Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Nic Nemeth: WWE Return? TNA, Almost Signing With AEW, Spirit Squad, John Cena, Infamous Match vs. Goldberg

Episode Date: October 9, 2025

Get tickets for Insight LIVE in San Diego & Las Vegas! https://cvvtix.com Nic Nemeth (@NicTNemeth) is a professional wrestler currently signed to TNA. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at West Coast Creative Studio in Hollywood, CA to discuss leaving WWE in 2023 and TNA was the right fit, whether joining AEW was ever a possibility, wrestling Goldberg at SummerSlam 2019, the infamous Iron Man match against Seth Rollins that was hijacked by the crowd, the messy New Year's Eve toast with AJ Lee, possibly making a return to WWE TV, a potential Hall of Fame induction, and more!   Please support our sponsors!   PURE PLANK: The future of core fitness! Use the code CVV to save 10% on Pure Plank designed by Adam Copeland & Christian: https://gopureplank.com/?ref=tibcloux   SEAT GEEK: Use my code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/CVV2025 Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount PRIZEPICKS: Download the app today and use code INSIGHT to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup!  TIMELINE: Go to https://timeline.com/insightto get 10% off your order of Mitopure!   VUORI: Get 20% off your first purchase! Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet at https://vuori.com/cvv   ROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and reach your financial goals faster: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv MIRACLE MADE: Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to https://trymiracle.com/CVV and use the code CVV to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF   ZOCDOC: Instantly book a top-rated doctor today at https://zocdoc.com/insight   BONCHARGE: Use the code CVV to save 15% off your infrared sauna blanket at https://boncharge.com/cvv   BLUECHEW: Get your first month of BlueChew for free with the code CVV at https://bluechew.com   For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you have ever enjoyed any of these episodes, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast or Spotify? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.    Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Flee! Look at this luscious hair. Look at your hair. I can't stop. It's so good. It's, uh, well, good is a poor choice. I would say fantastic. Absolutely.

Incredible. It's really annoying, and it's bad, and I don't take care of it. What do you, it looks like you take care of it wonderfully? I freshly washed it for the month today. Last night, last night. So that's it? No. The entire month of October?

Well, I don't. I don't shower much. I hose off in the yard sometimes. We'll jump in the pool, summertime. You know, that counts. You've had long hair for, like, most of your career. That's really half my life. Half my life, it was shorter than yours, military flat top.

And then half of it's been this hippie, hippie rocker, herpy rocker stuff. So your life has been in two different blocks, basically. Amateur wrestler and a professional wrestler. 100%. That's it. You can't have that sliding around with the headgear on, can the hair in your face?

Would you go back to the short hair? Yeah. I think once a week or once a month, I contemplate just taking the clippers to it when I'm looking at a mirror. I'm like, should I just do this? And shave your head? Yeah. And then I go, well, first of all, if I'm going to do this, let's get a payday out of it. Let's make it a match.

Let's make something happen. But I don't think I'm allowed. Not just yet. It has to be the right moment. That's to work. You had the short hair for what, like two weeks in WWE? Oh, God. Yeah.

What? Yeah. So. Yes. At the time, my record was somewhere around two wins to 86 losses. And Vince told me that I wasn't credible enough. And it was probably because of my hair. And I said, any chance it's that win loss record that's 99% losses? Nope, it's the hair. Okay. And then we cut it off.

Then did you start winning when you changed your hair? Weirdly, no. So it must have been that short black hair must have been really, incredible, I guess, yes. Infamous? Infamous for sure. I've done more interviews with you than anybody else. How many is it do you think? I think this is number 18, I believe. 18? I think so. Barely legal interview. Well done. Most of them were a few minutes here and there. But you were always so kind to me when I lived in Cleveland.

Don't kill my street cred off. But it's just like you would come to town, you'd be like in town to see your parents for like Thanksgiving. you'd have like four days off and somehow you'd be like yeah i'll come by w oio channel 19 yeah to do an interview with you that's that was cool as hell uh first of all four days off is a little little generous two and a half it was probably two and a half two and a half but you'd be like yeah of course i'll do an interview with you and then it got to a point where we were doing like two or three a year yeah every year so this is the longest stretch of time that we've never done an interview well maybe it was for the best it could tell you to rack up some different like a chee for the both of us and then, you know, have something else to talk about other than, you know,

how about the Browns? Like, oh, four and 13. Yeah, great. Bad again. Yeah. Ruining my Sundays. But here's the trick. You bet against them on your phone, not $5,000, which is a lot of money to you guys.

Like five or ten bucks, and I bet against them. So one way or another, my Sunday is not ruined. So it's like, oh, God. And all, like, what really funny thing is. Two weeks ago, all of my friends, we're all texting during the game. They're hanging in there, hanging around. And all of a sudden they score a couple touchdowns. They're back in it.

And all they need is a field goal. And we're all texting the entire second half of the fourth quarter. What's it going to be? They're going to kick a 75-yard field goal and find out that there was something illegal blew onto the field or somebody was lined up off sides or there's going to be a flag on the play. We're all saying how we're going to take us down to the final second of the game and then pull the rug out from from underneath us.

Typical Browns. Yes. And we're all, I'm in multiple group chats texting back and forth. I'm listening because I don't have the game, so I'll listen to on serious, because since I work there, they give me serious package. I get to listen to the, I get listen to the Cleveland call. So I get, you know, Nathan and Ticiliano calling it. And I'm listening and I'm a play behind everybody.

So when it comes down to like the big kick to win the game, I put the phone down because one, CBS Sports is going to let me know. know what happened before I, before I listened to it. And two, all my friends will be texting. So I put the phone face down and I'm listening to it. And he goes, the kick is down. The ball is down. The kick is up.

It's right. Down the middle. And I go, Sicilano. I go, what? And then I'm like, no flags, no flags, no flags. And he goes, and there's a flag on the plane. And I'm like, no. And this is the best.

This is how Nathan Zaguer and Siciano, they're genuinely browns, they're going. Flag on the play. Flag on the play. Oh, no. Wait, wait. It's on Green Bay. It's on Green Bay.

We win. Oh, my God. We finally won. They're like jumping up and down. And I'm listening to this. Like, it's just, I'm nowhere near them. But I feel like I'm in the booth with them and everyone in the stadium going, what? We did the opposite of what we always do.

That flag coming out is crazy. My buddy sent me, Chris Cage. He wrestled. And him and Trent Brett are the dude busters at some point. A good friend. And he sends me the videos like watching the final. play the game a couple times a year. He sends me this one right after I listened.

And he's watching. He's like, come on, come on. Yeah. Oh, no, Flag. I knew it. Why did we all know? We knew. And he goes, it's on Great Bay.

He did the same thing. It was like the funniest, craziest thing. And then like, we all had the greatest Sunday. Like, that was our Super Bowl moment for the year. Was not blowing it in the last second of the game. And we're going to finish four and 13. So that was it. But, oh, man.

Up and down every weekend. I don't know how they do it. I lived in Cleveland for five years. The Browns are still my team. Cleveland is my American hometown. I love it's the first American city I lived in. It was so interesting seeing how people's moods on Monday were based on what happened the day before with the Browns. Yeah.

And that's on good years. They go really good years. They were like nine and seven. So half of your Sundays were ruined no matter what. Really good times, nine and seven. The O in 16, one in 15 years, those are rough. This is the first time that. everyone goes next year, next year, whatever.

And we're predicted to go eight and eight. Like, oh, cool, maybe we go 10 and 7 and 10. This is the year where they predicted to go 4 and 13. And we're all like, next year, next year, like before it started. But then we all got roped in every Sunday because that's just how it is forever. Do you remember the interview we did at WrestleMania Access where they were like, you've got one minute. And you went up to the crowd because there was a big long autograph line.

Sounds about right for me. Of course. And you were like, hey, guys, we got to pause the line to do. this quick interview, it'll just be one minute. And I'm like, all right. They started counting. Do you remember that? Yes, yes.

I don't remember a lot of things, but thank you for setting that up and bringing me in to what's happening, you know, the content around me. Yes. So they were counting. I'm like, you're actively making this longer by counting, but yeah. They counted down and I'm like, well, that probably was better than whatever our interview was going to be. If you can all be quiet for one minute, they're like, cool, 60, 59.

That was really loud. They weren't being quiet. They were cheering it like it was the countdown of a Brown's game. Oh, yeah. But this is our first interview that we've done since you became a TNA star. Oh, beautiful. See, we needed a little time off so I could find some different adventures to go on. I was there at Hard to Kill in Las Vegas.

What a surprise. Yeah, right. And that came out of the end of the show. There were so many people that were letting me know that I was going to AEW. that they confused themselves to being extra surprised because they had told me that I was going there. They let me know they knew I was. And they were so blown away by this surprise.

And I go, I didn't lead you to believe that. You told me. I didn't tell you. So so many people were like, hey, 91 days. I know where you're going. I'm like, hey, cool. I'm not sure, but hey, let me know. How did you keep that a surprise?

Well, you couldn't tell anybody. And everybody says that. And there's only a few surprises in the business that can still get people excited. And I went out of my way, even some close friends to say like, oh, hey, I'm watching the game, doing something and not saying anything just because I go, there's so few things that are kind of cool. And we always kind of ruin them. Even if I told us like two or three wrestler friends, it would have been less of a surprise somehow, one way or another. But like an hour before, I'm like, okay, I can tell some people. But I still didn't.

I was like, I'm waiting. And then also, Ashley, Dana Brooke, Ashley, Ash by Elegance, was also backstage. And I was like, hey, cool. We both get to have this surprise together. This is kind of fun. And nobody knew. And I wasn't going to tell anybody. I don't think I told my parents.

