we have some similarities to us. He was doing some great work. I feel like I was doing some great work at the same time. It was kind of like showing a little bit of adversity because for so long, like I said, I was floundering and I wasn't doing much. And now it's like all of a sudden now there's a little bit of elevation. So, okay, let's show a little bit of adversity. Let's show, here's the guy who is established.

He's been there for a while at the same time. I'm going to get under his skin. He's going to get under my skin a little bit, but at the end of the day, we'd kick his ass. And so that's really what it comes down to. So as long as that happens, we accomplish that, then we're good. I love to seeing people doing up all of your old acting work. It's hot here, by the way.

I've got to get this check out. Just bring the guns out. That's what we're doing here. Oh, my God. I'm sweating. I'm ruining the shot. This was just an excuse to take your jacket off, I'm sure. Don't worry.

I'm not ruining a shot that back. It's okay. Get rid of that. Scoot me back up where I was. I assume I'm back in the right spot. I don't know. It looks good. Sure, why not?

Everyone digging up your old acting work, I thought, was fantastic. I played in a similar space for a long time, so I know what people will tag me when they saw me in various things. People finding... Big marks and everything. It is toasty. People finding you. in commercials.

Take my pants off in a minute. Go ahead. Sorry, I keep cutting. Okay, wow, this is going to turn into a completely different dinner. Yeah, I mean, yeah. People finding you in old commercials and guest spots you did.

Was your dream ever to be an actor? No. It was basically just kind of, wrestling was always the thing. At the same time, I'm thinking, well, if for some reason that happens first, I don't know.

I was like, I'll give that a shot anyway. And it was kind of like, And you're living in the right city for it at that time. Right. So, well, although it actually started in, well, hold on. So I moved to L.A. for the first time in 2006. God did that go bad.

Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong, and I only lasted maybe four months or so. But while I was out here, I did a lot of extra work, background work, stuff like that. So like the background of like Gray's Anatomy, you'll see me walking around or some other stuff. Has anyone found this yet? Yeah. Yeah. I don't know how. My cousin found it like months after it came out.

And I'm like, how? Like, literally, I'm just in, although everybody else is kind of like in the hospital, like walking fast. I made sure just kind of like stroll by slowly looking at my thing to maximize my screen time. You know, I'm really checking my chart. But I'm still like, like it was two, three seconds. I'm like, how did you catch that? But somehow you got it. And after that, when I moved back to Cincinnati where I started wrestling and I'm broke, just things are going terribly.

I get back there, and I'm like, well, what if I just look up talent agencies in the, like, when we still have the yellow books? And so I did that in the phone book. And everyone that had a 513 area code, I caught him, called him, called him, called him. I had a talent agent in Cincinnati. Oh, really? I was with Heyman. I knew Heyman.

Wow. But I didn't go, I didn't, I called Hayman. No, no, no, yeah, different, different thing. I called Hayman talent. Wow. But I ended up with, oh my God, I can't believe I can't even remember the names now. I remember the guy, Peter Condopoulos, he ran it, but I can't remember what the hell the actual talent agency was called now. But anyway, I called this place.

Guy picks up the phone with an accent, and it's like kind of a, I don't know if it's like a British accent or what, something like that, but some sort of European accent. And he's like, well, what are you doing today? And I kind of gave him a description of myself and whatnot. And he's like, well, can you get down here to take some pictures? I was like, yeah. And he's like, okay, cool. Come down here in like 30 minutes. I came down there, took some pictures.

We shot a quick little, just something. I was like slating or something. And within days, I was like a feature in a, it was a commercial for like a local casino resort. And I'm a massage there, just chopping this lady on the back. And I got paid like $500 or something for that. I'm like, okay, cool. Yeah, let's keep this going.

And then I got an Aldi, the grocery store. I got that commercial while I was in Cincinnati. Did you do an Ohio lottery commercial? That is the pinnacle of living in Cincinnati. No, I was in the background of an Ohio lottery commercial. I did a Buffalo Wings and Rings commercial. I played a dad. And I was like, I don't feel like I'm a dad.

