Insight with Chris Van Vliet - The Undertaker: WrestleMania Streak, Worst Chokeslam, AAA, The Rock, Hell In A Cell w/ Mick Foley

Episode Date: August 4, 2026

The Undertaker (@undertaker) is a retired professional wrestler and WWE Hall of Famer. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at Fanatics Fest in New York City to discuss his role in AAA and the legendary El Grande Americano mask vs. mask match, his favorite matches from the WrestleMania streak, the story behind his Old School move, who took the best and worst chokeslam, dragging Hulk Hogan with his motorcycle, how much longer he wants to do his podcast, and more! Please support our sponsors: HELIX SLEEP: Flash sale! Go to https://helixsleep.com/cvv for 27% off sitewide! COZY EARTH: Go to https://cozyearth.com/CVV for up to 20% off! BEAM: Go to https://shopbeam.com/INSIGHT and use code INSIGHT for up to 40% off Beam’s Dream Powder DELETEME: Use the code INSIGHT to get 20% off your DeleteMe plan at https://joindeleteme.com/INSIGHT FACTOR: Get 50% off your first box, plus Free Breakfast for 1 Year with the code INSIGHT50OFF at https://factormeals.com/INSIGHT50OFF PURE PLANK: The future of core fitness! Use the code CVV to save 10% on Pure Plank designed by Adam Copeland & Christian: https://gopureplank.com/cvv SEAT GEEK: Use my code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/CVV Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount NORDVPN: Exclusive deal! https://nordvpn.com/cvv Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! PRIZEPICKS: Download the PrizePicks app today and use code INSIGHT to get $50 bonus credit in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup! For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://chrisvanvliet.com If you have ever enjoyed any of these episodes, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast or Spotify? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. Follow CVV on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Flea! Man, ladies and gentlemen, the Undertaker. You're no strange in a podcast. You're a podcaster yourself. That's a stretch. Yeah? Have you been having fun with that? Not at all.

No. I mean, Fanatics is actually one of the sponsors, but I'd almost rather go to the dentist and pull a tooth I just didn't do a podcast. So what do you think the... How many more years, months, do you want to do the podcast, you think? How much longer? Yeah.

Oh, man. You say years? It's not years? No, we're probably talking months. I think, yeah, when this contract rolls out, I don't think we'll be renewing. Yeah. How's retired life treating you? I can't tell.

I work more now than in the last 10 years I was on the road wrestling. I'm always gone. I'm always in places like this now. So, yeah, retirement is not quite how I envisioned it. At what point in your career do you feel like you started thinking about it coming to an end? At what point was that? Unfortunately, way too late. I think it was November 22nd, 2020, when it dawned on me, like, you might need to find something else new to do here. You went into this thinking you could keep doing this for years and years? Well, yeah, I hang on. What's going on over there? Oh, yes, look at that.

One of the few people in here taller than you. Oh, is he actually standing? Brave to show up here, though, I guess. Oh, good point. I guess it's safer now that they... It's why he's getting booed. It's safer than the next one, I guess. That's true.

All right. Yeah, well, I forgot. So you weren't thinking in 2018, 2019, let's wrap this up. Well, no, I was thinking about wrapping it up, but, like, I envisioned myself like, all right, I'm going hunting and doing all those things that I wasn't really able to do while I was on the road. And that's what I started out doing. And then things started popping up. you know, started doing a podcast, and then, you know, this thing came up

and that thing came up, and it's just like all of a sudden, my calendar's full again, and I hadn't, you know, I hadn't been out on a mountain or on a lake in a while, so it's really cutting into my outdoor life. Well, you're working a lot with AAA now.

So what exactly is the role you have with AAA? And also, how much credit do you take for one of the greatest matches, Al Grande Americano versus original El Grande Americano. Oh, no, thank you. No. You know, myself and Jeremy Borash kind of had this idea, but, you know, El Grande and Chad Gable, man,

they took the thought and the idea, and they really took it to a whole different level. There were some highly motivating speeches that I gave both of them before they would go out. What did those sound like? I don't know how. Well, there's a bunch of kids here. No, I just, you know, I would reiterate to them how important what they're about to go out and do is not only, for AAA, but for their own personal careers.

