Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Santino Marella Is The Greatest Comedic Wrestler, The Cobra Origin Story, Winning "Miss WrestleMania" As Santina

Episode Date: March 9, 2023

Santino Marella (@milanmiracle) is a professional wrestler known for his time in WWE and is currently signed to IMPACT Wrestling where he serves as the Director of Authority. He joins Chris Van Vliet at the Blue Wire Studios in Las Vegas to talk about his legendary WWE career, making his WWE debut at 31 years old, some of his most memorable moments like becoming Miss WrestleMania as Santina Marella, almost winning the Royal Rumble, setting the record for the fastest Royal Rumble elimination, how he came up with The Cobra finishing move, nearly beating Daniel Bryan at Elimination Chamber to win the WWE Championship, his daughter Bianca Carelli who wrestles in NXT as Arianna Grace, a possible dream match with Orange Cassidy and much more! For more information about CVV and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All systems are good. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Blele. So good to see you, my friends. Welcome back to another audio adventure on Insight. I'm CVV, Chris Van Fleet, and I know we picked up a lot of new listeners with that Bully Ray episode last week. So if you're new here, thank you.

Take off your coat. Stay a while. If you've been here for all 450 episodes, man, that's a big number. 450. Thank you. If you've been here. for all of those. Or if you've been here for one or two or three, we could go through all the

numbers. We're not going to. But just know that I appreciate you spending your time with us in the sea of all of the different podcast options. I am so glad that you decide to choose insight. So this conversation with Santino Morella was recorded the same day as that Billy Ray interview that I was talking about. They were both in Las Vegas with Impact Wrestling for No Surrender and some TV tapings. It was a packed schedule, but I was so glad they were able to squeeze this in. Squeeze a little insight into their day.

And this is such a good one. Santino is a legend. I mean, how can you not love this guy? In my opinion, he is the all-time best comedic character in wrestling. And he's doing amazing and hilarious work right now as the director of authority, the DOA of Impact Wrestling. He's kind of like the general manager rule there. But when you think of all the amazing Santino moments,

and we talk about a bunch of them during this interview, they all just bring a smile to your face. Santina winning Miss WrestleMania, Santino's elimination from the Royal Rumble in like one second. It's a great story, too. The Cobra? Oh, it's amazing. So if you enjoy this episode, you know what to do.

Snap a screenshot. share it on social media, tag us so that we can share it out. Santino is at Milan Miracle. I'm at Chris Van Vleet. And hey, Conrad 1928, thank you for this very kind review on Apple Podcasts. It says, my favorite podcast, CVV is a consummate professional and an amazing host. It feels wrong to use the word interviews. So I'll say his conversations with all his guests are amazing.

His questions are thoughtful and often, initiate a very insightful conversation. I love listening while I'm driving. Thank you, Chris, for keeping us entertained and keep up the amazing work. Well, I appreciate that, and I will keep reading one review as my way to try to bribe you into leaving reviews on Apple Podcasts, or if you listen on Spotify, I know a lot of people listen on Spotify these days. Just leave a rating on there.

That one's real quick. It takes a few seconds, but I'll keep reading that one review here on every single episode. Okay, so let's do this. Please enjoy this conversation with Santino Morella. Always good to talk to a fellow Canadian. Although you're still living there. Yeah, yeah. I actually moved up north, about an hour and a half north of Toronto

and the Georgian Bay region. So it's, you know, Uber Canadian. It's a strong Métis region where the French Canadians and the indigenous population had a great relationship and it's very historic. And we love it up there. We absolutely love it. You were living in Mississauga.

So we're raised. Yeah, what was the goal here with moving north? COVID had a lot to do with it. You know, we just kind of got a little just fed up and we just wanted to change. And, you know, it was in our plan to do that, but it just got sped up. And, man, I'm still on the honeymoon stage. It's been over two years. And I wake up and look out in my backyard.

And I'm like, I can't believe we live here. It's amazing. What kind of animals stop by? Oh, man, deer every night. I put corn out for them. We back on to 500 acres of environmentally protected land. We have a couple acres and we're like a minute walk from the beach and this farm. Like, you know, we go to the farm to get our growing like our vegetables in the summer and stuff.

It's honestly, it's incredible. This is what no one pictures of Santino Morella, by the way. Yeah, riding mower and, you know, yeah, like overalls in the summer. Yeah, very different. I feel like you can't just say Santino Morella. You have to say Santino Morella. Santino Morella. Oh, that's so good.

Were you always able to do that accent? then. Well, it's funny, my high school, like almost my entire high school, all the parents were from another country. So I was a Catholic school. So Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Italian, Croatian, and so all our parents had these funny accents. You know, they all spoke English, but they had accents. So I have, like, tons of material just from my friend's parents. And that was kind of, a lot of my friends even called me out on it. Like, because my neighbor, Son of my Gunn Ivan, is where I got son of my gun from. And it's literally my next-door neighbor. And it caught on. But yeah, I have a plethora of material to choose from. I think you might have had one of, if not the best WWE debuts of all time.

Someone was talking about it yesterday. Yeah. There was, people believed it. Yeah. People really believed in. When I watch the footage, I can break it down to the moment where I got them. It's when Vince says, you know, you. And I'm like, talking to me kind of thing. Like the guy, I, And I think I even point to the guy beside me like him. And they're like, no, no, you. And the confusion I had with like, is this for real me? That was the moment of people like, this guy's really coming out of the audience. Yeah.

And so now, okay, that's like 15 years ago, 16 years ago in April. So there's kids that were 10 years old that are now 26 years old. And they're telling me, you know, like they thought it was real for years and years and years. But it's also Vince going, do you do, speak English, right? You're like, see, see. And then the crowd goes into the soccer chant and they're right behind you.

You're the biggest baby phase to the whole night from just saying the word yes. Yeah, so I was driving to Elizabeth Town, Kentucky, and I was in developmental. It was a Friday. And Nova, Mike Bucci,

called me. He's like, Borah, my character was Boris at the time. With Boris, can you speak Italian? And like a month earlier, Dusty Roads called this guy, Fearless Jack Bull, a hilarious gimmick.

It was like a past his prime, alcoholic, evil can evil, comedy gimmick. And he said, you know, can you ride a motorcycle? And he thought it was someone impersonating Dusty.

And he said, nope, because everyone does a dusty impersonation, right? Yeah. And he's like, well, can you learn to ride a motorcycle? He's like, nope. And, you know,

that was the end of the conversation. Then he looked and saw the 203 area code, Stanford, Connecticut, it had like a heart attack. And Cody was actually just in developmental. So Dusty came down to kind of, yeah, see Cody and talk to this, the class. And he said, if anybody ever calls you and says, can you do something? The answer is yes. And of course.

And then you better learn how to do it. And like a month later, they call me and they say, can you speak Italian? And I'm like, yes. And then after I said a few lines, because I used to work downtown Toronto in rush hour traffic. I had a cassette in my car that would just play and like flip over and play. So in rush hour traffic, I'd listen to this tourist Italian tape. And so I set a few lines from the tape. Like I said,

Vorre, a mezzo kilo di Formaggio means I want to buy a half kilo of cheese. It's something you would say at a market. A lot of cheese, by the way. A lot of cheese. And I could see them sitting at a boardroom table with a speaker and they're all like, I don't know. It sounded good to me. I don't know.

