Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Tony Nese On Signing With AEW, 205 Live, Winning The CruiserWeight Championship at WrestleMania

Episode Date: October 27, 2021

Today's guest is "The Premier Athlete" Tony Nese. Tony is a professional wrestler for AEW (All Elite Wrestling) and is known for his time in WWE as part of 205 Live. He joins Chris Van Vliet from his home in Orlando, FL to talk about talking a contract with AEW, the opponents he'd like to face there, being released from his WWE contract, winning the CruiserWeight Championship at WrestleMania 35 against Buddy Murphy, when he started becoming interested in bodybuilding, why he eats ice cream every night, being a father and much more! If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. For more information about CVV and INSIGHT go to: https://chrisvanvliet.com Follow CVV on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet 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 going. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Bleas! Oh, yeah, how are you, my friends? Welcome back to another audio adventure on the podcast known as Insight with Chris Van Fleet. I am CVV, Chris Van Fleet. Thank you so much for being with us on this episode with the premier athlete himself. No, I'm not talking about myself. We're talking about Tony Nice.

Although I did learn during this conversation that both Tony and I grew up playing hockey. or ice hockey, as he called it during this conversation. You can find him on social media at Tony Neese. If you're not already following me, you can find me at Chris Van Fleet. Take a screenshot. Let us know that you're listening. Tag us on social media so we know that you're on this journey with us. Big thank you to the bearded sumo for being our fan of the week for leaving this review on Apple

podcast. He says, one of the best in the biz. I stumbled through the wrestling wormhole upon Chris. around four years ago. I followed him on YouTube and I watched his interviews faithfully. He's entertaining and he asked solid questions.

And when I heard he had a podcast, I immediately subscribed. Great content. Well, thank you, The Bearded Sumo. Thank you for subscribing as well. If you happen to be listening on Apple Podcasts,

I read one review on every single episode from Apple Podcast because that's the place where you can leave reviews. So if you want to hear your review here on the show, leave a few words. Or if you've already left a review and it didn't get right out on the show

or if you want another shout out, go back in, change a few words and then resubmit it and then it goes to the top. Can't wait to see your reviews on there. Tony Neese is the newest addition to the AEW roster. He's officially signed as of this week. And I feel like he has such an opportunity to shine there. Tony Nees is all elite. It almost rhymes. Tony Nees is all elise. See, that would have been the actual rhyme. Tony Neat is all elite.

That would be the rhyme. But Tony Nees is all elite. And this is a fantastic conversation. Please welcome Tony Nees. There is no way that you eat ice cream every single night. Come on. There is a way. Look at the size of this man, ladies and gentlemen.

How? How? You know what? For me, it's a calorie thing. So I started using, I don't know if you're familiar with like Avatar Nutrition. I know like I track my calories on my fitness pal. Yeah. So it's pretty much the same thing. And it's got a coach on there that pretty much, you know, based off your results each week, they'll adjust and everything. And like at one point, at 5,000 calories and I was at 600 grams of carbs per day. Wow. Yeah, so, so towards the end of the day when I'm like looking at my numbers, I'm like so behind on carbs. I'm like, all right, what do I got to do? So I would always eat like a pint of ice cream. I would even do like my favorite cookies are the EL Fudge cookies. And I would just eat a package of those. And I mean, I still do.

I don't do it as like I'm not up to 5,000 calories now because I kind of hated like like even though it would help me keep on size I just didn't like the bloat feeling of like kind of just feeling heavy all the time so I kind of eased back a little but I got a crazy sweet tooth now and then and like bowls of cereal like I'll just pound like bowls and bowls of cereal at night to the point where and then like I can't even go over my fats as much so I'll end up just doing like bowls of cereal with water or protein shake in there or something. So I don't want to get too deep into the weeds here for people who maybe don't track their macros, but like that's your breakdown of protein and carbs and fats.

So the fats were like, I'm trying to think offhand because I stopped following the coaching or whatever. And I just kind of was like, all right, I'm just going to do my own thing now. the fats were up to, I want to say like around like 1.30 or so. And then the carbs were like 600. And the protein was, uh, it was like 200 or above. Okay. The protein, it was like, yeah, as long as I'm getting in like 200 and then if I need, if I go over with that, like that's okay for me. So just like giant mixing bowls full of oatmeal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All that stuff. That's great. Yeah, all that stuff. So how many calories are you at now? Um, so. So, So I'd say I'd sit around like between 35 to 4,000.

Still a lot. Yeah. That's still a lot. You don't factor in like when you're eating that much ice cream, you don't factor in the sugar? No, I mean the sugar, I want the sugar. I'm looking for the insulin spike and everything. Like that's so my body is very, you know, I've always been lean. So if I actually eat too low of calories, like the next day my muscles like completely deflated.

You know, obviously it's a lot of it sometimes is a mental thing. You know, you're always your biggest judge or whatever, but you're a biggest critic. But yeah, I'll just like I just, at the end of the day, if I feel like I didn't eat a lot, I'm like, oh, man. So I'll just like stay up late at night, just like watch wrestling and just eat, eat, eat, eat so that I feel good the next day. I had a friend of mine when he was bulking. And you tell me if this is great or absolutely terrible advice. he would, I love that you're drinking water in the middle of this too. That's a true bodybuilder right there.

He would set his alarm and wake up twice in the middle of the night so that he would get more calories in. Yeah. Yeah. When I was, so when I was putting on size for like, because like when I first started wrestling, I was like 120 pounds soaking wet. Wow. You know, and I wasn't going to get, I wasn't going to get bigger over time through, you know,

I think my body was done, you know, in height. I was always going to stay as short as I am. So I was like, all right, I need to get bigger if I'm going to look believable on TV, whatever it is. So I just started following like tons of bodybuilders that had stories like that where they needed to put on size. And a lot of them was just, it was just eat, eat, don't even think about what you're eating, just eat. Like I would do, I would after a session at the gym shoot over to McDonald's and I do like a double quarter pounder, you know, 10 piece nugget and a fish filet sandwich and a triple thick shake. or something, you know, and then same thing as your friend, I would, at night, I would make a stack of like three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

And then I would set an alarm for every like two to three hours and I would just wake up, pound a sandwich and then just fall back asleep. Like I'd wake up every morning just like disgusting peanut butter breath and crumbs all over me. It just seems so counterintuitive because sleep is such an important part of growing as well. I know, I know, but it was like, it's like, yeah, that's the one thing. That's probably if there's anything in health-wise, like sleep is the one thing I just don't get. Like, you know, it should be the eight hours or whatever, but it just doesn't happen.