And, you know, and trying to motivate them to do things differently and be more edgy, more aggressive, more violent, right? And, you know, it took a while, it took a while for that to kind of sit in and for them to see my vision. And my vision is I want us to put out a product that is completely different from NXT. It's completely different from SmackDown, Raw. I want it to be different from every other wrestling. So, and that starts, you know, with me is storytelling, athleticism, and aggression.

And, you know, it's a process, and everybody's starting to buy into it. in realizing that what we're doing down there is it's got the attention of the wrestling community. So what exactly is your role with AAA? I thought I dodged that question. I went all the way around it. That's why you're the best, because I thought I went all the way around it

and you would forget that. Oh, my gosh. I guess in layman's terms, I am, I'm the head. You don't want to give yourself a title here. You're the guy.

You know, it's great. It's great when, you know, it's the El Grande storyline, but as soon as you throw one storyline out there that sucks, it's like, oh my God, he's horrible. Fire him. No, I guess I'm the head,

of creative. There you go. you're doing amazing work. Well, thank you. Give it up for The Undertaker and AAA. Thank you. No, we're just making what old, the old stuff knew again and prove that it still works.

The U.S. soccer podcast. I'm your host, Megan Klingerberg. And after interviewing so many dudes during this men's world cup, I'm so happy to be back with my U.S. women's national team players. I know the U.S. men's national team has changed how I think about myself, how I think about being an American, how I think about being on a team. It's one year out from that World Cup,

and we're going to talk about the brightest prospects in U.S. soccer. You ready? I'm ready. Let's do it. The U.S. Soccer podcast, presented by Henko. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. One of your roles in retirement has been, you're the guy delivering the wonderful news to people that they're getting inducted into the Hall of Fame.

How did you become that guy? You tell me, I don't know. I didn't know. I was getting that job. You know, I did, I did it. I think Stephanie was the first. And I was like, oh, that makes sense. You know, Stephanie and I have a long history together.

I mean, I've watched her grow up. And, like, that made sense, right? I knew her, you know, I knew her longer than everybody else. Where to, Stephanie? Right? Iconic moment. Iconic. And so, but then from there, like, hey, can you come?

I'm back, can you do this? And I'm like, okay. So I guess now I'm the Hall of Fame guy. It's kind of like the NFL's version of the knock. Yes, right? Exactly. You got to tell your wife she was going into the Hall of Fame. No, I didn't.

No, we were actually promoting something on ESPN. And I think it was Triple H popped up and surprised her with that. Did you know? I had no clue. No way. No. Oh, what a fun moment that is. Everybody, you know, that's funny.

Everybody thinks that I know a lot more about the ends and outs and what's going on in WW. I barely know what's going on in AAA. Like, I think I do it by choice. Like, I just don't, if it doesn't affect what I'm doing or what we're doing down there, then I kind of just stay out of it. I know you're a huge fan of Gunther and the work that he's doing. I'm curious, if you were retiring in 2026, do you think that final match, that retirement match would be you versus Gunther?

Yeah, I think, I mean, that would be a good one for sure. You know, I like the way, I like the way he works, and I like the way he takes his time and builds to a crescendo in a match. But too, you know, there's guys like Oba out there now and who may be one of the guys that I think may be the biggest star may be Trick Williams. I love Trick. And so, you know, all those guys I would have loved to have worked with.

