Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Wesley Blake on Jaxson Ryker's tweets, WWE release, The Forgotten Sons, Steve Maclin and What's Next

Episode Date: July 19, 2021

Wesley Blake (Westin Blake) is a professional wrestler known for his time in NXT and WWE. He joins Chris Van Vliet from his home in Orlando, FL to talk about his recent release from WWE, what he plans to do next, his time in "The Forgotten Sons" faction with Steve Maclin and Jaxson Ryker, his reaction to Jaxson Ryker's tweets that derailed the momentum of The Forgotten Sons, his love of pro wrestling and football as a kid, his wife "Tough Enough" winner Sara Lee, how becoming a father changed him and much more! Submit your Blue Wire Hustle application here: http://bwhustle.com/join If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. For more information about Chris and 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Well, here we go, my friends. Welcome back to another audio adventure on Insight. I'm Chris Van Ville. Thank you so much for coming back each and every week. And we had his former tag team partner on the show earlier this week. So it only makes sense to have Wesley Blake or Weston Blake, as he now calls himself, on the show. Today, you can find him on social media at the Westin Blake. You can find me at Chris Van Fleet.

And you've already found the podcast. But please take a second to follow. or subscribe if you haven't already. And I've said it before, but the reviews are the biggest thing that help the show get discovered and help the show to continue to climb up the charts.

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Is that appropriate or not? You can leave an emoji if you want. That's a tall little take. This review is from Earl Yens. He says, huge shout out to CVV. Easily the best podcaster and interviewer in the business. CVV makes his guests and us listeners feel like we're there with him and he asks questions that we wouldn't even think to ask in our minds. Whether it's a short podcast like the one with John Sina or it's an hour-long conversation with anyone, you'll be captivated and entertained by the man with three simple letters, CVV.

Thank you, Chris, for these podcasts and for being a motive. to a person dealing with some of the hardest times in his life in myself. Please keep on this great course and keep working hard. Well, thank you so much, Earl, and I hope you get through those tough times that you're going through right now and just know that you're not alone, my friend. We are in this together with you, Earl. All right. Let's dive into today's conversation.

Ladies and gentlemen, please say hello to Weston Blake. Corey, great to meet you. Hey, very nice meeting you, Chris. Tell me, how has life been for you over these last few months? Life is great. I can't really complain all too much, man. I'd say I have a third baby on the way. Congratulations.

Thank you, thank you. And so I'm getting to spend time with my kids and stuff like that. I have some content coming out. Hopefully, that my creative juices I've got going. that I'll be releasing here soon. And it's just a very fun time in life for me. I feel like there's a lot of good opportunities coming up here in the next future. So life is good, man.

I can't complain all that much. This is impressive artwork behind you, by the way. What are we looking at here? Thank you. Thank you. That's my four-year-old's artwork right there. This is funny because if you told me that this was like, you know, from some famous artists, and be like, ah, of course it is, yeah.

She loves to paint and stuff like that. And then when she gets so giddy and so happy when we put it up on the wall, she loves that she calls them painting posters. And so every time we, you know, so we always put it up in the office, what she loves. She always does that's like a big thrill for her. And so if you just see her smiling and get so happy about painting us stuff, that, you know, that's all the more reason why we're. we do it. So yeah, I have no problem. Plus, she paints better than I do.

I think you've got an artist on your hands here. Yeah, yeah. She's better artist than her father. I know that much. Corey, how much has being a father changed you and changed your career path? I wouldn't say change my career path, I would say. It changes your focus and your drive a little bit, you know. just, I mean, from our first daughter, you know, that we had four years ago, I still remember the day that Sarah actually told me that we were, you know, that she was pregnant. Of course, we were in NFC, and it was right before Brooklyn 2, you know, NXC takeover. And I had a match with Sean Spears. And so that day is a very interesting day because when I got to the building, I didn't know who my appointment. was going to be. They're like, hey, you're going to wrestle on the pre-taped before the takeover.

But they're trying to work out a thing with Abushi at that time, with Koda Abushi. Yeah. So I think they were trying to come out with a deal with him. So I just sat there, I sat there for hours waiting. And I didn't know. I think it was Adam Pierce kept coming back and we like, we don't know who your opponent's going to be yet. We don't know who your opponent's going to be yet. And it wasn't until, I want to say, you know, maybe, in an hour and a half probably before doors or something like that. Finally, when I got told like, hey, you're going to be wrestling Sean Spears. And so I was like, oh, great.