I think Ryan knew, but we were also, like, not telling my parents or anybody. Just in just in case. Were you staying in a different hotel? Yeah. Stayed in a different hotel off the strip because it was Vegas. Yeah. It was at the palms. I was at the palms and I was off at a different one.

And then just halfway through the show got ushered in and hung out in the back for a couple of matches and then went out there. It was really, really fun. And a great idea. Everybody involved, because I'll try and involve everyone who gives creative input. But at the time Tommy and Scott DeMore were like, dude, because I had a Motley crew shirt on, just like a regular T-shirt that I would have. And they're like, ripped that baby off. And I was like, okay, cool. And then we are like, shouldn't be like a T&A one underneath?

Like, this is a big moment. And like, Tommy was like, yeah, wear that underneath. And I was like, great. And then I was so nervous ripping it that I'm like, please don't rip both. Please don't rip both. But I was like, I'll be flexing. If I rip both, it's going to be fine. But if there's a big reveal and it's just me being jacked, it's okay.

But like the TNA thing, it would be like a big moment for us. And I was like, yeah. And instead of just going, yeah, just ripping. I was like, Okay. Yeah, yeah, let's go. And I just wanted to make sure I didn't rip both of them. When did you start thinking about what your next move would be after you got released?

Three years before that. Okay. Yeah. Signing my last deal for an astronomical amount of money just to keep me there was cool. But I said, I don't see myself staying for the full thing. I don't see you guys paying me for the full three years of this because. what I'm doing right now is basically break glass in case of a pay-per-view match or somebody needs an opponent for something. And that's okay. But it really was a lot of money. And I was ready

to leave. And I was, I was ready to leave. And I go, I'm not going to stay for the full time because I only have a certain amount of years to be looked at as a top guy world champion at any company. And if I stay for three full more years, it's going to be like another year after that. And then who knows how this works out. And so I, with the full intention of either them not, like some mutual agreement here or me getting out a year and a half two in to go let go see what I can do and like prove to myself. I'm like, oh, I was in this bubble for 20 years.

And I know all the people who come in and out. And it's a rotating cast. But for the core people in there, I knew them. I knew them really well. I knew what I was capable of and what I could do. But I go, I've talked all this shit for 50. of those 20 years, I need to go do it outside of this bubble. And it's for me, but also to let some people know, like, oh, right, I know you're doing

three-minute matches with no entrance at the moment. But we forgot that every pay-per-view you're on, you stole the show whether you wanted to or didn't want to. And I go, I need to prove this to myself that I can be a world champion at any company in the world. Just because this one decided I'm not on that list, I can show everybody else still. and I wanted, I go, I need to prove myself. And I really wasn't sure.

I go, I'm going to go to Japan. I'm going to go to TNA. I'm going to go to independence. I'm going to go to Mexico. I want to see if without people going, hey, great job, great job. Just because I was there, I needed to know when I got out of there, like, okay, I can still go. Because I hadn't been tested in a couple of years because it was a lot of times like, hey, you have an eight minute match.

But we know the deal. A lot of it was myself and Robert Rood. and just out there with street profits or somebody. And a lot of those eight-minute matches became four-minute matches by the time it got to us. And then do you want it down to two and a half or do you want to cut your entrance, cut out our entrance so we can give them a wrestling match? And you're seeing two minutes a guy just doing moves. And that's okay for a TV show sometimes at that point. But it wasn't the best use of us and it wasn't the best use of me being there to do it.

So I was like, hey, wrote a really, really long email to Vince Hunter, Bruce, Ed, maybe one other person and it was a compliment sandwich. This is the greatest thing ever. I'm the luckiest guy in the world. I will never not say that. You're using me for a role that a local would be in, but you're paying me as the WrestleMania main inventor. This is bad for you and this is bad for me.

And at this point, because of the timing of the company being purchased by, about to be purchased by someone else, that was the best bet. to get out of it. Because in the past, I've like, hey, I want out. And they're like, sorry, you're signed. You're not getting out of this.

Okay. So did you ask for your release? Yes. So I said, do me a favor. Let's do this as soon as possible. Or I'm down to talk if you want to say something else or go with some different route. But I go about a year and a half into the three years or just under two years. And nobody wrote me back except for Vince.

And he said, wow, this is. This is incredible. This is a lot to read. He goes, I'm not sure what to do. And I said, Vince, I will fly to Stanford tomorrow morning. And we will finish this or talk about it or find a new role or at least let me go away for five years. Something. And he goes, give me a week to think about it.

And I said, I really want to figure this out right now. He goes, give me one week. It's a lot to process. I said, okay. And the next week I was on a list of people who were released. Okay, I guess about it. So, yeah. So it worked out.

If they were not in the first, the process of cutting some things to trimming the fat to be purchased by another company, I would assume that I would have been there for another year and a half or so. Did you have a point at some time before that when some of your friends, some of your colleagues were getting released that you thought, well, I'm going to get that phone call. No. Wow. It's weird because it's like, I don't know, it's, they let you know when they don't want

you there. It's like, you don't get to decide because like you signed the big paperwork. contract and like that's part of the deal. So even though the first one you sign for developmental, it's like 10 pages. The real ones you sign when you get up there, you know, it's like a phone book. And even that first one that's a couple pages, my parents were like, hey, we want this lawyer to look at. I go, I'm signing this thing no matter what developmental deal.

Like, this is my dream. There's no way I'm turning this down. They go, I know. We just want to run it by someone. See what he says. And he goes, oh, I don't know what this is for, but do not under any circumstance sign this piece of paper. I go, what?

He goes, I've never told someone to not sign something so much in my life. He goes, do you read this? Do you see this thing? You see this? What? They own your real name? Why you're there? And I go, well, thank you.

And I'm still signing this because this is my dream come true. This is the way to go. So even that one, but when it gets to the real thick ones, it becomes, there's a lot more involved there. So you just knew you were there? Like, you knew you weren't going to get released. At any point? So at that point, I go, I, you know, someone, I like to complain all the time.

Like, my thing is to work as much as possible, like a workaholic would and then complain about always working. Like, that's the thing. Like, why don't you just take some time off? Like, you saved your money. I'm like, no, because then I can't complain about always working. This is the thing. Like, that's the thing that I have in my head at all time.

So I was never worried about it. I'm sorry. The first 15 years of my career, I was worried about it every single time the releases came out because a lot of times ago, either I'm the losing end of the stick most of the time or not being utilized at the top, maybe 12 years of those 20. And then it became like, oh, I'm good. I could survive anywhere. So if it doesn't work out here, it'll work out somewhere else.

And the last couple of years, I was never. It just, I was like, I would come back and not dare them to do it, but say things that would be alluding to daring them to do it. Oh, you want me to go be world champion everywhere. else but here and make your main events look. And by the way, 2018, 2019, we weren't putting out the best product. I was a little disappointed in some things that was happening and myself, obviously, always. But that's why I stuck with the, they're like, hey, did you know you lost, you're talking about your stealing show last Monday? I'm like, I don't know. I don't watch. That's where that started from.

I don't watch wrestling because it was like a joke to get me out of having to argue with someone who half pretend it's real and half pretend it's fake. So I've leaned into the, I'm phoning it in and they won't fire me. I don't even try. And then it got to a point where fans and people who write online articles started to go, well, Nick phoned this one in this week.

Boy, it was just like, I tricked them by saying it so much. But you phoned it in. But I would still come, oh, I'm me phoning in it's to everyone else's best. Right. But I wouldn't. I can't allow myself to do that. But if I wasn't having a 25-minute pay-per-view match,

I'm having a six-minute match where I'm kind of getting beat up and thrown around, I would still go above and beyond to do it and be like, look, he's phoning it in. He only had a six-minute match. Like, I'm not the booker. I'm just leaning into a bit that I'm doing. So people genuinely, like, the last five years, he's really been phoning in and I'm like,

I've never once phoned it. I tried once on a live event to not bump so well. I was yelled at by the bosses. Stop bumping so well. not over the top Kurt Henne's stuff, but stop being so crisp and good with your stuff. Stop?

Yeah. So I tried one time someone gave me something. And I was like, and I was like, I can never do this again. This does, I like half fell a second late. I go, I'm so embarrassed. I can never do this again. So I can't.

And that's the workaholic part. Like, I can't ever, whether it's three minutes with no entrance or 25 minutes with Randy and doing all the work. Like, I am, I have to go. I cannot walk back there. I don't need people applauding me. I need me to go.

You gave them 11 out of 10. You have to. Even though you were a former world champion in WWE, you were never seen as that top guy. Yeah. And you go to TNA, instantly, you're the top guy. A few months later, you're a world champion there. What did it take to change that perception?

A different boss. I'm just kidding. To change a perception, you really have to, it's not the champion. Chip getting that title. It's being presented as a guy who should be in line for it or fighting for it or at least be somewhere just off of it. And I was very adamant about saying, I go, I don't want to be anywhere near this world

title for a year or two unless something creatively is going so well that the crowds are begging for it or something. And six months in, they're like, hey, we really need you to fight moves for the world title. You're like, don't worry. I was like, uh, okay. So we got to a couple different. things than a multi-man match and then I got it and it was it's I mean there's a handful of times when it's real to everybody and it was like kind of cool to go there's all these people here I know it's

probably seems like I'm jumping over a few weeks I just got here but some people respect the work that I've done and think even against my wishes that this is the best bet business wise right now for them and I said okay I'll take it and I'll do everything I can and I went above and beyond. I was in that group for five of us that for 15 years did all the PR for WWE. Like Seamus, Kofi, Ms. myself and a couple other people. And I've done that a million times. And I said, let me do this everywhere. And I did ridiculous nonstop media for it. And Moose was there for a lot of it too. We did a couple different things. And we did so much. We would sometimes go into a city three or four days before and just do everything. Visit a local wrestling

school, go to, go to an appearance, do a different thing. And half the day, I'm just zooming other people on my iPad and then going back to another appearance just to get the word out. They're like, hey, we revamped TNA. The people behind the scenes are want this to succeed. And now we're running full force. This episode is brought to you by prize picks. Look, you and I make decisions every day, but on prize picks, being right can get you paid. Don't miss any of the excitement this season on prize picks where it's good to be right. Prize picks is the best way to cash in this football season. Which players are going off?