What do you think is about Trick? And he's just got that thing, right? He's got that, he's got that swagger. And, you know, I've talked to him a few times. And, like, he's just a little bit more of a mean streak away from being a real big player, I think. Speaking of the Hall of Fame, during your Hall of Fame, during your Hall of Fame, speech. You thank Triple H and you said, thank you for reminding me at a time when my confidence was at its lowest of who I really am. What were you referring to there? So on the night that,

you know, I really say I'm sure everybody at this point knows, but when I, when the street got broke by Lesnar, I got a really bad concussion and didn't remember the match. And you went straight to the hospital. Yeah, I went straight to the mat. I went right to the hospital before mania was over. Um, and my memory didn't even start coming back till, I don't know, it was four or five in the morning. Um, you know, it's, it's, it's kind of like you see on TV when they, when the doctor comes in and ask you, uh, you know, what's your name and, you know, how old are you? They did that about every 10 or 15 minutes and you didn't know your name. I had no clue. Crazy is the, the two people that I knew, this was crazy.

is I knew who Michelle was and I knew who Vince was. I couldn't have told you my name. I couldn't have told you where I was at. It was really, really bizarre. And then, you know, once I recover from the concussion and I start training again, you know, I'm wondering if I'm going to come back the next year, it uh you know self doubt kind of starts to sit in obviously at that point i'm getting older i'm

in the twilight of my career but there was nothing that was really there was nothing that was real significant that i could point out to say oh that's right there that's where i got concussed so you know you've probably heard the old adage like fighters get old overnight right and there's just so much and so many bumps that do you know you're just so much and so many bumps that you're can take and you know i would that that's the those are the self-doubt thoughts that were creeping into my mind is like what if it happens again and so but but i you know me being me how did you finish that match i don't know just i did it on instinct i guess because i don't i don't i don't remember it my my last my last memory of the day was i don't maybe two

o'clock. That's the last thing that I remember. And, you know, there's a long, big, huge protocol of things that I had to do at that point was stretching and warming up and getting, you know, shots in my knees and hips and things. And I don't remember any of it. And never did. And I still haven't. Like, I just don't remember it at all. So what did Triple H say to you to instill that confidence back in you? So I'm standing, um, I think, you know, Bray had already made his entrance, and I'm in the guerrilla position and kind of going through my stuff. And I'm, you know, like, I'm telling my, there's one part of me as saying, Mark, you've, you've prepared, you've trained, you're good shape. You know, everything's, you know, I've got to, I had a clean bill of health from the, you know, from the doctors.

And, you know, they were like, no, man, they were like, we can't tell you not to do this. They said, if it happens again, then maybe we need to have a different discussion. Like I did all the protocol that I was doing, got greenlighted from everybody. But right before the music starts, you know, man, the self-doubt really, it really creeps in. And I think he, I think, you know, because we've known each other for so long, and we've had so many matches and we've done so much business together. And just being friends, I think he could sense it, but I was struggling. And, you know, he, he, he, uh, he, uh, he, uh, he just. just quietly got up and I think I was kind of crouched down in the corner thinking about things

and he goes, he just comes up and he goes, hey, he says, don't forget who the F you are. You're the Fffin Undertaker. And it was, you know, it was like, it was just enough to like, you know what, you're right. You know, I've done this a million times. everything's going to be fine and you know I went out and had the match but man I was

I wouldn't say I wouldn't say panicked but there was just so much there was so much self-doubt in my head like that I hadn't experienced in a long long time so yeah when we talk about the streak I think the match

that immediately pops into people's head is WrestleMania 30 the streak ending I'm curious what are your top three WrestleMania matches during the streak? Wow, there's actually probably four, and they're all right there together.

25, 26, 27, and 28. Wow. I mean, like Edgrand, I had a great match. I had great matches with Batista, and I had great match with Edge, but I think the 25, 26, 27, and 28 storyline, the two was Sean,

and then the two with Triple H, I mean, it's very rare that you get to be, you get to do something like that, right? Because that was all one continual story. It was, you know, me and Sean, the light versus the darkness, streak versus career. Then Triple H gets involved to take up for his buddy. And then it culminates in the end of the era. And like all of those matches were what I like to get, I think they were all storytelling classics. And, yeah, I think those four matches are what professional wrestling is supposed to be about.

