Insight with Chris Van Vliet - What's next for Bronson Reed? - NXT release, North American championship, AEW, IMPACT & NJPW

Episode Date: September 27, 2021

Today's guest is JONAH (fka Bronson Reed). He is an Australian professional wrestler known for his time in NXT where he is a former North American champion. He joins Chris Van Vliet from his home in Orlando, FL to talk about growing up as a wrestling fan in Australia, the influence of his fellow Australian pro wrestlers like Tenille Dashwood, Buddy Murphy, Cassie Lee & Jessica McKay, what's next after being released from his WWE contract, thoughts on AEW, IMPACT & New Japan, his new podcast called JONAHDROME, his favorite movies and much more! If you enjoyed this, 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

All systems are gathered. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Blaine! Ah, what an intro. Here we go. Welcome back to another audio adventure on Insight. I'm Chris Van Fleet. So good to have you with us on this one, and I'm excited. Well, let's be honest.

I'm pretty excited in general, just like day-to-day. I'm excited. But I'm pumped for this one because we really haven't heard a lot from Bronson Reed, aka Jonah, since he was released from his NX. contract back in August. This man is full of talent. He's full of potential, and I feel like we only saw a little bit of it

during his time in NXT. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram. He's at Jonah. Is here. And take a screenshot. Let us know that you're listening to this episode. It's always so cool to know that you're on this journey with us. Make sure to tag Jonah.

Also tag me. I'm at Chris Van Vleet. And if you're not already, take a second to subscribe to this show wherever you get your podcast. wherever this audio is entering your ears right now. Jesse 0993 is our fan of the week. Thank you so much for this review on Apple Podcasts that says,

Fantastic. Fantastic podcast, great voice. That's very kind. And asks all the right questions. I love listening to Chris. It's a must listen to. Well, I appreciate that. Jesse, 993.

Thank you for that. And leave a review on Apple Podcast for your, chance to get read out on the show and to get a free shout-out. You know, if I were you, I'm just saying, if I had a podcast or a book or a business or something that I wanted to promote, maybe I would slide that into a review and have it read here for everyone to hear for free. Just saying. I'm just saying. All right, let's dive into it. You know him as Bronson Reed, but now he simply goes by Jonah. That's in all caps, by the way.

Please welcome, Jonah. Here we go. Good to see you, Jonah. Good to see you. I'm happy to be on the show. I like your podcast set up here. I don't know if everybody knows this, but you are now a podcaster, YouTuber.

Jonah Dron, let's just get that out of the way right off the bat here. Yeah, I have a new podcast slash YouTube channel. I'll be uploading my podcast to the YouTube channel, but also other videos. I put up a little snippet of a workout video last night. But yeah, Jonah Drome is also available on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify as well. All right.

So wherever you're listening to this, if you're listening to the podcast version, you can find Jonah Drome. If you're watching on YouTube, I will link it down below. So if you're watching this, you just might as well subscribe. Okay? Let's make that happen. Why not? What do your workouts look like, by the way?

You're a large man. Yes. when I started in the wrestling business, I didn't work out at all. You know, I was sort of almost a bit of a scrawny teenager. And then my original coach made me do like wrestling workouts, so lots of squats, lots of push-ups. And then from there, he's like, you should get into some form of weightlifting, whether it's bodybuilding or whatever.

And I sort of did, you know, my own sort of bodybuilding for a few years, which wasn't getting me really anyway. And then I decided to invest in a coach and I actually did some power lifting and learned some strongman movements. And that's really where I am today. I sort of do a hybrid of power building, which is like power lifting with some bodybuilding elements at the end of the workout. I think there's a big lesson to be learned here that you got a coach.

And I think there's a lot of people that go, oh, I'll just read some Instagram posts or I'll just watch a YouTube video. And I think that there's something so crucial about going out and getting someone who's an expert here and you kind of, it's a shortcut to victory. Yeah, I think so. I think that's the same with, I get a lot of aspiring wrestlers asking me for, you know, help or my opinions on things. And I always say find a great wrestling coach or great wrestling school. But then I find it's the same with anything else. Like with weightlifting, you have to do the same thing. You can only do so much research of your own before you can actually have someone show you how to do things. Yeah. And there's

also a huge difference between reading about something. Yeah. Or actually like talking to someone who's been there and they go, I actually know, this is the way we should do it. Exactly. Yeah. I will say YouTube is very helpful though. There's a lot of great content out there for like different types of sports and working out. But also from that, you can find coaches on YouTube. So it's a great avenue for that. And with this, your coach could live in another part of the country. They could live in another country. Yes. Yeah, 100%. Sorry, are you enjoying the podcasting world? At this point, as we record, you're two episodes in, right? Yeah, I am. You know, it's something that I wanted to do for a little while. And now that I've started it, I found that it is both, it keeps myself entertained,

gives me something to focus on in the time being, but also it's a bit cathartic to be able to speak my mind and interact with my followers and see what they think is. well. Yeah. So you're able to, you're able to control whatever it is that you want out. Like, you're controlling your own narrative here. Yeah, which is really cool. You know, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's something that I, I like about it, that, uh, it is sort of just the inside of my mind. And I try to keep my podcast pretty, uh, war and unfiltered. I don't really make many edits. I just sort of speak for about a half an hour, 45 minutes. And then that's what you get. I'm guessing you didn't think you'd be at this point.

point. Like, when you got released, I was very surprised. Yeah, yeah. I think a lot of people were surprised, obviously myself, but a lot of the people that I worked with are very surprised. So having the podcast has been cathartic and has let me show people exactly my side of things as well. Yeah. So how have you handled this release and now kind of looking forward to what's next? Yeah. Well, it was very shocking at first. you know, I was, I would be lying if I say I wasn't upset and angry and all of the emotions that come with something like this. I think it's like the seven stages of grief, even though, you know, I didn't physically lose anyone. It was almost like Bronson Reed had died.