And like, okay, you're going to fly out tomorrow. You might debut on Monday. So they sent me my passport. Like that day, I flew out. Well, first I went to Borders. And I bought like eight DVDs. The bookstore. Yeah.

I bought DVDs for our CDs for Italian. I downloaded it into my iPod and the entire flight. I'm just drinking espresso. I was trying to learn Italian on the way there. And that was it. Yeah, then, like, so I got there Sunday morning, and then I had a day in Milan by myself, and then I debuted the next day.

And then, like, I come home and, like, pack your bags, you're on the road. And so it was zero two on the road, and then I was on the road for, like, eight years straight. But it's not just that you were believable in your debut. You're in the ring with Vince McMahon. Yeah. You're in the ring with Umaga, the Intercontinental Champion.

Then you win the Intercontinental Championship. Yeah, it was, it was, I mean, can there be a more definitive life-changing moment than ever? Like, that was just, it just changed everything. It changed my family history, you know, and it was an incredible moment. Sometimes a lot of time goes by without me watching the footage. And then I watch it back and like, man, the heck was I thinking, you know? I remember repeating to myself, you're prepared, you are prepared, you're over-prepared.

This is what you train for. Why are you nervous when you're reaching the finish line? I mean, imagine running a race and the finish lines coming, you're getting nervous. This is what we, this was our goal. And, yeah, just talking myself through it and, and I guess we hit a home run, you know. So what day do you go from being in the back with everybody else to making the transition to you're an audience member for the beginning of the show? Yeah, so it's funny.

This was in the middle of a tour. So I'm at the hotel and no one's there. they come at that night. So I'm already in my room sleeping. So I wake up, there's like the bus is leaving at whatever, like 10 o'clock, 10 a.m. or something. And I come down to go on the bus. And, you know, I knew some people from OVW. But some people that were in the WCB, they didn't know where I was.

They thought I worked for like the European office or something. And then I, you know, I'm just hanging around and raw, you know. And then someone calls me and says, Vince would like to speak to you. And I'm like, that's, you know, the first time I met Vince and stuff. And, you know, amazing experience. you know, puts everything down, turns, you have his full attention, and just it was a very good experience. So at what point, like, I imagine you get there with everybody else. Then when do they go, okay, well, Santino, you're going to go out in the crowd now.

Oh, so, okay, so as I'm walking in the door, I had met Arn Anderson before at OVW. And literally, like, they're walking out of the production meeting. He has, you know, his papers in his back pocket. And he walks by and says, hey, kid, you're having a good day. You're ending the I.C. strap. and walks away. I'm like, icy strap. I mean, it's intercontinental championship? Like, do I just hear that right?

You know? And then someone confirmed it. We had a little walkthrough. And then the show starts, and then they bring me out to a seat that says reserved. And the scene. The crazy thing was when Vince's music hit, everybody rushed the barricade,

like four or five people deep. And I'm like, oh, my God. He's not going to see me. And I'm, like, panicking. And then slowly, as he's talking, they kind of filtered back to their seats. And the new Umaga came out. And it might have been the other order. But they rushed the barricade again.

I go, oh, my God, I lost my opportunity again. And then they kind of filtered back to their seats. And then when he said, does anybody in the audience? And I'm like, and I was there. I was front row. I think I even had to, you know, nudge someone out of the way. But I had to make sure he can see me. And then he scanned the audience and say, you, that guy.

Yeah, the brown shirt. Yeah. I still have that shirt. I'm saving it for the movie. What a transition, though, because your character was like this bad ass wrestler to then you became one of the greatest comedic characters of all time. Where did that shift happen? The shift happened. So the WW universe, as you probably know, they do not like to be forced-fed anything.

And all of a sudden, this guy comes out of the audience, and, you know, he beats Chris Masters and, you know, Shelton Benjamin. and I sneak a victory. And it's like, if he's not fully trained, he's beating the roster. It kind of doesn't make sense. And, you know, there was a pay-per-view in the summer where Amaga was, like, killing me in Houston. And the audience was like, one more time. And, like, the audience wasn't taking to the initial baby face Santino.

That was kind of, like, just thrust into them. So they said, okay, we're going to have to turn him heel. And if that doesn't work, you know, see you later. Repackage. and immediately upon turning heel, Vince found it very funny because once I did my first heel promo, I did guest commentary next week,

another promo, another promo, another promo, and another pre-tape, because I actually separated my shoulder, this one. So it was an opportunity to speak on the mic. And, you know, people that were in guerrilla were like, dude, Vince is cracking up when you're out there. He loves the character as a heel.

So if you can pop Vince, you got a job, right? That's the idea. So Vince, Vince was a fan and from what I hear. And, you know, and there was actually no competition for a long time

in terms of the comedic, the comic relief character. Our truth, a little bit at the time, he's kind of doing it now, but at the time, there was really no, no one was like, was like,

corn swoggle? A little bit, yeah, but I was on raw. Yeah. So there was, for a long time, I just kept quiet. I didn't want to draw any attention to it, but,

There was no competition. There's a whole compilation online of you getting other wrestlers to break character. Oh, yeah. Who is your favorite to get the break? Oh, that's a good question. Probably John, you know, Sina, when I called him John Chana. And it's funny because people come up to me at like signings or conventions. And they're like, you know, we can't call him John Zeno.

For like, for like the last 15 years, we call him John Chena. And like it changes the way a lot of people speak to him. But it was just so sudden, like the pop. was just kind of like, it just caught himself. But it actually became a goal of mine to try and pop everybody. I feel like you popped Vince during a little backstage promo. A little smirk, at least, from him. Yeah, yeah.

The Donald Trump thing, when Santina got fired, I think, yeah. I, I, for years, called Ray, maybe I can't even say it now, Ray Mysterio, Ray Maschito. Mascrio. So in my phone, he's actually Ray Maastrio. Mastrio. Where do you come up with these? I don't know, man.

My dad actually will mispronounce people's names. If we have a friend named Kirk, he calls him Kurt or things like that. And I guess that's where it's from. The trailer park boys are really good at that too. I appreciate it because I do the same thing. Chris Jericho was doing kind of like that, but more like in an insulting way. Like when Chris Jericho would call people like Kirk Angel, Chris Binoyte, but he was doing it like to insult them. You were doing it like in this oblivious manner.

Yeah, oblivious. That's what makes it funny is that he's not trying to be funny. So at what point did you go, okay, well, this is kind of funny. Vince is kind of into this. When do you go all in like, all right, I'm doing this thing. Whatever they pitch to me, I'm in. Yeah, my philosophy was always, if you're giving lemons, you make lemonade. And if this is going to be the character, then, you know, I'm going to be the funniest guy can be.

And you have to be very giving. And you can't take it to you. Santino got beaten up a lot. in the beginning. And you can't take it personally, you know. It's a show. It's not real competition. And, you know, I was known for being very giving in matches and in general.

