Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Michael Elgin on getting huge, leaving NJPW for Impact, Canadian Mount Rushmore

Episode Date: November 14, 2019

"Big Mike" Michael Elgin sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Chicago, IL. He talks about why he left New Japan Pro Wrestling to sign with Impact Wrestling, working with Brian Cage, his diet and workout routine to get as big as he is, his Canadian Mount Rushmore, how becoming a dad has changed him and much more! My audio equipment provided by Samson Technologies: http://bit.ly/CVVSamson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up, y'all? It's Druski, and I've teamed up with Mountain Dew to produce a hilarious new basketball podcast called The Do Zone with Drewski. Learn the backstories of your favorite ballers and celebrities like Jamal Murray. Did you have like a favorite team? Was it the Raptors at the time or no? Was the Raptors even started around that time? Come on, bro. I ain't that old, Phil.

You're talking like I was 50. Taylor, Roaks, Asian Wilson, and many more. You won't want to miss this. Listen to the Doozone with Drusky on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. What's going on, my friends? This episode of the show is brought to you. you buy Indochino and when you look good, you feel good. If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen some of the suits I've been rocking.

Made to Measure is the way to go, baby. And Indochino is the world's largest made-to-measure men's wear brand. They make suits, shirts, coats, everything else, and it's all made to your exact measurements. So it's a proper fit. When you have to wear a suit, if you have to wear a suit, and you buy one off the rack, it looks like you bought one off the rack because everybody's body's different and the ones off the rack don't quite fit properly.

Indochino's process is simple. You choose the fabric, you pick your customizations, you submit your measurements, boom, two weeks later, your custom suit arrives at your door. You can get measured and design your suit at your nearest Indochino showroom, or you can do it all yourself online at Indochino.com. And right now, you can get $30 off your total purchase of $3.99 or more at Indochino.com. When you enter the code Blue Wire at checkout. Plus, shipping's free.

So there you go. It's Indochino.com. Promote code is Blue Wire. You'll get 30 bucks off your total purchase of $3.99 or more. It's an incredible deal. It's an incredible suit. And you're going to look so good, my friends. Now you really have no excuse to wear clothing that doesn't fit.

Hit the show intro. It's Chrysomania, brother. That's a great question. Look at you. And with the powerful questions. Woo! This is the Chris Van Vleet Show. Chris Van Vleet Show.

Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Ville! Yep, yep, yep. Here we go, my friends. Thank you for tuning in to the Chris Van Fleet Show. This episode's brought to by Indochino, Harry's, and Roman, and there is so much more to Michael Algin than just being an exceptionally large human being. You've heard of a four by four, you know, like in construction.

You've heard of a four by four? Well, Big Mike's like a five by five. I guess more like a five, ten by five, ten. But you get the point. He is a wide man. Wide man. He's also a wise man. You'll see in this interview, but he's a wide man.

And we actually grew up with a kind of a similar path. I grew up 15 minutes away from each other. Just outside of Toronto, I was in a town called Pickering, Ontario. He was just east of there in a town called Oshawa. or the dirty schwa, as we called it. Oh, yeah, if you're from the Durham region, you know what I'm talking about, the dirty schwa. He's three years younger than me,

but we both trained at the same wrestling school, the squared circle in Toronto, Ontario. He completed his training, went on to have the career that he is currently having. I stopped my training after a few months to focus on college, getting my degree in communication studies, then my broadcasting career. But yeah, it's interesting that our paths kind of were woven into each other.

a lot of the same. I was a ring announcer for him a few years after he completed training in Toronto. So it's interesting. We get into all of that. But first, I want to thank you for being part of the show. And part of the show every single week. I'm actually looking to drop the show on the same day every single week. So hit me up on Twitter.

Hit me up on Instagram. Let me know which day you think that should be. I'm thinking Thursday. But let me know what works best for you. Also, thank you for the reviews on Apple Podcasts like this. want to hear from John Fun, who titles as Humility is a Superpower. By the way, I'm going to keep reading one of these every single show. So keep them coming. I appreciate it. John Fun says, you can ask questions and get answers, but this is not what's being done by Chris Van Fleet.

These interviews, about an hour long, are rooted in being able to have a humble and transparent conversation with the person he's interviewing. These interviews cover all aspects of life, the good, the bad, the downright rock bottom times. If you're looking for interviews with substance and information that's relatable, then you are in the right place. This is like diving into the deep end of the pool because there's nothing shallow involved on this show. Wow.

Thank you. That might be the nicest thing someone has written about the show. Jeez. And if you haven't written a review yet and you're thinking of writing one, man, the bar has been set very high now. Thank you for that. Also, thank you to Samson Technologies

for the mics and audio equipment that we use. to make us sound so crisp and clear. Head to samsontech.com. You can see their full lineup there. Also, thank you to Greenroads for sponsoring the show. A big thank you to them. I know a lot of you have heard about CBD over the last little while. You've heard me talk about it quite a bit.

I've had a lot of tweets from you guys asking questions. Someone tweeted me recently and said, hey, is there THC in it? THC, by the way, is the thing, the ingredient in cannabis that gets you high. The answer is no. Green Roads does not have THC in it. If CBD oil is made properly,

it should not have THC in it. Unfortunately, though, a lot of CBD products are not made properly. That hemp extraction process doesn't quite remove it all. But Green Roads is a pharmacist founded company. They have the lab results to back it up. And for me, I mean, the results are very wide ranging depending on who you are and, you know, what's going on in your life. But for me, it's been a lot of like, it's kind of helping like center things.

You know, I've got a lot of different things going on in my life. I'm diving into entrepreneurs. That's not a word, but entrepreneurship. That's the word. And it kind of just helps to go, all right, you've got all these different things going on all. Your brain's going to all these different ways. Here you go. This is just kind of helped you to focus a little bit. Also, recovery after the gym has been really good. The CBD oil under my tongue, the topicles like the muscle and joint relief cream have really helped. And I know you see a lot about CBD, but if you're going to try some CBD products, try green roads because they are a pharmacist found a company. and they are the best. Use my code, Chris 15. You'll get 15% off your order at greenroadsworld.com. Chris 15, you get 15% off at greenroadsworld.com. So Michael Elgin is nothing short of a force to be reckoned with.

The intro to this interview on YouTube just shows how much of a beast he is. His chest, his chest is so big, it's like a shelf. He can balance a shaker cup. like you know like you would shake protein up he can balance a shaker cup on top of his chest uh yeah they call him big mike for a reason uh but aside from his mass and his size he's a hell of a worker um really found his footing in ring of honor also in new japan but he has a new home now in impact wrestling and he's tearing it up uh we cover everything in this interview and if you're not familiar with a lot of big mike's work uh you're going to want to look up so many of his matches after hearing this

please enjoy this chat with Big Mike. Michael Elgin. And every time I see you, I forget how large you are in person. Well, they call me Big Mike for a reason. Yeah, no. And it makes perfect sense. And it's funny because I remember you wrestling. You know, we both grew up very close to each other.

