Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Taya Valkyrie On Her AEW Debut, Jade Cargill, John Morrison's Boxing Match At Creator Clash 2

Episode Date: May 25, 2023

Taya Valkyrie (@thetayavalkyrie) is a professional wrestler currently signed to AEW and known for her time in IMPACT Wrestling, Lucha Underground, MLW, AAA and WWE. She joins Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood, CA to talk about signing with AEW, making her debut in Winnipeg in front of a Canadian audience, how they snuck her into the building, setting an intention in 2022 to show everyone how good she is in the ring, her match with Jade Cargill at Double Or Nothing for the TBS Championship, some of her dream matches in AEW, being ringside for her husband John Morrison's boxing debut at Creator Clash 2, her clothing line LOCA by Taya Valkyrie and much more! Check out LOCA by Taya Valkyrie here: https://www.tayavalkyrie.com/ Quote I'm thinking about: "A bend in the road is not the end of the road, unless you fail to make the turn" - Helen Keller For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://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 gathered. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Bleas! All right, my friends, welcome back to another audio adventure on Insight with Chris Van Fleet. Hey, that's me. I'm Chris Van Fleet. So good to see you here. So good to have Taya Valkyrie back with us for the third time. The first time she was on the show was the end of 2020.

Then we had her on a little over a year ago, February 2020. Both of those were in her house, like sitting there at her kitchen with the dogs running around of the background, making a little bit of noise, saying hi to us. If you haven't checked those out yet, go find them either here on the podcast or on my YouTube channel. Great conversation and a great deep dive into who Taya is and what makes her tick. This one was in the studio, and it's a decidedly, like, very different conversation just with everything that's going on in Tyas world right now. She's pumped. She's pumped with where she's at,

and rightfully so. She signed with AEW, made her debut in March in front of that raucous Canadian audience in Winnipeg. I mean, she's Canadian, and the Canadian crowd was just eating it up. So, so good, and she's on fire right now. She's like, what, two months into her AEW career so far. And she has a shot for the TBS Championship. This Sunday at double or nothing in that match is going to be awesome. We also saw her in her husband, John Morrison's corner

when he made his boxing debut at Creator Clash 2. He used a shockingly great boxer. Just call that guy Johnny K.L. I mean, he has all kinds of different Johnny nicknames, but right now he is Johnny K.O. Go check out that fight or the highlights of that fight from Creator

Clash 2 if you haven't seen it yet. very, very impressive in there. Please take a screenshot, share this episode with somebody who you know will love it and tag us on social media. Taya is at the Taya Valkyrie. I'm at Chris Van Vleet.

And if you're not already, please, it would mean so much to me and to the show if you would follow the show or subscribe wherever you're listening right now. We've got so many great episodes on the way, including this one. So let's get right into it. Please welcome.

Taya, Valkyrie. It is so good to see you. Hi. So many good things going on in your world. Man. I know. I'm just smiling like a nerd over here. There's no reason not to smile if you're Taya Valkyry, right? Yes, yes. Things have been crazy, but in the best way possible. That's great. Congratulations on the AEW debut. Thank you. In Canada. In Canada, too. Yeah. It was very special. And it's funny because you had done an interview like a few weeks before that. And they were like, you know, AEW is going to be in Canada next week, Winnipeg, what are you doing on that day? I was just lying. I was just full eyes. How cool, though, to be able to debut in front of the Canadian audience.

I mean, I was a little bit nervous. I was like, please, Canada, please, please be there for me. Like, please cheer for me. You know, you never know. You always have those second guesses. Like, are they going to know who I am? Like, I don't know. And they were there for me. So I am forever grateful. And Winnipeg, thank you very much. Was this like a super huge secret where they were like sneaking you into the arena and sneaking you through the airport? Yes. So I flew in and was actually flying on like the same flight as a bunch of people coming from L.A., like the Bucks and everybody. And like as soon as we got to the Winnipeg Airport to get off the plane, like I have put a hat on, I put a mask on and like tried to like cover myself up because like as soon as you walked down, I walked off like down the escalator and there were fans over. And you're pretty recognizable.