I am now, but I wasn't at the time. Oh, yeah. I was 26 or 27, and they cast me as a dad for Cincinnati Hospital. And I'm like, Dad, I feel, I'm too. too young for this. I had a, in that commercial, I feel like, I'm too young for that now,

but I mean, that's ridiculous. I have a kid, and I feel like I'm too young for it. See, there you go. In that commercial, I had an eight-year-old and a six-year-old, and I'm like, this is, and I actually look at them,

I'm like, you could be my children. But I always had an old face, so that was, that was kind of the key. But your face has, it's been the same for like 20 years. I mean that in the best possible way. Well, yeah, but that's the thing.

I caught up to my age. So, like, when I was in ninth grade, I was delivering papers, And I remember some of my people are you're graduating this year. I'm like, I got three years to go still. But I had that older face. When I was 18, I would go out and buy beer and liquor for my friends without an ID because I just, I dressed older.

I looked older. I would go in. They'd be like, I'd be like, I don't have my ID. I'm sorry. My birthday, it's, you know, November 1st, 1977 or something. And they'd be like, okay, yeah, fine. Until my mom, my mom worked at the bank and she saw my debit card, said that I was at the liquor store.

And so she promptly called them and let them know. Wow. Come on, Mom. She ratted me out. But yeah, so, what the hell were we just talking about? I got completely lost and went on attention about my mom rat me out. What's something you auditioned for here in L.A.? Oh, everything.

I was almost the brawny man. I was this close to being the brawny man. I went and did fittings. It was me and one other guy. And when I got there, the fitting was terrible. You're talking about the paper towel? Yes. Yes.

They, I don't know if you noticed, but in the last, it was maybe about seven years ago or so, they changed the look of the guy on the actual packaging. And you only see him from here down, but I know that damn chin because it was me and the other guy. I know his chin. And so we got to the fitting. We were on a veil, all that stuff. These are all industry terms, you know. And I was right there.

And when I got to the fitting, none of the stuff fit. The pants were too small. The shirt was too small. They had a couple different options. You were just too big. Right? I guess. I don't know.

I mean, the other dude was decently sized guy. He was a little skinnier. I don't know. Brawny man. You can't have a skinny, brownie man. Bronny man's supposed to be like Paul Bunyan. Right. But he's got this big ass chin, though.

Like, I think that's really what one. When you see this down, I've got an okay chin and jaw, but this dude had like, he was like jaws from a double O set. So, yeah, that, that, That was probably the closest one I got. Was there any, like, big movie roles that you were close to getting? No. Are you a Red For?

Never anything like that. I mean, I did the Brooklyn Nine-N-N-N-D thing, which seemed like it was going to be a bigger thing. I had a name. You never hear the day. I was Mario, and I was getting married and all this stuff. And I was like, oh, this is going to be great. I got my own trailer.

I'm like, this is amazing. And then I get there and they're like, oh, you know, any lines. You're just kind of, like, facially reacting. And then when you watch the show, I'm there for, like, three seconds. But then it's funny on the flip side, because I've done a, you know, background work and commercials. The things you don't think are going to be big deals, you end up being in them a bunch.

And then on the flip side, the stuff where you're there for two days, you're barely in the movie. Yeah. You're barely in the TV show. Well, and it's weird. I mean, with the acting thing, like I said, that was kind of just like,

for me, the weird thing with wrestling, and particularly WWE, if you can make a name for yourself outside of there, my God, do they love you? And so my thought was, well, damn, If I can't get in this door because I was trying to knock on that door for so long, if I can get big somewhere else and get noticed somewhere else,

maybe finally that'll be my key in. And so that was really my main motivation for doing acting was just, okay, let me do this so that now they can come and kiss my ass. In a good way, whatever way, just in a way where it's like, oh, yeah, come on in. And so, well, yeah, yeah, in a good way. Not kiss my ass. Not kiss my ass, I'm not doing it. Well, maybe.

I don't know if they started paying me, you know, billions of dollars or something. I might be like, I don't need to wrestle anymore. But at the same time, like, I always wanted to be in the ring, again, in a top-notch level. And for me, there's nowhere else to be with WWB. And again, even when I'm in there, it's not just to be there. It's to be at the top of that thing. And so for me, I'm just like, all right, the acting thing wasn't necessarily a dream. or anything that I was aspiring or looking to do.

If it happens, cool, great, that's fantastic. I don't take bumps anymore. Cool. But at the same time, for me, it's like I was doing that stuff to try and get more notoriety to get myself in the door. It didn't work. I just, you know, had to grind away and just, it was wrestling that got me into wrestling.

