Insight with Chris Van Vliet - O'Shea Jackson Jr Is A HUGE Wrestling Fan (& REALLY Loves Roman Reigns)

Episode Date: February 20, 2024

O'Shea Jackson Jr is an actor known for his roles in movies like Straight Outta Compton, Long Shot and Den Of Thieves. He is also a HUGE wrestling fan. He joins Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood to talk about being Ice Cube's son, how he didn't want to be an actor, playing his father in "Straight Outta Compton", his preparation for a role, the best advice he ever received about acting ("Never do a movie that you wouldn't go see it"), how his wrestling fandom began, why he loves Roman Reigns but doesn't like Cody Rhodes, The Rock's return to WWE, his thoughts on WrestleMania and much more! Quote I'm thinking about: "Used to is a rooster that don't crow no more" - O'Shea Jackson Jr's mom Sponsors: GREEN CHEF: Go to https://greenchef.com/60insightpod and use code 60insightpod to get 60% off, plus 20% off your next two months ROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and experience financial freedom: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv BETTERHELP: Get 10% off your first month with the code INSIGHT at http://betterhelp.com/insight MUDWTR: Get 15% off with the code CVV15 at http://mudwtr.com/cvv MAGIC SPOON: Get $5 off with the code CVV at http://magicspoon.com/cvv MYBOOKIE: Bet on WWE! Get up to $200 cash bonus when you use the code CVV and sign up at http://mybookie.ag BLUECHEW: Use the code CVV to get your first month of BlueChew for FREE at http://bluechew.com PLUNGE: Get $150 off your Plunge with the coupon code CVV150 at http://plunge.com BONCHARGE: Go to http://boncharge.com/CVV and use coupon code CVV to save 15% For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.  Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chris. Oh, yes. Welcome back to another one here on Insight. I'm CVV, Chris Van Fleet, and ooh, we got a good one here today. So glad to have you with us. Thank you for being here. Thank you for making Insight, one of the top wrestling podcasts on the planet. And if you're in the large percentage of people who just listen to the show but don't follow the show, it's like 75% of you.

Could I ask for a favor? You know I don't really ever ask for anything. But if you could just click that follow button, wherever you're listening right now, that would help so much. And that's why I keep mentioning it. It's why I do it in every single one of these intros because it helps so much. So just please take a second to click that follow button. You know him from movies like Straight Out of Compton, Denna Thieves, Long Shot, Cocaine Bear.

O'Shea Jackson Jr. is, of course, Ice Cube's son. But, I mean, he's really carved out his own incredible, career for himself. And the reason that he's on the show is because O'Shea is a massive. And I mean massive wrestling fan. If you follow him on Twitter, you know exactly what I'm talking about. He's not afraid to voice his opinions about what he likes and what he doesn't like in AEW and WW. He's a fantastic follow. So I highly recommend that. And you're going to love this conversation here so much. Snap a screen. shot tag us so we can share it out as well he's at o'shaye jackson junior i'm at chris fan fleet

and here we go enjoy this conversation with o'shae jackson junior i feel like this has been a long time coming yeah well we've done interviews before yeah and that's the funny thing i've interviewed you interviewed you for junkets before those are never like real interviews no it's it's the same questions answered differently and so you're waiting for somebody to like spark your energy so You've always been solid. You've always been... I appreciate it. But here we get to chat wrestler.

Yeah. And I think that for a lot of people, that's like a big surprise. Like, oh, Shade Jackson Jr. is a wrestling fan? Yeah. I think that wrestling fans love when they find out that, like, someone in Hollywood, it's one of us. One of us. One of us. One of us.

And it's been that way with me with anime, with gaming and wrestling. They just, for some reason, forget that. I'm just a regular dude with just a cool job. There's something, though, about wrestling where, like, people don't want to admit they like wrestling. You know what I mean. Yeah. A lot of closet wrestling fans. Yeah.

And then on the other end of the spectrum, there's people that are like you that put it out there. And I mean, you're unashamed in your opinion. You know, I'm a little rough. A little while. You know, you say what you say, you know. Exactly. It was just whatever I feel. And that's what the business is all about is how it makes you feel.

and I just never let that go. My parents always, you know, let me keep those things that from my childhood to keep me true to myself. You know, I'm not going to switch up or change for anybody. It's got to be tough when you talk about staying true to yourself. You're growing up in L.A. one. You're growing up to O'Shea Jackson Sr., your dad is a legend. How do you try to stay grounded here? It's, you know, I don't really go nowhere.

There's rare anytime people see me out. I'm a homebody. Super family-oriented. I just have a great team to kind of keep me grounded. Plus, I just be on the sticks at home. You know, I'm on PlayStation all day. What's your game? Right now, I just finally 100% in Spider-Man 2.

Hey! Straight nerd. You know, I never 100% in the game, but I just couldn't put it. it down. I'm waiting for them to update it. Give me a new game plus mode so I can use all this that I've built up. And obviously,

Grants have thought of five keeps taking my money. You know, I'm waiting for six. The Lakers frustrate me too much to play 2K because I know it's not real. But, and of course, WWE, you know,

getting on with some friends and knocking some people out for our fantasy football draft instead of doing like what we usually do is like ping pong balls into you know like beer pong to see who gets number one pick but instead we all picked a wrestler put him in the rumble whoever wins the rumble and like we did it that oh man so it was uh yeah it was pretty cool this year look at the shirt you got on oh yeah rest and peace look at that we're both paying tribute here yeah rest in peace man i got the giant here and was bray your guy bray was just so i was waiting for bray to just make films because the way that his presentation was he could have gave

us a monster like indie horror game as well and I just loved his creativity him coming back at extreme rules this last year that was that was cinema dude that was something that it gave it still gives you goosebumps and it's terrible to just have him

taken away the way that he was so suddenly I couldn't believe it I was in the kitchen talking to my sister and all of a sudden I look at my phone, Twitter blowing up, and I told her she didn't believe me. And so, like, we did the research, and it's heartbreaking, you know, thinking about Bray. That character was so unique, right?