Yeah, I don't exactly blend it. So I had to like really cover up. And then I actually, they had me staying at a different hotel than all of the other people on the roster. So I was a secret hotel, a secret location, had a secret SUV pick me up and bring me to the secret back door. And yeah, that's how it went down. And then when you walk in and you're amongst friends and colleagues, everyone's like, oh my God, what are you doing here? And I was like, surprise. Oh, that's great.

I mean, I had a few friends that knew what was kind of going on, but I think also just like things happen so quickly. And sometimes you just, you know, keep, it's more fun to keep it a secret, right? I love surprising people. And I will lie on a podcast or two to get to get the surprise to come and, you know, work out perfectly. So I was, I was so excited that people were excited to see me. The crowd was great. Tony has been fantastic and amazing to me from day one. and yeah, I'm just very happy to be there.

You had kind of, you know, had a glimpse of what AEW was like because John was there for a few appearances. Is that what kind of got the wheels moving on this? I mean, I think that, you know, everything had to take its time properly. Like, I feel like people were like, why didn't you go there sooner? It's not up to me. Contrary to what people think, you actually have to be offered a job and, like, things have to be, you know, at the right place at the right time.

And there had been talks over the last year, all of, you know, 2022 about and speculation and rumors and things like that. But I just knew that, like, my work was going to speak for itself. And when the timing was right, I would get that chance. And that's exactly what happened. Like, I became undeniable in 2022. I really put myself out there, you know, won awards, biggest comeback of the year by PWA and multiple, you know,

five different championships across the world. Yeah. I put in the work. And so I knew that that would. pay off and it did. And, you know, when we, I had a meeting in, um, when A.W was in Los Angeles in January was when I was able to speak to Tony face to face, um, because we had spoken through texts and things like that. But, you know, I sat down with him and it just kind of went from there. And I just had to wait for that moment. And it came. And then all of a sudden,

here we are. So, you know, and even with the conversation, you know, things didn't happen like right away. It's just not how business works. It's not how this works at all. And I was obviously had commitments with multiple companies. I really pride myself on never leaving, you know, never closing a door. And I really wanted to finish those storylines and finish those things properly. You know, impacts has been a huge part of my career in my life. I never, ever wanted to leave them high and dry or or anything. But I also had to protect myself in the way that I had to pick what was best for my next step. And also MLW was nothing but fantastic to me. Corp. Bauer. Shout out to you guys. You guys were great. That roster is fantastic. These people really helped me get through

a really horrible part of my career, or at least mentally, I was not in a good spot last year. And I'm forever grateful for them. And because of them, I was able to take this next step. I love how intentional you were about your career last year. Like you basically- No one can tell me shit. But that's a huge thing, not just in wrestling, but just in life being intentional and going, this is what I'm setting out to do. Nothing's going to stand in my way. Yeah. And I mean, I was almost standing in my own way at first because I was questioning my value and questioning where I belonged in this in this grand scheme of professional wrestling. Do I belong here? All this, you know, the mental games that we play with ourselves because we care so much. Like, that's what people don't realize. And I'm just happy that I did what I did. And I did do it with intention. And I did do it with, you know, like reminding myself like, remember who you are. and the words of like Mufasa. But like, you know what I mean?

Like, it's just like I had to kind of do that for myself. And I did it. And I did it over and over again. And, you know, that people say like, hard work pays off. Well, it certainly did for me. Yeah. And that women's roster is so stacked in A.E.W.

And now we add you another amazing talent onto that. The amount of matches you could have there is pretty mind-blowing. I mean, there's so many first-time matchups, too, which I don't think people realize. So that's really exciting. for me. And I think that that was like a main reason why I, you know, I chose to go to AEW was because it was somewhere that I hadn't been before with people I had never wrestled on a different stage, on a different platform. I've accomplished all these wonderful things. And I just,

you know, I'm always up for a challenge. I don't like to make things easy on myself. So I was just, you know, very excited to be, to be given this opportunity. This match with you and Jade at double or nothing. It's a really, really interesting match. Yes. Jade has been fantastic. I mean, I've, you know, wrestled every type of female wrestler, man, everything. You know what I mean? And, like, I've seen a lot of people commit to something and then, you know, they don't get to that stage where they want to be in their career or they give up. And Jade, obviously, has not been in the business a really long time,

but her passion and determination and her athleticism. And, like, you can tell she's an athlete and she just, like, you can't tell her a shit either. Like, she's just like, she really wants to prove herself. and I'm happy to be in a ring with someone like that and just to see that the business is going in a positive direction and I'm excited for double or nothing. I'm not going to take it easy on her. She's not going to take it easy on you.

