Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Why Eddie Kingston postponed his retirement, joining NWA, his promos, AEW

Episode Date: March 19, 2020

Eddie Kingston chats with Chris Van Vliet at the NWA Powerrr tapings in Atlanta, GA. He talks about why he originally wanted to retire at the end of 2019 and why he changed his mind, his plans to wrestle until he can't anymore, joining NWA, his thoughts on AEW, the inspiration for his promos, his time in Impact Wrestling and much more! Thanks to Bet Online! Use the code BLUEWIRE at BetOnline.ag to get a 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It's Chrysalmania, brother. That's a great question. Look at you, man. With the powerful questions. Woo! This is the Chris Van Vliet Show. Chris Van Vliet show. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Brun.

Well, here we go. Welcome back to the Chris Van Vleet Show, and a huge thank you for joining me on these audio adventures each and every week, wherever you happen to be right now, however you happen to be listening. I appreciate you. This episode is brought you by Bet Online, and oh man, what a treat for your eardrumbs, this one is.

Eddie Kingston is such a fascinating guy, and it goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway. he is incredible on the mic, both in promos and in interviews like this one. You'll see what I mean. And it was awesome being able to do a deep dive into his life and his career and just everything that makes Eddie Kingston tick. And I know a lot of you guys watch these interviews on YouTube, so I just want to take a second to thank you because we just passed 81 million views on YouTube and 240,000 subscribers.

That's huge. if you're listening to this, you're a subscriber. So thank you. If you're not a subscriber yet, you can change that. It'll take like three seconds to subscribe on YouTube. But we're closing in on a quarter million views on YouTube. And over here on the pod, things are taken off. The goal is a thousand reviews on Apple Podcasts. We're at 765 reviews. Thanks to people like you and people like Andrew Roerbach, who left this review that says, legendary. In terms of podcasts and interviews, you are, in the words of the great Bradhart, the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be.

I appreciate that. Love the dedication and the shows. Really enjoyable and love listening, too. Keep up the good work. Would love to meet you when you come to South Philadelphia. I'm sure I'll be in Philly soon. I love Philadelphia. Where do you think are the best cheese steaks there?

Because I know there's that corner where is the two, like, across the street from each other. I think they're both good, but I'm sure if you're from Philly, you're like, oh, no, This one's better than the other one. So thank you, Andrew, for that review. I'm going to keep reading one on the show to shout you guys out, to say thank you for listening, and to get us to that goal of a thousand reviews before the end of the year, because, as you know, vague goals get vague results.

Eddie Kingston is such a fascinating man, and I know you'll agree with me after you hear this conversation. If you've seen him in the ring, either in Ring of Honor, CZW, impact recently in NWA or maybe in one of the many independent wrestling companies that he's worked for, you know that he's very talented. And he had said that 2019 was going to be his last year in wrestling. He was going to pack it in and he was going to move to the middle of nowhere and just enjoy the rest of his life. He was not doing that, obviously.

It's 2020. He's still wrestling. We talk about why he decided to continue his wrestling career and why he wants to wrestle until he can't wrestle anymore. We also talk about his influence. and just life in general. So here you go. What a guy. It's Eddie Kingston.

What? We're recording. We're recording. There it is. We're up. We're recording. He did the little thing there. It's called slating.

Yeah. How do I? I'm not a... I don't know. It sounds like that could be like a wrestling term. Yeah, we just slated. Yeah, man. We just go out there and like, you'll slate and...

Yeah. And maybe I'll slay back. Maybe I won't. Let's feel it out there. brother. Let's feel it. You get the brother thing. Yeah, brother.

It has to be brother, right? Everybody's a brother. Not to me. I tell them all. Hey, what's up, man? All right, cool. That's it. I feel like people call each other brother in the wrestling world because they don't

want to learn the names. Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah, no, I get that. But I don't use brother. I'll be like, hey, boss, hey chief. Oh, boss. Yeah.

New York thing. And like, if I don't know a girl's name, hey, love, hey, sweetheart. How you doing? Oh, that might be crossing a line these days. Nowadays, you're saying sweetheart at Delhi. And I'm like, no, I don't mean it. Disrespect. Like, what's going on?

Sweetheart's just to whatever. It's not my fault. You met some douchebag guy that called you sweetheart and then broke your heart. I'm not that guy. I could be, but I'm not. I'm so pumped to see you in NW.A. Thank you, man. Thank you.

I appreciate it. We're here in Atlanta right now for the NWA power. A town. You know what I mean? Yeah. A town and Hot Atlanta, I believe. Yeah. Okay.

Well, the interview's over. And now we're done. I don't ask me about the zones or bankhead. So you don't, we'll just, we'll skip that. For everyone who knows what I'm talking about, you know what I mean,

zone three, you know what up? Decatur, bankhead, anyway. I'm so super confused now. But I'm just, I'm so glad you landed here, though.

Like, it doesn't make sense for Eddie Kingston and not be on TV. It does. It does make sense. And I'll tell you why. We talked about a little bit. It's a business.

If WWE, we see something that they can use me for to sell merch or get viewers, then they'll use me. AEW. Same thing. If they see, oh, Eddie Kaysen can bring in this many people, oh, he can sell this many shirts, or he's a good fit here, then they'll use me. And like I was telling you before, I don't, I never want to be that guy that's just somewhere. And I'm just there.

There's no ideas for me. I'm just sitting in the back waiting because I did that on my first time at Impact. Right. You know what I mean? And when I was part of the, the DCC with Bram and James Storm,

you know, after a while, they were just like, all right, sit there, and I was like, oh, you know, so I'm here. They'd bring you in, but not actually put you on the show? Yeah, because they have nothing for me. Yeah, I mean, but I'm still on the contract so I have to show up and I have to sit there, you know what I mean? I thought Impact for a while was doing the

Per appearance. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they were. When I was there the first time, yeah. So, like, even then, like, I wouldn't get paid if I wasn't on. Oh, my God. But I had to be there. So that's why I don't want to be that guy. So it's like, everyone's like, oh, man, because I know people at AEW.