Like, I'm a night owl. I'll be up all night. And then I wake up early now with kids and everything. So, yeah, I just, that's the one thing I never get is sleep. And I don't know, it's never, it hasn't bothered me too much. So. Yeah. I have a friend who is an IFBBB pro and he's a big dude, obviously.

And someone was like, hey, man, I've really been trying to put on size. Is there any advice you could give me to put on size? and he just wrote back, eat. Yeah. That was it. Just eat. It's simple. And a lot of people complicated.

You know, obviously your body type is going to be a different thing. But if you're trying to put on size, like most 99% of the time, that's the, that's what you need to do for putting on size. When people start to come to me and they ask, like, you know, I was a trainer for 12 years before being in WWE. And, you know, it was the clients with the weight loss and everything. that becomes a little more technical and you start to look at what their body reacts to, you know, low fats or low carbs, whatever we have to do to work for them.

That becomes a little more technical. But when it comes to just putting on size, man, just if you work out and eat a ton, it's going to get converted, you know, it's going to be used as energy for your muscles. It's not going to be stored as fat. Right. Well, I love how the hottest free agent in pro wrestling is now the hottest signed agent. So, hey, man, congratulations. Thank you so much, man. It's been, this is awesome. Honestly, it's, it's been a blessing. So,

very happy. When you popped up on AEW, I think it turned a lot of heads. It was kind of, it was kind of like the NXT takeover spot where you're in the crowd, like scoping out what's going on here. Yeah, it was, it was funny because, yeah, the way that kind of, I got invited to go and, you know, it was, hey, would you like to come down? We're in Orlando. We know you're in Orlando as well. you know, yes, absolutely. And I've been there earlier, like during my 90-day non-compete, I went there just to kind of, I went there as a guest just to hang out with my friends. You know, that company, I have tons of friends and people that I've traveled with a lot

in the independence. So I just went to visit and we kind of, you know, everyone was super cool with me and super nice. I was like, all right, this is definitely a really good place. And I think a lot of people here like me. But then they invited me to Orlando. And it was literally like, you know, I'd say 10 minutes before they went live on the air and I got pulled aside and they were like,

hey, like, would you be cool to sit out in the crowd and like, we just keep showing you on camera and everything? And I was like, yeah, why not? Like TV time? I'll take it. Yeah. So I just kind of sat out there. And at first I was like, when they asked me at first, I was kind of laughing. I was like, oh, like, is the house low? You need me out there cheering or something? You know? And then he explained it to me. And I was like, oh, man, that's awesome. Like, yeah. And then from there, you know, we got to discussing, you know, where to go from there. And honestly, it's just super cool the way they, they treated me off the bat and said, hey, let's, let's build you up as a star. Let's bring you in as a star, you know, just like they should anyone else.

So, so I'm definitely appreciative of that. They always say to a wrestler, you should bring your gear wherever you go. Oh, always. For sure. Now, I'm curious, do you always bring a suit now wherever you go? Because you were dressed very well. Yeah, no, so I dressed. Just to show up professional.

That was a personal choice. So honestly, I could have been out there in sweatpants, you know, and they probably wouldn't have said anything. But like that was my own personal choice. I wanted to show up like that. Show them I'm a professional. So I'm sure over time I'll get lazy. Yeah, no.

Traveling. Well, it's not mandated at AEW. It was mandated that you have to wear a suit at WW, right? Yeah, no, it's, yeah, WWE is a little more strict with dress code and everything. And I understand that completely. But I also understand AEW where they're like, just be yourself. You know, if you're a dude that wears gym clothes and that's who you want to be,

that's absolutely who you should be. You know, it's more about individualism, I guess, with AEW. So either way, I kind of understand. And it's cool that you can, I kind of like the idea that you can carry yourself however you want to carry yourself in AEW. Are you a dude who wears Jim clothes? all the time? For the most part, yeah, yeah. I'm a nylon shorts and t-shirt guy.

That is exactly what I'm wearing right now. Yeah, that's the best one point right now, too. I will be heading to the gym right after this. So it's perfect. Yep, yep. So now the options are open in AEW. You could wrestle literally anyone. There's a huge landscape of potential opponents there.

So give me a few that you just can't wait to get in the ring with. Oh, man. I mean, obviously, like there's the obvious ones there. You know, when you look at CM Punk, you look at Brian Danielson, Kenny Omega. But also, like, I can't wait to get back in the ring with Alex Reynolds, John Silver, you know, ego, all ego, Ethan Page. Like, these are guys that I've wrestled on the independence and we've hit it off.

And our chemistry was always amazing. So, like, I can't wait to be able to have those same matches that we did in front of, you know, 100 people in front of thousands now. and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, when I, when I first got into WWE, like, you start thinking of all the names there and the possibilities and everything, but then, like, you start to see the way that they're kind of using you and you start seeing all that kind of fade away and you're like, oh, man, like, you know, and, and, and for me, like, on 205, like, everyone was awesome. We, we were a tight group and everything, but we wrestled

this, like, literally every week, we wrestled the same people over and over again. Uh, so this is exciting. I, this isn't, like, I'm not being pigeonholed into, like, one thing anymore. This is like, hey, it's an open field now. You're going to, one day you could be wrestling, you know, an extra they brought in for the day. And the next week, I could be wrestling CM Punk. Like, like, it's, they've already shown that, that anything's possible there.

So it's super exciting. And, yeah, other names, man out there, the Young Bucks, obviously, I've had some really, really, really, really fun matches with them. I actually owe a lot to them with helping me kind of break out a little bit. on the independent scene and working my way to the West Coast. So, yeah, I hope I get to do all these. I hope I get to wrestle everyone. It's going to be so much fun.

In 205, you're right. Like you had like just a handful of people that you could wrestle. And that was it. Like I feel like it's funny because you're part of the WWE roster, but you're part of this little core group of guys that are 205 live. And you can only work with each other, which is so strange. Yeah, it was, you know, it would get frustrating at times. And to us, it just never made sense.