It's going to be so physical. Of course she won't. And that's fine. I love it. Like bring on the violence. And I'm just excited to be doing it in Las Vegas. Las Vegas. And it's for a championship for the TBS championship on the line.

I just love this arc that you've had. It's been such an exciting two months of you in A-A-A-A-A-W. Just two months. How has it been like eight weeks? Right? Just two months? Yeah. Yeah.

So I feel like, I mean, you're just getting started here. I'm cruising along. There's also a portion of the audience who's maybe never seen you work before. Yeah. And they're all going, oh. Who is this? Yeah. That's been interesting to deal with because, yeah, there's always, there's obviously people

followed me for a long time or seen my work elsewhere. And then there's a bunch of people that are just like, who is this chick and where did she come from and why do I care kind of thing? So I'm having to re-prove myself to a lot of people, which is fine, done it before and I'll do it again. Do you have, is there an audience that just knows Frankie Monet and doesn't know Taya? I think there is, definitely.

That's wild to me. Yeah. I mean, who was she? Yeah, who was she? Who was that? Yeah, no, I mean, I think it's just like anything. There's people that only watch. one show. They don't, they're actually, you know, only a WWE fan or only an AW fan or only an

impact fan and they don't see everything else beyond that. So it's great to kind of just reopen people's eyes and I invite them to Google me and look at my matches because there's a lot of them. I like your stuff in Lucha so much, Lucha. Thank you. Oh, my goodness. So good. Yeah. It was one of my favorite times in my career, definitely. And it's cool to, you know, for some of us, like we're all sticking together through all this, you know, like getting to AW and being with Brian Cage again and seeing Strickland there and Phoenix and Pentagon and me. And like, it's just the crew. I was talking about- The crew that just cruises through life together. I was talking about this with Chavo in a recent

episode. Like everybody who was in Looch Underground went on to do something amazing from there. Like the talent pool there was second and nine. That was our first little breakout. That was our first big break in the world. And some of us in for the states, that was our first time, you know? So it was a big deal. And obviously they know how to pick them because we've all gone on to do some crazy stuff. There was a, I guess a bit of time there last year when a lot of people who did get released from WWE were getting re-signed. Were you and John like maybe that'll be us or I'm just on to something else right now? I didn't really think about it too much.

Obviously, I have some friends that have gone back. And for example, Chelsea Green is an example and she's thriving and she's killing it. I'm so proud of her. But I didn't really think about it too much. I just knew that if it was meant to be, it would be meant to be. And also, I wasn't kind of indifferent. I didn't know if I wanted to subject myself to being in a space like that again. And I mean, it worked out.

We talked about this. And I could not be happier about it. So, yeah. And we talked about this last time, the fact that you didn't sell your house here in California. Oh, my God. Yeah. Like, it's amazing how things work out. I always, you know, I don't know if people are religious or whatever you believe in,

but I definitely believe that the universe has always got a plan. And whatever that is, yes, it's going to suck sometimes. You're going to cry. You're going to be upset. You're going to be mad. But also at the end of the day, there is a plan for you. Yeah, I think, like, it always rings in my head, this two shall pass. Yeah.

Like the bad times, this two shall pass. The good times also. This two shall pass. Right. I don't know. Yeah. I mean. It's kind of like a big circle of like. And you just got to take it a day at a time. And I'm, oh, God, I sound so corny. But it's just true. I don't know. Like, I just have to kind of look back on things. And I can still like have moments. I'm like, oh, my God, that was horrible. Or like, you know what I mean? When I think back on it or you get a Facebook memory that pops up and you go, oh, you're like, I got to delete that. What is that? What's happening here? And I just remember how happy it was in that moment or how upset I was in that moment. But I feel like those are all the things that shape us. And, allow us to be human and feel things and grow from things and learn from things. So I take all those bad moments and I put them in the little box and I keep them away from me. And I move on.

And look, there's good in every day and there's good in every moment. It might be difficult to see it sometimes. It may take a week or a month or a year to look back and go, oh yeah, because of that thing, I'm now doing this thing. Oh, yeah. And I'm fully aware that like because of all the things that happened to me over the course the last three years, I mean, in the world in general, the pandemic and, all the horrible things that have happened.