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for safety effect of mis or quality. Prescription required. See website for full details, restrictions, and important safety information. What made TNA the right fit for you when you had every option when you left WWA? I didn't want to sign anywhere because I just got out of a long-term relationship, you know, and I didn't want to get out of a 20-year marriage and go right down to being engaged, you know, like six months later. So I really, I go,

I need to be able to have the freedom that I could go to Mexico, I could go to Japan, I could go to Germany, I could go anywhere, and then not have to be like, well, it has to be based on someone else's schedule.

And Scott DeMore was begging me. He's like three years, two years, six months. And I don't mean this in a bad way, he goes, dude, you're going to love it here.

Wait, you see the locker room. You would be a huge piece here. And I mean, yeah, I meant begging him. give me something about where you're related to this company that we can use and it'll help you and help them. And I was like, he's like, just, he started having a couple people text me.

He's like, just, he had rude text me, which is pretty great. He was like rude texting me, like, what? Former TNA world chair. Yeah, well, we're buddies, but it was just like him texting me out of the group chat would be like something important happening. And it was like really funny. And I was like, all right, I'll give it a shot. He's like, I go eight dates. So that way I can still travel the world and go test myself. And one day in, it's like, it's not even fake. It's real. I'm like, oh, this locker room kicks ass.

Everybody is open to creative ideas. And they're really looking for some little spark just to keep rocking and rolling along the way. And the really funny thing is the first taping I was at. I'm dying. I'm like, man, everyone's so great. Lockroom's ridiculously nice. I know some people. And I just, I see everybody.

I go, yeah, man, I'm so mad. I'm going to stay here. One taping in. And one taping in, Scott the Moore's out. My boss who said, here's what we're going to do. Here's what we're going to do. And that was that first weekend when it was back to TNA. Yes.

Right? Because it was impact up to that point. Yes. And that was the big turnover. And I'm like, you almost, you tried to get me. You decided three-year deal and you're leaving the next week. He didn't know he was leaving, obviously. Or, I mean, as far as I know.

And it's just like, that first, I saw the locker room was like, this is crazy. The first time I walk over to the monitor, I watched for 90 seconds. And then I watched Leon Slater jump over the top turnbuckle out to the floor and then get up on his feet. And I go, oh my God. Who is this guy? I'm like, what is you like, 23? They go, 19. And I'm like, great.

And we, and I was like, this guy blows my mind because one, I'm very old school and I'm like, I like the psychology and making things work mostly because I can't do the high flying stuff. A lot of people think I can because I caught Kofi and a bunch of guys forever. But I can't. I'm really good at the other stuff. And I saw him doing that and then applying the psychology. And I was like, damn.

Why is he so good right now? You're supposed to be good after we help you. And I was like, I had a match with him. And I was like, we did something. And we dropped down. and I was like getting ready to like, hey, tell him to relax. Oh, he is. Damn it.

I'm like, I came to the back. Like, you're not supposed to be that good at the in-between stuff at 21. He goes, I'm 20. I'm like, okay, got it. Yeah, yeah. So it was like, you were pissing me off that like he doesn't just do the cool stuff. He was actually applying the psychology to everything. And I went, man, this guy is going to be something big.

And we all just watched it over the last year. That's so cool to hear from your perspective. Because a lot of fans look at his finisher. and go, this guy's unreal. Right. Like swan ton 450? What? I didn't think you could put those two moves together.

Does he make sense? Right. And one of those is a lot. Like, I don't know that I could do one if someone trained me for a while. But like, yeah, and that's just, that's the icing on the cake after. Right. That's all the other stuff. And the really important to me, it's not important to everybody or every company.

It's important to me is making somebody have that emotion in the crowd to get to those points, to give them that payoff. and I hate, I hate that he already has. He's pretty like, obviously we all have stuff to learn, but it piss me off. There were so many rumors after you left WW that you were going to go to AEW. You alluded to it earlier. Yeah. How close were you to signing with AEW?

I, I wasn't. I love so many people there. I've had a couple conversations with Tony in the past, and I've rooted for those guys. Every step of the way, AEW being a thing, help a bunch of people out. Worst case scenario with negotiating and setting up their career for years down the line. And I go, if this ends in two or three years, it helped a bunch of people out and put some other people on TV. And they're rocking and rolling and doing their thing. And that is, it's, I watched every Wednesday because I have to talk about it on Thursday.

And that's another one where I go, oh, I got to watch wrestling. It's like kind of a joke. but I've like come to learn all the people on the show and watching and watch what they do. And I go, it's, I don't know that, um, I don't know like if I could do all the stuff that everyone does. And their, their top circle of the whole show, really, it has so many different moving parts and pieces to it that I don't know that I could, from my old style, uh, I can adapt to anything. And I, and I have been. And I even watched, you know, the 2025 version of me is still applies some different things that I, that I wouldn't have done a few years ago. But I don't know that if in a 35, 45 minute match, if it wasn't with me and Daniel Bryan or Ambrose or, or.

Brian Danielson. What's Ambrose is named? Moxley. Yeah. There's going to be a bunch of those. Like those guys where I know what they've done and I can move around and do some things. But it's like if it's remembering a sequence, like I'm getting 30 guys in Contra. Every two minutes, I would be like not, I would be more vacant in the match instead of like feeling the emotion and just remembering it.

And I go, I don't know how they do it. But when it comes to those pay-per-views, they blow the roof off and it's incredible. And I just really thought with TNA, I go, I will never ever be Kurt Engel. He's just my hero. But I know that he did something special with going to TNA. And I go, maybe just maybe this guy that a bunch of people, most people seem to recent. and have like been waiting to see what I can do. Maybe me showing up here and being involved could be a another spark that does something

because they're already getting talked about and making some moves and they've been an insane brand for years. But I go maybe just maybe me being there makes this a bigger and better place by 1% and then falling in love with the locker room and everyone behind the scenes. I just go, this is the fit. And I really, I wasn't going to go anywhere. I didn't want to. A couple dates for somebody and a couple dates at AEW.

100% I would have done that. But I just, I go, I need to travel the world and be able to sleep at night knowing that I can go because I talked this shit for 15 years. No one's about anything. No one can follow me. Sorry about the booking, but that's not my call.

And it's like, now it's like back it up or don't. And I had to. And I would have gone almost anywhere for a few dates just to check it out. But KNA was the fit. And we've slowly watched. I would have watched their progression from the outside if I wasn't there, but I'm rooting for all those guys and girls.

I want to circle back to something you just said. Is your wrestling style different now? Do you feel like you wrestle different now than you did? Just a little bit. So I really thought when I left WDB that I would do like a little, I'm going to say Cardenao again, but it's not the same. I'm not him. I will never be him.

And we're not in the same world of anything. But I just, I wanted to go, okay, I'm going to go to Japan and Mexico. Maybe I can apply a little bit more collegiate stuff, a little bit more tap out stuff and then kind of take it up a notch instead of just like swiveling my hips, but then like I lock somebody in, I can choke them the F out or beat their ass bloody or do something different that takes it up a notch. And no one was really looking for that

for me. They're like, well, we, I'm like, well, it's, you know, it's been 15 years of a similar gimmick. I think I should switch it up a little bit, become just a little bit more of a badass something. And maybe I don't, it's not just winning matches or kicking him his ass, but like, throwing in some amateur shit and some tapouts and just modifying some move. And it's interesting because when people think of Kurt Engel, Charlie Ha, Shelton, Benjamin, Brock Lezzer, they always talk about the amateur background. You have an insane amateur background that very rarely gets talked about. And yeah, and I go, well, I have something that I could apply to it even more.

And another, that's, that's something, uh, Arne Anderson got on me a lot because I was so focused on the sports entertainment aspect that I would, and like, for the first couple of years trying to get people to like not think of me as like, oh, he's a wrestler guy. He's going to do his wrestler things. And then we'll get to whatever. And I wanted to go bummed by. I'm like, no, I'm a pro wrestler. And I can apply this shit and tap you out if I need to.

But other people need to like rely on it as a crutch. I want to have it in my back pocket if I need it while I'm doing some entertainment stuff. And the first thing to get kicked out, like every time I'm making moves when we're a match or two away from going on TV and our eight, goes to six, goes to four and a half. And the last thing we cut is our entrance to save a minute. So that four and a half will now be five and a half with no entrance. And then when that gets cut to three, the next thing to cut is my amateur stuff at the beginning. Once in a while, if I'm out there with Daniel Bryan or AJ or Cesarro, we can roll around and go pretty three quarters,

Division I wrestling room, full go, and then get to whatever we're doing. And even if it's 30 seconds, that bles. you the hell up and that 30 seconds is fighting for your life and it's fun and totally different than everyone else just tying up and grabbing heads and stuff. So that's the next thing to get to him. Like, oh, my fun thing that I was going to do. All right, take that off. So I got away from it and Arne was on me. He's like, dude, you're different than everybody else here. And we didn't see it at all in that match. And I'm like, you're right. So if it gets taken out there, I'll try and throw like double legs in into like a half choke into something in the heat, something that would

just be a little bit different than everybody else. Everyone says you're underrated. We've talked about this in so many interviews that we've done. But who do you think it is that doesn't get enough credit? You know who gets too much, Ms. That is false. No, because- He's finally getting his flowers now.