And we would pitch all these ideas and we thought it would be awesome to like, hey, every once in a while, why don't you bring a guy on to our show? You know, that's a name. It'll help the 205 live brand. And it'll also help the talent. And it'll help elevate us as stars. You know, and I have no ill. Like, I would understand their mindset and what they, how they wanted to do everything.

but then there were other things that you just didn't understand. It would get you frustrated. And it's like, why don't you want to help everybody? But I feel like they just kind of had that core group of people that were like, these are the ones that we're going to care about. And then the rest of you just got to kind of hang in limbo. And if we decide to care about you one day, something will happen. If we don't, you just kind of.

And that's just kind of how it felt. Maybe that wasn't what they thought, but that's just kind of how it felt all the time there. Here's how it feels to me as an outsider looking in. And NXT has their own roster, their own show. There's always talking about going up to the main roster to WWE. And then there's the main roster, Smackdown and Raw. And I feel like 205 Live is just kind of like lost in limbo. Yeah, yeah.

We would always say that we're in like this weird wrestling purgatory. Like, but also because, and again, like, even though I was there, when it comes to the company's decisions, I'm on the outside looking in too. So don't take my word as God. You know, like, this is all speculation as well, but it seemed like they kind of had this idea of the show. And we all know it was it was Triple H's idea. It was his baby. It was his concept to do the tournament and then build it into a show.

He wanted to do a yearly tournament. He wanted the show to have win-loss records and all that stuff. He wanted it to be a different feel. And as soon as we, it was announced that we were like the cruiser weights were going to be a part of raw like that's where kind of Vince was like nope it's my show now it's my show and and all of that kind of went out the window and and we even joked about it we said this is just raw light it's just smaller versions of raw and you know and and you know we got our backs against the wall where we're competing after all the stars of WWE are already competing so like it was very difficult for us

but anyway so so Vince had his control over it and then uh after a while he's kind of just, you know, he just started being like, all right, I'm done playing with this toy. And he just gave it back to Triple H. And he was kind of like, well, no, you guys are like Vince's boys now. You're tainted now to me. So like he and again, this is my speculation, but he just didn't care about it anymore either. Yeah. So it was just kind of, we were just in this limbo of like, yes, the show has to be booked. It has contracts in other countries to be on TV. It was also content for the network. So it has to be done.

It has to be filmed. But they were just kind of like, whatever, just put whatever on it and just move on. Like we started losing the concept of storylines. We lost all that stuff. And no matter how much we would fight for it, they would always be like,

no, no, just go out there and have a good match. And that's it. And that's all we were allowed to do. So we just kind of said, you know what? All right,

let's just go out there and just put on the best possible match. And to us, if the crowd who definitely doesn't want to see us at the end of the match is standing up, clapping their hands and cheering, we did our job. And I'd say 95% of the time we did that. Yeah. And I don't know if everybody realizes you guys are filming this after the main show is already off the air. Yeah, yeah. It was right. Like so many times I'm like standing in the, in back in

and Gorilla, getting ready to do 205. And like, it's like Randy Orton versus Kevin Owens. And they're just killing it, going through tables, everything. And I'm just like, all right, well, here comes 205 live now. it's like when we were growing up we had shotgun and jacked and metal yeah yeah 205 live kind of took that spot yeah pretty much and then also like uh you know they still film uh the show main event before raw and when we were on we were also doing like one segment on raw for a while we would uh the rest of us would always they would always be a a cruiserweight match on main event and believe it or not every week if you were on the main event show like we were always happier to get booked on that because it was before raw the crowd was hype they were excited like

every i would just lock up with someone you know back them to the corner and flex in their face and the whole crowd's booing me and everything right i would do the same thing on 205 and it's just quiet and so you know you just hear like one guy in the back like do something you know like it's just it's funny the world of difference and it has nothing to do with the talent or anything it has everything to do with just a place on the show yeah if you take it back to before you got signed with wwee what was it that really put you on their radar um i would say uh wrestling like doing um like evolve and dragon gate and stuff like that that kind of started um started adding some stock to my name which got uh like william regal and

interested in stuff. And he was kind of the guy that was like, his job was to follow the independent talent that's out there and everything. So I started getting on his radar, which, and this is my own fault. It took me like 12 years to do so. And that was because, so I trained out of NYWC through Mikey Whiprek, same place that like Kurt Hawkins, Zach Ryder and Alex Reynolds, John Silver, Trent Barretta. So like we all came from that school.

And when I first joined, it was kind of around the time that, which called, I'm sorry, Matt Cardona and Brian Myers, like they got signed. Yeah. And Trent Redda was on his way to be signed. So to me, and my goal was always I want to be a WWE wrestler. So it was, I didn't want to go anywhere else. I was like, I'll just wrestle here and keep getting tryouts and I'll get that job, you know, because I came from this school, whatever it was. and that ended up being a mistake because, you know, unless I was six foot five or whatever, you know, I needed to make a name for myself and I wasn't doing that.

So eventually I started trying to break out and then I luckily got in contact with Gabe and started working for Evolve and that actually got me to Japan. So I started doing it. And then the Young Bucks are the ones that kind of brought me to the West Coast to do PWG. So after that, my name started building some stock at least, within the officials of WW. So that's what kind of got me on their radar and everything. And then luckily, it all kind of,

the stars aligned when they were deciding to do a cruiserweight thing. Although when they were doing the cruise away thing, I remember you telling the story to someone else where you were being considered, and they were like, yeah, we've got a spot for you. And then you never heard from them. And you followed up and went, hey, like, what's going on here? That whole year was like this for me. It was, what was, what was?

So I got invited to do a tryout in January of that of that year. Did the tryout, got pulled aside by Canyon Seaman. And he was like, hey, listen, like, you know, your work is great and everything. He's like, we're going to do this tournament. And, you know, we're considering you for that. Or he even said, he's like, you know, we want you to be in that tournament. And then he straight up told me that he's like, but don't take this wrong. Like, we're never going to hire you type of thing.