You know what I mean? I spent the last few years investing myself into that character and becoming Bronson Reed. And now that's over and I have to look to something new. and I bring it back a little bit of what I used to do before, WWI, I'm being Jonah again. But it was hard, but it's something I think that I've been able to deal with well. I've had hardships in life and in the professional wrestling business before that has sort of prepared me for if this day was to come.

I just didn't think it'd be anytime soon. Yeah, I guess you, you know, you sign a WWE contract knowing that one day you might get released. I mean, pretty much everybody gets released. But is it two years from now, five years for now, or 25 years from now? So this came way sooner than you expected. Yeah. I mean, for me, I had started the start of 2019.

That was a three-year deal. And only the start of this year actually signed a new three-year deal. So I was blindsided that then halfway through the year almost or a little bit after halfway through the year that I was released. Also given where I was placed in the card, how I was utilized, I didn't think it was coming. Yeah. So what was your immediate reaction to finding out?

It was definitely shock. You know, I got the call while I was watching Smackdown, actually. I was under the impression the last few months with WWE that I would be moving up to a Smackdown or a Raw. So when I got the call, I assumed it was about going to Roar or going to SmackDown. So I was quite happy on the phone, ready to hear that news. And then when it was that I was getting released, like, I just completely changed, like, shock and whore.

And I made sure to question why. And they didn't really give me a reason at all, which is even more frustrating because then you do question yourself, like, what happened. But yeah, I think shock was the initial reaction. And then I was a little bit more angry than upset that I feel like there was a lot that I could have done that got sort of taken away. But now I see it as it's an avenue for me to do that somewhere else. Yeah, there's still an opportunity for you to show exactly what you're capable of. It's just going to be somewhere else.

Yeah, exactly. So that's on them. Yeah. Well, and so are those conversations happening right now about what your next move will be? Yes, yeah. So I'm in talks with the major. promotions that you would probably expect me to be in talks with. Nothing said in stone just of yet, but there will be soon. So your 30 days are up, but the bigger thing you've got to worry about

with, which is such an unfortunate situation is you've got to figure out immigration. You know, you had a visa that was with WWE. So now you've got to figure out a way to legally work in the U.S. Yeah. So that's a big thing, I think, unless you are from a foreign country, you don't realize. So, you know, a lot of the people that did get released at the same time as me was straight away after their 30 days on some independent shows doing things. And I have a lot of fans reach out and be like, oh, you should do this show or do that. And I've had a lot of independent promotions reach out to me. And they don't quite understand like, no, legally, I'll get in a lot of trouble if I do this. So there's processes and things that we have to do

as a foreigner working here in the States. And that's what I'm working on at the moment. I've had this exact same conversation with the Iconics. So jazz and cast. I had the same conversation with Buddy Murphy, had the same conversation with Chelsea Green, who's from Canada with the exact same situation. Yeah, yeah. It can be very frustrating because obviously,

I know all the people you mentioned and myself included, like I have the itch to wrestle straight away. So even having that 30 day period of break, that's all I'm thinking about, like, I want to do this, I want to do that. And then you're like, okay, but now I need to do this as well. So it just extends it for even longer.

And yeah, it does make it frustrating. And it's not as simple as just like filling out a form and like magically you get a green card. No, not at all. So there's lots of hoops to be jumping through. And then at the same time, you need to find an employer who also is willing to jump through those hoops with you. Yes, jump through those hoops. And I don't know if everybody realizes this. Pay a fairly handsome sum.

Yeah, definitely. It does make it difficult when I always say to a lot of wrestlers save your money. I'm not the best example of that. I try to. But yeah, it does make it difficult when you're 30 days of pay her up. And then you also have to pay these other big fees, but you're not getting paid any income at the same time. And you're still also having to pay, you know, the day to day, your rent and your mortgage, your car, all these other things too. Yeah. And that accrues, you know, I've had people. A lot of fans from back home be like, oh, just move back to Australia or that sort of instance. One, it'd be a killer for me as a professional wrestler to move back to Australia at the moment, given the current pandemic and everything. It would be too hard to even get that sorted. But two, you know, I've built a life here in the States. You know, my wife moved with me.

We moved our pets over. You know, I rented a house. I have a car payment, like insurance, all those things. you don't realize you've built up until you realize something like this happens. Yeah. And then if you did move home, it's so easy to get comfortable. And I'm not saying that you would get comfortable or you would get complacent, but it's so easy to go back home and just, I don't know, not be as driven as you would be here.

Yeah, I 100% agree. Like, I love Australia. And especially the Australian wrestling scene is something that's, you know, growing and getting better year by year. but still on the complete opposite side of the world. So getting bookings and things like that was difficult. You know, I went through that. Whereas here, there's so much more opportunity. So when you were growing up, was it like,

I'm going to be a wrestler no matter what. This was the dream. This was the goal. Yeah, 100%. Since I was a little kid, like I've been such a wrestling fan my whole life. Since I can remember, I've been a wrestling fan. That's probably one of the things that, defines me as a human being.

So I, as a kid, always would say to my parents and my family, like, I'm going to be a wrestler one day. And obviously, when you're a kid, people go, oh, yeah, like, they don't think you're being serious. Yeah. And then as a teenager, that sort of passion just grew even more. And I wanted to do it even more. I wanted to start wrestling training when I was a teenager and my mother wouldn't let me.