Yeah. And that was really, the base of it was just swing for the fences every single time. Whatever you're given, just be, I was appreciative from day one. When I first got there, there seemed to be a little bit of a locker room culture of people being dissatisfied, you know, like, you know, what's the point? They chose that guy and, you know, whatever. I'm going to do jobs. And I'm like, this is the W.W.E. I love being here. You know, and this is amazing. I was 33 years old when they debuted, and it was green, and I'm five foot 10. Like, I'm already defined the odds of just being here. Yeah. So I was appreciative from day one,

and I was super grateful my entire career. And I had people at the end of my career come up to me and say, you know, you've always such a pleasure to work with. Like, thank you. You never had a problem doing anything with anybody. And you made it really easy and you make it fun. And that's having an awesome time. Like, look, look, this is our job. This is amazing, you know. So I was very conscious of that the whole time. You were really good at getting things over. Like the Cobra, the trumpet. Is there anything you tried to get over that you realized after a few weeks? Like, No, that's not going to happen. There was one spot we did once that I thought it was funny.

Actually, it was funny. But, okay, so the bad guys took the cobra and they put it on their turnbuckle. So I take this horrible heat, just a beating during the heat. And finally, I get rid of one guy and get rid of the other guy. And there's nothing between me and my partner. So I'm in the middle of the ring. And he's like, you know, going crazy. He was broodest clay.

He went, come on, come on, come on, come on. Now is the time. Go, go, go, go, go, go. and I look back at the cobra on the heel turnbuckle pad. And I'm like, he's like, forget the cobra. Just come on. And I'm like looking back at the cobra, looking at him, looking at the cobra. And I'm like, and I go get the cobra and I turn, boom, when they stopped me.

And the audience was legitimately so disappointed with that decision that they didn't even laugh. They were like upset. And then I came back and Messina's like, well, you know, that failed. kind of thing. I'm like, no, that's funny. Like, anyway, a year later, I was, same place. It was a European tour. It was mine had England. Like, the last day

of the tour, that's why I tried something funny. And then I did it again, and they laughed. So I knew it just they got it the second time. Where did you come up with the cobra? The cobra, I was in Japan. So, for most of 2004, I was living in Japan.

And after the show is there, we all go to like a bar, restaurant, and everything. And there was a gentleman named Toro, who was friends with my coach,

Mr. Ishikawa. And he's just sitting at the table and just showed me this thing where he transforms his arm and just like

little kind of wooden puppet type thing. And I remember looking at Mr. Ishikawa and they're like, I don't get it. What is that? It was just a funny thing

he does, you know? So he made me try it. The next time I saw him was like, do you remember how to do it? You know? And that was it. Like,

that was it. That was just a little funny thing between us. I'm guessing about five years later, I believe it was Atlanta. And I was wrestling either Chavo or Cradillo. I think it was Chavo. I think it was Chavo. I'm going to try something during my comeback.

So it's like, you know, jab and close line or whatever, punch. And then I stop and did this transformation in my arm. And they hit him. He turns away into a schoolboy. And without seeing it on TV, the audience immediately laughed. So, and I always sat beside Sina. So he came back, I came back through the curtain. And he's like, I would keep that if I were you.

That was funny. And so I was doing it only on live events. And then one day I go to TV and Ricky Steenbo was my producer. And he's like, I was wrestling Zach Ryder and goes, you know, you're going over with the cobra. Vince wants to see the cobra. I'm like, Nick knows about the cobra? He was, yeah, he reads the reports. And I go, okay.

So then, yeah, I did the, I did the, but the cobra was crazy. Like in three weeks, really quickly, I would gesture for it. I would see in my peripheral vision, like the entire arena, like jumping up. And they're doing it with you, too. And I'm like, really? Like, I'm okay. They like it. I mean, I didn't find it that spectacular.

But they loved it. So, and then I think I did it for like a year without the sleeve. And then we introduced the sleeve. That's brilliant marketing. Is that the piece of merchandise that you made the most money on? Yeah. Well, yeah. Yeah, more than T-shirts for sure.

It's funny. I was calculating the money, but I mean, miscalculated, you know, the percentages and everything. I thought of making, like, we're going to make extra $1,000 a day for doing nothing, you know, and it was not $1,000 a day. But to be able to turn that into a, like, it was brilliant to do the motion, but then to, like, actually put the sleeve on there, and now the kids can buy the sleeve.

Whose ever idea that was, that's brilliant. I think Damien Sandow told me about the, to get a piece of merchandise. But one of the biggest compliments I ever had, it was doing a signing, this guy came up to me and he said, hey, when I was in elementary school, they had to ban the cobra for my school. Like all the announcements. Because everyone was cobra at each other. That is so good.

That's like, I made it. That's like, you know, pop culture, mainstream. If the cobra has to be banned, the cobra's over. Because in my time, suck it was banned. You couldn't be running around saying suck it to people. The cobra is a deadly move, right? Like, nobody kicks out of the cobra. Once.

I know. Just once. Daniel Bryan. That is pretty crazy, though, that you do a move like that and like it's over. Yeah, and it's funny because people would like look forward to putting it over. JTG has one of the best cells ever. He does like that kind of neurotoxin cell. Myers did a flip bump one time.

That was a bit too much. But no, I mean, Ceno said if he ever takes the COBRA, he's not moving for like half an hour. You know. I put it up there with the people's elbow because it's a move that probably shouldn't be a finisher, but it's so incredibly entertaining. The crowd is so into it that it works. Well, it's funny because when you're in school, they tell you to come up with a finisher that you can do to anybody.

Right. And this is literally, you can do that to anybody. It's a little chicken pack. And I mean, like, I can be 70 years old and make an appearance somewhere and someone pokes me and says, you're an old man. And out comes the cobra and they give them a chicken pack to the neck. And, yeah, I can do it forever. Was it your idea to grout the unibrow?

Oh, my God. No, it was mascara, actually. So I don't remember how or when I first did it. So you're saying all these years later, it was not a real unibrow. No, God, no. But I went on really, you know, mascara has the brush and the bristle. So it takes two seconds. It's like, done.

And it's funny, there was a kid at the airport who worked at the airport who had a legitimate unibrow, and he was so happy to see me. Because like... Representation. Like, look, I'm like you. And he looks at me like, where is yours? You know, and I'm like, sorry, man. But Vince thought it was hilarious.

So then when I tried to stop doing it, I had to keep doing it. Well, yeah, I mean, that was part of the gimmick. And then I think I was either injured or I had some time off. And I came back and I didn't do it. No one noticed. But one day I tried to do like a different, a little bit of a change to Santino. I got like my eyebrows kind of done, some highlights.

And I went tanning and Vince's like, no, no, no, no. Too handsome for Santino. So, yeah, I had to dye my hair back and put the inner brow back. And then the speedwalk was the same thing. Speedwalk. Like, it was funny in the beginning, but like, Vince wanted me to go around the ring twice. And I'm like, it's just like, whatever.