So I just found out who I'm wrestling. And I get a phone call, you know, from Sarah. And so I picked up the phone call. She said, hey, can I talk to you? Are you around anyone? I said, no, no. So I walked away. And that's when she told me that, you know, I was going to be a father for the first time.

and it just, it was, you know, the emotions. And I mean, she just instantly with that sentence alone made me the happiest man in the world. Because that's two things I wanted to do in life was wrestle and be a father. And so when that happened, I was just, you know, I was, I was overwhelmed and stuff like that. And I felt bad because she was in Orlando alone, you know, when she had, you know, when she found out that she was pregnant. So I just felt like, oh, man, I should have been there and stuff like that. But man, when I got that news, it switched my focus to where, I mean, I've always pride of myself on work on, you know, I try to put in the best product I can out there for myself and

what's best for the match. But that night, I was just driven to be like, I want to go out there and I just want to steal the show. And I want to just like show everyone like what, you know, Wesley Blake, you know, was all about. And I couldn't, I couldn't done it without, without Sean. He was, you know, it was excellent. I loved working with him.

I worked with him on, you know, several different occasions, a live event. And it was just nice that I got to have that match with him. And that's a match that will always be near and dear in my heart just for, you know, for one, when that's when I became, was knowing that was going to become a father and two, just that crowd and everything, that match just worked for me. I love that you keep referring to him as Sean Spears because when you wrestled him, he was Ty Dillinger. Yeah, yeah. I try to keep up with people's name changes and stuff like that.

I don't want, yeah. But yeah, Ty Dillinger, a.k.a. Yeah, Sean Spears. So, I mean, so what are you going by now? Weston Blake. So Weston Blake, yeah, when I was going through NXT the first time, I pitched a bunch of names. And I was always told, and I always felt best, like if you have a name that you can connect. Beth growth. And Blake, which is, I have an older brother named Blake. So that was a big driving factor.

And most of my life, you know, people have called me a Weston, you know, which is my last name, West. So I've been called West or Weston. So when I gave her my first list of NXT names, Wesley Blake was the winner. They had like three or four on there. But I can't remember. They weren't that good. You know, you say that the two goals for you were to become a father and to become a pro wrestler. I mean, you've checked both of those off. I'm curious, a kid who grows up in Texas playing football, is the goal also not to play pro football? Because, I mean, everybody knows what that lifestyles like in Texas. Yeah, well, like that's in high school football there, it's very much, I came from a small town in Texas.

And so it was very much, I mean, Friday night football game is just as big as a Sunday night Dallas Cowboys game, you know, there in Texas. I mean, a lot of, you know, for a small school we had, you know, our bleachers were always filled, you know, with thousands of people just to watch this game. So it helped me transition over to wrestling. I've always wanted to be a wrestler since I was in diapers because I grew up watching wrestling. my come my dad loved wrestling uh he grew up in texas well and he was very much uh von erics and and then doing the funs you know back in that day and he even went uh ran track against a couple of von erics i want to say against david and so stuff like that and that's when my dad released um you know uh his grandfather watched wrestling and stuff like that so uh you know

it's always been an entertainment source for my family where that's always been in our household. And so that was, ever since I was a little kid, that's something that I've always wanted to do. I always gravitate you to. And once you get into the high school football, like you said in Texas football,

you could change, but that was always the main goal. Like I wanted to kind of go to college to play football. Obviously, that didn't work out. I started working and just went to college, and I was trying to get my feet ready into a resting school with Rudy Boy. Gonzalez, but he never returned my calls or my messages. So I just never, I could just never

line up with him. And then eventually I got in touch with Dory Film Jr. And that's where I went to go to get trained. If movies or TV shows about Texas high school football have taught us anything, Varsity Blues, Friday Night Lights, you're a rock star when you play football in high school. Did you feel that? Yeah, it was very, very much so. You know, I don't know, I don't on a much smaller scale, because I mean, anywhere you go, people knew you in that small town. I mean, you can go to breakfast or whatever.

