Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Sam Adonis on his brother Corey Graves, controversial gimmick, almost getting killed in Mexico

Episode Date: January 12, 2021

Sam Adonis joins Chris Van Vliet from his home in Pittsburgh, PA. He talks about being signed to a WWE contract at 20 years old, his older brother Corey Graves, living and wrestling in England, Japan, and Mexico, the heel gimmick in Mexico that almost got him murdered, how he has been working as an Amazon delivery driver since Covid started and much more! Submit your Blue Wire Hustle application here: http://bwhustle.com/join 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.  For more information about Chris and the podcast go to https://chrisvanvliet.com Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It's Chrysomania, brother. That's a great question. Look at you, man. with the powerful questions. This is the Chris Van Vleet Show. Chris Van Vleet Show. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Buh. Well, welcome to the Chris Van Fleet Show,

and thank you for being with us on another audio adventure. If it's your first time here, I am obsessed with finding out what makes successful people so successful. And on each episode, we have in-depth conversations and reverse engineer the habits

and techniques of the world's top athletes, wrestlers, celebrities, entrepreneurs, you name it. If they are the best at what they do, I want to get their insight and help you apply it to your own life. And the stories that Samadonis has racked up in these 31 years that he's been on this earth are pretty mind-blowing from being signed to WWE after wrestling for about a year to living and wrestling in England, Japan, and also Mexico, where he was almost killed for both his gimmick as a heel who loved Donald Trump. Oh yeah, you heard that right. And also by his girlfriend at the time, now ex-girlfriend. I'll let him tell you all about that.

Sam's real last name, by the way, is Polinsky. And you'll probably recognize his older brother, Matt Polinsky, who works under the name Corey Graves. Now you're seeing the tie in here. And over the next week or two, you're going to be seeing some of those changes on the podcast that I've been talking about

for the last few months. So we are rolling out a new name that's more reflective of what the show's all about because the show's never been about me. It's called the Chris Van Vlead show,

but that doesn't really make sense because it's about, I guess, it's about shining the spotlight on them. So a new name, a new logo, some new music, but everything else

is going to stay the same. Deep, insightful conversations with thought-provoking questions. so you get to see a different side of these guests. And hopefully you can find something in these conversations that you can apply to your own life and that's inspiring for you. And if it's your first time here,

if you can hit subscribe so you don't miss out on what we have cooking up, that'd be so great. And I will be your friend forever if you leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. It takes less than a minute. Be so great if you could. Because Jay Bone left this one. He says, always a good listen.

CVV is always entertaining, no matter who he brings on as a guest, and he's quite inspiring as well. It doesn't matter if you're a wrestling fan and or a fellow podcaster like myself. He puts forth a very positive energy, which is something that's really needed nowadays. Thank you, CVV, and keep up the great work. Well, thank you, sir, and I will do my best to keep up that great work, and I appreciate you listening. Congratulations on your podcast, by the way. I say it all the time. I said the two hardest things about podcasting are, number one, actually starting the podcast

because so many people talk about it and dream about it and tell people they're going to do it and then never actually do it. And then number two is remaining, like continuing to do the podcast. So congrats to you and doing both of those things. So I first met Sam Adonis when we were both booked at the Independent Wrestling Expo in Texas back in August. This is the event where I did the in-person interviews with Jake the Steak, Gangrel, and jazz, you might remember that. He's made a big name for himself,

wrestling all over the world. But now he's back in the U.S. More specifically, he's back in Pittsburgh to continue to grow his career here in the U.S. And he's taken some very interesting measures to make sure that his career can continue to move forward while we're dealing with everything is going on with coronavirus.

So I'll let him talk about that. So buckle up for a great chat with Sam Adon. Sam Adonis, ladies and gentlemen, how are you? I am wonderful, my friend. Thank you for having me this evening, afternoon, and morning whenever someone's listening to this. But I'm looking forward to getting into it with you. That's pleasure having you on.

You're in like this man cave of all kinds of wrestling. Wow, there is so much memorabilia behind you. Well, it's actually, it is the man cave. I have so much wrestling crap. It could probably fill three houses. But me and my girlfriend lived together and we delegated it to one room, which is nice. So I have a lot of unique and rare toys, and that's pretty much my pride and joy. You have a few championships behind you.

Which ones do we have there? This is the title that my dad used to use in a promotion here in Pittsburgh. This one is a championship I have out of Nevada right now. And the top one is one out of Florida. And then this one is just an NWA replica. So I've always been a belt mark, if you will. So it's nice to have things on display to show off to my friends when I'm allowed to have them over. So 2020 was obviously a strange year.

for everybody. Everybody had to pivot here. And I don't know if everybody's aware of this, but you pivoted into a different job, at least briefly, while the world is figuring itself out. You've been working as the person who brings us our Amazon presence and gifts and all of our orders. I deliver smiles daily on behalf of Amazon, if you will. Yeah, it's what needed to be done. This whole situation has been completely unfortunate for everybody. And before this, I was lucky enough to make my living as a wrestler for the better part of the last eight years. And a lot of that has been overseas. As a true independent, it's quite difficult to pull off.

You know, I just had the stars aligned and the right points in time. But this all happened. And I just realized I have bills to pay. I was too uncertain in the beginning. You know, I just moved in with my girlfriend at the time. We had things lined up. I got a car payment just like anybody does. And I'm not the kind of person to wait around.

I couldn't dig my hole any deeper. So I had to just get a different job. And the nice thing is, I'm glad I did at the time because now, you know, this pandemic financially hasn't really affected me at all. But it's definitely put everything into a completely different perspective and made me appreciate what I had. And it makes me want, you know, to return to normal as soon as possible. Well, when the pandemic started, a lot of jobs weren't even on the table.

So for you to go out and not only go, all right, I need to get a quote, unquote, real job, but also like to find one that was possible at that time. I have a friend of mine that worked at Amazon at the time. My buddy Dave, and he had just started about two weeks earlier. And he says, hey, if you ever need work, you know, let me know. I can get you in here. And it just fell into the right time frame. And I ended up getting right in there.

I had to fill out my application one day. The next day was a drug test. I think two days after that I was in training. The rest is history. Now I'm like an old pro at it. That's the worst part, you know. Now it's so normal. I feel like I'm kind of good at us.

And for anybody's listening to this right now going, oh, man, I can't find a job anywhere. These jobs do exist. Well, Amazon's out there. They're always higher in, especially where I'm at. There's a couple other wrestlers that are working for them now just because of seeing my story. The thing that I didn't want to do in the beginning, whenever it all happened and the work stopped, so many of my friends and other wrestlers were posting online about, you know, hey, please buy my merch.