Whatever Vince wants Vince gets. But this goes back to what I was just saying, like everything that you did, it got over. Like the silliest, most ridiculous things you would get over. Yeah, it's funny. If I do it now, the speedwalk, even for a little bit, it's, I guess it's nostalgic now for some people. Can you turn the accent on like that? Yeah. Like we could do the rest of the interview with the accent?

Of course we can. No problem. That's incredible. When you talk about WrestleMania moments, is WrestleMania 25 considered your WrestleMania moment? Is that the Santina one? Yeah. I love that you didn't even know. Yeah.

No, I'm bad with the years and the numbers. It's oddly enough, that was my biggest WrestleMania moment, actually. I was the captain of Team Teddy. I had a match with Kofi. I get against Big Show and Kane. So I had some matches. But that was like the most highlighted,

spotlighted moment in WrestleMania. Yeah. What was the lead-up to that? So the lead-up was the storyline with Beth Phoenix and myself. Right. Where I was just trying to, I was battling to be the alpha in the relationship. So the relationship dynamics was what we were going after. And, you know, I was insecure and I'm trying to show that men are better athletes. So I'm going to dress up as a woman and enter the women's battle royal.

And the whole idea was just for their storyline with Beth and I. And it was supposed to be a one-off. But it was so funny that it didn't. ended up lasting for months and months. I had to get fake lashes every day and all that stuff. I had to go shopping in Houston at a mall for like the gear that day. What? Yeah.

How did you know what to look for? How did I, I got, so the arms, I got fishnet stockings, and I cut off the feet, and I cut like the crotch out, and then I put my arms. So that was like a crop top, fishnet cropped up. I think somebody made the skirt. And then it was just like pink converse and a bra. I went about a bra. And I said to the lady, excuse me, do you have a bra that'll fit me?

She was, oh, this is in Texas. She's, you're a little itty-bitty thing, no problem. And like, yeah, the bra. Bra was not a problem. And then, yeah, the wig and so funny, I had the strap. You can see the strap for the wig so it didn't fall off. But I still have the stuff I don't, too. I went to Hot Topic and bought like a belt.

Was there any point when the stuff? is being pitched to you when you're like, that can't be serious, that I'm going to, I'm going to wrestle as a woman at WrestleMania. Yeah. So my understanding, and what one of my,

my original coach, Don Koloff said is like when they, when you dress as a woman, it's like the, they're squeezing out the last bit of water out of the rag type thing. Like this kind of could be the end, but it wasn't. No,

we came back and we were Santino for years after that. And, and, I was a little concerned about that. Like, oh, no, like, how do you come back from that? Doing it, I had no problem. Actually, some of my best work ever, to be honest, in terms of acting and bringing the character to life.

Because now I had to have superimposed two accents, the Italian accent and a woman's voice. So, yeah, and some of the pre-tapes we did as Santina were hilarious. And when Santina said goodbye to the WW universe, I started crying for real backstage. I remember Josh Matthews is there, and he's like, when it was cut, he was like, oh, my God, that was like an Oscar performance. I started really getting tears.

Like, I just got into it. I got into the character. Yeah, Santino was actually pretty fun. It's amazing because, like you said, that's often the last gimmick for people. You were able to move on from that almost win the Royal Rumble, almost win the WWE championship. That moment at WrestleMania, or sorry, at the Royal Rumble in 2011, where it's you and Del Rio left in there. That crowd really wanted you to win the rumble. Yeah. And again, when I talked to guys, you know, kind of around our age that watch wrestling with their friends, they're like,

we thought you were going to WrestleMania. You were going to remain in at WrestleMania. And they were like, and we were good with it. Yeah. You know, we were, we were good. It was like, okay, it kind of felt that the momentum was going that way. And, uh, and then the elimination chamber, yeah, like that, it's funny, I didn't really realize the magnitude of the crowd reaction. But when I watch it back, even when I came back, Cina's like, I know what I'm capable of and goes, I cannot get that crowd that hot tonight, you know, because that was insane. Everyone in the back, I got like, you know, a handful of standing ovations in my career. And that was one when I came back. And everyone was, and I honestly thought that there was going to be an audible called. And

I was going to win the title. And Mike Kyoto was watching Vince, the whole time watching me, watching Vince, watching, he said that he thought also Vince was about to call an audible. So like in the ring, they would have... Like the referee would have came and said, change a plan, Santino's going over. Wow. And it's happened in the past. I just felt like the momentum was there.

And I don't know how close it was, to be honest, if that was even going to happen. But there was something about you putting the sleeve on, hitting the cobra and like up to that point, No one's kicked out of this. No one. With the sleeve. Shamish kicked out once without the sleeve, but with the sleeve, no one had ever kicked out.

So it's like, well, this is it. It's a four-gun. We've got a new champion. Yeah, so Pete Dunn was actually telling me that they call it, okay, they call it a Santino spot. When you're putting together a match,

if it is, how do you describe it? It's like a last ditch effort, like a fake surprise victory where the guy's getting beaten up and all of a sudden small package and you think, oh my God, he's going to beat him kind of thing.

And the whole idea is if everybody in the audience thinks that, you know, he's going to win. It's a huge swerve. They call it the Santino spot because everybody thought that was it. But from almost winning the Royal Rumble to then making history with the fastest Royal Rumble elimination. Yeah. Do you think you could have done that even faster? I know how to beat the record. I'm the only one that knows how to do it.

Well, no one's done it yet. But that's a perfect example of the, when you're giving lemons, you make lemonade. You know, when they were going, we were going through the Rumble and Dean Malenko's like, you know, you're coming out, you're getting eliminated pretty fast. I said, man, it's cool, you know. I go, can we try and break the record? And he's like, let me get back to you. What was the record at that point? Like two seconds, I think it was the warlord.

Yeah. And he came back to him and said, by the way, you're good on trying to break the record. So, Kane had a huge part in that. He had to be there at that moment. Right. I slid, understood up, and I'm gone. I'm going.

And he was there, man. He was there, like, it was perfect. And it's 1.09 seconds. Yeah, yeah. You think you can beat that? Yeah. Do you think you'll get an opportunity? I don't know.

I don't know. You're doing great stuff right now in Impact Wrestling. Oh, man, I love Impact Wrestling. Yeah, it's, and then the thing is, because I have small children at home. So to go back on the road full time, is like a terrifying thought of that, that missing out at time. So this schedule is right up my alley. Incredible locker room, incredible management.

Has that underdog feel, you know? Because you don't have those, like, there's a huge, huge money behind it. But the in-ring product is awesome. It's so good. And there is, unfortunately, a lot of wrestling fans out there that don't watch anything really other than WW or perhaps other than WWE and AEW. but if you've never seen a Josh Alexander match. Yeah.

Stop what you're doing right now and put one on. Man, every time he comes out, you feel like you're witnessing something special. Yeah. He has that. And I talked to my students about that. However he does it, like, try and emulate that because it's awesome. It feels real. Yeah.