It was very much, if you go to the gas station, the gas station would say, hey, great game. You know, what do you think of this next coming week? And, you know, like, what are your future plans and that type of stuff? So it was very much like all eyes kind of on you type thing or the football team, you know. And so, but I think it just helped me, you know, as I get older in life and stuff like that, and when you started by transitioning through parts of your life,

it really does help with the fact that, like, man, you know, you know, after Friday night, you go to the Saturday paper and, you know, you look for your name and look for your staffs and stuff like that to kind of see, and, you know, people praise you. And so you always wanted to honor the school. You always want to honor yourself and stuff like that. And I think that's a thing that you kind of want to do in wrestling. as well.

When you wrestle, you want to honor all the people that taught you stuff. Of course, I've got the funk, the funk name that I want to honor and that I want to carry throughout my career as well. So it's just, it comes hand in hand.

Yeah. What do you think specifically you learned from Dory Funk that you still keep with you every single match? Every single match you told me that you're going to learn something new, no matter whether you're in there, wrestling a guy from the 50th time or for the very first time. And I think that's what's helped me with my, with his foundation and stuff like that,

he was able to help evolve when the business was evolving. I mean, he's been around, you know, for the 70s and 80s and 90s and 2000s. And he's even still training athletes to this day for, you know, the dream to be a wrestler. And for, you know, someone like that and just to have a mind of like, hey, it's always going to be involving, like, you know, just, you know, stay true to yourself, wrestle how you kind of want to wrestle.

But, you know, take care of yourself. And just, and you always learn, you know, never, you know, never stop learning that aspect of wrestling. And that's what I do, you know, every opponent or every match I go into, you go in, and you learn something. And so it's just kind of like a, like my daughter when she paints, you know, You know, paints this painting. You know, like every time I'm in a match, you know, that's you, that's one of your breaststrokes on the, on the mat that you're doing.

So. Yeah. When did you start to realize that you were taking this to another level? Like, you started to get some interest from WWE. And I don't know if everybody realizes this. You were signed at WWE for eight years, which is, you know, pretty much most of your career. When did that's, when did you start to get interest from them? when i got interest from them i want to say i think what helped uh was i had the dory font name behind me sure but what helped me in my confidence uh is um jerry the king waller had a heart attack

you know uh on monday night raw and one of his first matches back uh he came to the funcan conservatory and wrestled uh in a six men or eight man in an eight man match which i got to wrestle him. Oh, wow. And so at that time, I was still very green. I did, you know, still kind of learning the ropes and stuff like that. And so at that time, I was, I was very, very nervous for this match because here he is, W.W. Hallfamer, an absolute legend in the business. And I just remember, because I remember driving to the building and I, I couldn't eat. I just had like this empty pit stomach, you know, gut feeling. And I got there. And of course, like my hands are, or clammy and like I'm kind of like I had sweating because I was just very nervous.

I mean, I really want to do good. You know, this guy's been in business for years. And you know, here I am just, you know, green hopefully I do well. Yeah. And when I talked to him, when he got to the building and he talked to to me and some a couple of the other athletes, he had such a competence and just a calm aspect about him that gave me confidence that he talked to. I mean, he traded stories.

He told us about what it was like when he was getting in the business. And just the way that he talked to us and the way he cracked jokes and the way the confidence that exuded him gave me confidence. Like when I went out there to wrestle him that night, I felt like I wrestled him for five years, you know, because that's the kind of confidence that he just like gave me without even trying. It was just like something that he exuded, like the professionalism. and after that match, that's when I realized, okay,

I can do this. I can, I just wrestled the W.A. Hall of Famer, I know I can go in there and hang with anyone now. That's the confidence that he gave me. Did he put in a word with WWE?

Did he say, man, you got to check out this kid? I don't know if he did. I mean, it would be nice if he did. I just know that Dory and Jared Brescoe are really good friends

from back in the day and stuff. And Gerald Briscoe actually came to one of our shows and saw me wrestle and saw me work. And that's when he told me like, yep, I'm going to go put it in a work for you for the WWE. And you'll have a tryout here soon. So and that's when, and that's how I kind of got my trial was Gerald Briscoe kind of getting the nod from him. At that time, he was looking at a lot of amateur wrestlers because, of course, he has an amateur background and stuff like that. And so I had my tryout and end of September 2012. Yeah, I mean, like I said, it's been eight years that you were signed there.

