Mark Bell's Power Project - From 700-Pound Squats to WWE: How Jimmy House Reinvented Himself

Episode Date: August 3, 2026

Jimmy House returns to the Power Project four years after first sharing his ambition to pursue something bigger. Now performing as CJ Valor on WWE Evolve, Jimmy explains how he went from jiu-jitsu black belt and strength coach to earning a WWE developmental contract.Jimmy breaks down the unexpected phone call from WWE, being passed over for his original tryout, suffering two major knee injuries and deciding to take the long route through independent professional wrestling. He also shares what he learned training under Dustin Rhodes, preparing for the WWE tryout, developing his character, cutting promos and performing in front of a live audience.The conversation explores the physical toll of professional wrestling, balancing strength training with recovery, advice from AJ Styles, working with Timothy Thatcher and the level of athleticism inside the WWE Performance Center.More importantly, Jimmy explains how wrestling forced him to confront fear, improve his communication and become more confident in who he is. He also reveals his ultimate goal: to give children the same feeling of hope and excitement that Goldberg and John Cena gave him growing up.This is a conversation about patience, faith, reinvention and earning an opportunity that took four years to reach.Follow: @JIMMY_HOUSE  Special perks for our listeners below!🥩 HIGH QUALITY PROTEIN! 🍖 ➢ https://goodlifeproteins.com/ Code POWER to save 20% off site wide, or code POWERPROJECT to save an additional 5% off your Build a Box Subscription!🩸 Get your BLOODWORK/TRT/PEPTIDES! 🩸 ➢ https://marekhealth.com and use code "POWERPROJECT" for 10% off Self-Service Labs and Guided Optimization®.🧠 Methylene Blue: Better Focus, Sleep and Mood 🧠 Use Code POWER10 for 10% off!➢https://troscriptions.com?utm_source=affiliate&ut-m_medium=podcast&ut-m_campaign=MarkBel-I_podcastBest 5 Finger Barefoot Shoes! 👟 ➢ https://Peluva.com/PowerProject Code POWERPROJECT15 to save 15% off Peluva Shoes!Self Explanatory 🍆 ➢ Enlarging Pumps (This really works): https://bit.ly/powerproject1Pumps explained: https://youtu.be/qPG9JXjlhpM?si=JZN09-FakTjoJuaW🚨 The Best Red Light Therapy Devices and Blue Blocking Glasses On The Market! 😎➢https://emr-tek.com/Use code: POWERPROJECT to save 20% off your order!👟 BEST LOOKING AND FUNCTIONING BAREFOOT SHOES 🦶➢https://vivobarefoot.com/powerproject🥶 The Best Cold Plunge Money Can Buy 🥶 ➢ https://thecoldplunge.com/ Code POWERPROJECT to save $150!!➢ https://withinyoubrand.com/ Code POWERPROJECT to save 15% off supplements!➢ https://markbellslingshot.com/ Code POWERPROJECT to save 15% off all gear and apparel!Follow Mark Bell's Power Project Podcast➢ https://www.PowerProject.live➢ https://lnk.to/PowerProjectPodcast➢ Insta: https://www.instagram.com/markbellspowerproject➢ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/markbellspowerprojectFOLLOW Mark Bell➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marksmellybell➢https://www.tiktok.com/@marksmellybell➢ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkBellSuperTraining➢ Twitter: https://twitter.com/marksmellybellFollow Nsima Inyang➢ Ropes and equipment : https://thestrongerhuman.store➢ Community & Courses: https://www.skool.com/thestrongerhuman➢ YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/c/NsimaInyang➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nsimainyang/?hl=e#PowerProject #Podcast #MarkBell #FitnessPodcast #markbellspowerproject

Being in a professional wrestling setting, it's kind of like a make or break thing. Like you live and see it through or you die and get forgotten about. When I knew I wanted to strive to do something bigger with my life, at this point, I believed that to be God leading me into a direction that was wrestling related. He started training under Dustin Rhodes. Went through his beginner's camp one week out from my very first wrestling match and then I tore my meniscus. I tried to really be in the moment because I had worked four years just to get back to

square one. So then I was like, okay, well, let's go the long route and become a wrestler and then work our way back to getting a call for a tryout as a wrestler. Even in this interview right now, bro, your communication is so clear. I remind myself that these are problems that I've worked really hard for. In order to get good at wrestling, like, it's by far the hardest thing I've ever done. It was probably, yeah. So what were you actually?

At that time, I think I was only 200. But it's funny because, like, my opponent, for example... Let me guess your weight right now. Are you like 218? No, I don't know exactly. I've been hovering around 210. But I've been pretty disciplined this week, so I might even be just under. Okay. You're dense, dude.

I appreciate it. Thank you. His freaking neck and his traps. I appreciate it. Thank you. Arms popping through the hoodie. At the tryout, I was weighing about 198 because I'd been holding about 210. At that time, I might have been, I think I was 200, but my opponent said he was 220, and they're like, yeah, no, you're 245.

I'm like, I was like, you know. So. These people out here can't tell. Yeah, right? At that promotion in particular, every time I go back, I drop five pounds. And so I'm getting close to my actual weight again. But weren't you like, 245 when you started? I'm like, yeah, but I've been dropping weight.

I'm like 205 now. What's the height they're trying to sell you at? They don't talk about the height. High unknown. I remember from parts unknown. Yeah, I probably should say that because when I first started, I remember being suggested, like just tell them you're six foot. I'm like, damn, that's like another five inches away.

But you know, it's like an inch. Yeah, right, exactly. You got to get the other thick boots. Yeah, I know. I've been seeing those. This one guy that I've seen, his like, his lifts are like about that thick. It's crazy. In the ring?

Yeah, yeah. That seems dangerous. That does seem like it'd be hard to, like, maneuver it. Yeah, that's why I've been, I've just been doing boxing shoes, to be honest. But on the height aspect, yeah, maybe I should lift it a little bit. I don't know. How tough is this whole thing been to get into? And I guess maybe how did you even get into it?

Well, it started pretty much right around the time that I met you guys four years ago. I got my black belt in jiu-jitsu and I knew I wanted to strive to do something bigger with my life and see what I could potentially do to impact people on a greater platform. And that's where, you know, I had a handful of wrestling experiences leading up to that, such as meeting Goldberg and then Goldberg having his little thing with me at that smackdown where he comes and hugs me over the fence. So there were there were signs in my life that I believe were kind of leading me into a direction. this point, I believe that to be God, leading me into a direction that was wrestling related. And so after I got my black belt, I was like, you know what? Maybe the wrestling that I was watching since I was three, this is like my turning point to venture into something like that. And so after I got my black belt, I had reached out to a couple of connections. Those connections actually referred me to Rob McIntyre at the time.

You know, I know you're friends with him. Spray. Yep. Yeah. And so. I'm not sure to be honest, but it's not something. It's like, you know, anyways, Mr. Spray was nice enough to get back to me

within like 24 hours, actually, I was really surprised. But he was nice enough to contact their talent recruitment at the time. And then shortly after that, I got a call from WWE,

and I remember when I got the call, I was teaching jiu-jitsu class and my music stopped. And I looked down on my phone and usually it'd be like a spam call or whatever, but I said, you know, WW, Stanford, Connecticut. Oh, shit.

So I picked it up, and I ran and, to the sonna that we had in the back to talk to the guy on the phone and in a quiet space. But they told me to put in a recruitment form. And so that's what I did. And I was under the impression that I was potentially going to get a tryout. And so I reached out to Don Vitale at Phoenix Championship Wrestling in Arizona to start teaching me how to bump and roll and essentially prepare me for this tryout that I thought was. What was some of that like?

What was your first interaction with like getting in the ring? Did I mean, you're a very physical person. You've been an athlete your whole life. Did it hurt? Was it different? Like, how did it feel? The bumps at first, as you know, are very jarring, you know, because you have bumps in a Jito sense. You know, somebody hip tosses you and you know how to break fall.

And that's, that's one thing. But with the bumping and wrestling, it's, I guess, it's been compared to like a 15 to 20 mile per hour car crash. I've seen that. It's pretty loud. Yeah. Like the first couple times you do it. You're like, I think you feel, you think that you got hurt worse than you did.

Yes. You're like, wait, I think I'm fine. Yes. That's exactly. But it's really loud. So you're like, did I just die? Yes, that's exactly how it is. The roles were similar to jujitsu.

So that was relative, but the bumping took a little bit. But we were mostly just focusing on that. And I thought that maybe I was going to get a tryout in the near future. But I kept following up and I never got contacted back. And then after that shortly became the first knee injury that we talked about on the last podcast. So that took about nine months. Moved to Austin to try to relocate and see what potential I had to grow out there. And I started training under Dustin Rhodes.

out there, went through his beginner's camp, got through his beginner's camp one week out from my very first wrestling match and then I tore my meniscus, had surgery for that. That took about seven months to recover. And aside, did you do a meniscus removal or repair? I did a repair. Repair. Yeah, did a repair for that. Yeah, you know, it hasn't held me back at all within the last year and a half that I've

actually been working. So, and, you know, going back to the beginning of the story, it's been a very, very fulfilling process because it started with me thinking that I was going to get a try out as an athlete. And then all of a sudden I didn't get the call back. So then I was like, okay, well, let's go the long route and become a wrestler. And then work our way back to getting a call for a tryout as a wrestler, which both of which have their own difficulties, right? Like you have to be a phenomenal athlete with high upside to get a call for that. But as a wrestler, because their NIL system where they bring in so many college athletes, sometimes it's harder to get noticed as an independent wrestler to be brought in for consideration.