And like I told you before, I won't, I don't know if I said this publicly. But, like, when I hit up certain people at AEW who are in control, I don't hit them up like, hey, man, I need a job. I have been hitting them up for years saying, hey, your kids are. getting big. Oh, hey, man, congratulations on this and that. And I,

and I would feel like a real piece of shit or a real fuck boy if I go, hey man, your kids are getting big. P.S. I really need a job. And I want to make some of that

Tony Khan money. Your dog looks great. And by the way, but how much of a doucheback is that? For me anyway, personally. So that's why I would never ask. Well,

that's, that's very self-aware of you because I think there are most wrestlers. And Billy Gunn was telling me this when I did an interview with him. He's like,

oh, everybody's all, a sudden my friend oh yeah yeah best buds hey bill you remember that time no i don't because i don't even know if that really happened yeah i said i'm sure a lot of your friends have been reaching out since you were became the head coach he's like oh yeah and they're they're all my friends yeah and it's hard you know what i mean like i ask again i don't want to mention names but i asked certain people at a ew and it was so hard for me to do it like i was uncomfortable in my skin i was like hey man you mind just throwing my name out there and they'd be like yeah edie of course what's

wrong and I'm doing this. Scratching. And then like I did they were like yeah he will do it and then later on in the night I'll go up to my goal yeah I'm sorry and they're like what are you sorry for? I'm like I fucking asked you for a favor. They're like what's wrong with you? And I'm like it just doesn't feel right. Sure.

You know? But that's because you're such an authentic guy. I try to be. That comes through. I try. That comes through in your work in the ring too. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, a lot of times I tell a lot of young guys like we can all do cool moves. Well, not me anymore. But I could throw a cool suplex, or I could do a cool spot. But would I really do that in real life? I understand this is pro wrestling. But I try to bring what I would do in real life. So, for instance, like,

if a guy's talking shit, the whole match in real life, I would try to bite his tongue or grab his mouth. You know what I mean? So I would do it in a match, and people are like, oh, man, that was great. I'm like, what I would really do. But that's what I tell a lot of young guys. guys like if you can do all the cool shit good for you because I can't do it and I and I appreciate what you do but try to add a little bit more realism to yeah you know well you're one of those

guys though where I don't know where Eddie Kingston the wrestler ends and Eddie Kingston the human like uh yeah yeah no it gets yeah yeah there's sometimes where I'll cut a promo in the back or um I'll be in the ring and I got to walk away for like 10 15 minutes to get back to who I really am, not Eddie Kingston. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. Because Eddie Kingston is an extension of me when I was 17, just turned up a thousand notches, you know?

So, like, I get in that mind frame, and it's like, fuck the world, and everyone's against me. That's what I thought as a kid. So then when the match is over and everything's settled or the promo's over, I go, all right, guys, give me a minute. And I legit have to walk away.

Yeah. So I can get out of that fucking zone where I'm not. 24-7, 17 years old. You know what I mean? But if that was you at 17 years old, it's almost 20 years later now. How has Eddie Kingston evolved?

As a wrestler or as a person? How about both? Okay, as a person, I've stopped holding, I still hold grudges, but not as much as I used to. And it used to eat at me. You know what I mean?

Like, I used to really say I hate people and I would think about them and I would get fucking angry and just you grow up and you're like, why am I, A, why am I hating this person? That's a strong word. A, B, why am I even thinking about that person? Because they're not thinking about me.

You know what I mean? Yeah. So I let go of a lot of grudges and stuff like that. Also personally, too, like I'm more, I understand the business side more. You know what I mean? So I don't get mad at for promoters like, oh, no, we're not going to use you.

I get it now. I understand. Just don't lie to me. That's the one thing I still haven't changed. Like, if you're a promoter, and you don't want to use me, just say, hey, man, we don't really see anything with you here. Oh, cool, man, thanks. Don't go, hey, maybe here, maybe that.

No, I'm a grown man. Just yes or no. As a character, just age. You know what I mean? The Eddie Kingston character is just, it's gotten older. You know what I mean? And I can't still be acting the same way. You know, I mean, I got to do things a little differently.

like um you know you got to sell different you got to cut a promo differently you know what i mean you got to go and evolve as you're evolving as a person you have to also involve evolve your character i still can't be that thug from new york or whatever they want to say you know what i mean now it's it's different kind of like um i'm like an old gunflinger i guess you can say that's why i was putting cowboy stuff up on my twitter once i'm like i was like pro wrestling's like the wild west Here's a Doc Holiday gift. You know what I mean?

I kind of feel like that. Now, the Eddie Kingston character is now like that old gunslinger, you know, trying to get that last ride or, you know what I mean? Yeah. You know, so it's no more I'm the young guy beating the shit out of people or trying to. It's the old gunslinger that's trying to hang with younger guys. That's the way I kind of look at it now. You probably felt really comfortable in your character like five-ish years in.

Yeah. But now you probably look back at that. and go, oh my God, I knew nothing. Oh, I still know nothing. I still know nothing. I know, but honestly, I tweeted it. There's two stories. One, I'll drop names, so get ready, folks.

Okay. I know these people. Jerry Lynn told me one day, it was like 2011 or 12. We're just sitting down talking bullshit. By the way, Jerry Lynn, so happy. I hope you're doing better, brother. I know he had hip surgery, I believe. Yeah.