I mean, I'm fully aware that without those horrible things, I don't think I would be where I am now. Yeah. So. I love that. Bring it on. So I had John on the show just a few months ago. And we were talking about his boxing match.

Oh, my God. And now it's happened. You guys look like such rock stars there. That day was a lot. That weekend was a lot. I am, yeah, I was in my boxing wife era as I, posts about it. But yeah, it was a lot, but it was

so fun and just like a weird alternate universe where all of a sudden, John's a boxer. Is that world anything similar to wrestling at all? I mean, first of all, this was an influencer event. So, that was also like, I'm not a gamer.

I've never tried to be a gamer. I don't know anything about that universe and Twitch streams and all that stuff. So that was interesting because I felt like we were outsiders within that world because even though we are influencers by our followings and like what we do and being on television, we aren't that part of niche. Right.

Part of that niche. So that was interesting. Like McKenzie Mitchell and Vic obviously came and stayed like to watch the fight and everything with us in Tampa and like McKenzie and I remember walking into the like the party the night before and I was like, we do not belong here. We do not belong. But it was so fun. Like everyone was so kind.

Everyone's energy was great. John looked good in there too. I was like, oh God. just got to get through this. And then once it was over, I was just like, like, yeah. He looked good. He looked like for that to be his first match, his first boxing match, he looked good. Just a little, he's a green boy, you know, he's just getting his first match. I mean, John defy, like John ages backwards. It's incredible. It's very annoying. I can't get over how good he looks. It's, it's amazing. And then to move the way

that he moves at his age, nothing. By no means is he old. Are you aging, being, being agedist? I think there's a lot of people, though, that would be like, man, he moves like he's 27. Yeah. And because he trains that way. He trains so hard. I don't think people realize, like, he was training for, you know, five, six months with Josh Barnett on a regular basis to get ready for this fight. And also training with all different types of boxers at different boxing gyms and different people. So he could learn to also be fighting a guy who's six, seven.

Yeah. Or six five or however tall Harley is. Yeah. Tall. He was training to like punch upwards and do these different techniques for to be able to take down Harley and that he did three times. So when you're sitting there at ringside, are you like, John's got this? Well, here's a little fun fact. I thought that I was going to do the entrance with him and then I was going to go sit in the front row with McKenzie.

Okay. That did not happen. an hour before the fight, John says, oh, Kira, like, you're going to be in my corner with Josh. And I was like, pardon me? I was in six inch heels, a sparkly Barbie romper, and not prepared to be a corner man. And I was like, pardon me, what do you mean?

And he goes, and Josh's like, no, you're going to carry the ice bucket. You're going to tell me the times and all this stuff. And I'm like, I'm sorry, what? Wow. So I started freaking out. So that is why you see me with no shoes on. and black commission gloves because the commissioner had to sit next to me. And then I was in the middle of and Josh.

And so I had to wear the commissioner gloves. I had to take off my shoes because I couldn't walk up and down the little steps to the ring every round. And I had my phone like this going, one minute, 30 seconds. And I was just like, yeah. I was like, thank you, John. Thank you. Hacksaw Jim Duggan could have done this. John wanted to be me.

That's amazing. I said, next time, please just give me a warning so I can wear something a little bit more appropriate to be a car. And I told Josh, I'm like, next time we're wearing matching track suits. And he was just like, okay. But it was very fun.

And I just didn't realize how I had to be calm during this time because Josh is obviously telling John things while he's in the ring. And I was swearing and screaming and trying to jump out of my seat. And Josh had to literally put his hand on my leg and be like, I need you to shut up. I need you shut up because John has people to hear me. And I was like this, like, clenching the seat.

And the commissioner's like holding me back basically because I was just swearing and screaming and all this stuff. So I had to be like, well-behaved. Yeah, Josh Burnett got mad at me. So I was too crazy. Is John a pro boxer now? I mean, he might be. He's still a pro wrestler. He's all the things.

He really is. He's a pro. That's it. He worked very hard for that. And you never know if he's going to do another one. We'll see. He called out KSI, which was brilliant. He's a wild man.