What a beast. Because there was the Funhouse version of him. Then there was the Bray Wyatt wrestler version, and then there was the Fiend. Yeah. Who else is doing three versions like that and knocking it out of the park with all three? Yeah, he was, man. It's just so terrible when you, when you feel like you're going to be with somebody for a long time,

when you as a fan start thinking like, man, what this dude is going to do with his career and yada, y'all, Hall of Fame, and then they're taking away from you. Yeah. Terrible. How did you even get into wrestling? My older brother, Daryl. It was Sega Genesis.

I can't think of the video game, but video games actually led me into wrestling because I saw him playing. And he told me who everybody was. like, I would pick the Undertaker. He would pick Sean Michaels, and we would just kick ass. That's just what we would do. How did it go from playing the game to now watching it? That's right around the attitude era, right?

Because he told me, he was like, you know, we can watch this. And then from there, I just was in all, like six, seven years old, way too young to be watching. But it was just really, especially during that time. Yeah, I was really into it. And, yeah, once I got to, like, second, third grade, I realized that. a lot of my friends watch it too. And so now we're talking about what happened on Raw. And then it became like our thing that really solidified a lot of friendships.

And I just never let go. You know, there are, there were, of course, times where it slowed down because, you know, I didn't like the product that was happening. But it was some sort of resurgence where I think around the time of really the shield coming and, you know, punk on his run that I got back into it and haven't looked back. And it's been great. I love seeing all the second, third generation stars coming into their own. It's really cool.

So who is your guy in the attitude era? I'm a rock guy. You know, like, I love Stonecoat. I recognize that Stone Cold is the man. Yeah. But the rock is one of my heroes. Why do you love the rock? Well, it doesn't matter why you like the rock.

It doesn't. doesn't he's absolutely right no sorry why he was perfect but yeah because the rock

as a kid I was I was a little shy and the rock taught me to always have something to say always have something to rebuttal with

and get the crowd on your side yeah if you look at my Twitter I follow that to this day there's like a I feel like you're like a mix between

Ice Cube and the Rock Because you have this charisma that when you walk in a room, you own that room. Like, everybody's looking at you. That's what you try to do. You got to steal the show, you know? Which is amazing when I hear the story and you tell it of like, you didn't want to be an actor. No, no, I didn't. How could you deprive the world of this?

Because I wanted to be on the other side of the camera. I always believed in being rich, not famous. You know, I didn't have the dad that can just take you to them all. You know, because like it's going to be a frenzy, you know, going to amusement parks. You need security. You need, you know, it takes a lot more to set up simple things, living a simple life. And so I wanted to have the perks but without the chaos. So I wanted to be a writer.

I went to the University of Southern California to be a screenwriter. It was probably the biggest accomplishment of my young life. and then in the middle of my second year of college, my dad says, hey, they're taking this NWA movie serious. And I'm like, good, dad, that's what's up. Happy for you. He's like, nah, in a perfect world, I need you to audition. I need you, I need you to play me.

So I was like, all right, can I leave school? He was like, only if you make it work. So I've just been trying to make it work for almost 10 years now. I don't think you're making it work now. Yeah, pretty solid. I'm all right. This episode is brought to you by Bond Charge. And if you're wanting to burn more calories to help with weight,

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of that 50% bonus on your first deposit. MyBooky.orgie. So you actually had to audition to play your dad? For two years. And remember, I convinced him to let me leave school.

So I'm in the middle of my second year. So for two years, I'm going to these auditions. I'm going to my acting coach, Aaron Spicer. Shout out Aaron Spicer. And, you know, just trying to get it down, trying to get it right. And in those two years, I'm on Instagram watching all my friends graduate.

I'm feeling like an idiot. Like I ruined everything that I set up for myself. And when you're going to, USC to see everybody. And they're like, oh, so what's up with the movie? And you're like, I don't know. So it got to the point where it bothered me if I didn't get it. And once we finally got the ball rolling, there was nothing you could tell me.

Well, there's this thing in Hollywood where you hear about a movie being made. So often they don't actually get made. Yeah. Yeah. So you could have put school on hold for really just an acting school experience. Yeah. Like an acting lesson experience. It was so scary.

It was not only to get the role, but once I got it, it's Universal Studios. Like, it's a big deal. It's either going to be good or it's going to be terrible and ruin my life. So it was a lot on my plate. When you went to these auditions

and you're meeting people, are you like, yeah, my name's O'Shea, Jackson, Jr. In the audition, it was really me and the director, Gary Gray. And personally, I'm sorry, Gary.

But personally, I'm like, man, Gary, you know, you directed Friday. There's a full circle moment right here. You don't want to do this. But he wanted it to be right. So he had to get me right. And when we finally got to the chemistry read where they get a bunch of the actors going for the same role and try to put different pairings together to see who has the better chemistry, I walk into the room thinking it's just.

going to be me, one Dre, one easy. Yeah. And I see a Jerry curl. I walk up to him. I'm like, hey, man, how you doing? You going for Easy? He said, no, I'm going for Q. How you doing? I'm O'Shea Jackson, Jr. It's good to meet you. So I was going around frowning a whole day.

Just anybody I saw, just giving them a mean mug until they picked me. My man, Corey, Jason already had his role, jerk. But, yeah, that was the squad. Was Paul Giamati already attached to it? I believe so. I think at the time of the chemistry, we were trying to get him. But that's another dude who I'm waiting to run into again.

You know, Paul was so cool. He was such the veteran on set, you know, and he's like a slight trash talker. Like Tim Duncan-esque. It's like he'll say something funny, but it's nothing like disrespectful,

but he'll just like, he'll give you a little jab. He's just very charismatic. Wow, I love that dude. But growing up around all the legends that you grew up around, you step on to set with Paul Giamada, and you're like, of course, like, there's a ton of respect for the work that he's done,

but you're not starstruck. Yeah, it's not like, I'm just, first and foremost, when you start to come to set, once I get my feet wet, as they say, get my sea legs, then, you know, I'm ready to go. But in the first couple of days, you're in shock. You're like, man, it's, what's up, Paul? Like, you know, once you get the makeup and you get the curl on and the transformation happens, it's game time.