And, you know, unfortunately, it didn't end on your terms. And I'm sorry that it didn't end on your terms. But when you look back on your time there, what are you most proud of? Oh, I got a lot of, looking back, I have nothing but great memories there. Because I got a lot of stuff to be proud of. Just for the fact, you know, I felt like I was able to evolve with NXT as well. Like it started off when I got there in 2013 to where it is now. I felt like I was at a town that I could evolve my talents.

You know, winning the NXT tag titles with Buddy Murphy. That was, of course, one of my highlights. You know, getting the team with Steve and us pitching the idea of Forgotten Sons. That was another proud moment where there was something that we pitched, that we originally gave them idea for and they kind of ran with. Meeting my wife there, you know,

getting to start a life with her. You know, that's another proud moment. Getting to travel and wrestle in places that never thought I'd get to travel. You know, I got to wrestle in Paris, France, and a circus tent.

You know, that was, you know, like just little stuff like that. Yeah. And, of course, the friendships you get to make. And,

you know, when I was down at NXT, you know, one of the coolest things, Like, you always remember big matches. Like, of course, take over 25, the latter matches, stuff like that. But I also remember getting to wrestle people's first matches. And the confidence that the company felt with me like, hey, let's put Wesley Blake,

let's have him, you know, this person have their first match with him. Because it just reminded me of the Jerry Lawler scene where it was like, you know, where he gave me the confidence. I'm like, okay, now I can try to repay it with them and stuff. with that hopefully give this person the confidence to kind of keep going with it. And hopefully give them the comfort of, you know, the way that Jerry gave me comfort in my first match as well. When you pitched Forgotten Sons, was the name Forgotten Sons? Or is that something that you guys brainstormed and came up with afterwards?

When we first pitched the name, our names, I should say, we wanted to use prisoners of society or prisoners of the system is what we wanted to use. And we kind of wanted to be these two guys that, you know, felt like we did everything right in life, but, you know, but nothing was given to us. Like, you know, we didn't get our comeuppings yet. And so we were going to take it by any means necessary type, type thing. And so we pitched that, but they didn't like the prisoners of the system.

So much because they thought that like kind of brought NXT at a back. bad life. And so then we started pitching other names and then forgotten sons is the ones that stuck through. Yeah, we did Forgotten Sons and which which was another one that we kind of pitched

and we were happy that they liked it so well. And you guys had a ton of momentum and I'm curious to know how much of that was halted with what Jackson Riker tweeted out. Well, yeah, I mean the whole situation got a

halted. I mean, that's what, you know, we were, you know, when we got called up there, that was, we were told that we were going to be feuding with the new day. And that's what it looked like for the foreseeable future that we were going to be with them. Xavier Woods was out at that time. And I believe they had plans on once he was ready to come back that, they were going to have us kind of do six men's and integrate with each other and stuff like that. So, yeah, it was, you know, then that tweet happened. And, you know, it you know, Steve and myself, we asked Riker if you were going to take it down. But, you know, as a man of his own, he's respectfully said, no, I'm not going to do that.

And so Steve and I just told him, like, well, listen, we're going to kind of separate ourselves from you with our own opinions. And so, and we did. And, you know, and when Steve and I, we went into creative the next day at the Performance Center, and we talked with some creative. and we were told and reassured like, listen, we're going to let this blow over for about two, three weeks, and then we'll bring you back. I mean, you'll still feud with a new day.

Yeah. And then I believe it was probably about a week later when we got a text saying, like, nope, new day is going with Shinske and this is our home for soon and future. Oh, wow. So this was, I mean, you had a huge opportunity in your hands that was taken away, basically. Yeah, yeah.

but when something like that happens, it's something that you can't, you can't wait on, you can't sit there and, and gripe about it, you can't let that weigh on you. I did what I felt was right and what I felt was needed to help move on.