I'm from Pickering. You're from Oswe like 15, 20 minutes away. I grew up watching you wrestle in the Indies. Like blood sweat and ears. I was your ring announcer, I think, a few times. Yeah, I think so. It's crazy, this is all coming, like, full circle. Yeah, you know, wrestling is one of those weird things where you kind of,

everything just goes back around to the beginning. If you stick around in wrestling or around wrestling, you always kind of meet back up. And I think that's one of the big things, you know, I always hear, like, be careful how you treat people on the way up because they're the same people you pass on the way down and stuff. Because you literally, in wrestling, you really, really run into people so many times throughout your career. that you just you want to have a good rapport with everybody and make sure that you treat people with respect so that when this happens it's not like,

oh, look at that dick. So you're like 15 years into your career? November 14th is 16 years since I had my first match. That's insane. Yeah, it's been a long time. It's like you've been wrestling half your life. 100% I've been wrestling half my life. And if you count, if you count training as well,

it's over half my life. because my first day in a training school, I was 14 years old. Which is, I don't even know how it's legal in Ontario. Okay. So the first wrestling school I went to was really shady. Okay. I was like at a WWE event at Skydome and a flyer got handed to me and it was like two-week summer pro wrestling camp, ages 14 and up. I'm like, well, I'm 14.

I have to go to this. And you can learn how to be a wrestler in two weeks? Yeah. Well, it was like an introductory camp, right? So I did the camp. And then after, I'm like, oh, I'd really like to train here still. And he's like, oh, $75 a month a month. Well, $75 a month a local restaurant.

Like, $75 a month is nothing. Of course I'm going to come here. The only thing was I had to take a go train from Oswald to Burlington twice a week to do that. Which, by the way, is very far. Yeah, yeah. It's not far if you're driving now that I'm older. And it's really, it's like maybe an hour and 15 minutes if you're driving. But if you're doing it all the time.

Yeah. On a go train, too, you know, you stop in Toronto at Union Station for, a half hour sometimes and then have to go all the way to Burlington. That's like the last stop. It used to be. I think they've extended it. It's been so many years since I've had to use a go train in Canada. But it used to be the very last stop.

So you're training at 14. I don't think you can wrestle in Ontario until you're 18. Then you're right. But see, this was the way around it. So even after the two-week camp, like I technically had my first match after two weeks of training. What? Yeah, hold on. So the whole deal of the camp was, this is how we made it.

money right the camp was all of us paid i couldn't tell you how much it was it might have been 250 500 i don't remember the price but whatever i did this two-week camp and then after we did like a show for the for the students for the camp students and like you invited your family but because we were under age you couldn't charge them ticket prices but you could charge them a membership fee for the training school which was 10 bucks a month but there's only one show a month anyway so they were still buying a ten dollar ticket and that was the way he got around the commission then and like after two weeks, I went back and watched the match because I have it on VHS tape

and like, I wasn't bad, but I wasn't bad for somebody who trained for two weeks, if that makes sense. You know what I mean? Like, no way, was I good, but I wasn't bad for somebody to weeks, and I think because I was like the only one that did that two-week camp that watched wrestling before the camp.

Like everybody else maybe watched it for maybe that year. It was like, oh, this sounds like a great idea, but I'd watch it literally all my life. So when they were like, do you know a body sound? I'm like, of course I know. body slam. I've watched wrestling forever. And then there's other kids like, how do you pick somebody off of a body slam? I'm like, I've never been shown in this, but I can definitely pick you up in a body slam.

So like, that was how it all started. So technically, if you wanted to count that match, but I don't. I count my first real match in Michigan when I was 16 in 2003. But if you count that, I technically started my career in 2001. At 14, were you still built like a human bowling ball like this? So I was definitely thicker than everybody else at 14. but up until 13, I was like 300 pounds of fat. Okay.

So up until then I was like 300 pounds of fat, and then I went to high school. One, obviously, you know, you're a fat kid. You're going to get picked on a little bit. But number two, I knew right then that first year when, I think it was a summer before going into grade nine actually. But still, it was like, I need to diet. And I actually went on like the Atkins diet when I was 13 and stayed on it for like an entire year and got down to like 190 pounds.

Wow. But I was working out at the same time, too. So I think that accelerated the loss of the weight. But it also gave me some muscle. So like at 14, I definitely didn't look like a normal 14-year-old because I went from 300 pounds of fat to 190 pounds of muscle. Did you have the sweet mullet back then too? No.

The sweet mullet was much earlier than that. I actually started growing long hair then. Okay. Because I knew. If you want to be a rustling. Yeah, you had to have long hair. You had to work out. And that was pretty much it.

but you did have the mullet throughout, you know, a lot of your career. I did. And the reason why was because I was a huge Dr. Desty Williams fan. And it always looked like he had a mullet. So I was like, I'm definitely going to cut of a mullet. And at the time, nobody had a mullet. So, like, maybe that's something that can stand out. So I definitely did have the mullet for a while.

So you found a home now in Impact Wrestling. Yep. You could have landed, you know, anywhere. You could have stayed in Japan. What made impact, you know, make sense for you? Well, I felt like I had done everything that I was. was going to be allowed to at this point in my career in new japan meaning sometimes you know and and i've said this before and people took it as derogatory and it's not not to new japan not to the talent

but it's one of those places where when a new toy comes uh that's what they're fixated on you know what mean it's like a kid who has all these toys and then somebody brings a new toy to the play like that's the new toy for a couple months after that he might go back to the original toys and that one lost this meaning to him. But New Japan was a lot like that. And for a lot of the guys that they did that with, like Moxley, for instance, and I wasn't there when he came in, but he came in won the U.S. championship. Obviously, he's going to attract a lot of fans because of his run in W.B.

And he's very popular and he's very talented. And there's no doubt that you shouldn't put that platform. But the thing is, anybody who comes into that position often gets that treatment. Right. Like Al Fantasmo came in. He won the Super Juniors. He was the new toy. You know what I mean?

So they do that with these guys, no matter what. And I was like, man, sometimes they forget. Like, I've been here and I was that guy, but I'm still that guy. Like, I came into the 2015 G1 with no plans moving forward. And by the second last night of the G1, they're like, oh, I think we want you to come back to tag league and tag with Tonahashi. I'm like, what? He's like, yeah, yeah, like team with Tanashi.

I go, no, I know what you said, but like Tanahashi is your superstar. Like, he's the biggest baby face. and you brought me in as a heel. They're like, yeah, Japanese people love you. Like, I think you're going to team with our biggest baby face. I'm like, okay. So, like, I was in that position. So as a performer, you're definitely not going to say anything about that.

But in the same token, I'm like, I'm actually better than the wrestler I was in 2015. And I just felt like I was wasting, I was treading water. You know what I mean? I got some opportunities, but not enough. And then I was like, you know, I think it's time to make a move. And if I ever want to go back to Japan, I think that door will be open because I am successful. here and luckily I've connected with the fans and I just sat back and I watched and I'm probably in a matter of a month I watched a year of TV of like every wrestling company and I was like I love

Impact Wrestling. They really focus on the sport of it. You know there's a couple things like the Rosemary and Sue Young storyline that's a little out there but for the most part the women the men are all fighting for a chance at the championship and to me in any kind of sport you know if you're a basketball player, you want to win the NBA finals. If you're a hockey player, you want to win the Stanley Cup. If you're a football player, you want to win the Super Bowl. And wrestling, if you're a wrestler, I think you should want to win the championship. And I felt that their TV, their focus was on that.