I don't have work. Please buy my merch. And, you know, part of me thinks like, well, you know, you're not the only one that got hit hard. You know, the same people that need to buy the merch might not have their job. You know, so it was kind of a catch-22. Not everybody was able to, you know, save that kind of money or make that kind of money just off merchandise.

So I actually had a box of new t-shirts that I haven't even sold because I didn't want to ask anybody for money when it's a hard time for all of us. The shirt you're wearing right now is that one of your new shirts? That's one of the new shirts. It's a Godzilla-style shirt from my one of, it was designed by a buddy of mine for a Japan tour and that never happened. So I haven't been back to Japan in about, I think about 13 months now. So I was never able to get these shirts on the shelves over there. You know, I think that everybody thinks that, you know, snap your fingers and this pandemic's going to be over and life's going to be back to normal.

But it's obviously not going to happen that way. You're going to have a strange transition out of this. back into wrestling, if you will? Well, I think it's, like you said, it's not going to just be easy. It's not going to be overnight. I really don't see it being possible as an independent to pick back up as full-time.

The amount of shows all over the nation are drastically down. There's just not the volume of work like there were. Before this pandemic, the independence were as hot as they've ever been. And every weekend, you know, across 50 states in countless cities, there was independent wrestling. Now, on a busy Friday or Saturday, there might be 10 shows across the entire nation, depending on the state guidelines and whatnot.

So I've been lucky enough to be able to pick up some work through this, being able to stay a little bit busier and not fade into obscurity, if you will. But, you know, everything's changed so much as far as taking care of, you know, the cleanliness, always having your hand sanitizer with you, wearing the face mask, and just being overall cautious. it's changed so much that I don't think it's just going to come back and be normal again.

I think I'm probably going to be at Amazon for a while, you know, unless some other opportunity comes up. But, you know, I look at it as most of us wrestlers are well-bodied human beings. And this is a task, you know, might as well put ourselves to work and make a few bucks instead of sitting at home. Well, that other opportunity that comes up might be, you know, a full-time wrestling job. Well, I think like as long as my new gimmick can be the Amazon guy. You know, that'd be perfect.

I can come to the ring delivering foreign objects in an Amazon box. I mean, if there's a Mountie and there's a big boss, man, why not the Amazon driver? I'm trying to think of what your finisher could be called. I have no idea. The primeplex. Oh, my gosh. There it is. Look at this man.

Brilliant, baby. Brilliant. That's it. I need to get in contact with Amazon and, like, tell them my story. I could end up being on a commercial or something, you know? That's a great point. I mean, the fact that you're telling this story to everyone. I think there's a lot of people that might be in your situation and they wouldn't be telling the story.

They'd be going, yeah, I am. It's been tough this year. I'm getting by. Well, if fake it till you make, it only goes so far. You know what I mean? You can't really pull this off right now because, I mean, I can't even lie to you and say I'm wrestling. You know, where's the pictures from Friday? Well, how did that match go?

You know, there's nothing there. You can't really, you know, you can't ignore it. It's staring everybody in the face. And like I said, you know, you got to make lemons out of lemonade. I'm lucky enough to have a job right now because like you said, there's plenty of people out there that art is lucky.

Well, that's what you're doing. You're making lemonade right now and you're drinking it every single day. Exactly. My body is taking a beating them. Man, these 4 a.m. mornings, I'm tired. It definitely also put, and gave me a new sense of respect

for your essential workers, if you will. The people that have been doing this even before, you know, when there was still opportunity. Some people, you know, do this on a daily base and it makes you really appreciate, you know, just the mailman and, you know, the delivery drivers, something little. Anytime we go to some of these houses and they'll leave a bottle of water out front and say,

thank you, you know, delivery drivers. And that kind of stuff makes the difference because, you know, a lot of people have been collecting unemployment or just, you know, working from home. And these people still get up every day at 4.30, 5 o'clock and deliver, you know, the traffic and the freezing cold. And it's definitely humbling, if you will. And I think, I'd like to think that five or ten years from now, when I'm looking back at this period of my life, I would like to see it as a valuable life lesson and experience. Did you get any tips over the holidays?

Yeah, I got a couple gift cards. Oh, that's cool. I always love hearing that. Yeah, yeah. Like, I mean, I don't think it's as easy to do as a mailman because normally you have the same consistent mailman. But, you know, there's so many people that know exactly what time we're there every day. And a couple people tracked me down. Just some gift cards.

outrageous, you know, no story that's going to make any newspapers. But, you know, I'm appreciative of that. You know, it's really cool just even if it's to buy a couple coffees or, you know, a subway sandwich on the way home, that's 15 bucks I didn't have, you know, so it was cool. If we take it back, I mean, you kind of mentioned it, but you grew up in a wrestling family. Your father was, I mean, somewhat of a historian, but also a promoter as well. Yeah, as far back as I remember, wrestling was just kind of like, you know, part of the family. You know, my dad used to sponsor these independent wrestling shows at his fire hall. He was a volunteer fire chief, and he would buy the fundraisers and act as a promoter for that.

So we got to the point where he'd put on these little shows, and we loved it. My mom would sell tickets. My brother would be in the back helping the wrestlers. I'd just be running around, but, you know, that kind of snowballed into my dad running his own events. And it ultimately led to my brother, Corey Graves, to be a wrestler. And, I mean, as far back as I remember, you know, these toys and behind me were, in my hands. I was playing with them. It's all I've ever known, all I've ever loved. And, you know, my mom probably knows more about wrestling than most independent wrestlers do just because of

it, you know, the way it is in our household. So this was one of those situations where it wasn't a question of if you were going to be a wrestler. It was a question of when you were going to become a wrestler. Oh, exactly. And I've, you know, told this story a few times to a few people. But I was kind of fat in high school. I wasn't very athletic. I really had nothing to me. But I was very easy going because of that. I'm kind of big on the self-motivation and tips and what like that. It's, I've never doubted myself for a second, even when I was heavy, even when I didn't have the girlfriends, even when I wasn't athletic, because it's okay, don't worry.

I'll be a wrestling. Yeah, when I'm 30, I'll be a wrestler. Don't worry about it. And that mentality has almost kind of guided me in the right direction because, you know, the pictures of me at 18 are so drastically different from myself now. And I'm definitely proud of that. And you did it. So where, I mean, you're doing it now.