What do you think was the hardest part about playing your dad? I think the hardest part was knowing, knowing the story and trying to make sure that how my father is viewed by others is how I view him. You know, just making sure that, like, there's a scene where Dr. Dre loses his brother. And, you know, everybody's on the side of the bus crying and all that. It's very deep and emotional scene. And we're being there for Dre. And he has, you know, as his son, I'm like, man, I've seen my dad cry maybe twice, you know. I don't know if I want the world to see.

Like, I don't know that side of them anyway. I was like, man, somebody got to be the shoulder to cry on in this scene. And it's just those things where you're fighting your want as an actor to, like, show the world what you can do. Yeah. But then I know my dad, man. I know my dad is going to let you get your cry off. He's not going to break down unless it's around my mom and I don't see. You know, like I just couldn't let that happen.

Haven't there a difference, though, between playing the man you know and playing the man who's on the script, like on the page? Yeah. And, you know, it was a, I really truly believe that there was, there's got to be some sort of thought on what the hell are we going to tell him. He's the son. Like, you know, I've heard these stories my whole life. That didn't happen that way. We were standing over here and, you know, that type of stuff. And, yeah, it's a little bit of a battle.

But we had such an amazing team. And Gary knew that side of me. He let me show it. He let me do me. When we did the Skatland scene, which is like the first time you see us on concert, we did it a couple of times. And, you know, it was, it was vibing in there.

And we were rocking, and then we were about to move on. And I'm the only one of the guys who's actually done a concert. I've actually been on stage with my dad, When I was 18, he took me on tour. That was my first job was breaking down and building the set and performing with him and my brother. And then having to break down the set, pack it up, and go on the bus. So, like, this is my world right here. The acting stuff, yeah, that's all y'all.

But, like, performing a concert, I know what I'm doing. And they're like, yeah, it's going to be 500 extras here today. So don't be nervous. And I'm like, 500 extras. Be nervous. Do you know where I've been, bro? Let me, Gary, can I have one take? I asked him for one take, and he was like, all right, yeah, go ahead.

And that's where at the end of the concert, I don't know. Can I cuss on here? Of course you can. All right, yeah. At the end of the concerts, it's part where I go, everybody's now, do that shit, do that shit, do it. And that was me just getting the crowd into it, and it made the movie. Because I know what putting on the show is. That's my world.

Didn't you dabble in music? Like, wasn't there like a very small window of time? There's no way you can be in the world I'm in and not think to dabble in music, you know? And I still get the itch. I still make beats. But as far as rapping, when I started my acting career, Hollywood typecasts rappers. It just, it is what it is. Nobody wants to see Superman throw $100 bills at a girl in club.

Like it's just not, they're not going to, they're not going to see you as nothing but that, you know? And like personally, I know my, my dad, if he was given the opportunity for certain roles, he'd smash it, kill it. But a lot of, a lot of Hollywood has to see, no, we see Ice Cube right here. And, you know, they're always in his ballpark. He always smashes them. And then, you know, it goes on. but I know that there's just certain roles that they won't see a music performer in. And so I made a conscious decision to step back because I'm never going to be as big or bigger

or take the family further than my dad did music. But I have the opportunity to take our family name further in acting and movies than we've ever been. and that's what I want to do. I would think that your first movie being straight out of Compton is a blessing and a curse. Absolutely. Right? Because, I mean, with great respect to you,

it's a lot easier for you to play your dad than somebody else to play Ice Cube, right? So I think there could be a lot of casting directors or directors that would go, yeah, he was great in that, but, I mean, come on. Exactly. Given the source material, he would have to be good. Did you feel like you were maybe typecast

or pigeonholed after doing that? And it was tough to get that next role? Absolutely. It was, it was so weird because I was supposed to be, I mean, I'm the rookie. You know, I'm the, I'm not supposed to shine as much as I did in that film. There was even a situation where in the original script, we had the office scene, you know, which is my biggest scene. and when we did the table read, it was omitted. It wasn't in the script anymore. And I was hurt.

You know, I felt like they feel like I couldn't do that. So, you know, I had to put on my film school screenwriter hat on, and I wrote a letter breaking down why my character arc needs it and yada, yada, yada. And Gary respected it. The producers respected it. And they were like, all right, yeah, we're going to, we're going to, get you this scene. And I really only had two takes to smash all that stuff. So it was a lot of energy behind it. And I'm thinking, you know, we got the number one movie in the country three

weeks in a row, the Oscar nom, and the Oscar snub. But it was, I just knew my phone was going to blow up. And I didn't work for a year, not one call. And then I see Jason and Corey are in Kong Skull Island. And I'm like, man, you know, Like, I'm, I'm sick. And so I got my team and I said, guys, everyone thinks that it was easy for me to play my dad. Everyone is, they're just thinking that we don't know ball. We can't, you know, we can't, we're not here to play. Yeah.

So I said, our goal now is every movie that we do, the next one has to be the complete opposite. So after you do a big movie Like straight out of Compton Luck would have it I was at some hoity tooty award show Presenting And in the green room I see Aubrey Plaza

And I'm like man I really want to like I gotta meet Aubrey Plaza So I'm walking to Aubrey Then these two old ladies come up to me And they're like oh my My grandson loves that film And I'm like okay do you want a fucking picture

Like can we get this over there So I take the picture turn around, Aubrey's gone. So now, like I do, get on Twitter. And I'm like, man, definitely could have met Arbery Plaza, but didn't. So nights going well. She deers me. It's like, listen, I got this movie.

I need you to play my love interest. Just say yes. I'm like, I don't know if I could, if I'm liberty to do that. Let's set up a meeting. And so she hits me. She gives me her number. I text her. I say, it's Batman. She was like, oh, man,

great. I'm like, okay. And so we have the meeting And we're having the meeting And she goes So how'd you like the script? I said, what's script? She just goes, I sent you the script. I said, then what's my email?