And I was like, yeah, that kind of like, so the next day at the tryout, I just pulled him aside. and I asked them. And I know I remember I worded this and the internet kind of took it as me saying, because I said like, he pulled me side. He's like, listen, I was like, why wouldn't I work here? And he was like, he's like, you're just a short white dude from Long Island. Like you got nothing, you know, you're not the best wrestler in the world. I understood what he was saying.

Like I'm, you know, there's no stock behind my name. And I'm also not some giant, you know, attraction to the show. So, you know, that's kind of what he was trying to say to me. And that's where I realized my mistake was I should have just immediately tried to break out and become a big name on the independent level. So, you know, that kind of sucked to hear. But at the same time, I was like, all right, at least I'll get some exposure in this tournament. And then that'll increase my bookings or whatever. And then when I started hearing about dudes getting email after email about the tournament, I wasn't getting any emails.

And I was like, what the hell is going on? So I ended up running into Regal. at an Evolve show. And I pulled him aside, asked them about it. And he's like, yeah, listen, I'm sorry. We picked our top 15 guys and then our bottom 15 guys. And we didn't want you in the bottom 15, which I, you know, I love Regal, but I'm pretty sure that was kind of like an excuse of, sorry we didn't consider you.

And I was just like, oh, man, that sucks. And then later I ended up wrestling that day at Evolve. He watched the whole show. Later that night, he pulled me aside. and he's like, he's like, do you care, like what you would do

in the tournament? And I was like, of course not. Like, I don't care. I just want to be a part of it. And he's like, I really think you need to get in front of the right people. He's like,

you might be getting a call. So, and I took that very lightly because I've been promised, you know, a ton of things. And believe it or not, though, that week I get a call from Canyon.

And he's like, hey, we'd like to use you in the tournament, blah, blah, blah. So then it all kind of worked from there. And then the whole story of, you know, cruise away it's going to raw and i just i kept getting called i worked for w w w with no contract

every single monday for it was like three months three and a half months and that is so rare yeah yeah it was crazy we even did uh we did a kickoff for survivor series and we did a kickoff for helen the cell unsigned it was me ari dvaree drew bulak um yeah we were all unsigned just constantly every week getting called to go to tv i would i would uh i'd work my my shoot job which i was personal trainer. So I'd work that throughout the week. And then like Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Sunday, I'd do independence. And then I'd fly Sunday night or Monday morning to Raw. I'd do Raw somewhere. And then I'd fly home the next morning and go right to the gym to start training again all week. Like, it was pretty crazy. If my personal trainer was a pro wrestler, I would be so motivated to

want to be there every single day. So the one thing is I worked for a corporate gym. So obviously you had those corporate woes you had to deal with. You know, I loved being a trainer, didn't like working for a company. Yeah. And it would be funny because my second raw was Staples Center in L.A. Wow. I was on Raw. I wrestled Rich Swan and I beat him clean in the ring, right?

So like the next day I'm at work and then I was getting some crap from my manager or whatever. And I was like, I was just at the Staples Center, like on Monday Night Raw. Like whatever you say to me, I'm not listening right now. Did you have to take a red eye back from Staples Center back from LA so you could work the next Tuesday morning? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But we would always, anytime West Coast though, we would take red eyes. The goal is always to get, like at least for me, it was always I wanted to take the latest flight possible to get there. And then the earliest flight possible home, you know, to be there with family as much as you can.

And then, and that's how everyone is really. You know, that's usually how the schedule is. So, yeah, it was always red eyes and stuff. Honestly, at the time, though, like, that wasn't like killing me or anything or making me feel tight. Like, I was on a high. So I felt like a superstar already, you know? Yeah.

And I also feel like with all of your training that you've done in your life and all of you, you know, the time you spent working as a personal trainer, you could probably do it in your sleep. Yeah, yeah, pretty much. And then, like, when I came to my clients and stuff, like, they all knew my goals and aspirations. They were actually some of my biggest supporters. And, uh, you know, I loved training them. I would always have fun with my clients. So that was never the issue. It would just be like, uh, you know, because it was a corporate gym, you know, the manager would be like,

are you selling enough supplements to your clients and stuff like that? And it's like, listen, I, I'm worried about raw next week if I'm going to get called again. So at what age were you when you started working out? Um, I was about, I'd say like 18, 19. Okay. Um, yeah, because that's around, you know, when I joined a wrestling school and I was like, all right, if I'm going to do this, I need to start, I got to work out. And then like I started realizing, oh, I also need to put on size. Like, I'm not going to be taken serious at all. So that's kind of when I started getting big into it.

And that's what got me big into body. Like I don't follow bodybuilding as like, you know, as a sport as much. But I appreciate bodybuilders and I follow specific bodybuilders. And the first thing I did was I actually ordered the, Arnold's encyclopedia bodybuilding. Yeah, I read that, I read that three times. Wow. Yeah.

And like not back to back, but I would read it. And then like, you know, like another couple months would go by and I read it again. And that was just kind of like, and to this day, I still like I consider myself like an old school. Like I just, you know, I don't do like a lot of these new elaborate types of like mobility training, all that stuff. Like I just lift weights and work out hard like Arnold taught me to. What was the age where you got like between 90s? 19 and 20 or 20 and 21 that you saw the biggest increase in size?

As soon as I started up in my calories and stuff, like my biggest thing, like as soon as I started going, I shot up to like 170, 175. And I kind of hovered at that for a while. The good thing is I have a, I guess I have very good symmetry with my body where on camera, I always look like 20 pounds bigger than I am. Yeah. So like at 175, I was like super happy and everything. And I kind of hovered at that.

I honestly wouldn't be able to timeline. I'd say like 21, 22 is when I started like, you know, looking like I was way bigger. And more towards like getting closer to my 30s is when I started putting on a lot of size and getting, you know, working my way more closer to 200. I was always, I'm always like a, now I hover between like high 1-8. to like 195. My goal was always the break 200. And then that's when I started doing the nutrition coach.