And so being able to get a call as a wrestler was a big accomplishment for sure. But then after you get the call, obviously, then you got to prepare for the trial, get through the trial, and then get to the next step. And that's where that process of the eight weeks that I had to prepare for it, I tried to really be in the moment because I had worked four years just to get back to square one that there's a lot of opportunity to put pressure on myself. And during that process, I really try to remind myself that, you know, even if I didn't get passed the tryout. I effectively got farther than, you know, 90% of people that do wrestling.

And that in and of itself, I'm very grateful for. And so that helped me focused on the present. And I think it actually helped me a lot within the tryout to do well. The, uh, was it, is it Jake Paul that's in pro wrestling? Logan Paul. Um, so people, I don't think people understand how rare that is for someone just to kind of bypass everything that you just said. Um, it's also, you know, rare amongst people that are already athletes, not just an established person like Logan Paul is, but someone like a Kurt Angle. Like that is really, really rare. And what Kurt Engel did is like unprecedented. Like you don't really see that. Mark Henry did it, but he did it like, you know, really long time ago. There's a couple guys who kind of did it where they're like, hey, you're big, you're amazing, you're a great

athlete. Like let's see how this works. They still have to put you through the process because they've had, unfortunately, they've had some failed projects. over the years where they had guys go in the ring. And then the guy like just doesn't know how to respond or doesn't have the experience. And then he's out in front of thousands of people and on a pay-per-view and hundreds of thousands of people as happened with a good friend of mine,

Nathan Jones and some other athletes. Oh, you know Nathan Jones? Yeah, they really struggled in the ring. Yeah, you know, and that's... And in the locker room is where they struggled even more. Yeah, that's a whole other side of it. You know, there's so much work around wrestling before you actually get in the ring and you do the match.

I think that's one of the biggest thing that I've learned since being in the WWE system. And outside looking in, before I started wrestling, sometimes I would be intimidated because I would see, say, for example, Olympic level athletes be brought in and you think, well, well, you know, Kurt Angle, whatever, they have to do great. You know, they're like made for it, whatever. But then you learn that there's so much more to wrestling besides just high level athleticism. And then it's interesting because you can you can make up for a lot of things that maybe you don't have in your real life, be it accomplishments or even athleticism or looks for that matter,

or height in my case, by being able to present. You're six feet. What are you talking about? I think in the last couple minutes, I've grown actually to six three. Six foot one, two, 50. Yes. And so I think I've learned that being able to display your personal characteristics that make you relatable to an audience, that can make up for a lot.

But that in and of itself is a whole other challenge that a lot of times. I think athletes have a hard time getting past because during their athletic career, you never really think about too much more besides just the sport performance that you have to output as opposed to how do I relate my story to hundreds and thousands of people and get people to actually want to get behind me? That's a whole different sector of wrestling that I didn't think about when I got in. What's the locker room stuff that you guys were mentioning? Why is that a difficulty for some guy?

Well, I think, you know, very similar to like any locker room scenario, but there's there's definitely a way to move about, in my opinion, in regards to how you treat your peers, how you treat your coaches, how you treat people that are in a position that you want to be in. And it's the happy median between not being too much, but then also maintaining professionalism and then showing how bad you want to get to a particular place without overstepping and without, you know, I guess I would put it as like understanding your current people. position and knowing how to move within that. And that's kind of something that is, there's not like a notebook for it per se. You just kind of like learn as you go. And, and this is something that is

different than say, jiu-jitsu or whatever where, you know, it's a generally nice culture, but in professional wrestling, like every single thing that you do is, is in some way of form being judged or noted on. And that can work for you or against you. And that's where I think a lot of the networking opportunities that I had leading into wrestling actually played really well for me because to me the locker room etiquette is is effectively like networking but in a professional way that's kind of meant for the long term and and not being too much too early that type of thing yeah and then people learn about you and learn about your personality and then as that process goes on then better opportunities come but if you come in with you know head of steam wanting anything and

everything and and and for example let's say somebody wants to do something in a match you're like oh you know i don't really see my character doing that actually i don't think we can do that then that that that can step on people's toes and whatnot especially if you're brand new they're like if you punched me i don't think it would affect me that much yeah yeah i don't think i'm going to really sell your punch that well exactly what exactly let me ask you this too jimmy because like you have a lot of attributes right you've been wrestling since you're a kid you've been bodybuilding forever right you're a pro bodybuilder um so obviously you have the look you've been on camera for a while. And as you've been getting into wrestling, what do you think in the past

few years has been the biggest place where you've grown? Because as you've mentioned, wrestling is a lot more than just jiu-jitsu or sport. Like, you have to have an on-camera presence, too. And that seems to be something that you've improved at drastically. Thank you. So where do you think some of your biggest improvements have been? Me personally, it would definitely be the promo side for sure. Yeah? Yes. I keep my first videos on YouTube that I've ever put up to see exactly how far I've come on the public speaking sense. That's good. Yeah.

And it's an interesting transition because I see, you know, my 20, 21 year old self, the guy that was watching Mark Bell on YouTube back in the day and trying to replicate what I thought that I could do with that. And, you know, it's just really bad. And you see, you can kind of pick apart your insecurities and so on and so forth. But with doing stuff like this, this is very helpful. But then also being forced in a specific setting. Jesus.

How old are you? I didn't say to pull it up. I think I was about two 60 right there or something like that. Trying to fit into that XL. Yeah. So it's just, I mean, like the eyes. Also look kind of like a skater. Yeah, I was trying to get girls at the time.

It wasn't great. But, you know, yeah, just the eyes and looking off to the side and just if my voice was playing, that would be a whole other story. But there's just a lot there where I can tell that I wasn't very comfortable. But being in a professional wrestling setting, well, it's kind of like a make or break thing. Like you either you live and see it through or you die and get forgotten about. And so during the tryout, for example, as I'm preparing for these promos, that's effectively what it is. Because wrestling being so much more than the end ring stuff, very rarely would you ever get put in a position in WWE if you can't talk on the mic or you can't do promos like that in a large case is just as, if not debatable more.

important than the match stuff. And that's where you see people like John Sina, who is a great wrestler, but doesn't do a lot of fancy moves. But because he's, he's, you know, one and two between him and the rock, best promo guy of all time, that's where he has this outstanding career and is considered the greatest all time because of what he was able to portray with, with his personality within his voice. And so. That's what he looks like. Yeah. That's what he looks like. Yeah. That's literally what he looks like. Yeah. And so basically, for me getting over that fear of what you saw there on screen and then being able to have a

bigger than life persona on a mic as as you know you're talking to an audience or as you're being judged by legends of professional wrestling that was something where I knew was make or break time and being able to get on the other side of that has given me a lot of confidence but the promo stuff is huge and there's a lot of practice that goes into it and it's and it's different than just talking on YouTube. There's similarities, but there's like a cadence. You have to be aware of gear changes. It's very similar to acting. And that's why I've done, you started some acting classes too. But, you know, there's influctuation with your voice and you have to tell a story and you have to make sure you have a good go home line. And WWE especially, they like it within

60 seconds. So if you find yourself going to three minutes, you probably have said way too much of that point and the viewer has tuned out. I want to also mention this man. Even as you're explaining all of this right now, like, you're fucking clear. There's no like, you're not think, you can see how, like, I mean, I remember not like you were bad on camera before because you weren't, but even in this interview right now, bro, your communication is so fucking clear. I'm, I'm just so happy. No, I appreciate you. You're crushing it, man. Two thoughts off of that. Number one, I remember when I asked for feedback from you in particular when we did the podcast four years ago. Yeah. And you said, you know, I told my story really well and it was great and everything like

that, but like get comfortable showing more personality, more of your specific personality. And I think I improved on that coming into the second podcast. But now, now I just, I feel very confident in who I am and what I've done and who I've spoken in front of. Yeah. And so at this point, there's a lot less fear of judgment in the back of my head. That comes through, bro. Yeah. I appreciate that. And, really thank you because if it wasn't for this podcast or even like you highlighting that, I'm not sure if I would have made the progress that I did leading up to this. So I appreciate you Guys. You would have, bro.

Yeah, it's really interesting when you watch, you kind of break down other people's promos and start watching, you know, what they did. And, you know, the WWE's changed so much over the years, the 80s promo of like, I'm going to, you know, bash your head in or whatever. Yeah. You know, it's changed a lot and it became more entertaining. There was more storylines written in and things like that. But you have, you know, Jake the Snake Roberts was kind of famous for like bringing it down.

And so he would kind of draw you in. And then if he was going to say something and it was going to be a little more powerful, he might start to bring his voice up just a little bit. Macho man comes to mind where a macho man was just completely, you know, out of his mind. Yeah, you know, they, the way we're coached now is they want promos to be much more conversational because they, well, especially with how content is. And that's where WWE is very up to date with content, right? Especially most things being short form.