Even though there was like the sub things that people are fighting about, if you win that, they automatically go, well, I want to be champion. And to me, that talks about the sport of wrestling. And as somebody who excelled their career in Japan and was always a fan of Japanese wrestling, that sport aspect is what I crave and what I want. When I wanted to be a wrestler growing up, it wasn't, it wasn't, I didn't want to be Holkogen. I didn't want to say, brother, I didn't want all the showmanship.

I wanted to be, at that time, you know, Randy Savage or Ricky Steamboat or the British Bulldogs or Rockers. And moving forward, I wanted to be the Brett Hart or the Sean Michaels. And then I watched Japanese wrestling. I wanted to be the Kabashis and then Masawas of the world. So, like, I always wanted that athleticism and that sport aspect. and I really thought that impact was the best place that was put in that in the fore. I'm loving this chat with Big Mike.

Hope you are too. Quick time out to thank our sponsors. This episode is brought to you by Harry's, and humans have been shaving for thousands of years. And a secret to a great shave, I mean, it really hasn't changed much. The ancient Greeks didn't need flex balls or heated handles, and neither do you. That's why Harry's doesn't overcharge for gimmicky features if they add to their razors.

They focus on delivering what actually matters when you're shaving. Sharp, durable blades at a fair price. And in my last TV job, it was like mandatory that I had to be clean-shaven on TV every single day. And I'm one of those guys who likes to look to stubble grow in a little bit, like two, three, maybe four-day growth. And I got an email for my boss, and she says, hey, you're going to be clean-shaven on the show tomorrow, right? And I'm like, well, yeah, I'm going to have to start shaving every day. I don't want this to cost a fortune. That's actually when I started with Harris.

It's quality durable blades. I mean, it's two bucks a blade. And they've cut out the middle, man, because they manufacture their blades in a German blade factory that's been honing precision for a century. Blade refills are delivered directly to your door on schedule, whether or not you have a subscription.

And there's no risk. So if you don't like the razors, let them know. They'll give you a full refund. And if you listen to the Chris Van Vlead Show, you can redeem a Harry's trial set at harries.com slash blue wire. You'll get a weighted aerogynum handle for a firm grip, five blade razor with lubricating strip and trimmer blade,

rich, lathering shave gel with aloe, keep your skin hydrated, and a travel blade cover to keep your razor dry and easy to grab on the go. So go to harries.com slash blue wire so you can start shaving better. Now, it's also brought to you by Roman, and talking about erectile dysfunction is not easy. I mean, guys are usually like, ah, it's fine, everything's okay. I just, I lost my mojo, or, you know, I just had a really long day. But with Roman, it is easy to talk about it.

With a real doctor who can prescribe real medication, it's simple, it's safe, and it's totally distributed. And with Roman, you get a free online evaluation and ongoing care for ED, all from the comfort and privacy of your own home. The doctor will work with you to find the best treatment plan, and if medication is appropriate, Roman's going to ship it to you with two-day free shipping. The whole process is straightforward, it's simple, and most of all, it's discreet. Getting started is super simple. Just go to getromen.com slash blue wire, and you can complete your online visit there. Arectologist's function used to be tough to tackle, but now there's Roman.

We can get a complete online visit today and connect with the doctor. and take care of all of this without the awkwardness of adoptive office. So just go to get Roman.com slash bluewire to get a free online visit and free two-day shipping. That's get roman.com slash blue wire for a free visit to get started. Getroman.com slash blue wire. And then when you debuted, you were right into the title picture. Yeah, you know, I lucked out. I had known Scott D'Amour for years being from Canada.

I had known Don Callis and got to know him very well because, one, we are both Canadian. And for whatever reason, you're in a foreign country like Japan and you see another Canadian, you just kind of strike up a conversation become friends. It's true. But he was the commentator in New Japan, and we just got a rapport, and he really enjoyed commentating my matches. And when he knew that I was looking for something else, he was like, well, we'd love to have you at impact as me and Scott.

And when he brought that up, I was like, okay, you know, that's obviously a possibility. And then that's when I went back and watched everything. And it was just amazing. And then coming in, you know, they had hide hopes because they had seen how, one, how hard I worked and how important everything is to me. And they've seen me live wrestling 24-7 because even before coming here, you know, Don would ask me a question or I'd be asking him questions. And we'd text all the time just about wrestling. And he's like, what are you doing? It's like, two o'clock in the morning.

I'm like, ah, I'm watching some tape because I couldn't sleep. He's like, oh my God, what are you doing? So he just knew that I, that's all I cared about outside of obviously my family obligations and everything. But, like, wrestling is a true passion and something I love so much that I think they saw that I could do something at the top of the card here. Well, and you can match up physically with the current champion, Brian Cage. And I think that's obviously very important. Yeah, for sure. I think that is definitely a factor.

And I think I'm much different than everybody on the roster. in the sense of how I wrestle. So I think that also gave them a different feel of what Brian Cage was up against. You know, I know that he did some stuff with Killer Cross prior to me coming in, and, you know, Killer Cross is a very physical opponent and large, but I just feel that his style offers something much different than mine,

and it was going to give Brian a much different test than what he had before I got here. Did you feel like when you were coming up in the Indies, you know, in and around the Toronto, area in the northern United States, did you feel like you would hit a wall where you're like, I should be getting these breaks? I'm seeing some of my friends getting these breaks and I'm not getting them. You know what? No. And the only reason I say that is when I came up, my friends weren't getting breaks because in Canada it was almost like a black hole. So when I was coming up,

I was actually getting a lot of the breaks that they didn't solely because I was willing to drive. Wow. Yeah. That's all it took. Honestly God. So this is going to and maybe it might have happened differently so for instance um myself and another wrestler Ashley six who you had said you kind of yeah I know some training experience with yeah I became great he was known as ash at the time yes I became great friends with him through MSN messenger okay yeah yeah but we would hop in a car and like we would just drive everywhere I mean that's how my first match ended up being in Detroit I heard him talking to the training school and he's like uh what time we're meeting this weekend I'm like I'm sorry I overheard you guys say anyway

going to Detroit. Like, I'd love to come if possible. They're like, yeah, hop in the car. I didn't know I could even wrestle because I was 16 in Ontario. We had an athletic commissioner showed up, and they're like, uh, the four of you were together. Yeah, go have a four way. I'm like, oh, shit, okay.

Like, I took gear because I knew better, but I didn't think I was actually going to wrestle. But we just drove everywhere. And then I remember in 2006, he got an opportunity to go to Minnesota for a weekend. And he asked me if I wanted to go. I said, of course, right? Uh, we drove up. I ended up wrestling BJ Whitmer. and Jimmy Jacobs that weekend.

And because they enjoyed wrestling me, they had put in a word at IW. Mid-South. Ian Rotten called me, brought up me and Ash. We wrestled there for a couple of years. There I met Delirious. Delearous took over the booking of Ring of Honor. I contacted Delearous. He said, come do this tryout.