You know, it's wild. So I'm just, you know, going to continue my boxing wife era. And if I have to be a cornerman again, I will have a dazzled black tracksuit. Look, if you retired today, be one and oh. Yeah. Undefeated. Undefeated. Would you have a boxing match?

Absolutely not. No? I got, like, approached by an other kind of like influencer fighting league like a week after. And I was just like, no. You thought about it, though, didn't you? No. No. No, I'm not into it. No. No, I'm good. I'm good at what I do and I'm going to continue to do that. Well, this is the reason that you're in the position that you're in right now. Exactly. I'm not trying to get punched in face for real.

I asked you this question before, but I'm curious, you know, maybe your answer will change now. There may be people who are not familiar with your work before AEW. So what match should they go back and watch to see what you're all about? I mean, anything from Lucha Underground, like you said, I think this is great. So many people slept on Lucha Underground. Oh, yeah, now it's like a cult class. Go watch a full episode and go, man. Yep. This is so good. I feel like I had some really great matches versus Jordan Grace when I was at impact,

especially, you know, when I was being healed Taya, 2019, badass, knock-o's champion. And also, you can go back and look at things like me versus Ayakalamara and Tijuana if you want to see that real weareloka bloody guts disaster awesome no dq match man when you when you look at the roster right now who you said there's a bunch of matches that it would be first time matches who are the ones you're most excited about um i really want to wrestle ruby soho i really want to wrestle serea jamie hater britt baker i mean There's endless possibilities there. And I also just think that I would love to do some mixed tag stuff with, you know,

Adam and Britt, me and John, me tagging with the Looch brothers. There's a million things that I want to do. And I just can't wait to continue doing them. And that's exactly what we're doing. That's exactly what double or nothing is all about. And better watch it on paper view. The United States Soccer Federation presents the U.S. Soccer Podcast. My name is David God.

and I'm joined by my co-host, Megan Clemenberg. And now we're giving people an inside look at the World Cup. Time's 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 Henco. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. With the experience that you have, you go into the A&W locker room for the first time in AAW, you, but you're a veteran. So how were you received in that locker room? I was welcomed with open arms and was such a good energy.

Everyone was just, like, surprised to see me. Also, I think the, like, Britt knew. I kind of think who else knew. But, yeah, it was just so positive. And, I mean, when you're starting a new job anywhere, it doesn't matter where it is, you know, in a studio like this, or if it's in pro wrestling or a restaurant, like you always have those kind of nerves

because you never know what's really going to happen. And it's like walking in the first day of school. Yeah. You know, in catering, I'm like, which lunch table do I sit at? Like, you're still, I'm still, you know, trying to figure that out. But honestly, everyone was like so welcoming and excited. And it just made me a much more calm person and just felt like I belonged there. So what is the best item they have in catering, by the way?

When I was there, there was this chocolate cake that was unreal. I don't like sweets. I've never been a sweets person. So I don't. but like there's where were we there was a few weeks ago and I swear to God like I went into catering for lunch I came back out I had to go talk to someone and all of a sudden there's like four tables of cake I was like where is this cake coming from so it's like they just I mean I personally don't eat a lot when I'm at work because I have nerves and you got to go out there in front of the world and Spanics

and people already criticize the way we look so I don't want to add to that but it's like they just have everything you could dream of. Yeah, that is so cruel. Endless amounts of Diet Coke. It's great. It's so cruel for them to have that kind of food out there. And then you guys to be expected to go out in your spandex an hour or two later. But they have, also they have tons of like super healthy stuff for us to eat too. So it's good.

You can have the best of both worlds. Because you're a veteran, other people going, Taya, could you watch my match and let me know what you think? What did you think of this? I mean, that happens more on the Indies. I bet. What is the biggest piece of advice that you have for somebody that says, can you watch my match?

A lot of the times I say, and I stand by this, is the best experience is just being in front of people. You can train in a school as much as you want, but those little moments in between and like taking your time or figuring out what works and what doesn't work. You learn those things being in front of people. So I'm always like, go out there and have as many matches as you can. I don't care if it's in front of five people,

but you just need that experience because that's also how just you become more comfortable in yourself. as a performer. What do you think is the best piece of advice that you were given early on that you now take with you in every match that you have? I mean, I've been told all sorts of things. Some good, some bad. Some bad.