You know, you got to get to the hook quick and you got to be able to, have a good go home line and so on and so forth. But it's hard to, in this day and age, relate to, for example, like, I'm going to kick your butt this Sunday, that type of thing. But yet a lot of wrestlers, especially on the independence scene, still do it. But since I've rearranged my mind to doing a promo that's more conversational, like I'm just talking directly to my opponent, it's changed my perception on promos, but also it's made them much more complete.

And to your point, there's much more conviction behind it because it's not an act. I think we're taught a lot in WW. Don't overact. And there's like a fine line because, you know, there is acting to it. But anybody that's trained acting, it's making yourself believe that you are the character that you are portraying. And I think in a conversational setting, that gets off better. You know, in the vignettes and little promos they do in the UFC, they get their sound bites a lot of times. They'll sit down with you and they'll say, hey, you know, you're fighting in SEMA, you know.

on the 4th of July. God, no. They give you all these, you know, all these things, right? And you're going to probably be humble like you normally are and you're probably going to say, holy crap. Like, I really got my work cut out for me. Like, this is going to be really difficult. But the UFC does is they still say, oh, you got a lot of respect for him.

That's interesting because he, you know, he doesn't think that much of the game. Yeah, the group that you're with. Like he was saying that that's not really that good of a training environment. Yeah. It's not sure how you're so good training with all those slouches, you know? Yeah. And then they try to get you worked up. Yeah.

Yeah. And then that's, they cut those in, you know? Yeah. They try to get you kind of fired up. It's funny that you mentioned that. Yeah. Because, you know, watching as a fan back then, I thought, like, damn, they really say that about each other. That's kind of fucked up, you know.

But you ever see the SNL skit where it's the Rock and Bobby Moynihan. No, I have. Back and forth. It's a wrestling promo. And every time, I think it's, I think every time the. rock does his version of a promo he's cutting way too deep he's talking about like real life stuff oh yeah yeah like that has nothing to do with wrestling right it's it's amazing because uh the rock just you know obviously the rock is like so great at promos anyway he just nails it i don't know if we can

find a find a quick clip of it somewhere is it is it any of these um yeah i bet he's probably done it a bunch i don't know maybe you can look for it maybe as in seem is asking a question me and poke around. All right. So we might find it. We might not. But I want to know, man, you mentioned something really interesting there. And I didn't even honestly kind of realize it, but social media has really kind of adjusted wrestling because back in the day, like, you weren't seeing their Instagrams and what's on their stories. You just saw them on TV. Yeah. Or if you went to an event, right? But how is that? because you kind of have to still be your character on social, right? Or no?

You don't have to. But I think there is an upside to doing so. However, in my current position, I'm in that middle ground where I'm on effectively like a developmental contract and I'm wrestling on the show called Aval that's on Tooby, which is a developmental show. That's the show that's right before you get on to like national television. So 2B is like a streaming service. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But that being said, you know, I still make the majority of my money being a coach, you know, and being Jimmy House. And so it is tricky sometimes. And I'm sure my audience gets confused from time to time when, you know, I'm talking strength training or whatever. And then in the next one, I'm talking about the Mog Squad. You can't keep up with me, baby. You're chopped or whatever. Like, I'm learning all these terms. I have no idea with any of this.

But, but yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it's so funny because when the, I. idea, the Mog Squad, this is my faction on Evolve, was pitched. I was like, I don't know what any of this means at all. Like, I don't know what Mogman or chop means. Juster maxing.

Stop building, bro. I have no idea what you just said. I don't know. Goon. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got to learn that one. That's got to be in there. Put it in my back pocket.

Download to get out. But yeah. It's kind of great that you don't know it. Yeah, in a way. Yeah. And it's funny because in our group, we kind of play off. of that a little bit. I'm a little bit more of,

they call me the X factor of the Mogg Squads. So when everybody's talking about like tanning beds and girls and, and Jester Maxing or the Chad lights or whatever they say, then I bring it in like, no, no, no, we are going to bring this to NXT. Like this, guys, focus up.

Like, we're going to mock NXT. NXT TV is going to become M-O-G TV. And I say something like, because M-O-G is men of. And they say, glow-ups. I'm like, no, no, no, greatness. greatness like oh yes yes yes great so I actually like that I can kind of play the role of like being a step behind the other guys because they're all like 22 24 25 you know in that area so I'm the oh gee I'm the unth a little bit yeah yeah yeah so it's a nice dynamic so you can play some of

this this is amazing oh that's great I've definitely never seen and there was no love lost between these two isn't that right bot no Watch out because when the muck gets out of the trash yard, the first thing he's going to do is take out this big old pile of stinking, rotten garbage. I'm money I have to say to that, Coco. Let me tell you something about this guy. He has herpes. Oh, my God. It's true.

Oh, he's got herpes and he's got it bad. Yeah. Yeah. Do you get the idea? It goes back and forth like this. a bunch and he just keeps, he just keeps getting worse. That's hilarious. Oh my gosh. I've never seen that one. In your, you know, preparation for doing these promos and stuff, how did you work your way

through it? At first, I started with what came natural to me, which is when I think about myself, I think about something that's generally soft-spoken, level-headed, but there are plenty of times in my life that I can recall back to where I have an instance of rage and my voice picks up and I get a lot more serious and I start to talk to you a little bit more like this. And that's where I found my initial gear changes. But initially at first it was soft-spoken, quiet, humble guy and then mad. But since evolving a little bit, it's been a lot more. Okay, how do I take that core and then express my sadness or my happiness or my selfish

cocky side and start to have different avenues to go into? But that took a lot of trial and error because at first, I never tried to. cut like the traditional wrestling promo like that. But my initial critiques up front is that I would rely on like yelling and screaming too much because, you know, in my past with things that have happened in my life, that's what's been natural to me, to be quite honest with you. I grew up that way quite a bit. And so getting critiques, I've learned that very few times is like yelling and screaming actually appropriate. And there's more conviction in changing the tone of your voice and then acting throughout your facials and your hand gestures to be able to get the same point across,

but be much more clear on the mic because if I were to scream on the mic, then things can become hard to pick up. But there are times, like depending upon the story that you're telling where screaming can be appropriate, but those are like bullets you want to kind of keep in the back pocket. Because if you scream every time, then the time that you scream where it's actually appropriate, it means way less. And so that's one of the earlier lessons I've, I learned. But up front, you know, anybody that's promo wise, if there's wrestlers listening, I try to start with what is most natural to you and then expand upon that. So had I not started that way,

I don't think I would have been able to find my different gear changes and ranges that I have now. Did you just record stuff as well? Yeah, recording. And a lot of times when you're doing independents, they'll want promos, so on and so forth. So that gives you an opportunity to practice. But, you know, for my trial in particular, on the independence, it's very common to take four or five sometimes nine hour drive so wherever you're wrestling right and so there's a lot of downtime in the car and actually a lot of my promo practice came from you know two in the

morning cutting my promo saying whatever I'm going to say and then watching it back and then thinking of ideas and so and so forth and I remember I don't know what interview it was but john seen it would talk about in his retirement run how you know he'd be trying to sleep and then a promo idea would come up and then he would get up at like 2 a.m. or whatever and write it down real quick and that's kind of like like what my process was during some of this. Whenever I think of a good idea, I don't want to forget it. So I write it down or I do like a quick like little mini promo on my phone, even if I'm driving that type of thing.

So yeah, that's something that has helped me a lot. It's just picking any opportunity that I can to just hear how I actually sound on camera. Let me ask you this. Since it's really interesting that, you know, you mentioned the yelling and when you were younger, that's kind of what you saw. So that's what you kind of went to. but by having those suggestions of finding a range, right, it improved your range on camera.

Do you think that having to access those, I guess, maybe emotions within that has actually maybe even changed the way that you speak with people interpersonally? Yes, 100%. In fact, I think within the last year and a half, two years, I've hit a different level of maturity per se that I didn't know that I needed to get to. in my communication. Okay. And in situations where I am upset or I feel anger or whatever,

I find myself having more of that downpitch conviction as opposed to like getting very high and loud and intense, you know? And even so this is a sidebar, but there's a lot of similarities between promos and matches actually. And, you know, there's, there's gear changes and there's level changes. and you're telling the story and you're trying to take the audience on a ride like this.

A lot of times those intensity changes that I would rely on in my past, those come out in the match. But the promos become much more, much more meaningful. If I can find that level headed to where it's kind of like, it's like maybe big brother or dad and generally happy,

go lucky guy or whatever. And then that one moment where he gets stern, stern and then you're like, oh shit, he's serious. Like I've been trying to perfect that. And even in my day-to-day life, more often than not, I try to address things that I'm upset about in more so that way. And I don't know if it's because of the promos and I've just gotten used to that or maybe I'm just getting older or whatever. But yeah, I have noticed that it's become much more of that than the old way I used to handle conflict.

Yeah. Yeah. And with Father's Day just passing by, I think like it's good parenting skill. Yes. To be able just to talk to your kids and to like I've always tried to. pretend my kids are a little older, you know, and just say, all right, well, just, whatever it is they're doing that's either bothering me or bothering each other or breaking something or whatever it is that they're doing, I'll just communicate about it because like yelling at them,

I don't think it's going to really teach them anything. Yes. I could yell at them and it could have the result I'm looking for to where maybe they don't do it again, but maybe they didn't really like learn. Yeah, you know, and to that point, I think about it exactly like short-term result. Like, they don't want to do it because they don't want to get yelled at. But in the long term, do they start doing other things to avoid getting yelled at that lead into deeper holes that they dig themselves so and so forth? So I think that's a great point. And that's something where myself, where I learn, like, yelling and raising your voice

and trying to like make your point in that way, like it can get things done immediately, but then it can create a barrier of conversation on topics that do need. the longer, maybe more stern aspect of things. And so that's definitely been like a 28 to 30 now lesson that I've tried to improve upon quite a bit because I do see how it actually creates much better results. I would say with my kids, I would say, hey, you know, we don't yell in this house. Like, let's try to keep it down. Let's just talk, like, talk, you know.