When did this begin for you? I started, I had my first match. It'll be 13 years, February 2nd. It was 2008 I had my first match. And training, I actually, I was pretty athletic in the training. You wouldn't really, I always say the analogy that if your parents own a bakery, you might be able to bake a good cake. And it was when I was at wrestling school, I was learning things,

just kind of at an unnatural pace for some fat kid my size. And it all just kind of came to me quite well. I had about a year as a wrestler that just went nowhere. I was just the most boring indie, you know, pleather pants and kick pads, wrestler you can be. And once I turned heel, that's when I really like, you know, decided to embrace this and put the work in. Once I was, I dyed my hair blonde and I realized that I can get people to hate me quite

easily and, you know, make people smile when I get my butt kicked. that's when I turned the dial up and started going to the gym, started eating better. I mean, probably two years after that, I was signed to WWE. That's incredible. Part of me, hindsight being 2020, wishes I would have started when I was 15 getting in shape

because I'd be Batista these days. How big are we talking when you say you were fat? I was graduated high school with 294 pounds. That's a big boy. Yeah, and I wasn't quite 64 at that point. That was about 6-1-2-90. Okay. Well, yeah, you're a tall guy, which I think is something that not everybody realizes until they meet you.

So close to 300 pounds at 6-4, it's big, but it's not like, you know, it's not huge. Right, right, right. It was big enough that it was definitely hard work, you know, and I just growing up and having those eating habits and whatnot, it's definitely going to be a difficult transition. But I wouldn't trade it from the world because, you know, the nice thing is I've been able to experience a lot of my dreams, you know. And I'm really big on, like I said, being able to believe in yourself and get this stuff done. Because, you know, a lot of my friends, you know, a lot of bigger names in wrestling, if you will, I've known them since I was a child. They would have never guessed 10 years ago or 12 years ago that I'd turn out into the person I am today.

And that's just something I hang my hat on. So you're two years into your wrestling career. WWE comes around, ends up signing you. You must think, oh, my God, I'm doing something right. Yeah. I thought I did it. I thought I made it. I thought this was the answer to all my prayers

and that I'm going to be the next Hulk Hogan. Needless to say, that did not happen. I probably had one of the most embarrassing FCW careers you could imagine. I just was not ready to be there mentally. You know, being 20 years old, living at your parents, you know, making money from the bar on the weekend, going to a good-sized contract, under contract with WWE, be living in Tampa, Florida by myself, is a pretty huge transition.

So when I was down there, it's just, you know, partying and hanging out, meeting girls kind of, you know, took a precedent to what I was there to do. And, I mean, I might have had four matches the entire time I was there. I had a knee injury. I learned a lot. Don't get me wrong. I was there in the class. I was around the right people.

But at that age and that immaturity level, I didn't know how to harness what I had. So, Brad, this wasn't set up with the same structure that they have now. If you had gotten signed now to developmental,

you'd be thrown right into the NXT system, you'd be in the performance center. It might be a little bit more structured than what you had. There was a lot of like, you know, scenarios that didn't really make sense,

but who am I to question these things? You know, I'm lucky to be there. And I've been told, you know, you're lucky to be here because I was 21 with, you know,

next to some of the biggest superstars in the planet, what did I have to offer? But there was a lot of stuff, you know, like we would have to travel all over and put out the posters and just, I was really good at selling merchandise. That was kind of my role when I was there. Every wrestling show would come around, Orlando on Wednesday, Friday night will be Largo, Saturday will be Jacksonville or wherever we go. They say, Sam, you're on merch Friday. I was like, whoa, can I have a match? It's been like six month since I've had a match. No, we really need you for merch on Friday. It's a big show. And like, you know, part of these things, I didn't, I didn't know what was going on.

I didn't know how to write my situation. But, you know, I just sat back and did what I was told. I eventually got hurt and I eventually got released. But hindsight being 2020, the invaluable experience I picked up there has led to so many huge opportunities in my life that, you know, hindsight being 2020, 2020, WWE is one of the best things ever happened to me. Who else was at FCW when you were there? I was there with Bray Wyatt, Roman Raines was there, Seth Rollins was there.

I want to say CM Punk was still the champion while I was there. He came to FCW a few times. There were so many of them. I think there's more people that are gone now than are actually still there from my class. And I think that's funny about just a lot of times things come down

to when you peak. Yes, I was 21, and I came through the system and got spicked back out. But there's a lot of people that were in that system for a while and made it to TV. And they might have only had a two, three year career. And then they were back on their way out. Right. You know, it almost feels like maybe it was in the cards for me to kind of get it out of my system early so I can see the goal. So I can, you know, determine myself to get back to that and understand what I want, you know, have to do to get there.

because, you know, it's funny now, so many former WB wrestlers that were my friends, you know, when we were FCW, will contact me for wrestling work. You know, hey, man, what's going on in Mexico? Who's working in Europe? We should work together and what's mean?

And say, get me on a show. Yeah. So it's just funny because, you know, I almost got a head start on a lot of the guys that, you know, have been released since. And like I said, the, just having that name on your resume, you know, is invaluable.

Just being able to tell someone you had a WB contract, in pro wrestling. You know, that's, you might as, we might as well have a degree from Harvard. Yeah, well, you get signed at 21. Your brother had been wrestling many more years before that.

What does he think when his little brother gets signed before him? I think it just broke his heart. I think he was angry. I think he was frustrated because wrestling does that to all of us. You know, sometimes we have our ups and we have our downs.

When I got signed, I kind of went behind his back. I told him I wanted to do some extra work. And he said, no, you're not ready. And he knew I wasn't ready. But I went for it anywhere. I got this DVD, made this fancy cover, put out these 8 by 10s, nice typed resume,

and physically sent a package to Titan Towers. And about two weeks later, I got a phone call, booking me for some dates, did those dates. And then they flew me to Florida for a tryout where I did well. And I got a job. And I don't think,

I definitely think my brother probably would have said, yeah, okay, Sam, go for it. You're just going to look like an idiot. You're not going to get anything. And, you know, he was right in the long term. But short term, you know, it got me an opportunity. And, you know, it blossomed to do a lot of different things. Well, he ended up getting signed eventually.

I mean, everyone knows him now as a commentator. But, I mean, he wrestled for many, many years. He got hired two days before I got released. I was actually coming off an injury and just, I was pretty down. I knew the situation. I knew things weren't going my way. And I knew I needed something to happen or I was going to get released. on a Wednesday I got a phone call

I said guess what what's up I'm coming down to Florida I says what are you coming to visit I got the job and I oh my gosh yes and it was like that little spark underneath me that I needed you know because now things are going to be better now my brother's going to help

and you know lift my spirits up and be with me and we're not going to be alone doing this and literally two days later I had a couple of the wrestlers in the car we were supposed to go to Destin Florida I think and I got about 45 minutes out I4 in Orlando And I got the phone call from Johnny Ace saying, hey, yeah, you don't need to come to the show today.