She's like, no, no, no, you have to finish high school at least, which I did. And then as soon as I finished high school, I started wrestling training. And that's what I wanted to do. And obviously, it wasn't so much of a career path in Australia in 2007. So it was just I wanted to be the best wrestler. I could be locally. And then it grew from there. So all your friends are going off to university.

Yeah. You go off to wrestling school. Yeah, yeah. Very, very different paths. You know, I have a very close friend of mine that grew up watching wrestling with me in high school. and he went on to university. He did want to be a wrestler at one point, but obviously people's mindset change,

and I still wanted to be that wrestler, and it's just funny, like speaking about the different paths that, you know, imagine if he had become a professional wrestler, what he would be doing, or if I didn't, and I did go to university, like, it's really interesting to think about. Now, what would you be doing? I really don't know, to be honest. You know, I've put all my eggs in that one basket.

People say not to do that, but I always sort of better myself that I would become a professional, professional wrestler. In high school though, I had a big, I was very big into film. I still am. I still love movies and things of that sort. So I would direct short films in high school like for essays and things like that. So I remember at the time thinking if for some reason I can't become a professional wrestler, I was going to try and get into directing or something along that sort. Yeah, but which never eventuated. But I also did drama in high school. Like I did. I did it all the way through to the end of schooling. Yeah. And those things sort of helped me, I guess, with my wrestling career, like acting and the love for film. Did WWE or a career in pro wrestling even seem possible in 2007? Because, and I raised this point with Buddy Murphy and the Iconics, there wasn't a pro wrestler from Australia that was in WWE until Teneal Dashwood.

Yeah. For me, not at all. Like, I thought that I'd be. wrestling just in Australia and then I had dreams of wrestling in Japan, which I actually went on to do. But because there was no representative or someone to represent Australia in the WWE, it just seemed like a very long hill to get up. And once Tinil got in and then Buddy and the Iconics, it became more of a, this is something that could become possible. And that's when I started gearing my career towards possibly getting into WWE.

So how did you start that process? Did they have an audition or tryout? Yeah. So I was wrestling in Japan during the first time I did my tryout, which is 2014. I was wrestling in Japan. I knew there was a WWE tryout coming up in Australia. So I flew back.

I made sure to be there in Australia. I did the tryout at the time. it was ran by Bill Demott and Canyon Seaman. And I did the tryout, but also they actually came out to our local show in Adelaide and watched, which was a big benefit for people that were actually on the show because they got to see them work in front of a live crowd. And I had a really cool match that night with Damien Slater, who was in the CWC. And the same night actually was when Cass and Jess wrestled each other and they got some signed. So that was actually the same night. So I did that first one and it was sort of a,

I didn't get signed from that, but they said, keep working, keep doing what you're doing. We are watching you. So I was like, okay, I'll keep doing that. And then 2000, end of 2016, I did a second tryout again in Australia. And that's where they signed Ria Ripley. And they were very much on the cusp of signing me. And then to go into like similar things with like what's happened recently, they were very much close to sign to me. And then it sort of got taken away. It didn't happen.

And that was where I had to sort of reevaluate myself and decide whether I wanted to keep pursuing WWE. Yeah. And I sort of didn't actively pursue WWI. I was like, well, I'm just going to be the best I can around the world. And then I started getting book places like PW. I started working in the UK scene and in Europe. And then from that, they're like, we got to, I almost forced them to sign me.

But was wrestling your full-time job at this point? Or did you have to do something else to pay the bills? So I always had to work like factory jobs. I did a lot of like sort of manual laboring jobs back in Australia to be able to, yeah, have some money to then wrestle. It was really hard when I was wrestling in Japan because I would get contracts for three months. at a time and then that would be like my set pay like okay i'm getting paid for these three months but then i'll come back to australia and no workplace will let you go away for three months and then come

back so i was always finding new jobs like sort of just temporary work um and then i wasn't fully living off wrestling until i want to say 2018 once i was touring like the uk uh europe and doing stuff here in the States for PWG. So how quickly did things change for you? You know, WWE likes you, signs you, moves you to Orlando and then where do things go from there?

Yeah, I mean, it does seem like it happened really quickly, but it obviously didn't. It took me a long time to actually get into the WWE. But once it happened, it feels like I moved to Orlando and I was at the PC, like

here in Orlando, and it was just straight way into training into that system that they had at the time. I think it's a little different now. Obviously, that place has been gutted and turned into where they run NXT 2.0. But it was like 8 a.m. starts I had. I'd have to get to the PC. We'll do strength and conditioning early in the morning. And then after that, we'll do wrestling training. And then sometimes we'd have like a skull, which is like, you know, watching wrestling as well. But it was pretty much seven days a week when I first started, we were doing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. But then at the same times, we were doing the coconut loops, the local shows here in Florida

on a Friday, Saturday, and then a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, sorry. So Sunday was really the only day I got off. But it was great. I loved it. And then from there, obviously, as you start to get on like to NXT TV, you start to do more as well, I started doing all the interstate loops. What do you think was the biggest thing that you had to learn or maybe unlearn from your time in Australia to going into the PC? Because they have a very specific way of doing things in WWE or NXT.

Yeah. I think the biggest thing for me is training-wise, I was brought into the business by a great coach. Hartley Jackson is his name. And he actually was a coach at the WWE Performance Center for a little while as well. So I was always sort of pretty strict with my training. So that wasn't so much of a surprise to me. It was more just working for TV. So that was the biggest change for me, learning that, you know, you have a camera here,

here, here, and here. And that's how you have to, they want to see more of this. And when you're so used to work in the independence where everything is about how the crowd is involved, you forget that then when you start working for TV, it's about what the people at home can see and how they can get. get involved. So that was the biggest change for me. Yeah. Who came up with the name Bronson Reed? I did actually. Yeah. So I pitched Jonah maybe a hundred times. I was adamant, you know, Jonah Rock. They didn't want the Rock, obviously. They didn't want that part of my name.