The anniversary just passed of you throwing mankind off hell in a cell. It was just last month. What's the first thought going through your head after you've thrown him off and he goes through the announce table? He's dead. It's just like, it's so surreal. Like, when you watch it back, it's just like, 1,001, boom, and he hits the table. From my vantage point on top of the cell,

it seemed like it seemed like it was 10 seconds. It just seemed like he kept falling and falling and falling. And then he hit, and then he hit the table, and then he hit the floor, and then he slid under the barricade. And I'm just like, nah, he ain't getting up for that. Yeah, I was wrong. And then you're kind of, like,

you're standing on the cell now. They're raising up the cell so they can bring the stretcher in. You have no idea what's going on. Yeah, no, I don't know. I don't know what kind of shape he's in, what he's broken, what he's injured. In fact, I was, like, I was so in tune in the moment. Like, I didn't even know that the cell had raised. Like, it was this up, and I'm looking eye to eye with the guys in the cheap seats.

And I'm like, oh, shit. Okay. All right. We're up here now. What are you thinking when Mick starts climbing back up again? I was like, man, you are glutton for punishment. It wasn't going to get any better. I mean.

I got much worse. Yeah, actually it did. It got much worse. But, man, you know, there's a moment. There's part of me that's like you respect, you respect so much what this meant to him and what he was willing to do to deliver on this match and that part

you just have to take a step back and you know you gotta get you got to tip your hat because it's amazing but then just the you know as a you know as a competitor and you're like

yeah you know what every once in a while I like to you know I like to slap somebody around but like you don't want them to you don't want long-term damage and at this point we don't know.

Like, that bump off the top was unprecedented. And then obviously what happens next is really unprecedented. Yeah, when the cage breaks and he goes through, are you like, oh, it's over? Yeah, honestly, I was joking earlier, but I really thought that he might have, yeah. From my vantage point, it looked like he landed on his head. And then, you know, and obviously the chair lands on his head.

his face. So at that point, it's just like, man, I don't know what, I don't know what else there is that he feels like he's got to prove. But, I mean, that just, again, I mean, it's a testament to how much this business and entertaining the fans, how important that was for Mick. and he wanted to deliver. It all started because he didn't feel like that we would be able to live up

to Sean and my hell in a cell match, the first one. And I was just like, Mick, like, it'll be different, but it'll be just as good. Yeah, what if? Sure. I was like, no, it wasn't until the day of that I even agreed to be a part of that. I was like, man, we don't need it.

And I'd rather you be able to get up at the end of the night and walk, you know, walk and see your family again. Was there a moment after that match where you got to the back and you just chatted or you had a moment? Not really because he was so out of it. Like there was, and there was medical people and everybody surrounding him. I was close enough to, you know, make sure. You know, get whatever the doctors were saying and make sure that he was, you know, he was okay. As okay as okay can be after being thrown off a cage and thrown through it and your tooth going through your lip and ended up in your nose. And it was just, you know, you think about it when you see something like that and you're like, and that is really gross.

Right? You think, well, he's got a huge bugger in his nose and come to find. out it's his actual tooth. And if I'm not mistaken, my memory is not what it once was, but I'm pretty sure that he handed his tooth at some point to the referee. Just like he did his ear,

I think he handed his tooth to the referee and told him to hold it. It's just a different kind of toughness, man, and dedication. The U.S. Soccer Podcast. I'm your host, Megan Klingeberg. And after interviewing so many dudes during this men's World Cup.

I'm so happy to be back with my U.S. Women's National Team players. I know the U.S. men's national team has changed how I think about myself, how I think about being an American, how I think about being on a team. It's one year out from that World Cup

and we're going to talk about the brightest prospects in U.S. soccer. You ready? I'm ready. Let's do it. The U.S. Soccer Podcast, presented by Henkel. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. At Survivor Series

1996, you had a tiered drop tattoo on your face for that one match only. What's the story behind that? Oh, I was probably crying because of who I was working with. No. No, so there's a, there's an old thing, like when you see people with tattoos or tear drop tattoos, they took a life and didn't shed a tear. So it was just part of my swag.

like it was like all right well this is kind of cool and I knew that people would wonder like what's the what's the tear drop for you know so it was just kind of a it was kind of for swag and aura and you know people asking that same question it was like what's with the the tear and then it got you know then it got

then the tier got WWE and it turned into like a water drop it was so hey buddy buddy, what's up? Yeah. A little Cody over there. But yeah. In 2005, this is a big thing online.