Oh, my gosh. And then your brother's, like Corey Graves has stayed signed ever since then? Yeah. Yeah, he's had the job the entire time. That's one thing. And it's funny because a lot of people don't know he has a brother. And a lot of people don't know that my brother's Corey Graves. And I don't know, I don't know maybe I'm an idiot that I don't capitalize on that.

But the other side of it is like, no. Nobody sees us as brothers. And I think that's kind of cool because, you know, as soon as people, I swear, if I got a WB contract tomorrow, I would just be Corey Gray's brother. No matter how good I am and how many things I do. Oh, he only got a job because of his brother. You know, whereas the path that I'm on now, what I've already been able to carve out from myself, you know, there's not such a strong relation there. You can't see the relationship. So if I got signed, you know, now there's going to be a lot of people that say, who's just saying with the honest guy?

I like him because I haven't really milked off my brother at all. Are you close with your brother? Yes and no. WWE is a very, very busy place. So I don't really get to see him as much as I'd like. But we almost always have like a running line of text messages, you know, a couple texts a day, just random stuff, just brotherly stuff. But as far as wrestling goes, I don't really talk about wrestling with him.

We're just in, you know, completely different universes, if that makes sense. You know, I think if he was going to, if he wanted to help me, he probably would have done it by now. So I really don't bother him with my wrestling problems. You know, I know how to handle my situation. And, you know, my brother knows the WWB system more than most of the guys there. My brother has also never wrestled in Mexico and never done a lot of the things I've been able to do. So it's kind of like apples and oranges as far as the wrestling relationship goes. But, yeah, I mean, we were at a lot of.

house for Christmas Eve. He's my brother and I'll always love him, but we're not exactly joined at the hip. Maybe that's a favor you call in when you think you're ready, two years, five years, whatever from now. Well, I'd like to think that hopefully I can do it before it ever has to happen. But, you know, who knows? This business is unpredictable. We just got to get back to wrestling in the first place. But I'm just, I'm so ready. You know, like I said, this February will be 13 years of a wrestler for me. And, you know, I've been able to really hone my craft and learn from everybody all over the world. I taught myself Spanish in Mexico because of, you know, communicating with the wrestlers and just

the amount of time I spent in Japan, you know, learning their style and how to learn cultures and people, I think I have a lot to offer, you know, and whether it's WWB or some other company, I think I'd like to think that pro wrestling has made me a little bit of an interesting human being just because of the, uh, that stops along the way. Yeah, you're definitely an interesting human being. I mean, look at all the different places you've lived. So after FCW, after living in Tampa, you went and moved to England. Yeah, that was actually really cool.

And at this time, right when I was in FCW, I was rather tight with William Regal. He was one of my favorite people while I was down there. And we were able to stay in communication. And I actually ran into him at Disneyland, which was random. Wow. Yeah, I was, I got fired on the Friday. and then on the Sunday, TNA was having a pay-per-view in Orlando. And I went to the tapings because I'm like,

maybe if I watch some wrestling, see some of the boys, get my head off things, you know, I was kind of just trying to come to terms with things. And I get there and there's this system of free tickets and wait in line and all this. And I'm like, I just got fired from WB. I'm not waiting in line with a bunch of TNA fans. No disrespect to the impact fans,

but, you know, it was just a, it was a difficult time in my mental state right then. Well, you were going to have to make the shift from going from performer a few days earlier to being a fan now. Right. And I just wasn't in the mood, you know, because a lot of those fans did recognize the FCW guys. I didn't want anyone saying, hey, Sam, why are you here tonight and not destined with these guys? I just got released. So as I'm leaving, I said, I'm going home. And I walked by and Regal was there with his family. Apparently he had free tickets. And he had no idea. It was a TNA show that day. So he was ducking and dodging all the fans as well. And he actually put me in contact with Brian Dixon,

who's one of the oldest, longest running promoters in the world. He's been doing 50 years as of this year, if you can count this year. But he put me in touch with him, and that got me to live in Liverpool, where I stayed for the better part of four years. And that's where I really learned how to wrestle, because the amount of shows, you know, wrestling 100 or 150 matches a year, you know, you're going to learn your craft and pick it up.

And that's really where I kind of started making waves and developing into the performer I am, which eventually led me to the opportunities in Mexico and the opportunities in Japan. So when you go to England, you're working for one promoter who's booking you on all of these shows? Yeah, that's great. I had it. I was, the nice thing is I don't think I've ever worked outside the United States without a visa. Every time I've ever traveled to these places, I've had like, you know, full-time gigs. and it's all paid for and it's taken care of. But I stayed in his house.

He had an extra, like, a guest house, if you will. It's something the wrestlers know all about. It's called the digs in Birkenhead, England. I mean, tons of wrestlers. Daniel Bryan has stayed there. El Generico has stayed there. You know, so many people have stayed at this notorious wrestling house. And you literally just, you know, lived your life there.

You get a date sheet once a month. And he said, you know, you know what time the bus leaves. So he comes and pick us up. I say a bus, but it's really just. the minivan. We all meet in the minivan and, you know, drive five or six hours, wrestle, sleep. Next day, drive five or six hours, wrestle, sleep. And it was actually, you know, pretty close to the old school territory style of wrestling, which is, you know, it was awesome for me, just the experience and, you know, hearing stories and learning the actual job. And it was definitely

a good time of my life. What do you think was the first real takeaway from the British style of wrestling, you know, because you were wrestling in America up until that point? What was the real takeaway for you. And this is something that has stayed with me all over my career. And the British style of wrestling is done best by the British. A lot of a, and it's not just the British, it's not just the Lucha style and Japanese Peresu style. The thing that I've come to learn is that most of my work where I'm at, and you got to take

yourself out of the realm of wrestling fans, just put yourself in the realm of John Q. public. People have one idea of what it is that they're seeing. And a lot of them don't want to know more than that. Some of these wrestling fans might just be there with their kid because they like it. They see American wrestler. They want American wrestling. They make the correlation that I'm something like you'd see on a WWE or an impact. So it's a little bit more dramatic. It's a little bit more, you know, strike oriented. There's a million examples I can give you. But what I've learned in England was to stay American. And that little detail was so, so crucial to the other opportunities I've had is the same thing. In Mexico, they want the American wrestler against the Mexican

wrestlers. They want the American guy against the Japanese wrestler. So you shouldn't really change your style that much. Years ago, you know, wrestling was American. People thought, you know, around the world, they look at wrestling as, you know, the American sport. Whereas now the new style, it's kind of evolved into a hybrid of Japanese and Mexican wrestling, you know, with some strikes. And I think staying traditional is what I learned there. And it definitely helped my cause. I just want to pause for a second because I know we have a lot of podcasters who listen to the show and a lot of aspiring podcasters as well. And I want to tell you about Blue Wire Hustle, which is a brand new program where you can host your very own podcast here at BlueWire.