I got a job there. Through Ring of Honor, I met New Japan. I got a job to New Japan. Through New Japan, I met Don Callas. And then I came to impact. So, like, it's weird. My career path could have had that same route

without making the drives without doing that stuff but then I know people who started before me during my time or shortly after who never had that drive to just get out there and appear at shows whether it was going eight hour drive one way to set up chairs

and to introduce himself to somebody to not get booked to drive eight hours back home and they're still in Ontario not doing anything with their career I think the thing is you made the commitment you went all in on wrestling and I think a lot of people go wrestling is that thing I do

do Friday to Sunday, but I got to focus on this job because that pays the bills. Yeah. And again, I was lucky that I started so young that I still had my family around to help me out. And it's not for everyone. Like as running a wrestling school, I tell my students, I go, this is my career path.

Now, I know nobody here is 14 or 16. And I know you all have bigger responsibilities, but know that it's going to take at least, you know, on a Friday instead of your buddies from college wanting to go out, you're going to have to go to a show with somebody in the school that is booked to introduce yourself. And I definitely

had a lot of possibilities due to being so young and I still had a family there to support. I mean, I was working part-time jobs the whole time, don't get me wrong. And I had my own money. But if I was ever in real danger of not having money or, let's say, a car broke down, you know, at 16, you don't really have enough money if your car breaks down and the stays to pay for it. So luckily, I still could reach out to my family and do that kind of stuff. And that wasn't something that I did very often. But if I ever needed to, at least that that was there for me so I could take those chances well there's going to be some people watching this or listening to this in the st louis area so you know let them know about your school

uh yeah uh I run a wrestling school in St louis and if anybody's in that area or even close you might have heard to the lent brewery uh every year they have like um the haunted houses and stuff but anyway it's in that in that lent brewery there there's some industrial spaces and we rent one out and we have a training class so if you're interested in being a pro wrestler you can you know follow me on twitter at michael logen 25 or email me email me email me at elgin bookings at gmail.com and uh come see if you want to be a pro wrestler and here's the thing there's a lot of people that are watching this that are listening to this that want to be pro wrestlers you got to go to a school where someone's actually been there yes that that's actually you know

had a cup of coffee there and and you know i find that something where i definitely have trained students from the ground up and that's my favorite because they don't ever have any bad habits But I am a school where a lot of people have had prior training from somebody that might not know as much as I do or gotten, you know, the opportunities that I've had end up coming to train with me to further their training because they see some of those students that are trained from the ground up out there and getting opportunities that they haven't gotten yet. And that's just because, you know, everybody teaches in a different style, not to downplay any other schools, but obviously in any aspects of life, there is better schools than not. Sure. Of course, right? What's the biggest mistake that you see from someone who's been trained somewhere else? I hate to say it as a mistake.

I like to look at it as... Like a teachable moment. Yeah, like my big thing is there's optimal ways of doing things. And a lot of the prior training I see out of people, they don't have the optimal ways of doing those things. They have a very basic understanding. And sometimes that basic understanding comes from. from so far in the past that it doesn't adapt to today's wrestling. Sure.

So there's a lot of little changes like when wrestlers do stuff back in the day, simple holes that we do now were very over-exaggerated, for instance. And that over-exaggeration doesn't fit in 2019 because now everybody knows the origins of what pro-wrestling is. Back then, you got to think about it. I mean, when UFC came out in 1993, was it? I think so. I was like, what is this? But for real, because you didn't know,

and you had heard that pro wrestling came from real sport, but even then, like, I mean, I knew if somebody said, yeah, this holding pro wrestling came from judo. I was like, I've heard of judo before, but I'd know clue what judo was. And now we live in a time where everybody knows what that is because of the popularity of mixed martial arts. Now everybody knows what jih Tzu is, what karate is,

what judo is, what judo is. Even more so amateur wrestling. I mean, I remember when my school got amateur wrestling in whatever year it was. I was grade seven, so I would have been like 11. And I was like, wrestling, of course I want to do this. I had no clue what it was. But it was wrestling, and I loved pro wrestling.

So I was like, I got to do this. But now everybody knows what that is. So doing those over-exaggerations that were formerly there in pro wrestling don't fit nowadays. And as you said, I've been very lucky and fortunate. I was in Ring of Honor when they had really, really great shows and a lot of steam. And it's not that they don't have great talent or great shows now. I just feel that then, you know, you're Kevin Steens, your Chompas, your Adam Coles.

I was in that platform of people with Ring of Honor. So there's so many eyes on it that I got in the mix of things. And I went to New Japan before AJ left, before, you know, the club left, before Shinskei left, before Kenny left. I've been able to wrestle all these people and learn from some of the best in the world that now I can pass that on to my students and I'm in a position where not a lot of people that run schools are in. That's so true. Did you have a point in your career where you were like, WWE is what I want to do?

You know what? Maybe before 95? Before you started wrestling. So yes, because 95, I started watching Japanese wrestling prior to that. In 1992, my friend got a satellite dish. You probably remember, Canada was only like a WWF territory. You turn on TV. You couldn't find anything but WWF if you were a wrestling man.

And in 92, my friend got a satellite and he got a WCW pay-per-view. And they had used Hase, Hashimoto, Dr. Dusty Williams, and Terry Gordy. And it was just so much different than anything I saw. Like, it was so much different. I was like, this looks real. Like, I still kind of think wrestling is real because I'm six or seven. But this looks so much different than when I'm watching.

There's no showmanship. It just looks like a fight. And I was obsessed with it. So in the next couple of years, we started getting catalogs of Japanese pro wrestling tapes and we'll start buying tapes. And then I was just infatuated with Japanese wrestling. And even then I was like, you know, W.F would be cool,

but I really want to go to Japan. Wow. And then I started wrestling training, and Ring of Honor was the big thing. And that same friend that got a satellite dish, I told them that one day I would be a Ringabonner World Champion. So, like, I kind of, yeah, I really did. Wow.

We literally go back and ask him, and I said, like, Rang Mard is great. I remember we sat there. We watched Daniels, Low Key, and Danielson, the first main event of the first show, and I was blown away by it. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen. And I said, I'm going to wrestle there, and I'm going to be their champion. I didn't say that right then the champion.

The champion came a little bit later because they didn't have the championship at the first show. But I said I wanted to wrestle there. And then when I brought a championship in, I remember seeing Loki lose it to John Xavier. And I was like, I'm going to be Ringman and Champion one day. So, like, I kind of had set it out that, like, I wanted to go to Ring of Honor. I wanted to wrestle Japan. It would be cool to make it to the WWE one day. But, like, that wasn't what my main goal was.

My main focus was, as I said, go back. To me, Ring of Honor and Japan had that similarity of they focused on the sport and the athleticism of what I love. And that's what I like. You know, I mean, it's great to be able to talk. It's great to be able to wear flashy stuff and do, you know, storylines and stuff like that. But to me, you know, the true art form and the true beauty of pro wrestling comes from the athleticism that's in the ring to make people think differently about pro wrestling, even though when they know what it is.