Yeah, it feels really real. I was surprised that you were able to come out as Santina Morella. Yeah. So the big thing, I guess, in 2021, somebody did not renew the, trademark. And as a habit, when Impact gets guys that were former WWU guys, they look up the trademarks. You know, they have to come up with the name for me. What can they call me? St. Tino or, you know, something. It could be Anthony. Yeah, no, nobody wants to see Anthony. I found out, you know, nobody really wants to see Anthony. They're, in fact, disappointed when they see Anthony. But it was

available. Impact grabbed it. And they say, great news. You know, you can be, which makes it so, I was going to have a great time anyway. But the fact that I can be Santino Morella and be the genuine article and not a knockoff. Yeah. It was just the icing on the cake. I can't believe they didn't renew that because they renew everybody's trademarks. I wonder why. I mean, either somebody dropped the ball and, you know, with COVID and maybe there's some changes or maybe they thought,

what's the point of really holding on it if we're not going to make money on it? But it's like a few hundred bucks to renew the trademark. I didn't even know. I never even looked, actually. Yeah. Oh, so you don't know what it, impact on it? Impact on it. But they let me use it anywhere I want. The United States Soccer Federation present the U.S. soccer podcast.

My name is David Goss, and I'm joined by my co-host, Megan Clemenberg. And now we're giving people an inside look at the World Cup. Times ticking. I think you can feel the intensity. All the guys are wanting to really stake their claim, and they want to be on that World Cup roster. There's no doubt about it. Hosting the World Cup on the home soil comes with its pressures, but we're just really excited just as the people are.

The U.S. Soccer podcast, presented by Henko. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. It's amazing to me that as we sit here right now, there are still people that are blown away that you don't speak with an Italian accent. Yeah, I know. But it's funny because I put stuff out on social media in my regular voice. Yeah.

And if I'm doing a promotional video for an independent thing, I'll do my accent. So I do both, really. But yeah, some people still haven't heard it. If we were to have Santino pop in here for a second, what's your favorite match of all times, Santino? As Santino? Yeah.

Oh, there was a one time I was a wrestle with Drew McIntosh. It was a blindfold match. It was here in Las Vegas as a matter of factuality. And I won the blindfold match. And later on, Josh McIntosh. Josh Macon. He became the champion. So I beat a couldn't champion.

I love that it. It's just like that. Well, it's funny because I'll be doing a pre-taped backstage. And I'll be like talking like this is somebody in the three, two. It's on, right? It's just, I can flick the switch. You're not like Daniel Day Lewis. You've got to live in that character all the time.

You're not going method. Yeah, what I met? We were out once. And this is before I met my wife. girl. It's like, she liked Santino. I didn't like me. And I'm like, well, you want me just pretend I'm Santino if we go on a date or something? Like, I, anyway. Can we only go to Italian restaurants? That's what she's saying? Yeah, her face when I just stopped the accent was like, uh, what happened? So you mentioned it. You have small kids. You have three kids. Yes.

Um, WWE fans will be familiar with your oldest kid. She's crushing it. Yeah. She's a crushing it in NXT. Yeah. So she was identified young. Bianca, but Ariana. Ariana Grace. When she was a child, you know, everyone would just come up to me and like,

this kid's like going to be something. She's like a superstar. She's going to be prime minister. She can do anything. She was just articulate and her personality was, it was incredible, right? So now all of a sudden I have all this pressure. like, I have to be able to nourish this. I have to be able to get her where she needs to go.

If she has all this potential and this talent, if she doesn't become a superstar, it's because I didn't, it's because I dropped the ball. So we had some very serious conversations when she was eight years old. And I'm like, you know, you're born to be a superstar. And she was eight. And I said, I don't know how to take you to Hollywood.

I don't know how to get you there. But what I can do, is I'm pretty good at this wrestling thing. And WW, you know, they make movies, WW Studios. So I'm going to go become a professional wrestler and then we'll make those connections and then I'll pull you in, you know? That was the plan.

The 18-year plan, we call it. And so I had to go. I left. I had to go to Japan for a year and I went to Kentucky for a couple years. And it was hard for us, you know. Both of us was very hard. but it paid off, you know.

It paid off when she got signed. Not when I got signed. She definitely has this it factor, this charisma, that when the camera's on her, whether she's cutting a promo or she's in the ring, you can see she has it. Yeah, she cut a promo when she was 11 years old at OVW. So she was down visiting me.

And it's a promo day. It was like Tuesdays. And they said to Alice, no, can Bianca cut a promo? He's like, yeah, of course. Like, he thought that was great. So the next promo class, it was the end of class. And I guess he thought, or I was just, you know, wasn't serious kind of thing. But anyway, so at the end of promo class, can she do it?

Yeah, of course. So she went in the ring and she crushed it. And it was like, you know those comedy movies where someone makes a speech and it's like quiet for two seconds? And then everyone erupts? It was one of those things. And everyone that was there. Maurice was there, Ms. was there, Beth Phoenix was there. Alicia Fox was there.

Anyway, people I can remember, because every time they, like, they always mention that promo. And, yeah, she crushed it. I think it's on my Instagram somewhere. 20 plus years later, your dad again, how different is it this time around?

Oh, my God. So I loved being a dad when Bianca was little. I had Bianca and university. Wow. Where'd you go to university? Concordia. Oh, wow. I went to Laurier.

Oh, nice. Yeah. So between second and third year, Bianca was born. Wow. And my university was, experience was very different. Sure. I was a national champion.

My first year, I met her mom that summer. You know, she was on the way in second year. She was born in the summer. And, you know, we were living in Montreal together, third year. And then my fourth year, I had to go back by myself to finish my degree. So it was hard. And during this whole time, I'm on the national judo team and wrestling in university. it was when I look back, I'm like, how the hell did I even, like, do that?

You know, it's, it's crazy. But at the time, it was just what it was, you know. But I loved it. I loved talking to her. I loved, like, just driving. She's in the backseat, the best conversations, you know. Grocery shopping was fun, you know, just talking and teaching. And she was amazing.

And I always thought I'd have more than I'd be on the road. And I'd be thinking. I'm like, I'm just a parent of one. Like, if it is, that's great, you know, it's awesome. It was an awesome experience. I go, I just feel like there's supposed to be more coming, man. And I'm like, but the clock is ticking, you know, I'm getting older and stuff. And, yeah, I met my wife in 2014.

And we're on the same page, man. We wanted a family and stuff. So now I got my son, Marco, who's four. And my daughter, Melena, who's one and a half. And, you know, when's the same. someone is, let's say, walking down here, they're like, parap, blah, ta-da-da. Well, this guy's in love.

Yeah. I'm like that every single day. Oh, I love that. I wake up. And I don't even post stuff because I don't want to be that guy that, okay, we get it. Your life is awesome, you know? I don't want to show off. But I'm living, I'm in love.

I'm in love with my kids. I'm in love with my life. I'm in love where we live. I'm excited to go to bed because I can't wait to get up and do it again and hear my daughter you know,

she's starting to talk now. And it's incredible. And it wasn't always like this, man. When I was, before COVID, I was working seven days a week at battle arts and putting on shows

and birthday parties and all that stuff. And I was dreading the next day. I wouldn't go to bed. I'd collapse on my bed. 16 hour days. And I'm like,

I'm not enjoying this. I'm not enjoying this. It sucks because I'm trapped here. And I had so many different opportunities come my way that I couldn't take because I had to work. I had to be at the gym. I had to do everything. And in 2020, I sold part of the gym. So I have partners.