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I actually, I wasn't there four years continuously. I did come home at that point. But my first time there was, I want to say four months. And in the third month, I actually tore my meniscus and needed a surgery. But I, the NHS system, it was a whole long wait list and whatnot. So I had to tape my knee up and wrestle for another month on that before I came home. Got a niece. Yeah, I got my knee scoped.

And then I went back and I was back by February the next year. So I went for four months, came home for three months, and then was back for a year and a half that next time. And where did you get the interest to go from there than to go try your skills in Japan? Well, Japan came after Mexico. Japan has always been the finish line and Mexico to a certain extent because, you know, I was not a, I was probably a little bit more nerdy than most kids. Whereas, you know, while everyone was watching the rock,

and Goldberg, I was watching Negro Cassus and Ultimo Dragon and the Great Muda. I was a tape nerd. I had the DVDs. I was just obsessed with that stuff. So, you know, even when I was at WWB, that was always kind of like, oh, I wish I could go to Japan. I wish I could go to Mexico. But when I was in England, there would be a lot of wrestlers coming through the doors just for little tours here, a little, you know, a week of shows, two weeks of shows. And I actually met Angelico from AEW. He became a really good friend of mine very quickly. And he was living in Mexico at the time. And we would just talk about Lucha. And it was like, dude, how do you know all this stuff about Mexican wrestling? I'm like, I'm a nerd.

I watched this. I've seen all of it. And he's like, yeah, I think you like Mexico. So he became a really good friend. It was always inviting me just a bunch of times said, dude, come to Mexico. Come to Mexico. After that, we had a wrestler named Supernova, who was Bengala in AAA. He was over there. Same thing. You need to get to Mexico. And the last one was a guy named Blackfire also from Mexico, said, Sam, just come to Mexico. So I talked to Angelico. He helped me get some meetings with some important people. And when I got down there, everything moved so quickly that I didn't even have a chance.

I was the all-star champion in England. I was the champion for Brian Nixon. And I literally, I couldn't go back to lose the belt. I just, it was so much happening so fast. And there was no opportunity for me to get back there. So he ended up just doing a tournament for it and vacating the strap. But the second I got there, everything was clicking and everything just worked out so well. And I learned Spanish in the process.

How do you learn Spanish in the process? Tinder. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I did pretty well down there on Tinder and all these apps and whatnot. So Google Translate, you know, with enough consistency, you end up picking up things. You know, you pick up a little bit here, a little bit there.

And next thing you know, I'm speaking conversational Spanish. And another thing, I would do a lot of press. As soon as I got with CMLL, they really kind of, you know, gave me the ball to run with and started taking me to TV shows and interviews and whatnot. And I would just try to pick it up as fast as I can. And, you know, it's sink or swim. I think your brain processes something a little bit differently when you have no choice. And the fact that I was living there with no end in sight,

and with opportunity at my fingertips, I think that probably helped me learn a little bit easier. But now looking back, I couldn't imagine living a life without Spanish. Did you also speak Japanese? No, no, no. That's a complete different ballgame. I know a few words just to get by and just to be polite, but it's just too complicated for me at this point.

In the Japanese, I've been there four times for different amounts of time. So the longest I ever stayed, there was five weeks. And I don't think that's enough time to learn really what they got. I think... Did you ever have a moment in Mexico where they were speaking Spanish about you and you understood like, oh, they're talking about me? Not quite because at least in CMLL, they'd all talk to you and talk about you in front of your face. They joke with you.

And CMLL was a bit of a brotherhood where everybody's kind of on the same page. You know, everybody was busting my balls, you know, calling Gringo, Gringo, come here, Gringo. You know, I never saw anything negative of that capacity. I have since had that happen, you know, whether I'm at a restaurant or if I'm, you know, in another city where you hear it happening. Then all you have to do is say something in Spanish and they're kind of caught off guard. So not in Mexico, though. What would you say is the scariest circumstance situation that you were in in Mexico?

Well, there's two of them. One, one, I'll just leave. with this, my ex-girlfriend, and two was... That's it. No, you're really going to leave it. Just that. I could literally write a book about that. It could probably be a Hallmark movie because it was pretty dramatic. It was just really, really messed up. She had some brothers.

Hallmark movies have happy endings, though. No, no, Lifetime movies. Sorry about that. Yeah, that's what I meant. But, yeah, her brothers were some unsavory people, and there was a lot of threats involved and a lot of, you know, just... It was bad. I ended up leaving Mexico because of that. But the other situation that was wound was leaving the arena and an escalade started tailing me, walking to my car.

And I knew it. I just knew this was going on. So my ex-girlfriend at the time, this one went in to get the promoter and he comes out and tells us, you guys got to get out of here now. He ended up calming this person down because apparently whenever I was wrestling on the inside, this guy was getting text messages from other unsavory people about how I need to be dealt with, if you will. Wow.

Well, for those that don't know, in Mexico, I was doing a gimmick where I was a Donald Trump sympathizing. I was just going to get into it. Yeah. Was this all because of the character that you were playing? Yes, yes, yes. That's a crucial detail because, I mean, Mexico is a great country full of just some of the nicest people we ever meet.

But, you know, I was antagonizing for sure. I was pushing the envelope. And yes, this was a character that I pulled it and just, you know, I didn't really, I wasn't really a different character. I was just so brash that I came out of the ring with the American flag with Donald Trump's face on it. And this is right in the beginning when he was, you know, considered the most racist man on the planet and everybody hated it. I mean, a lot of people still feel that way. But either way, when I was in there doing that, it was 50-50. Some people would just get into it for the show and then come and want pictures and just say,

thank you for being a great heel. Other people, you know, you get that thousand yard stare every once in a while and you're just like, yeah, it's time to go. This particular night, you don't see many black escalades in Mexico City or kind of a big, fancy car that stands out, and they're not around there. I come out of the arena and it's parked to my right,

and I remember signing autographs slowly to make sure, like, okay, get this guy out of here. Oh, thank you. Hey, good night. Thank you, thank you. I ended up saying to my girlfriend, hey, go get the promoter. He ended up talking to him.

He said, you get out of town right now. Don't come back. Don't stop for gas. Don't stop for food. Go. I guess he bought a few minutes of life for me. Oh, my gosh. So this was the time, you know, when Donald Trump was talking about building the wall.

And here you are in Mexico having this gimmicks. So where did the idea for this come from? You knew how much heat this was going to get. Well, the thing is, and this is just being an old wrestling nerd. To me, like heat is heat. Like it's not complicated. It's, you know, some things make people mad. You just go for it, you know.