You had a full beer for a very short window of time. But this has become a thing because you look so cool with the full beard. Like, sometimes, you know, I just get lucky. Like, you're always trying. Again, you know, you're always trying to evolve when you're there as long as I was there. You have to reinvent yourself and give new looks, sell more action figures. Right. You got as like, oh, we don't have the bearded undertaker.

But when I debuted, and I think that's, is that when I came out of the burning casket? Yes. Yeah. So what happened with that? So that casket was standing up. It's on fire. So when I'm in the casket and it's, I, oh, it's getting warm in here. It's time for me to come out of that.

So when I kick, you know, when I kick that door off, it created, it created a vacuum. So a lot of that fire actually come inside and started singeing hair and everything else. So I don't think that. I think that's probably why the, uh, The beer didn't last. Because we were always at that point burning things up and lighting caskets and doing different things.

But I don't know. It's just, you know, when I hear things like that, like, you know, in 2005, the beard thing, I was like, I haven't thought twice. I don't know what the things are. Like when people start reciting my eras, right? Yeah.

You know, it's the dead man gimmick. the Lord of Darkness and I'm like okay I don't Can you go through all your I don't have no no all your areas no I can tell you what I did in a bar in 1994 in Moncton

Canada quicker than I can tell you anything about my wrestling career there's like five or six matches that I have a really really good recollection of but otherwise like I've done it I don't live in the past and I just kind of keep moving forward

Triple H has told this story before, but I don't think you have. He says that the people's elbow was created strictly to get you to laugh. Is that true or false? Yeah, I think there was, yes, I think there was a

another conspiracy at the time to do something is the guys to do something really hokey. I think it actually started in a dark match somewhere. And, yeah, they were always, I don't know, like, it for a while there, it really become the,

thing to do to try to get me to break character and some of the things that guys did were, but I mean, I mean, what else would that be for? That's the hokeyest looking thing in the business. What a finisher. I mean, it turned it, right? I mean, like, every, I guess, yeah, it worked out all right for him, but. There's a great version of it where he comes over to do the people's elbow on you and you sit up. Oh, yeah. And he kicks you down. And then he delivers it. Yeah, yeah. That was just a little added, uh, I think that was all ad lib, too.

So. When everyone was trying to get you to break, there's a great one where Stone Cold's backstage, Vince McMahon's cutting this promo on you guys before Survivor Series. And it's the invasion angle. So Stone Cold's repeating everything Vince is saying. Do you remember this? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's five on five.

Five on five. Yeah. You are like you are holding on for dear life trying not to break. and what no it was you just have to look I was I wasn't really super close to laughing but it's it's just

like when you take the character of Stone Cold then he starts doing something silly then it just and then it does something silly on the show it does kind of you are a little taken back from it

you know, he did some, he did a lot of things throughout the, throughout his run that were like, especially in, you know, in dark matches and house shows, he was, uh, he was quite the card. He was, he was a cut up, but those segments were so, because you look at all those guys and they all have their, they all had their comedic timing and their little, you know, their little nuance and new, it was, those were good times. You just don't get those kind of pre-tapes and backstages anymore like that.

Who were you typically traveling with back then? I was, for the most part, like, well, in the 90s, you know, I usually, well, always Paul Bear. Paul Bear was always with me. And then usually Brian Adams traveled with me quite a bit. And then if the whole BSK was on the same tour, then we'd. you were all divided up into, you know, in cars equally. But, and then after that, like, once everything kind of, you know, BSK, everybody kind of went their different ways.