I run the day to day. They got my life back. And now I look forward to every single day. It's an incredible blessing, to be honest. I don't even want to sometimes I don't want to show my, even my yard, you know, Or, like, it's just, it's only be a show off, man, you know. But it's, it's amazing. And my son, like, so you have this blank canvases that you can just paint and instill and teach.

And it's not brainwashed, but it's kind of, you know, like my son is for it. And I'm trying to make him, like, my daughter is very, very conscious, right? And I said, look, look, we're the lucky ones, man. People that can't walk. We can't. We're lucky. People that don't have food. we do we're the lucky ones and he understands the concept that we are the fortunate ones you know

um and just watching him grow and develop into this this mindful little boy it's he's like the perfect little boy like he wants to play wants to play fight um he's like he likes to cuddle like he still lets me carry him and stuff but the first time i get action figures and this guy talks and this guy talks and i see him he was like one and a half or two and he's like okay I get it. You play the voices for those guys. And like the next day, he's playing with action figures. So, and, and you can tell them everything you want, but they're watching.

Yeah. And people don't realize that. You know, sometimes do as I say, not as I do, no. They're watching. I'm soaking all this in right now. Oh, my God. Yeah. I'm going to be a dad in three months.

I know. It's crazy. It is crazy. I knew it would happen eventually. And now that, you know, we decided, all right. we're ready to have kids. You know what it is? We're having a girl.

Hey. Oh, okay. So every guy, every guy wants a boy. I think the rock said it. But every guy needs a girl. Like my little daughter is like my heart. Like I melt.

Like I melt. And it's actually bringing back memories of Bianca. But I hold, I just like, oh, my God, cuddling. And it just, it's weird. Like, God, last time I cuddled with Bianca, she was,

she was in grade eight. and we're on the couch. I'm like, gosh, just going into puberty, man. It's just, it's not right, man, you know. They always say that there's that phrase of like, you never know the last time you're going to pick up your kid. Oh, my God.

For the last time you're going to make me cry, man. Yeah, I can't remember last time picked up, Bianca. But even though my son now, he still lets me carry him. But, Demi and Sandh was over at the house, and we were coming at the house, and he did it put me down, you know, for a second. I was like, oh.

So that was a little one. and even there's these stages like Bianca was little and she closed the door, she's in the bathroom, like, get out, privacy. I'm like, what? Like two, man. I lost my train of thought.

I just don't know what, I don't know what it's going to bring for me. So the first six months are kind of boring. They literally, you look at them and you just, it's wonder and amazement. But then when they get mobile, crawling and walking,

that shit hits the fan, right? Now you got to like, you can't. turn away. And that's the most dangerous time when they can walk. That's like, you know, like in the cartoons when they walk off and the eye beam comes up and they go on different floors. And then when they can talk, they love the fact that they can communicate. Like up, down, no, hot, whatever, like basic words. But then when you can really have conversations, that is the best. When you can actually tell, when you can actually teach. You can actually teach.

I took a picture last week. It's just me driving. My son's in the back. And that's my classroom. When I drive him to whatever, you know, those are the best conversations. We talk about everything, you know. Life in general, you know,

is it's, yeah. Do you think you have two more pro wrestlers growing up in your house right now? Well, Marco recently, he hasn't watched a lot of my stuff, but he said when he grows up, he wants to be a wrestler, but, you know,

Yeah, I don't know. He's going to have the opportunity to watch his sister. So Bianca watched me, but she was in, you know, how old was she when I debuted? She was 12 when I debuted. So, yeah, she wasn't a kid already. But he's going to, yeah, he's going to watch his sister. Yeah.

And the youngest one is the aggressive one. You give a lot of hope. Like, when you talk about, like, everyone focuses on DDP, not starting wrestling until he was 35. Like, this is the same type of story. that I don't think gets enough focus that you were later on in your career when you got that opportunity. Yeah, I was 31 when I started learning like WB style wrestling. I didn't lock up until I was 31.

See, that's amazing. There's so many people that are 27 that go. I'm too old now to go to wrestling school. So that's too bad. It's not going to happen. Yeah, no. You know what? I had the ability to make it very believable in anything I did.

and I brought it to life, you know. And there's a big difference when you play a wrestler or you become a wrestler, you know. Bullie Ray, we're talking about him earlier. When he cuts a promo, he's legitimately maddy. And he's not pretending to be mad. He's mad. He taps right into it and it's real.

And that's the, every good actor is like that. Mark Henry one time, scared that hell out of me. Before we went out there, he just looked at me and said, when I get out there, I'm a bulletproof. And I was like, okay, like smile and say, just joking. Like, but, you know, and the look at his eye, I'm like, he wasn't my friend for a second, man. Yeah.

Was he bulletproof when you got out there? He is bulletproof. I remember one time, I think Ryback was, like, throwing me over the top rope. And they go, Mark Henry's going to catch him. Oh, he didn't even take a step back. I guess, yeah, it was, he was obviously the world's strongest. man, like legit, legit. Who was your favorite person to be in the ring with?

Oh, that's interesting. That's a good question. So Jack Swagger and I had this hilarious match that we just, it was like there wasn't a wasted step. We wrestled a lot. So we did it all the time. We would tweak it and modify it. And it was like, I don't want to say it was the perfect match.

But, I mean, it was, it was, there wasn't a wasted step. And the audience popped every time. The referees were popping. The doctor was popping. you know, it was a fun match. So that was a lot of fun. Tagging the Uso's, like when Vladimir Kozlov, myself were tagging, like the Uso's are like, amazing.

Like, I didn't have to look. I knew they were there. And they were always where they had to be at the right time, and I could just bank on. Primo and Epochco, awesome, wrestlers. I guess those are some of my favorites. What you're doing, right now, I think is really interesting and impact because the title you've given yourself

or the title that they've given you, that's never been a term in wrestling before, the DOA. Yeah, and that's, you know, what's the other option? General manager. General manager, I mean, there's a whole bunch of them. Yeah, but this is, this is new, right? It's, it's, that's, that's the whole idea is to not just repeat. But it's that you're also like, D.O.A, like a three-letter, organization, you're coming out with the badge around your neck. It's great. Yeah, I love it. With the DEA. Yeah, or like the FBI jacket and stuff. And I actually went and bought like tactical pants and tactical boots. Tactical boots are expensive. I think

$400. What? Like police boots, yeah. Should have bought the actor version of those. But it's funny. Like I flip the badge. And now I'm working with Dirty Dango. He's my deputy and stuff. So we have tons of fun. I was reading some of my lines I have today coming up when they go doing TV today. And I'm laughing reading them. It's just funny. There's some really, really funny stuff. And if you like comedy, you know, impact wrestling is where I'm at.

So that's where it's at. With everything you've done in your career, do you think that you've had a Hall of Fame career? I don't know. People say. You're like, I hate this question. My friends tell me that. JTG always say that. He's like, even if you stop now, you have a Hall of Fame career.