And then they'd be like, well, mom yells. I'd like, look around a little bit. I'd be like, well, we're not talking about her right. Yeah. Well, mom's a... Yeah. So let me ask you this, man. How's your body doing?

Because that's one thing in the past that you hear a lot about wrestling. I don't know if maybe they were more physical or something, maybe not. But you have a very good understanding of how to take care of yourself. You're a few years into it. Do you notice anything or do you feel like, you know what? You got everything. it like as you continue you're going to be fine because you see that with a lot of wrestlers over time right beats the body up so how do you how are you taking care of yourself that's a great

question and to preface to kind of paint the picture the difference between this era of wrestling now versus the era of wrestling that set up this era to even be able to be what it is today is back then a there is way less knowledge on training and recovery so on and so forth uh be there is way less resources like you know ways to recover and see the times are just different. It's just such a grind mindset. So these people are wrestling more often than not, at least five,

maybe in six days a week, multiple matches a day. And to save money, they're most likely driving multiple hours. So it's just like you wrestle, you beat your body up multiple times a week, and then you sit in a tiny little car, and then the hotel room,

and then you think about the lack of sleep and diet and so and so forth. Yes. And that's where we're starting. us to go down that rabbit hole. And so not to say that that's not a possibility in today's wrestling, but today's wrestling is much more set up to put the athlete first and still work on improving because that's, that's where the fine line is because in order to get good at wrestling, like it's,

it's by far the hardest thing I've ever done by far, not necessarily. You've done a lot of hard shit, man. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. I say that not necessarily on one singular thing. Like it may not be the hardest thing on a conditioning front or a training front, like say like amateur wrestling would be or MMA.

But it's it's the hardest thing that I've done because collectively it's the biggest assortment of skills that one needs to get good at to be able to make it to a high level. And even what we're talking about before, like things such so little as locker room etiquette and how to move within your peers, so on and so forth. But, you know, that being said, you have to get these reps in. but where's the fine line between maximizing your reps and then also making sure that you're able to recover? Because a large part of this, especially for me with my character, like I need to train. I need to be able to lift throughout the week and maintain a physique and also be strong and durable and mobile and all these things because I do understand the importance of that.

But it's easy as a wrestler starting out to want to get all these reps. And a lot of times these reps aren't local. Like you might have one local thing, but like I said, you're driving four to five hours or taking a plane across the country. whatever just to get, you know, a five-hour flight for a six-minute match and then right back home, you know, just to get the rep. And so this has been a back and forth with me, but I've started to find a groove more recently where I want to prioritize the highest quality reps that I can get because I know those are harder to come by. But when reps come to the table that maybe aren't as high quality, but they're just there, those are the ones where I say, you know what, I would rather not do

that and just take that day to actually train or strength train or rest or whatever is needed for that day. In the WWE, they have, you know, their own trainers and their doctors and I'm sure it goes down to like chiropractors and massage therapists and so on and so forth. They have a lot of resources and they don't wrestle nearly as much. So the takeaway is like they may not be getting as much experience as some of the guys back in the older days. But hopefully the longevity is able to surpass what some of those older guys did back then too and not have to go down the rabbit hole of, you know, some of the more toxic stuff like alcoholism and, and painkillers and so on and so forth.

Gotcha. Yeah. Yeah, I'm pretty sure seen as gym too, I think is free. I don't know if that's still the case. Oh, the, um, hard knocks. Yeah, yeah. I think he's offered it for free for all the wrestlers. Oh, that's awesome.

They have to kind of live in the area. That's in Tampa, right? That's awesome. Yeah, I'd never been there before. Yeah. Yeah, that's a legendary gym. I mean, he's providing that service and then he's got, uh, Rob McIntyre, you know, coaching everybody and training people. And then Rob McIntyre is like,

I wouldn't say he's overly qualified because, you know, there's a lot of important things in wrestling, but like he knows track and football and other sports. He knows how to be a strength coach. Yeah, he's a great coach. And you've been coaching people for many years. So like, is it hard for you to kind of like figure out kind of like what to leave in your regimen and stuff? Like sometimes it's easier to train other people than it is yourself because we get excited and there's a lot of different things that we can explore. Yeah, so I'll use this opportunity to bring up the post that you sent earlier. Essentially, Mark texted me a post that basically just alluded to not having to waste your entire

gas tank on a singular training session, understanding that the more often than not, when you put maximum effort into a training session, it's more so a withdrawal than it is an investment. And so I think that concept is very relative when it comes to what I'm doing now. I mean, it's always relative, but I notice even more. more so now because in the ring, you can control what happens, but at the end of the day, the bumps are bumps. Like if I'm taking three choke slams three days in a row and a power bomb and the guy's like

doing a butterfly suplex and I'm getting thrown into the turnbuckle, like you can't like really prepare for these things. And so that said on the days where I do have the ability to train strength train, it should be an investment as opposed to withdrawal because if I'm feeling the strength training session coming into the ring, that's problematic because, you know, that could take something that would be sore and turn it into an actual injury or, you know, my character specifically, I tried to display a lot of my athleticism and explosiveness. And if my legs are just completely fried and I can't move because they're so sore, then that takes away a lot of my moveset, you know, so there are certain things like that.

And for me, right now, like I said, I'm in a bit of a strength phase. So there's certain things that I'm progressing. So on an ideal week, I might hit four days a week, but like on a week, like I just had where we go to Orlando and we train at the PC for two days, then we have two days of tapings, then, you know, go over here, have a match. I more so just squeeze it into two days where I'm hitting like all my important points and making sure that I'm making that consistent, but not overdoing it to where my performance, especially in these big matches are of risk. There's something else. I was going to say, you know, the nervous system is like, it's one account, you know, and that's, that's what was said in that post that I sent you from Brian

McKenzie, he talked about how you're, you know, you might build a build different capacities, right? You can build a capacity for mobility. You can build a capacity for endurance and strength and all these things. And the higher that you build a capacity for those things, the more efficient you'll be in your workouts. But still, you're still kind of nailing the nervous system whenever you do anything like real intense. Yeah. Yeah. And so you kind of have to be careful of that withdrawal. Yeah. Would you rather have the withdrawal be because it's a, It's a pay-per-view and it's your first pay-per-view opportunity. You're like, I got it really just, and maybe that is still isn't the best idea,

but it sounds like a decent idea, just to, I got to give this everything I got. And it's a long match and we got a lot of shit going on in there, but I need, I need everything I have. Right. Yeah, yeah. It's kind of the same thing as the promos where if I always rely on screaming, the time where I need a scream, it means less. The same thing with what Mark just said, like doing everything that you can do in a singular match. It may make the match really cool, but then the crowd get used to it. It's like,

all right, well, what's next? Or what else you got? And then if you blow your load in one match, then you don't have anything else to show the fans and eventually you start getting forgotten about, you know. And so that's a huge point. And, you know, for me, going back to the training side of things, I've kind of learned at this point, like how many days I should have, say, from an intense lower body session leading into a match like two or three to like really maximize how good I feel. If it's anything before that, more often than I might wait to do that lower body session or I might turn it into a little bit more of a mobility recovery session.

So and I, and to your video from earlier, it's hard because there's an identity crisis sometimes that I fight between between. I remember when 700 pounds used to be on my back, you know, so on and so forth. And 600, whatever used to feel light, whatever. And now I'm like, I'm a weak bitch. Yeah, basically, yeah. 500 pounds. That's it.

Yeah. That's how I feel. You know, with 405, I'm having to hype myself up for 400 or more type of thing. Something you might want to consider or try. This is total lunacy. But,

um, uh, Corey Schlesinger does this with his basketball players. He is the strength coach for the Detroit Pistons right after the game. They go right to the gym. Oh, do they really? Yeah.

So that one might be tough, but like maybe there's situations where, you know, you get out and you don't have to necessarily be somewhere early the next day. or something like that. Now, obviously your training is going to be scaled back, but that actually might not be a bad thing because your training has a little bit of a governor on it, you know?

And you might say to yourself, well, shoot, I'm going to go and train right after. Like, that's going to kind of suck. But I can talk myself into getting good 30 minutes of whatever it is, you know. So that might be an option at some point. I like that. That way you can have an actual full day arrest

and not force in another session because sometimes the problem becomes, well, I can use this as a rest day. but then if I use this as a rest day, I may not be lifting for another four days again. That's usually a problem. So doubling up, I've done it before the match. I generally feel more comfortable doing like an upper body session before the matches. Lower body, I'm not really, I don't know if I would do that.