And so after that, you know, of course, Riker has called me and apologized. Like he, you know, of course he never meant for that to hurt, you know,

our careers. He never meant for that to, dismember the forgotten sons. So he's very apologetic, you know, towards me and Steve. And, you know, so, but that was one thing I told Steve and told Reichler like, all right, well, now we got, I got to keep moving forward. I can't sit here and be stuck here and keep blaming this or that or whatever. Like, I'm going to keep moving forward and try to make the best of the situation.

and which we, you know, we pitched a bunch of ideas and stuff like that, Steve and myself, to kind of get on TV and kind of get the ball rolling again. And fortunately, that took us to probably about December where they paired us with Corbyn. Right. Did you ever have the chance to break out and do stuff on your own? This would be my time. This is my time now. Yeah.

I mean, and when you talk about moving forward and looking ahead, what are you looking ahead to right now? Yeah, I'm looking ahead to kind of tell my story. I kind of get to wrestle how I want to wrestle and kind of also get to wrestle people, you know, that you've, from all different companies and all different styles. Like, that's one thing. You're with that at WW. You're under the WWE umbrella.

You get to wrestle people from different backgrounds and ethnicities and stuff like that and different cultures. But now I get to go. out and I get to wrestle in front of, you know, different crowds, you know, they're not necessarily a WBE crowd anymore. They're going to be a more hardcore crowd or whatever. It's just very exciting for me to get to do that and to got to get these experiences and hopefully get to work with these talented people across the globe in order to get to wrestle to help me elevate myself as well as a performer and hopefully like I said get my story out there and kind of get you know just my craftmanship up to a level that I would like I mean that day's coming

up when you can you know when you many days are up and you can be back in a ring so it's it's in July right then we could expect to see you back in a ring July 15th would be the last day on my nanny days and then we'll start hitting the ground runner from there. And so that's hopefully we can, I can bring value to companies that see value in me. And then hopefully, like I said, I can elevate myself, which will help elevate the company as well. Well, I mean, now you have an endless amount of options of people you could wrestle. So who's at the top of this list? Oh, man.

That is, that's always tough for me just because there's so many talented people out there. But these are like dream matches for you. Yeah, yeah. It's endless. You know, just, you know, because you have, I mean, if you just look at rosters all across, you have the AEW has a great talented field roster. But you have impact. You have R-O-H. You have MLW.

You have MLW. You have a new Japan. You have NOAA. You have all these, you know, stacked rosters with all sorts of experiences, you know, that you just, you know, makes me giddy. of wanting to get to wrestle these kind of people and wrestle with these rosters and kind of get to learn from these people. And that's very exciting for me. I mean, it's exciting for us, too,

to be able to see, you know, where you'll land or who you'll wrestle once you are able to work again. Yeah. Yeah. You mentioned your wife, Sarah, and I want to just give some context here for everybody who might not know. She was one of the last winners of Tough Enough.

She was. Yeah, she was. So you met her as a result of her winning Tough Enough and then being at the Performance Center? Yep, yep. That's where we met kind of a little bit of a backstory with that. So when Tough Enough was coming out and they, I used to go over to Dollar Town's apartment and we used to watch it Rawl and stuff like that as being a couple buddies. And I'll never forget when they like release like the last like these are the last. been tough enough people. And when Sarah came across the screen,

I sat there and I told the guys, I said, I don't know what it is by her. I said, but I think she is the most beautiful woman I've ever laid my eyes on. And, you know, and so it was just,

just crazy because I said that, you know, of course, that was before even the show was, you know, I think it was just like, here are the 11 people. Yeah.

And so that, and then I, just by fate, she ends up winning it. And, uh, yeah, that was something that,

I was, you know, super proud of her, you know, and now knowing her and knowing her story. And I was just so proud of her. You kind of watch that. And there was a couple of times, you know, when you're that beautiful inside and out, it shows through the camera. And I think, I think that's what resonated with the fans.

I think that's what helped her win, of course. And because there's a couple times where she could have got voted off, but the fans, like, nope, we wanted to see her and stuff like that. And it came across to me. And how we started talking was, I don't know if, I mean, people may not, but the NXT has like an NXT combine type thing that you see it on the, well, at that time, it was a different name. But we were doing that.