No, no, no. Finally. There was 15 years of everyone going, man, why is he not good enough to be in the spot? Where's the wrestling part? And then he got everybody in his corner going, you know what, Ms. has earned this. Let's, yeah, congrats.

And then now it's like, oh, Ms. He's one of the greatest of all time. And I'm like, no, it took him 15 years to catch up to his friends. And then, you know, but, but it's, and then they turned on him a little bit. Now he gets to be made fun of a little bit now too. So, but, no, I, all of my core guys that, in one of many group chats with, uh, Johnny Nitro, Ms. Browski, myself, we all just wanted to go above and beyond. find something to work and then go with that and run with it and just always want it something

better or something on the outside to bring back. Nitro is the most insane space contet. John Morrison. He has the most, the craziest, just his workouts are crazier than someone's wrestling match. And he has the craziest ideas and clothes and, like, ideas for movies. And like, he's the one of the most creative people in the entire world and it's awesome. Brooski, I'm going to put it up to everybody.

Brooski, uh, YouTube times. I've said this a million times, but like, WWE made a YouTube deal. And the cornerstone of that deal and the paperwork was for Zach Ryder's show to be in it. And if it was it, it was a deal breaker for WWE. You don't you know now. Like, oh, TKO and billions of dollars. Like they're like, we need the Zach Ryder show on there or this is not a deal.

Like what a great, like that's going above and beyond to make something happen. And Mike, obviously, not just not his reality show stuff afterwards. He always wants to go somewhere outside of wrestling to bring everybody back. And that was the goal like what we all do. Like we just wanted to be a bigger star. So when we came back here was a bigger deal. And everybody doing that is great. I'm going to say Matt Cardona, even though everybody else does,

I'm trying to think of somebody who's not talked about because Matt goes above and beyond to do everything 15 years ago and right now. Right now, it always seems like he's. fighting and making a movie and making some other clip or package. He just entered in a DeLorean time machine. Yes. Into a match. And he goes, he'll do GCW shows that or like a Jurassic Park Jeep.

Yes, the Ghostbusters. And his gear every time, like he goes above and beyond to figure everything out. And I think, and I don't, uh, and I feel like Chelsea also is another one. And that would be a one that maybe people don't talk about as much. Uh, on serious on busted open, we'll, we bring something up like, oh, what about this? And I go, Chelsea's doing great stuff now, but she was doing great stuff before.

Yeah. And kind of being like, not the joke, but like always taking the brunt of everything. And I go, she's the most entertaining part of the show. When you guys forced me to watch Raw, this is the most entertaining part of the show. And she's good. She gets it.

She embraces it. And much like Dana Brooke or Ash by Elegance on our show, I made a post. I wish I remembered the words when she became TNA, women's champion. I said she will do anything for the show, anything for the match, including looking like the biggest idiot

just to get everybody else over or get something across. Like, we see a cake going out there. I'm like, Ash is going in there. I know she is. And she's like barely part of the segment. Like, oh, she went in the cake. Oh, someone's dumping a bucket of pain on someone

and everyone's in their finish. It's going to be Ash because she wants everybody else to succeed. And I think it's real easy to say about the people who are crushing it on W. or intercontinental titles or things like that. But I like those behind the scenes. The Rascals are another one that come up. I didn't really know them at all until we work together.

And I was like, wow, these guys can do anything, sometimes do do anything. And I've been out there with them and they're easy to work with. And, you know, they're another one that's like a bunch of people kind of know about them. But if more people knew that they're looking to make the most creative, match, the coolest shit, everything you can think of. They're up there. They're up there.

Chelsea, and I would say the rascals for us at TNA. Have you heard Chelsea say she wants to be the female Ms? It makes sense, right? You know what? Now I take it back. It makes sense. I would say the female Miss, like Maurice, but she's way better than Ms. So I went, I would never. You know, Ms. is the third best in his family, right?

It's Maurice, Mr. Ms. and then Mike when it comes to wrestling. Mr. Ms. being his dad? Yes. George? George, Mizanan. Yes. Anytime I go to Mr. Hero when I'm back to visit my parents. Mr. Hero. Yeah.

His dad, fresh for you. I love that place. They're so good. Extra large Roman burger, waffle fries, two cheese tubs. Like the little, it's like the nacho cheese from like bowling alleys or at like movie theaters in the 70s. It's that. It's like the fake orange goo chemical in like a shot glass.

And I will put all the fries in there. and then I'll start dipping my Roman burger in that thing, too. It's disgusting. That's all you got to eat to look like this. Yes. And then just fast for the next 72 hours and then work out three times a day. Do you think about how much longer you want to do this or you can do this? Every once in a while I do.

And I just go, I don't understand how the way I bump and move my body around and as a workaholic and fly so much, how I'm not in more pain. and I'm not injured more. Are you in any pain right now? Just mentally here. But no, back and neck, but that's been like that since college. So, like, it's not bad. It's, I don't understand, like, mathematically. I should have had, like, oh, a couple of knee surgeries or a shoulders.

I've had nothing. And I, you've had no surgeries? In college, I got a clavicle resection that was like a six-week thing. That was before wrestling, though. But no pro wrestling surgeries. No pro wrestling surgeries. And I'm pretty sure in the last 22 years, there was somewhere between two and three weeks where I was unavailable and like unable to wrestle. I don't know that Cow Ripkin Jr. did that because he had an offseason.

There's no one in this business that will ever come near that. And that was in the, the gist of that was those five days a week loops instead of one day a week. What were the two or three weeks you couldn't wrestle? And by the way, it was like, I could have. One time I was like, landed funny on a live event from like Kofi's finisher. So I was trying to probably take in a 15th different way. Fell and I was like, oh, my ankle hurts and like, oh, you might have a broken bone of your foot, but it's like kind of fine.

And he goes, eh, we better to keep you off the TV today. I go, well, I can go out there if you need me. And he's like, yeah, maybe. And like, that's the only one I can remember. I got a concussion once and it was two weeks. So I think that's the three weeks. And the two weeks, the two weeks was because, hey, we were, we had found out about CTE, we found about a concussion.

Like, we were going to go above and beyond to make sure you're okay. Great. And I was fine a weekend and they waited another week. So that's it. Now there's, now there's a bunch of times where I was not injured, but I was hurt. And in those old days, it was like, oh, you have a pulled groin, you know, if you take the weekend off, we, you know, we're going to tell Vince and maybe who knows how Monday will go. I'm already getting beat up all the time.

Like, shit, okay. So I got to a point where, it's okay to tell us now. I had a pulled groin, but then the doctors found a way on the live event to wrap me like, when you're training someone to use chopsticks, you know, like the kids one that has like,

it's like a little stretch band so it like forces you to like, it half helps you. Yeah. They wrap my legs. I had the little trunks at the time, but they wrap my legs like training chopsticks. So it's like,

heavily wrapped across the waist and one leg and then a little bit of the other. So it was like kind of kept them close. So I couldn't like pull the other one. So then I think I had the U.S. title, I would wear that over my trunks and put a bag of ice down in my crotch. And then I would do that for the 10 minutes before I went out and I would wear it to the ring and then get out there and then do the entrance.

And as I pulled the title off, the bag of ice would fall out. And it was like, so it was like the 20 minutes of icing before you go out there. I don't think you're supposed to do that. But that and I was okay, but eventually because we were tightening this. And of course, myself and Kofi are whoever I'm working for, we're doing like the semi main event of the show.

So it's like I see title, US title, whatever. It would be 25, 30 minutes. It was the intermission match. And after a couple loops of that, my other groin had been pulled because it was overcompensating for being, you know, the chopsticks. And then so that was, there was a couple loops where I was getting injections in my groin. the ice down the crotch, the title wrapped over the top and wrapped like chop sticks. But that was just, it was a different time like where you go, I go, oh, I'm going to lose my push or whatever.

I wasn't being pushed, but sometimes the title. US title. But you have to understand. And that's great. That's a big deal. But at the time, a lot of times it was the U.S. title. There's no, there's, Ms. is getting a talking segment. I'm the guy who comes out and wrestles a cold match against Kofi and gets rolled up, but it's not a title so we can get to a title match.

And a lot of times it was that. Had there been some more substance to like me and Kofi, me and Morrison, me and a few other people, then it would be like a bigger deal and it was like, oh, that is a real push. This is just like, you have a title. And as soon as we want to take it off you, we will. But there's not really too much to it. And sometimes that's the case. Sometimes, you know, sometimes those tag titles got pushed to the side all the time.

I see once in a while, US every once in a while. But it was sometimes made a bigger deal. But I thought it was cool. I'm in WWM the frigging champ. I'm fighting through an injury and we're going to go steal the show. What the hell is your excuse? That story is insane. I wish you had a better memory because there's probably some other stuff.

Nobody bumps like you. So I'm curious, what's the move that when someone's, when you're going over a match, what's the move you just pumped to take? Because nobody can take it like you. I'm not pumped to take anything. But I did very, very recently get back in the ring with Matt Cardona, which happens, you know, every couple months now. But I remembered the old WWE days of taking something from him and his finisher,

the Rough Rider, I think it's called something else now. And taking that and having my like torqued body bounce on my back and come off the mat and do like a 360, but like whatever you call this kind of 360 and then come back down. And that was that and Matt Hardy's not his finisher, but like his rock box. of me. The side effect, I think. Side effect. You told me.