She's like, well, why did you say you're Batman? Because I'm Batman. And like the movie, Ingrid goes west, my character is in love with Batman. So she was like, I thought you read it. And I was like, no, I'm just weird. I'm sorry.

Wow. From there, it was like the universe is talking to me. I got to do this movie. So I did, Ingrid Goes West. Angry Goes West got me to Sundance, and now I'm getting different eyes on me. Like, okay, this dude might be here to play. After we do the indie, Ingrid Goes West, we did action with Den of Thieves. Yeah.

After Den of Thieves, we do, I interviewed you for that one. Yeah. After Dinner Thieves, we do, I guess, sci-fi blockbuster with Godzilla. After we do Godzilla, we go comedy, do Long Shot. Yeah. And so, like, I've always tried to, whatever the next thing. next thing is has to be opposite of what I just did so they can't put me in the box. I show them that I'm here to play. And yeah, they can't stop the man.

In that year of not getting any bookings, not getting any calls, were you like, maybe I should go back to that writing. Man, I knew it, bro. I'm going to end up selling my body. Like, I made the worst decision ever. But I needed a shakeup. I needed to shake up. And my manager, my man, Uncle Jeff, Jeff Quantit, he was like, listen.

Listen, I got this guy. And I think he's the right dude for you. And he introduced me to my man Brad Slater, who ended up introducing me to my girl, Sam Leon. And that's my team at WME. I love those dudes to death. Don't you and the Rock have the same agent? Yeah, you know, maybe.

You know, it might be why I'm so close to the ring at all these WWE events. Oh, the Rock's hooking you up with those tickets. I mean, you know, Brad, Brad, he pulls some strings. but yeah, Brad is rocks dude, you know, I'm loyal to the soil. Yeah, like any WWE show and AEW show in and around L.A., if people are looking out for you, they'll see you there. Oh, yeah, I'm going. And I need to be, I'm with the shits, okay?

So, like, I'm aggressive with my fandom. I'm not going to just be there doing the golf clap. I'm screaming, bro. I saw the video of you at WrestleMania 39, and you were like, Yeah, let's go! I love it. I feed off that type of energy. And so to be with a crowd and the ooze and odds,

and it's always way better when you're there. It's just a thousand times, no matter what the event is, being there, feeling the vibe just is. Why are you so unapologetically, a wrestling fan? Because I'm cutting promos. That's really what it is. You know, I, you know, at first it was just me

talking wrestling with people and then when it came to Roman and the bloodline and I took on this persona

of just ass and like I know it I know I'm a jerk but that's my favorite part of my day and I will never let it go and yeah man the bloodline is the best thing to happen to wrestling

and to my wrestling fan career and I'll never let it go ever I acknowledge my tribal chief. That was a promo right there. Come on, dog. It's the best thing on television.

Were you a Roman fan when he was the baby face and WWWE was really trying to make us like him? Yeah, and I couldn't understand. Like, you know, I get it. Blue contacts were a little funny. They were. Yeah, they were. But like, man, after a while, I'm like, dude,

this dude is, what are y'all not like? And, you know, it was painful to see things like when the rock, tried to lift his hand and everybody's still just trashing this dude. And then when he would win the belt, it just never felt like he was accepted. And me and, you know, my buddies that I watch wrestling with, Shatollah, Marlon, we all, we all watch and we're like, dude, go heal. Please just go heal. They want to boo you.

Give them something to boo about. the same thing that happened to the rock. You guys want to trash me everywhere. All right. I'm going to give you something to boo. And then you're so good at it, they can't help but love you. And then he goes away, you know, due to leukemia. Then he comes back and says he's in remission and everybody is, you know, still waiting to see how he's going to be.

And then all of a sudden during the Thunderdome, which is a dark time as a wrestling fan, the fiend, Bray, get speared out of nowhere. Roman Raines has a wrecked everyone in Leaves shirt and the tribal chief is born, dude, he's here. That moment where the camera zooms out and Paul Heyman's sitting next to him, that really changed. I think that that's kind of the spark

of this new era. Yeah. Because that solidified Roman as like, he's not just a heel. He's a heel with Paul Hammond as his mouthpiece. Yeah. Ooh, that changes everything. It's every.

And like to be a Paul Heyman guy, people don't understand. People don't understand the power of a Paul Heyman guy. When you look down the long list of people that have been next to that guy, you know, something big is on the way. Oh, yeah. And we're in a really special era right now. Absolutely.

And it's hard sometimes when you're in it to appreciate it. But if you zoom out just a little bit, like this is a super exciting time to be a wrestling fan. Yeah. It's like it feels like it's cool to be a wrestling fan again. Yeah, man. a bunch of poses trying to jump in on our ship. But, yeah, it's a great time. I got a lot of people, you know, on my phone,

texts me like, hey, man, is it, should I get back into wrestling? Yes. Get back in. Yes. They've been doing great without you, though, do even better with you. So if you're a Roman fan, you are certainly not a Cody Rhodes guy. Let me tell you something, man. Okay, here it comes.

I love Cody. I love Cody. Cody's the best. Cody is, man, I love Cody personally. Dude is box office. He should be on a damn cereal box. You know, Cody's the man. But when you come in at mine, your hour, tribal chief.

Mine? Go on, bro. Like, you know, it's no disrespect because obviously I look at people like Rock, Randy, Roman, Cody, you know, second, third generation. You know, those people who are walking in their family's foot. and wanting to take the name to a new heights. How can I not connect with you? Sure. But trouble chief, bro.

And no disrespect to Cody because, like I said, you are the man. But if we're being real, Chris, what's the name of Roman's belt? The undisputed universal title, right? Now, it had to become undisputed because he went up against Brock and unified those belts. So should a man be able to just come and take the universal? undisputed title, or should he have to earn the name undisputed? So shouldn't Cody have to beat Seth first take that belt in order to unify? Oh, do you want to unify the World Heavyweight Championship?