If I can for one second make them think like, man, this pro wrestling stuff, I know maybe it's not like mixed martial arts, but when Big Mike does it, it looks like he's really hurting people. To me, that's a huge compliment. Yeah. That makes me feel like I'm doing my job. And that's just, I like watching that as a kid. Like I just said, Dr. Death and Terry Gordy, I thought they were killing people. I was like, this is a fight. That attracted me.

So that same attraction is what I want people to feel when they watch me. Well, you have a crazy intensity in the ring. And you know what? I really, really say that that's solely from watching Japanese wrestling. And I say that because, one, if you watch who my favorite wrestler of all time is Kentukabashi. If you watch him, I often, even my class will pull up a picture of Kentukabashi, just him standing there in the ring. And I said, what do you think he's feeling right now?

And they always answer correctly because through his body language, you can tell what he's feeling. And there's nobody else in the pictures. It's just him. You know, it's a solo shot of him and let's say his opponent's over in the corner or whatever. You only see him in the middle of the ring.

And I say, what is he doing right now? He's angry. Or like, what is he doing right now? Always hurt. I'm like, that's what pro wrestling is. It's a body language is a facial expression that shows people what you're feeling in that moment.

So that plus, between the ages of, eight and 14 never heard of lick of Japanese in my life and they're only speaking Japanese so all I can tell is what they're showing me with their body language. That's true. So that intensity is something that I really was drawn to because I did not understand

a word that they were saying when they were talking backstage. I didn't understand a word during commentary. So I just had to deal what they were feeling through their body language and that's really what brought it out to me. So talk to me about the culture shock when you get to Japan. Obviously, you know, some of the other wrestlers might speak English, but the

country as a whole must be so different. Yeah, see, and I've been asked this question so many times. And of course, things are different, but the culture shock wasn't there for me for the simple reason that, like, before I ever went, I was like, I want to wrestle in Japan. I love Japan. Because I wanted to wrestle there, I would, I would like look up things in Japan. So you spoke a little bit of Japanese? Not really spoke. I could understand a little bit.

I still can't really speak very well in the Japanese. And the only reason is over there, it's hard. to find somebody who's super fluent in both Japanese and English to learn from. Back home, I would be gone there so long that when I come home, I just want to be with my wife and kid that it's hard to get a tutor. So, like, I know to speak a little bit, and then I can understand a lot more than I can speak. But just, like, even that, because I was so engulfed with the wrestling aspect, like, I'm

a weird creature, and what I mean by that is we go there. And if I'm over on that tour with a bunch of other foreigners, they're like, oh, we're going to check out this castle today. I'm like, I got to go to the gym and come back and watch some matches because we have a match tonight and I want to get some, I just want to be in the group. And they're like, you're in Japan. I'm like, yeah, you know, I'll come to Japan one year when I don't have to wrestle and check all that stuff out. Student of the game. Yeah, like, and that's just who I am and what I do.

Like this morning, I woke up and did an hour of cardio at 7 a.m. here at the hotel. And, like, I put some wrestling on my phone and just watched that for the hour while I did my cardio. And that's just I feel that being a wrestler and being at a high school. high level you have to do this 24-7 what you watched this morning well i watched marfuji against miahara at all-japan uh champion carnival 2018 and then i watched a recent tag from um big japan which was okabiyashi and erie against the astronauts wow yeah so how do you call a match with someone who doesn't speak the same language uh wrestling is a universal language it is yes but that's the best way i can put it so when you

You say clothes line? Do they understand that? They understand, but there's body languages. And, like, we have a weird thing. Like, if I lift my foot up, but I'm my sides to you and I do this, I know it's a super kick. Sure. Or if I lift my foot up straight and do this, I know it's a kick. And if I go, I'll form you.

As soon as I do that, we understand. So, like, that's where it becomes a universal language. Because we're all kind of have our weird body language as we talk stuff. You know, it's like, as a wrestler, if you ever find yourself in a locker room or something, you'll see people doing that. It's kind of like, it's our own little thing. It's like a bi-language. It's like, ah, you know, I'll do this, and then you know that or this and that.

What if you have a big spot, though? Like, I don't know how to explain it. It's just, I've never had a communication issue between Mexico, Japan. How do you tell someone what your finisher is? Because it's like, you got to set them up for it, obviously. Yeah, I just say, I do, he speak like really slowly and, you know, power bomb and just motion it. As I said, that's where it comes in. Wow.

The body language is like as soon as I can do this and pick them up like this, they're like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Like, it's just, it's a universal language. We always have this weird, like, body language thing we do when we talk about what we're going to do and everybody understands it. It is, and you touched on it there. It's the funniest thing when you're backstage at a wrestling show, whether it's impact, whether it's an indie show, whatever. It's just two guys that are, okay, and then, yeah, yeah, 100%. It's doing this weird dance to each other. And when you're really familiar with somebody, you're, like, not even saying full words and you're not even, like, doing full body language.

It's like, I'll do, like, this one. and then maybe that one. Like, it's like half-ass, but you totally understand what the other person is saying when you wrestle each other a bunch of times. Yeah, it's a crazy thing. How much has changed for you professionally

since becoming a father? You know, the biggest thing is that I don't wrestle for myself anymore. I wrestle for my son. You know, what I mean by that is I'm even more driven to have great matches so that maybe he is a wrestling fan and wants to appreciate that I was a wrestler, or maybe he wants to be a wrestler. And if I'm a very talented performer, then he's going to, you know,

maybe want advice from me if I'm at the top of my game. And any opportunities I get, you know, I went to Japan recently, and it was a big match for a different company outside of New Japan, and they made, like, a T-shirt just for that sole match and everything like that. So, like, being a top guy here and being at the front and stuff, center of the pay-per-view t-shirt like i get to get that and put it away for when he's older and stuff like that so i think that's the biggest thing is like i really just focus on wrestling for my son and uh it really stops i was never like a big ever i shouldn't say that ever since probably

2010 when i really started making the living and and trying to trying to get into a better position at ring of honor i wasn't really a drinker or anything like that but um even those rare occasions where we'd go out and have a couple drinks, I really, well, go out with the boys, but I won't want to spend money on drinks and stuff. So those are the two biggest career-wise is, you know, when you're on the road, you're kind of a little bit more like, I don't need that here, I don't need that here.

And then my performance is, I think, I want this to stand the test of the time so that my son can be proud of me growing up. Does your time management now have to change since you have a family? You know, yes and no And as I said I'm a very like goal orientated person so like

My time management was always like Okay, when do I eat? When do I work out? When do I sleep? When do I get on the road? Right? So that's always been That way and my wife luckily she used to wrestle

And understands that And she also is a very avid gym goer So it's not a struggle to be like, hey, you know, I'm going to go to the gym for two hours. I'll be back, you know? She's like, yeah, no problem when you get back. Can I go? Like, yeah.

Dude, do you work out for two hours? At least, yeah, usually. So my days are when I get to be home are usually pretty similar. Okay. So it's 530. My alarm goes off. I get up in the car as soon as possible, get to the gym and do an hour of cardio. And this is fasted cardio.