100%. Really? Of course. Yeah, I mean, for the comedy category, I was... There's no category. Well, there's a celebrity wing, and then there's everybody else. Yeah, I have, man, if they do it, I'd be a great honor, actually. I'd have my daughter in-depth media. Yeah, I was kind of stepped away, and I was kind of done being on the road, and I was kind of over being Santino, and I wanted to be just myself again, and I was. myself.

So, WWE, for example, is not even my last chapter. Yeah. It's like three chapters ago. Yeah. And battle arts is a huge chapter in my life.

We're coming on 10 years in 2020. Labor Day, 23 is 10 years since we opened. Wow. Fastest 10 years in my life. And then moving up north is a whole other chapter. I've never lived in the country before. I've always lived in cities.

And then the kids, you know, it's a whole other chapter. So, like WWB is, and then coming back on the road, with a later schedule is amazing. You know, it's another chapter.

When the chapter closed with WWE, did you hang on for another few months or a year going, they'll bring me back? This can't be forever. No, because I had my neck issues, right? I had that double cervical fusion. I couldn't wrestle anymore. And I knew that the clock was ticking. So I started my business while I was still there.

But you didn't need to wrestle to be Santino. Yeah, I thought. the way to keep you around, to be honest. I wanted to do a general manager gimmick there. But I was cool with it, man. It was nice to this strange, liberating feeling, actually, when it's like a me again. Like, I liked me, right? Me got me there.

I was hungry, and some of the best memories in the wrestling business is not when you made it is when you were hungry. I was living in a little efficiency apartment in Louisville, you know, checking the price of food to make the cheaper one. I was stretching. I couldn't work in the U.S. So I just, I was living off savings.

And God, man. They didn't get you a visa? No, for OVW. Oh. OVW, I just drove down as a student. I had rented an apartment. Probably shouldn't even, he probably shouldn't have rented me one.

I was just like a tourist, you know? Yeah. And, yeah, I mean, my bank account was just going down and down and down and down and down. And I actually ran out of money. the day before I got signed. And my mom, who worked at the bank, it was like, you know, Anthony, you know, your bank account's getting kind of low.

And I'm like, it's coming. They say it's coming. They're like, hold on, it's coming. And, you know, I got some, you know, someone would give me the Iggy, like, you know, the office is talking about you, man. They're watching. They keep going. You're doing good.

I was the only non-contracted guy on OVW television. And I cashed in, like, RSPs. I did everything, everything. I had to borrow $400 actually once for my mom. And then the next day, I got the call. So people are like, oh, you know, you got your dream job.

You know what was better? Avoiding disaster. Because I would have to go home, 32 years old, parents' basement. Yeah. I mean, I didn't want to think about what the hell would have happened if I didn't get saying. I was all in.

I was like the definition of all in. I was all in. So with that story in mind and the fact that you were right up there on the brink of not being able to do this, what do you tell your students when they're trying to break into the business? Well, Dr. Tom told me, because there's three kinds of people in this business. Those that say, I'll give it a shot. Those that say, I'll try my best. And those that say, I'll do it ever it takes.

And I did, I knew which category. I was in immediately. I did whatever it took, whatever it took. It's tough being a coach because the success rate is very low. I've had hundreds of students and I've had two or three people get signed, you know. If you walk in and you're not attractive and you're not strong, like you're skinny and like, yeah, there's anomalies, but you can't bank on being an anomaly. You know, you have to really improve your odds by. looking like a pro.

You don't have to figure out how to train and how to heat. That's out there. It's got to have discipline. And some guys, I use this analogy all the time. I went to the Louis Vuitton store in Paris. There's Randy and Ray like Louis Vuitton. And I saw a wallet.

And I'm like, I could rock a Louis Vuitton wallet. 6,000 euros. I'm not willing to pay that price for this. And a lot of guys that want to be professional. wrestlers, when I say them, listen, you got to train 10 times a week minimum, if not 12. I mean, you have to do, I was training three times a day at OVWs. I was away from my daughter, and I'm like, if I'm going to be suffering like this, I'm going to maximize every second.

I go to private classes of Rip Rogers in the morning. I go to LAC, the gym and just like train like crazy, come back for Alice Knows class. I trained like, I burnt myself out at one point. I got sick and I had to take a week off. And that, I wanted to reach that point to know that I was. doing everything I could. If I never burnt out, how did I know I was doing as much as I could? But a lot of students, when I say, look, you got to train 12 times a week. And I'm not willing to pay that price, just like the Louis Vuitton wallet.

And that's a conversation you have to have with yourself. If you're not willing to pay the price, then you don't get it. But sometimes guys walk in, six-six, good-looking. All right, there's a softball, you know what I mean? I'm blown away by the people who have been wrestling fans, their whole. life, go to wrestling school when they're 18, 20, whatever it happens to be. And they've never stepped foot inside a gym, like to lift weights. But I'm just like, I don't get it. Like, you've watched wrestling your whole life. Maybe you're not going to look like the ultimate

warrior, but you should at least get some cardio in you. You should at least get some muscle definition, some tone. That blows me away. Yeah. I mean, so with my students, I have a conversation and said, what are your goals? You want to work the Indies? Which is a completely valid goal. I had a female student that said that. She was, I just want to work the Ontario Indies. Great. That's doable. And when she got

to a point when she was good enough, she now works the Indies. But if you tell me, like, honestly and legitimately that you want to do this for a living at the highest level, and we have an understanding, okay, let's get to work. And if you're not changing your physique over a year,

I'm probably going to lose interest you as a student because you don't want it. I'm going to, like, you know, can lead a horse to water. We can't make them drink kind of thing. So if I give you, I give you a prescription. It's okay. You were going to work out this many days a week. This is your diet.

I even give them diets. I give them workouts. And if you don't do it, imagine going to the doctor and saying, I'm not getting over this pneumonia. Did you take the medicine? No. Well, then get out of here. You know, go take the medicine.

Yeah. So, yeah, we have that, understanding. Yeah. What do you think of some of the other comedy gimmicks that are going on right now? Like two that come to mind right now that are very popular, Danhausen and Orange Cassidy. Yeah. Orange Cassidy, I had a conversation with him. He's great. He got like secretly got ripped there too, eh? And that guy can work. Yeah, he's good. Yeah. I actually was showing my son had his hands in his pockets and he fell in the snow in his face. So I actually was showing him Orange Cassidy stuff with how he fights with his hands in his pockets. Now, he's great.

He's great. And it's, the creativity is incredible. Yeah. The Dan Hous and him, I love this character. I'm not as familiar with the in-rinks.

I don't watch a lot of wrestling, to be honest, you know. I'm watching Treehouse. You'll be watching Treehouse too. You'll know all about the Wiggles. Oh, the Wiggles. Wake up, Jeff.

I only, that's all I know. Yeah, now it's lucky. There's a new guy. Oh, Jeff's not there anymore? No, he's still sleeping? Yeah, no,

there was the original four Wiggles. And then there's like the new Wiggles. And now there's even like, newer wiggles. Wake up, Jiff. And blippy, you have fire a good movie? I've heard of flippy. Yeah.