I don't ever want anyone to be truly offended by what it is. I just thought we're at the era, you know, that wrestling is wrestling, and you know what you're getting into. So I used to wear tights. I still wear tights, kind of like Rick Rood used to, with the airbrush art all over the sides. And I was a representative in a tournament where I was the sole American. So I got the Statue of Liberty. I got a dollar bill. I got an American flag.

I put Donald Trump on it. That'd be funny. And instantly, instantly my boss. losses were going nuts, the bookers were going nuts. Everybody, the wrestlers thought it was hilarious. And it was just like, huh, you know, whoa, what is this? Next thing you knew, you know, this was about a week before he won the presidency. And then when he won, I came out with the flag because when I lived in England,

I was always coming out with an American flag. It was kind of my, you know, my go-to prop, if you will. So it just all fell into place. And out of that, I mean, I had so much international media attention. And it was unbelievable. I mean, it was so cool just having these people, you know, come to my house and film how I eat breakfast and how I walk down the street. Vice did a piece, NBC, CNN, Reuters, GQ. I mean, if you searched YouTube for Sam Adonis right now, there's probably equal parts news media to wrestling.

And that's, you know, it was a really amazing experience. I feel like that's a gimmick that could work all over the world because Donald Trump is such a polarizing figure. even in a few weeks he's not going to be the president anymore, but even now, why did you stop running with this gimmick? Honestly, it's because I came back to the United States. It's too sensitive here. Mexico is a little bit more of just, I hate to say the word free,

but they're more just relaxed. That'd be the best way to put it. There's not as much of the complaining and the social justice and whatnot. People just want to be in joy. You know, they come to the shows just to hate the bad guy and cheer for the good guy. So down there, it's kind of tongue and cheek. You know what I mean? It's just like, oh, yeah, that's funny.

He's a real good bad guy, this guy. Up here, I think a lot of people don't want to have politics rubbed in their face when they're paying money to watch something. And I think, you know, a lot of people want to escape the air every day to come see these wrestling shows. And, you know, whether you like him or not, I think those three hours at the wrestling show is when you want to be away from that stuff. You're here to watch a wrestling show. You don't want to be reminded of this president that you do or do not like. So I just had to get away from it. I do it occasionally on some Lucha shows.

If I'm booked in the Alucha capacity where it's in mostly Mexican fan base, I bring it out because that's how they know me. But most of the time I don't really like to associate with that anymore just because I don't want to make anyone mad. It's too risky now. Speaking of escaping, that's, I mean, you got out of Mexico. You mentioned it briefly because of this crazy situation you had with your ex. you just got booked on an American show

and you were like, oh, honey, I'll see you later. Yes, that's exactly what I did. And to this day, I'm still missing some of the most viable wrestling toys I ever had because they're still in Mexico. Like, you just picked up your life and, like, you left your stuff there. Yeah, I had a promoter.

I was booked in Los Angeles on a Saturday, and this was a big company that had some money to play with. So, say, is it possible to fly me to Pittsburgh after my show? I'll make my own way back to Mexico. And they said, no problem. And then I even told my ex at the time, I said, like, I'm going to see my family after this.

I'll be back in a few weeks. And, you know, and I literally just ditched. And, I mean, I really, looking back, I don't know what kind of choice I would have had because it was the most toxic of toxic, toxic relationships. Man. It was bad. There was literally, you know, she'd threatened my life multiple times. there was one time she told me that the airport knew that I assaulted her.

And when I land in Monterey, I'll be going to jail where I'll be killed. And, you know, these things could be completely made up. She could just know how to get in my head. But I'm also smart enough not to take these chances. Yeah. So, you know, I just, there was probably a good eight to ten months where I did not go back to Mexico City because I was too afraid. But you've been back since. Oh, yes.

Yes. Now everything's okay. I was actually booked on a show this past April right as the pandemic was in full swing. I was supposed to go back for my first match in about six months. So I really can't wait to get back there. I miss the people. I miss the food.

I absolutely love everything about Mexico. So I want to get back. At what point in your escape plan, do you think she realized that you weren't coming back? I tell you what, I was so scared of the situation. that I didn't even tell her I wasn't coming back. It wasn't like I'm on the plane. She must have been texting you like, oh, like, when are you coming home?

When are you coming home? I was like playing it off. Like, okay, well, yeah, when can you get up here? Yeah, I'll buy you a flight and this and that. Because she wanted me to marry her while I was in Mexico so she could have instant visa status or temporary visa status or something. She said, oh, well, let's just get married now. So whenever you go home, I can come see easier.

Just all kinds of crazy stuff. but I think I probably gave it five or six days into my trip to Pittsburgh where I was supposed to be there is when I maybe picked the fight and then from the fight it snowballed and like I mean I was at my house like just freaking out I'm 2,000 miles away what's she going to do somehow she had me in a terrible place and you know just manipulative and it was pretty naughty man pretty wild you're in a much better spot now well honestly I mean this this girl has reached out multiple times. And like, I have no ill will now that we've both moved on. But at the same time, I'm in no rush to, you know, see her ever again.

My goodness. Like I said, it would be, it would be an awesome lifetime movie if I died in the end. No. Well, like, you could die in the movie, maybe. But not the real version of this story. Right, right, right. Yeah, nobody looks at that. It's kind of like, you know, there's TV novellas. There's Spanish soap operas. They're intense. They're dramatic. There's fighting. They're screaming. There was actually a day where she was driving her car. And we were arguing, she put the brakes on on the highway, well, pulled off of the highway where the tackies are coming, parked the car, gets out, waves a cab, gets in the taxi. I get in the car and start tailing her around Mexico City just because I knew I didn't have another

choice. If I went home, she's coming back to, you know, freak out and start another fight. So it was just, it was absolutely nuts. It made me realize life is five. You have your ups, you have your downs. Yes, I was in a top spot in CML in Mexico, but my personal life was bringing that right back down at 5. I like that. That's really interesting. When we look at everywhere that you've wrestled all over the world, who do you think's been the most influential person in your wrestling career? Ultimo Dragon. Ultimo Dragon has been somebody that's just, and it's not even necessarily just the wrestling portion. As a performer, he's one of the all-time greats, but as just a person, as a, I mean, he is just somebody.

You see him at the airport, and he's just decked out in Gucci. He has style like nobody you ever see. He likes his Cuban cigars. He likes his aged wine. This guy is a classy human being, and he just does everything first class. He's so full of respect, and he's the kind of guy that, like, you know, you don't even want to swear around the guy because you have so much respect for him. You know, he's just one of a kind. He's been wrestling for 30 years.