And this was right before WrestleMania. And I got myself up to 202, which I was super happy about. But then I started realizing, I was like, okay, I did it. I reached my goal, but I'm not happy about it because now I'm bloated every day. So I quickly just, I started weaning off of that. And now I'm like, all right, I'm happy at only 195 because I actually on camera look bigger because there's just a little bit more cut to me, and it just pops more on count. And you, you know, you would get to 202 at the expense of maybe only having six abs instead

of eight. Yeah, yeah. Well, it was funny. Like, everyone would make fun of me because I'd be like, oh, man, I feel so bloated. But like, you know, it was still my abs, but it was like just popping out a little. And everyone would be like, sorry my language, but like, you know, screw you, whatever. Like, but I'm like, I feel it, though, you know? Yeah.

I was so happy when you won the Cruiserweight championship. ship in the Resslemania 35. I'm curious though, did it feel bittersweet to you because it was on the pre-show and not on the main show? Not necessarily.

There were times where like you'd go back like, you know, it would cross my mind like, all right, well, it is the kickoff, whatever it is. But to WWs credit, they did very well,

like, like they treated us, they treated me and Murphy, like this, we were on the main show to them as well, which was really cool. Like that whole week was when like I started feeling like, all right, I'm not on this like side show that that is,

you know, owned by WWE. Now I felt like I was a part of WWE. Yeah. So that was really cool. And even like I've said the story before, after the match, I came to the back and Vince was already in guerrilla and everything. And, you know, he stood up and he was like, he's like, that's how you start WrestleMania.

And like the fact that he said, that's how you start WrestleMania in my mind, I was like, all right, I won. I don't care what anyone says. You know, that's it. So that was really cool. Although that I would feel like you're hungry for whatever's next. Like, yeah. So open up, you know, you've won a championship.

You've opened up WrestleMania. Now what? Yeah, yeah. And also leading up to that, you know, as soon as I won the tournament to go to WrestleMania, that's when I actually renewed a contract with them. And it was like, hey, we want to give you this because you're going to be going after the title run and everything, you know, you're now considered for raw. all this stuff.

Like you'll probably be the next cruise way to come up. Like I was getting told all that stuff. So I was kind of like, it was already like, you know, I won the belt and I was like, this is awesome. And it's only up from here.

And then obviously plans change all the time there. So things just kept getting put off, put off, put off. And then unfortunately the pandemic happened shortly after. And then it just kind of all kind of went downhill from there. How much time did you have left on your contract before you got released? One more year.

One more year. Did you feel like you were going to be able to last that one more year? No, I knew as soon as they moved us to be a part of the NXT roster, I, me, Ari DeVari, were like, all right, now we're on borrowed time. It's a matter of time because, again, we got these new contracts that to the raw roster is like a normal contract, but to the NXT roster is like a whoa contract, right, without getting into any specifics.

So we're like, so like when we would share the Roa locker room, we felt like, all right, we're good here, we're safe, you know, we're not, you know. But as soon as we get down to NXT, we're like, all right, we're on the least cared about show of all of WW history. And, you know, and they're going to start looking at who's getting what and what their deals are. And, you know, they keep the whole year, they just kept releasing, releasing, releasing, were like, all right, it's just a matter of time. When they start reviewing the NXT contracts, we know we're going out the door.

Oh, wow. It's a crappy thing to think about. And just every day, it was just, I'd convince myself every day when I went to work, just, you know what? The only thing I can control is me. Go out there and do the absolute best I can and just go out there, have a great match. And whatever happens happens, I'm not in control of that. So was there anything that you were doing during this time? to prepare for possibly getting release?

Not really. Like, I should have done more. You know, it was when the release happened that my panic started jumping in. I'm like, oh, man, I totally didn't set myself up for anything. Because, like, right before the pandemic, I felt like, I was like, I think I'm going to be here for a long time. I think I'm a very good hand. I think I'm very good at making other people look great.

you know and i know that's tooting my own horn but i i you know i've been told that a lot like that's kind of what my job was was to make other people look great um so and that's very important in wrestling everyone thinks that you know just the stars are important no those stars need people to beat so um so i felt i felt good and and secure and i was like i think i'm going to be here for you know another 10 years or so um and that's kind of how they were treating me after WrestleMania, but then again, it just kind of went downhill and the pandemic obviously messed with everyone's head. So it was almost like I felt like I was like I didn't know what to do and how to do it,

how to prepare myself for life after it. So then the panic hit in and I was like, I got to figure out what I'm going to do, blah, blah, and luckily like I filled up a lot of indie bookings and stuff during the 90 days. So I felt comfortable with that. I got had my meeting with, you know, I got to hang out at AEW. So I was like, okay, I kind of got a good vibe there. And luckily, you know, a month after the 90 days, you know, I had some really good banger matches on the independence so far.

And then the AEW thing happened. So like I feel good about that now. Now it's a matter of I need to learn from my past mistakes and say, okay, now I need to look at how, what do I do? I got to use AEW and prepare myself for my future after AEW. Yeah, well, now you've got this incredible opportunity in front of you. Yeah. And it's a matter of grabbing that and running with it.

Yeah, absolutely. And again, there's no like, I don't feel like I did with in WW where it was like, I just need to get lucky and hope that they go, okay, let's take this cruiserweight and make him, you know, the next big cruiserweight guy or whatever that we bring up. Like, I feel like in AEW, the, like, the possibilities are now endless. It's not a matter of just getting kind of lucky that, you know, you become the next project for them. I'm like, this is like you're every, I feel like an AW, at least the vibe I'm getting is everyone is super in control of their own destiny there.

So like that right there already gives me a lot of comfort feeling. So if you're in control of your own destiny and now you've got, you know, a blank sheet, blank slate to do whatever you want to do, are we going to see the same Tony and Nice that we saw in 205 in WWE or are you working on something a little different? So, you know, the premier athlete's still going to be, you know, who I am, who I represent. And, but I do want it to be a little bit more, a little bit more of a serious thing rather than a, hey, look at my abs, one, two, three type of thing and like the obnoxious. Like, it's weird. Like, I love being obnox. I love, you know, my favorite thing is get booed. I love flexing and just everyone just calling me a POS and everything.

But at the same time, like, I switched up. my look to where I wear I'm wearing more solid stuff I want to be like a branded athlete I just kind of have my logo on my kickpad and that's it um you know because at w wb it was more of like i was trying to just pop but i was just getting this crazy colorful gear with all these different designs on it that meant nothing to me you know they really had no representation or anything um i wore a jacket because i was told i should have something up top for entrance it was weird there would always be like, you should have something, but don't cover anything. And I'm like, okay.