And I just traveled. I traveled by myself a lot. I grew to enjoy the peace and quiet of traveling up and down the road. How did old school become party or move set? Is there a story behind that? How it became old school? Yeah. like a guy at your size

getting up to the top rope walking across it like a tight rope that's an impressive move I don't I think somebody I think someone just well first I stole it I stole it from the spoiler I waited like I had

I worked with spoiler when I was in world class World Class championship where I got my start I worked with the spoiler originally, and he did it. He did the wrist lock and walk the rope thing. So I had to wait. I had to wait until the spoiler retired,

and then I took it. And then I was like, well, if he did it this way, I'm going to do it this way. So originally, you know, I would drop somebody in the ring, and then I would go up, and then I would tight road out three or four steps, and then drop the elbow. And by the time, you know, by the time I got to

W.W.E. in 1990, I was already walking with a limp. Because we would, you know, we would do three or four TV tapings in WCW, and that's, you know, that's three or four elbows a night. So I remember Jody Hamilton, I come back after one of those matches and he's like, he's like, kid, you've taken years off your career with that elbow. No, sir, Mr. Hamilton. I'll be able to do this forever. By the time I got the call to come up, I was already walking with a limp.

So, you know, it's old-timers know a little bit more than they get credit for sometime. What's that piece of advice you give to up-and-coming wrestlers now? One more time? What's that piece of advice that you give to up-and-coming wrestlers now? You know, I try to get them to calm down a little bit in the sense of, all of the crazy I call them

flippy doos and stuff like that I just there's wrestling is dangerous enough and probably heard me say it like within the course of any match you're always just a couple of inches away from something really catastrophic

happening and when you start doing double backflips off of things and landing on people, that risk goes up exponentially. You know, I try to, you know, this level of athlete that's out here today is by far the greatest in the history of our industry. But what happens is they kind of forget, they forget storytelling. And storytelling just isn't about the angle that the Booker comes up with.

storytelling is how you do your matches and the things that you make a priority. So I try to focus on getting them to do things athletically, aggressively, but also makes sense if you're a fan watching it. Because there's a lot of things you watch and you just go, eh, they lose me because they're trying to do something that they physically can't. And even if they can, our audience is so fickle something. Like, after you've seen a, let's say, I'm going to make this up because I don't know what the name of it, it really is. Well, you see a double back flip, half twist, gainer onto somebody on the floor,

and you've seen it two or three weeks in a row. And then you're kind of like, okay, I've seen that. Now what do you got for me? Right. Right? So you make your job harder as opposed to making the character. mean something, you know, trying to get the character to evoke some kind of emotion, whether good, bad, or indifferent, that's the key to long term is having people invested where they want

to see you win, lose, beat somebody up, get your butt kicked, you know. There's a fine line, right? There's a fine line between the athleticism and the storytelling aspect. And I just kind of, you know, I try to get the young guys to just think a little bit. about a little bit more about the storytelling. With that said and with your longevity in this industry, do you think there's a life lesson that pro wrestling has taught you? A life lesson that... That you've learned from pro wrestling?

I mean, yeah, I mean, it's like... Sometimes you just have to... In life, you just have to grind it out. Sometimes you just have to bear the bad times and just like in the like, man, this guy's been getting beat, getting beat, getting beat, getting beat, getting beat. And then finally something happens and he ends up getting a push. Life is the same way, man. Sometimes you just have to get up every day, embrace the suck, and just keep grinding.

And, you know, that's, I mean, that's where life and wrestling kind of imitate themselves. And, you know, it just sometimes it takes longer. to go through a few of your moves here. When you first started doing the tombstone, you were putting the guy's legs to the side of your head. And then it changed to the way that you do it now.

Why did it switch up? Well, one, I really didn't know how to do it right, the first of you, right? It's just like, you know, I'm just dumb, young, and just grabbing guys up and, you know, they're hanging over here on the side. And eventually,

eventually I got them squared up and it was much easier to control their body weight and land safer and land square. Were there some bad ones that you were like, ooh? Oh, yeah, there was early on, there was some pretty bad tombstones. And it's crazy because I really pride myself on, you know, not hurting people, but like you can go back

Coco Beware took a he took a hellacious one that you know that that I kind of blew off and when it happened I was like come on man just suck it up and then I watched it back

years later and I was like oh maybe he had he had a reason to bitch about that because that looked gnarly so then you just switched it up to like this is just a safer way to do it yeah it's a safer and not only it's a safer way but it was a more efficient way to do it Like, you know, when you do, like, again, with all the, like, we're on the road, what then, we're on the road 20, 25 days out of the month, you have to figure out ways to, to, to minimize the trauma and how to take care of yourself. And, you know, it was, it was very difficult to not break somebody's neck.