He's also, you know, been promoting for 20 years. in big arenas all over the world. This guy has his fingers and so many things. And just, you know, the way his life and his business model has been structured, I mean, he's my absolute hero. I wish I could be like that guy. I mean, you've made such a name for yourself pretty much everywhere else but here. And now it's time with 13 years experience to let people know what Samadonis is all about.

Well, I think it's been a bit of a catch-22 because things have changed. a lot in the 13 years that I've wrestled. When I was, you know, I hate saying back in my day, but, you know, anybody will tell you 13 years, there's been a drastic change in professional wrestling. When I first broke in, it was almost kind of play by the rules, you know, work hard, just do things right, respect your elders, and it pays off. Now it's kind of, and it's not just wrestling, it's the world in general. it's almost by any means necessary, get famous.

And that's kind of how wrestling is now. My style has always been, you know, learn it right, work the style, you know, work for my boss, do it right. Now there's guys, and I'm not trying to take anything away from these guys because they're unbelievably talented. But now it's almost easier to just put your Instagram clips up and your small little local promotion. And if you do enough cool things on your Instagram,

you get noticed, you blow up and you get those opportunities. I've almost been blinded by my own hard work, if that makes sense, to realize I guess I can't see the forest through the trees. I've been putting so much effort into traveling and learning the craft rights that now here in the United States, you know, I don't think I really have much name value as far as a lot of these independents go. And it's nice because it's finally started to change. But, you know, I've done so much elsewhere. but they were places that aren't really looked at by the American fan base. Not many fans watch CML or all Japan. Well, does this mean that, you know, if the opportunity was there,

that you'd go back to England and work there for another bunch of months, maybe back to Japan, do the same thing? It's a lot different now just because this is my, you know, stage in life. Now, you know, I have different priorities. I have different things. I'm an independence. I've always been an independence since I was released from WWE. You know, I didn't have contact.

tracks in England, Mexico, or Japan. I was, you know, on a handshake agreements. I'm always down to work anywhere. You know, I would love the work, you know, the big companies here in the United States. I love to work more in Mexico, more in Japan, more in England. Everywhere I can, I want to be, but the circumstances are different now because, you know, I have different bills and priorities than I did back at that point. You know, I have a dog now. I have a girlfriend now, you know, that I live with. It's not as easy it was. Yeah. It's not as easy as it was when I was 21 when I was actually trying to escape my girlfriend. I'm again, very glad that you weren't killed in Mexico.

What a crazy story that is. Geez. One of these days, I need a full episode. If we ever do a follow-up, let's do the whole story. Oh, my goodness. I think people would love that. That would probably be more entertaining than the actual wrestling episodes. I mean, it was, there was some crazy, crazy stories.

And to the point we're like, you know, it's almost unbelievable. So what goals do you have as we look at? forward to the rest of this year. I mean, it's January right now as you record this. What are your 2021 goals? I just want everything to kind of, you know, pick back up and get back to a reasonable pace. Like you said, I don't think we're getting back to normal anytime soon. I would like us to, you know, as a society, as a planet, be able to overcome this pandemic and get back to where we need to be, you know, be responsible, keep each other safe. You know, that would be nice. But let's get to a point where wrestling can pick back up.

And I'm one of these guys at wrestling's in my blood. You know, it's never going to, I'm never going to give up. Give up isn't a thing. You know, I could be 70 years old working at a gas station, and I probably would still be, you know, taking tickets at the gymnasium down the street. You know, it's what I do. So, you know, right now I have no problem working on Amazon to pay bills,

but I want to stay busy. I want to stay consistent. I would love to get some of these opportunities, you know, whether it be WW, AEW, Ring of Honor, impact, any of these, you know, because I know I have a lot to offer. And, you know, I can't even say that's an immediate goal. It's just, to me, it's like I said to you, I always knew I'd be a wrestler. I know that, you know, there's something else out there for me.

You know, it's not about, it's not about how. It's about when. And I'm not the kind of person to give up, you know. So my opportunity has not been now. It hasn't been the last, you know, three or four years. But I look at my track record of what I have accomplished. And it's been pretty good things pretty consistently. So I'm confident that the best is yet to come.

But it's just I think I'm more concerned about everybody getting back on the same page aside from wrestling. You know, just get back to normal life and take care of one another. I mean, you are working. You're working some independent dates. You're working January 14th in Arlington. There is still some independent wrestling that's coming together. Well, that's it. I'm doing January 14th in Arlington, Texas brawl at the brew.

It's going to be at a brewery, which is, I think it's like downtown Arlington. That's awesome. Yeah, it'll be kind of cool. It's called Pele Pro. They're a new upstart, which is nice. But that's where I met you. It was the same promoter. I met you in Texas.

That was just outside of Dallas. But man, that was August. August, yeah. Well, the thing is, they do these, I guess Texas has a little bit more relaxed laws than some of the other states, which is why they're able to happen. So, you know, I think that's why this is happening. It might be a little bit less mandated by the state, for instance. However, the actual promoters are still stepping up and taking on the obligation of keeping the fans safe.

You know, they will be social distancing. Masks are required. There will be hand sanitizing stations. So it's a completely different game. But, you know, it's all I've ever known and loved. You know, I'm so blessed and lucky every time I get to lace up my boots because, you know, I'm having so much fun being able to perform for everybody. And it's funny because, you know, I think a good heal is so selfless.

You know, and I have sacrificed thousands of Twitter followers and thousand of dollars in merchandise sales because I want to be a heel. I want to be the guy that you hate. I don't want you to like me. I don't want you to say, he's a good restaurant. I want you to hate me. So when I get beat up, you go home so happy. So happy. You don't even, you're not happy that the baby face won. You're happy that I lost. That's what I've always wanted to do. You know, and that's what I'm able to do at these places now. So, you know, just being given that opportunity, even on a limited basis right now, it's great. I'm so excited for Texas. There's a couple other things, you know, down the line coming up. But, you know, I just think the heels kind of, I don't know, I just feel there's more to it than people give it credit for. Because it's a couple of, because it's, you know, I just think. If you understand how deep it was, you do it for the fans.

You leave hating me even though I love you, if that makes sense. Have you always been drawn to heels? No, no, no, no, honestly. Growing up, who were your guys? Hulk Hogan. I always want to be Hulk Hogan. I want to be Hulk Hogan to this day. But I had my favorites, you know, Muda and Kabashi, Onita.

I loved Sabu, the Sandman. I've always wanted to be a baby face. But I always think being a baby face, you know, you have to believe in your Because if you don't believe in yourself, the fans don't believe in you. You know, that's why a lot of baby faces are the biggest egomaniacs on the planet because you have to be a little bit self-centered to do so. I've always been kind of too self-conscious to believe myself as a baby face. You know, so I heal.