I hope you're doing better, man. You're the fucking best. God, he's too good for wrestling. Jerry Lynch too good for this business Honestly I don't know And for people that don't know He's working for AEW Yeah yeah and he's just way too good

For this business as a human being Like you know I think he's too good for any Anyway done kissing his ass Go fuck his up Jerry Yeah Go fuck his own Jerry No I'm joking

He just said to me You know Eddie I always learned something new In this business I don't know anything So I'm sitting there And I'm like this dude's been Here there here He's a big name to me

he's a big name in wrestling not just to me and if he says he doesn't know anything I have no right ever in my career to say anything so then now everyone knows I'm close with homicide and loki still to this day 18 years in

I'll send them a match or a clip and they'll rip it apart Wow they'll rip it apart and I go oh okay they were right about that shit I should have done that yeah I should have been more aggressive there ah that's a dumb spot

why would I they're right why would I do that you know what I mean and you still learn So I don't know anything. I'm still learning. I bet you today, after this is all said and done, I'll probably go back to the Airbnb and be like,

why didn't I do that? You know what homicide since he's here? He'll be like, yo, you know what you should have done here. And I'm like, oh, man, you're right. So it's always a learning thing, you know what I mean? But if you, if there is a match that you were to send to someone and say, this is the match I'm most proud of, what would that be? None.

Oh, come on. No, I'm being so serious. So serious, because I think every match I have, I can always do. I can always tell a better story. Yeah. What's the match? Okay, then fans come up to you and go, oh, man, that match with so-and-so.

A lot of times they bring up, like, my match with my original trainer, Mike Quackenbush, from a high noon, Chukhar's first eye pay-per-view. Okay. And it was the main event. Me and Quackenbush never wrestled. Yeah, I think 2011. But a lot of fans bring that up still.

To me, it was a good story, but then I watch it, and I go, idiot. I'm watching it. I'm like, you're a fucking idiot. talking to myself like why did you do that you know fan fan say they they love that stuff and it's always nice and I tell them thank you and everything but in my head I'm like yeah but this spot was the shits you know whatever whatever they bring up to me in my head I'm saying that you know but no it does feel good but I always think I can tell a better story you know what I mean

and that's what we really are at the end of the day where we're actors like the movie stars where athletes like football, baseball, basketball, MMA, whatever you want to say. Sure. And then you take both of those sides and you fucking mix them together. Yeah. That's pro wrestling.

Your storytell it. Yeah. That's all it is. That's why I tell a lot of guys like, I don't get mad anymore with younger guys or whatever. I just don't. I go, hey, you guys do what you got to do, but this is just my opinion, you know?

And I tell all of them, I go, the only thing that kind of gets me annoyed about wrestling is that I went to go, I'm a big comic book fan. Always been. There's a picture of me on the street corner with a cigarette and a bandana on like Tupac reading a Punisher book.

Someone has a, oh, in a boombox. Yeah, I'm dating myself. A boombox on top of a telephone pole. And, but anyway, and I just think to myself, I went to go see Infinity War, four times. Wow.

And in the movie theater, every time I also went for this reason because I wanted to hear people's reactions. Every time, spoiler, every time Spider-Man goes into dust Every time people lost their shit And in my head, I'm like, wait a minute, but we know Spider-Man 2 is coming out next year

So we know he's coming back. Right. We know this. It's a fact he's coming back. Like we've seen screenshots of him, whatever the fuck, filming. But they still lost their shit. And I would hear people, no.

And I'm like, But that scene was also so much more emotional. Everyone else just vanishes like this. Where you just said it, emotional. It was. And that's what we're supposed to do in the ring. Yeah. But Spider-Man, like he died.

His death was like five minutes, five seconds longer. But that's what I tell people is that if we can still, if Marvel or whatever movies can get people like that, so should we. Yeah. You know what I mean? Oh, for sure. And another name. Actually, I shouldn't drop his name.

He has a lot of Twitter heat with people, but he knows who he is. Okay. I don't know what's going. on in his personal life, God bless him. But he told me monkeys can do what we do. You can train a monkey to go to fucking space. You can train a monkey to do a 450. It's not going to be that hard.

But what separates us from them is emotion. So you have to get the people emotionally invested. You have to get them so emotionally invested that they need you to win. And they're fucking foaming at the mouth for you to win. Or they hate you so much that they're throwing garbage at you or whatever. You know what I mean? and everyone knows what the deal is, but just like they suspend their disbelief in a movie,

they should be able to suspend their disbelief at a wrestling show. Well, and you're one of those people who can get that kind of heat. I try. You on the mic is so, so good. That's also me just talking. Thank you, but that's also me just talking shit and having fun with it. You know what I mean? But it's also this certain amount of confidence and arrogance.

It's very good. Well, I got the arrogant thing from when I used to get into, well, when I get into any argument with any of my exes back in the day, they used to tell me what they hated was when I got really mad, I would become cocky. So they were yelling, screaming. I'd be like, oh, yeah, that's right. Yeah. So that's how you really feel. Okay, no, no, no, I'd be like this. Yeah, no, no, sweetie, you're right.

I'm wrong. I'm always wrong. You're right. You know what? Fuck me, right? And they would just go nuts. That's great. So in my head, I was like, if that drives them nuts, that's going to drive everybody else crazy.

So I'm like, I'll throw that in. You know what I mean? Or like, you know, like, I guess when I'm a good guy or baby face, I don't know, I act the same regardless. You know what I mean? Yeah, it's just the crowd happens to cheer you. Yeah, I just happened to be involved of beating up a real bad guy or something. You know what I mean? So who was it that inspired your promos?

Like, oh, wow, man. There's so many. You know what I mean? like again I tell younger guys too don't watch wrestling for spots you know what I mean because we all know how to do that shit we can come up with that shit first off a lot of the younger guys

are fucking athletic as shit and can come up with these crazy spots and I'll watch it and be like holy shit like you know I've never seen it before you know but I tell them watch matches not for the spots but for why they did it or how they sold or like for instance Ricky Morton

I told one young guy I said, Ricky Morton's considered one of the greatest baby faces ever because of the way he sold. And he had these people fucking crying and dying for him. Look at it and see why. You know what I mean? So that's what I do. Like I'll pick apart like my favorite guys to watch for selling

are Kenta Kabashi, Kawata from all Japan. And Ricky Morton, of course, Steamboat, Dreamer, Brett Hart. So like I'll take from all that. And the same thing with promo. growing up growing up for me

I was so so into macho man because of his promos I had nothing to do with him shooting with Hogan or anything but just I'm never just hearing him say I see lust in your eyes

as a kid I don't know I did what the fuck lust is I still don't this is why I'm single I don't know what lust whatever but hearing that the way he said it and the way he delivered it and his finger in Hogan's face that still sticks with me now. That, Dusty Rhodes, of course,

when Dusty, when we had illegal cable in the Bronx. So I would get NWA, but only in the winter because my dad wanted to watch inside the NFL on HBO. So that's all I got was NWA in the winter. But when Dusty Rhodes, like that promo everyone loves where he said, put your hand against the screen. Yeah, yeah. Together will win the world championship.