But still, you know, I was trying to just hit every possible opportunity and avenue. That's actually why I ended up on the hero with the rock, three people watched. I did not ever want to do reality. I never wanted to be in reality TV. For me, that just was not something I wanted to do.

It was not something that was attractive to me. But I was thinking to myself, if I'm on a show with The Rock, maybe there's some way I can, like, form a relationship or any, Steve, all, somebody, whoever would have a show, but here he's got a visible show. I'm like, maybe then that's my way in.

And a lot of people think that that's why I got signed the first time. But incidentally enough, Before we even shot that show, I had, what I think I flew to do the show in Panama, February 17th of 2013. We had a tryout February 1st, second, and third in Tampa, and I was already told I was going to be signed then, but we kept it hush until I went there in July of 2013 to open the PC, the Performance Center for the uninitiated. And, yeah, so my initial plan, I think most people think that's what happened, is I got signed. because of being on the hero, but it actually just,

a bunch of stuff started to happen at the same time. I think a lot of people also don't realize or don't know that you also had a chance to go back to WWE in 2016, 2017, 2018. Was there ever any regret? Yes. Yeah. Yeah, a lot of it.

I had overstayed my welcome. You know what? I didn't over... It wasn't overstayed my welcome, but I had overstayed bad booking. overstayed misuse. I'd overstayed multiple regime changes where I was. Yeah. And so with that being the case, it was just like, man, it was like, start, stop, start, stop. And then when they did throw me the bone and gave me the title, it was like, they still didn't really feature me as like the main

event. And I'm like, well, what is this? This like consolation prize or something. And at that point, I'm just like, all right, I have to leave. I have to go. But the only reason I was staying was because I had been broke for so damn long, and I'm now making good money for the first time. I'd never seen money like this before. And so I'm just like, I can't pass this up. I need this at least for two or three years before I can go and take the risk in my mind

from my first time around that is going back to WWE. And for what I was promised was not, hey, you're going straight to NXT TV. It was, we're going to bring you into the PC. And then you prove yourself and that's because I left with heat the first time. So understandably so, I guess, to a degree. But at the same time, I'm thinking, like, I'm on TV. I'm ready made. I've proven in other places.

I know how to do TV. I know how to do this stuff. Now, look, WW is always different from other places. It's a whole other level as far as like TV production and all that stuff. But not to shoot my own horn. But if you look at what I would do on impact or whatever else, I think that I knew how to work TV above average from most of the people that were there. I know how to work the cameras,

but also interact with the crowd and the house and stuff like that. I think a lot of people struggle with that, especially guys who come from the Indies because they want to go to the crowd or the camera. Some people only do the camera, and then they never look at the crowd or any of that stuff. So it's just finding those balances and stuff like that. So I'm just like, how am I only going to the PC?

But again, it was because just we want to make sure you're a team player, and stuff and whatnot. So finally, when I did make the jump over, there was a little bit of, not necessarily negotiation, but it was just kind of like, all right, like, you know, I knew I was going to have to take a pay cut coming in, but I was willing to take the pay cut on the bet that I can turn it into much more because I had hit the ceiling, basically, in impact. And I had an awesome time at NWA for that little bit that we were able to do it before the pandemic hit. But I knew that I needed to be, although I'm going to tell you, during the pandemic,

2020, I remember having the conversation with my girlfriend and just being like, I got to accept that this thing was just over. And like, nobody's taking me now at 37 or whatever it was at the time. And I just got to make whatever money I can in any of these other companies. And I had been given Triple H's email. and his phone number just before the pandemic started. And I was like, well, what am I going to do with this?

I have no relationship with this guy. Like, I mean, like, we knew of each other. And, like, I had spoken to him, like, once or twice the first time I was at NXT, but, like, I didn't have a relationship where it was like I could just hit him up. And so my relationship was with talent relations. And I'm like, well, I'm probably going to get heat

if I go over their heads. So I'm just not going to mess with it. But then when I was at the point where I'm like, well, this ride's probably over. I was like, well, screw heat. Who gives a shit about heat? I'm messaging. So I was like, hey, look, this is what I've been doing for the last year.