But to your point, maybe like doing it in reverse and doing the match first and then trying to get through the lower body like right after while the adrenaline's high, you know, use that as your pre-workout. It's like Kobe Bryant, you know, going and practicing his three-pointers and free throws and stuff after the game. Yeah, yeah, that's a great point. You know, Jimmy, I'm kind of curious because, you know, you have a high level jih Tujitsu background and a high level of wrestling background. And when you're in the ring, obviously you guys aren't really punching each of, like you guys are going through all these things, but you got to sell it, right? Is it kind of like flow rolling?

Like if you, like, you know, when you're in a jiu jitzu gym and you want to flow roll with somebody, you guys just going between different movements, allowing people to escape. Is it kind of like that, but more intense? Yeah, it's like a barbaric flow roll, basically. So my match, yesterday, for example, with a guy by the name of Timothy Thatcher, he's widely respected as one of the best workers really ever. But he has a old school style. And the old school style would be a lot more working in the ring as opposed to pre-planning. You know, everybody knows I love certified Piedmontese beef, but I also love good life proteins because that brand and that company and that website is where you can get like a crazy variety of meat. Do you like a lot of different kinds of

meat other than just red meat dude well of course I mean I before we even get to that I do need to mention good life's sausages are they sausage they're not just hotlings they have like chorizo baked turk uh sausage they have different types of bacon I'm talking a lot about red meat right now but like their assortment of meats over there is scrum chish the brat the brotwurst has like cheese in it yeah yeah that one's amazing oh my god but they also have like they have chicken, they have scallops. They have literally anything that, any type of protein you dig, they have it there and it's high quality protein. Lamb. Yeah. I get shrimp, scallops, all kinds of different fish, salmon, cod. I mean, you name it. They have it. Absolutely amazing.

It makes it, uh, makes it convenient to be able to get everything all in one, one stop. And then also Good Life Proteins has certified Piedmontese beef. So all the same cuts and all the same cuts and all same things that you would enjoy from peteamontese.com you're getting now from at uh over at good life proteins and they have a code and code power at good life proteins is going to get you 20% off your entire order and so um like so basically flow rolling uh you could come you could call working is like just the concept of uh wrestling but like working to work who's ever watching like um how do i put this uh making making people think that what you're doing is real yeah yeah so people that are considered really good workers are people that like can step into any scenario and pull off the

part and make it look real and always sell it. Yeah. And and different characters too. Like Dustin Rhodes, my coach is considered one of the best workers of all time because, you know, he played himself Dustin Rhodes when he was with his dad. Then he played this, he called it androgynous character of Gold Dust. Yeah. So great. Yeah. And this is a character at the time that was something that really had never been done before. And if you know Dustin, it's the exact opposite of how he is in real life. But he made that character one of the most legendary characters of all time. And so that's, that's where somebody is considered a good worker, where they can take wrestling and make it good regardless of their themselves or some random, you know, drag queen character or whatever. You know,

that's the type of thing. But working can also just be, hey, we're just going to get in there and work, meaning like, we're not going to call a lot of things in the back. We're going to get out there. We're to fill the crowd, see what they're doing, and then we're going to do our movements based off of that. But relaying it back to the flow roll concept, yeah, it is a little bit like that because if, if I'm exchanging moves with the partner, we have to work with each other and not, like, if I want to go for something and I'm trying to force it, but he's going for something, then that's when things start to look clunky, right? So there is a flow roll type of cadence, but the biggest difference between that and, and jiu-jitsu would be the element of the crowd, because.

just going out there to kind of fake wrestle, that isn't super entertaining. But if you're going through this story and you're talking to each other in the ring and telling each other what you want to do based upon what you're hearing out there or based upon what you want to hear out there, that's when like the idea of being a really good worker is a skill that all of us should be working on. But my opponent yesterday, Tim, is really good at because we didn't call a whole lot in the back. So we just got out there, felt it around through some.

moves, whatever. And then when the crowd started picking up for things, then we then we started to adjust based upon what the crowd was doing. And that's a skill that is, is something that I'm working on, but that's like the goal of what you want to get good at. That's so cool. Yeah. There's a lot of basics. There's a what's called chain wrestling. And then so you do like a little bit of like chain wrestling is almost like a, almost like a warm up and you're kind of establishing like who's who. I mean, yeah, yeah. In the like, uh, easiest understanding of the whole whole thing. It's like I lock up with him and we we exchange a little bit, but we're starting to tell the story of he's younger. He's faster. All right. Well, Mark's got to resort to some bullshit.

Yeah. Cheating tactics or something like that. And so maybe I poke him in the eye or something. Like maybe we go toe to toe a bunch of times and it proves that he's better than me each time. We go through that a couple times and then bam, thumb him in the eye and then like try to get a hold. Exactly. And then keep working and all that kind of stuff. And then, yeah, the heel, a lot of times the bad guys kind of calling the shots, right? Yeah, yeah, more often than not. Yeah.

Although yesterday in my case, so Coach Tim, he's what's called a player coach with WWE. So we have the opportunity to like hit him up and say, hey, can we work this promotion and do a match here so that he can kind of fill you out and give you feedback will you need to work on or whatever. But since I'm a heel on the evolve show for WWE, and that's new to me because I spent my entire first, like year being a baby face on the independence. It was, I'm leading the match from a pacing standpoint, but him, him as a baby face is calling a lot of the things that we're doing in the ring too. So this guy's the baby face?

Yeah, yeah. And that match, yeah, he was. So my, my group at the top, my group right there. Damn, you look at evil, bro. Yeah, the facials, the facials, right? Yeah, so my group there came in at the end and helped me get the win. Okay. Wow.

Has there been some movements that you had to maybe get rid of because you were like, I don't know about doing this every night. Yeah. So like sometimes there's like moves that you want to do and you're new and you're excited, but they're like kind of risky. So for me, I think I was the opposite because I had those two major knee injuries coming in. So I've been very conscious of how to not ever put myself in a position where I need to take

another year off again, knock on wood. but that said relative to your question the thing that I've taken that I've changed a little bit from a perspective standpoint is like you go in with a jiu jitsu background and you think that all these cool jiu jitsu moves are going to get over and the crowd's going to love it because the jiu jitsu crowd oh that's cool he did like a roll thing whatever and then and then you go and you do him and the crowd's like the fuck is that this is gay you know so it's like um the jiu jihitsu stuff doesn't really like get over in the way it has it can but it has to like be set up differently than you would in a jiu jitsu setting a flying arm bar yeah yeah so a flying arm bar is cool because it kind

comes out of nowhere or whatever but like um like a really cool back take that you see on an instagram real that you think is cool because there's a little like roly thing like the audience they don't they don't know what's going on ken shamrock and um Kurt angle that both those guys used like submission holds that were um like they were real blatant like it was like an ankle lock, I think was what they did. And when they would do the ankle lock, the guy would sell it like crazy because they would do like a little bit of wrestling jujitsu stuff. But I think they didn't want to do too much of that because they didn't want to like there's no there's no way to get someone in a rear naked choke. Right.

Like you can't sell a rear naked chock like a real naked choke. If applied by someone who's good, you're done. Like it takes a second right. So yeah. They had to kind of be careful with like. even a movement like this, like how long can you really hold that for? But it's wrestling. So they take their liberties.

Like obviously his ankle would have been snapped already. Right. Yeah, exactly. Mia, do you, do you, you know, you probably, you've competed a lot. And this is a new thing, new level of competition, I guess, for you. Before you get in the ring, do you still feel like, do you feel that level of excitement, nervousness? How do you feel that you get in that?

Yeah, both for sure. And a lesson that I learned early on from Dustin that I really appreciate was it was like my third match that I'd done. And I told him, he's like, how are you feeling? And I said, you know, I'm feeling good. I'm starting to not feel nearly as nervous. And he's like, you know what, you know, buddy? I've been doing this for over almost 40 years. And even still to this day, I get nervous before every match.

But when you get nervous, it means you care. And as soon as you step through the curtains and it goes away. And so that talk right there gave me a perspective on embracing nerves. And as long as I know that I'm prepared, then those nerves, yeah, exactly. Those nerves are more so a sign that I just care a lot. And that'll bleed ideally into a good performance for sure. But to your point of it's weird because it's not competitive in like a win-lose setting. But it's competitive because obviously you want to have one of the better matches,

if not the best match on the card. But also that feeling of win or loss that you would feel in a jujitsu sense, I could feel like I won out there, even if I lost, depending upon, you know, know how the crowd reacted or how I feel like I performed or how my opponent and I work together. But there's been times where I've won and it wasn't like that and you come back, like feeling like a punch in the gut like you lost, you know. And it's all just dependent upon, you know, how things go out there, how the crowd likes it, how did our particular spots go, so on and so forth.

So it is competitive just in a different light. Gotcha. You're trying to make each other look good. Right. And there's, you know, two people involved in this kind of dance, right, to try to end up having a great performance and when you have a bad one it just leaves a pit in your stomach yeah yeah exactly and there's there's always going to be things to improve on for sure but it's like when when you know like out there it's hard I think because let's say there's if you're not there for someone you kind of like

you feel like you're letting them down yeah you know like you're supposed to do a move and I'm supposed to be in a certain spot and I forgot or I'm tired that that's happened me before and I and I feel It feels terrible. Sometimes they ask, well, how'd you feel a coach or whatever? And I was like, I just wish I could have performed better for him, you know, because usually they're out there giving me things. And hopefully you don't get someone hurt. Yeah, exactly.