I mean, it was just, yeah, like, I just think that people, all my coaches were just like, you have to work hard. And that's basically what you have to do. You have to work hard. This is nobody's handing you anything. That's just life. And as much as you can look back and be like, well, this person, got this opportunity or this person doesn't deserve it.

Like, why do you deserve it? I know I deserve this spot because I worked really, really, really, really hard. And I have given my life to this and is my passion. It's what I do. It's who I am. And I will continue to do that. So I know I earned that spot. So you have to just put in the work and also it just helps you appreciate your own effort, too.

I've heard from so many wrestlers, the advice they've been given to slow down. Like, you think you're going slow? Like, slow down. Oh, I mean, yeah. Like, I, for example, the Rampage episode that just aired. Yeah. I felt when I held the belt up that it was like so long. And then I watched it back, like, damn, I should have given it an extra beat.

Like, things like that. Like, you're, I'm still figuring it out. I am not perfect. Do I think that I still make mistakes? Absolutely. But I will continue to grow. And I look at stuff like that. Yeah, the slowing down thing.

A lot of people rush everything. And like, especially. when you are in a crowd as big as those dynamite and rampage crowds, like Rar Smackdown crowd. Yep. When you do something, it takes a second for the people to respond, too. It's almost like a wave, like the sound that you hear from there and you're acting

because people, you're doing it and then they're seeing it, you know? And so it's very different that way than an indie show where everything is a lot more intimate, you know? So I'm still now, you know, telling myself to slow down. and hold the championship belt up for one more beat. It is amazing, though, how the cameras can find you. You're supposed to play to them, obviously, but it's amazing how good they are at finding you.

Yeah, and that's an important thing, too, with television is knowing where your cameras are and having that really, those, you know, talking to the camera guys and having them know, well, this is going to happen here. I really want to be able to look right down the lens at that one moment. You know, so it's just so many moving parts. So, you know.

So with everything, With everything you have going on, what's going on with designing clothes? Actually, speaking of, I actually just got samples this week. Wow. So we are looking at having something released very, very soon. Samples came. I'm very happy with them. The colors are great.

And I'm just kind of finalizing the designs and stuff like that for them. So what are we talking weeks here? Are we talking months? I want to say like in a month or so. Okay. A month, month and a half. For the summer, it'll be out for the summer. So with wrestling being the main focus right now and clothing being, you know, the other thing you're doing,

do you foresee a time in the future, maybe it's five years, maybe it's 10 years, where those flip? I think no matter what age I am or what I'm doing, I'm always going to be involved in entertainment and creating in the arts. Do I know what that is? No. You were doing something with Rupal's Drag Race. Oh, my God, I love. We'll get into that in a second. My other love, Rupal's Drag Race.

But yeah, no, I just, I always just know that I'm going to be creating and doing art or in some capacity. If that's in wrestling or television or fashion, whatever that is. That's just who I am. That's who I've been since I was a little kid. Making stuff and making people watch me do stuff and dressing people up. And, you know, that's just me. Yeah, just, you know this. Unfortunately, this job can't last forever.

Of course. I can't take bumps till your, well, you could take bumps to your 80. I don't know. You never know. Do you think about what's after that? that? I mean, I think we always, we all do. But I think it's also just important to set yourself up in the best way you can. Like, if that's financially, if that's with other projects, if that's in real estate, if that's with starting another job or a side hustle or whatever that is. You know,

I always think about that stuff. But I also think that society in general likes to put a cap on women way before they put a cap on men. And that's something that is very annoying. And, you know, there's men on television wrestling in their 50s and no one has a problem with it. But if you're over 35 and you're a woman, oh my God, how dare you? I had the same conversation. You know, away with the trash. Yeah, I had the conversation with Nikki. And she's like, it's just, it's so unfair.

It's so unfair. And so I don't know when I'm, you know, I feel the best I've ever felt physically right now. I feel like my wrestling is at its best. I feel the most competent. and my baddest bitch self that I do right now. Like, you know what? Me at 25 would not be this person because it's taken me this time and it's taken me these years of experience to become the woman I am today.

So I don't know how long I'm going to be wrestling for, but I don't want people to assume or say, well, she's a girl. Get out of here. You know what I mean? Because no one has a problem when it's a guy. It's just a matter of your body's going to give out at some point. A hundred percent, but that's just like anything. Just like anything.