So I wonder why. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, come on. He doesn't mind. He's off doing great things now. But I pitched, you know, Jonah Reed and Jonah, like all different last names for Jonah. And they're like, look, let's get rid of Jonah. And I was like, okay. So then I came up with a bunch of different first names, a bunch of different last names, and then they picked Bronson and Reed and then put it together. It's like Madlibs. Yeah, yeah, basically. I feel like a lot of people in the last few years, that's how they got their wrestling name was pitching a bunch of first names and a bunch of last names, and then they just pick and choose what they like, and then that's what you get.

So moving forward, your Jonah Reeve, or Jonah Rock, sorry. So at the moment, I do have Jonah Rock on, like, a lot of my things, but I'm not 100% too sure what I'm going to do, but you'll see on my socials, it's just Jonah, all capital letters. So that's what I'd like to do, just be one name, like Prince. Like Prince or Oprah. Oprah, yeah, yeah. Just one name, but in all capitals.

So Jonah. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like having the all capitals puts an emphasis on the name. Yeah. Growing up, who were the wrestlers that you really looked up to? I mean, I'm such a wrestling fan that I feel like every few years it almost changed for me.

But as a kid, it was very much WWF at the time. That's what I used to primarily watch. So as a kid in the night. 90s, it's your Brett Hart, Sean Michaels, Undertaker, Yokozuna. Those sort of guys were ones that shaped my childhood. And then as the attitude era came, it was the Rock and Austin. And then as a teenager, I've discovered independent wrestling and Japanese wrestling. And so I became a huge fan of Kenta Kabashi. He's still probably one of my all-time favorites. And Seampunk and Somo Joe. So I got onto the Ring of Honor bandwagon around the

the same time they were feuding. And so they sort of shaped my teenage years. I feel like there's a lot of comparisons between you and Samo Joe. Oh, yeah. I would get it all the time. And, you know, I've gone on to tell him, like, since meeting him, that when I was younger in the business, I just used to do his stuff. Like, you know, I find when you first get into the wrestling business, you're like,

who can I sort of be like? And you do patent yourself on someone else. And Joe was that guy that I sort of did. and then I became my own wrestler, but he is someone that still, you know, to this day, inspires me to do the stuff I do. I mean, he's a big guy who moves fast. That's exactly who you are as well.

Yeah, 100%. And as a teenager, like for me, I think representation is a big thing. I'm half Australian, but I'm also half Samoan. So seeing someone of similar stature, but also a Samoan guy in the Indies, like tearing it up, it was easy for me to sort of gravitate towards him. Are you a legit 340?

Legitimately, yeah. You're a big boy. That's shoot, yeah. Some people would say that. They'd be like, you know, I think you're only around 300. I'm like, hey, I can get on the scales if you want me to. Try and pick me up. Yeah, yeah.

Try and pick me up and move me around. But yeah, shoot 340. Tell me if I'm 300 pounds if you try to pick me up. Is this where you feel comfortable? Yeah. So I found, And as I got bigger in my professional wrestling career, like I started, when I started wrestling, I was probably around, I want to say, 270-ish.

So still a big guy, but more of a big kid, I wasn't. I always had like a heavier stature to me. I think that's just given with a lot of the Samoans that you see. But as time went on, I tried to get bigger and more muscular and stuff like that. And I went to around 300 pounds. And then I started noticing the bigger I got, the more I was getting booked. So the more I became a larger than life personality. And people wanted to see the guy that's over 300 pounds come off the top rope and do those sort of things that you're not used to seeing someone of that size do.

So I made a thing that, hey, I'm going to get bigger. And then once I was in WWE, they came up with the moniker colossal. They wanted me to be that big guy. So I always tried to stay around this same 3.30, 340 pounds. Now that I'm out of that, I'm no longer colossal Bronson Reed. I probably will stay around the same size, but I might go down 20, 25 pounds, just for my own life. It's nothing to do with wrestling. When you board an airplane, people must think you're a linebacker.

Yeah, I've had that a lot. Yeah, and then when people meet me and they realize that I'm Australian, they're like, you must be a rugby player or you must be this. And generally, when I say pro wrestler, they go, okay, that makes sense. Oh, that, yeah, either a wrestler or football player, one or the other. There was, there was a big time when we were, it felt like a rib. And I don't know if it was, but for the longest time when we're doing the live loops for NXT, they would book myself and Keith Lee in the same row of seats.

And if there was anyone in between us, like it was the worst trip for them. but sometimes they book us next to each other. And so it would be like this on the plane ride next to each other. And I'm like, someone has to stop doing this. Yes. How does someone sit next to you on a plane? I mean, yeah, it makes it difficult. Like, I always try to go either in the window so I can lean against the window or on the aisle so I can sort of lean out onto the aisle.

But then I found that that's a curse because I always used to like the aisle until I got bigger. And now that I'm on the aisle, people just bump into you as they walk past the whole trip. So the window is the best seat for a big guy. The only advantage to the aisle is you don't have to ask two people to get up when you need to go to the bathroom. It's the only advantage. Yeah, I find like the aisle might be good for like long flights going overseas and stuff like that where you can get up, stretch your legs. But if it's a shorter flight, the window seats definitely the better. There is, so I had a window seat.