Is that it? Yeah, I think that's it. So we would go up together and bounce. And when I would hit, there was back some like cat torque in my body. And I would do like a spin and like a revolution and come back down. And I just, like I said, I feel like no matter who I'm wrestling or what the match is, whether it's a pre-show six minute dark match or the main event of a pay-per-view. And I go, I can't go to the back and face myself if I didn't give 11 out of 10.

So a couple of those things like that, those moves really make me, I was just in the ring with Matt and taking his finisher for a second. I went, oh, right, that's how this goes. And it was like, my body just did the bounce up 360 thing because it's, it is a little fun to take. But even a simple bump from you, it doesn't look like a simple bump. And like this is the magic of the way that you sell. Yeah. You bump, but you're also like kind of flailing. I don't know.

I can't explain it. Some of it I can't explain. but some of it was to stand out. And then, you know, that first probably five, six years, it was too much Mr. Perfect to where like that worked in the 80s and then Perfect would back it up and kick everybody's ass. It'd be awesome. And he could flip out of the air on just someone kicking out of his back ankle 15 times or something

or just do some incredible stuff. And I was making it less special by taking every tackle bump into a drop kick bump into something to where you get to the final, you know, the last couple pieces of the puzzle of a match, that's where it should be. So it took me a few years to figure out like, oh, for somebody's the big false finish before we get to the end of the match, that is where you bring that out and go, that's the knockout punch. And anyone who would ask me like what I was doing, I would say what I would do is I would

watch a movie where that villain or the second best villain would get killed. And I would use those to like, even though I was just taking Kobe's kick, I would try and take it like I was being shot or I would take it like I was getting my feet. pulled out from under me. I was taking it like my knee went out or I got concussed and I forgot to fall and then half fell. I was trying to modify it and make it different every time that movie, movie ones and trying to make it seem like when I saw MMA knockouts, I went to an MMA show and I watched a guy.

I was behind him at the time in the cage and he got uppercutted. I watched it happen and I watched him leave his feet and like that is rocky movie shit. Like when you had uppercutted here, you get knocked out, but you don't leave your feet like a cartoon cat jumping in the air. His feet came like four inches off the ground. I went, oh my God. And he was out. It was actually kind of gross.

And I go, I wonder. So I started applying MMA knockouts to like, oh, this, I wanted to have people think that I was knocked out for real instead of just like a great wrestling bump or the best wrestling bump ever. But I wanted to be like, that's a knockout. Oh, my God. Is he okay? And I started getting there, there's no less than five or six times in a couple of year

window where not just all the agents and people backstage. The boss would be like, oh my God, are you okay? And I'm like, this is what you fucking pay me for, bro. On what move? A couple of bro kicks for sure, but sometimes there's no, you know, it's not all me doing that. Brokecks for sure. Drew's kick.

One of my favorites was Daniel Bryant. They call it something like Bucyko knee? The double knees? No, just it's a running knee, yeah, whatever. It's that. And I could take it wrestling-wise. I could take it like someone getting jumped in an alley, or I could take it like an MMA fight where you forget and your hands drop and you crumble to the ground.

And I got to a point where I could take like a snap bump and drop my hands. And it looks like a drive-by knockout. And I was really proud of that one. But all of them I am eventually once I, you know, I just got to take it once or twice to figure out how it'll not trick a 40-year-old, but trick an 8-year-old for sure. and would sometimes catch a boss or a 40-year-old. This episode is brought to you by fast-growing trees.

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when they use all of the app's premium features. So cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to RocketMoney.com slash CVV today. That's rocketmoney.com slash CVV. Rocketmoney.com slash CVV. When you left WWE, someone put together a graphic of all of your stats.

Okay. 19 years, 1,554 TV matches in WWE, third most in WWE history at the time, two-time World Heavyweight Champion, one-time NXT champion, six-time Intercontinental Champion, two-time United States champion, four-time tag team champion, one-time Money in the Bank winner. That to me sounds like the resume of a Hall of Famer. Yeah, I guess. I think everybody kind of gets in eventually, but... That?

But listening to that, it's like, you know, it's awesome. And I know I downplayed the U.S. title a little bit. And sometimes it was just like, I've been there before, which is like, hey, we got a bunch of heels going over on this pay-per-view. Kofi has to win this match and win the U.S. title back for you after like two weeks. And you're like, okay. And it doesn't make sense. But there's a lot of times where it did matter and make sense. And it felt good to be like, oh, we have a good story.

And now a title is involved. And now I'm fighting for it. And now I got taken away from me. Oh, I got to chase it again. there's there's a lot i would say 70% of those things that you announced were like i'm picturing oh the pay-per-view that led to it or where we went afterwards and it was like that's that's what i like that's what i like that's 1554 i think you said matches on tv would have been so much more if i wasn't always like getting yelled at and taking off the show sometimes i really feel like there's

like 10 more tv matches we could have got in there so then if that's just tv matches how many more matches i didn't miss any live events i didn't take time off so what do you think the actual number is have no idea. But that a lot, it's really easy to forget after COVID. Thank you. It's really easy to forget after COVID that there was a time where I said this many times. I used to measure my time home in hours.

And there's no off season. And then I, and I welcomed. It was like, hey, everyone's going home after this WrestleMania loop. Can you go to Romania for us? Because the after WrestleMania loop,

like that tour is not really selling that well. And that was the one time of year, It's like you get like five days off. And it's like, what? And I was like, oh, guess I'm going to Romania and Turkey. And I just remember, I go, that was the, I'm on the West Coast-ish. So it would be Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, tape Smackdown. So sometimes red eye Thursday night, Friday, do the live event.

Drive 300 miles Saturday to a live event. Drive 250 miles Sunday to a live event. Possibly have media Monday morning at 6 a.m. round up with another 300 mile drive, do raw TV. They try to make Ron Smackdown far away, two to 400 miles away for Tuesday, do Smackdown. Then Wednesday, if there's no delays, I would make it home before noon. And then possibly a red eye Thursday night or Friday at 5 a.m. And so I was doing like, okay, 36 and a half hours.

I'd be on the plane, on the connection, the last flight going, okay, 36 hours. Is it worth a date? That's like six, eight hours of my time. I'm here. I got 36 hours. Okay, how about this? Maybe sushi, but like a quick one. Yeah, okay, got one hour or two hour thing. And then I'm going to, I'm going to order stuff for Kriskrieh pizza. I'm going to do my laundry up right back out. And it was just like, this week, do I get to watch this thing? Or do I go on a date or do I get a steak? And you're like, what I do? And it was like, I welcomed it because in that time that was everyone,

we're all on salaries now. Back then it was the more you worked, the more you got paid. And when you were in my position for that first 10 years, even as like an intercontinental champion or something, you're usually the bottom of the payroll stature. And so the more you worked, sometimes you got the minimum a lot, but you worked more days, you got more stuff in. And there was more chance to catch somebody's eye, more chance to prove to the agent who's going to tell Vince, if you're doing good or bad. And there's more ways to go, hey, this guy, not only, I skipped weddings. And it was just like, well, okay, you can have that Saturday off in four months. but we have to tell Vance.

And you're like, yeah, I know. He's like, well, when it comes to Monday, and you're like, okay, okay, I'll be there. And you just did it. And stupidly, I should have went to the weddings. But I did not miss, to my knowledge, any time ever. And if ever I wasn't on a live event, I just wasn't booked. So with that resume, I just read off to you. Do you feel like you've had a Hall of Fame career?

Reading the paperwork and knowing what I can do. Yeah, sure. I would say, yeah. But I genuinely don't think about it at all. It's some things I focus on like, hey, I have to give my body 11 out of 10 for any match that I'm in, no matter what company it's in or where it's at or how many, if there's 80 people or something. But knowing those stats, it's like, yeah, yeah, I did. And it won't be mentioned probably even if I was in the Hall of Fame. but it was like no one will ever follow that

that number of shows in a row without being injured, without being out, without needing a week off, nothing. And that's the guy who started off in the Spear squat. Caddy first. Don't forget my month and a half is a caddy. And where do you think that gimmick would have gone if Eddie hadn't passed away?

Because that gimmick. It was kind of funny, but it was like, it wasn't even like the best Chavo. Like, Chavo's great already. And doing the character was like, in it, with not most of it being on Sunday night heat, it could have been something. But there wasn't, this wasn't like, hey, he's going to be with Chavo learning. And then we're, you know, we're going to the world title match. Like, there was this, hey, there's this guy. He kind of looks like a douche and Chavo's pretending to be one.

This will be perfect. But would you have been a caddy for six months, a year, two years? I would say six months to a year and probably half to two thirds of it would have been on Sunday night heat. That's my guess because even Chavo wasn't doing too much with it. And sometimes on TV and even like our debut, I think it ended up being on heat, but I think we were on Raw. I was like, I broke a golf club over Shelton's back. And I was like, well, this is kind of cool. And then like the next week we're on heat and the next week we're on heat.

And I go, oh, okay. It's just like, like, it's all, like, I go, some people don't ever get to work here. Some people don't get out of developmental. I'm checking off these little goals every step. Wait, I got to be on TV. I'm in the ring with Chavo rolling around with him, my first stage. He just wanted to know who the hell I was. I was like, hey, he goes, oh, you're not a total piece of shit.

Like, great. I'm like, yeah, this is awesome. And it was just like, and having those moments and another thing checked off. Like, oh, I got an action figure. Like, man, I hate being in the spirit squad. We're kind of jokes. Got an action figure. We're working with Dusty Roads, Rick Flair.

Sergeant Slaughter, Degeneration X, every legend. We're in five months of storylines with Vince. Like, it's crazy. Like, the reason I got so good so quickly, other than practicing twice a day when everyone else in developmental was doing once, other than that, was being in the ring for, I think it's like a 12-month calendar year with some of the greatest of all time, but the most importantly, Hunter, Sean, and Rick Flair rotated because Rick was like an honorary DX guy on live events.