So I'm taking it one day at a time. I'm taking the best care I can of myself physically, mentally, doing all the things. I need your skincare routine. It's incredible. Look at this. Wow. Look at that finish. Oh, my gosh.

Yeah, that's a whole other subject. But yeah, like, I just have to do what's best for me and like listen to myself and and just be ready all the time. Yeah. You know, I'm really freaking good at my job. Yes. And so I, and I'm aware of it. And I have no problem saying it. So I don't want, you know, I just, I'm going to do this until I'm ready to not do it anymore.

You're one of the very best in the world at what you do. And I love that it's on display every single week for everybody to say. And I was apologetic about it. Because I was apologetic about it for a long time. And people are told you tell, told like as women or as human beings even, like you shouldn't be overly proud of yourself. Well, I'm damn proud of myself for what I've done and accomplished. I'm a problem about the time this episode comes out, I'm going to be a dad, which is crazy. Which is crazy. I'm so happy for you. Yeah. No, thank you. Do you and John ever think about making

beautiful super athletic children? We've talked about it. I think that's the other... They'd be so beautiful. I know, but that means I have to actually be pregnant. This is true. Which is something that honestly and like some women probably frown upon this, I just like, I don't know, man. I can tell you that my wife is not really enjoying being pregnant. Yeah, I don't know. It doesn't seem. Like, I don't know. I mean, you never know. You never know. I think she enjoys the outcome of what this is going to be.

Yes. But she's not enjoying the day to day. Yeah, I don't know. I think I would be a miserable pregnant person. Yeah. But also, yeah, our kids would be athletic. Oh, man, they'd be signing scholarships coming out of the womb. Yeah.

They do parkour out. Seriously. You know, side flip. Yeah. Yeah. So you never know. But there's the whole you've got to be pregnant thing. There's the whole you've got to be pregnant thing.

And as a whole, I am an athletic person. as for my job. Yeah, take a problem. Could be a problem. But you never know and you never say never. And also nowadays, like, people are having children later in life and careers are more important to a lot of women nowadays. And I consider myself one of those people, too.

You're in your prime. If it comes down to it and it happens, cool. If it doesn't, that's okay too. We always talked about adopting or, you know, other alternative ways of, you know, being parents if we want to. So I will let the universe figure it out. For now, you've got two very famous dogs. I have two very famous dogs.

One is very smart. One is very dumb. Yeah, Bowie and Presley. I also want to add a third one, but we don't have time. How do you have time for two, but not three? Come on. I know. I really want a little girl.

Who looks after the dogs when you guys are on the road? So they go to this pet hotel here at Hollywood. Oh, wow. Oh, yeah. It's very bougie. I love that it's in Hollywood, too. It's the Hollywood location. Not in the valley.

Not in the valley. No, like I found this, they go to Wag. They go to Wag. I don't know. They're all over in California. You should, you should know about Wag. We just pass our dog off to the friend. Yeah, they're so great.

Presley hates it. I can watch them on camera, like playing in the playroom. And Presley's always like in the corner standing there like, where's my mom? Where's my sashimi? I do not want to be here. And Bowie is like doing. laps and like talking all the other dogs and like having a gale time and then like comes over to like

friggin Presley and it's like checks on him and stuff and then it's just it's sad but it's it's great so why can't you add another one to the mix we'll see oh this could be in the works we'll see the biggest also the other thing is too is like when we travel with them it's hard to travel with three because you can only have one dog per person and airplanes have made it airlines have made it a lot more difficult to travel the dog yes and I don't know. Traveling with three seems like it would, what are we supposed to buy?

Because they need to be in a carrier now, right? They have to be a carrier. They can't, two of them can't fit in one carrier together either. And they need to be under the seat. Yeah. You can't take them out. You've talked me out of it.