I just flew yesterday, actually. I flew back from Toronto. And I had to go to the bathroom so badly. But the guy next to me was asleep, the entire flight. I was doing that thing where you're like, oh, oh, you woke up. Oh, great. Can I go to the bathroom now? Give me a little nudge. Yeah. Oh, I'm so sorry. It's hard because, you know, I'm a very polite person as well. I feel like, should I tell them? But if you've got to go, you've got to go. And I think that they realize that. Yeah, yeah. People are. When you're the aisle seat, you have to realize there's some concessions that need to be made. Yeah. What about this? So here's, here's a discussion I've had with a lot of.

of wrestlers and a lot of people that do a lot of traveling over time, the middle seat, do they get both of the armrests? Yes, because they got nothing else. I think so as well, but I've seen a lot of people on the aisle seat take that armrest as well. Now, that's just rude. Yeah, yeah, I think it's rude as well. I mean, the middle person gets nothing. The middle person is, that's the worst possible place to be seated. So, yeah, or sometimes what you'll see is they get the back of the armrest and maybe you get the front of the armrest. That's true. Yeah, that's true. I always, if for some reason I have to sit in a middle seat, I try to wait to as we're taking off and then I will lean forward on that seat. So then they can do whatever, but I'll just be leaned forward.

I can't imagine you in a middle seat. No, it's awful. It's not good. It's probably awful for you, but like for your seatmates, they're probably like, what the heck? Yeah, yeah. My big thing is, like, I don't need the biggest amount of leg room. it's the width for me. So if I deal well, if I can have no one in the middle seat and I'm sitting on the aisle

or on the window seat, I can just spread my legs out and then I'm good. To maintain 340 pounds, you must be eating a substantial amount of calories every day. Yeah, I mean, I was like, so I was in a surplus for the longest amount of time. Now I'm sort of just in a maintenance where I can eat around 3,000, 5%. 500, 4,000 calories. I love that that's made. That's maybe. Yeah, well, there are some big guys like strong men competitors and stuff like that

that eat 10,000 calories a day. Right. And so people think that I'd be eating over 5,000 or 6,000 calories. And I'm like, around 3,500. But yeah, yeah, I do eat quite a bit every day. I'm eating 3,500 calories of like decently clean food. It's hard. No, it's a lot of rice.

lot of rice. I have a great rice cooker that I sat in the morning, put it on, and then I leave it on. It's one that you can keep heated the whole way through the day. And then that's how I get through the day. Rice and oatmeal, I'm sure. Yeah. For the biggest time when I was trying to put on weight and get bigger, I had so much, so many like oats for breakfast. And then after like my lunch, I'd work out and then I'd have my protein shake. But then I'd have oats as well. And sometimes before going to bed, I'd have oats again. It's definitely something a lot of people utilize. And it's cheap.

Yeah, it's so cheap. You can buy a big tub for like $3. Yeah. During your time in NXT, would you say that winning the North American Championship was like really what started to put you on a trajectory for success? I think so. Yeah. I think before winning the North American Championship, I was doing well.

and then lucky for me, Hunter sort of had his eye on me and then it was in his mind, hey, we want to make you one of our top guys on our show and he had that discussion with me that eventually I was going to become North American champion and then obviously I had more things planned for towards the end of this year, which are not happening anymore. You had them planned or they had them planned for you?

They had them planned. I had been told a lot of things. NXT champion. right. Yeah, which in the wrestling business, things chop and change so much that even though I was told things numerous times, I'm like, we'll wait and see. That's what I always say. Even with winning the North American championship, I got a nice replica up there. I was like, I'll wait until that actually happens before I'm happy about it. But yeah, Hunter saw something in me, which I appreciated. And then, yeah, I became the North American champion. And that sort of made me a made man.

if you will, not just in NXT, but I think in the wrestling business, I think becoming that sort of champion people across all platforms of wrestling notice it and go, oh, wow, look at what happened. I was lucky enough to not just have a feature match where I won the championship, but it was a cage match.

It was on television. They made a big deal out of it. We got like custom posters and everything for the match, and then I was lucky enough that Hunter said to bring my wife into the ring afterwards as well. So very, very great moment for me in wrestling. And it's also the fact that it's Johnny Gargano is putting you over.

Yes. He's like, I mean, he's one of the nicest people in the entire industry. But he's also like Mr. NXT. So for you to have a win over him for a championship, I think would mean a lot. Yeah, 100%. You know, people have asked me like who was your favorite opponent to have in NXT. And I always say Johnny, even though we only really worked with each other, you know, a handful of times. I just think he is a very adamant professional at what he does, but he's always looking to have the best match possible, which you'll find in this business. I'm very much a similar mindset. I always want to try and put on the most entertaining match, whatever I can do with whoever my opponent is. But unfortunately, there are those people that things get political,

or they don't want to have the best match with this person, or that stuff happens in this business, whereas Johnny's not like that at all. He just wants to go out there. have a great wrestling match. I'm the same, so I think we mesh really well. And when you do think of NXT, those three letters, I think, if you're not thinking about Hunter, you're either thinking of Johnny Gargano, Adam Cole, or Tomasua Champa. Like, they're the names that you think of. I've known Johnny since 2010 when I was living in Cleveland.