No, I'm saying if you want to go after the undisputed part of it, if they're going to change the belt back blue, fine. But for you to be undisputed, that means you would have to take Raw's title too, because that's what happened. So I'm saying, I think he should go after Seth. People come after you for these opinions. I know. A lot.

I don't care. It's like you're playing a heel character. I'm absolutely playing a heel character. A lot of people don't get that. No, a lot of people take it very seriously. Yeah, I love those people. Roman gets so much hate for not defending the belt. But I actually appreciate it.

It makes it worth something when he shows up. And also, let's break that down. I've had this belt for, What, four years now going on four years? Yeah, it's like, right, as we sit here right now, it's like 1,255 days. Yeah, exactly. Okay, so let's think business-wise. If I want to keep this hot commodity healthy,

why am I making him defend the belt on a random Friday against a ad name here? Yeah. You know, and when you look at things like my man Seth, who is a workhorse, who I'm sure would do it again anyway, when he got hurt against gender, that was big news. It almost ruined WrestleMania. So like it's

as a, you gotta think as a business sometimes. And also, Roman has earned these breaks. To go ahead, man, kick it,

go see the fam. You know, get you something to eat. Whatever, man. But when he comes, it is a heavyweight fight every time. Everyone is standing in the arena

every time. It is must see TV and as long as he delivers and still. It's a lot like, a Cona McGregor fight. Connor at this point, fights at like once every two years.

Whoever he wants. Doesn't win that often anymore for being honest. But every time he fights, people are buying that paper view. You're going to watch. And it's starting to become a lot of people back in the day,

especially because of the era it was, watch Muhammad Ali because they want to see him lose. They watch Floyd Mayweather because they waiting for him to lose. And, you know, there are people who are on the right side of history, like myself, that know that like...

What you're doing is trivial, man. We are on a mission. And it is... It's got to happen. I need Roman to end this reign with the longest reign in WrestleMania era history. So to beat the Hogan record. Yes. Which I think is September, I believe,

that we take him to September. Yeah. So a little past SummerSlam, you know, if you want to drop it, Survivor, series, whatever. But like, I think with everything that they set up with this guy, so you got, obviously, John Sina is Sina, you know, the 16 titles, all of that. And after Sina, the company was looking for the guy and they wanted to make Roman that guy. And so you're in a position now where you had Sina, ultimate baby face, 16 titles, yada, yada, yada, yada. And now you have the ultimate heel and it will forever be what's better,

Sina's 16 times or Romans rank. So now you have the ultimate heel, the ultimate face debate forever, the guy that you wanted after Sina. And at this point, when you've already given him the most WrestleMania main events ever, why not end this thing with a perfect bow

and make him the longest reign in the WrestleMania era? It would be just, it would be the perfect battle for wrestling debates to come. So when you went to WrestleMania 39 last year, you fully expected Roman to win? No, because we weren't even at a thousand days there. And everywhere I look was Cody,

every morning show, every paper, every magazine. He was everywhere. He was so obviously ready to be the guy. And then I saw his family there, and I'm like, oh, my God. But I'm still going to go. I'm still going to support, had my belt, me and my squad watching,

and then I see out the corner. Solo Sacoa, you beautiful monster, you. And he came and delivered the spike. And I knew that Twitter was going to blow up that night because I was trying to get suspended. I was trying to get suspended from Twitter that night, too. It was amazing, the best feeling. Then once we hit a thousand, I start to look and I'm like,

oh, is this the plan? Is this where we're going? And it's just so happened, Chris, that it just happens to be the 40th anniversary of Hokomania, the year he can beat the record, that doesn't just happen. Yeah. It's too perfect.

And if they, if they drop the ball, if they, if we fumble at the, at the 10 because of some people complaining on the internet, I'll never forgive you, Paul. There's a lot of people saying, if Cody doesn't finish the story,

then that's WWE dropping the ball. Let me tell you guys something. Stop it. Stop. You're going to watch. What you're not going to watch? You're going to go over there and watch. Stop it.

You're going to stay at the WWE. You know Cody's going to be the man. We all know. Of course. He is the man right now. He's just the uncrown. I love Cody so much, and I appreciate all the things he does behind the scenes

that people don't see every live event he's staying until the last possible second taking photos on the autograph. He's the most unhatable guy ever. I love Cody so much. He knows that I have so much respect for him. at some point he's going to end up being the five or eight or ten-time champion. Yeah, absolutely. Ten is a solid number.

Yeah, he could be a time champion. How do you think it's not, it's not time, bro? It's not time. There's a lot of people that think WrestleMania 39 sucked because of the last three seconds of the show. Yeah, bro. Like, we get it. Okay, like, that's why they gave y'all the tag titles. So y'all can have night one.

That match was fantastic. Yeah, so you guys can't. have night one, yeah, the bloodlines going down. And then what happened? Then what happened? Are you coming for Paul Heyman's job? No, dude, never, never. That's the go. But I'm just saying, like,

I'm getting hired, Chris. So how does the rock work his way into this? I know, man. We all knew this was supposed to happen. I had did something for what's it, 37? I

forget, but I always always felt that Rock v. Roman in Hollywood was supposed to be the move. Yeah. Obviously with Cody being the free agent that he was and then getting hurt and then the rumble thing happened, it kind of just messed into that perfect little story. And so there's no way talking about the family that you're talking about, talking about the bloodline, the family tree that we're speaking up, that we're just never going to see Rock. Yeah.

You don't ever have to answer to the rock, the one that the fans kind of looked at as the head of the table. So there's no kind of world where that match doesn't happen. And, you know, like I said, the rock is my hero. Roman is my favorite wrestler.

So it's pretty incredible. A few years ago, we were looking at matches and going, oh, my gosh, like, what is this? Like, I don't like this. Here we are now, where there's so many amazing matchups that there's not enough room on WrestleMania 40. Part two of that is it's crazy to think

that people might be upset about the rock wrestling at WrestleMania. I know. I know. That's because... And I understand the full scope of that, but it's just crazy to think that like the rock, WrestleMania would be amazing. And there's people that are like, I don't want to see it. Yeah, I know. They don't know any better, Chris. You know, sometimes you just got to let them just let the turkeys look up

while it's raining, you know? What phrase is that? Just let them be dumb, bro. Let them be dumb. They don't know any better. And it's just like... Where'd that phrase come from? I just made it up.