Here's pictures. Here's videos, whatever. And then I just let talent relations know, hey, look, by the way, I sent this email, whatever, just giving me a heads up. And that's where it was just kind of like, well, we got to talk about some things. Whatever. Hit Triple H email you back? No.

So we went through the... The proper channels. Yes. But I have to imagine. that maybe I got the attention, I don't know. Or who knows, maybe you didn't even see it. And it was just me letting TR know that, hey, you know, I did this. And then us kind of having the back and forth of, you know,

it's been three years of start and stop. And like, you said you were coming. Then you weren't. Then you were. Then you weren't. And I'm like, I understand that. There were personal reasons for this, that, whatever. I need to take the money.

But now I'm ready to take the bet. I need to do it now. If I'm ever going to do it, I got to do it now. And so they seem to be kind of appreciative. of my approach and my attitude in that regard. And when we came in, I guess, head writer at NXT, Johnny Russo, seemed to be familiar with my stuff that I'd done

and had seemed more than willing, very, actually, dare I say, a little bit excited at the idea of being able to use me because he was familiar with my stuff. I came in and had my first meeting with Road Dog, sent me a text message a few days before I got in, and they wanted to meet with me. It was me and Road Dog and Johnny Russo

and we sat down in a room, and that was immensely helpful. Because I'm a quiet guy, for the most part. I know it shocks people. But like, especially if I don't know people and for me to be able to just sit down with those guys and just sit and bullshit. But also kind of talk about the creative direction,

it just made me so much more relaxed. And I didn't feel like I was fighting the system coming in from day one, which is what it felt like the first time around. And it's tough to not still get in that, mindset, just being in this business at all, like I'm always feeling like I'm fighting the system. But that helped really ease a lot of things there where I'm like, okay, I feel wanted. The first time around, I was not wanted at all.

And so there was a lot of times where I'm like, why am I here? But at the same time, I'm like, well, I'm going to keep fighting to do this. I'm going to make them want me. And I think I made a lot of people want me, but not the main guy who was given the reports. Yeah. And so we were able to come into NXT and I could just roll in and just be comfortable and do my thing.

God, I just got lost because I don't know where they were coming from or where we were going. You're the definition of if you give me an inch, I'll take a mile. Like, just give me an opportunity. I did not mean it like that. Yeah.

I have kept you here far too long. You have. I feel like we're just getting going. Just taking advantage of my niceness. We're just getting going, but we're going to wrap it up here. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

I was supposed to be 30 minutes. And what is this? I just found a little. Oh, look at that. I will wrap up with the same question I've asked you at the end of every other conversation because gratitude is so important to me and perhaps your answers have changed.

I don't believe in that stuff. That's not true. What are three things in your life that you're grateful for right now? I feel like I give you the same answers. No, you've given me different answers every time. Ever really? Yeah.

All right. I'm sure you will again. But by the way, thank you. Thank you for your time. Thank you for everything. I should even be here right now. Can I just tell a secret right now? It's New Year's Eve.

as we're doing this right now today. Sorry, he's very disappointed that I said that. Sorry, Corey. It is New Year's Eve as we're doing this today. I'm pulling the curtain back. Sorry, guys. I told him I was very busy, and he was like, please. And I said, I can't.

I'm very busy. He said, please. I said, I can't. He said, I'll pay you a lot of money. I said, okay, fine, I'll be there. No, that parts a lie. Most of that's a lie. No, I'm, it's a very busy day today.

I'm about to be a hosting party tonight. You host a great party, by the line. Oh, thank you. Are you going to make it? I'm going to try. It's very difficult. He's got a baby. Seven-month-old little girl.

I know. What are you doing that scenario? It's tough missing bath time. Yeah. I get that. Yeah, I do bath time every night. I hate leaving my puppies, so I get that. It's like that.

It's a human. It's different. Yeah, it's different. But for me, they're like my little children. Herman. What's the other one's name? I've only met Herman. Reese.

Reese. Yeah. Herman's, he's a big ball of love. And Recy, she's very scared, but once you, once you, like, get into her good graces, oh, she's the cuddliest little, like, sweet little eyed puppy ever. Like, she can't get close enough to you. So what am I grateful for? That's where we've gone. I don't, I don't know. I'm grateful to be in L.A. right now. That's kind of cool, because who would have expected? We got to end the holiday tour here. here. L.A. and L.A. Yeah.