And when they're, you know, all their body weight is, is making a hard right. So once I figure out how to get them lined up, it was it was better for them and it was a lot easier for me. The U.S. Soccer Podcast. I'm your host, Megan Klingeberg. And after interviewing so many dudes during this men's World Cup, I'm so happy to be back with my U.S. women's national team players. I know the U.S. men's national team has changed how I think about myself, how I think about being an American, how I think about being on a team. It's one year out from that World Cup. and we're going to talk about the brightest prospects in U.S. soccer.

You ready? I'm ready. Let's do it. The U.S. Soccer podcast, presented by Henko. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Who do you think took the best choke slam? And who do you think took the worst choke slam? I tell you what, Brock Lesnar's choke slam is pretty tough.

In fact, I think I give him one to, he actually came out of him. my hand at the top. And it's also when you put him down, he bounces off the mat. Yeah. Yeah, it's, he's like 14 feet in the air. Yeah, he's probably pound for pound the best choke slam bump. And then worst, oh my gosh. Collie was up there.

Yeah, there's been a few stinkers. There's one you gave to Hogan, and he didn't get up very high. Oh, my. That didn't work for him, brother. But a fun segment with Hulk Hogan where you're dragging him around behind the motorcycle. Yeah. Give me this setup for that, because you're dragging him down one hallway. I'm sure you've got to stop, reset, turn around, drag him back the other way.

Yeah. I see, there was a, I think there was a point in there somewhere where he had stolen my motorcycle. again, I don't know chronologically, but there was, you know, he fancied himself as being, you know, in that biker culture too. And so somehow another, I drop him and get him all tied up behind my bike and I'm just cruising through the arena with him trying to run him into as much stuff as I could. It was, yeah, I think that was after he tried to steal my bike and it stalled out on the ramp. but yeah it was it was a good time because I knew at the end of it at the end of this long corridor behind the arena it opened up into the loading dock and I knew what I was trying to do was kind of trying to whip it close enough so that he would kind of go into the wall I couldn't quite generate enough speed to get the effect that I wanted but it looked pretty good Speaking of your motorcycle, what did you think when you saw that photo of Dragon Lee sitting on your motorcycle the day that you inducted AJ into the Hall of Fame? I'm like, are you kidding me?

Seriously, that would have not happened. That would have not have happened in the 2000s. And he's got this big grin on his face. Oh, yeah, like, he's just thinking like, oh, this is the coolest thing in the world. And I've chilled, too. Like, I could have really had a good time with him. Didn't you rip him and say you scratched my bike? Yeah, and he swore he didn't.

I was like, no, I got a big scratch on the bike. And it wasn't my bike, so, you know, you will be getting the bill. And he was like, no, no, no, no, no, Amigo. No, it wasn't. I looked. It was like, no, I'm just saying there's a big scratch right on the chrome. So, would you just show up for Raw or Smackdown or Pay-per-View, and there was just a bike for you?

For a lot of it. And then we had, and then we went and had one made. We actually had a couple bikes made. and then I don't know if you guys remember it was all white it was an all white bike loved it

it was totally custom made all my specs like how I like with ape hangers and Ford controls it was man it was the most comfortable bike that I think

that I'd ever ridden and I had it maybe two or three weeks and Vince goes damn I think we need to do something to that bike I'm like, can we sub, can we sub a different bike in instead of taking this one out? No, of course not.

They'll see that. So that beautiful Pearl motorcycle got pushed off the stage. And I was just like, oh, man. It's like, come on. Nobody's going to know the difference. Did you have any mishaps with the bike? I had a mishap in Baltimore once where I stole a, I stole a, I stole a, a police, a police bike.