But like, we all know the saying of Turkey's looking up while it's raining and they drown, bro. You don't know that? Bro, look it up. Google it. But yeah, so it's... You just got to let them be dumb. And it's all about business and what box office is going to bring. I get it.

There's a bunch of people who are afraid of the rock taking a moment, but you got to think of the millions. And the millions of the rock fans do it. It's no way to outshine anybody. But it is a dream match. Everyone is so concerned about Cody finishing the story. That doesn't mean WrestleMania. That just means in general, you know.

And people need to, That needs to be pointed out. People seem to think that Cody finishing the story is beating Roman at Russellmania. That is not completing the story. Finishing the story is winning the championship. Yeah, winning the championship. Yeah. That can happen anywhere.

More than likely during one of the big forward pay-per-views. Probably. I mean, Roman's reign started at payback. Yeah. Like payback 2020 is when all this started. So it is, bro, finishing the story does not necessarily. mean at WrestleMania,

but it's a story that we all know is going to happen. And also, because he wins the title, the story's not finished. The dude's going to be here

for a while. You know, finishing the story just sounds so career ending. And they're like, dude, Cody's going to be here. He's going to be

running things for a long time. But right now, just let me get my numbers up. Let me give my numbers up, baby. I think we should all realize that Triple H has had some pretty great booking.

Since he's been in charge. He's going to be in charge. since he's been in charge over the last year or so, like he's done some pretty impressive stuff, and I feel like we just need to have some confidence in, look, I get that as we sit here right now, it's February, I understand that we don't see the full picture

for what's going to happen in April of WrestleMania. Just be a little bit patient. And I know it's difficult for wrestling fans to have patience. Yeah, dude, we're not, where the, this is the sport that's just nothing but a guessing game. You know, there's nothing but guessing games and smokescreens. This person said this.

So could that mean, like, we live off rumors. And rumors are the most impatient thing in the world. We're just trying to guess the future all day. What about your guy, CM Punk? Your friends with CM Punk. Oh, man, my man, Phil Brooks. Did the right thing, came back home. Love it, man.

How long have you been friends with Phil? I've known Phil from maybe a year or so before he had went to AEW. and it was just like on Twitter we went back and forth one day and then started following each other exchanged numbers you know I've invited them to the premiere of cocaine bear

which is still my favorite title ever and yeah my man showed up for me you know didn't have to it was a situation where I only really had like my girlfriend my best friend and my brother's there so I was you know I was feeling a little like You know, I got a little small group.

And Phil came out for me, showed me love. My best friend, shout out to Roman, looks at me and goes, see. So he's kicking it with Phil watching the movie all night. And he's just a good dude. Straightforward. Calls it like it is. Won't lie to you.

You know, he's a straight shooter. And, yeah, man, he's had my back. He's giving me advice on things. and I'm always had that dude back. I think there's like a recency bias, people thinking that his return to WWE at Survivor Series is like the biggest best return ever. I think people really undervalue

how big it was for him to go to AEW. Yeah. And for many reasons. Number one, he hadn't been doing anything in wrestling for at that point seven years. Number two, that was one of the first arena shows with a full capacity audience after the world had been shut down

for like a year and a half. Yeah. and to have an entire sold-out audience that were just like clamoring, clamoring for something, like waiting for a moment, then his music hits to start the show. Oh, my God.

And I think that that is lost. That context is lost now three years later. I mean, it's always going to be, the thing about the WWAEW fandoms, WWE got more fans. So they're going to, they're going to, the narrative a little bit easier

AW when Pump went to AEW, that was my first time watching going, oh shit. Like they hear, they hear it for real, for real. And it was, you know, it was amazing. It was good to see him. I sent him a text the night he went.

And obviously, things took a turn. But it was, it was still great to see. It was great to see the electricity in the air when he showed up. And, you know, as a WWE fan, of course, I love how things are. But it still does suck that it couldn't have just all worked out where he was the first

go-around. You put out this whole tweet about like, basically the whole timeline of CM Punk leaving WWE going to AEW coming back to WWE. Yeah. How much truth was there to that from being his friend and how much of it's just revisionist history? No, it definitely was. I don't like putting stuff out on Twitter

to give the haters ammunition. And so you're putting out something that you know is wrong. You're just going to get retweeted back, bro, and look like an idiot. I don't like doing that. So everything, I don't spend a lot of our friendship asking him, so what happened? So what do you know, like I don't like to do that.

I don't like people to do that with me. Yeah. If you want to see how I'm doing, hit me up, you know, make sure everything's good. Yeah, that's fine. but he knows when it's some BS and I got to hit him like yo man did you really say this if he tells me no I'm going off I'm going off bro and it uh yeah it's it's it's something that I have to work on when I see people just lying lying on my guy and I I have to stop myself

from going off how I really want to which is to let you know that the tweets that I do put out are me trying to hold back for me trying to stop myself. It's just funny. It's funny to let people be wrong, but it's even funner to swap flies. I'm a wrestling fan of my core. I watch WW AEW, New Japan, TNA.

Watch it all. You seem to really like to rile up AEW fans. I don't mean to, man. But like, the issue I have is, okay, for people who don't watch anything besides the two, okay? The Ford, whether you're younger

or older, stuck in your ways, if I'm watching someone on 8W and I ask, who is this guy? I don't need you to tell me I'm not a real wrestling fan to tell me how could you not know such and such who did, who gives a damn?