I'll be learning about this. It's interesting. I pointed that's out to other people that if you look, if you go to AEW's YouTube channel and you look at their top 10 clips, Orange Cassidy is in like six or seven of them. Oh, wow. Because his stuff's so shareable, right? You don't have to be a wrestling fan to watch an Orange Cassidy clip

or be shown an Orange Cassidy clip and go, oh, I get it. That's pretty funny. He's great. And we were talking, because some people, you know, online and say that that's like a dream comedy match between him and I and stuff like that. Could it happen? I don't know. I'm going to wrestle probably quarterly, like four or five times a year.

My body's, it's very banged up. You don't really have to take a lot of bumps, though. No, but I, it's just any bumps or some, like a herniated disc in my back. And I showed up to wrestling and banged up already. from, you know, years and years of judo and amateur. And judo is like super, it's impactful, you know, it's throws, right? So we're practicing, bang, bang, bang, banging, slammed like hundreds of times of practice and stuff. And, yeah, so I've, my workouts now basically consist of, like, rehab type exercises.

I'm strengthening, you know, my hip flexors and my adductors and my glutes. And, like, it's not just chest and back anymore. It's all these, like, tibialis and all these. other small muscles. I do want to do a, I'm turning 49 next month. So when I turn 50, I want to compete at a world's,

VJJ for my age group. So I'm kind of trying to prepare my body to go and grapple a little more. Well, look, the forbidden door is open from Impact A.E.W. So you showing up in A.E.W. I actually, I, to have a match with Orange Cassidy is very possible.

Yeah. I recently did a guest appearance for NWA. And yeah, so, I mean, the working relationships that impact has with other companies is encouraging. But I will see. You never know. But you're not done.

I mean, I'm there. I'm working, right? I mean, I'm on the show. So if they need me to wrestle, I'm sure I could squeeze out a match. It might be hard to narrow down to just one, but what's your favorite moment in your career? Oh, gosh.

winning the OVW television title. That was my first title ever. And it was an incredible moment. So Boris, so I was kind of doing a Russian, a little comedic character. And Paul Heyman was sitting in the rafters and watching us practice one day and caught me in the parking lot.

He said, I want to debut you on OVW television as this very serious Russian MMA shoot fighter. We're going to change your neighbor. Because my first coach was Don Kolov. So I was born. So Rip Rogers gave me the nickname Boris. So I had this, you know, epiphany. I'll be Boris Kolov.

Because I think there hasn't been that rendition at the time. So I was Boris Kolov for a while. And then Paul Him and changed me to Boris Alexiev. Because Vince was a fan of the Russian Olympic weightlifter Alexiev. So just that name recognition, you know, which is, which was I thought was brilliant. And I'm like, well, how these guys are going to believe me? I've kind of been doing some comedy stuff. I'm in the intermediate class.

And he said three weeks, they're going to forget anything that you did in the past. So I came out and squash someone. Next week came out, squash someone. Next week came out, squash someone. And then when my music would hit after that, it was like the atmosphere in the Davis arena was insane. People would be going, fight, fight, fight, fight. Like they thought someone was getting their ass whipped. And there was no one really doing it.

MMA game at the time. I've been doing hard strikes and really, really stiff, strong style, big throws, submissions, and super aggressive. And, yeah. You won the TV title. Yeah. So I was making, you know, I'm working up. I was like an unstoppable for us.

And so I had a tag team part of the time, Mr. Struncle, but Paul Heyman wanted to put me on TV. So Mr. Strunkle became my corner man. So there was a little faction in OVW. one guy bad seed and he was pretending he was blinds, he was blind seed. So he had the cane. They would make a distraction. And Mike Kruel was an awesome wrestler. Rosa Mendes was in this faction.

So they would distract the referee, throw the cane, hit someone, you know, throw it out. So the audience knew that because they did it every week. So finally we collided. And when they throw the cane, Mr. Strunco intercepts the cane. He catches the cane. And the place goes ballistic. because they know that's it. There's nothing in the way stopping me now.

But Dean Hill, who was a commentator of OBW for many years, the way he called it, Strongco intercepts the cane! And we laugh about it now. I talk to Serena, Serena Deeb, and we'll just tax each other, Strongco intercepts the cane or something.

And yeah, and then that was my first title. So it was, it was, for a small arena, I think of 300 and some odd people. It was electric. It was real, man. Sean Michaels even says it. The first time is real. I love that.

I was in tears. I was awesome. I love that you came by here. I love that we did this in person because the last one was in a completely different world. It was at the end of 2019. Yeah. We did that at the big event in New York. And obviously, a lot has changed for both of us personally and a lot's changed in the world.

So good to just be able to catch up with you. I end every conversation with gratitude because that's a big part of my life. So what are three things in your life? So what are three things in your life you're grateful for? Oh my God. Right now. My entire life. Obviously my children.

The lifestyle I lead in my health and stuff. Yeah. I practice gratefulness every day. I love it. And it's funny because the more you do, the more good stuff happens to you. And the more good stuff you start to see in the world too. Yeah. Everything.

Yeah. I love that because it's so easy to go, I can focus on all these negative things here. Or you can flip. that over and start to look at all the great things that are happening in your life. Yeah, I don't watch television very much. Treehouse. Treehouse, yeah. I don't watch the news.

I actually, I'm pretty good these days at posting and ghosting. I don't stay online as much. I like to see funny videos or whatever. But, you know, getting into it with people and debating, there's a lot of so much negativity out there. And I just, I want no part of it. I live my life with a sense of urgency. Like, I want to leave it all in the field, you know what I mean?

Every day is an adventure. Every day is an opportunity to do something fun. I don't have the most fun life. And now it's like legacy. Yeah, I just, my email is AC to the max. And it's been like, that's my first email ever. It's because I live my life to the fullest every single day. Every day.

Even if it's making lunch, I try and make it like it. Like, it's a thing, you know. Okay, gather around. Everything's a production. I love that. Yeah, it's, it's, yeah, I'm pretty, I'm super grateful. Yeah. I'm grateful for this time we spent together.

Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. My pleasure. I just love that guy. Hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did. What a freaking legend. Snap a screenshot, share it on social media, tag us so that we can share it out as well. Santino is at Milan Miracle.

I'm at Chris VanVlee. and I think it's just a matter of time before we see him in the Hall of Fame. I mean, it just makes sense, right? I will leave you the words of Simon Sinek, who has written one of my favorite books in recent memories called Start With Why. And this quote here, I think, really hits home.

When you compete against everyone else, no one wants to help you. But when you compete against yourself, everyone wants to help you. Be great. Be grateful. We will see you on the next one for some more insight. Jim Rome takes on sports.

Why? Because I have a job to do. With rapid fire takes. So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs on this notion today. No idea what you're talking about. You're complaining more than you like to breathe air. It's like you get up in the morning only to complain and cry and moan on social media about things that you don't even understand. He's the spitfire of sports smack.

Take advantage of it, but get up in here. The Jim Rome Show podcast. your beef. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You've been warned.