Thanks, I haven't happened too. Thankfully that hasn't happened. For a bigger match, I'm curious, because prior to you to mention that, what was the name of that guy that you said was a great worker? Oh, Timothy Thatcher, yeah. Timothy Thatcher. You mentioned how, like, a lot of times he doesn't really rehearse things. He just goes into the ring with people, right?

Kind of like improv wrestling, I guess. On bigger stages, when you have your bigger shows, does anyone kind of do that where they don't rehearse anything, but they know the story of what's supposed to happen? So they just go in and do it with someone? Or is there typically, do guys typically like do the match beforehand? So I would say in today's world, it's more often than not that a lot of it is pre-planned

and talked about in the back for sure. but that being said, I'm sure there's still a lot of like really old school guys that prefer to go out there and call it. But when you do that, though, you have to have an opponent that is at least capable of listening and keeping up. Yeah. Because sometimes like calling in the back and be a safety net if the opponent doesn't have that level of instinct to be able to pull off a main event match without calling it in the back, whatever. Like my childhood hero, Bill Goldberg, for example, when he won the WCW championship for the first time, against Hulk Hogan, the story goes, all right, what do you wanna do?

And then Hogan goes, well, call in the ring, kid. And he's like, what? And because Goldberg's like maybe like eight months in or whatever and it's in front of like, probably 60,000 people or something like that. He's like, what, you know? But you know, at that time, obviously Hogan had a lot of experience, but it was also a different style of wrestling back then.

It was much more, there you go, yeah, it was much more storytelling base and things moved a little bit slower. With the pace of how things are in today's world, a lot of times the pre-planning can be helpful because if you have a general script, it can allow you to get through the match. But the improv stuff comes in those in-betweens. And then also, like, if somebody does forget something,

but you have to think of something quick on the fly, then that's where the improv aspect comes into play. Yeah. Major props to Hulk Hogan. I mean, I know he gets his props, but, like, he was, he came back. And he came back into WCW. He re-invigorated the whole thing with the NWO.

Yes. And he was an amazing shape. I think people don't realize he's like 50-something years old here. Yeah, he's older. Yeah. And he's in pro wrestling. Yeah. It's insane.

Yeah. And then I think like maybe a couple years later ends up wrestling the rock in a WrestleMania. Yes. He looked amazing when he did that. That was a great match. He's 50-something here, bro. He's got to be 52, 53.

I would think so, yeah. He looks great. Goldberg. He was so much fun. watches came in and just crushed everybody. Yeah, I loved it. And like if you see all the fans there, like they're fully into it. Like everyone's on their feet, hands in the air. Um, this is what I've learned is is over, being over with an audience. Like when everybody's on their feet, all the hands are in the air. Some people are pissed. Things are getting thrown in the rain, you know,

like, you like the fans are invested in that. And so, you know, Goldberg gets, gets a lot of heat for various things because he was kind of brought into the business quicker than anybody else. But like his character and his like aura in there like it speaks for itself you see all the fans and everything like that like that's something that can't really be taught you know he was put in a position and effectively there's people that like called the shots for him just like anybody else but like as far as like being in the ring and getting a reaction like that like you can't you can't teach that and so many wrestlers that have been wrestling for decades strive for something like that and it's so hard to get but like gulbert came in there and did like off off the bat right away

and i think he doesn't get enough credit for that He had, you know, he had a good conditioning, he's got a great physique, great mindset. So he was like kind of perfect for that. Yeah. Yeah. I think they kind of were doing, you know, they did something a little similar, ultimate warrior, but he was, you know, different, a different path. But, you know, some people can say, oh, well, I don't think that guy deserves it or whatever.

But it's like, I don't know, Bill Goldberg was an NFL football player. Yeah. You know, this guy was a really hardworking guy, someone that worked on his body and worked on his athleticism for many years. Yeah. So it's not like this thing was completely. handed to him. It was handed to him because of him being Bill Goldberg because of the way he was built and what a mutant he was. Yeah. And I've learned that in wrestling so far because unlike other sports, there's really no clear path to get to the promised land. Some people, you know, have a Goldberg

experience where they get brought in, you know, some people are college athletes and they get brought in and skip to the front of the line. You know, people on the independents might spend 12 years wrestling before they get their first WWE tryout. Sometimes for me, I'm considered. fast per se even even with like my year and a half of experience because most people on the independence take a little bit longer i've learned that there's really not one way and everybody's stories different and so to get in your feels about somebody else's journey and how they got there is is very it's just kind of productive and you trying to progress but i've learned it's it's so common uh in and how people get to a certain position and if if somebody like say a college

athlete that has no wrestling experience. You know, you could be mad, oh, what the heck? I've been wrestling all this time. They've never been watched wrestling before, blah, blah, blah. But then they turn into this megastar in four years. And it's like, well, can you really hit on it? Because, you know, they had it in them that whole time. You know, everybody's journey is a little bit different with wrestling.

It's not. Logan Paul. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. There's so much, like, hate for him. And maybe not as much now, but especially when he first started. He's super athletic.

Yeah. Yeah, that's crazy. I mean, he's done some stuff in the run. ring. I don't know. I've never seen anybody do that move before. But yeah, he's right out of the gate, man. He did some crazy stuff. Kind of reminds me of Shane McMahon. Yes. Yeah. Vince's son. Shane McMahon's done a bunch of like really wild crazy stuff. But yeah, it looks like he's got the, you know, the moves down. It looks like he's got the, um, the athleticism. Looks like he's got, you know, you have to have quite a bit of endurance. You were mentioning that earlier and you were saying it's not

to the level of like collegiate wrestling, uh, not to the level of MMA, but it's probably somewhere in between some of that, right? Maybe in between jiu-jitsu and MMA or something like that. Yeah, on a training standpoint, probably somewhere in between there. But again, I think it makes up for itself when you take all the other skills into account.

Because getting good at the wrestling part, like what you're seeing in there, is already so tough as it is. And then to think about, like, being a good businessman and then being good on the mic and then being able to just get through the grind, like the travel schedule and everything. Like, these are all like skills

that you don't think about when you come in. And yeah, people that are that are in there. These are the masters at it. And I, I've, that, that's just probably craziest thing he's ever done. That's fucking insane. And, you know, you can, like there are little opportunities to rest in wrestling, but the pace is still pretty fast. You know, some of the longer matches would be really tough to mimic. You know, sometimes a guy will like throw the guy out of the ring or whatever and kind of take a break. Take a short break there. Yeah. Yeah. Nowadays, you know, what I've been learning more recently,

the concept of a rest hold, right? Nowadays, it's not really taught as a rest hold anymore. It's taught as like a legitimate hold that you're trying to legit put them out. So you're straining and working that whole time versus like before it might be, you know, just grab the chin lock and just wait for the crowd and just sit there or whatever. But like now it's like really like working. That's something I get critiqued on if I'm not working enough in the hold. I'm trying to breathe.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah. Trying to get my wind. Let me ask you. So with your wrestling, do you think that what are the biggest things you want to work on physically in the ring? I think for me, so I had a good talk with AJ Styles, which is like one of the greatest of all time. And one bit of advice that he gave me was depending upon the physique or the type of opponent he was going against, whether he was a good guy or a bad guy, depending upon the story that he has to tell he has this assortment of moves.

and generally speaking, keeping things simple in the ring is better. However, it's important to have moves that are interchangeable because some moves may make sense for one opponent, but may not make sense for another, or maybe simply you just can't do it to another opponent. Like, there's a military press that I do from time to time. But this weekend, I had two people that were like 2.75, almost 300 pounds. So, like, I'm not hitting a military press on them.

So I have to have a different move to kind of interchange within that. And he was just telling me about how he would have, like a roster of moves that he could pull out just from all the experience that he has. If he's going against a big show or if he's going against a current angle or maybe he's going against a Ray Mysterio, you know, like his finishing move, he could only do against people that were like of a certain height, you know, and if you're going to do it against them, but he had another finishing move, that type of thing. So physically in the ring, my goal right now is to just build on my move set, not to do a bunch of moves in the ring, but so I can have

things that I can interchange. What's it been like seeing some of the athleticism of some of the other people, some of the other people that are signed and some of the other people that are doing what you're doing? Yeah. So when you go to the PC, it's so cool for me as a coach, actually, because when you stop and look around, you got Evander Holyfield's son is wrestling. Elijah Holyfield.

He was a former NFL running back. And this dude is just like, he looks like in Seema and he's just like the most explosive of like just like boundy person I've ever seen just seeing run the ropes. It's just like it's crazy. And then you got Olympic track track athletes and you got Olympic judo players. And everybody has some sort of really crazy story behind them. And so when you when you put wrestling behind that and you see it displayed like in the ring, like people that are a year or even less in can do some crazy stuff that people like on

the independence can never do just because they can't, they don't have the athleticism for. it. So I love to see it as a coach. In my Mog Squad team, his name is Jacari Ball. He has a 41 inch vertical. But he came from the Indies, actually. He was a NCAA wrestler. He qualified for the NCAA tournament, I think, three times. But he didn't get the NIL thing. So he went the independent route. And he's probably the most athletic person I know. Like literally my leapfrog, which is like when you jump over the person, I generally think is better than most, but then I saw him do it.