Yeah, fasted cardio. Then from the gym, I go to tanning. I tan. I get home. and I usually try to fast until one. You tan every day? Yeah, every day at like 7 a.m. No, no, I'd tan tan too.

Oh, really? Yeah, this spray tan is just for pay-per-view tomorrow. Okay. But I tan every day. And again, I don't need to, but like, when I grew up, wrestlers were... This is the routine. Jacked. They were tanned.

You know what I mean? Like, that was just wrestling to me. And not to downplay anything. I know there's a lot of conversations about how wrestlers should look and stuff. And I'm not against somebody being smaller. I'm not against somebody being chubby. I'm not against somebody. If you're talented, you're talented.

But for me personally, the wrestling that I love is like watching 1989 British Bulldogs in Japan just come out all jacked and tan. I'm like, these guys look like freaks in the best kind of way. So like that's just my routine. And then, you know, I get home. And if it's my son only goes to school three days a week right now. So if he's home, we play all day. If not, I'll go to the gym before I even eat my first meal. I'll, you know, get some stuff ready.

Back to the gym. Yeah, so I'll get some stuff ready. Around 10, I'll go back to the gym because right now with intermittent fast. My first meal is 1 p.m. So if he's at school, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, if I'm home on a Friday, definitely Mondays and Wednesdays. I'll go to the gym around 10, finish up around 1, and then I'll have my shake, and then I'll start my eating for the day. And then the rest of the day is just hanging out with them. So that's like every day.

You're eating windows 1 to 9? Yeah. So an 8-hour window? Yeah. Wow. But I eat a lot. In a lot of people that are doing intermittent fasting, and they think during that window they can eat pizza and chicken wings and burgers.

Like you're eating somewhat healthy stuff. Yeah. So like if I lift fasted, I'll eat, you know, a quote-unquote cheat meal after the workout. So if it's a day where I didn't train lift-fasted, then it's just straight like regular food. So for instance, the fridge in the hotel here, I got ground turkey and green beans, ground turkey, green beans and rice, some chicken and some rice, and some chicken. So, like, that's my normal kind of food. Yeah, okay.

But then, for instance, today I lifted chest, fasted, and I wanted some cheeseburgers after. So, like, I grabbed some cheeseburgers because I just did an hour of cardio, then I went and trained chest. It's okay to have those extra calories then. Right. But, as I said, that might be twice a week when I do lift weights fasted. Other than that is strictly healthy. The first time I had seen you again, I mean, I'd seen you a lot through your career. but saw you again was when you debuted for impact.

And I thought, my God, like you're shredded now. You're always a big dude, built like a power lifter or a linebacker. But now you're like shredded. What was the change there? The big change was keto and starting to train more like a bodybuilder than a power lifter. So is it one body part a day? Yeah. And it mixes like one body part a day.

sometimes if I felt like I needed a body part twice a week I would throw it in with something for instance to say my shoulders or I don't like the way my shoulders are building maybe I'll do chest and shoulders and then back and biceps legs and then I'll go back to shoulders you know what I mean so I try to keep it like that and I was doing I would only take a day off if I was sore so I had a six day routine which was you know chest back legs shoulders arm deadlifts and then legs again.

So I'd hit legs twice a week. And sometimes day seven would be off. But if I felt rested and felt good, I would just start back to day one right there. So I just changed like the way I lifted and what I lifted and went on keto. And keto was great for me for that. What made you decide you needed a change? I knew that I wanted to move my career from Japan to the United States.

And in Japan, it's like the bigger you are, whether you're lean or not is kind of cool. and in the States is a little different, you know, and a little different of, in Japan you go over there and you're a really thick guy, you're different. You're really thick foreigner, you're different. You're here, and especially even in wrestling, there's a lot of dudes who are just big dudes who wrestle or look on the street, you know.

You go to the middle of nowhere Tennessee, there's 16 farm boys in the crowd that are big, thick white boys, you know what I mean? And it's just, I needed a different look. if I wanted to really focus back in the United States. So how long do you think it took to kind of start to achieve the look you were going for? You know what? This is going to sound like real cocky, but like I remember it was March of 2018.

And I said, you know what? I'm going to change. And I went, I had like three months off of Japan. And I went back and I was shredded and everybody was like, what the, What happened? I just did keto and train differently. And it was, so it was like three months-ish,

that really transformed my body. But again, when I was powerlifting, I would eat so many carbs. Like, I mean, every meal would be rice or potatoes or I'd make,

like, wheat pancakes or something. There was always such heavy carbs and being on that for so long, and then going to where you're really depleting the carbs. And even with the keto, like I didn't do, oh, I need food.

fats, I'm going to have some slices of bacon. I need some fats. I'll have some fish, I'll have some avocado, or some nuts or something like that, rather so than going to like the old style of Atkins, which was like, I can eat a pound of bacon, and I'm not going to gain anybody way because it's just fat. So I was eating healthy fats and everything, and it really worked. With all the matches you've had in your career, are there still people you want to work with? Yeah, you know, tomorrow is actually a really big one for me.

I've really wanted to wrestle Marfuchi And it goes back to that love of Japanese wrestling And really that love of Noah and Ring of Honor When they were working together, Mar Fuji I remember everybody was kind of big on the Kenta bandwagon And I was like, nah man, Mar Fuji's the one And I was supposed to wrestle him in 2013 For Ring of Honor and he had gotten hurt

Before he was supposed to come for that show So I never got to wrestle him So he was like the one that was kind of floating there The other one was Sakimoto and I just wrestled him in big Japan in August. And right now, the one that's gotten away was Kota Ibushi. Like, we both have been wanting to wrestle each other. As a matter of fact, there was a pitched idea for myself, Kenny, and Abushi to have a three-way at wrestle kingdom.

Wow. And for whatever reason, they didn't want to do it because Ibushi really wanted to wrestle me. And Kenny had always liked wrestling me. So we were like, oh, we got to have this three-way. Like, it would be insane. And there's not a lot of three-ways in New Japan. Yeah. And then the three of us who understand three ways and can do all this crazy stuff, it's going to be awesome.

So, like, right now I think like a boo-shey's that. That's possible. That's totally possible. It is, but it isn't. And it isn't because I've left New Japan and he's kind of strict New Japan. He doesn't really do a lot outside of New Japan. So that's where it is possible, but I don't see it possible in the near future. Right.

So that's all. So you have a lot of control over your character and what you do with impact? Yes. Yeah. I've heard a lot of people say that that's the reason they really enjoy impact. Yeah. I enjoy that too. And like,

I don't mind. Like, if I'm Michael Elgin and they give me an idea and it's good towards who Michael Elgin is, it's great. But like,

I can't, I've been wrestling for 16 years. I'm comfortable with who I am. And not that I don't like to be out of my comfort zone because I do. You know, that kind of, I think that makes you excel at

what you do if you're out of your comfort zone. What I mean by that is I know who I am. And if I know who I am, I can show other people who I am. But if you give me something that I don't really think I am and I try to be that, it doesn't come out as like, oh, he's that. It's like he's Michael Elgin playing that.