So I was like, I couldn't think of it. I was like, what do I do? And actually for like one show, I wore the like a he man. I got like a he man type thing. Yeah. And I wore that. And I remember nobody, nobody thought it looked cool. And even Vince like, I remember Vince being like, is he wearing a bra out there or whatever?

Yeah, it was funny. So I threw that out that night. As soon as I heard with Vincent, I was like, okay, and I threw it right in the garbage there. And then I was like, oh, what if I, like, made like a, like, the first idea was like to come out with, like, a t-shirt or something that, like, I cut out the ab window or something. Yeah, that's great. Yeah. And then one of the designers backstage, we were talking and he came up with the jacket idea and all that stuff. So that's when I started wearing that jacket.

Um, but now like as we were going through and towards the last few months of me being in, uh, in, uh, in WWE, I started thinking like, this is kind of getting old and dumb and I don't really, it doesn't represent me and I kind of want to be taking a little more serious. Um, so then I just started, I just said, you know what? I'm an athlete. I should be, I should carry myself as, as a Michael Jordan, as a Tom Brady and I should be my own brand. So I, I, you know, my buddy came up with a cool logo, put it up on my kick pad and that's all I have on my gear. The rest is just plain. I come out with a nice track jacket and I tape my fist ready to fight.

And that's kind of the attitude I'm going into it now. But at the same time, we're still going to get flavors. I'm still going to be flexing and kissing my biceps and stuff. I mean, I would hope so. Come on. Since you are the premier athlete, what were the sports you played growing up? So I actually played ice hockey. Me too.

I played every, did you? Well, I grew up in Canada. You have to play. Yeah, of course. Yeah, that's a given, right? I love that you, and I can tell you're American because you call it ice hockey. We just call it hockey. Yeah, yeah, I guess.

I played every sport as he, as he was younger, but ice hockey was the one that stuck with me all the way through high school. And then I played for a few years. I didn't play in college, but I played like men's league pickup stuff after high school. At the time, there are a lot of Long Islanders now in the NHL. But at the time, that wasn't really like, no one's making it out of Long Island to go to the NHL at the time. So it was never like, I'm going to do this and try to get signed to a team. So which I, you know, who knows if I would have pursued that. But honestly, wrestling was always, wrestling was on my mind since like five years old.

It's coming up with a moniker, I feel like is so difficult. So how much time, thought, effort went into the premier athlete and how did you come up? with it how'd you narrow down um yeah so so i was it's just a matter of every day i would just try to think of like something that represented like uh i'm trying to i can't even if so long ago that i can't remember what ideas i would have but i would always type them in on google or whatever and uh or maybe even back then it was like s jeeves but uh yeah look i would always just like search Ask James. Wow. Web crawler. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, I just type in different things. And then I would look and see like if in any sport or whatever, someone's used that moniker or whatever it is and it would always be taken. And then I remember hearing something about Premiere. And then just in my head, I was like, Premier athlete. Like, that sounds cool. I was like, there's no way in the world that no one hasn't thought of that. Yeah.

I typed it in and I couldn't find anything. I searched in every sport and stuff like that. And obviously, like, they would call top athletes a premier athlete, but it was never like someone like was labeled that or anything. So I was like, oh, I'm jumping all over this. And that was it. I just came up with the idea. I was like premier athlete, that's perfect.

I'm the top athlete, the best, you know, whatever it is. Like that, that's where I'm going to go for it. I mean, it's always, it's always been about my look. I mean, that's what everyone always says to me when, you know, when I show up in a new locker room or whatever, they're always like, oh, man, you look like a million bucks, whatever, whatever. So I was like, that needs to be what I represent.

And that's my image. Who were the body guys you looked up to growing up? Ooh, Rick Rood would probably be the top one. That was actually like, that was my like big pitch to WWE when, when starting in 205 is I wanted to be like there. Rick, I wanted to come out every week and just cut a promo on just on bashing the crowd, just calling them all, you know, just like the sweat hogs type of thing. but just my own my own version of it and you know beat a local beetle and i wanted to just do it so much for so long that people are just absolutely sick and tired of me so that finally it didn't matter

who it was whatever baby face they wanted to come out there to whip my ass they were going to get a reaction for it and like i actually i pitched that to um to vince one day i remember we were in england for a show and i went in his office and i told them everything i wanted to do but i made sure i didn't say rick rude i just kind of said the idea of the concept of I want to come out every week and shit on, you know, make fun of the crowd, whatever. You know, and he was like, yeah, like, I love it. You should. You absolutely should, you know, and I was like, I was on cloud nine the whole time.

Yeah. I'm so happy about it. And I remember the next week, I get pulled aside by the writer and he's like, hey, man, like, he's like, we're not, we're not going to run with that idea anymore. And I was like, what do you mean? He's like, he's like, you know, I was, we wrote it into the show and Vince kind of acted like he never even heard of it before. and was confused about it. And so I tried explaining it to him, it's like Rick Rude.

And I was like, oh, no. And he's like, yeah. And then Vince was like, why would he just be Rick Rude? We already had Rick Rude. You know, that type of thing. Oh, wow. That's it.

It got squashed. And I was like, oh, come on, dude. Like, yeah. So, so unfortunately, like, that idea just kind of went away. And, like, that would have been great because that would have been a lot.

Like, I never really had a moment to have, like, character development. You know, it was mostly just like, hey, here's the guy who comes out, counts his abs and flexes, and that's it. You know, so I wish I was always able to give more to that character. Well, now you've got the opportunity to do more. Absolutely. That's the cool thing is they're going to, they're going to let.

And I don't, like, I already don't feel like there would be an issue, you know, going up to Tony or anyone and just being like, hey, this is what I want to do. And nine times out of ten, they're probably going to be like, yeah, cool, whatever you want to do. Yeah. It works, it works, you know. You mentioned earlier about, you know, maybe if things had gone, the way that you thought they were going to go.

You spend the next 10 years in WWE, and then you think about life after wrestling. Yeah, yeah. What's your take on life after wrestling? You know, so I'm a huge family man. So for me, life after wrestling would obviously just be focused mostly. I'm a family, you know, travel in the world, my wife, stuff like that. When it comes to a professional, I love personal training.