I was a kid, and I was like, oh, yeah. You know what I mean? Then I fell off wrestling Because, you know, being, you know, the mark that I am When Brett Hart lost to Sean Michaels at WrestleMania 12, I was done Because in my head, Brett was a shooter from the dungeon. How did Sean beat the shooter? This is bullshit, I'm done watching.

ECW came along. And that was it. I'm hooked back in. Tommy Dreamer promos. Raven spoke to people like my generation. You know what I mean? New Jack, because I grew up around guys like that. Shane Douglas

I was already a fan of Shane's when he teamed up with Ricky Steenboat in WCW but his promos you know what I mean? A lot of ECW promos really inspired me and drugged me back in McFoly Like how do you not love that

The ECW promos weren't scripted Which I think is what made them so great One of my favorite of all time And I play this for people all the time at my house Especially when You know We had a couple Let's say we had a couple of drinks

we'll say drinks and I'll play the Steve Austin promo that he did oh my God you know what I mean where you know he's saying no one's going to stop him and he's going to be the star

that he always knew he could be and all that backstage one yeah yeah and I put that on and I'm like watch this shit and I get fully engaged again I'm trying to watch them watch it but I'm already I'm already back in

and I know the lines already but I'm already engaged in it so Austin of course you know what I mean and like that that's the that brought me back in because then it made me want to see the matches. Yeah. You know, we're supposed to talk not just to bring the people in the crowd, but also bring the people to the TV.

You know what I mean? Or sell the pay-per-view or sell the TV. That's the point of talking. Yeah. Get yourself over, get your opponent over, get the company over, and then bring them in. Yeah. You know what I mean?

If people don't care about you. Yeah. Or if they don't care what you're saying, they're not going to give a fuck what you do in the ring. Right. They don't. And I did cutting a promo and doing that. It's so much, it just helps out a lot.

Because then you can go in that ring and go, man, you give me one good punch. And because of that promo I cut or the promo the other guy cut. Man, you give me one punch. Those people are going to fucking flip. And it's just not being lazy. It's giving them what they want. And also listening to them and be like, oh, man, that's awesome. Yeah.

You know, like I think for me, what Utopia or the Nirvana feeling, I'm trying to use big words, folks. I like it. For me is when the people react to something the way I think they would when I'm backstage. And they react and you have to cover my mouth sometimes because I'm like, we got these. You know what I mean?

Like Ortiz from Proud and, you know, P&P. Yeah. I was a tournament I was doing in Chicago for AAW and was against Josh Alexander, the finals. And my neck and my shoulder were all messed up. He was sick. So we're all just, we're just fucking beat up. Wrestled three times already that day.

And I just remember telling Ortiz, I go, watch for the side headlock, bro. And we're wrestling, wrestling, wrestling, got the headlock, took him over side headlock. And the people, oh, and I remember looking up at Ortiz because he was up in the balcony and he's dying, laughing, and I'm going. But you know what I mean?

It's like, it wasn't just because it was a side headlock. It was because we got them to come along on that journey to get to that side headlock. Yeah. It wasn't like I just grabbed it and went, ha ha, we worked to that. Yeah. And then we worked to the finish. And then, you know what I mean?

All that stuff. And I know a lot of people ask me questions about AEW because of all the crazy high spots and stuff. And I put it, I put it on Twitter because I don't give a fuck. I'll put shit on Twitter. It's my opinion. You follow me or you don't. That's on you. You know what I mean?

Try to cancel me. Because I don't care. Come from a different generation. Anyway, I put it out there. I was like, you know why I love these matches? Because I can't do it. I can't do their moves. So I appreciate their athleticism.

Is there sometimes where I sit there and go, man, just throw one punch. I'm begging you. Just one punch. Make it look like you're trying to really hit the guy. And then you can do a flip or whatever. But that's on them. Yeah. You know what I mean?

But also, that's my opinion. Yeah. What I like. But I watch that stuff and I'll sit there. I'll watch a Lucha Brothers match. And I'll be in my house like, this is insane, you know, because I can't do it. So I appreciate it. I just don't like people who, A, can't do it and bury it.

You know what I mean? Now, if you can do it and bury it, okay, I'll give you a little credit. But if you're sitting there and you can't even get off your fucking couch, let alone do a move in the ring? Yeah. It's your opinion, but it really doesn't fucking matter. Let's be honest. You know what I'm saying? Like, give me a fucking break.

Everything evolves. Everything fucking changes in the business. I remember the older guys. telling me how when Steamboat and Flair would wrestle the older guys are like, you're killing the business and now we sit here and go, fucking Flair's Steamboat,

greatest thing of it. You know what I mean? So it's like everything evolves and changes. So there's always going to be somebody there. Me, I just kind of look at it like that shit is dope. I can't do it. God bless them. I hope they don't kill themselves

and get hurt doing it. That's my main concern. When I see crazy stuff, I go, man, I hope. Fuck, I hope his knees are going to last. You know what I mean? For that long. Well, you'd put it out there that last year could possibly be your last year.

You've talked about why it wasn't. Yeah, I'll say it here. And that's fine, but I'm, well, we'll get to that in a second. But what was your plan? If, if 2019 was going to be your last year in wrestling, what were you going to be doing for work? Well, I already, so I've done construction my whole life. Okay. Local 580.

What's up? Iron worker. I really looked up places in Oregon, Alaska, and like in the middle. And, like, in the middle and, oh, where was that Twilight movie done? In Seattle, right? Oh, Seattle, yeah, Washington. So I took, I looked up all these places because I'm a loner by nature. I love that you referenced Twilight when thinking of Seattle.