And watching him on the independence scene, it's exactly what you're talking about. He always wanted to have the best match, no matter where he was on the card, and no matter who he was working with. Yeah, and I think that's a commendable thing as a professional wrestler. You can go out there no matter where you are, no matter how many people there are, no matter who your opponent is and just trying to have the best match possible, that's the key to being a good pro wrestler, like pro wrestler in my books. And after you won the North American Championship, you're right,

your wife came into the ring. Yeah, it was like an emotional moment, I think, for you and your life. Yeah, it definitely was like we've been through a lot of, you know, hardships and struggles within our life. And also she's seen me, so we're high school sweethearts. We started dating in high school. So she's actually seen me throughout my whole professional wrestling career when I started as a rookie and coming up and then starting to wrestle in Japan

and around the world and just knowing how I had this dream of wrestling in WWE and then to become a champion. I think it was, yeah, very emotional. Like I myself, I remember my wife, Page is her name. during the day we brought her in to be seated to watch the show and she's like,

do you think you'll cry like you and you win the belt? I'm like, no, no, that won't happen because I've only cried one other time in the ring in the professional wrestling business so I was like, no, no, that's not going to happen. And then I remember when I won the championship, they like raised the cage

and then I was holding the belt and then all like fireworks went off and I just started crying. I couldn't help it. I think it was just. What a moment. Yeah, yeah, 14 years of hard work to get to this moment. I couldn't help myself.

What was the other moment where you cried in the ring? It was actually in Australia. It's one of my favorite moments I've ever had in wrestling. So when I got signed to WWE, I did like a three-day tour where I got to do Melbourne, Sydney, and then my hometown of Adelaide and do my last shows in Australia before going on to WWE. UE. And every city trekked me really well. Like everyone through

streamers in the ring for my going away sort of tour. And then the last date was in my hometown of Adelaide. So a lot of my friends and family were in attendance. Wrestle Rampage, which is the company that I was wrestling for in Adelaide. I was a coach for

and so I helped bring a lot of those people into the business. So after the match, I sort of got on the microphone and thanked all the fans and everyone for supporting me over all those years. And then again, I brought my wife into the ring and then I just pulled my eyes out. Couldn't help it. It was just one of those moments. And then, you know, having that whole crowd cheer for you and just, it was just a happy moment. So. And, you know, going back to what we were talking about earlier, it's not like a lot of Australians have made it or been

signed a definitely. No, no, it's true. So I, I'm a big advocate for Australian wrestling. Like I always, you know, when they were having tryouts and stuff, I would always be like, oh, there's this guy, if he can make it over here, can you see him? And like, I'm always helping people back home. And I still think now, like, obviously people like the Iconics and, and myself and more Australia, Ria Ripley, like doing great things is going to help the Australian wrestling scene and help people get noticed, but I still think there's still a long way to go to where Australians are taking even more seriously in the business. So even us winning championships, I still think it just needs to be that for the next few years before people go, hey, Australia is on the map in professional wrestling.

When you talk to your friends or your family back home, do they think you have an American accent now? Sometimes, I think. I don't think you do. No, no, I think I've always been one even before moving to America. I've had not a mixed accent, but the Adelaide accent is a little different. to your general Australian. So a lot of the times here, people will say, are you from England or they'll think I'm British? Or they won't even notice I have an accent. Whereas like my wife,

people pick up her accent straight away and be like, oh, where are you from? And then she'll say Australia. But sometimes I'll be standing in line, like say if we go to the supermarket, we go to Publix or something like that, they'll always be like, oh, where are you from? Yeah, Pub Subs.

The pub subs are great. I like it. I like a good pub sub. Yeah, for sure. But yeah, sometimes, don't even pick up on my accent. Well, I spoke to Jessica McKay, like an hour before I spoke to you, and her accent's completely different from yours.

Yeah. I think it's, so she's from Sydney. And I think it's very similar to here in the States or the UK. There's all sort of slight differences in our accents. If you ever speak to Ria Ripley, she will have a similar accent to me. But the girls have a bit more of a, how can I say, an Australian twangelo. to their voice. They're a little bit more high-pitched.

Right. I loved your theme song in NXT. Thank you. When you first heard it, what was your reaction to it? I loved it as well. So I was lucky enough to sort of work with the music people. Oh, wow. People worked doing the music and Road Dog, who was also overseeing, like, music at the time.

And I had had, like, generic free music for a little while on NXT TV. And there was a huge list of songs you can choose out of. And I reckon I spent maybe an hour or an hour and a half trying to find the best thing I could find. Because I'm very much under the impression. That means a lot. Your entrance music sets the tone for who you are and as you're coming out. So I wanted something good. And what I had was decent.

But for the longest time, I'm like, I need something custom or something different. And then when they decided like, hey, we're going to give you new entrance music, I was very hands-on with Road Dog like, okay, I want like a siren at the start. I wanted the field to sort of be like a Godzilla movie. I wanted hip-hop. I'm like, I need deep sort of bass. That just sort of sets the tone for, you know, the big guy coming out. And then what they did produce was fantastic.

And the beat kind of like mimics the way you would walk. I know, it sets the moods perfectly. Yeah, yeah. I was on the independence. I came out to a song by a group called Death Grips, which a lot of people aren't familiar with. They're pretty underground sort of band, but it was very heavy bass.

And so straight away, like, as soon as you heard that music, you heard this bass, it was like, it did set the tone of like, who's coming up, but not just that. It was like a slow brooding base, so then I could walk to it and then people, you know, it does. It sets the character,

and I wanted the same thing in NXT, and that's what they did. I think another thing that really, Deered you to the fans is something you probably weren't even aware of when it was happening at first, but it was the way that Wade Barrett would say tsunami. Oh, yeah. I was perfect. Yeah, perfect. So I had told Wade, so I've been doing the splash off with the top rope and I said, I want you to, I call it the tsunami because it's not just a big splash.