And they were doing live events. Like, DX versus Spirit Squad was the main event of a bunch of live events, which is crazy. But out there, that's the non-TV thing where you know, you get your camera shots and you get all your moves and Sean's going to get bloodied in the cage. This is those things where we're like, we're out there just having a match and learning from the greatest of all time. And putting that together and just going, well, how about this here? Like, no, how about this? okay, great. I got to a point.

Myself and Mikey were like five months and four months into with these guys. And I was like, hey, do you think I could call some stuff for you, Sean? And he's like, what? Yeah. All right, go ahead. What do you got? I got him in like a headlock and I'm like, well, what do I do? Like, I'm so nervous.

And I was like, I've been planning. I'm like, oh, how about this? How about this? And I'm trying to listen to them and also know what Sean would do. And I'm like, hey, yo. That's my favorite. Kid, you got a drop kick in you? And this is before I used kid as a derogatory term to so many different people.

But I was like, he's like, what? I'm like, you do drop me? He goes, ah, I guess probably. I'm like, oh, shit, all right. Light me up. Light me up and I'll stop you. Give me a drop kick. And I was just like, he did this thing.

It was like so not a Sean thing. So unnecessary. He didn't even fit because I didn't know what the hell I was doing. But he did it. And it was like, he let us try and call some stuff. And I was like, dude, that's the coolest thing in the world. Like, I'm an idiot. I'm a year into training.

And you let me call this in a WWE ring to you. But it's the most basic ass thing ever. But Hunter and Shaw, and we just got to learn from them. And overseas stores, we would just sit. Something just flashed my brain. And I was sitting there, myself and Mikey, sitting with, with Triple H for like two hours after catering was over at midnight, just asking him stuff. Not the bullshit. We're kissing your ass.

You're the boss. He wasn't even the boss yet. It was just like the, we're here with this guy who's kicked ass in this business at this company, especially. Like, what about this? What about this? When, but trying not to make it also the Chris Farley show. Remember when you're in DX? Remember when you were the champ?

Like, it's more like, when you did this with Kurt, why? Because I thought it should be this. And he's like, no, it should have been this. And you're like, oh, okay. And it's just like learning psychology while bullshitting and catering. Like, what a win. Man, when you look at the romantic storylines you were in, you ferociously made out with AJ.

Marrociously. Oh, you went all in. Yeah, hey. I'm not messing around. Lona. Vicki Guerrero. You also kiss Summer Ray. Am I missing anybody?

Uh, do you say Maria? Maria. I feel like there's a couple more, but it, I got to a point where I'm like, oh, okay. Vince likes my work, but doesn't think I should be world champion, but my reward is to like, he gets chicks or something. Like, in his mind, I think that was real. like, oh, this, yeah, he's too small to be world champ, but like, he gets ladies.

I don't know, because that was the reward, like, by the way, reward. It's not like real life kissing. You're like, there's cameras and everyone's there and everyone's on the company. Everybody's dating somebody else and everyone's standing there and you're like, this is the worst thing ever. But making your character look cool is the reward? Yeah, it was like, yeah, no, that's it. It's like, not a title.

You're not going to win, but you made out with that chick afterwards, okay, I guess it's all right. And, but, but with AJ, with Vicki, too. Vicki, we went in because Vicky was great. She's a sweetheart. She got so booed so much that we were doing a story with John Sina. We went out there and a college town in Texas. I can't remember what it was.

And it was a raw. And we're going to do a promo segment, mostly Vicky and him going back for it. We're going to have a match. And she could not get a word out to where I'm next to her like this, closer. And I can't hear her on the microphone because the crowd's booing her so much. that we called an audible and just said that it booted so much that she couldn't even get to her points before we went to commercial break. So we went to commercial break and then pushed it to a two-seg match after that. And it was like, first of all, the first thing I'm thinking of, I'm usually the guy who's waiting on deck and going,

your match is cut because there's too much heat in this real good story here. And I'm saying, they're going, we just, okay, we're skip that and now it's going to be a two-seg match, but it's John. So that's all called on the flight. Anyway, and it's so easy. But I go, first thing I'm thinking, I was like, man, usually this, I'm on deck. And I go, man, I feel bad. I forget who's next, but we're taking their cut them out of the show. And that sucks.

But once I got past that, first thing, I go, worry about it later. Get this. And it was like, she couldn't get a word out. And then we had a two segment match that was way cooler than the five minute thing. We're just going to be seeing a hit his, you know, his moves. And Vicki was so great. And she would be like, is there everyone really hate me? I'm like, you're just so good.

Like she's so sweet, but we would go in, like, making out to where my mom is like, what are you doing with this lady? I'm like, she's really nice. But then with AJ, too, they're like, I, they wanted like gross. And I'm like, I'll give you gross, brother. They asked for gross. Yeah, it's like they. I want it way, way bigger words than I would be comfortable using.

But like, it's got to be like that. And you're like, all right. But I go, I said, I'm like, are you cool with this? Yes. I'm cool to do. We're going in. to where he said this, we're going to make them come to the back and go,

okay, take it back a notch. Do you have to practice this beforehand? I think the Lana one I had to. Lana, and we're in a room, the size of this table with a couple of bosses and Mr. Lana, who's my friend, by the way,

and he's just like, let me see what you're going to do. And I'm like, now, here, what? It's already weird. You're, you're, but you at least, like with actors, like they do like six weeks together and they're,

the husbands and wives aren't sitting on the other side of the camera like this. Like, how is it going to go? Like, it's already a weird thing, but like, I'm friends with them. And I'm like, okay. I'm like, why is it we're looking? And like, he's like, that was terrible. I'm like, I know because this is really awkward. I go, if you want big and gross, I got you.

If you want it low down, I got it too. And make sure. I'm like, hey, are you comfortable with this? Yes, Lana is. Yes. Maria is. Yes, AJ is. Okay, great.

Here's what I'm going in with this. I'm not a, well, unrelated to the show. I am a pervert. It's nothing to do with work right now. Like, I am a professional. If you're not okay with this, I will say that I'm not okay with it. Like, okay, great. Can we go in to where this MFer comes to the,

when we come to the back goes, wow, can you take it down a notch? Because I go, I don't know when I'm getting another shot. Like, I got a money in the bank briefcase. I don't know if I'm getting another shot. I don't know if I'm cashing this in and losing. I want this. I don't want him to be like, oh, you had a chance to be gross and you blew it.

So we went in. And the first time he was like, that's exactly right. I was like, oh, my God, really? And then we got, there was like a couple weeks later where we got really gross. Like, I was like a hair pool. And I'm like, where are we stopping this? And then he was like, take it down. I went, finally, thank God.

Okay, now we know where the line is. Now I go, I want it to be gross because I say this a lot, but it's true. Like, I'm probably not winning this match. The briefcase is probably getting busted over my head. All this stuff. Like, I want this to at least get booed out of the building. So there's something there, some substance to my character to where it makes it seem like we're gross and we should be booed or cheered or whatever it is. When you did that New Year's Eve toast with AJ that got interrupted by John Sina.

Classic him. What did what was the, what got poured on you? Um, in that, I don't know. Brown slop, some sort. The, I think it's a bunch of dog food, really. and a bunch of other gross stuff. It's not like just like a big vat of movie fun stuff that smells like pudding or something.

Like it's gross. And I think the gross gross one was the Spirit Squad one where we got like outhouses dumped on us by DX. And the rumor was it was half real outhouses at some, but that's not real. But it was like that stuff stunk and was gross. And that was tons and tons of wet dog food. And even,

And if you smell it, it's gross. And it's in your hair and your ears and stuff. And I'm like, but you know what? You like, whatever it says, like, Vince wouldn't ask you to do something that he wasn't to do. He was out there with us getting covered with it. So. And then you got to get on a plane later that night or the next morning. So you rinse off and you throw everything away.

And we only, I think we had two spirits got out of it. So we had to go buy a secondary outfit. But you can watch. Luckily, I had the short hair. So it kind of mostly washed out. But it's still inside your ears and your nose and then you just. like a wet dog's old bowl. It's so gross.

What was the conversation before your SummerSlam match, 2019, with Goldberg? I was just going to say, you got to remind me, like, I, remember I told you this before I go, what about, you know, Survivor Series 2019? Like, I have no idea what you're talking about. This match. Oh, okay. The conversation, there were a couple ideas thrown around before we found out what the deal. So I assumed it would be a two minutes of heat, but like me moving.

out of the way and like him taking himself out to a turnbuckle and then like a couple moves from him and we go to his finish or something and I was told like no ding ding ding spear jackhammer well you hit him with two super kicks yeah but I was told like here's the deal and I go Vince why am I am I in this match when anybody could take a spear at a jackhammer I go we we built this up we we pretended it was going to be miss then we pretended it was going to be Sean Michaels for one night And we had like this face off just so you could play the Goldberg music and make this like, what's the point of ding, ding, ding, spear jackhammer. Like, I go, a local could do it.

Anybody could do it. And he was like, well, he was like, I don't know what he can do with you. I don't know. I go, if I can't be in this match doing something, then I have to leave this company right now. And I'm not kidding. If this is purely for someone, a scarecrow to take a spear at a jackhammer, I don't want to work here. And also it was supposed to be my second last night anyway. We'll get to that in a minute.

And I'm fighting with him all day. And luckily I'm at a point in 2019 where it's like, I'm not just going to go, okay, you're right. I should just take the movies. I'm fighting. I'm like, it should be something. I should kick him. I should do something to where he has to come up out of it.