Yeah. Isn't that where it's, right? Yeah, but. What the fucking sparkly? You could also be like, where do the Seahawks play? First of all, fuck Pete Carroll. Because I'm a Notre Dame fan. And when he was at USC, he was paying those motherfuckers.

And that's why they beat Notre Dame, fighting Irish, half Irish. Get at me. I'm a mutt. Anyway, I digress. You like that word? Wow. Big one. Anyway, I've been alone a lot of my life, even as a kid.

I don't need to be with people. It's nice. Don't get me wrong. If people, I'm hanging out with people, awesome. But I don't need to. It's not like I go look for. Like, oh, man, I'm going out tonight for a couple drinks. I better call so-and-so.

No, it's, I'm going out. I'm going to have a drink. I'm going to go home. So I was just going to go move to these places. I was looking up construction jobs around there and welding jobs. I would have to get my welders license again, which is easy for me anyway. And I was just going to disappear.

I already had, and, you know, I told my mother and my brother and my dad, I go, I'm going to get a new phone. Here's my phone number. And you guys will be the only ones to have it. And I would just disappear. No YouTube, no Twitter, nothing. I would just want to be left alone. For the rest of your life?

Yeah, because I would look at it and go, all right, this is one chapter in my life. Closed. Goodbye. Just like, okay, I played high school football. It was over and done with it. I didn't go to college because I got in trouble at school. Close that over.

That's why I look at things. You know what I mean? So pro wrestling, this was my job for X amount of time. Close it, done. I don't have to look back anymore. And be like, oh, man, I miss. No, no, fuck that. Go forward.

You know what I mean? Either make new memories or live miserably. One of the other. You know what I mean? This is the way it is. So what changed? So, for those who don't know, my brother had a baby. I didn't get to see the kid.

right away because, you know, on the road, everything. I saw him, he was about seven months old, and I remember my brother goes here, meet your nephew Evan. And I'm looking at him. And I'm like, holy shit, this is weird. This is, he's one of us. I'm looking at him like, Eric, my brother, Eric. I'm like, you made this.

He's like, yeah, I'm like, I'm his uncle. He's like, yeah, I'm like, he's one of us. He's like, yeah? I was like, oh, my God. It blew my mind. I couldn't believe it. My brother just basically came out and said, like, man, how can I tell my son not to quit and keep fighting?

and things will happen for you if you work hard when his uncle quit. And I went, you piece of shit. Funny thing is, me and my brother is the love we have for each other. I'm yelling at him in the car. As we're driving off, fuck you, how dare you say that? He's going, bye, asshole, you know what I mean? But it made me think. And now he got his wife pregnant again, so I'm going to have a niece.

And, of course, do I want to get paid a lot of money? Do I want to be set for a lot of money? set for life? Yeah. Do I want to be on a bigger level or T&T or USA or whatever? Yes, of course. Of course I do. But at the end of the day, I want my nephew and my future niece to go to school. This is my thinking. Go to school and go, hey, my uncle's a pro wrestler and have some little fucking kid go, no, he's not. And then they go, look. And then there I am. I just want them to be proud. So now it's crazy. I do, the reason why I'm still

wrestling is for them. Wow. I'm wrestling for my nephew Evan and my niece. You know what I mean? I want them to be proud of me. But would you really look at it as quitting if you had the career that you had and then moved on, like you said, close that chapter and on to something else? Really? That'd be quitting.

Yeah, because I didn't achieve what I wanted. You know what I mean? So, I mean, I don't believe only time I believe in the word retirement is when it's like, football or baseball or regular jobs because you have to retire you're getting too old you have to retire yeah with pro wrestling if you retire while your body can still go you didn't retire you quit you quit that's the way I look at it you know what I mean because I've heard so many people say they're going to retire then they come back and I'm like you're quitting or you just need a break you're quitting you know maybe I needed a break I don't know I said I haven't had a break in 18 years I don't

remember like I'll have a weekend off but I don't remember having a month off I don't remember maybe my first two years in the business but yeah you're booked a lot yeah you got to make a living dog I got a home to pay for bro I'm a homeowner this site goes a homeowner think about that fucking whacked right all right a quick time out to thank our awesome sponsor for this episode bet online and with currently no NBA NHL XFL or college basketball, you might be thinking there's nothing really to bet on, CVV. Well, you would be wrong, my friend. Bet online still has hundreds of places to wager.

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And I hate it because when I pay the mortgage, then I'm looking at the fridge and I'm going, well, it looks like it's, it's, it's peanut butter and ramen noodles until the next pay day. When did you really start to see that shift in indie wrestling where you could make, you know, a decent living doing this? I say cold cabana really started it. Yeah. You know what I mean? Because cabanas are go-getter, man. with the podcast and the selling of the shirts and pro wrestling teas. All that's Cabana kind of started that path for guys.

You know what I mean? So if you want to make money as an indie wrestler, Colcabana made that path. Wow. And then you just got to do it your own way. It was like Cabana and then the Bucks came out of nowhere. You know, not out of nowhere. I'm close with them.

They've done great for years. But then the T-shirts started for them. The Bucs said they saw the line for Colt Cabana's merch. Yeah. And they went. Well, we can do that. And that was what changed it. Yeah.

So Colbyn inspired everybody. I can't do it. I don't like selling shirts. I tell them go to pro wrestling teas. I get weird when people try to talk to me at the gimmick team. Is it because you also have to carry all that merch with you when you travel? Carrying the merch with me and then I got to sit there and talk to you. And I'm like, hey, man, I don't want to be an asshole.

I like talking to my fans or fans of wrestling in general. But if you ain't going to buy shit, dog, move. But then I feel like a dick. They're doing it. So I just tell people, hey, man, you can talk to me all day right now. Because if you really want a shirt, go to pro wrestling T's and whatever. Right. So I can actually sit down and conversate with you instead of doing the fake.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Are you going to buy anything? No. Okay. That person was and they just walked away. Instead of doing that, like I just can't do it. Because, you know. You also don't have to carry inventory with you.