And I'm like, well, I'm never doing that again. Yeah, yeah, yeah, him. He just can float, huh? There's this one time where we're wrestling in each other, and I was ducking his, he does a Sequin. So he does like a reverse leapfrogly, he steps into it. And I took a screenshot of it.

Yeah, that's him just casually jumping against like a guy that's like six, eight. But I took a screenshot and I am ducking his leapfrog. and I'm like, why don't I even duck, bro? Like, like, like legit, get it cleared my whole body. It's crazy. So, yeah, he's a freak athlete.

But it's a really cool dynamic with what we have going on there. Have you, have you felt overwhelmed at all yet? Has that happened to you? And I'm not shouldn't say yet, but have you felt overwhelmed with any of what you're doing? Yeah, I think every week for sure. And I think it's important in those situations. I remind myself that these are,

these are problems that I've worked really hard for. and these are problems that everybody else has in their own ways and flavors. And so in these moments of being overwhelmed, whether it's preparing for seven days of travel or having to make sure everything is taking care of back home all the way or even the stuff entering, these are all things that aren't unique to me that everybody else deals with in their own way. And so to me, I see situations like this as par for the core. So it's not, oh, I'm overwhelmed. Like this sucks. Like, you know, how is this going to affect me? It's like, how can I, for, improve my ability to navigate this in a way that allows me to still perform at a high level

when the camera's on. And so that's been like another skill that I've been working on, a skill that's not talked about is like how do you deal with the real life emotions or the real life problems that come up? You know, one, you know, I had a situation that happened before an evolved taping that was pretty serious in my personal life. And I believe that it affected me in my match. And my main question I had for my coach was not like, well, my main question was how would you navigate real personal problems and be able to like actually perform and and act like it didn't happen in the match? And they always just tell me it's just a, it's just, you know, a skill to be able to work on of of completely detaching yourself from real life for that

hour or two hours or whatever that you have to focus on yourself. Because in that moment, I was like, wow, this is a weakness. I let my personal issues bleed into the match and I messed up a move and I was late on a spot and I just knew I wasn't myself in the ring. But these are things that people deal with all the time. So when stuff like this comes up again, I just remind myself, this is not unique to me. This happens to everybody. So it's how can I improve on my ability to navigate these things as opposed to, as opposed to worry about having to deal with them and playing pity, pity story for myself, you know. Yeah, maybe one way to do it is to think that you're a character. right like you're a character in the ring and you're you're not yourself yeah right I guess

probably hard to separate it out especially you're still new but maybe over time you can kind of develop that it is easier with this mock squad thing because this really isn't myself at all but when I was doing playing myself on the indies and stuff like that it was a little bit harder for sure but now it's kind of there's a switch between like real life jimmy and like mog squad jimmy or cj valour i mean you know so yeah you're right awesome Also too, I think, you know, whenever, whenever something does go wrong, whenever you feel bad about a match or whenever something's a little bit off, it's just like an input, you know, it's like, okay, that's an input.

I, you know, I missed this move and I forgot this and this happened, that happened, and I forgot to mention the date and the promo and the beginning of the match or like all the different shit that you're critiquing, right? They're all just inputs and you can kind of just say like, Roger that, like I'm not doing that again. Yes. I'm going to work on them. Think about that more.

and, you know, hopefully I'll iron it out. And maybe it will happen again, maybe slightly, right? But maybe it's to a lesser degree or something. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's perfect. It's tough, man. It's, it's tough to go out there. You know, it's live, right?

I mean, you're not, it's not always, it's not always recorded live, you know, sometimes with TV tapings and so on. But you're in front of a live audience. Yes. And you can't really like take stuff back. And with a promo, if you start to mess up a promo, it starts to go sideways, you got to just kind of figure out a way to take it home. Right.

Yeah, 100%. What was your journey like at the beginning with like some of the issues that you encounter, if you don't mind me asking? No, a lot of it was like that where it was like, all right, we'll just iron this out. You know, like I was at Ohio Valley wrestling for a little while and that was really hard. But it was also really helpful. Right. It was helpful to watch other people go.

and you talked about the guy with the 41-inch vertical and some various athletes. I mean, when you see like, you know, Brock Lesnar and Shelton Benjamin and... Oh, you're in that locker. And, well, I... I only saw Shelton Benjamin in Ohio Valley one time because he was like he had slight injury

or something like that. And Brock was before me. Okay, gotcha. But, you know, I did grow up with Sina in wrestling. Yeah, yeah. My brothers and I got him into wrestling. But, you know, you see these incredible people And it was helpful to me because I was like, I'm not them.

It wasn't from a negative. It wasn't like, oh, I'm not them. I'm not them. I got to find my own unique path, my own unique way. And the skill of getting better on the microphone was huge. The in ring stuff was really hard for me to learn because I did fine athletically. I did fine in terms of some of the skill set with what you do in the ring. but at the same time I wasn't theatrical because I was very like I very just I'm normally very

shy yeah when I say that to people like you're full of shit but yeah normally I'm very shy I I don't talk a lot I grew up with two older brothers they were usually doing you know the ones doing talking and stuff like that so um doing wrestling promos or talking in front of people forget it yeah for me like I'm oh we're doing that tomorrow in school like I'm sick I'm out yeah headache or whatever you know like I'm going to try to avoid that stuff with everything I got so it took a long time but um talking you know even just into the into the mirror you know and like doing like a wrestling promo in the mirror um we were record stuff in Ohio Valley what was crazy is you would get up in front of everybody and you

would do a wrestling promo every day oh every day you're like oh you got 90 seconds it wasn't necessarily every day we did them every day but it wasn't always just your turn because there was like 30 or 40 people in this class. Yeah. But you got 30 or 40 other high level wrestlers that you're cutting a promo in front of. It was wild. Sometimes those environments are harder than the actual like crowds. Oh, it would make me sick. Yeah. Like it made me sick to my stomach going every day. I'm like, oh my God, this is going to be so hard. Yeah. Right. I'll figure it out, I guess. But I mean, it helped me a lot when I started putting stuff online. Yeah. Right. And there's sunglasses and like wrapping and messing around and doing all that stuff.

Yeah. That's where all that comes from. That's a great point. Yeah. Because when you got into big into the YouTube space, like you were playing, well, you were yourself, but you were your own character on YouTube and everything. I'm sure that helped a lot. That's awesome.

You know, you talked about last time you were here wanting to have an impact on a lot of kids. Yes. Obviously with wrestling, that kind of amplifies your ability to do that. Yes. So how's that been for you? I appreciate that you remember that. That has been the most fulfilling thing of wrestling. And, you know, with all these.

you know, things that come up that we talked about, the stresses, the grind, all these different things, like getting through a match and then coming out to talk to the fans afterwards and having kids come up or having parents send you messages about how you impacted their kid or whatever the case may be. Like that is what makes wrestling like worth it to me. And people talk about like, you know, how's your body going to feel? I just, at the sacrifice of what I can do for the kids, I just don't care. And I try to be smart. But the fulfillment that I get when I can get a kid to truly believe that wrestling, wrestling is real. I know that I'm doing my job of paying it forward from what Goldberg did to me as a

child and what John Cena has done to millions of kids. And that's why like I'm very specific about my goal and my purpose I want to accomplish it being a superhero to millions of kids. Because the people that I looked up to growing up, they were literally that a superhero to millions of kids, Goldberg, John Cena. These are people that I just, like I, I, the epitome of what I believe a man should strive for, like, you know, for myself. Yeah. And so being, being like that figure, even on an indie setting with like only 200 people or something like that, like whether it's 200 people or 100,000 people like that like that kid that just like comes up to you and is wearing your shirt and wants to take a picture or even yesterday. I want to do the Mog Squad pose. I'm like not what I was aiming for, but I'll take it.

You know, like it's just it makes it so cool because it's it is the best happy median between superhero comic book. in real life. And my dad was such a big fan of comic comic books growing up. And for me, it was pro wrestling. And it's, and it's that thing that bleeds, bleeds the lines and makes, makes superheroes real to me. And so I really enjoy being in a position to where I can see myself in those kids. And I never really got to meet my, my heroes when I was a kid. I only ever saw wrestling on TV. So, you know, being able to meet these. And we played it the very first podcast,

But when I met Goldberg for the first time, I was 23. But instantly within that moment, I went back to like being three, four, five years old. I'm just crying and I'm crying. I couldn't believe that I just met my childhood hero, you know? And even when I came across John Cena for the first time, it was the man just has like so much aura, you know? And when you see all the make a wish that he's done, he has the record for make a wish. And when you see him take his time in such a busy schedule to sit down and talk to these kids and everything like that. I've always wanted to ask him.

Like my goal one day, this is something that I'm manifesting into the world or praying for is being able to ask him, what is his advice on being able to relate to kids, say especially like kids that are in a unfortunate situation that may not have much time left? Like how do you put everything else aside and make that kid feel as alive in that moment as you can? These are like lessons. You ever see him hug that kid where the kid asked him a bunch of questions? He's like the kid's like, I had this surgery. I had this surgery. I had this surgery. He's asking a question.

John Cena's on stage. And he goes, and he goes, I just want to know if I can get a hug. And then John like running the crowd. Yes. Yes. It's so sweet.