And we're just going to his finisher anyway. But there should be something other than a bell because then there's no little ride. There's no anything. There's just a finisher. And if the crowd's hot on his entrance, they don't get hotter. We don't take them down. We don't bring them up.

And I pitched a million different ways to do something. And finally, it was super kick on the bell. Get a false out of it. Super kick him again. And then get broken in half. And I go, yeah, okay, that's something at least. There's like some up and down that we can go with. And I love Renee, happens to be on the call there.

And I love making fun of her because she's, so good at so many things in our business, it really pisses me off. She's so good at like 57 out of 58 things in our business. She's not great at calling action, which I get to bust her balls for it, which is great. But she's so good at everything. But I love, she didn't know what we were doing. And it's just ding, ding, ding. And we both stand there. And I hit him under the chin with my super cake. Try and kind of put them down, you know, crack right in on. And she just goes, oh my God. And I really go, now we got them for a second. That's all. All we needed was something.

If we get them on a close kick out here, at the time the super kick was my finish. If we get them, if he's just like not kicking out at zero like he's a hero, like let's get one, two. Oh, and we got two moments out of one move and he's just going to spear me anyway. And of course he kicked out at one or something because he's really good at wrestling. And then we got to the second one. And then I go, now I go, I spaced it out. I go, break me in half. And he did.

And we got to get a couple more out of it. And it genuinely hurt like hell every time. But that's part of the business. That's the deal. And at the beginning of the day, it was pretty easy to go around a few different things. But the spears really hurt. And I was just like, man, getting out of that last one before he was leaving, leaving. I was like, man, I got one more.

Like just get up and take it. It's going to be all right. And it was like genuine. But that's how it should be. For crazy spears for someone who works once a year or works. But like is in the match once a year or something, it should be like a badass spear and it should be real. And I might have a crack driver or something. I didn't.

But I would have been fine with it because that's part of the deal. But I was pitched the idea to go with Goldberg because I was going to leave the company. It was going to be, I'll leave the names out of it who pitched the idea to me. He said, but everything that you do, when you put over it. over so many people. He's like, some people put over someone when they leave. You're the only person who's going to put over two people on the way out because we know you can. And I went, oh, I was drinking the Kool-A. I didn't believe in it. But I was like, oh, yeah, you know what? Damn it. Goldberg on Sunday. And that Monday, I wrestle Ms. with my career on the line and he beats me.

And I wanted to make sure he tap me out with his version of the figure four. But some version of that to like it puts over, I'm helping my friend on the way out. I'm giving his figure four the best sell that it'll ever have. So that gets passed on to him. And I lost on Sunday to Goldberg. I'll lose there to Mike. And then I was out of the company. And on a handshake deal, I was out.

And that day was told that I would not be allowed to be out. Why did you want to leave that? Same reasons. I want to go see if I can be good in a world chance. camp elsewhere because my time here, it's just, I'm passing the torch to Goldberg at this point. Like, what am I doing here? So it was like, I go, I will make this beautiful. I will make Monday beautiful.

And those are my last two days. So that might have been AEW at that point in time. Possibly. Because AEW had just started up. Yep. If we're talking about late summer, early fall of 2019. Yep. Wow.

And he's like, I can't let you go. Was your contract up? Here's the catch. There's another year on the deal, but we had shaken hands. And that's fine. I need to learn, like, hey, we shook hands and he reneged on the deal. I didn't. And I said, okay, I'll be here.

But there was saying maybe a year and two months left to go, I felt very betrayed, but it's business. And that's how that goes. And I go, okay, he goes, I have the paperwork. you can. I was like, I know, I know, I, uh, we shook hands, but can't let you go. Because we just, what if you show up on AEW and be the world champ? I'm like, yeah, wouldn't you look stupid? So then, were you just counting down the days?

But at that point, I said, okay, uh, I assumed after that deal I was done, but I go, listen, I'm going to be in the best shape in my life. I already am. I do everything I can, but I go, I'm going to have everything ready to go that says they need to pay me a bunch of money to not leave and go somewhere. or they'll just let me go and say, hey, hey, that was a hell of a run. Thanks for everything. Go do your thing.

I go, I'm ready either way. I'm ready to get out of here. I wasn't doing much significant work, but also the stuff that I was doing. I was like really unhappy with it. And a lot of times I didn't come from independence. So everything I learned psychology and television wise and story wise and booking a card and a paper view and everything was from Vince. and we got to a point in that 2018, 2019, 2020, where it was like, he's saying to do the opposite.

And I go, the only reason I know that this is wrong is because you told me it was wrong. And then last year and now it's right. And he'd be like, ah, it's wrestling and stuff. So it's like he, I don't know if it was like he's the genius who created everything and did all this awesome stuff. And I learned so much. And like, legit, I can't believe the awesome stuff that I got to do and learn from him. and we got to a point where it was like he's counterdicting himself but like not even usually like

everyone says like the Jedi mind tricks and you walk out of you pitch something but you walk out out of like yeah I got nothing out of it you're right and like like Jericho people have said that all the time and that's real but I got to a point where we go oh I'm just going to do this dumb thing you asked me to do even though it goes against all psychology that you taught me okay no problem the check cleared got it I'm going to go and I started acting like that sometimes which is not great, but I go, maybe they'll fire me. And then I'm like, ah, that handshake, it kind of counted. But that's, yeah, I just, I thought I was leaving possibly to go try everything out.

And still had me for a little over a year. So I did everything I possibly could to be ready to go and said, you will not be able to afford me. And I'm going to go be world champion everywhere else. And they agreed to terms, and I couldn't believe it. So in an alternate timeline, Dolf Ziegler leaves WWW. in 2019 and goes to AEW that year. Oh, maybe.

Wow. Is there a point in your career where you feel like this should have ran with you? You were so hot because there's a lot of start stop, right? Yeah. And by the way, that happens with everybody. It did happen a lot with me, but it happens to everybody. And so many people who are lower on the card, not the people higher on the card, obviously.

But yeah, there was a couple different times where I go, I got to a point where I stopped paying attention to it And I was going like, are we going with Seth or are we not going with Seth? Because I was like the main protagonist to him, however we're what we were doing. And we had so many matches in a row and the boss just like booked together. It was great because we would have like awesome matches. It was fun. But they weren't fully going with him.

And I go, I'm a notch below him. And I have way more losses racked up. So I stopped going with me. And we got to a point to where a couple people were hurt. And I can't remember when it was. But Sina was out, Roman's out. Seth is out. And I go to the boss and I go, if I can't get booked on this show, then I need to not be here because all the guys that I'm in the ring with constantly and I'm one notch below in your eyes, they're all out and I'm not on this raw.

Like, why not? And how about this? How about this? How about this? And then there's a couple different times. Money in the bank, there was a chance to have like a really good moment afterwards, whether it was in the ring or talking or something. and I just remember became world champion. A bunch of people were happy, but also, you know, like, that's, that's an odd crowd

at WrestleMania, a bunch of fans. I was still a heel to a bunch of fans. So it was half and half. And there was a moment to either run baby face or run full on heel. And instead, word for word, I had to say, like, I went out there to entertain. And I had like this two pages of really, like, accidentally boring stuff to talk about, much like after that Survivor series, 2014, I think.

And it was like, now we either run with it or we don't, but you got a rocky baby face that just got the seal of approval from John. And I know I was there. A couple people were out at the time. I'm like, we could go with this or we can even half-ass go with this

and this is going to take off. And it was, I legit, I had to say twice in three sentences that I just wanted to entertain or something. And I'm like, what? I'm like,

no, no, no. I was digging deep because the company he was on the line and John Tina's career. He's like, no, I just wanted to enter sports entertain everyone or something. And I go, is this a heel or a face pro where I couldn't tell? And that's what it was. It was like the last day of it anyway, so it didn't matter. So there was something special there to either use me as like a rock or, you know,

rocky underdog or go some different way with it. And we just went, I was really happy to entertain. And then I went to fun tag match with John. And then that was it. The United States Soccer Federation presents. the U.S. Soccer Podcast. My name is David Goss, and I'm joined by my co-host, Megan Klinemberg. And now we're giving people an inside look at the World Cup.

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Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You had a match with Seth Rollins at Extreme Rules 2018, 30 man Ironman match. But the crowd was counting down every minute. Do you remember this? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So the reason I remember this one, well, it's because the crowd counting down.

But also, this was at the time where no matter what you think of Roman now, he's amazing, 11 out of 10. But at the time, he was being forced on people to like constantly be the guy, constantly. And he's great. But just like at the time, he was forced. fed nonstop like Vince goes, this is going to stick one way or another, whether it takes six years or 10 or whatever.

And he was, and they're like, God, we're so sick of this. The same guy every time he's in the main event. And he's out. And they go, God,

I wish the guy's fighting for the intercontinental title would be on. I wish Seth to be in the main event. Wish golf get it. We got it. We got a shot. Finally, against the boss's main wishes, we're going to main event this pay-per-view.

Intercontinental title is in the main event. It's an Iron Man match. Seth, who you love, Dolf who you mostly hate and are good wrestlers. The guys that you are begging, begging the workhorse guys to get a shot, all the stars align. Vince still says no, and we talk them into it. We're main eventing the show. And I don't know, it was like three minutes in, the crowd just starts doing the clock. And then we're inside, I just put like a hold on. I'm like, man, what is happening? Like, what?

And they're not even doing the clock right. So it's kind of screwing me up. And then I, like, missed something because, like, they're going seven, six. And it's like 10 or something. I'm like, what? And it's like not even a countdown. It's just the time. And then a third of the way through, they go, don't worry, don't worry.

We're taking it off the screen. I go, no, no, no, don't do that. They take it off the screen. So the crowd just starts going 10, nine, every 10 seconds. It's not even every minute now. They're doing it every 10 seconds. And I go, oh, my God. There's, you can hear you in the ring, you go, I think that made it worse.