It's a bitch. I don't, I mean, I don't know if everybody realizes this, but the guys who are selling a lot of merch, show up with a separate suitcase full of X amount of mediums, you know, largest, extra large and so on. And I'm like looking at them like, you're fucking insane. Yeah. Oh, man, I don't have a large, but I can give you an extra large. Oh, I love that.

It shrinks. When you watch it, they'll shrink to a large. You'll be all right. I don't know. I'm usually a large, though. Oh, you'll be fine. You'll be fine. Give me the $20.

I'll throw on an 8 by 10 for free. Yeah. I love it. You got it down. You should be selling sure. Yeah, yeah. He's about to get ready, folks. You're going to get the Chris Lee this.

Yeah, Chris Van Vleet T. Well, we got a few of them, but. Right there. Oh, no, you're not, you're a medium. Don't worry. Here's a large. Oh, yeah. Let it dry and you'll be all right.

What did, so that was what changed personally for you to want to stay in wrestling. Did NWA? Was that something that changed for you to make you go, oh, okay, I can go on that path now. No. No, because I don't, everyone's going to think this sounds better. I look at everything as a payday. You know what I mean? It also helps me mentally.

Sure. You know, because like when I get invested in something, I go all in. You know what I mean? And I, that's how I, you know,

I'm like a scorned ex-lover. That, like, I've done it so much with so many promotions that I've given everything to and then things don't work out and then it hurts. And I'm like,

I don't want to wrestle. All the cry baby shit. So, Now I just look at everything as a payday. And I also got to remember, too, like I told you, we were talking before about it being a TV product. If they don't have nothing for you on TV, it doesn't matter if you're the greatest wrestle in the world. You know what I mean? It doesn't matter if I'm a legit shooter or I have charisma out my ass.

If they don't have anything, it doesn't matter. Yeah. You know, so I just look at everything as just another booking. And then I go in and I do my job. Like, I try to do my job better than that. anybody and loki always says be undeniable when you're in there no matter what happens no matter what shit they give you do it better than everybody else and you'll be fine and he's him and homicide would tell me that and they're right so i come to n w a way i had great locker room and then i just go do my

job what's it like working in front of this crowd because it's it's a different setting it is a different setting it's a trip man it's definitely a trip you know what i mean like when i first came to n w a with their first tapings. I was like, yeah, whatever, another booking, let's go. How much are you going to pay me? I got to get home. And then I saw the set, and I went home.

Man, and I remember looking around, and then everything started running in my head, the old NWA I used to watch. You know what I mean? Like, it's a legit TV studio. Yeah, yeah, and I was like, then I started getting nervous, and I was like, why am I getting nervous?

You know, but no, it's a trip, man, and the fans are great here. They're really into it. You know what I mean? I wouldn't say it feels like a territory. but, you know, these fans come all the time. Yeah. They know the angles.

They know the soy lines. And they know who's good, who's bad, who's this, who's that. They get into it. And then, of course, the YouTube, you know what I mean? Oh, yeah. With so many people, that blew my mind. I was like, people actually give a shit about this? Okay.

You know, that took me by surprise, too, because I'm like, you have AEW that's in fucking these great arenas. You know what I mean? And then you got WWE, of course. They're WWE, of course. And then, you know, we're in a little studio. You know what makes it different. Yeah, I didn't think it would be that. But yeah, you're right.

Because if you guys ran in like arenas that were two or three thousand people. And only 90 people show up. No, because you guys sell out here all the time. Yeah, yeah. But if you did that, it would just be like you'd just be looking like everybody else, but smaller. And that's what you look completely different. And that's what I tell people about Eric Bischoff. I never met Eric Bischoff, but I remember him.

saying, and this stuck with me when he said this, he said, I couldn't do what WWE was doing or WWF at the time. I had to do the opposite of them. Yeah. And it felt like for years, almost a lot of promotions who would get TV or would, you know, be close to being a number two, let's say. Over the years, they looked like WWE light. Yeah.

And they weren't doing anything opposite of them. And I just remember, like, why, like, granted WCW closed down, but like, you know, like his podcast, 83 weeks for 83 weeks, WCW was on top of the world. Yeah. The wrestling world. And it was fucking, it was weird even as me as a teenager watching it going, wait a minute, Vince McMahon, wait, they're supposed to be, wait, you know?

Yeah. And I never understood why people don't try to apply that to their product. Okay, what's Vince doing? Okay, Vince is doing serious stuff. Maybe we'll do a little joky here. Oh, Vince is doing joke stuff. Well, guess what? Now we're going to go serious.

You know what I mean? And then I look at it in W. way everyone's you know Vince and whoever else are all doing these big arenas and we're doing this nice close uh old school you know what I mean at studio wrestling studio wrestling you know what I mean and then when we do decide to have a big show and go to somewhere bigger it means something because we're always in this you know it means so that's why I think it's good because it's different and you got to be different so it's got to be different so if you were you know that close to being done with wrestling.

Are you now your head in? Like you're all in wrestling. Yeah, yeah. I said in another interview. That's it. Like, I'm here. There's no more. Until you die. Yeah.

Either people stop book three ways. Okay. People stop booking me. My body shuts down on me or like you said, unless I die. So I'm here. Y'all are fucked. Whoever doesn't like me, y'all are fucked because I'm here. You know, you better talk to all the promoters not to book me anymore.

But that's what it is, man. I'm here now. And there's no more concern. There's no more forcing, oh, I got to get signed or I got to do this. You know what I mean? That might be the best attitude. Dude, I'm here. And I'm loving, I said this.

And also the other reason why with wrestling I wanted to leave was that to me, love is the highest form of understanding. And I didn't understand wrestling for a couple of years. I just didn't get it. I didn't get why this. And again, it was me looking outside myself. Why this person? Why that?

Why am I? And so then I stopped and I said, why the fuck do I care about this person? They're not feeding me. I'm not feeding them. Oh, wow, they got a contract. They're making a lot of money. Good for you, brother.