Yeah. I did see that video. That was great. Another one that comes in mind was a kid that didn't have much time left or whatever. And then I think I think the kid was like being interviewed. And then all of a sudden, John Cena comes out like behind him or something like that. And then like they both shared a really emotional moment there. Like that stuff is what makes pro wrestling to me like the most one of the most powerful.

Yeah, that's that's that's that's right there. Yeah. You know, I just I look up to somebody like that so much. You know, because to be able to do that is such a unique skill. And to me, that's like the ultimate way to be able to give back is exactly what he's doing right there. So, you know, Sina's, the band that he wears on his arm, it's a headband. Yes. Yeah.

Yeah, I did hear that too. And the rock, you know, the rock plays it up. But if you can try to look up that clip of the rock, you know, the rock kind of exaggerates it because the rock's obviously huge too. Yeah. But John's arms are like, they're just, they're completely insane. Yes, yeah. You know, his forearm is probably good 16 or 17 inches. Yeah.

His forearm, his wrist, everything's just, it's, he's just ridiculous. But yeah, he's a great guy. He stayed humble the whole time. Yeah, there you go. Oh, is that just a still. Um, I don't know. I don't hear you go. So this is like after the, the show is done.

And they're doing like a little thing for the fans. This stuff's great, by the way. they do this kind of stuff. It's like not, you know, not on TV. There's 480 pounds. Boom. I wonder how heavy he is. He's for something.

At that time, probably, yeah, like 480s or something like that. That's an impressive fucking, wow. Yeah. You should be able to find it real quick. I think it's a quick clip. It might even be a short. Yeah, that one right there. Yeah.

Sina nodded and handed it over without saying a word. The crowd was fired up expecting something big. But then something unexpected happened. The Rock tried to wear the armband. It was too big for his arm. The moment only added to John Sina's aura. Even the Rock broke character and said something to Sina. See, the problem with this is your arms are way too damn big.

Look at this thing. Tell the truth. This is a headband, isn't it? The rock looked at John Sina and asked for his arm band. Sina nodded and handed it over with... What do you got coming up next? What are he excited about? So right now, I just continue to evolve myself on evolve the show, you know, with the Mogg Squad and my character as C.J. Valor and, you know, just make...

How can people view that? It's on 2B, the streaming service, yep. So every Wednesday night is 7 p.m. Central is when it airs. So, you know, we've been on every episode now for like almost the last two months. So we get to see our evolution there. And then, you know, all the... Is that weird that you're on TV? Well, it's 2B, but yeah. It's... They have a lot of streaming. They have really good shows too. Yeah, they have some good stuff on there for sure. It's, I mean,

it's different than just being on YouTube. Like, that's a big step. Yeah, no, thank you. Thank you. One of those things where maybe I haven't absorbed it all the way yet,

because when the trial happened, you know, went through that and then shortly after that I got the call. And then it was like preparing for this. And then like you go through it. And I spent a lot of time worrying and being doubtful of myself of, am I too late? Am I ever going to actually get through this? How am I going to get to the top? A lot of times, you know, a misconception about me is people think that I got here because of my

connections. And actually, I didn't get here because of my connections and all, which at the end of the day, I'm actually more proud of. But that being said, you know, you spend all this time worrying about how you're going to make it through and finally get in or even get an opportunity and then you finally get it. And then you get signed to this developmental deal. And then you're on TV. And then like, things are moving so fast. It's hard to kind of slow down. And maybe, it takes opportunities like this to do so. But yeah, it,

I, when I'm there, I'm more so just focused on what they're telling me I need to do and focus on as opposed to being in the moment and, and thinking about how hard and how much I thought about just getting here to begin with. Yeah, it is a really cool thing at the end of the day. And I hope it continues to build further.

Just real quick, you were mentioning people calling it in the ring. And there was a documentary recently, I think it's fairly recently done on, Sean Michaels. Oh, yes, yeah. Did you have an opportunity to see that? I haven't seen it fully, but I plan to.

You know, I don't know what's real and what's not or whatever. It's, you know, wrestling. So it's always hard to tell. But it was, they talked about Sean Michaels and Brett Hart calling it in the ring. And they were actually, you know, they were talking about each other. They don't like each other very much. But they were talking about how good of a wrestler each other was. And I thought that was cool.

And they talked about how they just called a lot of stuff in the ring. Right. I heard, I heard in that case, like, Like because they weren't fond of each other. A little bit of that up, Ryan. I mean, these guys are like on a different level. Yeah, they are. I've been told that because they weren't fond of each other,

that's what made the match like so good, you know? Like it made them like the two peas in the pod working together. They couldn't have been more like oil and vinegar. Right. Yeah. I mean, like they were like so, so different from each other. Yeah. And then Sean Michaels is, he's in like the front office now and he helps with the matches and stuff.

Yeah. So he runs NXT. So usually when I go to the performance center, he's in there helping coaching and stuff like that. Yeah, really cool. Insanely athletic. What's your favorite match of all time? Personally, as a Goldberg fan, I think the one that got the most emotion out of me was when he came back actually in 2016 to go against Brock Lesnar. And this was like a squash match. It was like 90 seconds or whatever it was. And I remember because for me, it was so emotional. I had spent the last 12 years, like just watching old Goldberg videos thinking that he was done. He would never come back, whatever. And then he comes back specifically at a point in my life that was probably my lowest point.

And so it gave me this thing to look forward to. And everyone thought that he was just going to lose and it was going to be this one-off thing. And Brock Lesnar was on such a hot streak at the time. And, you know, there's part of me that thought that he could win, but it would be like a long match or whatever. This is before I knew about wrestling. And then I'm watching this happening and I'm just like losing it. I'm losing it. And I, in that moment as a 20,

21 year old, I think that wrestling is real again. And I see that spirit. I'm like, oh shit, oh shit, oh, shit. You know, oh, he's going to do it. I'm like, I'm freaking out, freaking out, freaking out. I'm in the moment fully. And then the second spear happens like, oh, no fucking way. And I'm losing it.

I'm like, oh, my gosh, I get to relive my childhood again. I'm 21. I thought I would never get to relive this. No way. No way. no way, no way. Oh, do the jackhammer. Do it. Finish him. Please do it. Please. Please. And I see Paul Heyman. It was so awesome. I was laughing. Oh, they didn't show it in that one. Anyways, he does the jackhammer. And then he wins. And I was just losing it. And it was perfect timing too. Because normally like squash matches aren't

well received. But it was like perfect timing for something like that. And that's where Brock Lesnar, for example, is known as one of the best like businessman, for example, in the business. Because he knows the right time to there you go yeah like those reactions there after he pins him that's a that's a big deal for brockless yeah his uh with his background right yeah exactly to uh to kind of just give that up and be like yeah i'll lose in 90 seconds yeah yeah yeah yeah no that that that was probably my favorite match because it pulled the most emotion out of me and so when i think about myself um this match in particular like if you're calling it uh like it's so easy like it there's no nothing to do. There's nothing super dangerous or super risky. You know, there's just telling the story of

like Goldberg coming back after 12 years and, you know, he already beat him 12 years ago and like, does he still have it? And, you know, he proves everybody that he does. And like, this is where, like, is a perfect example of like people care more about the story than they do the moves. Um, you know, it's kind of fun. Like, that moves kind of fun. Like, whether you're doing it to somebody or getting it done to you, it's kind of fun. The jackhammer. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The last last thing for me is how do you manage your food and your diet, especially as you start to travel more and start to become a little bit busier.

So I've been lucky enough to partner with a couple meal prep companies. One of them, the owner of Metroplex Austin is a client of mine. And so we just exchange, yeah, we exchange services. She makes great meal prep very specific to what I need. Plug it. What is it? It's a Shays hot, hot kitchen for Metroplex in Austin. Yeah.

So she's great. She's prepping for our IFBB bodybuilding show right now. She also wrestles too and she's in her 50s. Getting shredded probably, huh? Yeah, she's great. But then also I have a, it's called My Fit Foods, which is kind of like a pre-made meal prep place. So I always bring Shea's meals and their food on the road with me or on,

on the plane. And it's easy to be able to like stick to things there because it's very easy, like when you're traveling a bunch and then you're not prepared to like go to somewhere. Maybe you're trying to stay healthy, but they don't have everything you need. And I find it to be much better for me just to have the meals I would normally have.

So there's no potential of like falling off. You don't want to blow out in the ring either. Yes, no, exactly. And especially again for me like trying to look the part and being in a strength phase right now. I want to still look lean. So being on point with my meals throughout the week allows me to still kind of look on how I should in the ring.

So yeah. Where can people find you? You can find me on Instagram at Coach Jimmy House on TikTok. I'm C.J. Valor, WWE on X. I'm C.J. Valor, WWE. And for the time being, Jimmy House on YouTube. And I want to take this opportunity to say, thank you both very much from the bottom of my heart. I've said this a bunch. But when you guys gave me the opportunity to be on the podcast the first time four years ago, anytime I talk about my story, I always say that CT is the first person to show me that I have the ability to strive for a high level like that. And this podcast was the first major opportunity. that I had to actually showcase myself and a lot of the growth that I had from the age of 23 or whatever it was up until now, to me and my opinion started with this very podcast. So I just want to take the opportunity to express my gratitude for you both. And I very much appreciate it.

Oh, yeah, man. Appreciate it. Thank you. Strength is never a weakness. This week. This is never strength. Catch you guys later. Bye.