I know that I can give you a better show by getting my butt kicked and crying, you know, than I can't pretend like I'm, you know, he man. So it's it's all relative as well. You know, you develop over time. Here in Pittsburgh, I can be a baby face because I am comfortable because they're my friends and family. You know, it's just, I don't know. I don't know where the voyage will take me, but I know I'm in for the long haul. And I still, like I said, I'm six four, 240 pounds.

And, you know, I have a decent amount of experience. And, you know, I think I can make a lot of good things happen when the time comes. But right now it's a promoter's game. And, you know, I just have to wait in line and keep delivering those smiles. for Amazon. That's it. But like you said, you've got all the tools. It's just a matter of getting that opportunity. And fortunately or unfortunately, however you want to look at it, nobody's getting opportunities really right now. Exactly. And I mean, it's either way, if I had to retire tomorrow, I've had the best life you can imagine. I mean, the stories I have from, you know, countries and people all over the

world would literally, you know, blow your mind. So there's always that. And I'm always grateful for that. But now, like I said, my priorities have changed. I'm to the point, you know, I'm 31 years old. I'd like to have children, you know. I have a good family here that I want to take care of. I want to be able to provide for. So it's not necessarily now about going out and finding the good story as much it's about, you know, fulfilling other dreams. Well, you said the word there that I always end every interview with. I always talk about how being grateful is just something that can completely change your life. And, you know, I have it behind me here. If you're grateful, then you'll live a great life. So I want to know, Sam, what are three things in your life that you're grateful for right now?

I have three specifically, but I'll put them all together as family. I have the best family structure. And I'll even include the people in my life. That's one of the most grateful things that I have. It's just, you know, we've had a great Christmas. We've had a great year. My girlfriend's my best friend. We have a dog.

We spend every night together having a blast. We have our neighbors that we get to see. My family's still here in Pittsburgh. I'm so incredibly blessed to be as close to my family as I am. The other thing would be my, I don't even know how to be thankful for it. How do you say you're thankful for what you've already been able to accomplish? There's just so many dreams that have come true that, you know, seven-year-old Sam would never imagine.

You know, we were in Mexico City and my parents actually came. to one of the shows down there. And I was in the main event against Ultimo Dragon. And I tore his mask off in Arena, Mexico in front of about 10,000 people. And I had done this a few times already. So this, you know, talk about taking it for granted. It meant nothing. It's just what we do.

It's just what I do. I've done it before. I'll do it again. So after the show's over, I come in the back and I say, so, Dad, what do you think? He goes, you took Ultimo Dragon's mask off. And I'm like, what? you, Samuel, you took Ultimo Dragon's mask off. And I'm like, holy cow, I did. You know, seven-year-old Sam would have lost his mind if you'd have told him that. So, you know, I'm definitely

grateful for so many of the experience I've had, you know, and, and I guess both last and final, and these are in no particular order, but it would just be my health. You know, I feel great. I think I've always, you know, progressed over the years. You know, it's a lot. You know, starting at a chubby kid that was not very athletic to, you know, being able to do some of the fancy things I can do today. Being an Adonis. Yeah, exactly. You saw me beat Brian Cage with that 450s.

That's right. You know, being healthy and being able is the, you know, the final thing I'm great for. You know, I should touch wood right now because we are in the middle of a pandemic, you know, and the whole situation has been horrible for everyone. And I'm sorry to anybody that this has been difficult on, you know, but I just, I feel so blessed. And like I said to you, you know, a couple hours ago. three or four hours ago, whenever we started this thing. But I think, you know, at this point in my life, five years from now,

I will look back at this and really be grateful for this period because it was so humbling. You know, it really put everything into perspective, friends, family, you know, everything. And, you know, there's just so much good that can come from it. I'm just ready for us all to be able to look at this in the past tense. That's it. You nailed it. It's all about perspective. It's all about being able to look at things through that, lens and that's exactly what you're doing right now.

It's, I mean, it's the price you have to pay, you know. Again, this could all just be something that, you know, in the future, this could be a story to tell you, you know, someone else, hell yeah, when I was 31, I was driving for Amazon. No, no way, really? You know, it's all part of the journey. You know, I heard a good quote the other day. I'm probably going to screw it up. Oh, I love good quotes.

Yeah, let's see. Okay. There's no treasure at the end of the journey. the treasure is the treasure is the journey. No, the journey is the treasure. Sorry about that. I told you I'd screw it up. There's no treasure at the end of the journey.

The journey is the treasure. And that's pretty accurate because, you know, you don't see it until it's, you know, not there. And it's now, you know, being removed from wrestling to say, holy cow, I've had a great life. I'm so lucky to have these people around me. And, you know, it's just keep on plugging, man. That's exactly where we're going to end things. I love that. It's been great, man.

I have my social media. If you could plug it out for anybody. Of course. Yeah, where can people find you? People can get me on Instagram and Twitter on at Real Samadonis. Twitter is all about old wrestling and just the matches I'm watching. I pay attention to the old stuff. It's my obsession right now.

So if you ever want some old wrestling footage to watch, check out my Twitter. Instagram has got some cool pictures of me and a family, personal and wrestling-related. and I just appreciate everybody. If you can come out to Texas next week and see us on the 14th at Pele Pro in Arlington, that would be great. Shoot me a message on Instagram and Twitter. I'll do my best to get back to you,

but I just appreciate everyone out there listening. And all I can do is hope everybody there stays safe. We appreciate you, man. Thanks so much. Thanks, Chris. I'll see in a few weeks. Well, there we go. Sam Adonis, and I think it's pretty admirable that he saw COVID for what it was early on.

Some booking started getting canceled, then some more booking started getting canceled. And he realized that he needed to make a living. So he started delivering smiles for Amazon, as he calls it. And I think we're all hopeful that things can start to get back to some sort of semblance of normalcy in the next six months. Is that fair? Is six months fair? Although Sam now has this great job that probably pays pretty well that he's doing with Amazon.

But, you know, I'm hopeful for him that. that wrestling picks back up. I'm hopeful for all of us that it can pick back up and we can just get back to what we were doing before. You know, I've always loved hearing about people

who bet on themselves and that's exactly what you hear when you listen to Sam's story. And it reminds me this quote from Malcolm Forbes that I'm going to leave you with. Malcolm Forbes once said too many people overvalue

what they are not and undervalue what they are. Be great. Be grateful, my friends. We'll see you on the next one for some more insight. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock,

but there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley. Whatever happened to Hammer Alley? How did they go from top of the rock? I'm looking for a music video. They're a band from 1987. Hammer Alley. Ever heard of them?

To Rock Bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987. I can't believe he's doing this. Hammer Allie. Follow and listen on. your favorite platform.