Honestly, good for you. I don't know you. So good for you. But I had to stop worrying about that. Right. And then I finally found my love again for pro wrestling. So now I can understand it again. So now it's just fuck it, man.

Let's go have fun. You know what I mean? I'm going to do what I have to do. I'm going to do my job. I'm going to do it. And here's a little bit of the ego I do have. I'm going to do it better than anybody else. And or realer than anybody else.

You're going to feel me when I'm out there. That's one thing I'm very confident. You will feel me. Whatever I say or do, you will feel it. And that's it. I'm here. If God forbid you had an injury that prevented you from wrestling for a long period of time, what would you do?

Construction? Well, now a lot of people haven't been putting stuff in my ear. I'm not going to say who. maybe I'll be an agent. Yeah. You know what I mean? Or maybe I'll train kids. I don't know.

It seems like it's funny. It seems like once I stop the fucking bullshit retirement, be by myself talk, other ideas started popping in. It's great. Or people started whispering in my ear like, hey, man, you know you could agent this or you know you could do this. Yeah. The only thing I won't do is book a show. Won't do it. Because I feel like I'll be like Bill Watts, if I booked.

the show. And I'd be like, all right, this is the match. This is what you're doing this. How it is how it? Yeah, Eddie, but how about this is the match? This is how we're fucking doing it and that's it. And I'm also the first person though. When someone comes up to me with someone, I'm like, oh, no, I get it. How about if we do that? But if they do it to me, I'm like, no, motherfucker. We're doing this. So I'll definitely be sort of like Bill Watts, just from New York. So I don't want to book your show. You had an interesting situation where you went to a WWE audition. Yeah. And then you signed with Impact like very quickly. Two days later.

Right. Was there ever any communication from WWE or feedback after the tryout? No. There wasn't. They don't, they don't have to. You know what I mean? I know a lot of people get mad about that.

They're like, I was at the tryout? They didn't give me, they didn't let me know if they're going to hire me. They don't need to. That's their business. So what they fly you down to Orlando? At the time,

I was living in Orlando. Okay, okay. So just went. I just went there, did my thing, you know what I mean? And I didn't get any.

feel or anything and I was like okay cool what do they do make you work a couple matches uh they make you work one match but then a bunch of it's all a bunch of fucking running around cardio you know what I mean and I smoke cigarettes and one of you know what I mean I have good cardio for a guy who smokes uh almost a pack a day but um did you have to cut promos for him too yeah I cut a promo for him you know what I mean it was just all that that I think the cardio stuff that they're doing to the guys is to see who quits that's all it like a mental thing yeah oh yeah and I was close I was a I'll be like, fuck this. I got an indie bookie for $500.

I'm not getting hurt here. But anyway, that was the New Yorker in me coming out. I fact that shit. And then TNA came calling, you went? Oh, well, TNA at the time, I was dating a young lady who was working for TNA at the time. And we were living together, blah, blah, blah, blah, all that great shit. And I don't know, man. I think Brody King likes that I tell young guys is be a mark for the dollar signs, not a mark for the letters.

And it's basically was, okay, WWE, I got to wait six to eight weeks. That's cool. I get it. But Impact's going to pay me a lot of money right now to do their shit. I want to buy a house for me. And at the time, my lady, I was like, I want to get a house. If I do Impact, if I sign with TNA at the time, I'll be able to do it. So I was like, here we go.

You know what I mean? Because I think a lot of guys forget, like I said, it's a business. you know what I mean you gotta make money you gotta eat like if wb is gonna make money off me I gotta make money off them yeah if impacts or whatever whoever whoever the fuck I also have to make money it's back and forth type of thing I think there are a lot of guys who do the exact opposite

of what you're talking about they hold out going you know I did have that try out with w w a and I've heard that there's some people that like me and then they say no to other opportunities yeah and I also tell guys too you know you you take that like in that friendship shit and put it in your back pocket. This is business. Yeah. You know what I mean? I have a lot of people, for some reason, a lot of people like me. I don't know why. I'm just honest.

That's why. That's why people like you. But that doesn't mean. It's also why people don't like you. Yeah. But that's also like I have a lot of people who like me who, like I told you before, would say stuff for me at different places. But that doesn't mean I'm going to get hired. I still have to watch out for myself.

You know what I mean? Yeah. And I'll thank the person or whatever the fuck and I'll try to help them later on. You know what I mean? but that's it and that's why I tell guys if you're just waiting for one thing and that doesn't happen then you just fucking wasted a bunch of opportunities later

you know that's a great just life advice yeah but again not just wrestling like wrestling is life I guess I don't know wrestling is life I guess I don't you know somehow but like I tell God like I said man Brody King loves it and like some of the oh and Jeff Cobb loved it because I told both of them before they signed a ring of honor we were in Chicago

and we're having a couple of drinks well, Brody don't drink, and we're just having a couple, and they're asking me about Ring of Honor and what they think they should do, and I said, hey, man, how much are they paying you? Ba-Bah, blah, blah, blah. How much they're paying you? Ba-Bah, blah, blah. Is WWE knocking on your door right now?

No. Is Impact knocking on your door right now? No. AEW hasn't started yet, right? No. Who's going to pay you the most right now? And they were like, Ring of honor. I said, well, there's your answer.

Yeah. I go, and like I said, be a mark for the dollar signs, not the letters. Because if we're all marks for the letters, what are we going to do? WWE, that's all we're going to wait for. Right.

You know what I mean? And then when that doesn't come, we're going to be sitting in a fucking house or an apartment like, why am I broke? You know? But again, it's a business.