And that's not relatable to anybody. So I think it's great here because they know who Michael Elgin is. They know the Michael Elgin that I've become over years of experience, years of trial and error. And anything that they do have to say to me, is to help me be a better Mike Oggen, not be who they want me to be. Right. Where did Unbreakable come from?

Honestly, I was the Canadian crazy horse, and I went to Ring of Honor, and Jim Cornett didn't like the nickname. And he's like, he had a list of nicknames, and they were all shitty. And I was like, these suck. Like, let me think of something. And I just started, like, thinking, what would be cool, what would be cool? And I was, like, flipping through the channels. As I was thinking of names and the movie Unbreakable was on, I was like, Unbreakable, wait, that would be a pretty sweet nickname for pro wrestling.

Like, let's do that. That was it. Yeah. Wow. And I was forced to think of something quick because, like, well, you can't be kidding. We need to give you something else. And here's a list of nicknames. I was like, this is like, it's like.

Tell us one of the nicknames. I can't even remember, but it was like, you ever hear like Stone Cold like talking about that, like the same thing? And then his wife said Stone Cold. And he was like, oh, that's much better than the bullshit. They're giving me. It was like the exact same situation. They were just terrible. I wish I had the list somewhere because it was God awful.

And it's not even that I don't think he's creative or was creative at that time. I just think it was one of those things. We need to change his nickname. Let's just put a bunch of nicknames down. Like I think that's just what happens in wrestling. I think if people actually sat and thought about those type of nicknames that they give people to pick from, they're like, oh, these suck. Like even they would think they suck. But it's time like a time crunch thing.

Like it's Monday and TV's Friday. Like we need him a new nickname by Friday. Let's just write down whatever we see and pitch it to him. And hopefully he likes one of them. But I really think if it was like, okay, we got six months to come up with this. And then they look at that first draft. They'd be like, what was I thinking? Because he's terrible.

Because there's no way people can actually think of any other. But when you're breaking into the business and you're trying to come up with a ring name to begin with, you've got months and months and months to figure it out. Exactly. Exactly. So you kind of hammer out. And true story, I had. maybe an hour to figure out my name.

Why? Because I had, like, been playing with names, but then you find out, like, you can't wrestle to your 18, and I'm 16, and I'm thinking, like, oh, I got plenty of time. Yeah, I got plenty of time. Then I go to Michigan at 16, and all of a sudden, I'm booked,

and I'm like, what's your wrestling? I'm like, uh, and I did, uh, but your real name's Aaron. Real name's Aaron. That's not a bad. Middle name is Michael. Okay. Street I grew up on was Elgin Street.

This is like the porn star names thing. But there's all that came in my head, And I'm like, oh, wait, it actually kind of sounds good together. Like, I feel if I say Michael Elgin, and maybe it's just because I've been saying it for 16 years. But when I say Michael Ogan, like, it doesn't sound like a made-up name. Oh, right name? Yeah, yeah.

So it doesn't sound like a made-up name, even though it is. So I like the sound of it. And it just kind of like flows together, but totally was like a last-minute decision. I'm sure more people call you Mike or Michael than they call you Aaron. 100%. Like my wife, and that's probably it. Oh, and her family.

But other than that, like, nobody. Like, obviously my son calls me dad. So, like, nobody calls me Aaron. I kind of get confused when people say it sometimes. Like, I'll be walking in public, like, outside of wrestling. And somebody says the name Mike, and I'm, like, looking around. Like, he's calling me. Like, you just so ingrained in you to be that, you know.

When you're walking around in, quote unquote, real life, built like this, what do people think you do for a living? I'm constantly asked about. I'm doing like bodybuilding shows. Okay. Mostly. Yeah. What do you walk around at, weight-wise?

Right now, I'm sitting about 250. That's insane. Yeah. It's, I feel comfortable here. You know, man, I one time, like, before I really started cut up, I was at, like, $2.90. Like, I remember, I was like, let's just bulk up and see how big I can get. We're like the same height. I can't imagine weighing that much.

I was, like, I remember it was, I wrestled Ishi, and it was New Japan Cup, 2018. and I was so, like, just a barrel because I was just like, I'm going to get as big as I can. Like, I'm in Japan. Let's just get huge. And I was like $2.95. And then after that was when I had some months off. I'm like, I don't think I can sit at $2.95 anymore.

Like, it hurts, man. I get out of breath climbing stairs. Which is weird because, like, I could wrestle, never feel tired. But normal activities. Like, if I go into a building and the elevator was broke, it was like, okay, like, there's got to be another way, or we got to find somewhere else to go because I could not walk up these three flights of stairs

to where we're going right now. But, like, wrestling was fine. Cardio at the gym, fine. But, like, walking upstairs and, like, if you told me, like, I had to walk from here to the gas station, I'm like, no. Like, is there $8 soda in the lobby?

Because I'd rather pay $8 for a soda than walk to the store. So bodybuilder probably football player? I never really get football player, which is strange. Yeah, never, ever get that. I always get body. builder.

And then when I say wrestler, they're like, oh, yeah, I was thinking that too, which obviously they weren't, but like it makes sense when I actually think about wrestling. And I think that just comes from like, you don't often meet pro wrestlers. Like I tell my students that sometimes, like, or even when I talk about my career, I'm like, nobody really believed that I was ever going to make it in wrestling. And it's not that they didn't have faith in me as a friend or as a family member. It was just like a normal family growing up doesn't know a pro wrestler. So if I said at eight, like, I want to play in the NHL, like they might be like, oh, yeah, that makes sense.

Like, we know a bunch of hockey players. Like, that's a possibility. Right. But you don't tell somebody, especially in Canada, like, oh, I'm going to be a pro wrestler. And they're like, oh, yeah, freaking build down the street. He's a wrestler. Like, I get it. Like, they just don't know.

Right. So you don't understand. Like, I remember, you know, getting married and moving to St. Louis and my family coming down and I bought my wife a van with cash. And they're like, can you afford? I'm like yeah like wrestling is doing good but still in their minds it's like this bullshit until you get a real job you know now they're starting to understand this was a few years ago but nobody fully understands what pro wrestling is and that it can be a job and a career because you know it's like watching a movie to most people you know these guys are actors

and larger than life yeah you don't think that somebody grew up with down the street is going to do that even though even as weird as as I said I because I think they look at it more as a as a an act and Hollywood more so than a NHL NFL and yeah I mean I think the the thing that I always say is if someone else is doing something you want to do that just means there's a path to get there for you yeah of course of course but as I said I just think it's just so out of the norm that people are used to. Like, it's pretty normal growing up and knowing a kid who plays hockey and has aspirations to be a pro hockey player.

It's pretty normal to be, you know, in somewhere that I'm from Canada, you're from Canada. So, like, talking about somebody going to NFL, like, that's just not something we talk about in Canada. It's hockey, sometimes basketball, never football. Very rare. Yeah. Yeah. So, but you know what I mean?