So I definitely would love to go back into that, get back into the fitness industry. I also, so I started kind of, what's you call it getting into like doing Twitch and stuff and I love it unfortunately my schedule got like I kind of like panic got into it as soon as I got released and I feel like I kind of rushed into it a little too much a little too quickly with not a lot of knowledge and stuff I started getting used to it but then all this stuff happened where we decided we were going to move and everything so I had to put everything on hiatus so I will be getting more involved with that as soon as kind of

As soon as I get in my new house, everything gets settled. Yeah, I'll be on Twitch regularly. And who knows, you know, we've seen a lot of people blow up because of that. You know, obviously Adam Cole being the prime example of that. You know, and so to me, like that would be a lot of fun to be able to kind of build a following, you know, doing that, playing games and just live streaming. Yeah. Was there ever a point, Tony, before you got signed a WWE where, you know, you'd been in the, this, I think about 12 years at that point, you weren't signed. Was there ever a point where you went,

you know what, I got to start looking elsewhere. This dream might not happen. Absolutely. Absolutely. So the way it actually, the time, the way it goes is the year before that tryout I had leading into the Cruzeway Classic, that was like my lowest point. I was like, okay, I'm just, I'm working the same companies over and over. You know, I had my routine. I had NWC, Evolve, house of hardcore like they would cover my month and then that would be in the next month you do it again right just kind of doing that and was getting stagnant and I was like and nothing was happening with wwee um so i i started getting frustrated and i started talking to my wife and i was like i was like i think uh i think this is going to be like my last one to two years i'll just kind of do some dates

and and then i got to figure out what i'm going to do i guess i'll just be a personal trainer for the rest of my life and whatever it is. And she's actually the one that said, I would rather live in a cardboard box than you give up on your dream. And then that was, that really stuck with me. And right there, I was like, okay, like, first of all, that's when I decided also like, all right, I'm going to be with this girl for the rest of my life. But on top of that, yeah, like, it's kind of what sparked me. And we decided like, all, you know what, let's just give it one more big, push. And like, I used to always go to WWVs and extra and do tryouts and stuff. But then I kind of stopped. I stopped reaching out to them and stuff because, like, it was useless to me. And then I was

like, you know what, let's just give it one more push, one more push. And this time I'm going to go in with a whole different attitude. I'm not going to be timid and I'm not going to just walk on eggshells. And, and I reached out to them. And luckily, I got a spot as an extra in Buffalo. and this was like the October I think it was because it was leading into their hell in the cell pay review I believe. So I got sent to do the Buffalo show and I got to do tryout matches beforehand, blah, blah,

and Scott Armstrong was the one watching us. And after the thing, he was like, he's like, oh man, if you were up to me, I'd send you to Florida tomorrow, but, you know, he's like, unfortunately it's not up to me, all that stuff they say. And I just said to him and said, hey, can I tell people though that you said that? And he goes, yeah, absolutely.

You can tell them. I said, all right, fine. I just started. I hit up Regal. I hit up everyone. I said, listen, I just did a tryout match. You know, I always get praise from all your producers and everything. Scott Armstrong said that I belong in Florida, all this stuff.

And then that's when they emailed me back pretty immediately. And they were like, could you come January for a tryout? And then that's kind of where that started going. Oh, wow. Yeah. And it was funny, man. And all as I think about like, and then I spent five years in WWE and I always think like, man, I was going to quit too, like literally that year.

And then it all just kind of turned around. But I think there's so much to that story of being so close to quitting that like the words were almost in your mouth. And then you went, yeah, let me just give this one last push. Yeah. And I'm sure like, have you ever, I can't remember the name of the book. But you know the book where it's, It was like 10 feet from gold or something like that.

Oh, I know what you're talking about. Yeah. I'm definitely saying the wrong name, but like that's definitely a book that kind of, that's kind of like a thing that was like I think about now. And I'm like, man, I was literally like 10 feet away and I could have just turned around and walked away. And the idea in that book for someone who hasn't read it is that you're digging for gold and then maybe you give up, Tony, but I keep going.

and 10 feet later, I strike it rich and find the gold. Yeah, exactly. So it's the idea of like, you never know how close you might have been if you quit. Yeah, yeah. And then wrestling is like that and you see that with so many. I mean, especially the last few years with, you know, we saw a lot of people that were just, there's people that were in the independence longer than me

that were finally starting to get their shot in WWV and stuff like that, which to me that was amazing. And I think that that's a great message to young wrestlers out there is, you know, just keep going. Just keep going because the industry and the demand or whatever, it changes so much that at the time you might think that I'm not what they're looking for. But guess what? Next week, they might be looking for you. So, you know, that's definitely something that I preach out there now to younger talent. And another thing I preach out there now is don't go.

Like I went into it with tunnel vision, like I explained before. before. It was always just WWE, WWE, and I'm going to stay in this company because people have made it there. Like, don't do tunnel vision. Broaden your horizons. Go anywhere and everywhere you absolutely can. Make your name as important as you possibly can. And that's usually a guaranteed way to get noticed by somebody. And it's ironic because you're saying you were tunnel, you had tunnel vision for WWE, but you were actually signed to TNA briefly. Yeah, yeah. That was a, I was very new, And that was a, it was a very, like, I got lucky that I got that deal, but it was, it was, it ended up being like more of a tragedy than, you know, than the, like, I remember thinking when I signed the contract that my life is going to change forever. And it actually did change, but it changed for the worst.

And what year was that? Ah, man, it's funny. I think it was like, it's fun. So I'm the worst with remembering. This is great that you don't know. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So I want to say, what was it, probably like 2007 or eight, maybe? Look, the internet has all the answers.

Yeah, I'm probably way up. It's probably like 2010 or something. But like I felt like at that time, TNA still had some momentum though. Yeah. So I ended up, so the reason I got. 2011. Okay. So it was way after I thought. That's funny. Okay, 2011. You made your debut and you can remember this, if anyone ever asked, on 7-7-11. Okay.