It's not a... I remember when I signed with Impact, people were like... Some people were like, you just had a try out and you're going to get heat and... First of, I don't give a fuck about heat

because heat, to me, is not real. I come from New York. If you say you got beef with somebody that's real. You know, beef is when you see someone in the street right away, you're fighting them on site. You know what I mean? You don't care if they're mothers with them. It's on sight. So when I hear heat from wrestlers, oh man, I got heat. I don't get, fuck out of you. It's pussy shit. Yeah, oh, we got heat. But they're not going to fight you, brother. Talk shit behind your back and that's it. Whatever. Fuck out of you. But I said, why would I get heat

in my mind? I'm not disrespecting WWE. I'm trying, I took a job. I took a job. Yeah. You know what I mean? And that's the other thing. Kids get in their own fucking head and they're like, I'm like, I'm like, get heat with this and that. Man, make money. Make fucking money and go home. You know what I mean?

Like, that's it. And if someone doesn't like it, then they don't like it. But no one's going to approach you. Honestly, in wrestling, because it has to be professional, it's not the street. So that's why I laugh. You know what I mean? If a promoter's like, if I get in an argument with a promoter,

and he talks shit about me. I'm like, that's all he's going to do. He's not going to hit me. He's not going to stab me. He's not going to shoot me. So guess what? Go fuck yourself. I don't care.

Talk all your shit. You want because I can talk shit too. It's easy. But that's why I tell guys, stop. Make your money, man. Because our bodies are not meant to do this. You know what I mean? It's disgusting what we do if you really break it down.

You know what I mean? It's not going to last forever. So make your money why you can. and then get out. You mean, get out or become an agent or do something backstage if you really love it or like me, a nut job, just fucking leave.

You know, so. Well, as we wrap things up here, first of all, you're so real, which is amazing. I don't know, I'm also jacked up on fucking four of these. Four of them. No, I'm joking. This is my second one. People who know me know when they drive

and car rides with me, then like another one, Eddie. I got water with me. That's my excuse. I'll drink six of these. And they'd be like Eddie, are you okay? You're sweating. I'm like, I'm good.

I have water. And it's like one of the small 99 cents waters too. It's like this. And they're like, you know, that's not going to do anything. Oh, fuck out of you. I'll be fine. That's my heart.

Who's the one person that you still need to work a match with? Junakiamer. That's really it. That's really it. That wasn't a joke. No, that's serious. Yeah, because you thought it was a joke before. Yeah, I did.

No, in all seriousness, like, WrestleMania weekends coming up. And I've been very lucky and very blessed that other promotions want to book me, but I have a deal. I'm a man on my word. I try to be a man. I have nothing signed on paper. To me, my word means more than anything I can ever sign. I told a certain promoter, I would just do your shows for WrestleMania weekend.

That's it. He said, oh, I'm like, oh, my, you know, thank you, blah, blah, you know, whatever. I'm like, yeah, dude, I'm with you. Don't worry about it. Other places were like, oh, Eddie, why are you doing that? It's my word. That's why motherfucker. If you don't understand that, then your word means shit.

But anyway, I told other promoters, hey, man, if you really want me to do this, if you want me to say, fuck the other bookings that I promised the guy, you got to get me Junakiama. And every promoter goes, all right, then we're good. Then we're good.

You know what I mean? I can't wrestle Chono, Masahiro Chono, because he's retired. Can't wrestle Ketheh Kibasha because he's retired. To me, Junakiyama was the fifth pillar of all Japan. He didn't get enough. He's ever spoken to him? No, because he probably looks at me and goes, look at this fat fucking mark.

Let's be honest. He goes, look at this fat mark doing all Kobashi and Kawada's moves. What a mark. Probably that's what it is. Hopefully I'm wrong. Maybe he does like me and he's like, you know what? The kid has something. I don't know.

But no, I never spoke to him. And people who know me know my favorite promotion of all time was all Japan, especially in the 90s. That's the shit that hooked me. And I was stuck on it. You know what I mean? Like one night you can ask the LA, proud and powerful, Ortiz and Santana. One night they were standing at my house and I put on All Japan and I broke down every match to the point where Sanana goes, man. Shut the fuck up and let us enjoy it.

I'm like, yeah, but you don't understand why they did this because of this. And then two matches beforehand, he did this move. This is why he counted it here. And they're like, shut up. We get it. That's how much I love all Japan 90s stuff. you know what I mean? That was me.

Well, I hope that it all, I hope it happens one day for you. If it does, it does, if it doesn't, you know, it doesn't, you know,

it's not meant to be. Sure. You know, if it happens, it was meant to be. Just like anything in wrestling. I'm here right now because it was meant to be.

I'm glad you're still in wrestling. Thank you, man. I know, I know some people aren't, but for those who do something about it. Honestly, dude,

like, I'm not hard to find. If you don't like it, come see me. You may beat my ass, but I'll take your eye with me. I'm taking something. See, that's the street shit in me.

I apologize. Sorry, maybe I shouldn't be saying this in 48 minutes. Yeah. Fuck out of you. Thanks, brother. New York, baby. Yonkers on with a brave, baby. Thank you.

MJF, go fuck yourself. Ah! Well, how about that one, my friend? A big thank you to Eddie for taking the time to sit down and chat with me. A big thank you to you for sitting down or standing up or whatever you're doing. you listen to this right now. Snap a screenshot. Tag me, tag Eddie, let us know what you found most interesting about this one. And I've got some big changes coming up here in the next few weeks. I'm moving out to Los Angeles. So if you live in that area, guess what? We just became best

friends and we're going to be eating in and out all the time. Best burgers ever. No, people in Texas, no. Don't talk to me about Waterburger, okay? And I know five guys is good, other people, but in and out. The best. Okay? I don't want to argue about this. Now, I know this may not be the best and most ideal time to be picking up my life and moving it across the country, but you know what? I say there's no better time than the present. So this is happening. I'm going to actually be driving out there. It's like a 30-ish hour drive. So I will be doing exactly what you're doing right now, listening to podcasts. So if you have some recommendations, please tweet them at me. And I would love to fill my eardrums with those on my cross-country trek. In the words of Paul Harvey, in times like these, it's helpful to remember that there have always

been times like these. Be safe. We will see you soon, my friends. Thank you for checking out this episode. We've got a good one next week. We'll see you then. 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. 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. What should be? Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You've been warned.