We were doing some testing, like in weight room type testing and stuff like that. Well, you know, we did the rower. And, of course, you know, I was, well, I forgot the distance. but I did so much where I ended up throwing up, where I made myself ill. I pushed myself to competing so much where I was throwing up. So I was in the wait room, you know, the head over a trash can

as the girls were coming in to start their competition. So real good look for me. Great first impression. Yeah, great first impression for me to, you know, and so to head over the trash can throwing up. And then she was so sweet that later on that night, she messaged me through Twitter and said, hey, I hope you're feeling better. And then that's how we started messaging each other.

And then the rest took off. I'm fascinated by like the concept of like the butterfly effect and like everything happens for a reason. Just think if you hadn't pushed yourself that hard and throwing up, you might not have had this icebreaker for the woman to be. I know. It's just crazy because I remember when we used to have like Friday morning yoga classes and stuff like that. And I remember like trying to like talk to her. And I remember like I went there and she was of course doing the yoga. And I was and I asked her there was a couple. There was like several of us going after breakfast after the yoga and stuff. And I remember asking her like, hey, would you like to go to dinner or not dinner, but breakfasts with all, you know, there's about six of us. And she turned me down. She goes, no, I can't. You know, I had.

but I think she was moving into an apartment at that time. Right. So she was just like, I got furniture coming. So I was just like, oh, man, I just, you know, that was, you know, kind of my shot and that type of stuff. So, and then, I mean, who would have thought that me throwing up after pushing myself so hard in competition that she would DM me asking me if I'm okay. So I imagine that a big chunk of her job now is being a mom. But what else is she doing for work? Right now, we're just expecting our third, you know, coming up and hearing the next couple of weeks.

You know, I whatever she wants to do, her future, you know, whether getting back in the rain or she wants to pursue something else, she has my blessing and 100% support with it. After our second child, she kind of started training again, of course, at flatbacks with Spears and Tyler Breeze. I know that plays well. Yes, yes, you do. I've seen. And so we, you know, but they helped her. They instill confidence back in her, you know, especially with her after having two kids and stuff like that.

And, you know, and so I've always told her, especially after this, because this one will be our last. And whatever she wanted to do, if she wanted to get back into wrestling, that, you know, she would have my 100% support. Or if she wants to go in any other avenue, she'll have a 100% support just because she's done the same for me. You know, she's, you know, been supportive.

She, you know, without hesitation, you know, if I had something to do or something, you know, she would always tell me to do it and do it to the best of my ability. And I just can't thank her enough for that. I feel like you've got this renewed excitement, this renewed energy for wrestling because you can pretty much do what you want beginning next month. yeah i can and it's exciting like it's an exciting time i find it like a like a blessing in disguise almost where um you know you want to go out there you want to show you know yourself and you want to show like hey uh you know this is what i got and this is what i you know i can do and type of stuff and now

i can and you know uh will it you know will it be in front of the millions that w uc is no but it will be in front of crowds in front of people that hopefully when they see it they will be like you know what that's a guy who's obviously loves it and has a passion for it and you know hopefully it can incite someone to follow their dreams and follow their passion. I hope looking at where I am now and where I hope to be it would be something that my kids can look up to as way I looked up to my family. for my father and my mother. Both of them, my dad worked with horses most of his life. And he, you know, but that was something he loved and was very passionate about. And I mean, to him, he never worked a day in his life because that was something that he loved to do. And to see my mom, you know, when she got pregnant with my oldest brother, she kind of quit her nursing school. But my mom had had such a passion and love for nursing that once my mom and dad,

had split and got divorced, she started going back to school. And I saw, like, from a 13, 14-year-old, I saw this woman, you know, who's working two jobs, was still going to school, still pursuing her love and her passion. And that's when I think the will started turning in my head, like, oh, I see this woman, it's sacrificing so much that I instilled confidence in me, like, I can go after what I want and I can go after my dream and passion and stuff like that. That's what I hope to do with my kids and with future athletes and talents. Well, you're doing it and you've been doing most of your career. I'm curious, though, Corey, do you think about life after wrestling?

Of course. Of course. And the thing with life after wrestling is as you get older, you find other passions in your life. And of course, there are other passions of mine outside of wrestling with strength and conditioning, what I went to school for. I went for exercise, sports science and minor in business. And so, and that's always something that I've always looked to. That's something I love.