That's when I did that. July 7, 2011. Was that the Jesse Sorensen and Jack Evans match? The X-Division Showcase Tournament. Yeah, that's exactly it. Yeah. I said, I vaguely remember that it's funny. Thank goodness for Wikipedia.

Yeah. So I got lucky because a lot of guys at that time were signed to, I believe, Lucha Underground, maybe. No, that would have been too soon for Lucha Underground. Okay, so there was some other show then that was, that a lot of people had contracts with. Maybe it was that, what was that show that had, like, homicide was on it and all different people and it was on.

The Russell Society X? Yes, I think that, no, that would have been like 0-506 or something. Everyone in the comments right now is going, these guys are idiots. I can't believe this. Complete idiots. Yeah, so there was something that was going on that everyone had contracts to. So I got lucky that TNA at the time was trying to do a tournament,

and they really a lot of like the names they wanted were locked up somewhere. Yeah, I'm sorry, I can't remember anything. So, so then, so I got lucky to get into the tournament for that. And again, they called me and they said, hey, this is a one-off. This is to put, which call it? It was Jack Evans, right? Yeah, it was like just to put Jack Evans over for the pay-per-view. Okay, cool.

After the match, though, all three of us got so much praise for it that they ended up offering all three of us a contract. And it's funny, Jack Evans was the one that didn't take the contract. But they offered us the contract, me, Jesse Sorensen, and then also other ones in the tournament, Zima at the time and all them. And the idea, the concept was, hey, this company was built off of the X Division. We're going to bring that back. This was Vince Rousseau at the time. And he's like, we're going to bring it back.

We're going to build again, you know, build this company off the X Division and all this stuff. We were super excited. It was a per appearance contract. And also the thing in the contract was we couldn't do anything that was going to go on DVD or on eye, I pay-per-view, which at the time, this was like during the boom of eye-paper views where every independent company was somehow streaming their show. So I all of a sudden went from bookings every week to I wasn't allowed to take any bookings. And then I'm signed to TNA, but they're only going to pay me when they book me. And they just like didn't ever book.

I did five matches in nine months. And this was a three-year contract. So now I'm starving. I'm making zero money, all this stuff. So I started to think like, all right, I always wanted to be signed to a major company, but this is going to end up like ruining. It's going to ruin my relationship. It's going to ruin everything.

So I just had a, and then I got approached by an independent company to wrestle the great muda. Wow. But the promoter said to me, he goes, listen, though, if I'm paying, for the Great Muda, he's got to be on the IP review. It can't be. Because sometimes I would get booked to be a dark match before the IP reviews if the people still wanted me there.

So I reached out the T&A. I was like, listen, I haven't done anything in like five months with you guys. This is a huge opportunity. It could also help get me to Japan and do some stuff. I said, it'll help build my name. And then you guys will have someone with more stock in their name. And they immediately reach back. And this is funny because I would email them all the time and they'd never respond to me.

But then finally when I emailed them that, I got called back minutes later. And they were like, you absolutely cannot do that. It's in your contract, blah, blah, blah. So I was just like, you know what? Then I'd rather get out of my contract. Can I please have my release? And again, finally, they respond very quickly. Okay, no problem.

Frigan less than an hour later, I get a release form emailed to me and signed it. Wow. And then that was it. It was over. So, yeah, it ended up being a crappy experience, unfortunately. But it's led you to where you are right now. Exactly. It was actually, it was like for me, you know, I'm a Leo.

So I'm a slow learner, a late bloomer, I guess you would say. So for me, like I learn as I go. Luckily, I'm able to still stay healthy in my 30s so that I'm not like broken and finally breaking out into something. But the, where was I going with this now? You know, for me, it's just, yeah, like I've just, I've, I've, I just have to keep learning through experiences, learning through experiences, and then just fixing it, you know, for the future. Yeah. And that was definitely a huge, you know, it was a negative experience, but it did become one of my most important lessons.

Well, and now you're on the cusp of like a whole bunch of big stuff. Yeah, yeah. To be happening here. Absolutely. Tony, it's just so good to catch up with you. So good to chat with you. And, man, it's perfect timing for this. So congratulations.

Yeah. Thank you so much, man. I appreciate it. Yeah, I was looking forward to be. being on your show too, man. You have a great show. Well, thank you. And you know that I end every conversation with the same question. I talk about gratitude. So for you, Tony, what are three things in your life that you're grateful for right now? Okay. I'm definitely grateful for my family. And that goes, because my family is my biggest supporters, my best coaches, between my parents,

my brothers, my wife, my kids. Like, if it wasn't for their support, support. Like I definitely, I don't know what I'd be doing. Um, I'd say grateful for my, um, I'm grateful for the, uh, my opportunities that I've gotten. I'm grateful that, uh, you know, WWT took a chance with me and, and gave me five years of, you know, as much as I might, like I said, I bitching, you know, a lot of us will bitch and complain about different things. situations. It's just the nature of the beast. It's a competitive industry. We're all trying to be stars. But I honestly am very grateful for the opportunities they gave me, the lessons they taught me and just, you know, they did change my life. They definitely changed my life for the better financially and all that stuff. And then also, I'd say my health. My health is something I'm very grateful for, you know, and more and more as we, as we go through, you know, we just went through a crazy pandemic and everything where health started becoming an even bigger discussion.

You know, I'm very grateful that I, that I've been able to, at a young age, learn about health and take care of myself and remain healthy and everything, because, you know, mentally and physically, because that is, I think that that is the most important thing that everyone should focus on more than anything is your personal, your physical and your mental health should be the first things you think about every more. Yeah, I love it. Tony, thank you so much. Oh, thank you, man. Appreciate it. There we go, my friends, Tony Neese, big thank you to him for being with us on this episode. Big thank you to you as well. I'm so excited to see what he does with this opportunity in AEW. Give him a follow on social media. He's at Tony Neese, N-E-S-E-S-E,

lots of photos of his abs on there. You can give me a follow at Chris Van Vleet. Not as many photos of my abs on there. But, you know, every once in a while, let me sneak one in. And if it's your first time here, make sure to give us a follow or a subscribe wherever you're listening to this right now.

And I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes ever from Bruce Lee. He said, if you love life, don't waste time. For time is what life is made up of. Be great. Be grateful. We'll see you on the next one for some more insight. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock, but there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley.

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