Like, you grow up with people playing these sports and it's kind of normal. for somebody growing up and those sports being in schools everywhere of those people saying they want to do that when they grow up but when somebody who wants to be a pro wrestler when there's no pro wrestling in high school like I mean you can in the in the gymnasium when nobody's watching sure crash mask but yeah but you know what I mean but you're just there's no kind of like pro wrestling clubs that people understand and talk about and are familiar with that when you're 10 11 12 and telling people you're going to be a pro wrestler like

the rock or whatever they're like oh sure you are it's changing now yes but i i do but at that time it was like it was unheard of like nobody thought that you could turn wrestling into something like there's people that i used to work with like in restaurants when i was like 14 and i'll go back to visit my family and i'm like oh i just saw you on tv like that's crazy that you turn that into like something i'm like i've been talking about it my whole life it's also like you just never believe it there's a real big difference between like you're playing hockey growing up and hockey the NHL, it's still hockey. Yes.

There's a massive difference between going to the Legion Hall down the street or the church down the street to watch pro wrestling and then watching the WWE. Like there's a massive gap between it. A huge gap. But I just think that like even at that time, like I'm talking like when I was younger, younger, like it wasn't even really wrestling in legions. And if there was, unless you knew somebody who was wrestling, you just. didn't hear about it. Like my first indie show

I lucked out that I was like driving home with my mom and I was 11 years old and I saw a poster on a thing and I was like wait stop stop stop stop stop mom's like what we're in track I'm like no no pull over pull over like there was a wrestling poster she's like what are you talking about? There was a wrestling post over there and I went and it was like beside the Oscea Civic Auditorium

it was like on that same street I'm like there's a wrestling show here at 7 p.m. Like I got to go. She's like and what year was this? When I was 11, so 22 90 eight I didn't know that indie wrestling existed right yeah that's what I mean till 2000

see you didn't know with AWF but that's what I mean like you just didn't know yeah and it was like something at a Buffalo and the main event was like tugboat against somebody but you didn't know and I just lucked out of seeing that poster so that's what I mean like yeah at that time that I was growing up it's also pre internet internet

yeah yeah so like the in the Legion Hall wrestling that is spoken about you really didn't even know about you know like I just lucked out seeing that and then getting in wrestling like firsthand seeing people put up posters and stuff but like it was a real like even wrestling fans watching TV they wouldn't know that there was a local wrestling fan but I was just the one that saw that poster I was like this is insane I got to go see this so well since you're from Canada and I'm from Canada as we wrap this up

who do you think is the best wrestler to come out of Canada ever ever Or maybe we could make a Canadian Mount Rushmore like I did with Ethan Page. Okay. A lot of thought to this. Yeah, because... So if we have a Mount Rushmore, you can have four. Yes, yes. I'm trying to think of who's made...

Like, obviously, there's your own hearts, your Brett hearts, stuff like that. So, Brett Hart for sure. Okay. There we go. Now, I would say... Whipper Billy Watson That was like the first real Canadian wrestler that I remember reading about

Before I was like Before I Before I really learned about the past That was like the first name I heard Because he was unrecognized NWA champion And stuff like that He was from Canada

Okay He would definitely be on there I would have to say Owenhart too Like Owen Hart was fantastic And that last spot It's like up in the air Because You can go in so many different

interaction. Yeah, it's like, I might have to say Jericho. And the reason why I say that is just because, like, he's still going at a high rate in a new company that's making waves and, like, just the longevity of what he's produced adds in so much. But then there's, like, a guy like Edge who is, who's great, too, that you've got to put on. And then you can make a case for dying my kid. Yeah, of course, but is, is he considered Canadian? Isn't he? No, I mean, I think he's considered English, but he had ties to Canada. But then, like, for just in-ring wrestling, and if anybody's watching and takes this offensive, I'm sorry because I know what happened to end his life and his family's life has tainted thinking back on him. But Chris Van Wals was a great in-ring performer, but you really can't put him on that because of what happened after. So, like, there's a lot of debate with a lot of people.

So that number four spot is like really difficult to fill. Well, the point of all this is look how much great wrestling's come out of Canada. There's tremendous wrestling coming in Canada. Including Big Mike. I like to think so. But see, this is another thing that I remember Tiger Tori saying to me. He goes, man, you Canadian's different, man. I go, what are you talking about, Tiger?

You're like, you guys all wrestled like Japanese boys. I go, why? What? He goes, yeah, that Canadian style, nice stiff, man. You guys good. So, like, I think it just goes back to like, We're taught differently in Canada. I don't know if somehow everybody is the senator of the dungeon somehow.

Because they're known for that style. Yeah, yeah. And, like, the people who succeed from Canada have that smash-moff style. Like, I mean, like, even Ethan Page, you know, you just brought him up. Even though he is very much a character, like, his wrestling is real crisp. And, like, he looks like he's real, you know, he's believable. And then you got guys like Josh Alexander, who is, you know, cut from the same cloth. me um and if you really think about like the top canadian guys we all have that that one factor

that looks like we're really trying to hurt people and i don't know why that is and it's not that we are hurting people it's just like that that's just like something that comes out of canada your kailo riley's was very similar to that you know what i mean like yeah all of our stuff just looks different i don't know why that comes i don't know if it's just because we're from canada and we look like that that's what we get out because of sure not everybody in canada's like that but the people who end up really really making a go at this from Canada. I have a very, like,

a very similar style. Well, I appreciate the time today. No problem. Thank you. And I'm so pumped for, you know, your impact runs really just getting started. Yeah, yeah. And I've had a blast here,

and hopefully, you know, there's more to come. So I appreciate you. No, no problem. Thank you. Thank you. There you go. Big Mike. Ladies and gentlemen,

if you enjoyed this chat, if you found out interesting or intelligent or inspiring or can't think of another word that starts with the eye, you know what I mean? If you liked it, share it with a friend, take a screenshot, tag me, tag Michael Algin on Twitter or Instagram. And honestly, it's pretty cool because once we click the upload button and it just shoots off into the world into the worldwide internet's, it's really cool to get some feedback from you. So it's nice to, you know, know that we're not just

in this alone talking to microphones at an empty hotel room, which is, you know, where most of these interviews occur. Elgin's such a monster. in the ring. And he wrestles with this incredible intensity, not just in his moves, but the next time you watch one of his matches, pay attention to his facial expressions. Like some of the best facial expressions in the business. And you'll remember this next time you see one of his matches, whether, you know, it just happens to be on or on impact or you actually seek one of his matches out. And I like how he talked about his daily routine and why that's so important to him. And I think for all of us, no matter what you do in your life, your daily routine really defines who

you are and if you're making progress in your life or if you're staying stagnant. And I think that this quote, you know, I always leave you with a quote. And I appreciate the feedback from you guys on these quotes. I know a lot of them have, you know, spoken to you directly. But this, this quote from John C. Maxwell spoke to me. Now, I'm sure it'll speak to you. You'll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine. And that is so true. no matter what you are, no matter what you do, no matter how old you are, that's a damn fact right there. Thanks for listening.

Subscribe, like, share this, and we will see you next week. Maybe it'll be on a Thursday. Maybe these will drop every single Thursday. I don't know. Let me know on Twitter. Let me know on Instagram. Boom. We'll talk to you soon.

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. Allie. 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 Allie. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.