Yeah. I didn't know you could hear me. But I was like, no, no, no, don't you get off. Like, fuck, I think I made it worse. So now instead of the last 10 seconds of every minute, it's every 10 seconds they're just counting down. And now I don't know what time it is. And now most importantly, they're not paying attention to the match.

And I go, man, that's on us to get them back. And we tried. And I was a little, it wasn't my best night because I was a little out of it, because I was trying to, like, do something on the floor. fly that would change, but I'm also trying to con like I'm trying to express that to Seth while we're going to these pieces that we got to get to every certain amount of minutes.

And it's just, uh, yeah, the crowd, internet crowd, live crowd. They begged for a shot for the IC title for Seth for myself, anything but Roman. They got it. And Vince went, see, I was right. You're all wrong. And then it was out.

So thanks a lot. It was at Pittsburgh. I don't, I don't remember that. It's, uh, thanks a lot. Hey. That's that. I feel like we need to look this up now.

We've got all the world's information in our pocket. So I feel like someone told me that, but I don't, I forget. If the clock wasn't on the screen, your match would have been amazing. Who's to say? I, you know, you never know. Let's see. But at least it would have been something. We could have at least, we weren't there to prove the crowd, we were to play off the

ground, but to prove events that we could be in the main event. And it might have set us back at six months or a year. So where did you think it was? I said Pittsburgh. You were correct, sir. Hey. I usually don't know where anything is or what anything is called. or we're in Los Angeles.

Ah, yes. Yeah. That's where we are right now. Yeah. So where does it go from here? You still have the ability to go wherever you want, wrestle wherever you want? Yeah, TNA is great about that because of the process at the moment to where we tape usually once for a month or every three weeks, we'll have like a pay-per-view and tape two episodes

or two and a half or do two episodes and two episodes and save everything in a month of shows in a weekend. You're able to like, I'm able to bounce around. to go to Mexico, go to Japan, go anywhere, really. Independent shows, you name it, and that's great. But now I'm waiting to hear because I keep being told from the Internet and people that are like, because of this very fruitful relationship with WWB, not only is NXT and TNA having a story at the moment,

there's some behind the scenes being partners with them has really helped us looking for a streaming service or wherever we're going. And I don't know any details. I wish I did. But I really feel like it's just on the cusp of happening. And because of that relationship, it's really helping. And I really think if that goes down or something comes down, it might be 52 weeks a year where we're live and then or 26 or whatever,

something. There'll be some kind of change. So I've been keeping my bookings for, you know, in 2026 just off the, just in case because if that's the case, as much as I was outside looking in with TNA, you know, the first six months or so, now it would be like I would adjust my schedule to be there for every possible TNA thing,

whatever the situation, whether we were live every week or every other week or whatever the hell, whatever ended up happening, that I could always be there for it because I'm in. As much as I said, I wanted to do my own thing.

I half did and I still am in the middle right now, but if it helps lock down, something for TNA just because of all the hard work behind the scenes that everyone's doing and in the ring that I go, if I can help and be there every damn day, I will be. Now that there's this relationship with TNA and WWE, does that mean we could possibly see Nick Nemeth in the Royal Rumble? Nick Nemeth, we'd be making his WWE debut. That's funny because they can't have a Bdolp because if I went in, I would be like the second

most all time and we wouldn't want to have that or something or first most or second most or something you wouldn't want to have that. Yeah. Uh, yeah, maybe, but, uh, I really, uh, I really love what I'm doing. I, I'm really, really love what we're doing, uh, as a company and what I get to do on my free time plus with the company. So sure, possibly something, but, uh, but it would still be with TNA. Yeah, yeah. And that's, and that's fine. Uh, what I've said this since they started talking together and making things public about everything with, uh, WWE's relationship. I said, I'm, if I can help TNA get something, I will be there. If it's to go to NXT and have a match, I'm not interested.

I've done everything I could possibly do in NXT. And if it's to do something with someone that I worked with, like Randy or Cody or Seth or something, I would be open to it if it helped TNA do something or make a stride or just get some kind of box checked for us to be, you know, to help us out. But otherwise, I will be cheering along. Why no NXT? Oh, I don't think there's anywhere for me to go there. I was a champ. And it was like, if I went there and was in a battle royal and lost,

it was like, what am I doing? Like, that doesn't help TNA get on the map somewhere. Now, if it's come fight our champion and because of this, we'll have someone come to TNA and do something. Please use me to negotiate because I want what's best for TNA. And there's some things there. But for the most part, I would much rather NXT, especially what NXT is. let's get Leon Slater there.

Let's get some people who are young up-and-comers who get a piece of that and then maybe the eyes of the boss of, instead of just Sean Michaels, maybe Triple H goes, who the hell is this guy? Who is this girl? Oh my God. Okay, we can bring them up

and do something with them. And that's what I would much rather see. We have an insane talent roster, guys and gals that some I'm just getting to know, but some I've been locked in and following. And that would be great for them. I don't think me being there helps TNA. And if it does, you bet your ass on there.

I am such a big TNA fan. Like, I've been a huge TNA fan since, like, I watched the early ones, but like became a hardcore fan like 0405, 06, right? I just love the passion that you speak with when you talk about TNA. Oh, okay. All right. It took me a minute to come around because I want to do my own thing. But, dude, it's such a team.

But you know how a lot of companies pretend to be teams? They just don't want you to unionize to buy a pizza or something. Family. We're family here. And you're like, but when you leave, you're dead to me. Yeah, yeah, great. It's legit. There's not one or two that are like going into business for themselves.

Which, by the way, it's wrestling business. That's going to happen. It is everyone going, how do we make this show kick ass from the pre show to the main event? Because we're all like on this goal of like we're going to get some kind of buzz. We're going to get everyone talking. We're going to get jumped into like people going, hey, this is a. a real deal here. And it's anything I can do to be a part of it. And it's, I'm saying that one, because I'm psychotic and I always have to go, I want this to be the best. But the important

part is the people won me over. Like everyone in the back, people behind the scenes helping out. Gail when I got here, like, she's the best. Like Tommy. Everyone we had, Scott was great, even though I was, you know, we only had a few weeks together. But like, right now even Carlos, like going everywhere above and beyond trying to get something special. special for TNA, I'm on board. So good to see you. Thank you for interview number 18. 18.

Oh, man. Fairly legal. Fairly legal. I'll ask you the same question I asked you at the end of the last one. Maybe your answers have changed. I don't know. What are three things, Nick, that you're grateful for as we sit here right now? I want to make, how do I know I'm not hitting on the same three ones?

We'll never know. We'll never know. Okay. I'm, you know what I really like. Uh, my family and I are in a group chat together. So even though we're spread out all over the world, we, every morning we got the wordle scores, every connection scores. How'd you do today? Uh, four.

I also got a four. It should have been a three, but it was a four. Uh, world connects us all. Yes, it really does. And that's just, it's something to like, in a group, like having like the base to be able to go, uh, my, my, my brother go, hey, I'm going to crash at your house for two weeks. sure my me going to my parents ham crash at your house for two weeks great hey they're coming to visit me for two weeks great being at having that structure to always have them like that's that's the best

two this probably wasn't from last time i got to i get to work with my brother we and whether we're working together or just in the same company we're doing tons of stuff together riding uh go to the shows together tag match we're freaking Ryan pin Jeff Hardy so we can become the TNA tag team champions that's the greatest thing ever right Ryan just gets to go forever they're like, yeah, you guys suck and especially you.

And he goes, I pin Jeff Hardy and we won the TNA tag team titles because of me. And you're like, damn right. So that,

that's pretty great. Amazing. We do, you know, on the outside hanging out, it was great, but having a show where we're together.

And he's already doing extra stuff behind the scenes for little videos to make. And it's already like way more fun just having him around there. So there's that.

And let's see. What else am I grateful for? Those are two definitely new things. Okay, good. Yeah. I, man, I wonder what the other three were. Someone will tell us in the comments. Yes, this is the first time where I didn't say money because it's so good. I don't even think about it anymore. No, let's see. Let's try to think of something. I wish I could get paid that much to not go to another company. Amazing. My God. Or to phone it in at work. Yeah, right. And still be better than everybody? Yes. Yes. I, uh, I, I, uh, I, I, something I'm grateful for is that I won't ever, ever put the brakes on because I owe it to myself and anyone who's paying to see a wrestling show, whether it's $5 or $5,000 or $50,000 for ringside, WrestleMania or whatever. If anyone's paying any money to go see a product that I'm a part of, I'm, I love that I can somewhat sleep at night because I said everything was out there.

I had an independent show afterwards. We did two TNA shows in Canada, and it was Edmonton, and it was two nights ago. And I go, this is the third one of the week. I'm a little banged up. I go, this is going to get an 11 out of 10 for me. Because if not, I'll be hearing from me, because I'm the toughest on myself and friends and family,

but myself. And I go, if I didn't have that attitude, I don't know if I would have been out of this business two years in. So good to see you, man. Yeah, you too, man. Future Hall of Famer, ladies and gentlemen. One way or another. Kent State Hall of Famer,

Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Can't read Ken Wright. Yes. They stopped their 25 lost streak for football and they're like one and two now or something. Oh. That's something. Thank you so much.

Yeah, you got it. Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because I have a job to do with rapid fire takes. So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs on this notion today. No idea what you're talking about. You're complaining more than you like to breathe air. It's like you get up in the morning.

only to complain and cry and moan on social media about things that you don't even understand. He's the spitfire of sports smack. Take advantage of it, but get up in here. The Jim Rome Show podcast. What's your beef? Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You've been warned.