Like, I need you, all right, inform me, bro. or at least have your programming in a way to let people know why you should love this dude, why you should fuck with this guy. That's something that I feel like is missing. When you, Conan, when I was on his podcast, he brought up, when you watch UFC, and they give you a little backstory about this dude,

backstory about that dude, what this guy's had to go through, what he's done, and vice versa. Then they put him in the room, and they cuss each other out, And then by watching those videos, you've picked aside of who you're with that's missing from that. What they have is this niche group of people who watch all of these wrestling shows and they're already in the know. So when they see these names together, it is a dream match for them.

But you're trying to sell this to American television, baby. You got to movie that up a little bit. You got to give me some cinema to follow, you know, something to hold on to. to besides the announced team running down a list for me while this dude's walking down the ramp. And I feel like that's missing. And when you are trying to get

involved and trying to really give something a chance, and when you question it even a little bit, and you get 80 no-faced accounts coming at you, at any given time, you're like, man, fuck this noise,

bro. Like, I'm cool off of it. If y'all like it, I don't. and I don't want that. You know, I have people over there that are, that I'm cool with, you know. I talk to swerve at least once every week or so, you know, just talking about wrestling, talking about stuff that's going on, how Daniel Garcia almost killed him on that announcement. But, you know, that type stuff. Dante Martin, when he broke his foot after a while, I asked about him, got his Twitter page,

DMed him, and was like, yo, you know, are you all right? What's your recovery looking like? Told him how, you know, explosive, I think he is. There's people over there. Obviously, all my old WWB people that I still care about. If anyone who follows me knows when Alistair Black made the move over and became Malachi, I was crushed. I thought we were idiots to let that guy go.

Alistair was such a, I was such a huge fan of him during his Nxte, and I was waiting for his push on the main roster. Same thing when Andrade, now Andrade is back. When I see things like the LWO, I was pissed that Andrade's not in it. When I see things like Judgment Day, I'm pissed Alistair Black isn't there. So now I still watch those guys, Adam Copeland as well, over on their AEW run. I don't hate AEW. I hate their faceless fans.

The miserable faceless fans who got not even a picture of themselves. and have the nerve to try to stand on their words. I hate your guts. Yeah, they don't take criticism well. Look, wrestling fans in general don't take criticism well. Yeah, it's all right. Whether that's WWEA, WTNA, whatever, I think when people like something,

they don't want to see the other side of it. Of course. And like, at the end of the day, we all, if you love wrestling, at some point, you was a WWF fan, bro. It's okay to lock the alternative, but don't sit here and shit on where you came from, bro. And it's also okay to like both.

Dude, I'm really trying, really trying. Like, when they did full gear at the forum, that was like, I was floored. I thought that was the best. Dude, that swerve match? Oh, my God, man.

All of it. Like, man, I was so, I was so entertained. And even when I praised them, I still got, of course you liked that one. That had to be our worst of the year. And da-da-da-da-da.

All right, man. I'm sorry, dude. Whatever. You can have it. it is what it is. How many fans come up to you when you're at a wrestling show? Oh, I take pictures with them.

That's great. Yeah. The way that I look at it, they could not give a damn. Yeah. You know, if anybody sees me and they're so excited or overjoyed by it

that they think, you know, I got to get a picture with this dude because I might never see them again. That's an honor. Yeah. You know, unless I'm eating or I'm with my family trying to get them situated,

I won't. or if it's during a match, if I'm watching, bro. But other than that, why not, dude? Take a picture with him. It's an honor, and I'm grateful. I'm so thankful that they even give a shit. You had that quote earlier about the, oh, let me know what you think of this.

That one's a good one. It's delicious. Yeah, citrus clarity. Yeah. You had a quote about the turkeys earlier. I also, you had a quote from your mom that I liked so much that I wrote it down. You might even know where I'm going with this. Eusta.

Is that you take it from there Yeah, Eustas a rooster that don't crow no more That's another good one So what does that mean It's like whenever Whenever you're in a situation Where you're moving backwards And you use the phrase

Well, you know, they used to My mom will stop you right there Uh-uh Eustah is a rooster That don't crow no more There's a reason why they used to So you have to keep moving forward forward and not go back.

And it's just something that you've got to remind yourself sometimes, whether it's dealing with people you used to work with or guys, chicks that you used to see is there for a reason. And it's just to remind you. What do you think is the best piece of advice that you've got in your career? Never do a movie that you wouldn't go see. That's actually pretty great. Yeah.

Because it's been some times where I'm like, man, really need this bread. But this script sucks. Yeah, exactly. So it's just like you always have to do something that you would as a fan want to go see, which is actually how I ended up getting cocaine bear. I saw on Twitter said Elizabeth Banks gets the rights to cocaine bear. And at first I'm like, all right. It's about, what, some drug pusher called the bear or something?

Clicked it. I'm like, a black bear ate 80 pounds of cocaine. And this is based on a true story? Yeah, I'm like, there's no way. So I retweet it. I was like, you know, take my money now. And she saw that and she thought, I think we can get O'Shea. So she hit me up.

She was like, yo, you want to do this? Hell yeah. That movie is so much fun. Dude, it's crazy. That was nuts. And the first time I saw it was at the premiere. What? I don't like to see early screenings or anything like that

or have the studio send me it. I want to see it with a crowd, first reaction, all that because that's how I used to watch as a kid going to my dad's premiere. So I'm like, this is how I want to do it. And boy,

my brother leads over to me and goes, you know, I've never seen kids do cocaine. I was like, right? Me neither. And I'm like, wow, we're really going for it.

And it was, yeah, it was rough. Yeah, dude. I love that movie. out to e banks what's a role that you auditioned for and wish you could have got oh luckily honestly i really was i was really close to be in lando i was solo yeah i was really and then i ended up doing cocaine bear with all that yeah so but i was really close to be in lando and didn't you audition

like four times for it yeah and i that's why i thought i was man i got this in the bag I had never been to that many auditions for one role. Yeah. And so I was like, yeah, we got this. And when I got the call that my man Glover got it, I threw away. I deleted every childish Gambino song I had. It took me a while to come back, man.