It's even bigger. I came up with that and, you know, we had different announcers at the time. they were good, but then as soon as Wade got his hands on it, and he didn't tell me he was going to say it like that. I was like, wow, that's great. And then it sort of became a thing. And yeah, I said, that's definitely something I miss the way he calls it because he does it great. Can you still call that move the tsunami? I think so. Why not? Yeah. Yeah, I spoke to some people from WWE and said, like, is that something that would be trademarked? And they said it shouldn't be, you know, it was something I came up with. So I think it's,

should be fine. I know, I know, like, Adam Cole still does the Panama Sunrise. I think he still calls at that, so, yeah. He still calls himself Adam Cole, too. I mean, there is that. So did you have, I mean, did you have to speak with WWE and say, all right, what can I do and what can I not do? Yeah, I mean, I was very, I made sure when I was getting released to sort of ask as many questions as possible. So then going forward, it makes it easier, not just with wrestling, but also the immigration side of things. And yeah, I asked those sort of things, you know, things to do with intellectual property and Bronson and those sort of things.

I'm glad that I, at the time, I was like, okay, I'm going to go back to Jonah or I was going to call myself Bron. And I'm glad I didn't call myself Bronn because now Bronbreaker is on NXT 2.0. And I'm like, oh, luckily I didn't call myself that. So, yeah, I made sure to get a discussion with those sort of things and, you know, what I can. can't do. So moving forward here, once everything gets cleared up with immigration, what are the goals that you have in mind for yourself? I have a lot of goals. I still want to be active on

American television, but not just that. I want to be in the wrestling world for, again, people back home to be able to watch media back home so that it shows, you know, with the current direction that NXT and WWF said they're going in with how they're hiring people. I think it's sort of deflated a lot of people back home that are indie wrestlers that,

hey, what do I do now? Like, this was my goal. And I want them to see that there are other avenues that you can take and be successful and another way to do it. So that's my goal is to prove that you can still be very successful and not have to be in WWA.

Well, I think when you look at the landscape, And I know you're still in discussions with everybody, but you'd be such a great fit in AEW with what they've got going on there. You'd be such a great fit with impact wrestling and be like a great big man there. And your style, since you've already worked in Japan, would be so good for a new Japan. So wherever it is that you land, I feel like you're going to be so successful. Thank you very much.

I've tried to do that in my career to be the sort of wrestler that you could fit anywhere. I tried to do that, like, say, if I wrestled in Japan, I fit in Japan or if I wrestle. For this company, I fit there. But also, I feel like I tried to make myself a wrestler that I could be a time. Not that you could ever do it, but you could travel in time and put Jonah in the 1960s scene. And I'd work. You could put me in the 80s.

You could put me in the 90s, 2000s. And I work in any sort of scene. So I've tried to make myself that wrestler. We see Terry Funk over your left shoulder here. Was he a big inspiration or just like the art? No, big inspiration. Terry Funk, just there's something about the way that he works, the way he sells. Definitely the way he sells.

Like when people ask me, like, who should I be watching for selling? I'm always like Terry Funk. And he has a great, like, aggression that is hard to have if you just don't have it naturally. It's just something he has. But yeah, big fan of Terry Funk, Dusty Roads. A lot of those sort of guys coming out of Texas, I'm a big fan of Stan Hansen. Yeah. What else do we have behind you?

here. I have Dusty Rhodes. I have... Okay, yeah, yeah. I actually have a Vader mask that his son sent me that he actually wore. So I'm a big big fan of Vader and so I have that mask. Are those Hogan

sunglasses below that? No, they're actually Rikishi. Rikishi sunglasses. Yeah, so for an NXT live show we did a Halloween battle royal and I dressed up as Rikishi. I was Reed Kishi and

And during the Battle Royal, Scotty To Hoddy, who was a coach at the time, actually came out. We eliminated people. And then he did the worm. We did the dance in the ring. And so he actually gave me a pair of Rikishi sunglasses. Oh, my gosh.

But yeah, a lot of wrestling memorabilia. I have a lot of figures that I've collected while being here. I have a big figure collection back home as well. And yeah, the record of the North American Championship. And you said you were a big fan of film. I'm also a big fan of film.

And, you know, I've been a movie critic for a lot of my career. Oh, good. What's your favorite film of all time? So this is hard. So I've been asked this a lot of times. Yeah. And I feel like I give someone a different answer every time.

Okay, well, give us a couple. Yeah. That's fine. I think for me, I always say Jaws. I'm a huge fan of Jaws. The Shining. Spilberg is just incredible. Yeah, Spielberg is great.

Yeah. I think The Shining is up there for me. Oh, yeah. You're just naming great director. now. Yeah, yeah. I'm very, I'm very big on the directors as well.

But if I'm thinking of things that are maybe a little bit more in the recent, maybe 10 years or so, a movie called Drive with Ryan Gosling. I'm not sure if you've seen that. Of course. Fantastic movie. Parasite, which is a Korean movie. Yeah, fantastic movie.

But all time for me, yeah, it probably be Jaws, the shining. The Blues Brothers, I'm a huge fan of that something I've watched. hundreds of times. Yeah. But yeah, there's a few for you. You want to talk about great directors. I think that Christopher Nolan makes masterpieces every single time. Interstellar is definitely in my top 10 for sure.

Yeah. And I didn't love Interstellar when I walked out of the theater and I saw it the first time. Me too. Yeah. When I first watched it, I was like, this is whatever. And then I think by the end of the movie, it definitely had me. But then when I go back and I watch like, just to watch it from start to finish and how well it's made.

And also McConaughey's like performance in that. Yeah, it's very good. I go back and watch the scene where he watches the 23 years of video messages after being on the water planet. Yeah. And I'm getting goosebumps just talking about it right now because the great thing about that scene is we can all put ourselves in his position. Yeah.