I love training. I love getting to train athletes. You know, there at the Performance Center, I was under two great strengthening coaches. And that's something I can see myself get back into is. coaching athletes with strength and conditioning. Another passion of mine is like real real estate. You know, something, you know, so now I will have the time to kind of, you know,

if I want to indulge and dive into that, I can and stuff like that. It's just the things with when I look at stuff for the future and things like that, I just look for what am I passionate about to where I know like I, you know, that I will look back on my life and say, like, you know, I did everything that I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it. So when you talk about real estate, like would you be interested in being a real estate agent? Yeah. Yeah. I love because I watch these documentaries on Netflix, of course, like Earth and stuff like that. But I also find that I really love ranches and farms and finding stuff like that. And it's very unique to me of the landscaping, even like building homes.

You know, I always watch like the 10 most unique homes in the world and stuff like that. And it's always very fascinating on how it's built or even like the inspiration behind the design of it and the thought of it. And that and that's just the cool stuff that I find interesting. I would love to see your business card or your placard, you know, on the lawn. it's you, but it's your wrestling photo instead of like business photo. Yeah, that would be great. Like you could have some mean face like buy this house for me or else. Or take a DDT.

This is it. Yeah. I mean, how could you possibly say no to that? You know, I end every interview talking about gratitude. And I'm curious for you, what are three things in your. life that you're grateful for right now? I'm grateful for, of course, my wife and my kids. I'm grateful for, I'm grateful for a lot of things. I'm grateful for the friendships that I've had over the past several years. You know, Steve Macklin, as you well know, who is my tag partner, but he was also a godfather

to my, to my kids. You know, I'm grateful for the life lessons that I'm, I've been able to learn through NXT and WWE. I'm grateful for supportive parents that I've always had, supportive family and my brothers and sisters, that as well. And, you know, I have a lot to be grateful for. I'm grateful for, you know, to have a roof over my head and I have food on my plate. So, you know, there's a lot of stuff to be grateful for and a lot of stuff that's very exciting for me moving forward.

I love that, you know, you're just living in this attitude of gratitude. I asked you to list off three and you listed on. like 17. It's great. I love it. You know, you survived a lot of cuts. There were a lot of cuts when you were working for WWE. Did you think that you were going to survive this one as well? Yeah. I mean, you always do. Like yes and no. So that was the thing. So when Steve got released, you know, in the back of your head, you're like, oh, I could be next because I was his tag partner, you know but that that didn't stop me from you know when not when he got released it made me go like okay give them a reason to not release you type you know type attitude so that's what i did i started

pitching stuff uh buddy and myself kind of rekindled and we started like pitching ideas after mania we were going to kind of get together and film some stuff to show creative uh but uh unfortunately that didn't didn't get to happen so um you know it was one of those things where At the back of my mind, it could have happened or whatever, but I was going to try my best to make sure that it didn't happen. But the company was going a certain way with their product, and they didn't see me fitting it. Well, I'm excited for what's next for you, because like I mentioned, you've got an endless amount of options. So it'll be interesting to see where you land and also who you'll be in the ring with. Oh, I can't wait. It's a lot of fun for me as well.

I'm very excited for it. Well, I'm excited for it. I appreciate you coming on. I appreciate you sharing about the artwork behind you. It's so beautiful. I've been captivated by it this whole time. Please tell your daughter, she is a wonderful artist. I will.

I will. She'll be really excited about it, too. Corey, thank you so much. Thank you, Chris. I really did appreciate this. Well, there we go. Big thank you to Weston Blake for being with us. And a bigger thank you to you.

Because, you know, without you here, it's just me. It's me standing in. my bedroom right now, where I am, with the door closed, wearing headphones, and talking into this mic. Take a screenshot. Let us know what you thought about this episode. Share it with a friend. Tag us on social media. You can find Weston at the Weston Blake. You can find me at Chris Van Fleet. And I love this quote from Albert Einstein. It's all about perspective here. Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life. believing that it's stupid.

Yeah. Be great. Be grateful, my friends. We'll see you on the next one for some more insight. Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because I have a job to do. With rapid fire takes.

So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs on this notion today. No idea what you're talking about. You're complaining more than you like to breathe air. It's like you get up in the morning only to complain and cry and moan on social. media about things that you don't even understand. He's the spitfire of sports smack. Take advantage of it, get up in here. The Jim Rome Show podcast.

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