Yeah. So, I mean, maybe one day. I really either want an all black Pomeranian girl and I'm going to name her share, or we're going to have an all blonde one. And her name is going to be Baby Gaga. So yeah. We've already picked names. I feel like this could happen the soon.

rather than later. You know, yeah, you never know. Maybe I'll get both. Maybe I'll have four dogs. I'll just be a crazy palmerini mom. What's your, you know, with the amount of travel that you guys do, what's your, your travel thing, your travel hack? Like, everybody has like the, oh, I'll wear the funny looking pillow around my neck,

or I'll do this or I'll do that. What's yours? Always get a bottle of water before you get on the flight because, yeah. They never bring it around often enough. No, and like, I don't want a weird little glasses. of it. Yeah, I'm like, can I get three of those, please? Yeah, so always get a bottle of water. Always kind of, I always keep snacks in my bag, in my purse too. Like, I feel like I have a Mary Poppins bag. Like, it's always just full of like endless amounts of things. You know,

have your nuts or your protein bars or whatever it is. I'm a window person. I always need to be in the window seat because I sleep, I fall asleep on planes within seconds. I'm like, sometimes before we even taken off, I'm not sure what that is. I think I'm just always tired. The window's great, except then you have to ask two people to get up if you need to go to the bathroom. Before you get on the fly. You know, you have like a little system. When John and I travel together, we always get airport breakfast, which is like a thing that we always are like, we get airport breakfast. So we would go, like enough time to get our little breakfast time in at the airport LAX.

Fancy LAX is not a fun report to be at. Yeah, we just have like little like traditional like things like, you know, that you do. L.A.X is not a fun airport to be at. be at. No, I am. How often do you fly out of Burbank? So much closer for you. I'm flying out of Burbank for Vegas actually coming up here because it's so easy. But 99% of the time I'm out of L.A.X, which is a nightmare. And that airport has been under construction. I've lived in the States for seven years. It's still under construction. So I don't know what is going on. The Delta terminal, though, is lovely. They've redone the Delta terminal. It's fantastic. I fly American Airlines.

It's a bit chaotic. Yeah, I don't... Like John was telling me how they're supposed to get this done by the time the Olympics happened. And I'm like, I don't know if this is going to... They're going pretty slow. Do you have a favorite John Morrison match? I mean, I'm going to go back to, like, Lucha, because I was there. You know, those all-night long 60-minute classic.

Yeah. You know, John versus, I think it was Willie Mack, John versus Ricketts. Some of those are for me. You mean Prince Puma. Prince Puma, pardon me. Some of those, I think, are pretty damn special. I talk to John about, I mean, it's just magic that he made with Bad Bunny, who is just crushing it now. Yeah, he's a man.

I like Bad Bunny. He's the man. Yeah. His, like, the entrance in Puerto Rico is like, what is happening? And I didn't, like, I watched it just on social media because, like, a lot of times that's just, how I kind of like keep up to date on what's going on. And I was like, that's electric. Like you could feel, I felt like if I was there, like you could feel the air.

Well, it was like a bad bunny concert that just happened to have a wrestling match. Yes. It was crazy. Yeah. Him and Zelina, their entrances were like nuts to me. Like you could just, I could feel like how powerful those moments are. Yeah. I will look.

Double or nothing is this Sunday. Maybe. That card is stacked. Yes. And I think that you guys have the potential here to steal the show. I am so looking forward to it. I'm excited to be making my pay-per-view debut with AEW. You know, like this is a big moment for me.

And yeah, I'm ready to leave it all out there. And I've got some crazy surprises at my sleeves for everybody. Can't wait to see this. So, yeah, it's going to be magical. I'm just so thankful for this opportunity for Tony believing in me and, you know, allowing me to run with it. and just show the world what I can do. I love it.

Congratulations. Again, I end every conversation with gratitude. Yes. I say out loud three things I'm grateful for when I wake up and before I go to bed. And we end every conversation with that. So what are three things that you're grateful for right now? I am grateful for my health. I'm grateful for my family and friends who have loved and supported me through all this

crazy shit. And I am just grateful for the universe protecting me and giving me these opportunities and showing me the way. I love that. Congratulations again. So good to see you. Thanks. Great to see you too. And I can't wait to meet your baby. Oh yeah. Coming up soon. All right. Big thank you to Taya for joining us. And thank you, of course, for being in the studio with us as well. Taya has that big match against Jade this weekend, double or nothing, for the TBS championships. It's going to be a good one. That whole car is stacked on Sunday. Take a screenshot. Share this with somebody who you know will love it and tag us on social media. She is at the Taya Valkyrie. I'm at Chris Van Fleet, and I'll leave you with the words of Helen Keller. Abandon the

road is not the end of the road. Unless you fail, to make the turn. Be great. Be grateful. We will see you on the next one for some more insight. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary.

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