Does L.A. stand for something? Why you got to keep asking silly questions? I'm talking about what I'm grateful for right now. So anyway, grateful number one. Grateful to be in L.A. And especially this time of the year, because I haven't been able to be here this time of year, at least three years,

if not longer. Yeah, three years. And I haven't hosted a party in four years. So I'm excited to do that. I'm grateful for tonight's part. How about that? New Year's Eve celebrating everybody pulling the curtain back. They're both angry at me for doing that because this ain't coming out for two weeks or however long. I don't know what's coming up. Anyway, anyway, what else am I grateful for? I'm grateful for my health. I'm in pretty damn good health. You know, I'm banged up and busted up. We had street fights and cage matches and all kinds of stuff on this tour. And this business puts a lot of wear. and tear on your body, but I do my damnedest to take care of it and make sure that I'm in tip top, at least as close as I can be, and make sure that I'm not crippled and hobbling around

everywhere I go. So grateful for being in LA, grateful for tonight's shenanigans and a little shindig that we're going to put on, and grateful for my health and the shape that I'm in. So you've said health every time, but the other two, they've always been interchangeable. Oh, look at that. Appreciate you. Well, should I throw in three, four, and five, and six? Sure. No, I don't want to. My dog's a girlfriend.

All of it. Have three energies. All great. Happy New Year, everybody. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much. Of course.

Good to see you. Should I stand up now and give everybody that crotch shot that they wanted? There it is. There it is, everybody. I was waiting to give you that one. Yeah. All right. I think that's it.

That's it. Good night, everybody. All right. Another huge year is on the way for the Megastar L.A. night. Even though this interview is coming out now, second week of January, I love that we recorded it on New Year's Eve. I love that he broke the fourth wall there during the interview. I'm like, of course, please talk about this. It's fun. But I just feel like us doing it on the very last day of the year was just such a perfect way to recap the 2023 that was for him. I don't, it'd be really tough. It'd be really tough for L.A. Night to top that year because if you think back to where he's started in January and that very wild pitch black mountain dew match that they had at the Royal Rumble, although that was Bray Wyatt's final match, may he rest in peace. But to think of where he started the year, to think about where he's ending the year, to think about the fact that he's in a title

match at the Royal Rumble in just a few weeks here, what a year. And I just can't wait to see how he's going to top this. I feel like there's got to be some gold in there at some point this year. U.S. title? I mean, that's the kind of glossed over that. When I mentioned Logan Paul, I was like, oh, that story is not done. And he's kind of glossed over that. So I feel like L.A. Knight, Logan

Paul, WrestleMania, Ford. That one certainly feels like it's going to happen. Then you got L.A. Knight, U.S. champion. I think that's a thing. I think that's a thing, but could he be the guy? I feel like he could be the world champion at some point this year, but time, my friends, will tell.

And, yeah, I didn't end up making it to his New Year's Eve party, which it's just so tough. I mean, it's so grateful for the invite, but it's so tough with a seven-month-old to be able to go to a party. Her bedtime is like seven. The party didn't begin till 8.30. Of course, the countdown's not till midnight. We also live 45 minutes from where the party was. So all of that's to say, we didn't go. But I did go to one of his Halloween parties when he still lived in L.A. It was a very good time. Also, as we pointed out here, his birthday's on November 1st. I hope that gets corrected on Wikipedia,

but the fun thing about the Halloween party is it's a Halloween slash birthday party. So it's a Halloween party for the first half of the night. And then when midnight comes around, it was so fun. We counted down like New Year's Eve style, 10, 9, 8. And then when it became November 1st, it was immediately into happy birthday and it turned into a birthday party. LA night knows how to throw a fantastic party. hope you enjoyed this episode. Please take a screenshot. Tag us, share it online. We'll share it as well. He's at

Real L.A. Knight. I'm at Chris Van Vleet. And Henry Ford has this great quote, which I will share with you now. And it seems really fitting as we look ahead to 2024 and everything that we have in this year ahead. There's still 350 something days left in this great year. And you can do with them whatever you'd like. But as Henry Ford said, if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. And that, my friends, is powerful. Be great, be grateful. We will see you on the next one for some more insight. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock, but there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley. Whatever happened to Hammer Alley. Whatever happened to Hammer

Allie. 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.