You're watching your kids grow up before your very eyes. Yeah. And he tells this great story, actually, that they were setting up on that day to shoot a wide shot first. And he was getting into the emotional headspace of this character. And he just took a piece of paper and a pen and he wrote, see you and passed it to the director of photography for close up. And they went, okay, everyone, let's reset.

Let's reset for a close up because he knew his best performance was going to be on the close up. And when you watch the scene back, you see it. Of course. It's so authentic and so raw. Yeah. I always try to, I've done some like, obviously in high school drama or stuff. But also I've done some acting classes within the WWE and things like that.

And to be able to channel that sort of emotion, it's always intriguing to me. I always look up, you know, online how people, because people do different things. They picture different things in their head or they have to get into a certain mind space. And when you get performances like that, they are very special. They're things, I'm the same. Like I'll go back and watch like certain scenes and be like, oh, this is great acting, like in different movies. Yeah. Well, and the great thing about someone like McConaughey is he's not acting.

He's in that moment. Yes. Is that character? Yeah, I think I've heard that many times, like the best acting is reacting. People always say that. And I'm very much the same with professional wrestling. I think if you're in the moment and you believe what you are doing is real, then the people watching are going to feel that as well.

So you have to be as real as possible in anything that you're doing. And that's when you know the character better than a character. anybody else. You know Bronson Reed at the time, better than anybody else. And you have to ask yourself, how would Bronson Reed react to this? Yeah, 100%. Yeah, I think that's the best thing to sort of think about, like, for people getting into the business, if you have like an over-the-top character, or even if you yourself, like very much Bronson Reed, Jonah, just myself, but at a heightened level, but there's still a way that Bronson Reed would walk to the ring different to how I'd walk in normal life. And you have to think about all those little things like how would you react to this,

how would he even look into the camera or hold a microphone or and think of all those little nuances and whether people pick up on them or not. That's for debate. But it's something for me that I can look back on and go, okay, I'm happy I did it. Yeah. Speaking of films, have you seen ex-marketer? No, I have never seen that. So I've had a lot of people tell me like, hey, you should see this movie, a friend back home who's big on watching movies and reviewing them as well. And that's something that is in my, I have an app called Letterboxed where I review movies and rate movies. And it's in my watch list of things to watch. Oh, you need to watch this immediately. And then send me a message and tell me what you think. Especially about the ending. I will. I will. I'll definitely watch it. Oh,

it's so good. Okay, good. I'm always looking for things to watch. So if someone recommends me something, I'm like, okay, I'll give it a shot. When that movie ends, you're going to go, what the hell? And you're also going to go, but wait, what is the right? Like, it's such a moral quandary. Kind of like, have you seen Gone Baby Gone? Yes, I have. Yes.

Mega moral quandary at the end of that movie. Yeah, yeah, great movie though. Great movie. Arrival. Have you seen Arrival? Yes, I have seen Arrival. Again, arrival ends and you go, oh. Yeah, I love those sort of movies.

Did she not have told him? Yeah, I think the best sort of art is the art that leaves it for, interpretation and then you can speak to people like, I think it's this or I think it's that or I think that's sort of the best way to feel after a movie. We can have another podcast episode where we're just talking about movies for three hours. Hey, I'd be happy to do it. But I've really enjoyed this. And I am so excited for what's next for you.

Thank you very much. I've enjoyed it too. And yeah, I think there's going to be a lot of big things on the horizon for Jonah. Well, you've, you know, you've also been hit up by so many people for so many different interview requests and other things. So I appreciate you trusting me with your time for this. No, of course. Yeah. I've, I've very much, I've been a little bit selective, but I make sure to like look up the people that I do speak to. And you were one that was not only recommended to me by other friends, but from watching, I made sure to go and watch some of your other interviews. And I was like, oh, it's a no-brainer. Oh, well, thank you. And then you might know that I never,

interview with the same questions. So I talk about gratitude all the time. And I start and end every day, saying out loud three things that I'm grateful for. So what are three things in your life that you're grateful for? Three things in my life. I'm grateful for my wife. I'm grateful for all the support that I get from people online and all my followers. And I'm grateful for Starbucks. not just coffee in general Starbucks Starbucks yeah Starbucks Ice mocha is my mocha sorry here in the States is my go-to So it's just an ice mocha or what else are you doing to this? Just straight iced mocha did they spell your name correctly on the no no whipped cream

You know what they didn't ask me my name today so which is very just like we'll give it to the big guy Yeah yeah which is very strange but yeah that is strange usually like you know I'll say my name's Chris and the next thing you know like I don't know spelling Chris without an H or something yeah they never get my name right so I always just say J and then they'll be like the letter J and I'm like yeah sure that'll do yeah good enough yeah that'll do well jona whatever we want to call you thank you so much oh thank you thank you for having me oh it's my pleasure and I'm pumped pumped for what's next for you thank you great things there we go what do you think What do you think?

Also, I'm curious. What's your favorite movie of all time? Send us a message on Twitter or Instagram and let us know. Jonah is at Jonah is here. I'm at Chris Van Vleet. Also, take a screenshot and let us know that you're on this adventure with us. I said it a few times during this conversation, but I'm so excited to see what's next for Jonah.

The best is yet to come. As Lewis Carroll, the author who wrote, Alice in Wonderland once said, it's no use going back to yesterday because I was a different person then. Be great. Be grateful. We'll see you on the next one. For some more inside.

Woo! 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. Whatever happened to Hammer Alley? How did they go from top of the

I'm looking for a music video. They're a band from 1987. Hammer Alley. Ever heard of them? To Rock Bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987. I can't believe he's doing this. Hammer Alley.

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