I'm sorry, I'm a fan still. But my heart was broke. You got to understand. I'm a Star Wars guy. The Millennium Falcon was about to be my car. You know? Like, I was, man, I was so ready. But then, of course,

When one door closes, another one opens, and I got blessed to be in Obi-One Canobi. I got to kick it with you at McGregor, watch Hayden be Vader. It was nuts. Yeah. I'm cool. I'm gonna be roken.

Life has a funny way of working out. Yeah, you just got to be patient. But a wrestling fan is not patient. No. I can't do it. When are we going to see you doing something in wrestling? Man, when they pick up the phone, give you boy a call.

I have always wanted, you know, something to do with that world. It makes me mad that I think Logan Paul might be the best celebrity wrestler I've ever seen. The dude is nice. I don't even know if we can consider him a celebrity wrestler. I know. He's part of the roster. He's in the game, dude. Him and Bad Bunny, y'all piss me off.

I'm so happy for you. And it's, it's always been a dream. any role they need me in, you know, any role managerial. It's obviously always been a dream to work in some sort of creative. I went to school for screenwriting. Can't help but see a story and everything.

Shots for your friend, that's my boy. I love Fred. Yeah, anything they need from me, man. I'm here. I'm here to work. And, yeah, it'll be a dream come true. Would you take a bump?

Oh, I want to take a vicious one. The thing is, if I ever do anything, thing in ring, my goal is to get wrestling fans respect. I'm not here to just be, you know, to smile and wave, dude. I want to get into it. You see, I do action films, bro. Yeah. Got beaten up quite a few times.

I'm a little brother as well. So it is, yeah, but I'm to be the man. If I'm in the ring, I'm going to be the man. But I'm going to take a bump, bro. The bar for celebrity wrestlers was so low for so long. Mm-hmm. And then I think Stephen Amel, like, kind of, like, he walked so that people like, Pat McAfee,

Bad Bunny could run. And now Logan, Paul's just taking this to another level. Exactly. He has a title. He has a title. You're sick, Logan. You're monster.

But yeah, it's, if I ever step into the ring, it will be to earn the respect of my fellow wrestling fans and the idiots of the IWC. Would you take a spear? Oh, yeah.

From your tribal chief? Oh, no. Who do you want me to die? Robin, all day, all day. Bro, I'll help you at 40. What you need, bro. Are you going to be at 40?

I'm going to be at every WrestleMania if I'm not filming. Really? I'll see you there then. Absolutely. We're going to get rowdy. Dude, this has been such a pleasure. Thank you, man. And congrats on everything.

What a career. You're just absolutely crushing it. I'm on my way still, but I'm looking pretty good. You're crushing it. Thank you. I end every conversation with gratitude because it's such a big part of my life. I wake up every day, and I say out loud three things I'm grateful for.

Do it before we go to bed. And that's how we end every interview. So what are three things that you're grateful for as we sit here right now? Number one, family. You know, I got a beautiful little girl, Jordan. You know, she's six years old. She'll be seven. She's in first grade.

She's got a job. A job. I mean, you know, first grade. Like, that's work. Oh, that's her job. School, school. Yeah. You know, I just had a nephew, you know.

My man, Zee. So family number one Number two Would have to be the opportunities That I've gotten Because there's so many people in the world Who have a talent And don't recognize it

Because it comes so easy to it And you know Something that just flows so naturally People don't pay attention to Because they think making money And all that has to be hard What's what you're good at You're just not reading

You're not paying attention to And the only way that that people can flourish with that is with opportunity. So I'm grateful for the opportunities that I have. And third, my health. Because Lord knows, I've been wild.

And I shouldn't be here right now. I got one more for you. Have you ever seen your dad have a drink with crushed ice? Multiple times. What? I've also seen what I'm doing. My dad,

my dad drinks, he'll drink a glass of milk with ice. Ice cute. Yeah, yeah. Ice really shards. Not so much the cube. Oh, yeah, ice shards. But like, yeah, dude, he'll drink a glass of milk with ice. And, you know, as a kid, I'm thinking, like, bro, you're gross. It's like an ice cream shake. It's not like an ice cream shake. It's like milk with ice. Yeah, he's a strange guy. Way till the book comes out. We're breaking news here. Ice cube does not always use ice cubes. Yeah, no. He's enough ice cube for all of us. My man, thank you so much.

Thank you for having. Yes. O'Shea Jackson, Jr. Welcome back anytime. What a guy. And you keep an eye out for him. Whenever AEW or WW is in the LA area, keep an eye out for him because he's very noticeable in the crowd,

certainly very loud in the crowd. And like I said earlier, he's not afraid to voice his opinions. So give him a follow on, it's Twitter where he's like mostly voicing his opinions. And whether you like his opinions or not, there's like, he puts a lot of thought into them. He has this whole threat about CM Punk and like what,

what maybe what really happened there with AEW. I encourage you to dive into the archives and look for that. He's at O'Shea Jackson Jr. On social media, I'm at Chris Van Fleet. Take a screenshot. Tag us. Let us know you're listening. Let us know what you thought about this.

Let me know how surprised you are at O'Shea Jackson Jr.'s knowledge of wrestling. Because I think sometimes you hear like celebrities or actors or whatever you're like, oh, they're into that thing that I'm also into. And then you realize, maybe they're just saying that. You know, maybe it's just like, oh, that's a show they've watched a few times or a comic book they've read a few times. Oh, no. O'Shea is in this as much as you and I are.

And I love it. So I hope you enjoyed this episode. And since we said it in the episode, I'm going to repeat it here because it bears repeating. It's the quote from his grandmother. It's so good. Eusta is a rooster that don't crow. No more. It's so good. I used to do this. I used to do that. Used to as a rooster that don't grow no more. It's great. Be great. Be grateful. We will see you on the next one for some more insight. We got Bobby Rood on Thursday. He hasn't done an interview in a while. So this is such a good one. And then Friday, get ready for the next Ask CVV episode. So if you have a question, send it to me using that hashtag Ask CVV. We'll see you soon.

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. Get up in here. The Jim Rome Show podcast. What's your beef? Follow and listen on. your favorite platform. You've been warned.