So it was really, it was really humid and I was going to, I was chasing, I was going to chase somebody out of the loading dock onto the street on a, on a police bike. And, man, I took off and the, you know, it's that really slick

concrete and it was kind of, the concrete was kind of sweating a little bit. so it was slick. And man, I made this turn and I lost the back wheel. The back wheel went down. I was fine. The bike, I think he lost his back, the back left,

his back left bucket he lost. He was happy, though. He didn't care. The cop was like, this is the coolest. Hey, will you sign this? That's awesome. Yeah, yeah. The saddlebag, but what saddlebag?

They were made out of plastic. You've had so many iconic matches, but I'm curious if there's an underrated match that you don't think enough people talk about. Oh, wow. You know, it's hard to say anymore now because so much content is consumed. I don't think there's anything that passes through the crack.

But one of my favorite matches that I rarely, I rarely talk about that I thought was just amazing was 2006 No Way Out with Kurt Engel. They remember. Yeah, I think, I mean, that match was up there in that same neighborhood with the Sean Michael's match at 25. I mean, you got to see something, you got to see something different from The Undertaker, and I felt like I pushed Kurt in a direction. Kurt was a machine, man. He was so fun to work with.

He was like the, if you're going to create a professional wrestler, Kurt's your guy, I think, because he had this uncanny ability to make himself look like a fool backstage and a pre-tap, right? You remember when he put on the red, white and blue bandana. Sure. Again, trying to pop me.

But he had the bandana and he had the glasses. A little moped? Yes, and he got on the moped. Like, he wasn't, like, this is a legitimate, badass dude, right? Olympic gold medals. He could take just about anybody in his room and time into a pretzel, but was willing to make himself look like an idiot. But I'm just telling you, at ding, ding, ding, when the bell started,

and for a match, dude, you better have them boots strapped down tight because you were going to have to go. I mean, he was a wrestling machine. And he had all aspects. He was entertaining. He could cut a promo, and you couldn't have a bad match with him. We've seen these videos recently of your daughter, Kaya, in the ring. And, man, it looks like the fact that she has two Hall of Fame parents, mom and dad,

it looks like it's been passed down to her. Is that a future WWE superstar? Unfortunately, probably, yes. Like, I... Why is that unfortunate? Man, I just, you know, I wake up every morning and I do a little body assessment, like, you know, what's working today, what isn't working? You know, I'm not discouraging her from it, but those are just kind of the things that,

you know and obviously the grind is not like it was when i came up but i just i hate thinking of you know one of my children having to wake up and be in pain like that and that's just being a dad like if it's in her heart and that's what she wants to do then obviously i will do everything in my means to make sure that she does it right um you know it's like she's already got it well you know She's kind of stuck on that flippy-do stuff. I don't know. She's taking, she's taking, actually now she's taking my rope walking and added a flip to it. You know, it's almost like, uh, see what I can do that?

Like, you never did that. I'm like, okay, all right. But it's always a pleasure to be able to sit down with you. And I'll ask you the question I ask everybody at the end of every interview. You know, gratitude's a huge thing for me. So what are three things right now as we sit here that you're grateful for in your life? I'm grateful that I'm sitting here

and there's still enough people that care about what I did. Quite a lot of them. I'm grateful for my family. I'm grateful for having an opportunity now to spend time with them. And, man, I'm super grateful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, man. You are one of the best to ever do it. It's always a pleasure to sit down with you, so thank you so much. Thank you, man.

You're the OG, brother. The Dan Bonino Show. Folks, it's not my job to sit here and, like, try to stir you up for clicks. I think I've been very level-headed. I've had to tell people a lot of things they didn't want to hear. So let me tie together into a bullet point storyline. This information warfare against your mind is very real. Be careful where you're getting your information.

Do not gaff this off. I'm telling you, like, this is why I've been so passionate. This stuff is real. Now does it make sense? The Dan Von Gino Show. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.